It's Easter Weekend!

Astrid wants to update her blog and show off her Easter outfit. Of course, the bandana is another Astrid Nicole Etcetera original, available only at Astrid Nicole's Etsy store. Astrid special ordered the matching Easter basket and mom filled it with the plastic eggs. On Easter morning, the eggs will be filled with treats, freeze dried liver and pieces of Mellow Mutts, and hidden around the house. This will be a true test of the nose of Astrid Nicole!

We continue our mission with our Etsy store of giving back to the Santa Cruz Co Humane Society in Nogales, AZ for the great care they gave Astrid during the undetermined length of time she spent in their shelter. Due to the generosity of pet owner's, we have many pets out there looking way stylin' in new bandanas and collor scrunchies, while the guests of the shelter are enjoying newly poured cement slabs in their kennels. So far, Astrid's Etsy store has been able to provide funds to pour three of these cement slabs.

Visit the SCHS website and click on a few of the dogs listed that need homes. You'll find some enjoying these cement slabs! Of course, a project of this magnitude takes time, but when completed, with the help of Astrid's friends, other pet owners and simply those that want to support our cause, we excitedly anticipate the next project we can turn our Etsy shop's attention to.

We Are Getting Cleaner and Healthier With Each Sale

Thanks to friends, supporters and their fashion forward canines, Astrid was able to pour another cement slab in one kennel at her former shelter, the Santa Cruz Co Humane Society in Nogales, AZ. She met her goal of raising another $175 - the price of the cement slab - and had it on it's way a few days before Valentine's Day. Because of several recent adoptions, some new canine guests of the shelter will be enjoying the healthier surfaces this will provide while waiting for their forever homes. As space frees up at the no kill shelter, dogs thought to be most adoptable are brought in from the Animal Care and Control in Nogales. Animal Care and Control is the agency charged with the rescuing of strays off the streets of this US/Mexico border community and are taken to their holding center where they stay (for 3 days) awaiting pickup by their owners or.....well, you know. More adoptions at the shelter mean lots more room and opportunities for more great dogs.

As exciting as the fashion and glamour of Astrid's Etsy store, Astrid Nicole Etcetera, is she still found time for a few additonal accomplishments. Having met the testing requirements of Therapy Dogs, Inc. back in November, she's begun a regular curcuit of visitations which include living and rehabilitation facilities along with Alzheimer Centers. Just yesterday, Sunday March 1, we spent a couple of hours visiting and talking with the residents of The Havens and The Laurels in Charlotte. Pictured above is Astrid, wearing her Canine Good Citizen bandana, waiting to leave for the ride there. The stories of the pets they have to share are such fun to listen too and we always see how pleased they are when we part ways, reminding them 'see you again very soon'.

Therapy visitations, learning at classes and Day Camp keep this big, black and brown dog along with her family very busy!

Hands and Heart for Nogales, AZ Animal Shelter - our Valentine goal

This isn't Astrid, but it could be mistaken for her...they look a lot alike. This is Negra. Negra lived at the Santa Cruz Co Humane Society in Nogales, AZ at the same time Astrid did. Negra is still there, Astrid has been with us for over two years now. Notice that the floor of Negra's kennel is just rocky dirt. That's what the land is like in the high desert country where Nogales, AZ is with its elevation of over 3800 feet. Many of the kennel floors are now a nice cement slab, with gravel in the other half of the kennel. That is much cleaner and healthier for the resident dogs and much, much more comfortable. This is a story of how we are working to help the shelter make all the kennels cleaner, healthier and more comfortable.

We reached our goal of raising $175 with Astrid's Etsy dog boutique and we did it just in time for Christmas. The Santa Cruz Co Humane Society in Nogales, Az where Astrid made her home for a period of time is pouring cement slab in every kennel and each slab costs roughly $175 . To reach our goal, we sold bandanas, dog collar scrunchies and greeting cards through our online Etsy shop.

