The Three Chis

We love Carmel...We love it!  Carmel-by-the-Sea is truly a fantastic town and it is all the better because of its love of the dog.  Dogs are welcome in this town and it makes this a perfect destination for our family.  We always start the day off with a long, long, long stroll on the amazing off-leash beach.  We love to feel the sand between our paws.  There are dogs of all sizes enjoying the beach.  Big dogs, little dogs, dogs who love the water, dogs who love tennis balls...After a walk along the shore, we love to hit the town of Carmel.  Who wouldn't love to stroll along the streets of this place...nearly every store has treats and outside the shops are bowls of nice cool water.  And I can never hear enough of the compliments... Ooohs and aaaahs and belly rubs abound.  And then there is the Cypress Inn.  What an amazing dog-friendly place for dogs.  We enjoy the outdoor dining.  And maybe one day, we will even enjoy an overnight stay!  You have to...you simply have to...you must go and enjoy a day at Carmel.  Tell them Little Mingo sent you!

Some days are even more beautiful than others and today was one of those days!  The constant rain has taken a break and the sun poked through the clouds.  And Kt loaded us in the the Land Rover and took us to the Marsh for our first big adventure in weeks.  The ground was still heavy with water and the ground thick gooey mud.  The smells were unreal...the dust was washed away and I could smell life.  Ah, what a morning....walking with Sally and running throught the green grasses and sniffing out more than I ever could believe could be sensed.

Today, Zoe joined us for her first real hike and she showed complete spunk.  She moves slowly and she moves chaotically.  She lurches and spins and hops and bounces backward.  And YET, she never stops trying.  She walks on and on and never stops.  She wouldn't ride in the carrier.  She wiggled and waggled and Kt let her walk the entire way.  I think that Zoe is exploring life for the first time.  I don't think that walks were a part of Zoe's past.  Leashes?  She freaks out.  And until today, she never stopped to sniff on any of our short walks.  Today, Zoe stopped and soaked up the smells...the pee of dogs gone past.  Today, Zoe becoame a member of the pack...

Oh, what a long, windy, rainy day!  But it is a special day ...for today, a new foster dog came into our home.  Her name is ZOE.  Zoe was found on January 1st in San Leandro and she found a family that took her in and gave her a warm place to stay.  She was skinny, dirty and scared.  She still is skinny and scared but now she is here at our home and all dogs get fat & happy at Chez Singleton/Smith.  Today, she begins a new life....walks, loving, warmth, rules and freedom.  This pretty little long-haired blond chihuahua is sound asleep as Hawaiian music plays in the background.  She has some issues...physical.  She stumbles and has a crazy lump on her head.  We will get her vet care to address these issues.  And of course, spay & neuter! 

More on Zoe as the days go on!!!

Check out some videos that we took today with our new little houseguest. 

RAINY DAY WALK

ZOE TRAVELS IN COMFORT

I was on the news again...Yes, again.  This time I was on CBS KPIX with Napoleon & Kt.  We were speaking out against unscrupulous credit card practices.  We are really kinda naive when it comes to the crappy games that the banks play with credit cards.  Kt has had one credit card that she uses...HAWAIIAN AIRLINES...duh!  She has had it for about 12 years and its all about the miles, baby...and the bank has never meddled with interest rates, credit limits and there's never been late fees. 

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....now, we decide to get GE Moneybank's CARE CREDIT card to help with the vet bills.  Napoleon and Fiesta and Annabelle have cost Kt a bundle of bucks.  Notice I am not on the list.  CARE CREDIT is designed to allow pet owners to provide animals with quality vet care by offering no-interest payment plans.  Sounds good and it is good.  GE Money Bank can make vet bills more managable.  Fiesta's recent surgery & vet visits is nearly 2,000.00.  Payments can be spread out over six months no interest. 

I won't go into detail cause the video will explain but we had problems with the GE Money Bank and their payment processing.  The fun part of the whole experience is that local tv station KPIX intervened on our behalf.  They came out to the house and did a story on Kt and the credit card.  And you will see that Napoleon and I were a big part of the story. 

Moral of the story...if you are right, stand up.  We reached out to local meia and we used Facebook and we used Twitter.  We were not going to just let the crappy service of GE Money Bank go unanswered. The decisions of the unrepsonsive reps can have huge impacts on people.  The late fees may be the least of the concerns.  It is too important for your credit to let unfair practices be tolerated.  And besides, I bet SAVANNAH the clerk that laughed at us when we said we would go to the news wont' laugh at the next person

Enjoy the video clips!

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=60438@kpix.dayport.com

Yesterday morning, I awoke at the ungodly hour of 4am.  Yes, 4am!  I stumbled out of bed and with the help of Kt, I made it to SFO to be part of the Virgin American Operation Chihuahua.  I was joined with Chocolate and we made sure that the 15 chihuahuas from San Francisco Animal Care & Control got on the plane and headed out to NYC!  The shelters in CA are over-run with Chihuahuas.  Penisula Humane Society has a over 60% of its population made up of Chihuahuas and chi-mixes.  There are more chis than adpoting homes...solution...send the chis to NYC where there are more homes than chis.  So 15 lucky little guys were selected off to go live in the Big City!  Hooray!  There were puppies and older chis...teeny chis and bigger chis...they were all really social little dogs.  Virgin America was AWESOME to do this for the dogs of SF ACC. 

