I thought of another song to put on my Pug Rescue Remix CD - Gimme Shelter by the Stones! it works perfectly with the whole "rescue" theme I'm going for.

Also how appropriate for today with Hurricane Earl sweeping in.....

I f*cking LOVE the power of this song. Especially the opening and the refrain.

and I love how Scorsese used it in the Departed.

Happy long holiday weekend!!

I am working on a political campaign for another forum and this is the question posed. Curious to see how you all weigh in on the topic.

You can probably guess where I stand on the issue.

It happened driving home the other week. I was wearing a sleeveless top and when I happened to glance out my car window I caught glimpse of a little muscle on my left shoulder protruding ever so slightly over the seat belt strap.

Happy little deltoids are standing tall, much to my surprise!

How exciting that all the hard work I've been doing for the past 2 months is finally starting to show, and baby biceps are beginning to emerge.

I am also loving my home gym, not only the convenience of it but the fact that I am saving $80 a month that I was paying in my old gym membership fees. *Giddy*. Now I can put that $80 towards Plummy expenses AND she gets to plop herself down and watch me work out. Some personal trainer she is....yawning and pouting at me from the floor.....and we won't get into the time she peed on my yoga mat.

Before I always worked lower weight and did higher reps but now I am doing the opposite - working heavier weights and lower reps. I also used to rush through my bicep curls, tricep extensions, and chest presses.... but now I have learned to take my time and do each one carefully and slowly... so there is almost an exaggerated burn you feel. It's made all the difference in toning.

So ladies don't be afraid to increase your weight, it won't make you bulk up and look bigger....that is just an urban myth. Lift as much as you can to feel the burn for as long as you can. Be consistent and you'll see results. That is the formula.

It's a little accomplishment in my world but it serves as big motivation. Now seeing even the smallest definition makes me wonder with persistent effort, what else I can make my body do?

Recently the spammers on my blog comments have gotten way out of control. Like 500 spam comments a day that I have to delete. Ugh.

If you have posted a comment recently and didn't see it appear it is most likely because it got lost in the minutia of crap I had to sift through from my inbox, MT account, and server and got accidentally deleted.

I had to do something so I decided to implement a spam blocker called Captcha.

How it affects you: Now when you go to post a comment on my blog you have to type in some letters that you will see at the bottom of the comment form [I'm sure you've seen this before] or your comment won't go through.. It helps keep the bulk of automated / robot spammers away.

It's a little bit of a pain but it was either this or shut the blog down.

Take THAT, you dirty rotten spammers!!!

What can I say about my little rescue girl Plum? She has been somewhat of a train wreck "medically" in the last year since she came to me from the shelter where her days were numbered.

After a full year of trying to rehabilitate I now believe from so many years of neglect in her past that her poor little insides have just suffered too much damage for her to ever be 100% right. It's all about day by day with her and managing each condition as best we can.

Still - she is awake and alive and she wants to love and be loved. She wants to fill that sad place in my heart with cuddles and snorts and a soft furry body under the covers - and I in turn want nothing more than to give her the best remainder of life that she can have.

Our dynamic is totally different than the one I had with Pugsley. We have a different kind of bond. I am her rescuer and she is my poor little old gal who I'd do anything to help. I have no idea what happened to her for the first 10 years of her life or what she was like as a puppy. Sometimes I catch her in a rare spunky mood and I can see a little glimpse into how precious she must have been as a once healthy young puglet.

On the anniversary of Sausage's passing (sometimes life can be ironic and cruel all at once) I found out Plummy may be in early stage kidney failure. I don't know yet for sure because she is currently battling a UTI w/ blood in urine so the kidney testing has been put on hold until the infection clears, otherwise results would be skewed.

We will do what we can to keep her happy and comfortable and not compromise the quality of her life. I feel that she has suffered enough. I am looking into holistic treatment, nothing toxic or unnatural. The poor old gal has fought long and hard and I still believe she isn't done fighting. What amazes me most about Plummy is for how fragile she seems, she always surprises me by becoming this strong little warrior princess. In retrospect I suppose I should have named her Xena.

Curly Tail Pug Rescue just launched a new program called "Forever Fosters". These are dogs that are deemed unadoptable or simply have too many issues to be adopted out and so they are placed in permanent foster care. This enables Curly Tail to provide veterinary care for these dogs and the foster families provide the love and home.

