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Nicknames: Jasminny, Jas, Jam, Jamma, Jammy, Jambi, Bambi, Ja-bambi, Ja-bam, Jammer Ruff, Goober, Bugga. Out of all those, "Ja-bam" or some variation is used most.
Doggie Dynamics:
Likes: Running, playing, getting attention, getting treats, and being happy! :-)
Pet-Peeves: Being left out of the fun! Especially when Max leaves without me.
Favorite Toy: Stuffed toys that are easy to carry, throw, chew, tug with, and pull stuffing out of!
Favorite Food: I really like those training treats mom gives me... and baby carrots, yogurt, and peanut butter!
Favorite Walk: I prefer to run, but like going to parks and walking the neighborhood. I've also recently started biking with my mama!
Best Tricks: I know 25+ commands. My best ones are "target", "right", and sock-in-the-bucket.
Arrival Story: (For a longer version of my arrival story, read "3 years ago today" in my diary, written on June 1, 2005.) I was just a teeny tiny puppy, and I didn't have a home -- unless you consider the streets a home. Someone took pity on me and took me for a car ride and left me at a scary place. One day, I found myself sitting in a cage in a room that was a bit stinky 'cause all the other puppies in there kept wetting their crates. And it was very noisy, everydog was a barkin' up a storm. Everydog except me, that is. I found it all rather frightening and boring. One day some people took me home. Those three days were a blur, and I'm not sure how, but I got out and was running the streets again. I got tired and went to someone to say "Hi!" and they picked me up and drove me back to the scary place. I never saw that first "family" again, and after the staff at this place called the "Humane Society" was sure they weren't coming back for me, they stuck me in that same noisy, smelly room. I spent most of my days quietly sitting in my crate. I couldn't sit up all the way or else I would hit my head, so I kept my head low and looked out with big eyes. No one really noticed me. I couldn't figure out why, and it made me sad. Everyday, I would get to come out of my crate and play around sometimes, but it was always back to the cage for me.
Then one day, some people came into the room as usual. I watched from my cage as they took out several dogs and took them outside... then came back in. They roamed around. Finally one girl stopped by the cage next to mine. She fleetingly looked into my crate, but like so many others, she didn't really notice me. She was petting the pup next to me through the cage bars and it looked so wonderful, I scooted up close to my cage door too and never took my sad eyes off her. Finally, two fingers poked through the wires of my cage and she rubbed behind me ears. Then a worker at the HS was nearing my door, saying how I'd been there for close to three weeks and that I was a sweetie. My door opened and I came happily to the worker's arms, wagging my tail a lot but still staying quiet. They took me outside and I sniffed them all over and happily played and came back to them and gave them all my attention. They realized I was all legs and that my cage had not done me justice, as my black coat had blended into the darkness of my cage, making me nearly invisible. I sat next to the girl who had first pet me, and she started talking to me. It felt so wonderful. I was the happiest I had ever been in my short life of three months. But I was devastated when I went back into the cage. Why did it just never work out for me? Did these nice people not like me? The girl put a sticker on my info card, stuck 2 fingers through the bars again, spoke gentle words to me and then walked off. A few minutes later I was getting all cleaned up and I smelled really soapy. After a 2 hour wait, I was riding in the back seat of a car, on my way to my fur-ever home.
Bio: I had a very relaxed puppyhood after I found my forever. I got to play a lot, and I especially loved to play with my brother Max! I was an escape artist and I got out of the house or yard several times, but my mom never stopped trackin' me down until she'd found me and brought me back home. She didn't give up on me like other people did! I was very nervous of normal things at first -- like cereal clanking into a bowl or plastic bags rattling. But now I'm not scared anymore. At first I just learned the basics -- sit, down, shake, & come. When I was old enough, my mom set up obstacles in the yard and taught me agility. Several years later, mom bought real equipment. I've never set foot in a real ring, and I bet I probably never will, but we have fun anyway. My favorite obstacle is the chute. When I was about 3 years old, I went to my first official training class. I rocked! I breezed through basic and soared right into advanced, which was more of a challenge but still very fun. But we had a 2 week break between basic and advanced, and I was bored with nothing new to practice! So that was the first time mom picked up a clicker. She taught me dozens of new tricks or behaviors with it, which made everything even MORE fun! I'm a really smart girl, but walking on a leash is not my strong point. Nor is meeting new people or dogs. But really, I'm good with other dogs as long as I don't find their personality too annoying or threatening. And with people, I have to have some time to get to know them instead of having them jump right in with petting me. So for about 4 years, I enjoyed being my mom's center of attention (along with Max and Socks "of course"), but then we both got bored and looked for the next adventure. So mom started volunteering at an animal shelter that was in dire need of some dedicated supporters. Mom was doing lots of things, but eventually started fostering some that would have no future if they weren't helped. Mom was so proud of how I took most of the pups under my wing and made them feel comfortable. She says I make a very good foster sister. It's a lot of fun to have new dogs to play with and cuddle with, as long as they aren't pushy! So that's what we love to do now: save lives. When you look at the numbers of it all, half a dozen lives saved out of over 10,000 that are NOT saved (all in a year at just one shelter) may not seem like it's that big of a deal, but it sure is to the families who get to spend the rest of their lives in the happy company of those half a dozen. So my mom may have taught me many things, but I sure taught her a lot too, and now we try to spread the word about adoption & fostering so that others can be saved as well. My biggest wish is that everypup could have a loving life. We may not all have grand beginnings in life, but we all deserve bright futures.
