We continue today with more tips for vacationing with your pet. The focus today will be on what you will need to bring with you to keep your dog comfortable, healthy and happy because, as we all know, a happy dog means a happy owner!

If you are traveling by car and own a van, wagon or SUV you might want to keep your dog in the cargo area so that he will have his own space to stretch out and the humans on the trip will not have to fight him for a seat. If you choose not to use a crate, you may want to consider a barrier to keep your dog in one area of the car. Cargo liners are available to keep the area clean and a pet mat or bed would also be a good idea to keep him comfortable.

Be sure to have plenty of fresh water on hand and a bowl or container that he can easily drink from.

Bring your dog’s regular food. You can simplify things by pre-packing his meals in individual bags or plastic containers. Also bring plenty of treats. Your dog will enjoy snacking along the way just as you would!

Don’t forget any medications your dog may need and be sure to bring his medical/vaccination records just in case your dog should become ill.

Be sure your dog has a collar and ID tag and, of course a leash. If you will be camping or spending a lot of time outdoors, a tie-out would also be a good idea.

If you plan to stay in hotels, a book which lists pet-friendly lodging is a must.

A pet first aid kit is always a good idea, whether on the road or at home. Here is a good article that details what you should have. http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/pet_first_aid_kit.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

And don’t forget plastic bags for clean-up!

New adventures await. Enjoy the ride!

I now introduce Author Todd Jagemann to tell Macy's story:

I have to be honest, when my wife told me that our first dog could be a pit bull mix, I was not thrilled.  She called me at work and said there was a dog she found on petfinder.com that she was really interested in.  Immediately, all the bad things you read about and hear on the news went through my mind.  “Are you crazy?!” I said, “she is going to turn on us, attack our family and friends, we will be sued”, etc.  My wife laughed and told me not to believe everything you hear.  “Please read her profile that I emailed to you,” she said.  

Macy was left tied to the front door of a New Jersey shelter.  She was in bad shape when the workers found her.  She was only 30 pounds, had all types of internal parasites, a prolapsed rectum and scars on her face and paws.  Her ears were just about gone, either poorly cropped or from possible dog fighting.  It would take two surgeries and two months of recovery to get this dog ready for adoption.

Pet Rescue of Mercer was the organization that took on this dog’s case.  They paid for her recovery and wanted to get her adopted into her forever home.  Despite everything she had been through, they said that this dog, now named Angel, still had such a sweet disposition with no ill feelings toward people or other animals. 

I did feel sorry for this dog after reading her write up, however I still was not convinced how good this breed could be.  It took two weeks, two “face-to-dog” meetings and many questions until I finally agreed to give Angel a try.  My wife was ready to kill me because she thought someone else would adopt her during that time period.  Whether it was fate or just luck, Angel was now ours.

My sister had previously owned a dog named Angel, so we felt the need to change this dog’s name.   We were struggling to pick a good one so our niece suggested Macy, for her favorite store.

It would take Macy about two months to come out of her shell and be completely comfortable in her new surroundings.  She was definitely sweet from the beginning, but she was hand shy (mostly with men), would get startled easily and was not housebroken.

The story took about three months to complete, which was the easy part.  Now what to do with it?  I never did anything like this before, so I had no clue what to do with this potential children’s book.  My friend suggested self-publishing, so I decided to go through Lulu.com.

To make a long story short, the rest of the process took about a year.  I had to create a storyboard layout of the book, work with their illustrator on how I wanted the illustrations to look, decide on a cover, the color of the cover, the binding, the size of the pages, etc.  It turned out to be a longer process than I thought, but the experience was extremely fun.

Macy The Lonely Pit Bull Finds A Home was finally completed in April of 2012.  I understand it was not from a major publishing house, but it was still exciting to hold my first book in my hands. 

Since that day my wife, Macy and I have done many pro-adoption dog events in our area trying to promote the book, along with some school and other event readings.  During all of this, I have come to realize that it is Macy who is the star.  Everyone loves meeting her, especially the kids.  She loves meeting them too.

From loyalpitbulllove.com we thank Todd Jagemann from the bottom of our hearts for this wonderful tribute to a very special dog. Not only has Macy changed the lives of Todd and Robyn but she continues to change lives and open minds every day. The world needs more happy endings and we are happy that Macy and the Jagemanns have theirs.

Please check out Macy The Lonely Pit Bull Finds A Home. It is available on Lulu.com, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com and other online outlets. Todd has also written numerous articles aimed at combating the myths and negative connotations associated with pit bulls. These articles can all be found online. And of course, Macy has her own Facebook page so be sure and check it out!

Well the nice weather is here and summer will soon be upon us. If you plan to include your dog in your summer vacation plans, it is not a bad idea to start making the necessary preparations. In this series we will look at a few things to keep in mind when traveling with your pet.

Today we will look at car safety. While it is certainly no fun to have a dog bouncing back and forth and trying to get from the front to the back seat and vice versa, it is not merely an annoyance – it may actually be against the law.

A number of states have laws regarding the transport of pets and a violation may run as high as $1000.00. Before traveling, take the time to read up on individual state laws to avoid unnecessary trouble and expense.

