For some reason people are mass-sending me entries for the contest at the last minute!!!

 I’m going to get all the entries up by Friday, then give another whole week to vote…

ANY ENTRY RECEIVED AFTER 5 PM EST TOMORROW Thursday September 2nd WILL NOT QUALIFY.

But — you are more than welcome to come back for the ThoughtsFurPaws October Contest (gifts courtesy Fun Time Dog Shop) and the SUPER-SECRETIVE-SUPER-SWEET Holiday Contest for November and December…(one hint – Holiday Contest winner (1st place) gets a gift valued at $189.99…)

Sooo… again, here are some more August Photo Contest entries, and read the older posts (here is another one to review for voting) to review the rules of the contest.  The remaining entries will be posted by Thursday, and voting ends at 9 pm EST SHARP on Friday, Sept 10. Winners will be announced on the 12th as I will be out of town…

*Full-grown animals are UNFORTUNATELY not being posted as this is a KITTEN and PUPPY contest only; all prizes are oriented as such.

8 week old Great Dane Frank

Frank at 4 months

8 week old Travis

Clancy

Emerald

Foxy

Gator

Jasper six months

Peebles

Sadie

Pretty Puppy Bear

Tika

Tika II

Sweet Praline

The August Kitten and Puppy Photo Contest lasts a whole week longer, so let’s keep those cute pet pictures comin’ in.

And don’t forget to vote, vote, vote!! I’ve only gotten like 10 votes so far, and half of them are for the same animal!!

Here are some more cute kittens and funny dogs/puppies for the contest… actually, it seems this is turning into another dog and cat photo contest for pets of any age… some people just send in pictures of their pets as they are now… oh well…

Let me know in the comments or in an email who YOUR favorite is!

Andy, Banks and Oliver

Bella

Aries

Anne

"Fi Fi the Wicked Frenchie Witch"

The Famous KC

Peanut

Putty Tat

Sammy vs Dumbo

Chloe

Daisy and Deeogie

Thomas Fiddlehead and Lewis

This is a picture of one of the July Contest winners… Diva. Here she is — all pooped out from fighting over her Porcupine toy and all those treats with her brother Dexter…

Diva and Dexter Too Tired to Tug Anymore...

The August Puppy and Kitten Photo Contest is in full-swing mode now…

Here’s the first round of pictures!

 * Remember, you can vote for up to three pets in a comment or an email to me at thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com. You CANNOT send 3 votes for the same animal. *

Bailey

Bailey and Toffee

Ginny

Iris

Koko Bean

Koko Bean II

Logan

Oliver

Rumble the Shar-Pei

Angie Kitten

Get your votes in today or this week via email and comment! If you see your pet on this post, don’t forget to send all your friends and network here to vote! More cute puppy and kitten photos to come later this week!

AUGUST KITTEN & PUPPY PHOTO CONTEST EXTENDED!

So I know I hardly gave ANY time at all for people to enter the August Contest — so I’m extending it for another two whole weeks!!

WHY???

Because I have a CRAPLOAD of AWESOME cat and dog prizes — but only three entries so far!! That’s not even enough to post for one day!

Keep in mind, this is a KITTEN AND PUPPY PHOTO contest – not an adult animal contest. Even if your pet is an adult, you can still enter his/her cute pet pictures as puppies and kittens.

*** There will be awesome prizes again this time around, and I will choose  3-5 winners.  (Think PetSmart gift cards, new Martha Stewart toys, boutique puppy shampoo, fancy kitten toys and surprises, a Furminator, treats, leashes, snacks, etc. PLUS — each winner also gets something FOR THE HUMAN this time!

Since this is a puppy/kitten photo contest, please don’t send pictures of your babies unless they’re 9 MONTHS OR YOUNGER!

The new entry deadline is Friday, September 2nd at 7 p.m. EST; so get your entries in before that time. Entries sent after 7 p.m. EST will not qualify.

Like last month, you can vote once through comments (but vote for up to three pets) and also vote once by sending your pick in an email.

Again:

** YOU CANNOT VOTE THREE TIMES IN ONE EMAIL FOR THE SAME PET***

* LIKEWISE, YOU CANNOT VOTE THREE TIMES IN ONE COMMENT FOR THE SAME PET*

And please remember the warning I posted about “vote-stuffing” last month… you will unfortunately be disqualified or, if I’m in a good mood, pushed down in the rankings if you attempt this again*** If multiple people live in your household, then please tell me that in the email when you send it so I know.

RULES/PROCESS:

1. This contest, again, is being judged by reader votes/comments. You can vote for up to three pets in a comment and up to three in one email – but not the same pet three times. Entries that do not follow this procedure will be disqualified.

2. Send up to 2 WEB-COMPRESSED JPEG,  TIFF or GIF files to thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com. You can also just paste the photos into the email body.