Visiting southern Arizona this Christmas, '08, we stopped at the shelter to pass out treats to the guests there and to hand deliver our check for $175. The improvements we saw at the Santa Cruz Co Humane Society in Nogales were extensive. When we found Astrid there, she was in with two border collie type dogs that had spent their entire young lives in that shelter. My husband and I dubbed them 'the bros' for lack of knowing their names, if they had any names at all. These two dogs quarreled a lot and maybe Astrid was, with their shortage of space and her even temperment, about the safest dog they could put in with them. We are so happy that, for some time now, 'the bros' have been gone. You see, the Santa Cruz Co Humane Society is a 'no kill' shelter so someone, somewhere, must have seen the hidden miracles in these two scruffy black dogs.

As in all shelters, there was, is and probably always will be, over crowding. Compounding this overcrowding problem, was a lack of seperate kennels and many dogs were kept in one large kennel. This situation has dramatically changed, too! There are seperate kennels now, with one or two dogs in each. They are seperated by fencing according to their temperament and size. Now, each kennel is continuing the makeover with a cement pad being poured in each. Helping this project to reach its goal, Astrid continues to raise money with her Astrid Nicole Etcetera doggie boutique.

We had a wonderfully successful Christmas season. This being the first year that we have worked on our Etsy for Nogales' Shelter project, we had no idea what to expect. We were kept mighty busy as people we knew from dog social networking sites bought Astrid's bandanas, collar scrunchies, and greeting cards. We were kept busy by people we didn't know, that had heard of our project, or simply liked our things and wanted to share them with their own dog or someone else's dog. Now, we are headed into 2009 with the same goal...to help the shelter continue to pour cement pads in ALL kennels at the Santa Cruz Co Humane Society in Nogales, ensuring that the canine guests there will have a healthy and clean environment while, like Astrid did, they wait for a special forever home to open its heart and doors. We'd like to reach our second goal, a second cement pad paid for by the Astrid Nicole Etcetera shop by Valentines Day. We've even given our St Valentine's Day goal a name...hands and hearts for Nogales, AZ animal shelter.

And Astrid? How is she doing? She just became a member of Therapy Dogs, Inc. She is spreading joy one touch at a time in nursing homes and alzheimer's centers in Charlotte, NC, where we all moved just five short months after she took that ride home to her forever home. She also considers herself representative of shelter dogs every where after earning her AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate. She attends day camp once a week where she spends an entire day playing with her 'own kind'. She has probably pretty much forgotten shelter life. We wish all dogs could.

90% of the proceeds from each sale are donated to the Santa Cruz Co Humane Society in Nogales, AZ. The remaining 10% will be used to buy fabric for making new items for Astrid's Astrid Nicole Etcetera doggie boutique on Etsy and to pay postage when we ship these items out. We want to help the shelter finish the cement pouring project and we want to be part of the next project, and the one after that.

This story would not be complete without this message. Please, when you consider getting your next canine companion, consider adopting, not shopping.

'Tis The Season

It's about time for an update from Astrid and Astrid's mom on the progress towards the goal of pouring a cement pad in a kennel at the Santa Cruz Humane Society in Nogales AZ. This shelter is where Astrid was a guest for an undetermined length of time, until the age of about two when she came to live in her forever home. As you've probably read, our goal is to use the proceeds from our Etsy shop to benefit Astrid's former shelter. We are now only $22.00 away from the $175.00 it takes to pour one cement slab in a kennel at the shelter. We have names like Monty, Shae, Sasha Louise, brother and sister Liberty and Justice, Sable and Chi, Augie, Dakota, Sassy while there are others we don't even know their names that bought wearables for their dogs, notes for writing and tags for gift giving from our Astrid Nicole Etcetera Etsy shop. Thank you to all and a special thanks to the Santa Cruz Humane Society that featured Astrid as a success story, spurring interest and sales that helped towards our goal.

Astrid's Etsy shop has done more than raised money to help a struggling shelter. It's taught Astrid's mom a little about internet social networking that has brought us into contact with others that hold animal welfare high on their list of priorities. It's also given us an avenue to spread information through informal channels that hopefully spread the word of care and concern, inspiring some type of action that will create a better world for pets and homeless pets.

