Breed Spotlight: Yorkshire Terrier

Meet the Yorkshire Terrier, aka Yorkie. This tenacious little dog may be cute and fluffy, but has all the personality and confidence of a much bigger dog. Spunky, playful, outgoing, and intelligent; this breed has it all!

The Yorkie is very versatile; enjoying playing at the beach all day long to cuddling with you by the fire on a cold winter night. A Yorkie will be very loyal and devoted to you, while remaining outgoing and personable with new people. Yorkie’s make friends easily and are rarely shy.

These pint-sized powerhouses make perfect roommates, no matter the size of the house or apartment! A Yorkie will always be happy to see you, always think you look your best, won’t take all the hot water, and won’t wear your favorite pair of shoes without your permission.

Are you energetic, outgoing, and looking for a companion that matches your spunkiness? Then the Yorkshire Terrier is the perfect dog for you!

Written by Donna Fournier for PetKeyBlog.

Thieves return stolen puppy

A photo of Diezel, who is now home from his mis-adventure

A week after he went missing, five-month-old Boxer puppy, Diezel, was returned to his owner — by the very same people that took him! Matt had agreed to pick his girlfriend, also Diezel’s owner, Brigit, up from work after her shift and took their puppy along for the ride. When he arrived at the bar where Brigit works, Matt ran in for just a moment to let her know that he was there, leaving Diezel in his truck. When he came back out, Diezel was gone. When they reviewed the surveillance footage from the parking lot, Matt and Brigit saw that a man and woman had taken Diezel from the truck. This couple were patrons of the bar that had been leaving just as Matt arrived. Brigit had actually waited on them that evening and the they had even chatted with her and given her their phone numbers, they had no idea that the puppy they were about to steal belonged to her.

After discovering what had happened, Brigit called helpmefindMYPET to report Diezel stolen and have an alert sent out to the community. She also reported the theft to local police, hung lost pet posters, and began leaving voicemails for the thieves at the numbers they’d given her. The couple had already taken Diezel out of state, but after a week, decided to return the puppy once Matt and Brigit agreed not to press charges. Sounds like this story had a happy ending for all involved!

Missing puppy all grown up, home with his family

Feathers as a puppy.

Ten months after being reported missing in August 2008, a Pomeranian named Feathers has been reunited with his family. His owner Andrea Roundtree called helpmefindMYPET to have a lost pet alert sent out for the three-month-old puppy and frantically searched her neighborhood, posting lost pet posters. After several months with no word of Feathers’ whereabouts, Andrea had given up hope of ever finding him. She married and moved to another city. On June 10, 2009, After finding Feathers and taking him to a veterinarian where his microchip was scanned, Kathy Peterson contacted helpmefindMYPET. Despite the fact that Andrea had moved and her contact information had changed, she was able to be reached by the following day and arrangements were made to get Feathers back home, almost a month after his first birthday!

Pets and children

The following article was written by Donna Fournier for PetKeyBlog.

As an 8 year old child, I can remember begging my parents for the cute little bunny in the local pet shop. I promised that I would take care of the bunny, feed him, clean the cage, and play with him every day. And I meant that with all my heart. However, the reality was I was off playing Hide-and-Seek with friends, riding my bike in the neighborhood, reading a book, or simply watching TV on a rainy day. My mind drifted away from bunny-care to homework, chores, friends, and other such things. Before long my bunny, Cinnamon, was my mom’s. He responded to her, came to her when she was outside near his hutch, took food from only her, and was fearful of everyone else in the family. I was crushed; Cinnamon was supposed to be “mine” and he hated me. At 8, I just wasn’t responsible enough to care day in and day out for another life form. This was such a valuable lesson; one that has stayed with me throughout my 20 years in working with animals. What I learned then is that even the most responsible, well-meaning, “mature”, caring child isn’t able to be consistent and responsible enough to be the main caregiver. Children have much to explore, learn, and seek while growing up, and it’s not uncommon for even the most mature child to slip on consistency.

What made me think of Cinnamon and my failed attempt at responsible animal care in childhood was the news story out of England of a 4 year old child “bathing” his week old puppy in the toilet and flushing him down. This sparked the old debate; at what point do you bring a pet into your home when you have children?

Biography: Chunk

Chunk is a cat that came from humble beginnings. He now lives a life free of worry over where he will live or where his next meal will come from, but it was not always that way. Before he was even born, he was homeless and his very life was in peril. He had to overcome many obstacles in his first year of life to end up in his permanent home with me.