Amos's Impromptu Avocado and Citrus Salad Recipe

While your humans are away, pull two avocados out of the bag on the counter that is far enough back that you technically cannot reach it but somehow you do, through your SuperCanine stretching abilities. Take them one at a time (presumably) to your doggie bed.

Slice the skins with your nail? or teeth? Heck, just pull the skin off somehow.

Remove pit somehow. If you need to split it in half, do so. Somehow.

Eat contents after rolling it in remnants of the clementine you snatched off the table earlier and tried to eat but couldn't quite figure out how or if it was worth the effort.

Serves 1 beagle/basset. Prep time probably 3 minutes or less. Calories, fat, vitamins, minerals, etc., who cares? Unexpected yet delicious snack? Priceless!

Lick your lips repeatedly and feel thankful that you live in a house full of wonderful, accessible (sort of) surprises like this for your eating pleasure.

Life is good. Avocado salad makes it better.

Amen. Burp!

Howloween 2009

Petey Petey, Beagle Sweetie

Here's our newest foster dog, Petey. He is six years old and gorgeous! You should see his golden yellow eyes in person. Apparently his owner was elderly and could no longer care for him. He's very playful, almost puppy-ish, but not overwhelming. He's in good shape with no physical or health issues, nice soft fur and wonderful, long, floppy hound ears.

Petey LOVES people and kids, fine with dogs. Has the funniest little squeaking sound when he wants something or when you play with or pet him. Then when he needs to actually let out his beagle AROOO, it's much deeper than you'd expect! He's a bit on the thin side, weighing 25 pounds. He walks well on a leash and isn't a big puller but he does the serpentine thing so you have to be careful not to trip on him. In the car he just sits still or curls up in a tight ball.

Oh, when he does do his AROOO, he really tosses his head back with his nose way up, it's so cute. I'll have to try to catch in on video and post it.

Petey, Petey, beagle sweetie,

How'd you get to be so needy?

Owner's old and can't keep up

With this precious beagle pup.

Won't you help him find a home,

So he won't be so all alone?

Bubbles the Beagle - temporary housing needed

UPDATE: Bubbles has found an extended-stay arrangement and all is well.

This is Bubbles, our former foster who is looking for a kind-hearted family to take her in for a few weeks while her family adjusts to the new human baby that seems to need SOOO much attention.

These photos don't do her justice. She is GORGEOUS and looks like she stepped out of a photo spread on perfectly colored beagles. Contrary to popular belief in the human population, as skinny as she is, she snores! She's clever, food-driven and will get into garbage if it's available, but if you've had a beagle you know all about that already! In the video she's the one in the red harness.

Hi beagle hounds (note the clever double entendre)!! Our beagles Katie, Emily and Amos are walking for senior pets, specifically OLDER BEAGLES, in the Young at Heart Mutt Mosey on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Twin Lakes in Palatine. Please support them and all the senior beagles they've helped us foster - plus the ones yet to come - by donating to Team Beagle Hounds!

http://www.firstgiving.com/beaglehounds

We're walking in honor of Chloe - Louie - Griffin - Sammy - Bubbles - Shiloh - Bubba - Amos - Francie, and in memory of Maggie and Summer. (If Amos isn't careful, he'll be a memory too - HA!). By the way, our beloved Francie was adopted this week by group member Katie's parents, right here in Palatine!!!

To donate online with a few clicks to:

http://www.firstgiving.com/beaglehounds

For additional information on the walk, go to Young At Heart's site. You can come and walk too if you want. Details here:

http://www.yahpetrescue.com/events/


I thank you and the beagles thank you even more for your support. I know times are tough and we're all watching our dollars and cents more closely, which is exactly why there is so much need for the unlucky pets, especially the older ones, right now.


Joyce

YOU can make a difference, and it's so easy.
YOUNG AT HEART PET RESCUE (www.yahpetrescue.com)
2009 MUTT MOSEY – Saturday, Sept. 26, 11 a.m.
Twin Lakes, Palatine, IL


The 2009 Mutt Mosey is Saturday, September 26th, 2009. If you believe in what Young at Heart is doing for older pets, we ask that you help in one of the ways below:

1. Join us at the walk. Your $25 and an hour of your time will help save the life of a senior pet. You don't need to fundraise, you don't need to have a pet, just come and walk. Wear the Mutt Mosey shirt you will receive as a thank you and show people you support what Young at Heart does. Your donation is tax-deductible and 100% of the proceeds goes directly towards saving the lives of senior homeless animals. And if you want to fundraise, great! The top 3 fundraisers for adults and the top 3 fundraisers for kids will get prizes on the day of the walk! Register now!

http://www.yahpetrescue.com/events/

2. Donate to the walk. Don't know someone who is walking? Don't worry! Our Executive Director, Dawn Kemper, is walking for those who cannot. You do not have to donate a lot. Want to see what your money can do?
$5- one kennel cough vaccine
$10- one distemper vaccine
$15- one rabies vaccine or full wellness exam
$25- one Heartworm or Felv/FIV test or one round antibiotics
$50- one geriatric blood panel or one spay/neuter
$75- one dental
$100- one mass removal

Even if you only have $5 to give, $5 covers one vaccine. It makes a difference!

