Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh boy, it's finally here!! It's Valentine's Day!!! But before we get to my big date with Mayzie, I want to take a moment to think of a very special doggy.

K is going to starting chemotherapy on Friday to blast her cancer to itty bitty bits. I know she and her loved ones are very scared. Boxers unfortunately know all about cancer. I've lost some good friends to it, and my sissy Cinderella has had to have bunches of lumps removed. I join everyone else in sending very special wishes for a successful surgery and a swift recovery.

And now...

MY DATE WITH MAYZIE!!!

I'm so so SO excited! I won this date over lots of very worthy doggies, so I have to make sure I do this right. First, I have to get ready.

...Okay, these bow ties are a lot harder than they look! Especially without opposable thumbs. Mom, a little help?


Much better! Do I look okay?

All right, now, Grandpa told me that the secret to a lady's heart is to bring flowers...


These are almost as pretty as Mayzie. I hope she likes them.

Next I need an extra-special gift for her. I have the most perfect thing picked out.

Mmm, these are so pretty, and they smell wonderful, and I just know they're going to taste so incredibly yumm--

What do you mean "dogs can't have chocolate"?! Mom! Why'd you let me buy them, then?! "Oops", you guess you'll just have to eat them? Not funny, Mom.

But that's okay. I have a backup plan, just in case! She's going to love this just as much, because it's pretty and yummy and--

Are those chocolate chips?

I see what you're doing. I'm SO ashamed of you, Mom. You are never allowed to help me with my shopping again!

Sheesh. A guy tries to be a good date, and look what happens.

But don't worry, Mayzie, I was a Pup Scout -- I'm always prepared! I have my backup backup plan. Just a second, let me get it ready... Almost... There!

Mayzie, will you be my Valentine?

Smell mail from Pet Fair!

I'm a little late in sharing smell mail from Pet Fair yesterday, but we were all worried about Tessa. (Plus I was getting all spiffed up for my hot date on Tuesday! Shh!) So here are some pictures of the wonderful dogs of LBR. Oh, and Maggie Mae, please get your momma ready, because we have an extra-special surprise for you two at the end.

Oooh, we get to start out with Oreo! He's so very handsome and sweet. Did he give you lots of kisses, Mom? You smell kind of slobbery.


Poor Aideen sure smells scared. This was her first pet fair, and I bet it was really intimidating for her. I'm glad you say she calmed down by the end. She's too pretty to be scared!


Aww, what a big handsome goofball! I bet Mom loved sitting and snuggling with this guy. He reminds me a little of my foster brother Pumba, except for the part about trying to eat me.


Ohh, what a pretty smooshy-faced girl! I just love Adalaide. I can't believe she hasn't been snatched up already.


Speaking of someone I can't believe is still around! Little Missy is the sweetest, wiggliest, most lovable little girl you'll ever meet. She's going to make some furever family very happy.


Sweet Zia is such an adorable little snugglebug. She loves her foster daddy!


My, Arietty had such a serious face! But Mom says she was playful and snuggly when there wasn't a flashy beast in her face. She's a pretty little girl.


Shotzy didn't like having the flashy beast in her face either. But I really like her -- she has such neat colored fur! You don't see that shade a lot in boxers.


Oh, handsome Lucca! He's been through so much lately, so he looks a little like a pincushion. He has stitches on his back that look like a football! But he's healed so much already, and he'll be even better soon.


My mom is so proud of this picture! Geez Louise is such a beeeeee-you-tiful girl, and this picture captures her fun personality. Someone's going to be very lucky to get her in their life.


This is one of my momma's favorite dogs -- Zsa Zsa! She didn't really like Pet Fair, with all the dogs and people and scary scents, but Mom loved laying with her and petting her. What a sweet girl.


Another favorite! Sweet Pink just loves sitting in Mom's chair during Pet Fair. And look at that sweet, inquisitive face!


Antonio Romo wasn't sure what to think of all the people smooching over him, but he took it very well.


Okay, Maggie Mae, this is the extra-special surprise I was talking about! Are you ready?

Are you sure you're ready?

Is your momma ready too??

...

...

Okay, Maggie Mae, this is for you.


And this is for your momma. Marilyn Monroe says hi!

Tessa is back home and resting comfortably. She says thank you for your support.

Very Important PSA: Gastric Bloat

Okay, folks, I like to joke around a lot with my PSAs, but this one is really serious.

Make sure your humans can recognize the symptoms of gastric bloat and know what to do!!


This is LBR foster Tessa at the ER this morning. She had a very scary night, for her and her mom! She developed gastric bloat (also called torsion), which is where the stomach twists and traps all the air and gases and stuff inside it. When that happens, there isn't much time to act! My furiend Cubby had bloat a few years ago, and his vet told his moms that they basically had an hour from the time he developed it to get him into surgery. That's not much time!

What's really scary is that no one quite knows what causes bloat. It's most common in the large, deep-chested breeds, like boxers, Great Danes, and Akitas. It's more common in males and older dogs, but not exclusive. (An LBR volunteer lost her 3yo female Great Dane to bloat a few years ago.) Some vets think it can be caused by eating your food too fast and exercising (playing) too hard immediately after eating. But sometimes it can seem to come totally out of nowhere, and that's why it's so important for your humans to recognize the signs.

