I'll Follow You Until You Love Me....

Thank you so much to everyone who entered our first photo contest! We were so excited each time we would see another entry and loved reading about each dog. To those who sent more than one picture per dog, let it be known that we had a tough time narrowing it down to just one!

Man, I have to say, I wasn't expecting it, but each one of these dogs melts my heart. I am just glad that Becca and I don't have to choose the winner ourselves. It would be way too hard for me, I would probably end up choosing them all which would result in an extremely cluttered blog header. But that won't happen because choosing the winner will be up to you guys!

After you've reviewed each contestant, you can vote for your favorite by name at the top of the blog.

- If you don't already have a google account, it will prompt you to create one
- Next, you will have to follow our blog in order to vote in the poll. Don't worry, you can always unfollow it after you vote!

Voting will be open until July 31st, so rally up your friends to vote for your dog, or your favorite.

So, here they are...the 12 candidates for August's dog of the month. (As always, click pictures to view them up close.)


Yogi


Yogi is a 3 year old Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix owned by Patia Eaton! Not many dogs can say they were named by someone other than their owner.
Patia writes: "I didn't name him. My boss did because everyone was sick of me calling him "Puppy."

When asked to describe Yogi in 3 words, Patia said: " Best. Dog. Ever. ;)"



Beesly


Beesly (pictured at 3 months) is a Beagle owned by Christina and Kevin Klas!
Christina and Kevin were warned not to get a beagle for various reasons, but they had always wanted one and decided to get one anyway. I have a feeling they don't regret it!

Christina writes that "She's named after Pam Beesly from 'The Office' tv show"



Macy Mae


Macy Mae is a 1-1/2 year old Miniature Dachshund owned by Jami Manning! Jami found her dream dog in Macy Mae; "Wanted a female LH doxie horridly bad so my husband surprised me when we went down to TX to see his family last Feb and I picked her out for my birthday." Personally I can't think of a better birthday present than a Dachshund puppy. But hey, I'm a little biased.



Lucy


Lucy is a 2 year old Shetland Sheepdog owned by Becky and Lewis Jones! Becky says that Lucy acts as her alarm clock, waking her up everyday during the summer at 6am to go on their morning walk.
"She is by far the best workout partner I could ask for! She has become my shadow, never leaving my side. Someone said a quote once, "My little dog...a heartbeat at my feet." That is truly Lucy. Always faithful, loving, and a wonderful friend."



Shiloh


Shiloh is a double dapple Dachshund owned by Sarah Sandberg! Shiloh is blind, as double dapples often are, and Sarah included this sweet message about him in her entry:

"I'd like to give a quick explanation of why I chose my blind boy over my 3 perfectly healthy and to many people much more photogenic. I wanted to share with people that special needs animals ( of any kind ) can be "perfect" too. Although Shiloh can not see he is an amazing boy who came into my life rather suddenly and has quickly taken my heart over in a matter of just a few weeks. I went into the rescue of him with thoughts of fear, "what ifs" and how can I care for him as I knew nothing of blind dogs. HE is teaching me that there is nothing to fear, there are very few "what ifs" and I think if anything he's caring for me right now."

To find out more about Shiloh's story, visit Sarah's blog by clicking Here



Chachi


Chachi is a 4 month old Chihuahua owned by Natalie Arias! Natalie describes Chachi as being "Shy, loving and playful"



Chester


Chester was a 5 month old Chihuahua owned by Natalie Arias. Natalie rescued this little guy, who sadly passed away on June 4th after battling parvo.

Natalie writes "Found him at one in the morning in my neighborhood, he was just seven weeks, put my car on park in the middle of the street and went after him and took him home. He was amazing, young, energetic"

Even though his time here was cut short, I think Chester was lucky to have found Natalie.



Chochi


Chochi is a 9 year old Chihuahua also owned by Natalie Arias! His picture seems to be an accurate representation of his character ;) Natalie describes him as: "aggressive, angry, loving"



Chula


Chula is Natalie Arias's 4th Chihuahua, a two year old who was rescued from Rancho Cucamonga Animal Shelter. Natalie writes: "I really wanted to adopt this time from a shelter being that I had a horrible experience with a back yard breeder. I saw this cute white chihuahua and I fell in love right then and there. We had a little difficulties looking for a name to suit her, and my mom said "Es muy Chula" which in Spanish translates to "Shes so Cute." From then on, we called her Chula, which means Cute or Cutie in Spanish."



