Spend Valentine's Day with Your True Love and Finding Fido

We partnered with Z Living Network and Finding Fido to bring you this post. As always, we only share information we think will interest our readers and all our views are entirely our own. 

If this Valentine's Day your thoughts turn to finding your true love, you may want to check out this new matchmaking show. There's sure to be drama, indecision and intrigue. Only on this show there's no doubt that everyone is there for the right reasons! 

That's because instead of human couples, host Seth Casteel is pairing people with pooches!  

On each episode of Finding Fido, the new original television series for dog lovers on the Z Living Network, families meet with three different adoptable dogs in order find the perfect fit for both the pups and the humans, promoting smart adoption.

Finding Fido airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on the Z Living Network. 

Blackjack is one of the three pups you'll meet on the Valentine's Day show, Feb. 14 at 9 pm!

Each week a different family or person is featured who is looking for the perfect match for their lifestyle. On February 14th we'll meet the Pleasant family. 

Parents Chris and Kali are looking for a smaller dog who will be a perfect companion for their young daughter Brooklyn and also have the energy and right temperament to help the family stay active, while also keeping up with their fast paced city lifestyle.

Sounds to me like they need a dog a lot like my pup Rocco! 

Here's a sneak peak at the Feb. 14 episode.

We love to stay active doing doggie things and that's just one reason we're loving this show. In all the episodes we've seen,  the emphasis is on finding the right companion to suit your healthy lifestyle.

And what's really cool is that small dogs are getting attention too for the active little guys that I know they can be!

Rocco has some backyard fun with his agility jump

Certainly Rocco is no slouch when it comes to activities, whether in the backyard, on the hiking trails or at agility trials.

Here's Rocco with a few more of his little friends!

We can't wait to see who Brooklyn chooses to be her new companion on Finding Fido this Tuesday night!

If host Seth Casteel sounds familiar to you, that's because he's also the photographer and author of the New York Time bestselling book Underwater Dogs.  We had the pleasure to meet Seth earlier this year. He's such a terrific guy and dog lover... the perfect host for this show!

Rocco and Seth Casteel, just hanging out and talking dogs

For more about Z Living and Finding Fido

Find out where to watch Z Living near you. 

If it's not available yet in your area you can also watch it online. 

Find Z Living on:

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Website

And more about Finding Fido at zliving.com/finding-fido.

Maddie's Pet Adoption Days Comes to NYC for Free Pet Adoption Weekend!

Here's a great opportunity for our NYC pals who are thinking about adopting a pet.

If you're looking to find your forever kitty or dog pal, there's no better time than the weekend of June 1-2. That's because, for the first time, Maddie's Pet Adoption Days is coming to NYC!

Maddie's Pet Adoption Day, the biggest free pet adoption event in America, is going national this year and the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals is leading the charge in New York City!

Mayor’s Alliance hopes to place hundreds of dogs and cats in qualified forever homes in the New York City Area on June 1 & 2.

Free adoptions for qualified adopters will be offered throughout the weekend at participating shelters and other adoption locations, and at two large, outdoor adoption events in Manhattan.

Here are a couple of the cuties available for adoption in the NYC area!

Bernard

Buddy

The goal of Maddie's Pet Adoption Days is to give all healthy, senior and treatable shelter dogs and cats a second chance. As in past years, adoptions of dogs and cats will be free to qualified adopters.

In return, Maddie's Fund has set aside $4 million so that it can give each shelter or rescue group $500 - $2,000 per adoption.

Edgar

The adoption event honors the memory of the foundation's namesake, a Miniature Schnauzer named Maddie, who was lovingly owned by PeopleSoft founder Dave Duffield and his wife Cheryl. Dave promised Maddie that if his company ever made some money, he would help other cats and dogs so that their families could be as happy as they were with Maddie.

Since then, Dave and Cheryl have endowed Maddie's Fund with more than $300 million to help shelter cats and dogs find new, loving homes.

Maddie's Fund expanded this year's event to include adoption sites across the U.S. because of the continued success of Maddie's Pet Adoption Days on a local level. Every year, the number of adoptions has increased with a total of 6,722 dogs and cats adopted during the event's three-year history.

This year, the hope is to adopt 5,000 animals during the two-day event by expanding the geographical boundaries to reach 11 million more people. To see other cities participating in Maddie's Pet Adoption Days click here.
 

This is a sponsored post but the opinions reflected herein are my own. 

Have You Taken the Pets Add Life Pledge?

We love the new videos from the Pets Add Life (PAL) campaign. Check out the talking bird, dog and kitty for a nice laugh and then read down to see a quick and simple way you can help more pets add life to more people! 



I don't know who's funnier -- the bird, dog or cat -- but I laugh out loud every time at the chatty bird, "down" dog and the kitty's scowl, and accent!