3. Please put “AUGUST PHOTO CONTEST” in the Subject Line.

4. It is VITAL to include the names of your pets  when you email the entries in. *** Entries received WITHOUT the pets’ names won’t be considered. Sorry, but it gets entirely too confusing with the number of entries I get.***

5. Send your friends, family and “network” to the post that your pet(s) appears on. That way they can vote in the Comments. I also highly suggest (based on last month’s results) re-posting the post your pet appears on on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, Share This, etc…so you can get your followers to vote!

Good luck and start sending me your best shots!

It’s time for Funny Friday pictures again!! Okay so it’s actually Saturday when this is being published but Ive been super busy this week…

These funny cats and dogs photos  and cute pet snapshots are from all over the place-- some are my friends’ pets, some from Facebook, a few from those forwarded emails, and of course, some from my fellow blogger friends’ (PSST–that’s you Life With Dogs), etc… so thanks for the cute pet pictures everyone!

Taken at volunteer event @ Ohio Basset Rescue

Cute little cuddlers

I'd LOVE to know how he got up there...

Life With Dogs posted this on Facebook...

Nothin' like a Bulldog in a Baby Carriage...!

My Fave Life With Dogs Photo

Myniece Lily in the window-her fave spot:)

Yet another Life With Dogs Fave...Neil you are just too good...

I WANT THIS KITTEN!!!

Rescue Kittens from somewhere...??

What a GR-eat shot!!

From ASPCA site...cutie pie!

So tell me — who’s your favorite? I can’t decide…

Some of you may have heard these famous, funny or serious pet dog and cat quotes before – at least one or two of them - but a good friend of mine sent them to me as a “cheer-up-Charlie” note on Facebook last week.

So here they are: the most popular of ALL the funny cat quotes, dog quotes, pet loss quotes, and all animal quotes throughout history. Some famous animal quotes, mostly dog quotes and cat quotes, were not sent to me but taken from the ten million books I own on pets, cats, dogs, pet care, funny pets and animals, etc (and some that I know by heart as a rescue volunteer):

“Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.” – George Elliot

“Dogs come when they’re called. Cats take a message and get back to you later!” – Mary Bly

“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.” – Andrew A. Rooney

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” — Gandhi

“All of the animals except for man know that the principle business of life is to enjoy it.” — Samuel Butler

“To err is human. To forgive, canine.” – Unknown

“Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives!” – Sue Murphy

“No heaven will not ever Heaven be, unless my pets are there to welcome me.” – Unknown

“The trouble with a kitten is that eventually it becomes a cat!” – Ogden Nash

“If I have any beliefs about immortality it is that certain dogs I know will go to Heaven, and very very few people.” – James Thurber

“I’ve met many thinkers and many cats, but the wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.” – Hippolyte Taine

“A dog has lots of friends because he wags his tail and not his tongue.” – Author Unknown

“The dog represents all that is best in man.” – Etienne Charlet

Introducing the August Puppy/Kitten Photo Challenge!

It’s that time again — PET PHOTO CONTEST TIME!!!  I want to announce the August Photo Contest.

It starts RIGHT NOW and I will accept ONLY TWO entries per email pleae.

This is a KITTEN & PUPPY PHOTO CONTEST only, so please don’t sendpictures of your babies unless they’re 6 months old or younger! The entry deadline is next Friday, August 20th at 7 p.m. EST. I will then allow the whole next week for voting. You can vote once through comments (you can vote for three pets only), and once in an email.

** YOU CANNOT VOTE THREE TIMES IN 1 EMAIL FOR THE SAME PET***

And please remember the warning I posted about “vote-stuffing” last month… you will unfortunately be disqualified or, if I’m in a good mood, pushed down in the rankings if you attempt this again***

RULES/PROCESS:

1. This contest, again, is being judged by reader votes/comments. You can vote for up to three pets in a comment and up to three in one email – but not the same pet three times. Entries that do not follow this procedure will be disqualified.

2. Send up to 2 WEB-COMPRESSED JPEG,  or GIF files to thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com. You can also just paste the photos into the email body.

3. Please put “AUGUST PHOTO CONTEST” in the Subject Line.

4. It is VITAL to include the names of your pets. *** Entries received without the pets’ names will not be considered as it gets entirely too confusing with the number of entries we get with no pet name ***

5. Send your network to the post your pet(s) appears on to vote in the Comments. Or repost the post your pet appears on, put in on Facebook, Twitter, Share This, etc, to get your followers to vote!

6. Voting ends on Saturday, August 28 @ 9 pm EST.

7. Winners will be announced (either 3-5 winners) on Sundat 8/29!

PRIZES:

** The August kitten and puppy photo contest has tons of cool prizes, including one hand-held Bissell Spot-Bot, perfect for puppies learning to be house-trained (retails value $129.99) Furminators (retails value $49.95), PetSmart gift cards (Retail Value $25.00), boutique puppy shampoo, puppy “accident” cleaning products from Clean and Green by SeaYu, pet photo albums, toys, treats, and a special surprise for the human!! ** WOWWEEEE

– Needless to say, you don’t want to miss out on this one So start sending entries to thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com ASAP! Thx!–

————————————————————————–

A Gift for Mom Too - A BEAGLE Book!!

