It is finally here everyone…Our very first fundraising adventure. Over the past few weeks you have heard me talking about our efforts. What we will be doing is picking an animal charity each month and donate all of our ad revenue and 10% of every sale to them. We had a great response in submitting potential groups but we had the most chatter from one very lucky group. I am not super surprised that this first month will come from a place in my very own home town since I spend most of my time networking here. I wanted to be fair and really show the one that had the most submissions.

Without further jibber jabber from me explaining what the goal is(DUH raise money) let me just let everyone know who it is and how you can help.

The fundraising focus for the month of August will be helping support Sophie’s Circle in Port Orange, FL.

Please check out their website to get to know them and see what they do on a daily basis to help support the animals. What got me and I think a lot of people are that they manage the only pet food bank in Volusia County. With that responsibly also comes great challenges. As of this post they have over 500 families registered for assistance. That equals out to 579 dogs and 810 cats.

WHOA!! Can you see the need?

They ask for donations in the form of dry or canned food or of course monetary donations. (That’s were we are going to come in people!) But if you can imagine stocking one food bank.. what about two? With the need always increasing they are set to open another one just to help out even MORE animals. While the donated food is a huge help.. they tend to buy pallets just to keep up with the demand.

I have talked to the fine folks at Sophie’s Circle and they are very excited and are grateful for the support of the community close by and all over the world. Let’s make the most of the month and help out as much as we can.

There are two ways you can help.

1. See the ads on this site and on the store site? By clicking on the ad links (if you’re new to blogging lingo) the owner of the sites gets a few kickbacks. It’s not a lot but every little bit helps so if you can’t afford to donate at this time(hey..that’s ok) you can click for free and still know that you will be helping the animals at Sophie’s Circle

2. Every time you or someone you refer shop and they buy something 10% of the entire order will be going to Sophie’s circle.

Have questions? Let me know. Our mission this month is to help out the food bank and we can all feel good a few pups and kitties will have a healthy meals and snooze happy dreams with full bellys.

One last piece of business…My site will be undergoing some major changes ( for the better) over the next few days.  If for whatever reason the blog or the shop site does not come up right away.. please do check back…All for the greater good right?  MyUberPet.com will be the new site to log into and everything will be right there. YEAHH! No need to go to two different sites. As they say two will become one:)

Have a great week.

Yeah Yeah Yeah.. Another NASCAR post I know but I can’t help it people I am surrounded by it everyday. This story got my attention over the weekend and then my followers on my NASCAR Twitter account got to talking about it as well.

This weekend the Camping World Truck Series race was at the Nashville Speedway. They were having routine practice when they had to put a halt on everything because a one eyed Beagle got onto the track somehow. EEEK!!!  Everyone stopped and thanks to the very observant official that spotted him everything turned out ok.  We are guessing the dog took a dreaded right turn onto the track. ( That is my poor attempt at humor since everyone thinks NASCAR is left turns only..it kinda is but still)

Ok best part of the story is my fellow twitter peeps started a hashtag  #namethetrackdog after it happened…Here are a few to get you laughing.

Juan Pawblo

Talladogga

Mutt Kenseth

Jack Roush Terrier

Bark Martin

Jamie McFurry

Ryan Neutered

Trevor Dane

Most are drivers here with the names changed accordingly. LOVE IT.

Love the video with the officials trying to get him. Pupster is like “I’m at the track and I WANNA GO FAST!!”

Well this week in Florida has been hot but it’s about time the rest of the county comes around and is just as hot. I kid, I kid. To be completely honest, we had a little tropical buildup off the coast that kept things kind of cool here. I see in other parts of the country you were SO MUCH HOTTER! I feel for ya I really do. I also feel for the animals.

Did you know that dogs are more susceptible to heat stroke than we are? So if you think WE are hot.. Little pupster is just as hot if not more. We can sweat. Although not supper flattering it helps us cool off the best we can. Dogs cool there bodies by panting to blow out the hot air.

Every dog needs to be watched on a hot day. We ALL better know at this point leaving them in the car is a massive no no. Cars can get up to 160 degrees in a matter of minutes. I  love seeing stores that have signs before you enter with the warning about leaving pups in the car.  I applaud them for caring. My local grocery store of course will not let the dogs inside but they have a tie up area for them with big water bowls and misters. How cute is that? That way you don’t have to leave them in the car. But your best bet is to leave the kids at home if you’re going to be running around. They will thank you for it.

Dogs who have thick coats are to be watched more closely as well as Puppies under 6 months. Other factors can result in heatstroke in pets as well:

• Large dogs over 7 years of age and small dogs over 14 years
• Overweight dogs
• Dogs who are overexerted
• Ill dogs or those on medication
• Brachycephalic dogs (short, wide heads) like pugs, English bulldogs and Boston terriers
• Dogs with cardiovascular disease and/or poor circulation

So what are the symptoms if you see your pooch acting weird? Here are a few of the big ones:

Symptoms

• Rapid, frantic panting
• Wide eyes
• Thick saliva
• Bright red tongue
• Vomiting
• Staggering
• Diarrhea

If you notice anything out of character you should call or go to the vet. We had a scare with my little Javier a few months ago. We were playing in the back yard while my hubby was doing yard work. He had plenty of water and id was hot out. We did all the right things by taking breaks and letting him in and out. Javier is a total sun hound and will lie down and really bask in it. He was fine or so we thought…all of a sudden he was wobbly and panting and could not lift his head us. I WAS FREAKING OUT…we got him inside and wrapped him in a cool blanket and put him on the cooler tile floor. Called the vet and she told us to put some water inside him anyway we could so we used an eye dropper. He was a little slow the rest of the night but he was alive and getting better. Now I am overly cautious to make sure everyone gets AC breaks and water.