If you haven't had enough fun, there are more cute videos on the Pets Add Life YouTube page.

How you can help more pets add life!

The folks at PAL are running a nifty campaign on Facebook where they're asking people to take a pledge and help a pet find a forever home. And if adoption is not right for you, then you can help in other ways -- like volunteering with a rescue group or taking a photo of a homeless pet and sharing it.

Personally, I love taking photos of homeless pets that capture their sweet personalities and help them get adopted... something like this one, at right, taken at a Mostly Mutts adoption event in Atlanta.

Now, with its pets pledge program, Pets Add Life is making it super easy to take action and help homeless pets.  Just head over to the PAL pledge page and click on which ever action suits you best. That's all there is to it!



Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the Pets Add Life campaign and the American Pet Products Association. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about the benefits and joys of pet ownership.

The Numbers Are In! Iams Home 4 The Holidays helps more than 1 Million pets during 2011 campaign

Thanks to pet lovers everywhere, Iams Home 4 the Holidays found forever homes for more than 1.2 million animals during this season's pet adoption drive.  In addition, pets in need will benefit from the 5 million bowls of food that pet lovers helped to donate through efforts on Facebook, Twitter and blogs... including To Dog With Love!

Since the program began 13 years ago, Iams and founding partner Helen Woodward Animal Center, along with more than 4,000 animal organizations from across the globe have helped more than 7 million pets find forever homes.

2011 Iams Home 4 the Holidays milestones:

• Dogs win by a nose –This year, more dogs were adopted, with 651,224 finding new families, compared to 595,000 cats and 21,317 other pets (including rabbits, reptiles, horses, birds and more)
• Millions of pets now have homes – Since 1999, a total of 7,034,989 animals have been adopted through the program
• Cards for a cause – More than 1,000 cards were created and shared from the Iams Facebook page, generating thousands of meals donated

The 2012 program will begin in October. 

Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award Goes to Austin Humane Society

Frances Jonon with Euka, VP of Canine
Communications at P&G Pet Care

Yesterday, our pals at Iams kicked off the 2011 Iams Home 4 the Holidays program at their Pet Care office's in Ohio in a big way! Mike Arms, president of Helen Woodward Animal Center and Founder of the Iams Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption program, was on hand to present the first annual Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award. And the winner is ...

                  (drum roll please >>>>>>>>>>>)

... the Austin Humane Society for its extraordinary relief effort in the Austin/Bastrop wildfires in September, 2011.  Austin Humane Society took the lead in coordinating the disaster relief efforts for the animals displaced in the Austin/Bastrop counties as a result of the recent Texas wildfires. This widespread disaster destroyed over 1,400 homes in the Central Texas area.

The Austin Humane Society helped create a temporary triage unit in the Austin and Bastrop areas providing food, refuge, and medical care for the displaced animals. 

Accepting the award on behalf of Austin Humane was Frances Jonon, Executive Director. The shelter will be receiving a plaque for their wall and a check for $5,000 from Iams.

From left to right, Mike Arms, President, Helen Woodward

Animal Center; Frances Jonon, Executive Director, Austin Humane

Society; Michel Brousset, Marketing Director, Iams North America

Iams gives out the Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award to a person or animal organization that exemplifies the commitment and passion for the lives of orphaned animals similar to what Mike Arms has been doing for so many years.

For the past 12 years, Iams has joined forces with Mike Arms and the Helen Woodward Animal Center for the annual adoption campaign to help raise awareness of orphaned animals in shelters and rescues around the world. The program has created new ways to increase public awareness about orphaned animals, increase the number of pet adoptions, lower euthanasia rates, and set records for the number of people that are receiving humane education.

Animal shelters and pet rescue groups can still register for the 13th annual IH4TH campaign. 

Write a Post update: Pedigree to donate 27,000 lbs of dog food to help shelter dogs affected by Hurricane Irene

#CosmoRules

First, thanks to all our bloggie buddies for rallying to Write a Post and Help a Dog. Thanks to all of you, we collectively wrote 149 blog posts about the Pedigree Foundation which resulted in a donation of 2,980 pounds of Pedigree dog food to shelter dogs who need it most. Woo Hoo! #BloggersRule!

But that's not all! Now, Mars Petcare US is increasing the donation to 27,000 pounds of dog food (that's no typo!) to help shelter dogs in areas impacted most by Hurricane Irene. Mars Petcare will donate the food to RescueBank -- a national pet food distribution organization working to get dog food to where it's needed most in the Albany, New York area.

