First stop is Colbert County, AL for the Coon Dog Cemetery Labor Day Celebration hosted by the Tennessee Valley Coon Hunter’s Association! What??!!! Yeah, I’ve have this on my to-do list for ages and am all kindsa excited about finally getting the chance to go! While I  feel like know a few things about coon hounds, mostly I know just how serious they are about their hunting dogs. (After all, Mr. Key Underwood established a world famous resting place for his.) These southern men may be rugged and tough but when it comes to their dogs they are big ol’softies about the whole thing!

This quote says it best:

“You may have a lot of troubles, but once you get out in the woods and hear the dogs run, it don’t much matter any more.” says renowned East Tennessee farrier Tim Hutton about the world’s only coon dog cemetery.

More info via coondogcemetery.com:

If you would like to follow along on Twitter, I will be live tweeting our journey using the hashtag #judygoeswest.  If you wanna find us in real time, look for us there as we will be tweeting images etc as we roll on towards Denver…

New to twitter hashtags? Find out what they are and how to use them by clicking here.

Please note: If you or someone you know is considering a coon dog, the AMERICAN BLACK & TAN COONHOUND RESCUE has an excellent FAQ section with things you should know about this breed. There are lots of fine and fancy coonhounds to choose from at Petfinder. Adopting is always the way to go! Wouldn’t you like to save a life ?

For the record, I do not hunt nor do any of my dogs. Unless of course you count butterflies and dust bunnies…

Are you familiar with Pet Relocation?

They help pet owners during one of the most stressful times of their lives…moving time! Interesting, huh?

They recently reached out to me in Birmingham all the way from Austin, TX to ask a few questions about pet photography and my thoughts on social media. You can read the interview here.

And while you’re there, please make sure you check out this post about “Five Pet Blogs With a Cause.” I have to sing praises to a company that features others doing good for pets in need. Way to go! It’s so important to raise awareness.

Here we are in week three with our Nulo food. And can I just say…Holy guacamole Judy loves this food! (Er, I mean holy salmon and brown rice.) Since I had done a ton of research already, I have to admit I was pretty hesitant to switch but am really glad we did. Besides, at the time of  my research, Nulo wasn’t around yet. It’s the first time I’ve ever opened a bag of dog food and been instantly struck with such fresh aromas. No joke! It was as if we were at the deli or market. And it happens each time the bag is opened. The guys and gals at Nulo are serious about freshness and no preservatives. It shows!

Via Nulo: “Nulo Salmon & Brown Rice Recipe dry dog food is rich in salmon protein with omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids for a radiant skin and coat. Peas, carrots and tomatoes provide natural antioxidants.”

…it also shows in Judy’s coat. We were recently out and about and everyone who saw Judy and stopped to say hello commented on how shiny she was. (Granted, she shines from within too so there’s that!) If you’re serious about good (read: quality, all-natural) food for yourself, this is something you should definitely be serious about for your pet as well. You can read more about Nulo here.

Happy feeding time!

UPDATE: 8/30/10 701pm CST

Wanna try @HelloNulo? They sent us this code for you!

Discount code: tweetnulo3008 (30% off/ freeship/$$backguarantee/Exp 09.31)

And their tweet made us giggle. I also got a very nice and thoughtful message from Michael Landa, CEO of Nulo, Inc. Seriously y’all, this is a great company:

“Disclosure: Nulo has generously provided free product and other benefits in exchange for our participation in the Nu Campaign to fight pet obesity. We are happy to be a part of this awareness campaign, however, all of the opinions about the product are mine and not dictated in any way by the company.”

Yippee! We are pretty excited to announce Judy’s participation in the Nu Campaign (more about Nulo and why below).

A foodie at heart (when she isn’t winning the hearts of every one she meets), she has been the one pup in our house to easily put on a few pounds (Is she stashing meaty bones under her dog bed? Hmmmm…).  So far it’s been difficult to get a direct quote from her during meal time. She never looks up from her Nulo food bowl and then is completely focused on the bag until I put all evidence away. Needless to say, I think we are off to a good start!

Stay tuned. Judy and I will have many more morsels to share with you as she gobbles her way through this campaign!

Via the Nulo website:

“Most pet parents will do anything to improve the lives and happiness of their precious dogs and cats. That’s why we LOVE what we do! We love to educate our customers and help them make better, healthier food choices for their pets. We love to talk with pet parents to learn about the successes and challenges they are experiencing with their pet’s weight loss journey. We love to watch pets grow healthier by the day. We love our work!

That’s why we created the Nu Campaign to Fight Pet Obesity. We want to help every pet parent who wants help and we want to educate every pet parent about how harmful a few extra pounds on their pet can be.

To do this, we’ve enlisted the assistance of nine terrific, insightful bloggers to help us spread the word about the dangers of pet obesity. These parents care deeply about their pets and they are excited about the opportunity to try out the Nulo program, share their experiences on their blogs and help their readers make better choices as well.

These nine will be chronicling their pets’ journeys with Nulo for the next 90 days (and hopefully beyond!) You can count on a lot of entertainment from this gang. They are quite a hoot.

There’s certain to be triumphs and set backs, ideas, discussion and lots of inspiration. Much better than reality TV any day.

And, at the end of the 90 days, a pack of healthier pets will emerge along with, we hope, readers and fans inspired to get their pets on the path to wellness too.

Check them out below. We’ll be featuring their experiences here and on our Facebook page throughout the journey.  Enjoy!
Koa at Pawcurious

Noah, Brewskie, Who and Slick at Just Meowin’

Phoebe and Oreo at Two Fat Dogs

Disco at Furry Dance Cats

Lyger and Tuhlula at Embrace Pet Community

Marbles at Marbles Weight Loss

Judy at Dogingham

Xena and Velvet at Average Jane

And, Romeo and Pugsley at Romeo the Cat

“Disclosure: Nulo has generously provided free product and other benefits in exchange for our participation in the Nu Campaign to fight pet obesity. We are happy to be a part of this awareness campaign, however, all of the opinions about the product are mine and not dictated in any way by the company.”

And if you can’t make it out tonight, you can follow along as I will be tweeting LIVE from the event beginning at 6pm. Simply follow @Dogingham on Twitter and include the hashtag #picassopets in the twitter search window.

For more information on how this works continue reading here…

When: Saturday, August 14th, 2010
Time: 5:30PM
Where: Cahaba Grand Conference Center
3660 Grandview Parkway
Birmingham, AL

Once you enter the Cahaba Grand Conference Center, and walk up their grand staircase, you will start one of the greatest nights you could imagine. The evening will begin with an array of heavy hors d’oeuvres with access to an open bar. Meanwhile, guests will have the opportunity to browse our silent auction packages comprised of more than 300 items. Half way through the evening the silent auction will come to a close and the live auction will begin. There will be 40 live auction items comprised of the pet paintings, vacations, and items that you will not find anywhere else but the Picasso Pets auction! Presentations will also be made by those whose lives have greatly been enhanced by the positive effects of our Animal-Assisted Therapy Teams. At the evenings close guests will have the opportunity to donate money straight to Hand-In-Paw’s programs (see HIP History). One will not leave this spectacular event without being overwhelmed by how much good Hand-In-Paw does in our community.

HappY CampeRs

It’s the time of year when I start to get excited about the upcoming fall weather. Our most favorite time of year…

When is you favorite time of year to hike? Spring? Fall? Winter?

Note: Happy Birthday today to my friend Margaret (in the photo above)! All the dogs are waiting for that golden fall weather so we can go hiking once again.

Be the Change

Click the image to learn more at the Greater Birmingham Humane Society!