Summer is for sure the time to be outdoors and enjoy the nice weather(for my northern friends) or it’s time to crank the AC and pray for rain (for my southern friends). Just make sure you prepare yourself and the pets. Then EVERYONE can chill out and have a great summer.

Also I have extended the time to get your animal charity or foundation recommendation in. I will pick one by Sunday at 8pm ET. So just shoot me an email at amy@myuberpet.com to let me know who you think needs some help and why. Our sales and ad revenue will all go to them the month of August and we will help them promote some adoptive animals. Warm fuzzies people!!

Allow me to introduce Lola. Our new little princess of the family.

Of course she is already rocking out a fab purple sweater( Purple is the new black according to the latest fashion mags). I have been thinking about adding to our little family for a while now but the hubby had some concerns. He wanted to make sure our Javier would be ok with her and that there would be no jealousy issues. Also since he works from home and I do not he was worried if he could handle the potty training. I worked from home with the last pooch so I handled it all. Biggest concern was we travel with Javi everywhere. We hop a plane.. so does he. Airlines are not only expensive for humans. Pets are just as expensive, so now it would be an added expense.

Bottom line.. I wore him down enough a while back to accept the fact we can welcome a new little one and we set it all in motion.Well I did. Once he did finally meet her i knew it was over

She has taken to our home so well even we are impressed. Went on her potty grass when she needed too. Woke us up in the middle of the night to let me know she had to go. Has a great little personality and sweet as can be. We had a little bit of a snag this morning when we had them both up on the bed while I was reading my ipad and Jeff was snoozing still. Little Lola was on top of the covers and Javier was underneath. Lola must have “touched”  Javi or walked on him or something but the beast came out in Javi and be growled and bit Jeff under the sheets. I screamed since it startled me..Lola wimmpered and Javi stunned himself I think since he never has bit anyone or had an agressive bone in his body. Needless to say Jeff was not pleased with the rude awaking and was growly himself. We will not be rewarding behaving like that on both fronts:)

I just think it will take some time to get the two to co-exist and be happy. As of tonight they seem to be working it out and Javi is looking at me like..”Well I guess she is staying, I give up being protective”

Proof that they are working it out.

Im excited to get to know this little girl and thrilled that we have added another soul into our family. Never fun to have to re-train but it will also be good for Mr. Javier to go through a few things as well.

Off to take the pups out for the 50th time today…….

Every morning like clockwork my dog wakes me up 10-15 minutes before my alarm clock. EVERY. DAMN. TIME. It’s almost past the point of annoying to being comical. At first it was just super annoying and the last thing I want to do is wake up any earlier than I have to. Well Javier decides what times he wants to get up and then he tells us in the best way he knows how. Big wet kisses to the face.

This is how my morning went down

This is Javier acting like he had nothing to do with waking me up. He is trying to pretend nothing happened.

This is the face of ..OK don’t be mad but I really, REALLY had to pee and I thought you would not mind a cute puppy kiss instead of the nasty alarm clock.

And then we come to this face. A look of disgust. A look that he wants you to remember. Maybe even a look of don’t even think of messing with me or I will pee on your bed. GET UP NOW! I understand the crappy cell phone camera is nothing to write home about but that’s what my REAL alarm clock in on and I had it close.

I’ll always remember dog sitting for a co-worker years back, Liv Lane of Choosing Beauty, and she told me flat out.. My dog Daisy will lick you to death if she sees your eyes are open. If you can fool her into thinking your still sleeping she will leave you alone. Once your eyes are open it’s over. I laughed. How bad could this be? SHE WAS DEAD ON. Sneaky little shit got me right away!! Love her though and Liv for being honestY you will often see Daisy on Liv’s blog. Cutie for sure.

Do you have a little (or big..eek) furry alarm clock in your life? What is the never fail trick they will do to get you up? What do you do to combat that? Let me hear from all of you sleep deprived people out there. I will say this, is that the day I don’t set my alarm for work will be the day Javier decides he is on vacation from his alarm duties..Go Figure.

Just a few little housekeeping things for you all. I will be overhauling the look of this blog soon. I know things can be a little hard to read. SUPER SMALL TEXT. It will be fixed. I promise. I feel a lot older than I am when I am reading it too. I understand.

Also next Friday will be the last week to get you or nominate a pet foundation or rescue in need of funding. We will be picking one for our August rescue of the month. Email me at amy@myuberpet.com to get info or to be considered.

Ok guys.. Have a good start of the weekend and I’ll be back soon.. with that I will leave you with this…Wait for the surprise at the end.