Cadbury Bunny Audition Time!

Everyone wants to be the Cadbury Bunny. (Remember that old ad?)

Disagree. Immensely.

But there can only be one American Ido - er uh, Cadbury Bunny. In this week's blog, guest judges (puppies, of course) will decide who will become the next Cadbury Bunny.

Here we have our first contestant, who is attempting to wow the judges with a modern take on the Cadbury Bunny look.

Don't you dare touch me with that thing.

Judges? 

Ith not my favorite.

 

Looks like no ticket to stardom this week.  

 

Next contestant! We're going with the classic bunny ears for this one.

 

This is honestly the most humiliated I've ever been.

  

 

Seriously? 

 

 SERIOUSLY?

 No. 

 

Uhh...judges?

 Yeah...it's gonna be a no for me, dawg.

Yikes.

Our next contestant also went with the classic look. Can she win the judges' votes?

This doesn't feel right.

Thoughts, judges?

I loves it! So close! Maybe if it was a bit more - WAIT IS THAT A CAT?!

 

While we attempt to wrangle our judge's attention back, let's move on to our final contestant.

 

Stop....

Hammertime.

And the results from our judges?

The best one! Loves it!

Well, looks like we have a winner of the most ridiculous contest of all time. Want to meet some of our (un)willing participants in person? Swing by today or tomorrow to take home your very own Cadbury Bunny impersonator. www.hssv.org/cats

Myths and Truths About Puppyhood

In honor of National Puppy Day, we thought we'd give a little insight to the realities of puppyhood. Are puppies downright adorable? Yes, so much so that it seems like it should be illegal to hold that much cuteness in one body. Are they tiny whirlwinds of pure havoc and chaos? No doubt.

Read on and see if you can guess if each "fact" about puppies is a myth or truth!

#1: They will chew just about anything.

The evidence of destruction.

Truth. 

Rugs, shoes, pant legs, your fingers, their tails. You name it - it's going in their mouths. In puppy world, everything belongs to them. And it must be destroyed at all costs.

Don't even try to look guilty now, pupper. We know who's responsible for this one.

#2: They aren't pottytrained.

 

 It's okay, pupperoni. No one's mad at you for peeing on the carpet. Again. Sigh.

100% Truth.

The nice way of putting it is that puppies are creative. In other words, they like to fingerpaint. The not-nice way of putting it is that seconds after taking them out to pee they will return to leave a present on the rug. That they will then step in. And then they will jump on you with those paws. And they do it all on purpose. (Probably.)

 #3: All they do is sleep and cuddle.

Must. Destroy. Toy.

  

Myth.

Sleep is merely a mechanism for recharging their insane energy so that they can unleash it all on you when you least expect it. Beware of a sleeping puppy. It means that chaos is soon to follow.

(Although, in fairness, they do sleep a lot. And okay, it's kind of adorable to watch.)

 Editor's note: this lamb was later destroyed by puppy (obviously)

 If shoe-chewing, rug-peeing, frenzied forces of destruction sound like your cup of tea, you just might be ready for a puppy! But if that description sounds a bit like the worst nightmare you could imagine, we have a solution: adult dogs! 

I'm housetrained, don't chew toys, and use my energy appropriately. Yep, basically a dreamboat.

Whether you're in for the puppy breath or drawn to the dog manners, we can help you out. Check out our available dogs and puppies at www.hssv.org/dogs or come by and visit us!

 

A Big Dog Blog

We've got a big dog problem. The problem? We have a bunch of big dogs who are ah-mazing. Seriously. They make our hearts skip a beat. We find ourselves doing that goofy "puppy-love" smile whenever we see them. And we can't help but smoosh their infinitely adorable smoosh-faces.

Smooshable face here, ready for smooshing.

Why is that a problem? Because as much as we love them and never want to let them go, big dogs aren't a fan of sticking around the shelter for too long. They want to run, frolic and be free. They want to take up half your bed and snore in your face. They want to be anywhere but here.

Like Hendrix.

Need a paw? I can help with that.

Hendrix, besides your swoon-worthy looks, you've captured our hearts for another reason. When you sit, you plop your paw up. Every. Single. Time. It's completely charming.You've got us wrapped around that paw. You're a pocket pibble with the droopiest, "come-love-me" eyes and we want to smooch that face over and over. You are incredible on Doggy Day Out hikes. Volunteers and staff love you for your resilience despite going through some tough things in your life, like ear infections that bothered you for years before we got you cleaned up. We know you don't like being here, and we're working on finding your people as soon as possible.

Then there's Jojo.

