Monday, August 29, 2011

Puppy up! Song Live on iTunes

Long distance adventurers need the patience of an executioner and the hide of a battleship.  And so do songwriters who want to publish their work on iTunes. It took four excruciating months to get the puppy up! song up since Apple has cornered the market on music downloads but baby, we're live!

What started out as a simple phrase that I came up with before Hudson and Murphy and I set out on our 2,300 mile journey to keep us motivated and remindful of Malcolm's spirit and that of all those touched by cancer became a battle cry for people all over.  I get 'Puppy ups' every week from all over the world... Africa, Croatia, Australia, Israel, Canada and it's amazing that this grass roots movement that began with just me and two fuzzybutts has touched the hearts of so many. 

While walking through New Jersey I met a veterinarian oncologist named Joshua Louis who in addition to devoting his life to companion animal cancer is a singer and songwriter, too.  It was trail magic when our paths crossed and we began collaborating on a 'Puppy up!' song to share the inspiration from our travels.  Dr. Joshua, as he's known, is a gifted pianist, soulful singer, and helped capture the spirit of our mission.  He wasn't able to walk the final mile in Boston so I took his place on the stage and gave er all I got. 

How You Can Listen

It's available on iTunes for 99 cents to download and having never owned an i-Pod myself and only recently an i-Phone user I was totally unfamiliar with the process of even downloading an i-Tunes song until now.  For those of you who know how to do it just search 'Joshua Louis' and the song is at the top of his recordings or you can follow this Link.  For those like me who don't, you'll have to get the iTunes app first on your desktop or PDA if you don't have it and you'll be able to download it then.
Supporting the Cause

Dr. Joshua and I jointly own the copyright to the puppy up! song and I am donating 50% of my half to 2 Million Dogs in their mission to eradicate cancer in people and pets and he has agreed to donate a percentage of what he makes from the song, too. 

The Music Video

If you love the song and are anywhere near Manhattan September 16th, come be a part of the filming of the music video.  Dr. Joshua will be performing the puppy up! song live at The Delancy Friday at 8pm and god willing, I'll be there. Hudson, too and perhaps a new puppy to put the puppy in 'Puppy Up!'

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Silpada Rep Supports 2 Million Dogs

August 1st through September 2nd purchase any of Silpada’s extraordinary, handcrafted .925 sterling silver pieces from http://www.mysilpada.com/lisa.stark  and Mrs. Stark will donate 100% of the sale profits from the 2MD Hostess site to 2 Million Dogs! Millions of customers love Silpada’s products because of the individual artisan details that make each piece a one-of-a-kind, all backed by a lifetime guarantee!
To view Silpada’s latest looks in jewelry please visit http://www.mysilpada.com/lisa.stark

Ordering is an easy, simple process:

1) Visit http://www.mysilpada.com/lisa.stark
2) Click “Shop Now”
3) Select your .925 sterling silver jewelry pieces from the Virtual Jewelry Box and add to shopping bag
4) Checkout & create an account (easy & quick)
5) Select hostess “2 MILLION DOGS”

2 Million Dogs Foundation is committed to discovering the common links between canine and human cancers and the causes of these cancers through comparative oncology research. Our organization will accomplish that mission through Education and Awareness, Empowerment and Mobilization, and finally Investment in Research.

For more information on 2 Million Dogs, upcoming events and ways to get involved please visit http://www.2milliondogs.org/

Why did Mrs. Stark want to share her love of Silpada with the 2 Million Dogs family?

“Our three furkids, Harley, Mojo, and Fielding (all adopted from shelters) passed away in 2010 within a 7 month time period. Mojo was thought to have had hemangosarcoma but was misdiagnosed. Sweet Fielding had a tumor around his aeorta. Harley had kidney disease, but was also thought to have had some possible GI cancer that they were not able to confirm. Giving back to the animals is a way that I can keep my furbabies memories alive.”

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Four

The new blog for finding a mate (My fourth fuzzybutt) for Hudson is live and already there are 70 or so dogs up there – Finding Fuzzybutt Four

All of these beautiful puppies need a good home and if you find one you fall in love with, please contact the shelter or rescue about adopting them. This is not a competition and we want all of them to find the right family. We are adding new ones as they come to us so check back often.

This week I’m going to take Hudson to meet a few and will post videos of the experience there.

Email Sheila Rinks with any questions...

puppy up!

Hudson & Luke

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Finding Fuzzybutt Four

Hudson turned 5 today and now that I’ve laid Murphy to rest and had my time alone to reconcile his loss, it’s time to find Hudson a brother.

I am starting a separate blog entitled Finding Fuzzybutt Four to chronicle the experience and open it up to the public and anyone who would like to be a part of the process.

We’re still working through how all of this is going to work but I’ve made a few decisions:

(1) I’m going with another Great Pyrenees. Meeting so many awesome mixed breeds on the road I thought back then my next one will be a plain ole American mutt, just as long as I always have one Pyr in my pack. But after losing Murphy I realized I’m 2 for 2. I couldn’t have been blessed with better mates than he and Malcolm - the jury is still out on Hudson. So life is short, get a Great Pyr, I decided.

(2) It’ll be from a rescue or shelter which makes (3) harder but it needs to be a puppy, 2 – 6 months old. I want it to be young enough to grow into our pack and full of puppiness for Hudsy. He hasn’t gotten to play a lot this past year and it’s his time now.

In setting up a separate blog I want to share what I learn throughout the adoption process and enable others to participate in it as well. If you’re a shelter or rescue you can post prospective mates for Hudson here as well as share best practices for a successful adoption, qualities to look for that fit your pack, and best ways to introduce them into their new environment. Other people will be allowed to share success stories with their adoptions as well which we can all learn from.

I am working with Sheila Rinks on this and she’ll be the blog admin. All you have to do is email her at sheila@2dogs2000miles.org what you want to post and as long as it fits the criteria, she’ll invite you on as a guest blogger (I know there are a ton of great dogs out there looking for homes but I’d like to keep the focus here on finding a prospective mate for Hudson).

We’re still working out the kinks in this concept but the process is probably going to take a few months and we want to get started with it now. Let’s find Hudson a brother…. Keep the faith and puppy up!

Happy birthday, my boy

Hudson and Luke

Support your local animal shelter or rescue
To learn more about cancer in pets and people visit http://2milliondogs.org/
Join the Fuzzybutt Fight Club