3. Share this information with your friends, family, and other animal lovers who feel the same way that you do- that senior animals deserve a chance to find their happily ever afters, too!


As always, we cannot thank you enough for your support and encouragement. You are all such a huge part of this little rescue. Please help us make this year's Mutt Mosey a huge success! A lot of senior dogs and cats are counting on us!

Thank you!!!!!


MORE DETAILS:

Get your walking shoes ready because it's time for Young at Heart Pet Rescue's 2009 Mutt Mosey! Each step you take that benefits a Young at Heart pet bring us one step closer to being able to help hundreds of more senior pets each year. What are we walking for? A Senior Pet Adoption Center and Sanctuary! Why is this needed so badly? Because the majority of traditional shelters and rescues can't help senior dogs and cats find homes, which is why Young at Heart was created in the first place. If your heart has ever been melted by an older dog with a grey muzzle or your lap has been warmed by a calm older cat, you know the love that an older pet can provide! Older pets deserve loving homes, too!

So each step you take this year in the Mutt Mosey will make a huge difference. And each walker you support will be step towards many lives saved! This year we walk the beautiful Twin Lakes Golf Course & Recreation Area, a mild one mile path with gorgeous scenery for you and your dogs to enjoy.

The funds raised will help us get one step closer to purchasing property where we can establish an adoption center and sanctuary. A cageless haven for the voiceless, who until Young at Heart was created, did not have many options in the Chicago suburbs. Now our adoptees, or "alumni" as we prefer to call them, are warming hearts and laps all around the Midwest. Many are therapy and assisted living pets, visiting children and adults in hospitals and nursing homes, bringing smiles to the faces of those lives that they touch. All of these dogs and cats would have been euthanized if not for Young at Heart Pet Rescue. And we do all of this with an all-volunteer staff and a small army of private foster homes.

Getting started is easy! Visit http://www.firstgiving.com/yahpetrescue to register, create your team, or donate to the walk. T-shirts are guaranteed to the first 250 registrants, so register today! Prizes for the top three individual fundraisers and the top three fundraisers teams! Kids under 12 also have their own prize category, so make it a family affair! Get started today!

ONLINE REGISTRATION CLOSES SEPTEMBER 20, 2009 AT NOON.
$25 adults/ $15 Kids (12 & under)

DAY OF EVENT REGISTRATION (Registration will open at 9am on the day of the walk. Please allow at least 30 minutes for registration that morning!)
$30 Adults/$20 Kids (12 & under)

Adventures of Amos - Pans in the Oven

While I was out of town on two short trips in a row recently, Amos was very busy. This one is the most interesting to us. He decided to rearrange the pans we keep in the drawer beneath the oven.

We think the reason he did this is because we sometimes put treats up on top of the oven door ledge, since that's way out of reach, and our neighbor girl uses them when she lets the dogs out after school. This way we know she's been here because the treats are gone. Plus when she was younger she couldn't reach on top of the fridge where we keep the container. Obviously we can't use that space for treats any more, now that he knows he can open the drawer!

So we figure he got desperate and tried anything he could to get at the top of the oven. Mind you, ours is a wall oven so the storage drawer beneath it is not at ground level. He had to have been standing up bracing himself against the wall for quite some time to accomplish this feat (arthritic joints and all). We found evidence of biting on the metal under the bottom lip of the drawer, and a bent piece of metal on the edge that attaches to the wall. But otherwise you can't tell by looking at the oven or wall that anything happened (luckily!).

Anyway, Hector came home to find the drawer open AND the pans we keep there placed on the floor. So it seems Amos didn't like the way I had them arranged in the drawer and was trying to reorganize them for me!

Hector called me at the airport as I awaited my return flight and I said I didn't believe him. Then I thought he meant the cabinet under the cooktop, where we also keep pans, which would have been much easier since it is at ground level. So Hector took a photo (we had just both gotten new phones with much better picture quality and ease of sharing!). I was sitting in the airport laughing at my phone. My fellow travelers probably thought I was a nut.