Paws for a Cause

Mark Twain once said, "The more I know about people, the better I like my dogs." That pretty much sums up how I feel about my fur kids. Josh and I are the proud parents of four: Motorhead and Tiger, the cats; and Tinker and Tipsy, the dogs. The cats have been with me since they were born in 2004. They moved with me to my first home in Stockton, then back to Almena before we finally settled down in Phillipsburg. Tinker, a miniature pinscher mix, joined the family on Thanksgiving weekend in 2007. Tipsy, a rat terrier mix, rounded out the crew in the spring of 2009.

I'm not sure when the decision was made to get a dog, but I knew that if we were going to get one, I wanted it to be a shelter dog. The idea of buying a dog from a pet store or breeder just didn't sit right with me, especially knowing that there are so many dogs and cats in shelters in need of a good home. Plus, my grandparents had always been huge advocates of shelter dogs so that was also a big factor in our decision to adopt. Josh decided on a min pin, and I went to work searching on www.petfinder.com. Tinker was adopted from a shelter in Wamego. Tipsy came from a shelter in Junction City. She had been advertised as a min pin, but when we got there, we clearly saw that she was anything but! There was no way I was going to leave her in the shelter though, so home to Phillipsburg she went and became our fourth, and final (for the moment) fur kid. Aren't they cute???

Tiger and Motorhead

 

 Tinker and Tipsy

 

So while some people have human kids that walk on two legs, mine are covered in fur and walk on all fours. Since we adopted the girls, I too have become an advocate for animal shelters. For the past couple of years, Josh and I have put together a team to participate in the trivia night fundraiser for our local shelter, the Second Chance Homeless Pet Society. We've also made it a birthday tradition treat my dad to lunch at the Humane Society of the High Plains' Soup'r Bowl soup cook-off. My newest conquest is to complete the Mutts and Monsters 5K Walk/Run and Costume Contest to benefit the Western Plains Animal Refuge.

 

The run is scheduled for October 26, which gives me right at 6 weeks to prepare. Thank goodness for the Couch to 5K app on iTunes. Yesterday was day 1 of week 1 of the workout and I'm still alive today to tell about it. I've never had the desire or motivation to complete a 5K, but figured this would be a good reason and place to start. Plus, you can even run it with your dog and participate in the costume contest if you want! I'm still debating on that part. Registration starts soon and more information can be found at http://www.westernplainsanimalrefuge.org/.