And, as a way to thank everyone who participated and anyone who wants to help a shelter dog, you can still purchase Dogs Rule gear at a discount at dogsrulegear.com. Just use the promo code BlogPaws10 through September 30 to get a 10 percent discount. AND, it's never too early to start buying holiday gifts, so here's a way to pick up a little something for the dog lover in your family. AND any time you purchase, a portion of proceeds go to the Pedigree Foundation to help shelter dogs who need it most. So everyone wins!

And now, we bring you this message from Betty White, who we also LOVE in Hot in Cleveland! #BettyWhiteRules #BloggersRule #DogsRule!

Bideawee to Honor Iams at Tonight's Gala

Joe Garrison, a member of the Bideawee Board
Emeritus group, is being honored tonight for his years
 of service to Bideawee. Here he is with his Wheaten
Terrier, Austin, who Joe adopted from Bidewee

This past December, we participated in the Iams Home 4 the Holidays campaign, a wonderful progam that helps suport shelter and rescue pets in need. And we recently learned that Bideawee, one of the shelters that participates in the Home 4 the Holidays program, is honoring Iams at its annual June Gala in New York City tonight.

Bideawee, a Scottish term for "stay a while," is one of the oldest animal pet adoption and animal welfare organizations in the United States and serves the New York metropolitan area and Long Island communities.

Tonight, Bideawee is presenting the "Bideawee Corporate Award" to Iams in recognition of its corporate contributions to foster the health and well being of pets.

Says our pal Bev VanZant, also known as Pet Care Bev from Iams, "It makes me so proud to have this incredible organization take notice of our long-standing commitment in promoting responsible pet adoption and our support of animal adoption organizations across the country. This past year, you may recall, we helped more than 1.1 million pets find forever homes and donated 5 million meals to shelter and rescue pets in need. It's icing on the cake for Bideawee to honor us with this award!"

The Bideawee Ball is the premier social gathering that celebrates animal welfare and the mission to promote and support safe, loving long-term relationships between people and pets.

More information about tonight's Bideawee Ball is here.

EVENT:                     Bideawee Ball

DATE:                        Monday, June 13, 2011 

LOCATION:             Guastavino’s

                                    409 East 59^th Street

New York City

TIME:                         6:30 pm to 10:30 pm 

Pour for Pups to aid Barking Hound Village Foundation Rescue

In Atlanta this Wednesday? Join us at Pour for Pups Wednesday, March 30th from 6 - 8 p.m., at the Pour Wine Market in the Brookhaven neighborhood of Atlanta. Help the pups who need it most and have a good time too!

Buy your tickets in advance via pay pal for $15.00, or make a $20 donation at the door. Please bring your confirmation email with you to the event.

All donations will benefit Barking Hound Rescue. In addition to making you feel good by helping the pups your donation entitles you to:

• Complimentary hors d-oeuvres of italian meats, cheeses and bruschetta
• Special pricing on select glasses of wine
• Bid on items donated for the silent auction
• A barking good time at a cool, new wine bar!

Pour Wine Market is located at 1418 Dredsden Drive in Brookhaven, Atlanta.

BHVF rescues approx. 50-100 dogs each month from high-kill shelters, gives them medical treatment and love and transports them to other no-kill shelters.

Spread the word and come out to help Pour for the Pups! And remember the more you eat and drink, the more pups will be helped! A portion of sales and ALL donations will benefit Barking Hound Rescue.

Special Announcement: Iams will donate 50 bowls of food for every tweet with #CosmoIH4TH from now till Thanksgiving!

I'm lucky I have a wonderful home and lots of good
meals during the holidays. Please help me help
 the anipals who need it most-- your pal, Cosmo

It's Cosmo Havanese here, with a special announcement! Because it's exactly a week before Thanksgiving here in the U.S., I wanted to find a special way to help the anipals who need it most and might not have the chance to have a nice turkey and stuffing dinner.


So Iams is teaming up with me and LISTEN TO THIS!!! For every tweet that goes out with the hashtag #CosmoIH4TH from NOW until midnight on THANKSGIVING, Iams will donate 50 BOWLS OF FOOD to its Iams Home 4 the Holiday program. WOW! We can collect A LOT of food this week and it'll sure feel good to know the less fortunate anipals will be getting nice Thanksgiving meals. 


Just think how many anipals you can feed by adding #CosmoIH4TH to every tweet you send through next Thursday. I hope you'll all help and let's see how many bowls we can get donated!!!! Wheeeeee!

Iams Home 4 the Holidays currently has 3,800 animal shelters enrolled in 21 countries, and its goal is to donate 5 millions meals to shelter pets this season AND help adopt out 1.5 million pets. We explained the program earlier this season here. 


Already this season, 318,370 pets have been adopted and 493,245 meals have been donated. We've got a ways to go, so let's get tweeting!!! 

Get Schooled in a Cause for Paws: GSU Students Take Action!

