HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

What is this mysterious spectre? No, its not a Titanic-exhibit-gone-creepy.  Rather, it’s the new Ghost Ship at Morey’s Piers. Nope, no rotating midway Viking ship here, but rather an interactive haunted house. For your next volunteer amusement park “thank you” or wish granting trip for teens, there is finally something more at the park for those not of the faint of heart, but the too faint of stomach or faint neck for roller coasters.

In 1999, Pet Sitters International held their first Take Your Dog to Work Day.  300 employers officially participated.  Today, thousands of workplaces around the world actively participate in the event.   This year, the event takes place tomorrow, Friday, June 25, 2009.  It is suggested that if you choose to take your dog to work, that you follow the appropriate protocol.The first two are recommended by TYDTWD, the remaining are tips from HoundsGood.com

1) Tell your employer about the special day and ask permission to bring your pal in.
2) Make sure your dog is up to date on routine vaccinations, and is in good health.

3) Bring treats, a pick up bag for accidents, and a water dish or bowl. A dog bed or pillow works for someone who has a desk job.
4) If you don’t have a private office, put a crate in your car. If you are somehow called out to an appointment where you can’t take your dog, your coworkers will have peace of mind. For example, you may want to use the bathroom sometime.
5) In the morning, walk your dog around to meet people in the office that normally come in contact with you. This way nobody is a stranger.

This year’s theme is “Second Hand Dogs,” promoting the importance of selecting a shelter or pound dog when looking for a new companion. Petfinder is the official 2009 TYDTWD adoption partner.

Are you taking your dog to work tomorrow? If you do, let me know. I would love to hear about your experiences, and I wouldn’t mind a photo, either!  If I get enough, I’ll feature my readers in a story about their big day.

Call me just plain silly.  Now that we have that out of the way, I have been thinking about the month of May.  Alex, who is head dog over at HoundsGood HQ will be celebrating a momentous tenth birthday.  That’s seventy in “dog years,” except I did read that as far as canine maturity goes, seven years per human year are only an average and smaller breeds sometimes age a little slower than that.  In otherwords, for a dachshund, that is not as remarkable as a Great Dane turning ten, but I still can’t believe it.  It was only yesterday, it seems, that one Halloween day I returned home with a seventeen month old bundle of long haired dachshund fur on the seat next to me.   Oh, that’s not a euphemism.  He left a few dust bunnies on the upholstery after I lifted him out of the car.

I had the idea to send out birthday invitations, and maybe even upload photos of the birthday dog at VistaPrint.  Instead of a generic picture of a dog, they would have no doubt in their mind who the guest of honor was.  Everything comes out a heck of a lot more professional looking than what my printer can muster.  I am pretty handy at design work, but the price I would have to spend for the quality of stock that VistaPrint offers makes ordering from them a bargain.   In the past, I had the choice of prining them out on paper at home and having the colors bleed through or paying a fortune for full color at the copy shop.  It just doesn’t make sense unless you do a large run.

Since the birthday boy has just about everything his heart could possibly desire, maybe I will request donations to my favorite rescues in lieu of presents.  That would be easy to print up on the card.  Everyone could bring their dogs over for Frosty Paws dog ice cream, of course!