Jason and Woody strut their stuff!

Jason leads our North American External Relations team. He’s been with Pet Care for 11 years.

1. What pets share your life?
Wow – there are several.  Since my wife and I raise and show Afghan Hounds, we share our lives with many of them!  Some of the notables are Woody, a 4 year old blue brindle male (and the man of the house), Bella, a 3 year old black-masked red female who’s as sweet as sugar pie, and Rush, our Italian import.  Black, lots of hair, handsome!

2. What is the funniest thing your pets have ever done?
These are too numerous to mention.  They make me laugh every day, and I love them for it.

3. What’s your favorite story about pets in the office?
My favorite story is about Vicki’s dog Rocky (Vicki is a coworker in External Relations).  Now mind you Rocky is the number 1 Boston Terrier in the country – but don’t be fooled.  We came back from a meeting, and Rocky had DESTROYED Vicki’s cube!!!  Her phone was in the floor, receiver over here and base over there.  The contents of her purse were EVERYWHERE.  The lipstick was open.  The pens had chewed caps.  Papers littered her desk, her chair, and all over the floor.  It was hilarious!  And who could get mad at a face like Rocky’s?

4. What is your favorite part of working at Pet Care?
I love being around people with a passion for cats and dogs.  For so many of us, what we do at work and how we live at home are pretty inseparable – pets are what we love.  So to do work where pets not only can have a place, but are featured and our sole reason for being is wonderful!

Munch, looking good!

Iams spokesdog Munch was recently on CNN.

Did you know that Munch has his own Facebook Fan Page?

Happy Valentine's Day!

We’re (Iams) doing something fun on the Iams Fan Page on Facebook this weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

My Own Angel Valentine.

We are donating (up to 5,000 meals!) one meal to the Helen Woodward Animal Center for every pet photo posted to the Iams wall this weekend up until midnight on Valentine’s Day.

So if you haven’t already done it, go post a photo of your furry Valentine to the Iams wall on Facebook. We want to give away 5,000 meals, our Valentine, to feed pets in need.

Each month, we (Iams) invite people to vote for their favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays organization in our Feed Pets in Needcontest. At the end of the month, the two groups with the most votes will win a month’s supply of Iams Pet Food.

This program was launched this past November, and ANH is our first of two winners for that month.

ANH (Animals Need Help) of Bear Lake is located in Montpelier, Idaho. On their very sweet, very musical web site, I found beautiful images of some of the dogs and cats they have available for adoption. I also discovered a truly wonderful video that brought tears to my eyes. Good tears.

My contact at Animals in Need is Lorrie Jensen, and she kindly consented to be interviewed by email:

Sweet little Chloe may be the right kitty for you!

Please tell us about how ANH operates—do all the pet orphans live under the same roof?
We have a very small facility. When we are full we rely on foster homes to help us out. We work totally on donation and fund raisers. We require a reference to adopt and check every reference to make sure our furkids will be safe and happy. Everyone is spayed/neutered, up to date on vaccinations and socialized before they go home. We are not an open shelter but meet the adopting families at their convenience.

Delilah is a sweet pooch who needs a home.

What is your job at ANH? What do you do?
We are all volunteers at ANH. We each take a turn every day caring for and playing with the animals. Between us we are out to the shelter about 5 times a day. Each of us does something different with the animals. Some just go for a walk, others go for car rides and runs. We try to get them used to as many different experiences are possible. We all help with the cleaning, laundry and daily chores. I do the Petfinder site and our website. I answer calls and emails and screen new potential families to make sure our furkids have the very best homes possible. I also do deliveries when needed. Lots and lots of fund raising time. From vet runs to eye meds, toenails and removing stitches. We are all available for whatever is needed. We have the most dedicated group of volunteers you will find anywhere.

Adorable Keisha and Kierra might be the dogs you're looking for!

What’s the most important thing that ANH does to help animals?
We make sure our animals are healthy and socialized before they go to a new home. We also care that it’s a good match when we place one of our kids with a new family. If there is ever any problem, we are always very happy and willing to take them back. I think the very most important thing we do is love them. When they leave our shelter, they know someone loved them. They are happy wonderful little guys who are ready to be family members.

What’s the most inspiring thing that happened at ANH during Iams Home 4 the Holidays?
It was so amazing how many people helped us in the voting [for the Feed Pets in Need contest]. We are so small and wondered if we even had a chance. We have a wonderful support team and they all rallied to help. The phone call that we won was fantastic too. I felt like we had won the lottery, actually I could barely talk, I was crying so hard. You will never know how much we appreciated this opportunity and how much it helped us.

Mazzie is a beauty who would love a furever family!