On another note, the reactions I received from last month’s winners are overwhelming; you can even read about Shiloh and Shasta’s exciting package-opening, plus I put some pix of them opening the package in this post. Their owner was also SUPER-STOKED about the Beagle book I included for her, Dog Park Diary.

We Opened It! Wow- Look at all this stuff!

The first place winner was so grateful for the Bissell Vac that she was crying because she and her fiancee are in such bad financial straits and to get a box of play things for their rescue efforts was the best possible “picker-upper.”

The owner, Amber, of Simba and Murphy said: “My fiancee and I both work for newspapers and are underpaid obviously but we are dedicated volunteers to pet rescue. The Bissell vac is hands-down the most amazing pet hair pickup tool Ive ever used. It get EVERYTHING – even stuff you can’t see – and we use it on the couches and bed too! I had never thought of trying a Bissell cleaning product but from now on am a Bissell fan! Thank you for your generous prize – it was too much – it literally brought us to tears.”

Looks like help was given where needed! All-in-all over $450 worth of prizes were given last month…

So – REST ASSURED THAT YOU DO WANT TO WIN THE THOUGHTSFURPAWS.COM PRIZE OFFERINGS BECAUSE THEY’RE EXTREMELY VALUABLE!!

Get your August Pet Photo Contest entry – whether cute kitten picture or funny puppy photo – in now!

I feel so lonely today even though I’m surrounded by my parents and family…

"Dora-Dear" the Cuddler

but what/who I don’t have is my precious baby Theodore, my very first rescue pet cat. His fun-filled feline life ended 6 months ago today, after finding out he had cancer about 8 days before. He suffered through two surgeries but the cancer spread throughout his bile duct and you cannot remove the entire bile duct from a cat’s body.

I was an absolute wreck that day – I remember it like it was yesterday. I cried and sobbed over his limp and lifeless body on the exam table, screaming & pleading for God to tell me why he took my best friend of 11.5 years. I actually stopped praying for a good 4 months and – as much as I hate admitting this – I blamed God or whatever Higher Being there is out there watching over us for taking away the thing that was most precious to me (besides my Mother)thus far in life (as a 30-yr-old single gal who is shy, selfless and giving, will only date a man who loves cats and dogs and is “an overall animal-person”)…

Loved to play coy & pretend he couldn't hear me....!

There’s really nothing anyone can say to make the pain of pet loss go away. It just takes time to heal and go through the stages of grief. Reading the pet loss poems on my blog and other inspiring stories help a bit, and journaling does too.

My Mom tried to cheer me up & actually had me hysterical laughing with memories of him running mad circles around the downstairs of the house….or how he would drag his 2.5-foot-long dangler toy upstairs to my bedroom in the middle of the night… and how he used to run so fast he looked like he was a furiously hovering ball of tabby fur  when I would call for him outside. Eventually I was in tears and laughing at the same time – living an oxymoron — laughter/happiness with grief/sadness.

I made a little memorial today for Theodore the rescue cat (aka “Pork-a-Dore” b/c he was a fat old tabby!) with candles, pictures and his paw print and tuft of fur the vet sent me with his ashes.

Theodore – I LOVE you and I MISS YOU TERRIBLY. Sometimes I wish I

My Main Man LOVED His Scratching Post & Cat Nip Toys

could be in Heaven with you. But I can’t and I have to move on. You should know that in my 30 years I have NEVER GRIEVED LIKE I DID (and still am) FOR YOU. I’m still not used to you not hogging the end of the bed and me not moving because I don’t want to disturb you. I’m still not used to you not being at the treat cabinet and opening it with your paws to hint that you want crunchies. And I’m still not used to the gaping hole left in my heart, soul and self that only you could fill. You are the most precious thing I have ever had the privilege of having and I will always remember your human-like demeanor, how you comforted me through some of the roughest times a person could face, your undying loyalty and love for me, and how you would let me hold and hug and kiss you for hours… Purring all the while…

This is a pet loss poem I found here:

LIVING LOVE

If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember…

The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder.

Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking animal in a shelter – simply because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room – and when you feel it brush against you for the first time – it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.

Cat Blogosphere's Heartfelt Pet Photo Gift

The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend’s diet – and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.

And on this day, if your friend and God have not decided for you, you will be faced with making a decision of your own – on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you, you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night.

If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.

But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul – a bit smaller in size than your own – seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come. And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg – very very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay – you will remember those three significant days.

The memory will most likely be painful, and leave an ache in your heart. As time passes the ache will come and go as it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.

But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when – along with the memory of your pet, and piercing through the heaviness in your heart – there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization

My Green-Eyed "Little Man"

takes the form of a Living Love – like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow – and be there for us to remember.

It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets – it is a Love that we will always possess.

How a Bowl Should be Licked:
(How sweet the owner grabbed a camera instead of chasing the stray puppy away…!)

“Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened.”

*Tomorrow’s problems, will always be a bit worse then today’s, so live day by day… it’s less stressful that way!