Emancipet's 12th Annual Luncheon

Monday, May 9, 2011 at 11:30am 380 animal lovers gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel Austin to support a one-of-a-kind organization, Emancipet (http://www.emancipet.org/).

With the number of free spay and neuter surgeries on black screen continuing to grow (over 125,000) the Executive Director Amy Mills took the stage. Her first question - how many of you wanted to be a vet when you were little? - made the crowd smile as half of the hands in the room went up. Although many of us didn't become one, the animal lover, and need to help them, still resides deep inside.

Amy, like many of us, is passionate about what she does. You can tell she'd talk to you all day and night about Emancipet because she believes in it and is proud of what organization has become. Emancipet offers low cost (and many, many free) spay/neuter services to the community as well as walk-up and mobile wellness clinics. They make caring for your pet affordable and accessible in a non-judging and open arms kind of way. If you have the money, please consider supporting them with a donation - it really is a great cause.

I know our pet sitters are passionate about the wonderful service they provide to pet owners. I know I'm passionate about LaterDog.com and making it the best pet sitter finding website in the world!! So tell us, what are you passionate about today?

Wine Dogs

Did you know there is a book that gives you a glimpse into the wonderful world of wine dogs? I saw this book for the first time when I was doing an impromtu tasting at the Salt Lick Cellar. Psst, try the Tres Colores...so good! You may not know, but my full-time job deals with a lot of wine. Promoting it, sampling it, building events around it...you get the idea.

But my passion lies with animals. And when I first saw this book, I was giddy - (was it the wine?). It has stunning pictures and funny stories about various wine dogs. Apparently one chewed at Bill Clinton's leg.

If you are a wine lover and animal like me, you're sure to love this book. http://www.winedogs.com/

Let's Talk Derby

Back in my hometown I was on the Board of Directors for the Midlands Humane Society. During my first year of serving, we came up with some really cool events, my personal favorite being Wag-A-Grams, but a close second was our Let's Talk Derby fundraiser. We had a human and dog costume contest - big hats a must!

MHS's goal is to build a Humane Society for the city and county animal shelters which are very small (we're talking holding space for 15 dogs max). The Nebraska Humane Society, located just 25 minutes away is a stunning, friendly facility and huge supporter of getting MHS completed.

Anyhoo, here's a picture of my St. Bernard Boozer dressed as a jockey. Just so you know, there are never dog clothes big enough to fit him, so yes, those are my husband's clothes. He didn't win the contest (got beat out by a poodle dressed as a ballerina) but he did get the crowd laughing as he got bored and just laid on the runway instead of walking up and down it.

Have a wonderful Derby Day and share pictures with us if you're doing anything fun!

What's That You Say?

I always wanted a dog that did the head tilt. I now have one. And I now try and make him do this all the time.

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Dog Wars App is Back - Just a New Name

I have to write about this because it upsets me so much. The dog fighting Android App is back - but this time with the name KG Dogfighting.

Please take a minute out to flag this inappropriate app here or sign a petition here.

Thanks you,
Later Dog team

Later Dog Pet Sitter Rewards of the Month - Zuke's



Tyson wearing his new bandana!



We love our pet sitters. We know that without them being the best of the best, Later Dog would not be possible and we would have unhappy pet owners! So we brainstormed on how we can show our appreciation to our pet sitters, while also doing something fun and we came up with Pet Sitter Rewards. Each month, we will send our sitters a little something special for being so pawesome!

This month, Zuke's rose to the challenge! Our sitters received some combination of a bumper sticker, bandana, Chicken 'n Cherryz Mini-Bakes, and perhaps Chicken Mini Naturals! Zuke's is based out of Durango, Colorado and devoted to making healthy, all-natural treats at an affordable price (plus, the company is named after the founder's dog!).

Here's what else is cool about Zuke's:

1. The treats are made without corn, soy or wheat.
2. All meats, grains, fruits and fruits are from the US with the exception of venison and venison which are sourced from New Zealand.
3. Their Mini Bake Biscuits and Superfood Biscuits are made in a manufacturing facility that uses 100% wind power.
4. Zuke's pays their employees to ride their bikes or scooters to work instead of their car, plus they power their offices with 100% green electricity.
5. They annually support The Dog and Cat Cancer Fund, helping families who cannot afford life saving treatments for their best friends.



FYI, Boozer collects bumper stickers.

We've heard tons of great feedback from our sitters on our Facebook page! From Jeff O'Brien, "Just wanted to let you know that I got your package from ZUKE and all of my client's that have tried are giving it 2 PAWS up..." and from Lenny Clinton "Walks With Lenny LOVES his gift package from Later Dog and Zukes!! My lab Max already LOVES Zukes peanut butter treats, but now he has new ones to try and a super-cool bandana!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!".

Now go try Zuke's or visit their website for more information: http://www.zukes.com/.

Dog Treat Follow Up

Eventually Boozer ate the treat, but only because Tyson was going to snatch it away if he didn't. And what did Boozer discover?? That he loves the treats, of course! The batch made so many cookies that I gave some away to two of my husband's co-workers. They both texted me to say their dogs loved the treats, so I would say that overall my homemade dog treat experiment #1 was a success.

If you have any recipes you'd like me to try, please let me know!