Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue

It is really cold today. -16 when we got up at 7.30 and -17 now!!! The dragon is chugging away and if the dogs would stay in it would be warm. But they go in and out every 10 minutes or so. It is so cold I answer the call right away to let them in. Darn puppies they love to play!! The 7 puppies Dave picked up on Wednesday are doing very well. They are a bit shy bit that will change as the interact with the other dogs and watch them interact with Dave and I. Here are a few pics of their first day.

As Burns Lake Vet Clinic staff said on facebook – “It was a hair-straight- back day” with 16 puppy vaccinations and 3 surgeries. One of the shih tzu mix puppies was adopted by a long time client and the 6 month old terrier was also adopted at the clinic. Thank you so much for calling them in to view our so many babies!! The 4 little black fluffies are very cute. Pictures soon. I received a new to me camera from a supporter who found one at a pawn shop in Prince George. Thank you so very much!!

Today is SP(spay)EUTER(neuter) day!! Lewis our boxer/bullmastiff is going in today instead of Queenie. He is so high strung that a neuter is better for him now rather than after he is more socialized. He really is a nice boy who need gentle but firm handling. He is quite thin but healthy. He has been dewormed with drontal plus. He eats very well and he is learning the ropes of in and out. He still prefers to watch the world from his wire crate even when the door is open. He is giving me happy wags and wiggles and has started giving hugs too. He has the bouncy boxer personality. He will be an awesome companion once he has recovered from his abusive past. He was a “tie up near the bush to keep the bears away” backyard guard dog!

The other to go this morning is Entropy. She needs a dental and a spay. She is a tiny, mixed up funny face little girl. She is Dave’s little chair mate and sleeping partner.
She looks a lot like Yeta but smaller. Pics later.

Yesterday was pick up the pound guys. Three were speutered and needed pick up as the pound is not heated. The smallest went into foster care with one of the clinic staff – I think it was Jackie. She is a pom/maltese mix.

The other two came home to Turtle Gardens. One is a small border collie mix female 6 month old pup, the other is a gray terrier/corgi or daschsie mix male. Both are very people social and dog social as well. They fit right in!

The nameless border collie sleeping off her spay!

And the nameless wirehaired terrier

And I forgot poor little unassuming Katie. She is a papillion/shi tzu mix, 4 years old and NOT housetrained. The have had her since she was a puppy. She is good with kids and cats etc. But she has no clue about going outside to pee or poop. She is a timid little thing. Turtle Gardens welcomes Katie.

Please vote for TG! In the care2 challenge we are #67 with 238 votes. Yet over 400 unique visitors come here daily – Please vote – it is just once!! If TG wins any grants – I pledge to use every dollar for Low Cost Spay Neuter Program!!! We were just starting to make a difference! Please help us help the animals! The vote button is just below the red banner above!

And then We need more clicks!!!
The shelter challenge – We are # 1 in Canada which means we are in line for a $1000 grant. But we could aim higher –We are DOWN AGAIN!! !! to #24 in overall ranking. #1 gets $20,000, #2 gets $5000 and #3 gets $3000. We can do it!! Email schools and ask the kids to support Turtle Gardens Spay Neuter Society (our full legal name!!), email family and friends. The animals are counting on us! Click Here

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

What the heck does that mean? Stan has been telling me what I need to do to “optimize” my web site. Why I ask. And he gives me all his reasons – when people google to look for a rescue dog your blog doesn’t come up in the top 10 – he says. You need more readers for a bigger donor base. Not enough traffic. Why does that matter?

So I goggled it to find out: from wikipdia

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results as opposed to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion. Typically, the earlier (or higher) a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a web site web presence.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.

The acronym “SEO” can refer to “search engine optimizers,” a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term “search engine friendly” may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems, images, videos, shopping carts, and other elements that have been optimized for the purpose of search engine exposure.

Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or spamdexing, use methods such as link farms, keyword stuffing and article spinning that degrade both the relevance of search results and the user-experience of search engines. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques in order to remove them from their indices.

Well that make sit clear as mud doesn’t it?

And he says make sure you add tags on every post. Ok, not knowing why but I do it. He checks every blog to see if I remember.

So I googled why and found this: At Social media and web marketing coaching
When you start setting up a blog, you’ll notice that you are given the option to add “tags” to your blog post. Very interesting web site.

What is a tag you ask? A tag is simply a keyword you use to label your posts as well as make it easier to find your entry. For example, you have a blog about your coffee shop that specialized in organic, fair trade coffee. You like to blog about when new flavors of coffee come in, free tastings, etc. It would be good to use tags like “free-trade”, “organic coffee”, after each blog post.

Here’s why tags are important and powerful

1) Using the same tags over and over again. Why? So you can come up in searches when users are looking for the same keyword. It’s critical not to vary the tags too much, but instead reuse them, like in the example above: “organic coffee”, “free-trade coffee” ,“independent”.

2) Use tag clouds in your blog – tag clouds are commonly seen on the sidebar of blogs, are easy to scan. A list of tags can be easily read if it’s in a cloud. It squeezes a ton of information into a small space.