The period of time that has passed since writing the previous 'My Goal' blog has not been without additional excitement. Astrid visited with Santa and that is what the silly picture accompanying this blog is all about. Even more importantly, Astrid has passed her Therapy Dog, Inc. test and has completed two of the three required observed visitations. After successfully completing the third visitation this Sunday, Dec. 21, we will be honored to turn in our evaluations with passing grades and become a full card carrying therapy dog team. Actually, make that teams because her dad has also tested with her and she and he are considered one team, while she and I (Astrid's mom) are considered another.

We are really enjoying visiting with guests of homes and rehabilitation centers where we see mostly the elderly. We've been told that the list of opportunities to work as a therapy team is almost infinite and includes schools, libraries and reading programs with kids, people with various challenges, etc. Right now, we think we will concentrate on gaining more experience with these centers we've visited and besides, as we we leave we always say "see you soon". Many times, this remark is met with the inquiry "when?" We don't like to dissapoint.

My Goal

Astrid's words: Me and my bud Santa would like to tell you about a project of ours.

Before coming to live in my 'forever home', I lived at the Santa Cruz Humane Society in Nogales, AZ. I lived there even on Christmas, 2006, but on December 28, this person who had come and looked at me and all my friends over and over and over and...well, you get the idea...came back. She went inside and then this man came and got me and took me inside too. This person had this man with her and they were all smiley and stuff. They put this new collar on me and hooked on this matching leash. Then, we went outside and these new people asked me to get in their car. The rest is history and you can read all about it here in my other blogs, but let's get right down to business.

When I lived at the Santa Cruz Humane Society, they took as good care of me as they could. You see, the shelter is what is called a 'no kill' shelter. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'll tell you this...as other new dogs arrived, they stayed except for the ones that got to get in cars with people with smiley faces and new collars and leashes, like I did. Another thing you need to know is that they have always had a hard time with money. My shelter is right on the Mexico/US border. Yeah...real and true. You can take a 5 minute walk and walk right into Mexico. We were poor. Dirt poor. Literally. The floor of our kennels was dirt.

There have been lots of changes at the Santa Cruz Humane Society. My mom and dad visited when they were back in Arizona last Christmas, 2007. When they came home, they told me how there were new indoor kennels and some new outdoor kennels and the whole place was just looking soooo much better! But there was one thing...the floor of the kennels were still dirt. Now, I don't want you to feel sorry for me or anything but there's another thing I need to tell you. Sleeping on dirt hurts sometimes and it's not all that healthy, so the shelther is trying to change all that and they've all ready started! They have some money all ready and are pouring concrete into half of each kennel and having the other half be gravel. This give the guests of the shelter choices and will make it easier for the volunteers at the kennel to keep them cleaner.

BUT...they don't have all the money they need. Each cement pad costs $175, so what I'm trying to do is help them pour more cement pads. I donate ALL the money I make with my Etsy shop to them. I hope I can help more of my friends that are guests of the Santa Cruz Humane Society in Nogales, AZ be healthy and more comfortable with these new cement floors.

The end.

Astrid

Astrid, the party girl

Astrid loves a good party. From PetSmart grand openings to Petco's Halloween parties, we try to take in as many as possible. One of her first was a fashion show where she wore nothing but a necklace. No high priced outfits for her! She strolled the runway self confident that her good looks would carry her through. We wish we had a recording of the emcee calling out "work it, Astrid, work it!" She walked out, twirled around once and sat when told. Of course, the prize went to one of the cuties wearing an expensive outfit bought at the Petco store, and well it should. We are there for the experience and for socialization.

Socialization. That's the very reason we attended this year's Petco Halloween party. Astrid's costume was a bunch of cotton balls stuck together and she went as...you guessed it, a bunny. It was fun to hear the store employees remember her entry in the costume contest last year when she wore only a big band-aid on her rear end. What was she? A pain in the butt, of course.

