Thanks so much to Deborah from Fords, NJ who was our first contributor in 3 months! I'm so grateful to everyone that has helped us out since the beginning. Many people I knew, and some were total strangers or friends of friends. All monies go straight to the Nathan Surgery Fund I have set up to help me set money aside to help pay down the CareCredit Account.
I also just wanted to remind anyone that's new to reading this blog that I had & still have pet insurance (VPI) and think that every responsible pet owner should have it. It allows you to think about your pet rather than the money when the unfortunate or tragic happens. The veterinary credit cards are also good as you are given months to begin the payment process before any interest exists on the acct.
The pet insurance I have has been good, paying about 50% of Nathan's spinal surgery costs 3 yrs ago (a hereditary condition that is very common in Dachshunds), and paying 40% of this accident-related surgery on his hip and the week long ICU hospitalization that resulted. The only reason they didn't cover a little more i think is because of the way the vet bill was itemized, but it became too much to go back and fight to have redone for an extra POSSIBLE 10% savings as there was no gaurantee it would even work....at some point you just throw your arms up and determine you got enough and pray that you will never need to put your poor dog through surgery ever again. Poor Nathan is only 7 yrs old! I am told by other Dachshund parents that Petco's insurance is better actually, so if you are considering pet insurance, just shop around and ask a lot of questions as they are difficult to understand (typical of any insurance, huh?!).
So thanks again...it's amazing when people care and love dogs as much as I do like this:)!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Link to Petemagazine.com & Nathan's article
So HERE is the link to this great online publication that did a piece on Nathan and the Lucky Dog Fundraising Party. You can only see the header page here with Nathan's picture, so to see the whole piece that I pasted in the previous post today, WITH photos, you would have to subscribe to the magazine. If you are a pet owner it's something that i think is very worthwhile though, so check it out!
http://www.petemagazine.com/magazine/magazine.html
http://www.petemagazine.com/magazine/magazine.html
Lucky Dogs in Photo Show on 4/30!
That's Nathan sleeping on his daddy...or his daddy's face! We love this dog...he's our kid.
Anyway, on with it....
To continue the previous post, there will also be a photography event on April 30th at the Lounge at Webster Hall in Manhattan, and the photographer of the Luckydog Fundraiser will be a part of! So many of the photos she took that day of the dogs will be hanging on the walls at the show:)!
I'll post more details as I get them, but I know that unless you're on her list, it's $30. I believe everyone whose dog is portrayed will be invited though, so contact Lea if you haven't been yet as she's been out of town, and comment below if you would like to go and i'll see what magic I can work...i know there's an open bar for that $30!
Hi all! It's been a WINTER since i wrote here actually, as i stopped for the holidays and never started up again. I have been meaning to for quite some time, so here it goes!!!...
First and most importantly...Nathan is fine! He limps and always will, but it's not like that matters to him or to me. Also, the luckydog fundraiser has kind of lived on because the winners of the dog runway show (which was definitely the highlight of the party that day back in December), were featured in PetEMagazine (an online publication that you can subscribe to monthly, that is run by a really wonderful woman in Maryland). Here is the spread as it was published in February, right now, minus the photos :( which i couldn't figure out how to upload with the article (we'll get those up later, i promise!):
LUCKY DOG !!!
Back in December, a Holiday party/fundraiser was held in Chelsea, on behalf
of Nathan the Dachshund, who was very seriously injured after being hit by a van. Funds were raised to help defer the costs of Nathan’s life-saving surgery. Nathan was one lucky dog to survive this terrible accident !
The fundraiser featured unique pet products, Caja Jewelry, who showcased their beautiful designs, a pet sketch artist, raffle prizes, music, beverages,Nathan's hotdogs and a judged doggy runway fashion show with the winners receiving an on-site pet portrait by professional photographer, Lea Rubin. The winners of the Fashion Show were:
TOMMI T - 1st Place
DAISY & BAMBI - 2ND Place
Thankfully, Nathan is doing great now, but the fundraiser wasn’t as successful as hoped. Nathan’s mom, Carolyn, who adopted Nathan from Dachshund Rescue (DRNA), had been (and is still) out of work, and she incurred overwhelming medical bills from his surgery. She is still seeking donations to go directly to Nathan’s medical fund. She hopes donations will cover more of these expenses and wishes to donate monies to DRNA, as well. For more information on how you can help, please visit to their blog: http://luckydoxie.blogspot.com/
First and most importantly...Nathan is fine! He limps and always will, but it's not like that matters to him or to me. Also, the luckydog fundraiser has kind of lived on because the winners of the dog runway show (which was definitely the highlight of the party that day back in December), were featured in PetEMagazine (an online publication that you can subscribe to monthly, that is run by a really wonderful woman in Maryland). Here is the spread as it was published in February, right now, minus the photos :( which i couldn't figure out how to upload with the article (we'll get those up later, i promise!):
LUCKY DOG !!!
Back in December, a Holiday party/fundraiser was held in Chelsea, on behalf
of Nathan the Dachshund, who was very seriously injured after being hit by a van. Funds were raised to help defer the costs of Nathan’s life-saving surgery. Nathan was one lucky dog to survive this terrible accident !