I have received emails from some of you asking how you could make a donation to help with Plum's care. I'm happy to report that her Chip In has been activated.

Here is a breakdown of her monthly supplies (does not include vet care) any money collected via Plum's chip in will go directly here:
Homecooked Diet: 10 lbs of chicken every two weeks: $30/ x 2 /month = $60
Organic baby food + Bone Meal: $30
Seventh Generation hypoallergenic wipes: $10
Benadryl = $15
Medicated shampoos: Oxydex (anti bacterial), Malesab (antifungal), Resicourt (anti inflammatory): $50
Urine testing: - once per month $52
Natural supplements: Quercetin for allergies, Uromax for UTI: $20
Antibiotic / Probiotic: 1 month supply: $85
Wee pads: $20

Plummy has been added as a Curly Tail Forever Foster, you can check out the page here.The Forever Foster program allows you to help support Plum and other pugs like her. Thank you so much for your support!

The following is not pleasant to look at but is necessary to let everyone know why they should NEVER BUY A DOG FROM CRAIGSLIST.

Curly Tail has assigned volunteers whose job it is to wade through the pages of Craigslist in our area, trying to save as many pugs like these, as we can.

---

Late on Friday night Curly Tail received a frantic email from a woman who had just purchased two Pugs off of Craigslist. As she put it, she and her family had been "taken on a very expensive ride."

They replied to an ad stating that the owner of two Pugs had no place to live and needed to find a place for her two pugs immediately or else she was going to leave them behind. The well intentioned purchaser received very misleading photos of Mugsy and Carly. The Craigslist seller met her family with Carly and Mugsy in a parking lot. It was explained to us that "once she (the seller) got our money, she jumped in her car and took off."

The distraught email we received said this pair had to be moved immediately because the new owner could clearly see they were in desperate need for major medical care and this was not what she was expecting. She was hoping to purchase 2 healthy pugs and was in for the shock of her life.
This is a classic example of the dangers of purchasing pets from Craigslist! Ads are misleading and you simply never know whom you are really dealing with!

3 year old Carly is sadly in far worse shape than Mugsy. We are pleased that she does not have mange however, what was described as "sensitive skin" is actually a very serious skin issue. This is the result of long time neglect & horrific living conditions. Carly's skin is literally peeling off with infection. She is covered in open sores & oozing wounds from infection. She has elephant skin covering her ears, stomach and limbs. Her whole body is swelled from inflammation and her ears & eyes are oozing with infection as well.

In addition to Carly's "skin issues" (at the time thought to be mange), both dogs had "crust and green goo" coming out of their eyes and it was suspected that Carly recently had a litter of puppies. Both were infested with fleas and their nails were so long they couldn't walk properly.

For the full story on Carly and Mugsy and to find out how you can help, visit the Curly Tail Pug Rescue website today.

I am working on a little fundraising item - creating an all dog song themed CD for the pug rescue org. to both play at events and to use as raffle / contest giveaways.

My goal was to have about 17 songs to fill up the CD but the problem is I have only been able to come up with 12.

So I'm hoping my dog loving readers will be able to step in and offer a few suggestions, for the good of the pugs.

The theme of the CD is "Pug Party Rescue Remix" so the songs can't be anything sad or slow or depressing. It Is an adult CD so kiddie songs like "How much is that doggy in the window", etc. won't really work for the format.

We are looking for upbeat songs that are danceable and / or can be rocked out to. The song can be about dogs (or wolves), contain the word dog in it, or better yet if you can hear dogs barking in the song. The song can also just convey the work we do in rescue for the dogs.

Here are the tracks I've chosen so far:

01. I Will Survive - Frank from the Men In Black movie
02. Atomic Dog - George Clinton
03. Who Let the Dogs Out? - Baha Men
04. Woof! There it is! - Shaggy Dog soundtrack
05. Been Caught Stealin' - Jane's Addiction
06. Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
07. Lil' Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and the Pharoah's
08. Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
09. Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
10. Every Dog Has his Day - Shaggy Dog Soundtrack
11. It's a Dog - Shaggy Dog Soundtrack
12. Rescue Me - Fontella Bass

C'mon guys I know I am missing some good ones that just aren't coming up in my iTunes search - I just need 5 or so more if you have any to recommend.

I thank you, and the pugs thank you.

:)