According to the Humane Society of the United States, the group has gathered even more evidence that Petland is still selling puppy mill dogs, some coming from the worst of the worst for-profit breeders in the country…

Wayne Pacelle, on his blog A Humane Nation, yesterday posted the new evidence.

“And today, The HSUS released a second batch of evidence that confirms again that Petland is engaging in doublespeak when it claims it is not selling dogs from puppy mills. Our records analysis revealed that more than 95 percent of Petland’s stores do buy from puppy mills, either directly from the facilities themselves, or indirectly through massive out-of-state brokers (middleman dealers) who traffic in thousands of puppies a year. In fact, more than 80 of Petland’s outlets were found buying from the Hunte Corporation alone, a massive Missouri broker that traffics in approximately 80,000 puppies a year.”

To read the rest of the news, click here.

We all love capturing the wild and whacky ways of our pets on film. Who doesn’t have their favorite fur baby’s picture framed somewhere around the house? The constant antics of our pets are so much fun to capture on a camera and keep forever. Now there’s a whole new world of options out there, new pet photo projects and pet lover gifts you can make with your favorite pet pictures. Bethca’ didn’t know these even existed…So grab the camera, snap some cute shots of Fido, and go to town with these fun pet photo projects! All of these make excellent pet lover gifts for holidays and birthdays, too!

Pet Photo Books
Perhaps one of the coolest things you can do with your favorite pet pictures is create a hard-bound record of your pet’s life by making a pet photo book. Professionally printed and bound, and available in hard or soft cover, pet photo books feature your pet’s picture on every glossy page like a real book! Plus, you can customize the back cover with your dog or cat’s name, breed, favorite toy, cutest trickm, etc!

Pet Photo Calendars
For something to look at and enjoy the whole year through, create a pet photo calendar with a different pet photo for each month. You can add captions and custom dates to the pet photo calendar, choose your own start month, and even design your own cover!

Pet Photo Mugs
For the consummate coffee drinker who also cherishes his/her dear pet, there are pet photo mugs. With a variety of sizes, styles and colors to choose from, pick one or a few pet pictures to feature on this pet lover gift.

Pet Photo Journals
Keep a constant reminder of the love of your life, your pet, with a pet photo journal. Whether you use it daily or a couple times a week or month, this journal can be uniquely yours. Select from multiple cover layouts to design your journal cover, and customize the front cover inside!

Pet Photo Mouse Pads
Perhaps one of the most popular items to customize is a pet photo mouse pad. If you’re constantly at your computer, keep a little reminder of who loves you the most – your pet! Pet photo mouse pads come with different layout options so you can customize away!

Pet Photo Address Book
A neat twist on an everyday necessity, the 6.5″ by 8.75″ pet photo address book is a must-have. Select from multiple cover layout options to design your own address book cover, plus the front cover inside is customizable!

Pet Photo Puzzle
Take a close up shot of your pet or have him pose for the camera, then turn his picture into a jigsaw puzzle! An inventive pet photo gift, the photo puzzle is made of 252 glossy pieces and makes for a great weekend activity. When you’re done with your pet photo puzzle, throw on some puzzle glue and put it in a frame!

I was able to get some early summer photos of the crew a couple weeks back… of course Sasha escaped the flashy box and wouldn’t let me snap her, but here are the boys and their cousin and Theodore, who all love the camera…

Benson

Gibson

Theodore

Our cousin Henry

You may not know, but Take Your Dog to Work Day is coming up on June 26th. How many of you take your dog in to the office this day? I participated last year and it was so much fun, but I got absolutely no work done that day…! My company, American Greetings, has tons of activities centered around pooches for the day, and even has a bake sale and auction!

If you are celebrating Take Your Dog to Work Day this year, send this cute pets ecard celebrating the date.

We wanted to fill everyone in on Benson and Dad’s progress. Benny is doing just “okay.” He has been vomiting for about 24 hours now and doesn’t seem to be digesting food but finally last night he kept his dinner in. If he keeps throwing up though, it’s back to the vet. Keep your paws crossed for Benny!

Dad on the other hand is making astonishing progress in therapy. He gets occupational, physical and speech therapy and has been getting 100% on everything since Saturday. They might even let him come home on Friday! Hooray!

