Adorableness in Motion: We Hosted a Muttville Senior Adoption Event at Dogster HQ

We fell in love with the cute older dogs -- and San Francisco did, too.

We admit it: We have a soft spot for Muttville Senior Rescue. So when our parent company, Say Media, needed an organization to join us for an event called Say Gives, it seemed like an obvious choice. 

And so earlier this week, the Muttville-mobile descended on Dogster, bringing with it some of the cutest senior dogs we've ever seen. Knowing that Muttville alum Beasley is somewhat of a star 'round these parts, Muttville board member Patty Staton brought some of her star senior Pekingese.

Including -- but certainly not limited to -- Buddy!

Buddy is a cause célèbre here at Dogster. With his "customized" countenance, Buddy first ambled into the heart of Community Manager Lori Malm, who refers to the elderly lap dog as Beasley's boyfriend. You might be familiar with Managing Editor Vicky Walker as Catster's resident Cat Lady, but even she could not resist Buddy's unique charm.

Buddy looks kind of perfect in her arms, right?

(Don't worry, we called her husband and began working on him.)

Also representing the Peke pride was Maylee, a slightly younger Muttville adoptable, who had enough spunk and energy to make up for Buddy and Beasley's more low-key personalities.

Amid the flurry of lap dog fervor, our Assistant Editor Liz Acosta was drawn more to Tess, an older hound dog with a sweet disposition who wanted to just chill out in the shade. Liz doesn't judge smaller dogs, but she has a penchant for the bigger pups, having grown up under the protection of Akitas.

We set up a table outside the office and passed out Muttville fliers and Dogster stickers. Editor-in-Chief Janine Kahn took a pause from her work to join us in talking to people and raising awareness about the value of adopting senior dogs. (Associate Editor Keith Bowers would have been out with us, but he's busy working on a brand new Cat Dandy column for Catster -- you're going to love it!) 

At day's end, we were sad to see the Muttville crew pack up and go but glad we got to spend a little time with them. We hope we persuaded a few people that, sometimes, it's better to adopt an older dog than a puppy. If you're interested in following or helping Muttville, visit its website and Facebook page.

Photos by our multitalented Liz Acosta, who would like to remind you to follow us on Instagram.

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Great Adoption Video by Bergdorf Goodman (Yeah, the Swanky NY Store)

Upscale NY store Bergdorf Goodman sells shoes for up to thousands of dollars a pair, and has a fur-storage room (the store will pick up furs straight from your house as soon as hot weather hits), but its latest promotional video makes the store seem quite accessible, and even imparts that warm holiday glow.

Check out these adorable dogs who have a great time “shopping” in the store, while a little dog who seems to have no one to call his own tags along. Watch it to the end for the heart melter. The store teamed up with the Humane Society of New York to put this video together. The bottom line: Adopt your next best pal. A great idea for the well heeled and those with heels that badly need repairs …

Thanks to our pals at Fashionista for sending this our way!

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Photos: Our Marketing Gals Bring the Adoption Message to NYC Advertising Week

SAY Media (Dogster’s pawesome parent company) is at the IAB MIXX conference for NYC Advertising Week, and to channel Dogster’s core values, they invited the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network to join them and host a mini adoption event at their booth!

The fine folks at BAFN brought five kittens and three pups, and with any luck, some of them will end the week with new homes! (Paws crossed.) Below are some photos from the Say/Dogster booth — we hear it was the hit of the conference!

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The adoption: Why I just love, love, love my writing partner

Dr. Becker and I are an odd couple, and everyone who meets us eventually will feel compelled to remark on it.

He’s a country boy, a dairy-farmer’s son, married for 30-plus years to the love of his life, Teresa. They are parents of two, grandparents of one, love to travel, are neat and organized people who keep a beautiful home. They’re conservative Christians living in extreme north rural Idaho, a state so “red” it bleeds off the map. He’s sensible and business-minded, thoughtfully sends hand-written thank-you notes  for everything and cards to his wife and children every day he’s on the road. He genuinely loves every new person and animal he meets.  He’s draws energy from a crowd. He’s a veterinarian, a healer, who loves his patients and their owners.

I’m a city kid, daughter of man who swore he never saw a horse without a jockey or member of the San Francisco PD aboard until he was in his 30s. I’m a never-married very liberal native of very “blue” California. I never wanted children, am a recovering never-again-will-I-be Catholic and a progressive Christian, have traveled pretty much only when I had to (which is lots) for work and would generally rather stay home with my animals, my garden and a good book. I’m neither neat nor organized, in any way. If I send a thank-you at all, it’s likely to be in a text message. I’m not very business-minded, and I’m often broke because I generally can’t be bothered to watch where my money goes (but at this, I’m getting better and will soon be completely debt-free). I never accept anything or anyone on face value. My house is in a state of constant deferred maintenance. I’m a journalist, asking questions and getting answers from people who often don’t want to talk to me. Crowds drain me of my energy.

He loves puns and silly jokes; I don’t. He loves Christmas; I ignore it. I love afternoon naps; he can’t imagine sleeping in daylight — there’s work to do! He’s an optimist; I’m a cynic.

He sees the best in everyone. I … well you get the idea.

And yes, as odd a business partnership as we are, it works. We get along famously; we rarely disagree. We love each other, and we consider each other family. His daughter, Mikkel, is like a niece to me. His wife, Teresa, is a source of courage, faith, inspiration and Snickerdoodles. I actually go a little ga-ga over their granddaughter, despite my general belief that infants are about an interesting as cabbage until they’re a year old or so.

That’s all the personal stuff. On the business front, in four years we’ve written so many books I have to pause to count them — 10? 12? — covered conferences and trade shows, written hundreds of articles and blog posts. And really, we’re just hitting our stride.

Sometimes I wonder how this all happened. After all, I’d known Marty for more than a decade before he called out of the blue to propose us doing a book together. “Why Do Dogs Drink Out of the Toilet?” was a New York Times best-seller, but even more important, it made us realize we loved working together, and so we joined forces, folding his syndicated column into mine and going forward with more … everything. He  stood by Christie and me when we broke open the 2007 pet-food recall story, even though we were reporting on industries run by people he often knew on a first-name basis, people he considered — and still considers — his friends.

But Dr. Becker always does the right thing. Always.

So why am I writing all this now? Because yesterday he did one of those “right things,” adopting a 2-year-old pit-Lab mix named Gracie who’d spent almost her entire life in the shelter. And because watching the video clip of him telling the shelter director of his decision just made me bawl as much as she did.

Go ahead: See if you can watch it an not do the same.

This is why I love having this man as my business partner. He’s the real deal.
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