140 characters of fame.

I'm pretty excited about this shout-out from Thompson Square - even though I publicly admitted that I sing love songs to CBB... (which probably isn't all that surprising, huh?!)

on our way to getting some answers.

Where have we been for the past four days? I've been busy making homemade food for the princess, while she has been lying around and being sick. Well, that's not completely true; on the days that she felt better, she went to daycare and had some fun with her pals. But we both stayed home today because she had an appointment with a veterinary specialist in the hopes that we could get some answers about this GERD issue.

It was a frustrating appointment. First of all, I specifically asked over the phone if I should bring a copy of her vet records, and I was told not to. Then, when I got there and explained what the past three years of GERD have been like for Claire, they asked if I brought a copy of her vet records. Yeah. I was pissed. I called up my girls at Banfield and asked them to quickly fax over her records, but they misunderstood and faxed over her vaccination records. I offered to call them back and have them send everything, but the specialist said, "Well, I have to get to my next appointment, but on your way out, make another appointment and then have them fax it before you come in next."

...And then I burst into tears. I told her that it's breaking my heart to hear Claire wake up crying in the middle of the night. I told her that I haven't been sleeping because I'm so worried about her. I told her how she won't eat anything but homemade food or else she throws up all over the place. I told her that I need her to do something today, because I'm not a vet and I can't fix this, but she can.

So she ordered a complete food allergy panel which will be sent out to a lab in Texas. We won't have results for the next two weeks, so in the meantime, she gave me prescription hypoallergenic food for Claire and prescription probiotics. $600 later and we're finally getting somewhere.

Keep praying those prayers and thinking happy thoughts for us. Lord knows the next two weeks are going to go by very slowly as we wait for results. And thank you so very much for all of your emails, texts, FB messages, and tweets - I read them all to Claire, and I'm positive that if she could speak, she'd say thank you too! Knowing that you all love her so much is the best kind of support I could ask for!

   

a giveaway brought to you by: barkbox!

Remember how, just a mere two weeks ago, I wrote this post about BarkBox? Welllll... because of all of your comments here, on FB, and on Twitter, they have decided to participate in a giveaway! Pretty sweet, right?! What can I say; you asked for it and here it is!

For those of you who didn't read the product review that we did a few weeks ago about this awesome service, here's a quick synopsis, but for more details about the items featured in March's BarkBox, go here!

Please let us introduce you to BarkBox. Here's how it works: you subscribe to this service and you get a package delivered to your house each month that is full of hand-picked treats, toys, and products galore! Basically, it's like BirchBox for dogs - but it's even better, since 10% of each subscription is donated to shelters and rescue groups.

TO ENTER:
...leave a comment below to let me know that you want in!

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES: [and leave separate comments, please!]
...follow this blog with Google Friend Connect located on the left sidebar
...blog/tweet/FB the giveaway and leave the URL

This giveaway will be closed as of Sunday, April 15th at 12:00pm.
  

   

angel eyes.

When I went to BarkWorld back in October, I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Courtney Johnson from Explore.org - an organization that uses media to promote the philanthropic acts of others. Amazing, right?! Well, interestingly enough, Explore.org has a social media community on Facebook called Dog Bless You, which specifically focuses on the selfless acts of animals. [Seriously, how much more incredible can this organization possibly be?!] Courtney contacted me a few days ago and let me know that they are currently running a Facebook campaign called "Angel Eyes" - and I want to challenge you all to join in this very worthy cause.

For the remainder of this month, Dog Bless You is running a "like" drive: for every 5,000 new "likes" on the Dog Bless You Facebook page, Explore.org will donate a guide dog to a blind individual through an accredited guide dog organization. There are two ways in which you can get involved - and my hope is that you will do both! First, take two seconds and click the "like" button on the Facebook page for Dog Bless You. Next, spread the word! Share the link to this post on your own Facebook page to let others know about the amazing work that Explore.org is doing. The more people who know about this campaign, the more people can help!

  

the five people you need to know.

I'm back from the BarkWorld conference (and missing my new friends already!), and I have so much to tell you all! I'm going to break it up into multiple blog posts over the next couple months so that I don't have a 234901245562 word post coming at you all at once! Aren't I sweet? :)

In this post, I want to introduce you to five great people who you really just need to know. Seriously, your life will be better with them in it. I have BarkWorld to thank, and now you all will have me to thank! So here we go!

1.  Neely Raffellini is the mastermind behind The Giving Paw and The Pet Entrepreneur. The former is a pet wish list service where you can register your pet so that family and friends can help you with cash gifts for all of your pets needs and wants. The latter will allow you to contact Neely so that she can help you start up your own pet-related business - and she is currently helping me launch my own (details are soon to follow!) so I can personally vouch for her awesomeness. She will help you take your idea and run with it, educating you about the essential tools that you will need for your business to succeed, and she'll stick with you every step of the way! If she can deal with me and my thousands of questions, she will certainly be able to help you!

2.  Lauren Girard is hands down one of my new favorite people, and her dog, Paige, is one of my new favorite dogs [Watch out, Lauren, because I might steal her if I get the chance!] Lauren is so down-to-earth, hilariously funny (she can keep up with my humor, how about that!), and one of the most genuine people I have ever met. She is a huge proponent of clicker training, and her work with Paige is proof that positive reinforcement is the way to go! Lauren and Paige are in a number of commercials, have been featured on the David Letterman show, and have had an article written about them in Readers Digest. Visit them at Lauren&Paige; watch some videos, be amazed, and feel your heart melt when you see these two together!

