Archive for the ‘news’ Category

Dexter the rescue kitty, my new little brother, is a Maine Coon breed kitten and will be 7 months old in another week. He eats like a horse and is already bigger than my little older brother, Sam the cat who is 13 years old, and 8 pounds. The photo collage shown is Dexter kitty at more than nine pounds.

Dexter Kitty Shows Heads and Tails While Playing in a Paper Bag

Nine? Yes, actually 9.6 pounds! The photographs show him playing in a paper grocery bag. Dexter claims all boxes and bags that my parents bring home or get delivered. Previous posts show him playing in a small bubble wrap envelope, and another in a Nike shoe box. No more. He won’t fit.

The photo left is Dexter viewing his domain, and shows why he stole the cuteness title from me. The top right is Dexter poking out of the bag. The bottom right is his bottom sticking out and showing off his huge and fluffy Maine Coon tail.

On my annual checkup earlier this month I weighed in at 21 pounds. Gained 1 in 1 year. Our veterinarian says male Maine Coon cats can grow up to 25 pounds. Say what?!! I’m full grown, so that might mean Dexter will claim the heavyweight champion title for tonnage to add to his cuteness monopoly.

The icons in the right sidebar of my website have been updated on all pages to include Facebook. I’ve added a Facebook graphic to the YouTube and Twitter icons because I now have a CorkyTheShelterDog Facebook page to promote pet rescue.

Here are bigger versions of my social icons that link to my social networks on YouTube (20 videos and counting), Twitter (over 3,700 followers) and now Facebook (with X number of likes).

In addition to these accounts, new social bookmarking icons are at the bottom on each page and under the date of each blog post of my website, also.

Those allow you to use your accounts to Google +1, like on Facebook, or tweet about the page you are visiting. Mouse over the share button next to those and a flyout menu offers over 300 more social bookmarking website choices.

Visit my social sites to meet my connections and learn more about adopting a shelter dog, rescue dog, or other pet. When considering adding a pet to your family, adopt instead of buy, and make sure to spay or neuter.

Dad and I went to the park for an early photo shoot at Lake Toho in Kissimmee Florida this morning, and I met a new doggy pal, Saturday. Oops, you’re thinking? It’s Thursday Corky! Yeah, I know.

My new doggy pal is named Saturday! That’s him in the photo here with his Dad, David, plus me standing on 3 legs. Saturday is a lab mix rescue dog like me! He is 1-1/2 years old and loves to run and play, plus he’s very well behaved, so we were both allowed off leash.

Several fishermen walked by us and we didn’t bark. Well, maybe I did once.

Saturday’s forever home story began when he was adopted from the doggy jail (dog pound). He is brilliant when it comes to interview techniques. Again, like me, he leaned into his new parents to let them know he has a whole lotta love to give! Remember that secret if you ever end up in doggy jail. It works!

Saturday and his parents live in Kissimmee and come to Lake Toho 1 or 2 times a week, so we could be friends for a long long time. Guess what? He has a Facebook page, too! We’ll connect later online and have lots of photographs and stories to share.

The chance to meet a new pal is just one more reason to get up and out early. Life is grand.

Lifeline Dog Rescue in Central Florida is a non-profit dog rescue and division of Central Florida Weimaraner & Dog Rescue, Inc. You don’t need to live in Florida to adopt a Weimaraner purebred dog. Lifeline Dog Rescue has options to transport newly adopted dogs including out of state.

Enjoy this Lifeline Dog Rescue photo slideshow presentation showing their property, lake, and many many dogs!

Does Lifeline Dog Rescue provide the food, shelter, and care to place just Weimaraners? No. They specialize in Weims yet accept all breeds of dogs.

If you are thinking of a dog for Christmas, view this slideshow, and then visit the Lifeline Dog Rescue website to find Weimaraners ready to adopt.

Our Maine Coon rescue kitty Dexter has a new kitty condo so he can play or lounge around while viewing his domain from up high. He will be 6 months old on December 5th, and he’s grown from 1.1 lbs. on July 5th to 7.5 lbs. in the last 5 months.

Wow! That Dexter is growing fast! Maine Coon cats are known to be handsome furballs with very fluffy tails. The 3 photos above show Dexter kitty’s condo and fluffy tail (left), a close up of his face and markings (center), and his big kitty paws (right).