It's fun having Astrid. Without her social life, I probably wouldn't have much of one myself. I'm glad she turned out to be a party girl.

Clicker Training, Shaping, Rally O,....oh, my!

Last Sunday's Rally O/Clicker Training/CGC class was a lot of fun. It's an advanced class for dogs, meaning those that have gone through basic obedience are welcome, and we don't have a definite focus. This suits Astrid and us just fine, because we attend classes for the fun of it all. If we were younger we might zero in on Astrid's specific talents, or ours, but we're not and we don't. We've already passed our CGC so I guess we could say cute tricks and Rally O are as specific as we get.

The instructor said something about the air conditioning being cranked up too high in the classroom so she had set up a Rally O course in the parking lot. We must be a little frustrating as students partly because of our enthusiasm as we're out on the course as she is setting it up. We navigate the course almost flawlessly but there is something missing. The instructor says Astrid needs to look at me more often. Translation: Astrid never looks up at me at all and she needs to. This is something I've never insisted on. I know she is turned into my voice, at least I HOPE she is. She certainly seems to be as I keep up a constant chatter talking to her about what we're doing and about to do next. Right now, I'm focusing on a novice Rally O course. Maybe I should look ahead to the more advanced courses and I'll understand the importance of her focusing not only her head but her eyes on me more often.

Today, there's a Halloween costume contest at Petco that we're going to. While being a great promotional tool for the store, it offers a perfect opportunity to socialize. This will be our second year. Last year, Astrid went with a big band-aid on her rear end. Her costume? A 'pain in the butt' of course! This year, we'll be sporting a Halloween print bandana from her own Astrid Nicole Etcetera collection and a poof of cotton on her rear end. Her costume? A dressed up bunny! We don't do much for the store in the way of purchasing their Halloween costumes for dogs, but we sure have fun.

Tomorrow it's another training class...hope we'll focus on clicker training, or Rally O, or shaping behavior. Maybe it's mom with the focus issues!?

Always Good, But Now...WOW

Right from the day she came to live with us, December 28, 2006, Astrid was what would generally be considered a 'good dog'. As I already noted, someone had loved and worked with her at one time so I have no idea how she ended up in a shelter. She came with undeserved 'baggage' though. She was labeled a jumper at the shelter with them saying she jumps fences and runs away. I'm sure this was enough for her to be rejected by potential homes. It's been almost two years now and believe me, Astrid is no jumper. Other than that, they didn't seem to know much about Astrid and she was just one of the homeless. Astrid's picture here is the one that appeared in PetFinder on the internet. She was at the Santa Cruz Humane Society in Nogales, AZ.

Astrid had self confidence. Nothing scared her and she wasn't 'needy' meaning she didn't demand our attention every moment. This was one of the things on our list of what we were looking for in a dog. Strange, but I can't remember the other stuff on the list. Astrid must have met or exceeded all of our desires. A dog's personality needs to match what an individual desires in a dog and our match was made in heaven.

It's true that we develop patience and wisdom as we get older. With our new dog, I wanted to right all the wrongs I had done with the training of the 5 dogs that had come into our lives over the years. Not that we didn't enjoy one another, the other dogs and us, but we never really knew how to teach. Maybe the internet has made the difference in making information readily available on dog training and it's many methods. That, and having patience and wisdom that comes with my years.

Last night we took Astrid out in the car at night, something she never gets to do, and took her to the Petsmart that just opened in the neighborhood. She was excited. It looks different to me at night with the lights and all, so I'm sure it was quite an experience for her. She reminded me of a little kid, and occasionally started to pull this way or that, so we had to just sit down and collect ourselves for a moment a couple of times. This seems to break her focus and brings her back to me and the task at hand...navigating the store in a well mannered way. The way I do this is to say "Okay, Astrid, sit. Now think about what you are doing". I know better, I think, but I'll be darned if she doesn't look like she's sitting there thinking!

It's official. Astrid is now a Canine Good Citizen!

