Monday Wake Up Tactic...
Posted by Romeo in Wake up Tactics on August 31, 2009 | 6 Comments
Today used old standby: furry butt pressed against male staff member’s face/halfway sitting on his head.
Meow!
Tags: furry butt
Today used old standby: furry butt pressed against male staff member’s face/halfway sitting on his head.
Meow!
Tags: furry buttThe August #pawpawty starts today at 2 p.m. EST and goes for a full 24 hours so join in the fun! I will personally be giving away prizes throughout the 24 hours to those who donate to TEARS. There will be gift baskets and FURminators and sterling silver charms and artwork and Rescue Mom or Rescue Dad car magnets and stickers and more.
But you don’t have to be on Twitter to win. Everyone who donates is entered into a drawing for prizes at the end of the month.
Lots of you guys have asked me what a Twitter #pawpawty is. I’ll try to explain it. If you’re not on Twitter, this may not make a whole lot of sense but bear with me.
The originator of #pawpawty is my friend Frugal Dougal who coordinates and organizes the #pawpawty from England and does an amazing job. Visit Frugal’s blog for even more info on #pawpawty.
Here are the basics:
On Twitter, when a group of people (or animals) join in a common discussion thread, they use a hashtag (#) to indicate they are all talking about the same topic. For example, if I’m leading a discussion on wake up tactics on Twitter, then I’d use the phrase (beginning with hashtag) #wakeuptactics. Then, those interested in the topic can simply search for all the posts that start with #wakeuptactics.
Pawpawty is a monthly 24-hour “discussion” or “party” that anyone can join! Just search for the term #pawpawty on Twitter and join in the conversation/party taking place. Be sure to use the phrase #pawpawty in your posts so people know you’re part of the party. Lots of animals and people like to use www.tweetgrid.com to keep track of the discussion a little more easily.
Each #pawpawty has a theme. This month is Woodstock to celebrate well, Woodstock! And most importantly, each #pawpawty is dedicated to raising money for animals. This month, #pawpawty is raising money for my FURPOWER August organization, TEARS. Hundreds of animals and their humans join in the fun and we usually raise more than $1,000 during each #pawpawty. It’s a lot of fun and for a great cause.
Throughout the 24 hours, there are quizzes and games and chances to win fun prizes from a variety of sponsors from the animal community across the world.
I hope you can join us!
xoxo
Tags: #pawpawty, TEARS, twitter
Rats! The little rascal found me. Now what?
“Leave the comfort of Dad’s armpit while he continues to slumber. Walk down hall and push open door to small person’s room (3-year-old human companion Niko).
Meow loudly until said small person wakes up.
Run back to Mom and Dad’s room and sit at end of bed until Mom or Dad gets up to get Niko (and feed me!).
KEY: Pretend I had nothing to do with early wake-up time of child so he gets the blame for rousting the parental units.”
This photo is one of the many ways Niko seeks his revenge for taking the blame.
All hiding spaces have been violated — the price Barfie must pay for early breakfasts.
NICE, Barfie! When my Walking Creature is old enough to be woken up by my meowing I am TOTALLY trying this. Even Pugsley, who thinks wake up tactics are silly (I mean, why would you want to wake up when you can sleep? he wonders) thinks this is sheer, manipulative, inspirational genius. Well done.
Tags: animal rescue, barfie, california, guest genius, senior rescue
Congratulations to Ali, who won the drawing for my Dear Sparkle book giveaway! (Ali looks a lot like Pugsley, don’t you think?!)
Here was Ali’s question and the lovely Sparkle’s advice. Remember, Sparkle offers lots of great advice on her Web site and in her book. You can purchase the book at Amazon. And, if you use this link to order a copy, Sparkle will give $1 for each copy ordered to our FURPOWER org of the month, TEARS!
Dear Sparkle,
How do I deal with my brother, Biseh, who loves to stare me down, and is very competitive with me all the time? He also acts like he is afraid of me around Mom but really isn’t. Sometimes I just lose it and rip his hair out and then Mom gets mad.
Please help me bring peace in my relationship with my trouble making brother.
Thank you xoxo,
PersianCatAli,
a.k.a.
Muhammad Ali
@persiancatali
Dear Ali,
I don’t think Biseh is faking his fear. I’d be scared of you too if you kept attacking me. But it’s not stopping him from competing with you, either. Your relationship with your brother is clearly a complex one, and will probably take time to suss out. For now, make your human play with you more, both separately and together with an interactive toy like Da Bird, and also you both should get treats in the presence of each other so you know good things happen when you’re both behaving yourselves.
-Sparkle (@sparklecat)
Thank you, Sparkle, for the book giveaway and your sage advice. And thank you to everyone who entered the contest!