Chitluk


Chitluk is a husky/malamute mix owned by Kelsey Lamar! He will be 3 this August and was rescued by Kelsey when he was still small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. Literally.

Kelsey writes "I got my dog while living in an Eskimo village in Alaska. He was born in a dirty old train car and I picked him out the day after he was born. Due to the horrible living conditions, he came to live with me when he was just 2 weeks old"



Killian


Killian is a 7 year old Longhaired Dachshund owned by Michelle Duckworth! Michelle spared Killian from a potentially bad situation. "I always wanted a chocolate dachshund and this Amish Backyared Breeder was about to purchase him and I quickly bought Killian out from under him. I didn't want to see this dachshund being used as a breeder only living in a kennel....it's been a love affair ever since!"



Penny Lane


Penny Lane is a 7 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel owned by TJ and Shannon Bolan! They write that Penny is "Friendly, Silly and Loving".
Penny Lane's name was chosen long before she was: "My husband and I love The Beatles and have always loved the song Penny Lane. We decided years ago that we would name our first dog that name (well assuming she looked like a Penny Lane!)" Which, I definitely think she does!


Ok, now go vote!

There's a first for everything...

We've been featuring a new dog of the month on Hot Diggity since we started in February, all chosen by us. But this time we decided why not have our first ever photo contest for the dog of August?

Depending on how many entries we receive, we will either have an open vote contest or we will pick the winner ourselves. More entries = open vote. Less = we pick. So feel more than free to tell your friends and get them to send in their pictures!

If your dog wins, he/she will receive a surprise prize in the mail, and of course major bragging rights for being featured at the top of Hot Diggity for 31 days. Heh.


TO ENTER:

Email us up to 5 photos of your dog along with the following info:

Owner's Name:
Photographer's Name:
Dog's Name:
Dog's Breed:
Dog's Age:
Where did you get your dog?
What made you choose your dog?
How did you pick your dog's name?
Describe your dog in 3 words:

Email All Entries to: TheHotDiggity@hotmail.com

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. We just want a little info to include in the post that features your dog if he/she wins :)

Rules/Tips:

- Send all entries in by July 21st
- People are awesome. People in your dog picture entries are not quite as awesome. No people please!
- Pictures with more than one dog in them are fine. Just make sure to answer the questions for each dog (if they are all yours)
- The higher quality photo, the better! (Pixely or blurry shots won't look too cute supersized!)

If you have any other questions, just ask!

And He Kisses His Mom With That Mouth.

Anyone who knows me or is even acquainted with me knows how much I love Gabe. I love every dog that I've ever had, and have wanted to take in numerous others, but he is one of those special, once-in-a-lifetime dogs. He is easy to love, even for visitors that come to the house, or people he meets on the street. Gabe is lucky that I love him as much as I do, because he has been one of the most high-maintenance dogs I've ever owned. Scratch that - THE highest maintenance dog I've ever owned. But, I've learned from the experiences he has thrown my way, and I figured it would possibly be helpful to pass some of the information along in case anyone else ever finds themselves in a similar spot.

In his short three years of life, Gabe has already been to the emergency vet - twice. To put a little perspective on this: in all the years of owning dogs prior to Gabe, not one of them ever went to an emergency clinic. (Emergency vet clinics are open to provide assistance and care for pets that have a medical issue after traditional office hours.) And, dog owners like me are grateful that they exist!

The first situation that warranted a trip to the animal ER was the night that Gabe found rat poison in the house I was renting at the time. The manufacturers of rat poison create it with an enticing taste (so that, you know, rats will eat it.) The problem is that household pets and other animals find the taste just as appealing, and will likely eat it if they have any chance to come near it. Since we were not the people who left the rat poison at the house, there was no way of knowing just how much there was to begin with or how much he may have consumed. Depending on the size of the dog and how much poison they eat, there can be different outcomes. But, the effects of the poison can take days to set in, and I was not about to wait around to find out.

It had been more than an hour since Gabe got into the poison by the time I found him, which meant that his stomach had already begun to absorb whatever he ingested. As I spoke with the emergency clinic a few times that night, it was apparent that coating his stomach with charcoal (to stop absorption) was likely one of the only ways the effects could be stopped by that point. I finally caved at 3 AM and took him in to have the procedure done. They did get him to throw up (as a precautionary measure), coated his stomach, and sent him home with some medications to continue coating the stomach. Thankfully, Gabe never showed any signs of being poisoned and I felt like my money was well-spent.