The American Kennel Club offers a program called the Canine Good Citizen. It is a certificate program where the dog takes a 10 point test and if they pass, are rewarded with a certificate signifying that they have shown they have good manners both in the community and at home. Passing this test was very important to Astrid and me. First, Astrid is a shelter dog with a motto of 'Adopt, Don't Shop'. That makes it very important to us in proving what good pets shelter dogs can make. Secondly, there is a wave of discrimination sweeping the country against certain breeds of dogs and Astrid just happens to look like one of them. Astrid is a self appointed spokes dog for big, black and brown, shelter dogs everywhere.

Passing the test did not come without it's exciting moments. Most was a piece of cake for well mannered Astrid, but she is a bit of a social butterfly and the testing took place smack in the middle of a AKC Responsible Pet Ownership Festival. Cars, people, dogs...and yes, a few kitties looking for good homes everywhere. We had practiced so much both in and out of the classromm that most of it was routine and practically mechanical for Astrid. That is until we came to 'come when called'. I left Astrid in a sitting position with the evaluator and walked a short distance away. Turning, the route was lined with onlookers with their dogs. Calling Astrid, she immediately began running towards me when suddenly she spotted an Australian Shepherd on the sidelines that she must have thought was mighty cute, because she made a brief side trip to deliver a few kisses to the Aussie. I must have gotten out 'the voice' and called her a little louder, giving a clap of the hands (which I never do). That brought her concentration back to me, and brought her running over, completing the testing.

I'm not sure where we will go from here. It's often remarked that Astrid would make a good therapy dog. Rally Obedience is fun, and also would keep me moving. Whatever direction we take, Astrid is pure joy. Big, black and brown shelter dogs rock!

Big Black and Brown Dogs Rock, ya know....

Today we introduce our blog, Big Black and Brown Dog. Sounds more like the title of a children's book, but hopefully with more insight into what a big black dog is and can be. Today will also be the only time we will make the following statement. From here on in, it'll be all good news. Promise. A big black and brown dog is the very last to be picked in an animal shelter as a pet. Why? Don't know exactly but conjectures abound. Our goal will not be to try to convince our readers to adopt big black and brown dogs because they are best. They are, but that's not going to be the point of our blog. Our main desire with this blog is to make it a fun read about Astrid. I'll use the adjective 'our' all the time . 'Our' consists of me, Astrid's mom, who was blessed with being human this time around and having thumbs so I can hit the space bar and type this blog, and Astrid, the big black and brown dog.

Astrid was a guest at a shelter when we got her. We found her in the Santa Cruz Co. Human Society in Nogales, AZ. I don't know what would have happened to Astrid if we hadn't taken her. She may have lived out her entire life there as it is a 'no kill' shelter. The Santa Cruz Co. Humane Society in Nogales struggles financially all of the time. The last time we visited was towards the end of last year, 2007. Conditions at the shelter were probably tolerable when we found Astrid but her spirit helped her thrive. However, when we visited last, the conditions, through a generous donation, had gone from tolerable to a facility the staff, board of directors, volunteers and guests could be proud of.

That's just a little background of Astrid, the big black and brown dog. If I had started this blog when we first got her, I could have documented how she attended Petsmart's Basic training course, beginning just two weeks after we got her. I could have blogged about how we thought she had agression issues with other dogs and how we found out it was purely a 'leash issues'. She now attends doggie day camp, an indoor camp where 25 dogs freely interact all day long. We would have blogged about trying to use a harness on a dog that had been taught to walk by ones side, loose leash but we didn't know. That would have been a really good read because Astrid in a harness was nothing short of comical! Silly humans. We've missed a lot of fun to blog about but we will start right now. Astrid will have her second anniversary with us December 28. Because we don't know her exact birthday, we designate December 28th her birthday, also. We were told she was two when we got her, but some gray popping up around her mouth and few gray strays on her head leads us to wonder if she may be a little older. We don't care. Astrid is pure black and brown canine joy.