WOOF! SLC

Fond Farewell from WOOF! SLC

2009-12-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

To all of my wonderful WOOF! clients, past and present,

First of all, I want to wish each and every one of you and your dogs (and cats) a Happy Holiday season, and wonderful New Year!

Secondly, I have to tell you that as of January 1st, I will no longer be accepting client work with WOOF! SLC. It's not because I don't absolutely love caring for your wonderful pets...I have been offered my dream job!

Many of you know that animal rescue has been very close to my heart for a number of years. I have worked especially hard during the last year with several programs, including the development and implementation of the Salt Lake County Pit Crew program. This program is a partnership between Salt Lake County Animal Services and Best Friends Animal Society out of Kanab, UT which is the largest no kill animal sanctuary in the country, and the subject of the National Geographic channel show Dogtown. Many of you also know that I travel regularly down south to work with the animals there.

I have been offered a full time position working with Best Friends on one of their four national campaigns. The campaign I will be working on focuses on helping one of the most maligned dogs in our country, short haired, muscular mutts also known as pit bulls. The campaign is called Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog. I will be positioned out of Salt Lake City, but will travel both to Kanab and around the country working with rescues and shelters everywhere, working with the media, helping communities to improve their dangerous dog laws to focus on irresponsible ownership rather than targeting or banning a specific breed or group of dogs, etc. It is going to be a huge and exciting challenge, and one that I cannot wait to jump into.

You can read more about Best Friends and all of the animals they help here: http://www.bestfriends.org/ and more about the Pit Bulls Campaign here: http://network.bestfriends.org/campaigns/pitbulls/default.aspx

It's been a wonderful experience working with all of you and your pets. If you have service already booked with me through the end of the year, have no fear! I will fulfill all of those commitments. No new service will be booked for now. In order to make sure you have some contacts of other petsitters and dog exercisers I know and recommend, please take a look at the following services:

Roggy Rai Care, http://www.roggyraicare.com/- Rai is a good friend and a great doggy companion!

Heather Beck with K-9 Lifeline for boarding and training, http://k9lifeline.net/ -Heather is also a wonderful friend and colleague

Mountain Mutts, http://www.mountain-mutts.com/

Dog Mode, http://dogmode.com/

Thank you all so much again for a wonderful year and the opportunity to care for you pets!

Sincerely,

Melissa and WOOF! SLC

Pits and Perception Art Show

2009-12-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

Please join one of Best Friend's founding members and wonderful artist, Cyrus Mejia for a reception and art show entitled Pits and Perceptions running from 12/18-1/30/10.

This is an incredible collection of paintings featuring some of the Vic(k)tory Dogs and other pitties from the Sanctuary. You can visit Cyrus' website here:

http://cyrusmejia.com/art/pits-and-perception

This show has traveled the country and is finally stopping in Salt Lake! Please come to the reception and be sure to stop by while the exhibit is up!

I am truly honored to have a digital display of my photography featuring some of my favorite dogs at the Sanctuary that will be up during the exhibit. Please come to the opening and support the show, the dogs, and me!

I <3 Otis

2009-11-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

Here at WOOF! SLC, we never play favorites. Each and every client dog brings something unique and special to the table and puts a smile on my face.

But, when it comes to rescued pittie bulls, WOOF! might just have a soft spot. You see, I have three of my own rescued pitties. Two of them are mixes, Tiggs and Winnie (with who knows what!), and the third, Honey, is a little pink nosed American Pit Bull Terrier.

Because WOOF! spends a LOT of time volunteering in rescue for SLCOAS, Best Friends, and No More Homeless Pets, I have witnessed first hand the disproportionate number of pitties in our shelter system, which sadly also means a disproportionate euthanasia rate. I have recently helped start the SLCoAS Pit Crew program which aims to place more adoptable pitties and pittie mixes in foster and adoptive homes, along with free spay/neuter county wide for these amazing dogs, along with free AKC Canine Good Citizen training. I am hoping we have a sea change in the way these beautiful, misunderstood dogs are perceived. To know a pittie is to love a pittie. Plain and simple.

