The Three Chis

WOW....It has been a whirlwind of a weekend!  We arrived on Friday and our first destination....SUN VALLEY DOG.  We popped in and texted Nicole..."Look at the door"  and for the first time ever, we met in person one of the greatest people in the world, Nicole.  And to add to the excitment, Nicole was 90 minutes from the grand opening of SUN VALLEY DOG!  At 4:00pm, the doors opened and the people came!  The store is a hit with its amazing items for the stylish Isabella Cane & Sun Valley Dog collars & leashes to the fun dog toys like the Bark Street Journal and Puptrone and Ipaw!  Idaho is big BIG BIG dog country!  So lots of cool items for the bigger dogs! 

In addition to the fun of the grand opening was the amazing opportunity to stay with Nicole and her pack at her fab home in Ketchum.  We loved the Hoss, Lilly and Creole!  And Peter is a winner, too!

The dogs have a great life with Nicole!  Lots of space, lots of love and lots of hiking!  We got to enjoy the amazing hikes around the area.  Mingo tackled the hills and won!  And Mingo loved the long, long halls at Nicole's home.  She bounded up and down like a little gazelle!

Oh, and don't forget the fun adventures around town from the encounter with the black bear at the antique fair.  Mingo took that nasty scary bear down!  There was the amazing gondola ride up Mount Baldy....cold and windy, the view was amazing!  Concerts all weekend long at the new town square...Ketchum wisely converted a parking lot to a community hot spot where concerts will be held and ice cream sold and other fun events!

Little Mingo made it to Idaho and is now in love with the town, Nicole and of course, Little Hoss!  Time passed quickly..way too quickly!  But tomorrow, find out more about the fun journey home! 

I am gonna keep it brief since I have a weak Internet connection and who knows if the person is gonna figure out I am on his/her network and kick me off.

We made it to Idaho!  Yes, we did. And I have NOT yet seen a single solitary potato!  Not one.  We are just 80 miles from our destination point...Sun Valley.  We almost stayed in Twin Falls but it was just a mass of fast food and chain restaurants and motels/hotels and it overwhelmed Kt.  So we opted to go to a smaller town of Jerome.  We found a sweet old fashion motel and it turns out the owner was from Mountain View and so she waived the no small dog rule for me.  Yes, NO SMALL DOG rule.  She said small dogs pee where they shouldn't but that I was too cute to be a peeing machine.  But she did ask Kt to walk me before bed.  Whatever!    And then there were some nice people outside in the cool courtyard...kinda cute, too!  And they carried ALL of our luggage in for you.  Idahoians!  I think I love them. 

Alright...more tomorrow.  Tomorrow is the BIG BIG BIG day!  It is the GRAND OPENING of SUN VALLEY DOG...And its the first time we meet Nicole Kohn live and in-person!  And Hoss!  And Creole! And Lily!  Can't wait....

Love, Little Mingo!

Idaho, here I come!  Today, I decided to pack up the car and head off to Sun Valley, ID.  Kt and I thought about this spontaneous journey for a few long hours and weighed out the pros & cons.  And this morning at 8:15am, we went for it.  It made for a morning rush.  Tim stepped up to make sure that the car was safe for a long, long, long road trip.  Oil, gas, tires, windshield fluids...all check and topped off.  He even cleaned the car!  Kt packed but we sure couldn't bring much.  The car has NO trunk and no real space.  But we did it.  I had to bring several outfits!  I am going to the GRAND OPENING of SUN VALLEY DOG...I am planning on wearing my KARA SAUN.  I look marvelous! 

We left at 3:00pm and thanks to bad advice from the GPS and an accident on the Bay Bridge, we went less than 70 miles in the first  three hours.  Yes, 70 miles in the first 3 hours.  We could have gone faster on a bicycle   But then things picked up and tonight, I am resting my head in The Biggest Little City...I am in Reno, NV.  But I am sleepy..so so so sleepy.  I can barely keep my eyes open so for now, I say good-bye.  Come back tomorrow for Day TWO of the Road Trip to Idaho! 

Love, Little Mingo

Spring has sprung and I am loving every minute of it.  The days are so long and the end result is that I am often getting to have two walks a day!  Yes, TWO.  And we are so lucky where we live.  There is the Marsh, Seaport and Pulgas Ridge. 

Things are back to "normal" at our house.  We are foster-free right now and no one is here for dog sitting visits either.  We are three!  I am not used to having the house to ourselves. 

I really want to do a blog about fostering and where the six pups that we have loved are now.  I will work on this during the week.

For now, I just want to remind you to look for me on TWITTER.  I am @littlemingo.  I have lots of friends including Kirstie Alley and The Ellen Show.  I actually have 650 twitter friends. 

Watch for the Foster Dog Blog! 

How is it already March? And yes, it is offically SPRING!  I am happy to have the long sunny days, I just don't know where the short, cold, rainy days went. 

It's been a busy time for us....We have had five dogs living in our home for the past three weeks.

Zoe came back and was here with us as her adoptive family took the time to think seriously about the lifetime committment of a pet and especially a pet with special needs.  And the right decision was made...Zoe went home with Les & Kathy just yesterday.  I will miss her.  We started playing just a few days ago.  It took Zoe a long time to figure it out but once she did, she was a play machine.  She'd wake us up late at night, early in the morning and all throughout the day to play!  I know Zoe will be back...in fact, she will be here with us in May for a week.  Hope she still likes playing!

And Nikko.  Talk about a lucky, lucky dog.  It was a cold RAINY Friday and both Tim & Kate were home in the middle of the day.  Not a common occurrence.  Kate saw an urgent ad on Craigslist about a dog who was scheduled to be euthanized at 2pm and it was already 2:04pm.  A quick email and an even faster return call and it was off to Martinez on a wet Friday afternoon during rush hour traffic.  But it was meant to be.  Nikko is a sweet & lovable dog who was happy from the moment he settled into Kate's arms.  And today, Nikko became Jake.  He has a new home with Yulia and her little chihuahua Peanut!  We will miss our howling parties with our very own singer Nikko but wow, he is now living in Marin with the nicest of people!

And...so we wouldn't be complete without another foster...before Jake even left, Amanda arrived.  A crazy ball chasing Chihuahua-mix is now crashed out on the sofa with me.  She is full of energy and thinks we could play more but hey, she can run and we can sniff and we can all sun together .  I am betting that Amanda will be here a very, very short time.  She is going to an adoption fair tomorrow and who can resist a girl as pretty and full of fun as Amanda!

So................I will be back.  I will.  But now, my greenie beckons.  I must go eat it!

Love,

Little Mingo

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