From May through December, the Green Market at Piedmont Park in Atlanta means lots of locally grown farm-fresh produce, baked goods and other special goodies.  Cosmo and I love to chat with the local farmers and merchants, listen to live music and enjoy some fresh treats along the dogwood-lined streets. 

Today we had the pleasure of meeting an ambitious group of students from Georgia State University, who have turned a school assignment into a worthy cause.

They call their project Panthers for Paws, and as part of a class requirement they are raising money for the charity of their choice.  The group of students who call themselves The Pawsitives selected PAWS Atlanta, a no-kill animal shelter dedicated to providing care and shelter to homeless dogs and cats until they find their forever homes. 

As one the requirements for their Managing People in

Organizations class, this group of Georgia State students

is raising money for the charity of their choice.

The Pawsitives were manning a booth in Piedmont Park today to help raise money for PAWS Atlanta and generate awareness for an event later this week that they hope will help them achieve their fundraising goal.

Since we love to see students learn by applying what they learn in the classroom to real-life situations, we want to spread the word in hopes more people will attend the Panthers for Paws event at Sutra Lounge in Atlanta. 

While I couldn't resist providing a quick lesson in driving donations using social media, you'll need to show up to this event in person. 

EVENT DETAILS

WHEN: Thursday, November 11 --  7 - 10 p.m.

WHERE: Sutra Lounge, 1136 Crescent Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA

DONATIONS: Cover charge of $5.00 will be donated to PAWS Atlanta. There will be beer specials as well as a raffle for wonderful door prizes donated by the community.

Cosmo says, "give these kids a 'High Paw' for their effort!" And if they don't already know it, they'll learn that tapping into the passionate pet community is an excellent way to learn how to rally people and organizations to meet a goal. 

If you can't make it to the event and you'd like to donate to PAWS Atlanta, there are plenty of ways to donate here. I bet if you mention The Pawsitives, the kids may even get some extra credit for their project!

And now, since it's Saturday, let's go to The Hop!

IH4TH: Help a Pet Find a Furrever Home 4 the Holidays

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... and it’s not even Halloween yet! But if you’re like us and getting into the holiday giving mood already, here’s a great program from Iams and the Helen Woodward Animal Center. 

Since 1999, Iams Home 4 the Holidays (IH4TH) has partnered with thousands of animal organizations dedicated to finding forever homes for orphaned pets.

I met these cute pups Kurt and Friedrich at a

Mostly Mutts Pet Adoption. Pups like these
can make  your hills come alive with the
Sound of Music, ah ah ah ah! Join us for another

Mostly Mutt's adoption event this weekend
at Woody's Cheesesteaks in Atlanta. Yum!

Founded by Helen Woodward Animal Center and supported by Iams, IH4TH has helped 4.6 million families experience the joy of pet adoption.


Currently there are more than 3,700 animal shelters enrolled in the program, including Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue, who have adorable pups like Kurt and Friedrich (at left) for adoption every weekend. 

Since IH4TH kicked off just three weeks ago, more than 152,000 pets have been adopted and 78,519 bowls of food have been donated.

You can add another 100 bowls to that total right now, because this week only, for every adoption-oriented blog post entered into this blog hop, Iams will contribute 100 bowls of food to an Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter in need!

The Facts

• Iams Home 4 the Holidays runs from Oct.1, 2010 to Jan. 4, 2011
• This year’s goal is to adopt 1.5 million pets
• 1.3 million pets were adopted last year alone
• Information on how to get involved, how to find a participating shelter in your area and other important tips for new parents can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/iams or on IamsHome4theHolidays.com

New This Year: Bags 4 Bowls Food Drive

Reducing pet homelessness through adoption is Iams core mission, but if adoption isn’t in your plan this year, here’s another way to help.

Adoption Angel Meaghan's pup

Beryllium (pronounced Brrr-ill-EE-um)

• Follow the Adoption Angel’s stories on Facebook.com/Iams and “LIKE” photos, videos and posts. For every like received, Iams will donate a meal to a homeless animal.
• Purchase specially marked packages of Iams dog or cat food during the campaign and Iams will donate one bowl of food.

The Iams goal is to give 5 million meals to homeless animals. 

And since Cosmo Havanese is an overachiever, stayed tuned for a special Cosmo will be offering for every pal who tweets a special hashtag to support the Iams Home 4 the Holidays Bags 4 Bowls food drive!  Cosmo’s anipals Boris Kitty and Teenys Friends just finished a similar program and raised 70,000 bowls of food between them in just one week. WOW!

And remember, bloggers who write a post about animal adoption and link up to this week’s blog hop, will help donate an additional 100 bowls of food!!

Check out our pal Pet Care Bev for the details.