Thanks for all your prayers and best wishes everyone. I’ll keep you updated on Benson for sure

Not sure if you all remember my sister’s first foster Basset Hound, Yeager, he was only with us for a few weeks before he got adopted out to a wonderful home in Michigan. Recently his new owners sent a pupdate to tell us how “Luther” (they renamed him) is doing. Here is the pupdate and two pictures. We love happy endings and there are so many to  tell about in fostering! Hooray for Luther/Yeager, and hooray for my sister for getting him adopted out to a wonderful furever home!

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“Luther is doing great.  Chris and I just adore him!  It did take quite alot of work to get him housetrained and to stop marking his territory inside the house.  I think he’s finally understanding what’s right and wrong.  I knew to use alot of patience.  I can see from scolding him, he lays on the ground and rolls over extremely scared.  Someone must have beat him in the past. We do not train that way!  When I see him that scared I put my arms around him and hold him telling him he’s a good boy.  We have found he’s very afraid of loud noises.  Probably associated with the beatings from a previous owner trying to scare him into doing right.  During thunderstorms he is so frightened.  I started to use the natural calming holistic Naturvet products.  They seem to be working to ease him.  All of this brings me closer to him.  I want to protect him and give him a happy carefree life.

He makes us laugh at all the silly things he does and gets into.  When he walks, his front feet are so big making him clumsy sometimes.  His howl is so unique that we laugh at that all the time. He stills jumps up onto the counters and us when we sit at the table.  This will take some time but eventually he should know to sit and behave along with his brothers. 

His brothers love him! They play constantly. He loves to play chase all afternoon in the yard with both brothers.  They get a little carried away sometimes with the play wrestling so we have to jump in and settle them down but then it’s off and playing again.  He loves to be my shadow and follow me all around.  When I sit on my swing in the front yard, Luther comes running, jumps up and lays down next to me.  He loves to swing with me.  When Chris gets home from work, Luther pretty much knocks him down with excitement.
Chris and the three boys love play wrestling and playing chase. 
I’ve attached a couple more pics. Luther’s body is really filling out nice from eating regular good meals everyday.  He’s a beautiful dog!”

Barney the Basset loves looking out the front window…

Barney is still looking for a good home with a set of parents who have lots of energy to play with him and take him on long walks. He LOVES to play with the other Bassets, too, so having another dog in the house might be a good idea. If you are interested in adopting Barney, please email me at thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com, go to Ohio Basset Rescue to get more information about him (click on Adoption List and then scroll down),  or email ashlysmith21@sbcglobal.net, his foster mom.

Benson is HOME!!! HOORAY! Mind you, he is on 6 medications and still has Pancreatitis but we picked him up yesterday and he was SO happy to see us. He had a little pep in his step and is still in some discomfort but he is ALIVE!! We are so happy and want to sincerely thank everyone for their warm thoughts and prayers. Benson still has life-endangering medical conditions but for now he seems to be hanging on. We think he pulled through so he can see his Father again…

On that note, Dad is doing a little better, too. His fever has dissipated and he was able to get out of ICU and onto the skilled nursing unit floor this weekend. He will start physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy this week sometime and is not expected to have to undergo anymore operations. THANK GOD.

Thank you everyone so much again for your purrayers. We are firm believers in the power of prayer and think that’s what got us through this. We love you all and are so lucky to have such wonderful bloggie friends like you. We plan to stop by everyone’s blog this week to leave a more personal note of thanks.

Keep your paws crossed for the continuted recovery of Benny and Brian!

Love, Jaime

Just a quick update for you all. Benson is not doing well. We was rushed to the emergency vet early this morning where it was discovered that he now also has Pancreatitis, which can be deadly in his current medical condition. They have him on fluids and are going to see if he can eat some chicken and rice without throwing up tonight. Overall this does not look good at all for dear Benny. We know you all have been so supportive and now we need even MORE prayers.

On the other hand, Dad (Brian) is still in ICU after his second brain surgery. He is fighting off some type of bacterial infection that’s causing a fever of over 100 degrees.

How much suffering can one handle? Please keep sending your warm thoughts and prayers our way. This is extremely traumatic for the whole family. Poor Gibson doesn’t know what to do with himself without Dad and Benson, he’s so depressed.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support and prayers.

Love, Jaime