In almost every state, if your loose dog is in any part responsible for an accident, distracted driving laws will apply.

Fourteen states and many local municipalities have laws that prohibit leaving a pet unattended in a car.

Consider using a travel crate, tether or harness that allows your dog to sit up, lie down and move around a bit without interfering with the driver.

Turn off or lock power windows. These can present a choking hazard or your dog could accidentally open a window and jump out if he sees something that interests him.

Bring plenty of fresh water and a bowl. Make frequent stops for potty and water breaks – every two to three hours is recommended.

And, of course, do not let your dog ride in your lap or in the back of an open pick-up truck.

Above all, use common sense to ensure a safe trip for all.

So many people ask me how they can help animals in need. Many are not in a position to adopt or foster a pet but, as I tell them, there are many other ways to get involved and make a difference.

Which leads to our spotlight organization, K9 Safe at Home, a Connecticut group of volunteers that runs programs aimed at keeping pets with their families and out of our shelters.

Today we have Julie Stevens, the President of K9 Safe at Home who will answer a few questions about the organization and how people can help.

Without further ado, here’s Julie!

Q. Welcome Julie! Please tell us a little bit about your organization and how you got started.

A. We are a small group. All of us have done rescue work, some of us for years. We were getting tired of constantly looking for foster homes and started to see the need for a program to help people keep their pets in their homes in tough times. We discovered, based on some of the phone calls coming in to us that a lot families just needed some support with food to take the pressure off for a while. With our help they were able to keep their pets until they were able to get back on their feet! Now, anyone who needs our help is welcome to apply.

While all of this was falling into place, we found that we also had families calling for help that needed to place their pets but were happy to keep them until the right home was found!  Wow! Imagine that--- a home that cares so much that the owners were reaching out for help in finding their pets the perfect home.  We help these families by posting and sharing on our page. We have an application for that also. We have a policy that the owners, with our help, check out references and do home checks.  We do everything we can to point the owners in the right direction and get their pets into homes for the rest of their lives.

When we began, we put all of this on paper to see if it would work and it did! We are looking to fill a need that is different from most rescues. I would like everyone to know, however, that we focus on the pets here in Connecticut. We believe the pets in our state need a team to help just them, which in turn helps the shelters and rescues to be able to do what they do. We feel the pets in Connecticut are often overlooked and turned away because rescues and shelters are full of pets from other states.

Our Pet Food Pantry was started to help Connecticut pets during tough times or at any time during their placement.

 So, to summarize, with our rehoming assistance program we network your pet to help find a good home. We also have a referral network and can give people phone numbers or names of organizations that can help them. We even try to help people with wildlife questions or tell them who to call for help.
We also have a pantry for pets. We are blessed to have a couple big pet food stores that help us to do what we do. We have Pet Supplies Plus and PetValu in West Hartford that are fantastic in what they do for us. They truly care about helping the pets in need.

Q. How would people go about requesting help?

A, You can find us on Facebook - K9 Safe At Home. We also have our web page where you can request help it is k9safeathome.weebly.com/ where you will also find our email address and a phone number where you can reach us.

Q. What types of donations are you looking for?

A. We are always in need of, but are but not limited to, dog and cat food. People donate dog food so much more than cat food, although I am not sure why.  Maybe it is the K9 part of our name? We support a number of feral cat rescues. In the wintertime wet cat food is especially needed because it helps the cats generate more body heat to stay warm.

We accept dog houses in good condition and they need to be brought to us. We need toys, medicine and lots of cat litter. We will take just about anything to do with animals, (farm animals too) including  gates , chain link fencing, hay, straw, bunny food, guinea pig food, bird food, rabbit houses and pet safe ice-melt. We strive to help all animals!

Q. How many families do you serve?

A. We serve many food shelves in Connecticut. These food shelves support people in need and a large number of those people have pets. That is where we come in and donate to the food banks to help out. We help the Enfield Soup Kitchen and just had the honor to be able to help a new program that is being started by Meals on Wheels by providing food for their clients with pets.

We help rescues, animal shelters and animal control centers all over the state of Connecticut. We help private families that contact us for approximately 90 days so they can keep their pets and get back on their feet. We serve about 400 families a month and growing!

Q. What else would you like people to know about K9 Safe at Home?

A.  We are growing every day. We need a place to call home to store our donations. We never imagined that there was such a need and we need space to be able to organize our donated items. We are a small team of great people that have many helpful skills. I am a former Animal Control Officer and State Humane Agent.  We also have a college graduate with a degree in the animal field, a former pet supply store owner and people that are active in rescue work. We also have a wonderful groomer on board and more. We know what we are doing but couldn't do it without all of our wonderful supporters.

We  are hoping to add a few more programs but for now we have to focus on getting a "place to call home" and then finding help to become non profit. We will be looking for lots of help on that for sure!!

Right now, in addition to donations, K9 Safe at Home is in need of storage space in the greater Hartford area. 

If you can help please call or text (860) 324-3292 or email  k9safeathome44@gmail.com.

Thank you Julie for taking the time to tell us about your wonderful organization and thank you to all the volunteers of K9 Safe at Home for helping to keep pets out of shelters and keeping families together.