 Yes, I am always this adorable and smiley.

Jojo, you are so sweet, we could get a cavity just looking at you. You have the softest, wiggliest body, and we love your love for us. You have no idea you're a big dog, and seem to think you're a lap dog instead. We know you're not a fan of other dogs at the moment, and we're trying to find you some peeps that understand that you're not a dog park kind of gal, but you are a couch snuggle one. In the mean time, we'll just keep sending you out on Doggy Day Out trips with our dog-savvy volunteers and enjoying the adorable photos that roll in afterwards.

Just let me gaze lovingly into your eyes...

 Blake, you are one handsome gentleman.

I am, aren't I?

You're playful, affectionate, and love to be in the great outdoors. If you were a human, you'd be that friend we could spend all day with - a nice long hike in the morning, followed by binge-watching TV and eating junk food in the afternoon. In the words of your favorite Doggy Day Out volunteers, you're "as close to perfect as it gets."And we couldn't agree more.

 How could you say no to this face?

We can't, Blake, we can't.

Our big dogs are pretty awesome, but they're not big fans of being here. We get it. If you want life to be a little more fun, why not come by and smoosh one of these faces?

Want to help us keep our big dogs happy and healthy, but can't adopt right now? Foster or volunteer with Doggy Day Out! Exercise, snuggles, and helping a shelter dog at the same time? That's a win-win for everyone.
 

 

A Cure for the Dreaded Time Change

It's Daylight Savings time - in other words, the time of the year when we all get a little crankier, but also feel a small twinge of delight. It's staying lighter later into the day (great) and feels like summer's coming (double great).

But there's that dreaded lost hour of sleep, which makes us feel something like this: 

 

Don't wake me, hooman. I'm deep in slumber.

Cats, like all of us, loathe losing sleep. They don't understand the struggle of trying to remember how to change the clock in your car, but they do understand the sudden, irritating sound of an alarm an hour before you expected it.

Shut that thing off, immediately. I have not gotten a full 18 hours of sleep yet.

While we can't do anything about the time change, we can try to alleviate some of your pain.

 I'm listening. Sort of. I guess. Hurry up and make your point, already. I have a nap to get to.

Adopt a cat.

 Okay, NOW I'm listening.

Think about it. Cats are great napping buddies, so you don't have to feel guilty when you lay down for a quick 30 minutes to try to recover from the time change. Case in point:

 I'm a pro napper. See that? I didn't even look up when I heard you talking about me.

Cats won't judge you for hitting the snooze button, because let's face it - they're probably still asleep and didn't even see you do it. No witnesses, no problem.

You did wha- oh, never mind.

Lucky for you, we have plenty of awesome nappers who are here to emotionally support you through this transition. And for a limited time, senior cats over 6 (the best napping demographic around) are only $75 to adopt.

Hey, that's me! You're right, I am a great napper.

 We'll be waiting. See you soon.

 

Behind the Scenes: National Peanut Butter Lover's Day!

Yesterday was National Peanut Butter Lover's Day, and we have a ton of peanut butter lovers in our midst. So, we decided to give them a special treat to celebrate, and film them loving their snack. "It would be easy," we thought. "What's easier than getting a dog to lick peanut butter?"

It wasn't quite as easy as we thought. There was Jojo, who was more interested in trying to sit in our laps and get belly rubs than lick the peanut butter-filled Kong.

 

 Finally, she decided peanut butter was pretty good. But only if she could lick it off a hand. 

As is her way, she ended by giving us this longing, loving look. We love you too, Jojo.

We moved on to Charlotte, who we thought would be more than happy to lick the peanut butter. No one told Charlotte that you can't actually bite peanut butter. But oh, she tried.

Eventually, she got the hang of it. Phew. This was turning out to be more interesting than we thought.

Next, we went to find Ozzie. We were sure he would cooperate. We were wrong.

Ozzie is a ball hound. He's serious about his ball, and nothing will come between him and his ball. He wouldn't stop nudging it at us, hoping to get us to play. 

How could we say no?

Finally, he gave up on the ball and tried the peanut butter.

Pretty good, right Ozzie?

We decided to try some staff dogs and see if they would be more interested in the peanut butter.

It was a pretty resounding "yes."

C'mon, just look at Maddie Mae's face. Pure. Joy.

In short, National Peanut Butter Lover's Day was entertaining, if not entirely successful. Did you miss the whole video we made of these nuggets continuously licking thin air with peanut butter on their tongues? We suggest you watch it.

Jojo, Charlotte and Ozzie are still available. So come by. Bring the peanut butter.