Tags: dear sparkle, persian cat aliMEYOOOOOOW! Run and jump on bed, right onto female staff member’s stomach. Launch off female staff’s stomach back onto floor but make sure you really dig in with hind paws. Run and chase something invisible (to everyone else) out in the hallway while Pugsley watches calmly from a distance.
Man, have some dignity.
Yes, the green zig zag ball is nice, thank you. But CHECK OUT this crinkly tissue paper!
Anyway, the staff ordered a bunch of fun stuff, some for Pugs and me and some for prizes for YOU guys!
The box of goodies arrived the other day and we were having a blast with all of the new toys.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love balls and catnip mice and feather things with bells on them. But sometimes those things aren’t around and you have to make due with whatcha got in front of you.
Here are my favorite non-toy “toys”:
1. Tissue paper from Cattoys.com box
2. Ponytail holders (see yesterday’s wake up tactic)
3. Computer cord
4. Socks
5. Packing peanuts
6. Bathrobe sash (way more fun when staff is wearing the bathrobe)
7. The Mostly Walking Creature’s Binky
8. Gallon jug caps
9. Toilet paper rolls
10. Pugsley’s tail
What are your favorite non-toy “toys”?
Tags: bathrobe sash, cat toys, cattoys.com, computer cord, packing peanuts, toilet paper rollsLooking back, I realize how dumb this was. Today, walked up female staff’s back and sat on her upper back and meowed in her ear. This worked beautifully until it was time for her to actually get up to get BREAKFAST and she was trapped! Crap.
Got dumped off the side as she rolled over. Please, friends, learn from my mistake.
JEESH, you'd think I was a newbie or something.
Our MOSTLY Walking Creature is going to be turning one year old on Sunday. So, we do not have the back-to-school depression or celebration (depending on how you look at it) to deal with this time of year.
However, we learned something interesting from our friends at PurinaCare® Pet Health Insurance. For those families that do have Walking Creatures going back to school, it can sometimes be a bit rough on us pets.
See, we get used to having a different routine over the summer months and most of us like having our staff, even junior members, around. Woofers especially like the junior staff members but JEESH they like everyone, don’t they? Silly woofers. 
Anyway, if your pet is acting weird then he/she might have “post summer stress.” Dr. Bill Craig, DVM, Chief Medical and Underwriting Director of PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance, provided us with these signs that your floofer or woofer might be suffering from this anxiety: 
1. Hyper-salivation or drooling.
2. Soiling the pet owner’s belongings.
3. Chewing or scratching at doors or crate.
4. Non-stop howling, barking, meowing.
5. Compulsive grooming or licking.
6. Tearing up furniture or pushing items off counters.
Here are some ways to help alleviate this stress:
1. Slowly get your pets used to a post-summer schedule. Practice positive reinforcement
2. Go back to regular walking and leash routines.
3. Make sure your pet doesn’t associate you grabbing your keys and coat with their being left alone. Sometimes grab these items even when you’re not leaving.
4. Create a place in the house that feels “safe” to your pets – a well lit area where the family usually gets together. Turn on the TV and keep toys and clothes with the family’s scent in the room so your pet feels comforted while there.
5. Don’t punish bad behavior related to anxiety; it will only reinforce the stress.
6. There are medications available for woofers and floofers experience extreme stress. But they typically don’t work without a behavior modification program. Talk to your vet about medications and side effects.
Thanks, PurinaCare, for the great information. It’s hard to imagine that we would ever miss the Walking Creature but you never know!
Tags: back to school, Dr. Bill Craig, Pet anxiety, purinacareFind ponytail holder on staff’s pillow. Grab it, play with it for a while and then drop it right on female staff member’s face.
Then bat at it again.
>^..^<
Pugs and I are so happy to announce the winner of our RESCUE WEB SITE MAKEOVER, sponsored by Petwebdesigner.com (who designed my site by the way)…
Tupelo Lee Humane Society in Tupelo, MS. Hooray!
Tupelo Lee Humane Society will receive a free Web site designed by Petwebdesigner.com, as well as personalized consulting to help them make it work harder to promote their services.
A lot of very deserving organizations entered but we could only pick one (it was done by random drawing because we just could not choose ourselves!).
Anyway, I have some good news for all the other rescues and animal welfare organizations out there. Petwebdesigner and my staff have teamed up to write an e-book about digital marketing specifically for you guys. It will be downloadable FREE to you or anyone else who is interested. We will have that ready to go in the next two weeks.
If you want me to email you when it’s ready, please contact me.
Congrats Tupelo Lee and thank you all who entered!
xo,
Romeo, Pugsley, Staff and Petwebdesigner.com
