Category: special post

Kittens at TLA!

Last Monday at TLA, I attended a session given by the staff of Pflugerville Public Library – Director Jennifer Coffey, Melissa Grzybowski, and Margaret Miller – and Rhonda McLendon, Director of Pflugerville Animal Welfare Services (PAWS). This session was appropriately called Becoming a Pet-Friendly Library: Tips from a Public Library and Animal Shelter Partnership.

To everyone’s delight, Rhonda brought two Chihuahuas and five bottle baby kittens to the session! Of course I had to love on the babies and take lots of photos…

Here is a photo of all five! (Photo courtesy of Pflugerville Library)
These tabby babies were quite popular and remarkably chill.
Caught mid-squeak!
This darling baby only protested when her person stopped petting her.

You can be sure that I squeed (professionally, of course).

FYI, the kittens will be available for adoption at the Pflugerville Animal Shelter when they are old enough!

Therapy Dogs at TLA!

NB: I apologize for the belated post! It’s crunch time at the end of the semester.

Last week at the Texas Library Association Conference, three lovely therapy dogs visited us and offered much-needed fluffy downtime. There were many discussions about how to create pet-friendly libraries and therapy dog programming for public, school, and academic libraries.

This handsome fella is Tango, an Australian Shepherd.
It’s belly time! Tango was also ticklish, making his back leg go.
These Border Collies, Riley and Maggie, were from Pet Partners.
They posed like this all by themselves!

Special thanks to Cynthia and Ramona for sharing their beautiful dogs with us at TLA!

Pet Pfest 2019 – Part 3

Guess what? There are MORE photos of all the festivities! I hope you enjoy them. Perhaps you’ll recognize a few familiar faces too!

It’s DinoDog!
I like this dog’s speckled paws.
Hi Lubo!
We usually have at least one rabbit at Pet Pfest. It is unfortunate that I did not have the opportunity to meet this cutie in person.
Did you notice that Holden has two different colored eyes?
Oh look, it’s belly time for Sydney!
I don’t think this happy-go-lucky smile ever left Sunshine’s face during the whole event.

Pet Pfest 2019 – Part 1

The Pflugerville Public Library held its annual pet celebration – the Pet Pfest – this afternoon! Here was today’s schedule:

There was no way I could attend ALL the above activities and see all the animals, let alone pet them! Unfortunately, I did not see the Northwind Farm horses, though they do make semi-regular appearances at the library. I did, however, meet several lovely dogs and their people!

This is Sunshine! Her owner Elizabeth and I chatted for a bit. I thought Sunshine has a great smile and hoped to capture it in a photo!
This is Sydney, also owned by Elizabeth. She LOVED all the attention she received. When I first saw her, I could not resist saying “Oh my, she’s so fluffy!” (She really is.)
Although it’s hard to see in the photo, Lubo is wearing a harness. He is a police dog and part of the Pflugerville Police Department K9 Unit. Lubo responds to commands in Czech and loves holding onto his Kong toy.
This is Holden, a stately yet goofy Great Dane. He is a mobility service dog for his handler Rob, but today was his day off from work – and he was quite the attraction. Holden loves scritches behind the ears.
This is Jones. He is available for adoption from the Pflugerville Animal Shelter. He is a big, handsome boy with soft ears and he loves treats. Can you provide a good home for him?
This is Lulu. She is also available for adoption from the Pflugerville Animal Shelter. She wasn’t so interested in treats but she did like pets. Her bright orange vest says ADOPT ME. Can you really say no to that sweet face?

Dog Spotlight: Sully

Former President George H.W. Bush passed away on November 30 at the age of 94. What you may not have known is that Mr. Bush had been matched with a service dog, Sully, earlier this year. One can only imagine what is going through Sully’s mind in this poignant photo:

Photo credit: America’s VetDogs/Facebook

Both Zoe the Seeing Eye Dog and The Washington Post have highlighted the importance of Sully’s service to former President Bush. By doing so, I hope this sheds light on the invaluable assistance that service dogs provide to their handlers and loved ones.

Special Post: Mini Horse Petting Zoo!

The Pflugerville Public Library is wonderful in many ways, and here’s one of them: they offer extraordinarily fun and innovative programs. One of them was a petting zoo for adults! On Thursday evening, patrons got to meet a pair of mini horses from the North Wind Horse Farm. These were trained therapy horses as well. How cool is that?

This is Boo! His nose was incredibly soft. His owner said his favorite thing to do, besides eating, is to be loved on and petted.

It was difficult to get a good photo of Praline because he kept turning around and showing me his rump! Apparently Praline loves to play chase with his horse and dog buddies at home, so he’s quite the character.

Have you ever met and petted mini horses? Have you heard of horse or equine therapy? Share your experiences in the comments!