3) You can always include terms in your tags that aren’t necessarily in your blog. If you are located in Portland, Oregon, but it’s not mentioned in your blog post, you can tag “Puddletown”, “Stumptown”, “PDX”, or “Rose City”. These tags can alert search engines to which terms are most important and help lead the right people who really want to read your content.

Now that makes sense. But I still don’t understand the why’s or wherefore’s. But I do understand looking after dogs, observing their behaviours and changing feral/wild/stray/scared dogs into balanced stable family pets. So I will leave the techno stuff to Stan and Tyler. And remember to use tag words and keywords so more people can find Turtle Gardens who rescues dogs from Vancouver and to Vancouver and beyond.

And an update from Chester who lives in Port Coquitlam!

Just thought I would touch base to let you know that Chester is great. He’s happy and healthy and I completely love him.

I received your email about the challenge and put my vote in for you. I also emailed it to about 40 other people requesting same.

I was on petfinder this evening and found a Chester look-a-like …Click here to see

Quite a resemblance !

Attached a couple of pics for you.

Best of luck with the challenge!

Please vote for TG! In the care2 challenge we are #82 with 171 votes. Yet over 400 unique visitors come here daily – Please vote – it is just once!! If TG wins any grants – I pledge to use every dollar for Low Cost Spay Neuter Program!!! We were just starting to make a difference! Please help us help the animals! The vote button is just below the red banner above!

And then We need more clicks!!!
The shelter challenge – We are # 1 in Canada which means we are in line for a $1000 grant. But we could aim higher –We are UP AGAIN!! !! to #28 in overall ranking. #1 gets $20,000, #2 gets $5000 and #3 gets $3000. We can do it!! Email schools and ask the kids to support Turtle Gardens Spay Neuter Society (our full legal name!!), email family and friends. The animals are counting on us! Click Here!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

It is milder with blue skies – but a big storm is coming! It is -3 just after noon – still quite chilly but the dogs are all outside playing.

Then a big pile up to warm up.

And pictures of Yvonne’s dogs!

And pics of Bella now Kaia!

Please vote for TG! In the care2 challenge we are #82 with 169 votes. Yet over 400 unique visitors come here daily – Please vote – it is just once!! If TG wins any grants – I pledge to use every dollar for Low Cost Spay Neuter Program!!! We were just starting to make a difference! Please help us help the animals! The vote button is just below the red banner above!

And then We need more clicks!!!
The shelter challenge – We are # 1 in Canada which means we are in line for a $1000 grant. But we could aim higher –We are UP AGAIN!! !! to #28 in overall ranking. #1 gets $20,000, #2 gets $5000 and #3 gets $3000. We can do it!! Email schools and ask the kids to support Turtle Gardens Spay Neuter Society (our full legal name!!), email family and friends. The animals are counting on us! Click Here!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

We have had a busy week at Simond’s Sanctuary, we have seen new loving homes finding our little shelter, opening up their hearts to our little orphans and welcoming new additions to their families. Thanks to our award winning photographer’s FANTASTIC posters of our long term resident Maude, she has found a new home! The perfect home, a quiet man looking for someone to keep him company. He has no other pets so Maude can rein as princess! We also saw Blackie find a new home and just this Saturday a lovely family with two little boys and one little girl adopted both Jet and Shadow. Kuro went to live with one of her dedicated rescuers. Good luck to all our new families!

New Home Updates:
Oprah is settling in quite nicely and rules supreme around her new home, I’m not sure if her and Tubbs will be friends but Harley and her are making progress. This afternoon OPRAH and Harley had a joint effort in capturing a big fat mouse that Harley had chased out of the grass in the back yard. Oprah seems very bright but seemed very anxious the first few days, we thought maybe she was looking for the kittens she was with. She is very affectionate and seems to be happy.

Foster Home Updates:
3 of Kuro’s kittens (Callie-Onyx-Abbie) went to Oprah’s previous foster home. They are all still very frightened and we know that this will be a long road to building respect and confidence.

Lucky is still with her foster home who says she has a very sweet personality towards her human, she has a high pitch squeal when she sees you, and yearns for affection. Lucky has come a very long way, from being fairly aloof and non-responsive to seeking love and sleeping with her human. Lucky is a tabby and a polydactyl.

Schnae is a very happy and affectionate kitten of about 4 months old. She was left at a local foster home suffering from a terrible case of ear mites. She has been treated and vaccinated and now she is waiting for her new home.

Olivia is a mature lady who was a long time resident of the shelter a while back. She was re-homed locally, ran away and ended up back at the shelter. While taking pictures of her to get her advertised, our award winning photographer recognised her meow! We tracked down Olivia’s home who decided they did not want her back. After reconsidering they took her home where she promptly ran away again! She is now staying with a foster home and she is back up for adoption. This lovely lady really needs a home where she is the only kitty and she has access to outside.