What is the hardest part of your job?
I can hardly stand it when I see animals that have been abused and neglected. I wish we could help more. We try to stay as positive as possible. We know after they are with us, they are safe. We have made a commitment to keep our site positive and not always talk about the sadness we see. We like to present our furkids like this is a new beginning.

What do you love the most about your job?
Seeing happy pets with wonderful loving families. We keep in touch with so many of our families.We get to hear and see that they are really safe and sound. Oh and who doesn’t love all those wet kisses and furry hugs.

Niki could be the playmate you seek!

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to volunteer at a shelter?
Do it. People say that they love animals too much and it would just be too hard. That’s exactly the kind of person shelters need. Someone who will never drop the ball and will fight every single day for these wonderful homeless animals. Besides it’s a way we can each save our little corner of the world.

What can people do to help ANH?
Spay and neuter pets. Speak up for the animals who can’t speak up for themselves. When you see something that needs help. Just help.

What is your perfect day?
[This past] Sunday was a perfect day. We placed two sweet animals in wonderful homes, heard from both families later on that night that all was well and The Saints won Yay!

Little Sassy is looking for a furever home!

From Bev: The dogs and cats who’s photos appear here were available for adoption from ANH at the time of this post. They’re cuties, so if you’re interested in adopting one of them you better get busy!

Help your favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter to win free food: FEED PETS IN NEED (Terms & Conditions)!

Janet and Elmo (Elmo is the one in the patriotic bandana)

Janet is an old friend of mine. She helps consumers, retail customers, breeders, and Veterinarians on our toll-free phone lines. She’s been with Pet Care for over 9 years.

1. What pets share your life?
My husband and I have one child, a furry one named Elmo. We sometimes refer to him as Elmo The Wonder Dog. He is a 7-year old, 65-pound, English Springer Spaniel. My husband has taught him many tricks and he is always willing to do them at our request, as long as he sees a treat in my husband’s hand.

2. What is your pet’s funniest habit?
Elmo doesn’t care to get baths. (Yes, I know, he is a water spaniel). When he hears us say the word stinky or bath in conversation, he knows bath time is going to happen again in the near future. He then wants us to forget about him so he moves himself into the dining room or tries to hide his 65-pound body behind one of our living room chairs. He manages to hide the front half of his body pretty good, but the back half is pretty easy to spot!

3. What’s your favorite story about pets in the office?
One of my teammates in Consumer Relations had a very large Great Dane and because of his size, he had an imposing presence. She was very proud of the dog’s stature and the comments she would receive when she brought him in the office. One day, another coworker happened to have his small Jack Russel Terrier in the office, too. As the Great Dane walked through the department, the Jack Russell barked at him and startled him and the Great Dane turned around and ran and hid under the owner’s desk, which flabergasted the proud owner, but the rest of us thought was pretty funny.

4. What is your favorite part of working at Pet Care?
There are several things I especially like about my job which I get to experience on a regular basis. I enjoy educating people on pet nutrition and helping them to pick the best food we offer to meet their dog’s or cat’s needs. Another rewarding conversation is the one I get to have with new puppy owners, or owners who are in the midst of of the first year with their puppy and finding themselves very frustrated. When I can help make the adjustment for both the owner and the puppy a smoother one by giving them tips, I feel that I have helped them to have a smoother adjustment and therefore a closer bond. And finally, I get to hear some of the most heart warming stories about animals being rescued/adopted, and about how much love and care so many animals receive. It is truly heartwarming.

Meet Truman!

New photos from my friend Daniel! He adopted an Iams Home 4 the Holidays dog in late December.

Truman is a 3-year old Cocker Spaniel mix. In his email to me, Daniel says:

“He’s a fantastic little stray rescue but clearly has a loving owner in his past – he is brave, smart and extremely well behaved and is settling in nicely to his new home. No surprise that our home is an Iams home, and he goes crazy for his Lamb & Rice meals. The shelter described him as ‘the perfect little cocker spaniel with a perfect little way about him’ and I couldn’t agree more!”  

I am so happy for Daniel to have such a wonderful new companion in his life! And I’m thrilled that Truman has found such a loving furever home!

Somewhere my little Bailey is giving a paws up to Daniel and Truman for their good fortune in finding each other.

In the midst of my crisis with Bailey, I have some good news to report.

Final numbers are in for Iams Home 4 the Holiday, and our buddy Hilary Swank is helping make the announcement today, noon Pacific Time which is 3 PM EST (where I’m at).

The grand total at the end of the 2009 Iams Home 4 the Holidays adoption event is:

1,363,638 pets adopted!