Forums Motto: Such a Happy Girl
S&N: "Spay today - it's the only way" -- the only way to prevent an "oops" litter, that is. Neutering is so important, too. Unneutered males are more likely to get hit by cars, because they are more likely to be out roaming. Don't let your best friend down - spay or neuter!
If you're really set on having "just one" litter of puppies, consider fostering for a local shelter or rescue group! Pregnant, stray dogs are more common than you'd think and the ONLY way for their puppies to survive is in a foster home. And those are scarce enough already.
If money is an issue for you, CLICK HERE to find a low-cost spay/neuter clinic near you. Don't delay - getting your girl spayed is nothing on your pocketbook compared to taking care of a litter of puppies.
I dug this up from a year and a half ago. It's that time of year again when people are really into the spirit of giving (though I wish the enthusiasm lasted all year long!) so I added some more ideas to the original Action List, and am bringing it up to the top so that more people will have a chance to read it!! Feel free to leave comments or to p-mail me with questions, and let me know how successful your efforts are!
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Hi Everywoof!
A lot of pups out there are wondering, "What can I do to help shelter animals?" and the answer is... a lot! Your creativity, motivation, and determination can take you very far. But to get you started, we're putting together an action list to help get the word out and help the doggies and kitties in animal shelters safely find a furever home!
Increase Awareness
An important first step is to increase awareness about the animals in need -- they can never be forgotten.
-- Encourage news media (television news stations, local radios, newspapers, etc.) to feature an "Adoptable Pet of the Day/Week".
-- Write to city offcials (such as the mayor) about increasing support or funding for city-operated shelters. If it seems that no one pays attention to the animals in your city, speak up and make it an issue! Or, write a letter to the editor.
-- Put a flashy ad in the Pet Classifieds section of the newspaper for your local humane society or shelter.
-- Encourage your shelter or humane society to create a website or make pages for it's pets on petfinder.com to increase awareness and to keep in touch with the community. Become the photographer or webmaster!
-- Find out if your shelter has any flyers that need to be distributed, and pass them out at pet stores or on your work's bulletein board to let people know of the need for adoptive homes and shelter volunteers. If the shelter does not have any flyers, be the one to initiate this project!
-- Talk to your shelter about organizing a fundraising event. This would not only increase awareness, but the shelter would benefit immensely also! Or, simply participating in an existing fundraising event is just as much help. Get a community group that you are already active in to help out with the fundraising. See 109 Fundraising Ideas to get you started.
-- Become the "crazy pet person" among your friends and coworkers. Let them all know that if they are looking for a new pet, adoption is the way to go!
-- Are you a middle/high school or college student? Start a school club! Gather animal-loving folks such as yourself for after school meetings, volunteer opportunities, fundraising manpower, and so much more! P-mail me (Jasmine!!) if you are interested in getting started but don't know how!
Volunteer
For all of you who like to be right where the action is in supporting a good cause, volunteer work is for you. You can see the difference you make everyday!
-- Take care of the basic tasks for the comfort of the poochies and kitties. This can include: cleaning cages or pens, feeding and watering, grooming, exercising, and playing!
-- Offer to put your training skills to work with the older dogs at the shelter -- they often do not catch people's eye easily, but if they are well behaved it makes such a difference!
-- Offer to jazz up the kennels of the dogs that have been there for awhile -- find them a fresh collar or bandana to wear that is a bright color. Make them laminated signs to hang on their kennel door that highlights their best features. Give them an extra special grooming to make them shine, and give their kennel a fresh cleaning from top to bottom.
-- Put your vet skills to work -- even if you work at a practice already, the shelter would be very appreciative if you volunteered your time and skill on your days off to help the homeless pups. And plus, it's good public relations for your "real" vet practice!
-- Volunteer to help with the shelter website. You could take awesome, eye-catching pictures of the animals and come up with good descriptions for their adoption profiles.
-- Talk to your shelter about scheduling a "Meet N' Greet" day at your local pet store or park, where people can meet available animals and learn more about shelter programs. This is a great way to "rein in" possible adopters!
