Anyone that owns a dog knows that getting them proper exercise, socialization and play time is key to a happy life. Dog exercise is actually good for its owners as well. It is our responsibility to ensure our pets receive what they need. Dogs are not meant to be tossed out in the back yard and ignored. They need stimulation and exercise to remain healthy. A ten minute walk around the block is okay, but not nearly enough for most breeds. Most dogs can use a good 30 minutes of real exercise as a minimum each day. Larger dogs and those with higher energy levels will need more to keep them healthy and happy. In addition to the daily walks and the throwing of a ball, dogs need to be able to play hard every once and awhile. Dogs are natural pack animals and generally speaking do well with other dogs. A dog really gets its work out is when it gets to… well be a dog. Providing dog exercise with other dogs every once in a while will help in many ways. Even dogs that may not be so social can benefit for good hard off leash fun. Some Benefits include: 1. Socialization – even if you take your dog to every store or restaurant that may allow them. That does not make up for the good old fashion butt sniffing fun they can have together with other dogs. No matter the size or breed, or fear the owner may have, generally dogs can hold their […]

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If you are anything like I am, you would rather have a root canal than go to a photo shoot. OK, maybe not to that extreme but close enough. A couple of months ago I bid on a photo shoot silent auction item at a local fundraiser for First Coast No More Homeless Pets. Mainly bid on it out of feeling it was for a good cause not because I wanted to have my picture taken. Little did I know why a photo shoot should be done right. Either way, I am sure it is obvious by now that we did in fact get the photo shoot, which was by the way for a family sitting. Family has differing definitions to different people. Our family consists of the adopted, rescued four-legged kind rather than you normal 2.5 screaming kids kind. It just so happens the photographer specializes in our kind of family. After some procrastination on my part and persistence on the part of the wife of the photographer we finally scheduled our photo shoot sitting. We decided on the convincing of the photographer to include our entire family in the photo shoot. Currently out ‘entire’ family consists of 2 dogs and well a cat, and not your normal everyday cat but a real sourpuss. The day of the photo shoot we loaded up our three fur kids and headed across town. After about a thirty minute drive accompanied by the soundtrack of a wailing unhappy cat we arrived for the photo shoot. A little […]

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We all have the ability to make a difference we just need to choose to move. No matter what your career or job may be that should not limit us from finding our passion.  Some people are lucky enough to love the job that they do, the rest of us have to search elsewhere. Whatever your walk of life, whether you work in an office, a school, construction it does not matter.  We all have skills, better yet gifts that we can use in our life to make our world a little bit better.  Whether you mentor a child, feed the homeless or spend time with the elderly there are many ways that we can give ourselves to better another’s day. A good example is the way I and many other volunteers spent this past weekend.  We came from all walks of life, all ages and skill-sets; all for one cause.  It did not matter if they worked at an IT company, a bank, the mortgage industry and many more.  Some were students earning credit, while others took a day off to help others were retirees wanting to give a helping hand.  We all joined forces and chose to move and  change the landscape of our city. Many people wonder why we do what we do, some may say what difference does it make.  I can personally say that yes there are some sore muscles and still a bit sleep deprivation but all worth the cost of saving lives one by one.  To see the […]

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