It may have been 5am but the folks of Virgin America were so friendly and so very very nice.  Amy was one of the organizers and she was so good to me...she told me nover and over haow wonderful and how cute I was.  She is a winner in my book.  From the greeting dest, we went through airport security.  I had to take off my collar while Kt took off her shoes.  I passed by just fine and then the dude decided to FRISK me.  I think he just wanted to pet me but couldn' ask.  So since I had no sharp objects or illegal substances on me, I got in! 

We made our way to Gate 12-A.  I knew I was in the right place as I could hear Mariachi music and big signs announcing Operation Chihuahua.  And oh, the chihuahuas running around also made it easy to know I was in the correct spot!!!!  The media was everywhere.  Cameras were clicking away.  Reporter asking crazy ass questions.  And then I spotted the Chimosas...champagne and cranberry juice.  I had myself two drinkie-poos.  Its not drinking in the moring if the sun hasn't yet come up.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Finally, the boarding call.  The chis all lined up and paraded down the red carpet.  Soon all were on the plane.  And well, can I say that I was a teeny big jeaous?  Well, I was.  Chis in first class.  Chis in the cock-pit.  And they got to have a little sleepy pill.  That is the way to travel.

Bon voyage, little dogs.  I wish you much happiness in New York City!

Some fun pics of the day

Here is a great link to videos of the whole thing. 

VIDEO 1 of OPERATION CHIHUA HUA

VIDEO 2 of OPERATION CHIHUAHUA

Happy New Year to EVERYONE!  It has been a most fantastic year even if its is only 3 days into 2010!

Fergie, our foster dog, was adopted on January 1st and is now Bianca.  How is that for a nice start to the new year!

I won a contest on Twitter!  Yes, I am a winner and I will soon have some awesome artwork from Melissa In The Sky. 

And today was the first San Francisco Chihuahua Meetup for 2010!  And the sun was shining.  And my friends were there...human and canine!

And the delayed Virgin America Airlift is going to take place on Wednesday. 

I think this is gonna be a great year!  Mmmmmmmmmmm.....I think it is....

I know I am a lucky, lucky dog.  I realize that I have a warm bed and a roof over my head and lots & lots of love.  Every day, I have yummy food and delicious treats and belly rubs abound.  And I realize this and value this even more after the San Francisco Animal Care & Control press conference the other day.  Chihuahuas now constitute nearl 1/3 of ALL dogs in the SF Shelter and over 60% of the dogs are Peninsula Human Society are Chihuahuas.  These little dogs do NOT have a home of their own.  They do not have a warm lap for snuggling, a bed for snoozing, a family for loving.  There are too many reasons for this problem...some blame hollywood and how chihuahuas are the pets of so many celebrities and thus appeal to the everyday person who did not understand our breed..  Some blame the economy and the fact that many are losing their homes.  Others may not be losing their homes but are very short on money and cannot care for their chis.  I think these ALL contribute to the over-population but the I blame back-yard-breeders.  There must be an end to buying puppies when so many are langushing in the shelters...no, many are DYING in the shelters.  Yes, dying.  So please don't support BYB and do support SPAY & NEUTER!  Every dog deserves a loving home and family!  The shelter just is not the place to be!

The San Francisco Chihuahua Meetup held the first SMALL DOG CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA at the very swanky Hotel Monaco in downtown San Francisco.  What a place!  Eveyone was a special guest as soon as the entered the building.  We even had a welcome sign!   Yeah, they called me MONGO but hey, I can overlook that slight misstep

Through the warm inviting lobby, our guests walked to the party room.  And wow, the one of the first things that greeted you was a cake as delicious as it was beautiful.  Talk about a work of art!

And not only was the food pretty and festive so were the dogs and the people.  Everyone and everydog looked spectacular! 

And there was a fashion show that was the masterpiece of Mijo & Bambi.  All of the models were pretty and handsome litle dogs that are currently in foster homes and so hoping to find a forever place of their very own.

Raffles and silent auctions were a huge sucess.  But that is to be expected with the amazing items donated by great companies like Isabella Cane, Sleepypod, Happy Tail Hotel, Sunshine Puppy.  And more!

And I topped off a day of luxury but bunking down at the Hotel Monaco.  A cozy bed after hours of partying and I was out.  I dreamt of all the fun I had at the 2009 Small Dog Christmas Extravaganza!

Peace out, Mingo

I am using my new pic from the Bark in the Park.  I do think I look rather pretty.  But I always think I look pretty.  My ego is apparently a problem to some people.  I am getting a reputation of being a mean little red-headed chihuahua.  Deserved?  Perhaps but I don't like other dogs near my space, my treats or me.  That's that.

So enough of that.  Love me for what I am. 

Today was a great day.  We started with a long hike at Niles Canyon in Fremont.  It is one of our many off-leash places in the Bay Area.  Fun, fun, fun.  I came home and crashed out.  I slept in the family room.  I slept on the stairs.  I slept in the hallway.  I slept on Kt's bed.  So rumor has it that dogs sleep about 16-18 hours a day.  I think that I am an over-achiever cause I must sleep about 20 hours a day!

Wow, Sunday was a super mellow day for all of us.  We pissed away the day watching PERFECT Sunday on Lifetime.  Bad movie after bad movie but we just loved it...we cuddled up on the sofa and dozed through these movies.  On and off into slumber land while crazy woman killed lots of people

Loved my Sunday.

Missing Annabelle but kinda getting used to things going back to normal!  And besides, we have been invited to go do and visit...and we will