-- Offer to foster an animal or two. This frees up space in the shelters, and gives those animals that have a hard time finding a suitable home a chance to relax. Your ability to tell a potential adopter all about life with your foster greatly increases its chances of adoption!
-- Start a "Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound" program at your local shelter in conjunction with a YMCA or similar organization.
Donate
Here is our general "Shelter Item Wishlist"! Donating items is a great way to immediatly help the shelter. Check with your local shelter to see if they have any specific, immediate needs.
Cats
-Litter pans
-Bags of Litter
-Litter Scoopers
-Cat toys
-Soft Cat treats
-Small blankets
-Cat Brushes
-Cat Shampoo
-Flea Spray
-Cat Collars
-Metal Food Bowls
-Canned or dry cat food (check with shelter to see what kind of food they feed)
Dogs
-Flat Buckle Collars (all sizes)
-Leashes (all sizes)
-Dog Brushes
-Dog Nail Clippers
-Dog Shampoo
-Flea Spray/Shampoo
-Bath Brushes
-Dog Grooming Clippers
-Dog toys
-Hard rubber chew toys (i.e. Kongs)
-Soft dog treats
-Canned or dry dog food (check with shelter to see what kind of food they feed)
-Crates (all sizes)
-Big and small Blankets
-Dog Beds
-Metal Food Bowls
-Dog houses
-Small dog sweaters
-- Many of the non-medical items can be purchased cheaply or in bulk at stores such as the Dollar Tree, or in clearance sections of pet stores or chain stores such as Target. PetEdge also has some great bulk prices!!
-- Donate money. They can put this towards large, long-term projects that will likely have a big impact on the shelter.
-- Use www.goodsearch.com for all your searching needs -- choose your local shelter or humane society if they are listed, or support a national group. Money goes towards whatever cause you choose for every single search you make using this website.
-- Call local hotels or nursing homes and collect unwanted bedding to donate to the shelter. Make life easy on the shelter workers by cutting large comforters in half (or fourths!) and sewing up the free edge. This makes the blanket easier to wash and more manageable when putting in and out of the kennel.
-- If you love to crochet or knit, make some dog and cat blankets! This simple project would also be great for a scouting group.
-- Find out if your shelter has a printable wishlist (if not, see if you can make one that represents their unique needs) and post it in local pet supply stores. You might even be able to help the shelter partner with the stores to have a donation drive!
Prevention
-- Be a spay and neuter advocate to help prevent unwanted litters.
-- Say No to puppy mills -- let everyone (even the media! Especially the media!) know the horrors of these puppy mills. They have an effect on shelters as well.
-- Support your local Trap-Neuter-Release program to help control the feral cat population... many of the ideas on this list can also help a TNR group!
-- Help your shelter set up a Spay and Neuter campaign -- low-cost procedures done by volunteer vets can greatly reduce the amount of unwanted strays.
-- Build a humane community by starting with the young folks! See if you can invite a humane educator to give a presentation at your child's scout meeting or at their school or at any other event. Or have a conversation with them yourself. There are also interactive games online and printable worksheets that encourage safe behavior around animals and also promote kindness to animals.
-- Scouting groups can do a lot to benefit animals... if anyone would like some ideas, p-mail me!!
So there you have it pups, no reason why you can't find something, even just one thing, on that list that you can participate in. Have you thought of something else that should be on our Action List? Join the Pound Puppy Project and let us know, or send me a p-mail! Or both!
Maxwell had been on a road trip, Stewie had been on a road trip, but not me! Finally, a month ago I went on my first road trip. Just thought I'd bark about how much fun it was! It was a long car trip, lots of driving, but I got used to it very quickly. I was such a good girl and always went potty during potty breaks, and the only bad thing I ever did in the hotel rooms was bark when I'd see people walking past the window. I even was good around other dogs! I went in an elevator for the first time, and you'd think I was a pro. I was so well behaved. I LOVED the drive-ins at fast food restaurants. I even got to go to a drive-in movie theater, though to be honest I was sleeping the entire time, hehe. I also got to get my feet wet, literally, in a lake. I got to attend a doggie class and get lots and lots of treats and pets and have lots of fun! I went walking all over the place, in many different parks. I even visited a historical fort!! So much to see, so much to do, and I was great the whole time. It pays to be a good dog. :)
Mom's been videotaping most of our training sessions for the dumbbell retrieve. Today it actually LOOKS like a respectable dumbbell retrieve!! Still needs polishing and we have to work on distance, but mom is SOOOOO proud of us. It wasn't quite as hard as mom thought it would be, but it was definitely one of the toughest things we've worked on.
My Account
2005 Valentine's Day Party!