3.  Katherine Moore and I hit it off right away - and why wouldn't we, as two gorgeous brunettes who love their dogs?! Katie has a blog entitled Life With Arie (I, for one, love the title!) where she shares tips on nutrition and pet care, in addition to sharing stories about her beautiful white German Shepherd, Arie. When I started reading Katie's blog, I was instantly pulled in because of her writing style - she writes like she talks, so her personality just shines right through! I do have to tell you all a little secret about Katie, however: she is also a master at making animal faces (particularly the llama). I think you all should visit her blog and leave a comment telling her to post a picture of this imitation... Just don't tell her that you heard it from me!

4.  Rabon Major is the fresh new face that you'll see at the Atlanta Humane Society. She has been working extremely hard to ensure that all goes smoothly for the upcoming opening of their new (and incredible) site in Alpharetta GA. In addition, she manages ALL of the AHS social media - follow her on Twitter (@atlantahumane) and "Like" the AHS page on Facebook to stay up-to-date about the dogs and cats of AHS, AHS rescue operations, and all of the fundraising events.

5.  Lorien Clemens of Pet Hub had me astounded when she told me all about this business. Pet Hub is your one-stop-shop for all pet owners. But what had me amazed is the part where you can create a profile to streamline all of the information about your pet (care instructions, medical conditions and treatments, veterinary providers, likes/dislikes, etc) and send the profile to those who are caring for them while you are away. In addition, the service provider watching your pet while you're on vacation can write updates about your pet which will then be emailed and texted to you so that you will know what's happening when it's happening. Thanks to a QR tag affixed to your pet's collar, if he or she gets lost, anyone who finds them can type in the URL to pull up the profile, allowing your pet to come home to you as soon as possible. Check. It. Out.

There are a number of other fantastic people who I met at the conference, and I will absolutely be telling you all about them in upcoming posts. I'll give you a chance to get acquainted with these five for now, but be sure to check back for more!

...That was still a 234901245562 word post...
  
  

freezy pups.

Our friends Michelle and Toby over at My Tail Hurts From Wagging So Much had a Freezy Pups giveaway. It was my first time entering a blog giveaway, and they had quite a few entries, so I wasn't expecting to win but thought it would be fun to participate anyway.

But I was checking out my mentions on Twitter yesterday and... WE WON!! I am so excited!! I'll let you know how Claire likes Freezy Pups and post a little review of sorts! In the meantime, though, you need to check out Michelle and Toby's blog. They've got a lot of fun stuff going on over there, and it's one of my favorite blogs to follow! Enjoy!

bet you didn't know...

I have now been on Twitter for almost two months, and in that time, I've been able to connect with a lot of people who love dogs as much as I do! (If you aren't following me, you should be: lifewithclaire). One of the people I follow works for Delightfully Dog which is an online community that works to connect pet lovers. I love reading their tweets and I love their website, so you should check it out too. Anyway, one of their tweets from today was: "Fun fact #14: Dogs don’t like rain because the sound is amplified and hurts their very sensitive ears." Did you know that? I didn't know that! I was intrigued about Fun Facts #1-13, so I went to their website and found a whole long list of interesting things! Here are my favorites - along with my commentary:

4.    The longest lived dog, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, was an Australian Cattle Dog, named Bluey, who lived to be 29. [I am hoping that Claire will live until she's 30 and will be in excellent health that entire time. Hey, a girl can dream!]

9.    The world’s smartest dogs are thought to be the border collie, the poodle, and the golden retriever. [And the Claire.]

17.  A greyhound can run as fast as 45 miles an hour. [Claire has been tracked by a police officer at running 30mph. Part lab and part whippet? Sometimes I think so.]

25.  Dogs are mentioned 14 times in the Bible. [I don't know about that, but you can bet that I'm going to try and find those verses after this! I'm curious as to what they say!]

29.  A dog’s whiskers are touch-sensitive hairs called vibrissae. They are found on the muzzle, above the eyes and below the jaws, and can actually sense tiny changes in airflow. [Sometimes Claire winces when I touch hers when I am petting her - such a sweet and sensitive girl!]

38.  Dogs and cats turn in circles before lying down because in the wild this instinctive action turns long grass into a bed. [And when Claire does this in my bed, she always ends up moving the blankets off of me and over to her side!]

46.  An estimated 1 million dogs in the United States have been named the primary beneficiary in their owner's will. [Primary beneficiary? I can see putting some provisions in there to ensure that your dog will continue to have a great quality of life, but as for the primary beneficiary... that's a little much, even for me.]

47.  At the end of the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life", an ultrasonic whistle, audible only to dogs, was recorded by Paul McCartney for his Shetland sheepdog. [And this song has just been downloaded from iTunes...]

58.  3 dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic, a Pomeranian and two Pekingese. [All small dogs because they were the only ones allowed on the boat? Or just because they had so much energy that they could keep swimming for hours on end?]

63.  Dog nose prints are as unique as human finger prints and can be used to accurately identify them. [Taking nose prints and keeping them on file should be a common practice then, wouldn't you think?!]

I've picked my top ten favorites and listed them for you, but if you want more, go here!

we're on twitter!

I consider myself to be among the technologically savvy, but let me tell you: I'm still figuring out this Twitter thing. Until now, I have sworn that I would not join... but today Leigh convinced me that it's good for blogging purposes, and so I gave in. At this moment, I have exactly 0 followers, and it's really not good for my self-esteem. That being said, if you'd like to contribute to my feelings of self-worth, please follow me (and Claire!) on Twitter at lifewithclaire. Thanks guys!