Shelter Update:
We have little Lizzie at the shelter. This little girl needs someone with love and patience to help her become the happy kitten she deserves to be. Yesterday I stroked between her eyes, over the top of her head and behind one ear with one unobtrusive finger. I had her purring with her eyes contentedly closed. Then she realised I was standing there and she bolted and hid in her kitty house. I see huge potential in this beautiful little kitten.

Allana is at the shelter as well. We brought her down to the clinic to visit with clients on Saturday. She loved the attention and could not get enough of it! She is very loving and very lonely. She is about 1 year old and she is spayed and vaccinated. She has beautiful green/yellow eyes.

My focus this week is on Pinky. Pinky is a one year old spayed and vaccinated kitty who was abandoned when her and her two sisters were very young. A young lady found them hiding under the railroad tracks in town and took them home to rescue them. As the three kittens grew they started having litters of kittens of their own. One sister (Saugwa) had three little tabby kittens. The other sister (Oprah) had 4 little kittens. The lady that rescued them decided that 9 cats were too much to handle and she moved out of her rental and left all of the cats with an overwhelmed ex.roommate. The roommate called us for help and we spayed Pinky before she could add more kittens to this situation. The roommate agreed to foster Pinky as we worked diligently to place the other 8 cats. Pinky is all that is left and she has gone to a new foster home. The new foster home says that Pinky is a very cuddly, loving cat who loves to chase imaginary mice around the bath tub until she gets dizzy! She loves to snuggle into the foot of the bed at night. She gets along well with the other cats and she is getting used to the resident dogs. Keep an eye open for more stories on Pinky!

Please call the Burns Lake Vet Clinic if you are interested in any of the cats you see here, 250-692-7476. To see more cats up for adoption logon to facebook under “The Burns Lake Veterinary Clinic”

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

There are many way for a dog to be labeled special needs. Willow and Birch are special needs for now – they are my demodex girls. Birch has a full coat and seems to be finally cured/immune system matured. Willow is still a bit patchy since her spay but she too will be healed. The saluki group are special needs due to destructive separation anxiety or fear of humans or in Isiah’s case a severe learning disability. Then there is Cuddlebug – a senior with a heart murmur and mammary tumours – she just needs a warm lap and palliative care. The two new terriers? They are feral. That means that they have never been touched by human hands. Ever. They are terrified little biting furries. They are crouched in their kennels watching and observing. They have eaten and drunk and during the night – they sneaked out and did their thing out of the kennel; then scurried back in, where they were this morning. It will take time for them to learn to trust. But trust us they will. They always do.

Then there is Sir Rex. He walks so very “kingly” – he doesn’t walk – he struts. He is a very proud dog. He is also deaf. Sir Rex has pale blue eyes, a few spots on his ears and one spot on his side – so he is not a true albino. He has always been tied up but he sure fit in nicely here. He is one happy dude! Turtle Gardens welcomes Sir Rex!

Who are you?

And since we are talking special needs – there is also Callum. Callum is a Burns Lake Pound dog. He is a senior – supposed to be 12 to 14 years old! He is also a crippled senior. He was x-rayed last week so we could know what/where/how/when his injury occurred. We already knew he was healed. The x-rays show that his growth plate was injured probably as a very young puppy! He has compensated fully for his crooked foot. His shoulder and muscles are all turned as well. It really is too late to operate. He just needs glucosamine/joint care. And a warm place to sleep. Callum is a sweetheart of a dog! He loves being indoors and off the chain! He comes from the same place as Sophie, her pups and Augusta! Small towns – you can almost always find out some of their history! 12 years on a chain! And now his favorite spot is under the kitchen table. Somewhere there is a family for Callum!

Please vote for TG! In the care2 challenge we are #90 with 136 votes. Yet over 400 unique visitors come here daily – Please vote – it is just once!! If TG wins any grants – I pledge to use every dollar for Low Cost Spay Neuter Program!!! We were just starting to make a difference! Please help us help the animals! The vote button is just below the red banner above!

And then We need more clicks!!!
The shelter challenge – We are # 1 in Canada which means we are in line for a $1000 grant. But we could aim higher –We are UP AGAIN!! !! to #30 in overall ranking. #1 gets $20,000, #2 gets $5000 and #3 gets $3000. We can do it!! Email schools and ask the kids to support Turtle Gardens Spay Neuter Society (our full legal name!!), emails family and friends. The animals are counting on us!

VOTE EVERYDAY!! Click here!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

You can order for one more week!!! to November 15th.

Read all about it on Chris’ BLOG
As you may be aware I was just sick with the flu, and now Deb has it.
As a result, we need to cancel Sunday’s Pampered Chef Show to be sure
we do not spread it around.

Please e-mail Heather Marcotte at chasmundson@gmail.com with your
order as we can still raise some money for Turtle Gardens. Our goal is
to raise $800 so they receive 15% of the sales!

Here is the Pampered Chef website: http://www.pamperedchef.ca/index.jsp

Please have your orders to Heather by Sunday, November 15, 2009 and
send Heather a cheque or credit card info. Once all orders are paid
for, they will be shipped to Heather. She will make arrangements with
you for pick up or drop-off!!!

If you have any questions, you can email Heather!

Thanks,
Chris

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.