That brings me to Otis. I just love a story when someone tells me they went to the shelter set on one particular kind of dog, then they met a pittie, and well, the rest is history. Otis's family loves him to pieces, for good reason. He's a lap dog, happy-go-lucky kind of guy, whose name fits him just perfectly. Mr. Spunkmeyer if you will. Otis's mom recently had a baby, and Otis's dad travels alot. So, they wanted to make sure their little man was getting his regular exercise. WOOF! is happy to oblige :)

Titan and Pursella

2009-09-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

WOOF! SLC is temporarily becoming MEOW! SLC also, with the care of Miss Kitty Pursella and her fabulous big brother, Titan, a giant Bernese Mountain dog.

I think Titan's paws are bigger than my 3 dogs combined, and wow, what a lover and silly big goofball this guy is. Every day, he brings me the paper, and will not give it to me until I lavish him with love and treats. Fair enough. He is also a wonderful communicator, bringing me his bowl when he is hungry...naturally, this is quite often since he's a big guy, weighing in quite a bit more than myself! But, for his size, he is a gentle giant, very easy to walk, and always looking at me with the most warm, flirty eyes and hugest smile!

This is one great canine/kitty friendship, and I'm enjoying my time caring for them both very much. It should be noted: WOOF! SLC is slightly deathly allergic to kitties, so multiple drugs are necessary to safely love on kitties :) SHHH, Pursella doesn't know this, so please don't tell her...we wouldn't want her to worry!

Ziggy and Roxy

2009-09-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ziggy and Roxy are a sweet, Dynamic Duo that live near the 9th and 9th neighborhood. It's hard to believe that Ziggy (the black and white dog) is 13! He loves his toys, his favorite during our weekend together was a rubber foot, that looked eerily real! He loved to play fetch, which gets young Roxy, the cute little boxer, very happy, and she starts to chase him. They are great friends and "doggie siblings" and you can tell that Roxy keeps Ziggs young. They love to take walks together and have cushion parties...Well, that's what Roxy loves anyways, she likes to take all of the cushions off of the furniture when I leave and then laugh while I put them all back on. Great dogs!

Ellie Mae

2009-09-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Ellie Mae's mom is a PA who can work some long days. She called WOOF! to help make sure that Ellie was having a little fun and getting exercised so she wouldn't have to feel to bad about working so hard. Ellie has enjoyed a trip to Tanner and some neighborhood strolls while enjoying the beautiful views overlooking the city from her neighborhood. Ellie is a wonderful girl, she's so happy go lucky, and has some of the best leash manners around. She's great about looking over and flashing a huge grin while giving you the best flirty eye contact- what a great dog!

Meet Morgan

2009-09-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Morgan is a sweet senior girl whose parents gave us a call when they found out dogs can't go to National Parks, poor pups! What fun is a vacation when you can't take your best friends along? Well, good thing WOOF! is here, because we make sure that your pups are having a great time while you are away, so you can relax and know that they are in good hands. Morgan is a sweet love, and we walked three times a day and ate alot of good homeade doggie treats that her mom and dad left. When Morgan sees her leash, she does the cutest little happy dance and smiles. Even though Morgan probably wishes she could have gone with her mom and dad, we hope that she had as much fun with WOOF! as we had with her!

Come to Super Adoption

2009-09-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

September 11-13 at the Petsmart at 1800s and 300w, volunteers, fosters, and of course, adopters are all welcome and needed!

www.utahpets.org

Nugget

2009-08-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

This is sweet Nugget. Nugget's mom Katherine had shoulder surgery about 6 weeks ago, and she chose WOOF! SLC to help her keep her special girl Nugget active during her recovery. Each week, I would walk Nugget and she grew to trust me more and more. You see, Katherine is a dog mom after my own heart- several years ago, she went to an adoption event, and asked the rescue people there to find her the most damaged dog that needed someone the most. They pointed her towards Nugget, and all of these wonderful years later, Nugget has been building trusting relationships with people she meets, and even as a senior, she's getting better all the time!

WOOF! SLC proudly volunteers and supports several animal welfare non- profits. We are active volunteers with No More Homeless Pets in Utah, Best Friends, and have just been helping to kick off the new Bully Program at Salt Lake County Animal Shelter.