Here the total breakdown:

We didn’t reach our total of 1.5 million, but we beat last year’s total of 1.2 million. And when I think of this from a historic viewpoint, I feel we can all still be very proud of our results. Since we first partnered with the Helen Woodward Animal Center back in 1999, we’ve helped over 4.6 million pets find forever homes. In 11 years we went from 14 to over 3,800 participating shelters and rescues. More than 2.3 million dogs and 2 million cats have been adopted. Those are some excellent numbers!

So I’m sending out a big congratulation to all the shelters and rescues who worked with us this year to find furever homes for pets. YOU GUYS ROCK!!

And be sure to stay tuned for more, because we’ve already started working on Iams Home 4 the Holidays 2010!

Help your favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter to win free food: FEED PETS IN NEED (Terms & Conditions) and LIFE’S BETTER SWEEPSTAKES (Official Rules)!

With the holidays, I’ve experienced a slight kink in getting the numbers out for Iams Home 4 the Holidays. The good news is: WE’VE BUSTED THROUGH THE ONE MILLION MARK!!

The grand total at the end of week 13:

1,094,977 pets adopted!

The bad news is that I don’t have the usual breakdown of how many dogs, cats, and other types of pets.

Be sure to help your favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter to win free food: FEED PETS IN NEED (Terms & Conditions) and LIFE’S BETTER SWEEPSTAKES (Official Rules)!

My good friend Kris (he’s the Iams heart of Iams Home 4 the Holidays) and his wife have failed Fostering 101. A few weeks ago, our three local shelters had an adoption event out at the local mall. All the pets were adopted out except one dog. Kris did not want that dog to spend Christmas in the shelter, so he offered to foster her until a home was found. Little did he know at the time that the home would be HIS!! After just a couple of days, Kris, his wife, their kids, and their dogs decided that this little black dog belonged in their family.

Meet Houdini--who never met a crate that could hold her back!

They named her Houdini, because she has a knack for escaping from her crate. Houdini is a mixed breed–Kris thinks she has some Portuguese Water Dog in her background–and very sweet. Though she doesn’t like cats (Kris’ house is kitty-free), she is great with kids and other dogs–which makes her a perfect addition to this family!

CONGRATULATIONS KRIS AND FAMILY FOR FLUNKING FOSTERING 101.

AND CONGRATULATIONS HOUDINI ON FINDING A FUREVER HOME!

My good buddy Kris was in New York City this morning, at the New York Stock Exchange, with some of my favorite people–including Laura Nativo and her pooch Preston Casanova

This is the third Christmas Eve that the New York Stock Exchange has honored Iams Home 4 the Holidays with the opening bell. This year, Laura and Preston got to ring it–OMD poor Preston was so startled when it rang! (Video here.)

Ready to Ring the Bell!

Culver, a puppy up for adoption, gets some attention from Peter Elkins.

Culver offers some distraction to Chris Geiger. I'd rather cuddle a puppy than work, too!

And the best thing of all is that all the pets who were there to help ring the bell were signed up to be adopted! (Except for Preston Casanova–he already has a very loving mom). I love happy endings!

SIDEBAR: The holidays are delaying our adoption numbers for the past week. I will post them as soon as I have confirmation.

PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD HOMES FOR PETS!

We have an incredible contest going on right now which will last until this time next year. It’s called Feed Pets In Need. This contest allows people to vote for their favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter/rescue. Each month, the TWO organizations with the most votes win a free month’s worth of pet food from Iams!

And it’s really easy to do.

Go to the www.IH4tH.com website.

Iams Home 4 the Holidays web site header

Click on the little dog and cat icon, at the top right side of the page:

Click "Cast Your Vote"

You will need to register because you are allowed only 1 vote per day. P&G’s Privacy Policy means you totally control ANY personal information you provide in your registration. You also totally control whether or not you receive our newsletter.

Registering is painless.

Once you’re registered, you can vote!

Find your favorite shelter or rescue by choosing the State (or Canada) and the city.

Sort the organizations by the shelter/rescue name or the name of the city.

Click on your favorite shelter/rescue to highlight it, then click “Vote For Shelter!”

When you hit the vote button, a new window will open with the rules of the contest. Make sure you read them at least once. Then at the bottom of the rules is a check box and an OK button. For your vote to register, check the check box and click OK.

Click the check box AND the OK button.

You will then see who’s currently getting the most votes, and who our past winners are!

(I blocked out my vote to keep it private.)

This is sooooooooo easy!! Many shelters/rescues have started up campaigns to get their supporters to vote. Check with your favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter or rescue–this is something you can do for them that takes only a few moments of your time. GET OUT THE VOTE!!