You can view these and download enlarged versions for desktop wallpaper on Dad’s Flickr photo stream. Here’s a link to the kitty photo set of Dexter.

Like me, Dexter was abandoned on the street and rescued into a loving home. Thinking of a pet for the holiday season? Please visit an animal shelter or rescue organization to adopt. Unscrupulous breeders and puppy mills are responsible for pet overpopulation which leads to the euthanization of millions of potential animal companions every year.

Pets are not intended to be discarded like yesterday’s trash or newspaper. Before dumping an unwanted pet on the street where it could be killed or injured, please contact a rescue organization or surrender your pet to animal control.

Knowing a pet’s health, behavior, and family history helps place them in a suitable home. Adopt. Don’t buy. Surrender. Don’t abandon. It’s the least your pets deserve. Thanks and hugs.

One of my favorite doggy places in the world is featured here. View this Fleet Peeples Dog Park slideshow with more than 80 photographs of dogs taken at Fleet Peeples in Winter Park near Orlando, Florida.

Fleet Peeples Dog Park is 23 acres of enclosed land on Lake Baldwin that features the lake for dogs to swim, beach for digging and playing, and woods with trails for dogs to explore.

In addition, there’s a large grassy area with trees for shade, and more fun spots for dogs to romp and play. For pet owners, there’s barbeque pits, picnic tables, benches, rest rooms, and a dual platform dog bathing station.

If you own a dog and live within 50 miles or Orlando, a visit to Fleet Peeples Dog Park provides an excellent atmosphere for letting your dog interact and socialize with other dogs. Best of all, there is no entrance fee. Just make sure your dog is up to date on shots, and wearing a current rabies tag. Maybe you’ll see me, Corky the shelter dog, there, too!

Footnote: Once the presentation begins, mouse over the slide show to display the Flickr controls, then click the box to the far right of the thumbnails and the show will go FULL SCREEN for dramatic full size doggy pix. Press the vertical line PAUSE button to hold a photo for viewing longer. Press the triangle to continue. Press ESC once to return to the blog post view.

Here’s my latest video uploaded to YouTube made especially for my doggy pals on Twitter. Learn my secrets about finding gold in this episode entitled “Corky Lesson on Mining for Gold”. Watch and listen or read along the text narration below. (Play time 03:00 min/sec)

Transcript of Narration of Corky Lesson on Mining for Gold Video

Here I am, Corky the shelter dog, exploring the lake and enjoying the sunset on my vacation in Maine. You can practice mining for gold in a lake but there’s better ways. These ducks are only watching. They can’t do what dogs can do, so I’m not worried about them learning my secrets, but I’m telling my friends for free.

Who would have guessed a doggy could mine for gold? We can. It would be easier if we had thumbs because people mine gold in 2 ways. One – they dig in the ground with a pick to find streaks of gold. That can take years. Two – they pan for gold in a stream. That’s easier and faster – especially if you’re a dog.

One day while on vacation it rained hard for hours. That flooded my private beach and left a stream running through it to the lake. This, my friends, was the perfect opportunity to videotape “Corky Lesson on Mining for Gold”.

Unlike humans, dogs have superior senses… and intelligence. My doggy pals can use their nose to sniff gold, so have your human let you smell a gold ring or necklace so you remember the scent. If you didn’t notice, I made a trail going upstream because digging after you smell gold can muddy the water.

By going upstream you only go through clean water which makes sniffing gold easier. Once you think you’ve found a gold nugget it’s time to dig. That’s something else we can do better than humans. Dig dig and dig some more. You will get dirty and that’s half the fun.

Did I find gold? Nope. Or at least “nope” is the official answer. Find gold and brag about it and burglars might steal your gold nuggets when you go for a walk. Give all your gold to your guardians so they can take it to the pawn shop and use the money to buy you doggy treats.

That’s all you need to know about mining for gold. Sniff the gold. Dig the gold. Pawn the gold. Buy treats.

My site now features new large size doggy wallpapers for people interested in downloading the desktop wallpaper photographs on my website. 267 photographs of me, Corky the shelter dog, plus pictures of dogs and puppies and my favorite dog park were enlarged so now all are 1200 x 900 pixels.