The biggest sign of bloat is a swollen, distended stomach. (Cubby's moms said his felt like a bowling ball!) Also if you're trying to vomit or potty but can't get anything to come out, plus being restless and weak. My mom feels my stomach regularly to make sure she knows what it feels like and can recognize if anything's wrong. (She's worried because I'm male and extra-deep-chested, so the older I get the more careful she is!) If you notice these signs and even think it could be bloat, don't waste time! Bloat can kill in an hour (or less!) if it's not treated, so please go to the vet and get checked out.


Tessa got through her surgery okay and is recovering now, but since she's a silver belle, it's harder for her to recover than a healthy young pup like me. I know she could really use some good thoughts and prayers to help her get better quicker. (And if you have some extra green papers, I know emergency surgery is super-duper nasty expensive. You can donate to LBR to defray some of the costs.)

A makeover story

I have a very important story to tell all of you today. It's not very fun to hear about all of it, but I'll tell you in advance that it has a happy ending. It's the story of ME! One of my cool readers mentioned recently that he had found my story on the Legacy Makeovers page. That's a page on LBR's website where we feature some of LBR's big success stories, the dogs that came from really bad situations and were turned around. I'm very lucky that I'm one of those dogs. So here's my story.


Brr. I just hate looking at pictures of myself from that time. These first two pictures are how LBR first knew me. Hardly the handsome guy I am now, huh? Back then, I was called "Box." (I know, so creative.) My first owner got me as a cute widdle puppy. But then I did what all puppies do -- start to grow up! The shiny newness was gone, and I was banished to the backyard to be ignored. There were other dogs there, but there wasn't any grass or even shade, and a Texas summer was coming! I developed a nasty skin disease called mange, so I lost most of my fur. Finally someone convinced my first owner that I was sick enough she should surrender me to LBR. I'm so glad she did!!


LBR sent someone out to take pictures of me in May. Then I had to wait... and wait... and wait. See, LBR is always short of foster homes, and there wasn't anyone who could take me in. There were lots of dogs in shelters that people were afraid were going to die, so the foster homes took them first. Then in July someone came back out to check on me and realized I was in pretty bad shape. They let the other LBR volunteers know that I was probably going to die soon if I didn't get a foster home. So the most amazingly pawesome volunteers in the whole wide world stepped up and said they'd be my foster parents.


That's me with Uncle Kurt. He and Aunt Joni rescued me from that back yard and taught me what love and air conditioning were. I was scared of them at first, but then I realized that they were nice people and wanted to help me feel better again. Pretty soon I had my smile back!


I had to go through a lot to get ready to find my furever home. I had to get over my mange and grow all my fur back, plus I had to get neutered and have a broken dewclaw taken care of. Plus, you might notice I'm missing something in that last picture -- my tail! I got what we call "happy tail." See, boxer tails are so thin and unprotected that we can really hurt ourselves when our tail hits things. My aunt Kaitlin was a Labrador and hit her tail against things all the time without it bothering her, but my tail was a lot thinner! So I kept breaking the bones and breaking open the skin just by wagging my tail in my crate a lot. I had to get it amputated. But now I have the regular boxer crop, and I think it makes my butt look smaller!

Finally I was ready. I knew I was looking for something very important, but what?


MY MOM!! We found each other in December 2008, and we both knew from the start that we were meant for each other. She loves me and spoils me, and I protect her and snuggle her. It's a perfect partnership. And now I'm king of the castle!


It was a long, scary road, but LBR helped me when I had nowhere else to go. They healed me and taught me love, and even helped me recover my boxer spirit. I can't think of any better gift anywhere -- and they've done this for hundreds of dogs like me. Wow!


I'm proud to be LBR's Boxer Ambassador, and talk to all you pawesome people on my blog every day. Thanks for reading my story! Go to the Legacy Makeovers page to read even more stories about the dogs that LBR has helped over the years. I think you'll be as proud of these amazing humans as I am.

Was everyone watching the Super Bowl? I was! -- Well, okay, I was napping next to my mom while she watched it for the commercials, but that counts. I hope you at least caught the cute commercial featuring Weego the Bud Light Dog. He plays a rescue dog with a great talent, and the best part is that he really is a rescue dog! How cool is that? And if you like Weego's page on Facebook, Bud Light is donating to rescue.

Of course, after you like their page, you definitely have to go like LBR's Facebook page too! You can see even more cool pictures of pawesome LBR boxers. I don't write the FB posts (I know, such a disappointment!), but they're written by our amazing Pack Leader, Auntie Sharon.

Dog of the day: Meet Odin!

I have another special Dog of the Day to introduce you to today. Everybody say hello to Odin!


Odin has been patiently waiting for his new furever home, and he says now's the time! He's 5 years old, so he's old enough to know all his manners but young enough to still have lots of puppy energy. His mom says he acts like a puppy a lot of the time and loves to play.


He gets along with everyone he meets -- other dogs, adult humans, and even the little humans! He loves to give big slurpy kisses to them too.


Odin has to find a new home soon because his mom is moving and can't take him with her. He's been a very good boy and deserves to have a furever home of his very own. Won't you give him a chance? Check him out at www.savetheboxers.com and fill out your application for ODIN today!