Jaz and Abbey

2009-07-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Meet Jaz and Abbey, two great canine sisters and friends. Their mom and dad travel into the wilderness frequently for work, and I was lucky enough to hang out with them this weekend. They live in the beautiful Marmalade neighborhood, and we enjoyed many hilly walks up and down narrow streets with unique old homes. We also had a lot of fun playing with the Chuck-It! One of the many things I love about owning WOOF! SLC is that I get to hang out with so many cool dogs and I get to explore different parts of the city with great canine tour guides.

Tanner Park FUN

2009-07-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

This is Moab and Sally, they are two best pals that have won the doggie lottery while their family is on vacation. Every day, they go to Tanner Park where they can run, play, and swim and then they get to go home to a treat and a nap in the cool grass. It's a dog's life in the summer.

Tanner Park outings are available for your dogs too! For $25, up to 2 dogs can go and romp for 1-1.5 hours! You can even split it with a friend if we can pick both dogs up in the same location, and add a third dog for just $10 more! Your dogs will thank you for it.

Terrier Bliss

2009-06-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

Meet Tessa (the black beauty) and Coby (the fluffy white guy), a Scotty and a Westie that I am spending time with this week. They are so small and have the cutest little ears!

Every morning, we walk for about 45 minutes and then again in the evenings, and they have the prettiest views from their neighborhood above Capitol Hill.

Tessa decides every now and then to stop in her tracks and remind me that she wants to call the shots- I think it's a terrier thing!

Coby loves his belly rubs, and then when he's excited in the yard, he gets what I like to call, the 'zoomies' where he runs around with pure unabashed joy.

Pudgy Love!

2009-06-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

This sweet face belongs to Pudgy the Pug. He is darling! His little corkscrew tail never stops wagging, and he looooooves belly rubs. He was a well behaved little ball of love, and we enjoyed our time together very much. Such a sweet boy! How can you not love this underbite?!

Going Adventuring!

2009-06-08T12:34:00.000-07:00

Merckx and Kennedie are two wonderful huskies that I am lucky enough to hang out with this week. In the mornings, we go on a one hour hike through Tanner Park, and they love to play in the river- I didn't realize huskies were such water dogs! Our first day out, it was pouring rain, but they were great sports, and I think they liked having fun in the rain.

In the evenings, we enjoy a brisk half hour walk through their pretty, tree lined neighborhood. They are such great dogs, and who can resist those blue eyes!

Some of Our First Happy Customers

2009-06-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

WOOF! SLC, LLC is Live and Ready to Go!

2009-05-26T18:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for visiting our blog!

We are accepting new clients for dog walking, pet taxi, yard clean up, pet visits and pet sits! Stay tuned for updates and pictures of your favorite pets! Visit our website for more information about our services and rates.

We look forward to serving you and taking care of your pets.

Two paws up!

Melissa

WOOF! SLC Coming Soon!

2009-04-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

WOOF! SLC is a new full service pet care and pet exercise service dedicated to helping your dogs get out and walk, hike, swim, get their belly's scratched, and get to their vet and grooming appointments while you are busy away or at work.

WOOF! SLC was founded by Melissa whose mission is to provide your pets with the best quality exercise and care for busy dog moms and dads.

Melissa dreamed about a career doing something she loves: hanging out with dogs! She is an accomplished outdoor athlete, who can take your dog on everything from a neighborhood stroll, to a big off leash hike and swim in all weather conditions (provided it's safe!), year round!

Additionally, WOOF! SLC can provide transportation to vet or grooming appointments, basic home care, including mail retrieval, poop scooping, plant watering, administering medications to your pets, and other services to be determined.

WOOF! SLC is excited to announce we are accepting new clients and are expected to launch as an LLC by June 1, 2009. WOOF! SLC is fully insured through PSA, and can provide quality references.

Let WOOF! SLC help you manage your busy life while providing love and exercise as if we are caring for our own!

Special thanks to Melissa's husband Adam and good friend Jaima Andersen for encouragement and inspiration. WOOF! SLC is forever grateful to them both!

2009-04-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

WOOF! SLC are members and insured through Pet Sitters Associates.