Here’s a cropped version of one of the desktop wallpapers showing me looking up at a black and white spotted great dane.

Bigger, better, and higher quality pet photos replaced the old ones yet kept the same file name, so the links are still good in Google Image Search. As you visit the photo gallery pages, click a thumbnail to view the new size. They were 800 x 600 pixels before, so I made the 1200 x 900 my new standard.

To see examples of the new large size doggy wallpapers visit the Corky Friends Photo Gallery or the Fleet Peeples Park Photo Gallery. On average the file size of each is 5 times bigger.

Click any of the thumbnails and the new 1200 x 900 wallpaper will open on the next screen, and then right-click to download and use as desktop wallpaper on your computer. To save time, you can right-click and select “set as desktop background” to have them immediately replace your old wallpaper. Enjoy!

After returning from our roadtrip it’s time for the Corky Maine vacation report and pix. My advice is listen and watch carefully when your parents or guardians say “go for a ride” because my latest was a 3000 mile round trip to Maine.

The above roadtrip pets photo collage shows me and my feline brothers with a few examples of our Maine vacation adventure.

The left photo is Dexter the rescue kitty and Sam our rescue cat sharing MY bed in the back seat of our car. What a good doggy I was to let them snuggle in with me for a more relaxed and enjoyable ride. Hah.

The center photo is me, Corky the shelter dog, posing on the boat dock with China Lake in the background. Maine is way north of Florida (almost to Canada!) so the lake water was extra cool and refreshing compared to home.

The right photo is me again, only this time I’m eyeballing pork baby back spare ribs on the picnic table. That’s Mom’s elbow to my right, and I decided to wait politely for my fair share rather than risk getting caught stealing.

In Maine Dad and I went on early morning daily walks, and as usual he was a picture taking fool. Yup. He posted hundreds of pix on his Flickr account, and you can see pix of Corky on vacation in my Corky the shelter dog set.

Want to see the lake, town, people, places and other excitement? View the entire 200+ Maine vacation pix to see stuff I saw.

Coming later will be a tutorial video of me panning for gold, and other vacation advice for dogs.

For now, you may want to watch Dad’s nature video and take a tour of the Old Swimming Hole located “Down Back” in Derby, Maine,

A package with a software order arrived yesterday by UPS and Corky the shelter dog was so impressed he decided to write a thank you note to Dell Computer. Dogs can’t really write so Dad will type and narrate the note in this video to explain why Corky LOVES Dell Computer. You can listen or read the thank you note transcript below this video. (play time: 01:32 min/sec)

Transcript of Video: Corky Thank You Note to Dell Computer

I'm Corky the shelter dog and this is a video starring Dexter the kitty entitled: Corky Thank You Note to Dell Computer. I had to write them to say what a great job they did.

Dear Dell Computer Team,

Dad ordered software from you and saved $50 off normal retail price. That made him smile which made me smile.
You shipped his software in a free kitty toy envelope. Our rescue kitty, Dexter, LOVES his bubble wrap envelope!
Dad took video of Dexter kitty playing with his new toy. He's funny. That made Mom smile which made me smile.

You gave Dad free delivery by UPS Ground and promised his software would arrive in 7 days, or sooner.
Was it enough to save $50, get free freight, PLUS a great new toy? No. You did more to make everyone smile.
He ordered online Wednesday. The UPS driver delivered the software order Thursday, so it arrived the next day.

I love my family. I love watching Dexter our rescue kitty enjoy his new toy. Now I love Dell Computer!

Thanks and hugs,

Corky

The End

Dexter and Corky (plus their older brother Sam the cat) are all rescue pets. Remember: If you have room in your home for a pet, don't buy from a store. Millions of healthy cats and dogs like us are waiting at a nearby shelter to join your family. Thanks!

*Disclaimer: In compliance with the United States Federal Trade Commission Guide for Product Endorsements by bloggers I hereby state that the opinions of me, Corky the shelter dog, or my legal guardian(s) who do my typing, bear no material or financial connection with Dell Computer and the aforementioned positive endorsement of their company was stated independently as a private opinion given willingly without any type of compensation and without prior solicitation or encouragement even though Dell did give Dad $50 off, free freight, and that exceptional free kitty bubble wrap envelope toy.