About a year later, the second incident happened when a roommate left a chocolate cake sitting out on the edge of our counter-top. I went to a barbecue, and when I came home, there was an empty cake pan sitting on our kitchen floor. Gabe had consumed an ENTIRE chocolate cake in one sitting. I knew that the chocolate was harmful to dogs, as many people do. I was not sure if a chocolate cake was less of a threat than being in its pure form, but the sheer amount of what he ate would likely be bad news. So, to the ER we went again. This time, Gabe was showing signs of toxicity with a racing heart. He had to stay overnight, threw up a bunch, had his stomach coated again, got an EKG taken of his heart, and was hooked up to fluids so that his system could get flushed out completely. I applied for a Care Credit account so that I could even pay for the hospital bill (both of these incidents happened while I was unemployed, go figure) and he got to come home the following morning. The bottom line to me was that Gabe would be ok, but it was a traumatic night of worry, tears, discouragement, and feeling like I had let a best friend down.


Gabe with freshly shaved legs (from where the IVs were placed).

Both of these situations prompted me to learn more about other hazardous things dogs can ingest. Some of the items on this incomplete list may surprise you!

Onions
Garlic
Antifreeze
Visine
Grapes/raisins (seriously!)
Mushrooms
Chocolate (common knowledge, but what some of you may not know is that the darker the chocolate/closer to the natural form of it, the more of a threat it poses to dogs.)
Coffee/tea (due to caffeine)
Macadamia nuts
Poinsettia and mistletoe plants (beware during the holidays!)
Avocado plants
Yeast dough
Potato skins

These are just some of the more common household foods and substances that pose a risk to your pets. A veterinarian or Google search will yield additional information on toxic threats for dogs and cats; this list is made up of things that I feel are often in an average home and should be noted.

Furthermore, as a person who will likely move around more than once in the years to come, I would recommend doing a sweep of any new household your pet may live in before moving everything in. You never know what past renters/owners may have left behind (such as poison), and this could prevent a potential tragedy. Additionally, confining your dog when you leave can keep him or her safe from the various temptations that may exist in your house, especially if it is a messy environment (as it often is when multiple roommates live under one roof.)

For any Grey hair Gabe has caused, he is still worth more than every penny I've spent. Author John Grogan sums the relationship up pretty well:

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see."

Squanto

It's July 1st and this month's dog is a mixed breed who lives in Africa with his owner, Caroline Peixoto. I saw some pictures that Caroline's friend, Megan, had posted on facebook and fell in love with his unique looks. I knew we had to use him for dog of the month at least once :)

I know Megan Swanson through my good friend Hilliary Anderson. They both currently live in Africa where they started a children's home for street boys. It's pretty amazing what they do!
To find out more, go to www.HopeForLifeMinistry.org

This photo was also taken by Hilliary, who is a fantastic photographer and artist. You can see more of her work here: www.hilliarysart.com

I wasn't able to get in direct contact with Squanto's owner, so Megan gave me her best guesses to my questions about him! Thanks Megan!

Breed: Mixed

Age: 6 months

Where did you get Squanto? Squanto's mom was rescued off of the streets by a local veterinarian who was unaware that the dog was pregnant. Squanto was the runt in that group of puppies.

Why did you choose him? Caroline and I were both immediately drawn to Squanto. He was a beautiful color as a puppy, was very playful, yet when we picked him up, cuddled into our arms. We were also drawn to him because he was the runt of the bunch and we wanted to be able to provide a good home for him.

How did you pick his name? Caroline has always wanted to name a pet Squanto. When she first learned about the Native American, Squanto, and how he saved loads of people by teaching them how to farm, she knew she wanted to name her future pet that!

Describe Squanto in 3 words: Full, Of, Poop. (Or you may want to use these: Energetic, Curious, and Gullible)

Because I can steal pictures from facebook, and I think this dog is unbelievably cute, I've added a few extra of him living his life in Africa...

Megan stuffing Squanto into her backpack. This picture makes me want a Squanto of my own.

Post bath time

He doesn't look loved at all....

Baby!