The fundraiser featured unique pet products, Caja Jewelry, who showcased their beautiful designs, a pet sketch artist, raffle prizes, music, beverages,Nathan's hotdogs and a judged doggy runway fashion show with the winners receiving an on-site pet portrait by professional photographer, Lea Rubin. The winners of the Fashion Show were:
TOMMI T - 1st Place
DAISY & BAMBI - 2ND Place
Thankfully, Nathan is doing great now, but the fundraiser wasn’t as successful as hoped. Nathan’s mom, Carolyn, who adopted Nathan from Dachshund Rescue (DRNA), had been (and is still) out of work, and she incurred overwhelming medical bills from his surgery. She is still seeking donations to go directly to Nathan’s medical fund. She hopes donations will cover more of these expenses and wishes to donate monies to DRNA, as well. For more information on how you can help, please visit to their blog: http://luckydoxie.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
One more for the day...
I don't want to swallow up my last blog, but wanted to write an update on not just the party, but on Nathan too! This week marks only eights weeks since his surgery. He was still recovering in the hospital only eight weeks ago and the Lucky Dog Party wasn't even in my head at that time as I wasn't so convinced that he was a lucky dog...and also, when you go through this kind of thing the thought of how you will pay for it just is not a factor....you just want your pet to live! He is still recovering, but almost has completed that period as the doctor who operated on him said it would take 8-10 weeks for the full recovery. He didn't attend his own party because he is one hyper Dachshund! He wouldn't have been able to sit still and I was busy enough as it was that afternoon to have to keep an eye on him or hold him as well for hours at a time. He still rests more than he used to which is a good thing. I'm going to start putting vitamin supplements on his food again to support his joints as his legs are still weak. He's coming back though and is clearly healing very well. With more Physical therapy here at home, supplements and rest I am convinced he'll back able to walk, run and play just like he used to come January.
Still a Lucky Dog
Well the Lucky Dog Party has come and gone along with an extremely cold December week. Blame it on the weather, blame it on the fact that December 13th seemed to be the biggest shopping day of the year in NYC, blame it on the fact that the night of December 12th seemed to be the biggest drinking night of the year in NYC, blame it on the website freenyc.net who didn't list our event (in their defense they were already listing 10 events that Saturday and only 3 the following day), and blame it on my missing the deadline for free listings in Time Out NY (3 weeks in advance of your event BTW), but needless to say, the event didn't draw the crowd of dog owners we had prepared for and we didn't make our goal.
On one hand, the event felt more intimate, and due to mic issues I was at least able to communicate with the crowd since it was smaller. The runway show was still fun and a special surprise quest singer (Mariane) kicked off that portion of the afternoon with an unexpected belt of the National Anthem of all songs...followed up with the dog's "anthem" (How Much is that Dog in the Window)! Later though, one of the guests pointed out how out of date that song is since those of us who love dogs do NOT support pet stores!
Considering this was my first public event I am still proud that i gave it a try. It was a creative way to try to raise money (in conjunction with this blog) and we still did raise $1100 through both efforts combined!! We did have several costs associated with the event, however...the major one being insurance on the space. As everyone knows insurance is a necessary evil. IF the best crowd possible of 150 people and their dogs had arrived, I would have been grateful for the insurance, but since there was a third of that crowd there, and several without dogs even, I felt like it didn't matter.
Still, too much went into this event and I've learned so much about event planning, which is something I want to do more of, that this was nothing but good in the end and something I can put on my resume and point to in the experience category. Not a detail was missed (except i forgot to put pens out in the beginning of the event so people could fill out their raffle tickets!), the vendors were great and their set ups were great too. If anyone who came is reading this I thank you and hope you enjoyed yourself! If anyone who meant to come couldn't, i'm glad that you at least heard about the event/picked up the postcard at a local pet boutique/saw it on a blog, facebook, myspace or your meetup groups website, etc. I'd like to know which promotional events worked and which didn't and did ask several people who attended. Mainly it seemed like "word of mouth" worked the best.
Photos of the event should be posted by tonight on liveedit.com Both the user name and password are luckydog. Many who came took the opportunity to have a portrait taken of their dogs and i'm looking forward to seeing all of those as well as the party photos. We are a few days late in posting mainly because it takes a while to edit the photos, but also we were wiped out after Saturday night and now I am sick with a cold to boot!
Still, this is New York and the week before Christmas and the city is abuzz with SO many events that I want to make the rounds of and attend. And I'm looking at all of them with a new regard.... Appreciating the efforts that went into the making of them, and appreciating that I am on the guest end rather than the host end of these!
On one hand, the event felt more intimate, and due to mic issues I was at least able to communicate with the crowd since it was smaller. The runway show was still fun and a special surprise quest singer (Mariane) kicked off that portion of the afternoon with an unexpected belt of the National Anthem of all songs...followed up with the dog's "anthem" (How Much is that Dog in the Window)! Later though, one of the guests pointed out how out of date that song is since those of us who love dogs do NOT support pet stores!
Considering this was my first public event I am still proud that i gave it a try. It was a creative way to try to raise money (in conjunction with this blog) and we still did raise $1100 through both efforts combined!! We did have several costs associated with the event, however...the major one being insurance on the space. As everyone knows insurance is a necessary evil. IF the best crowd possible of 150 people and their dogs had arrived, I would have been grateful for the insurance, but since there was a third of that crowd there, and several without dogs even, I felt like it didn't matter.
Still, too much went into this event and I've learned so much about event planning, which is something I want to do more of, that this was nothing but good in the end and something I can put on my resume and point to in the experience category. Not a detail was missed (except i forgot to put pens out in the beginning of the event so people could fill out their raffle tickets!), the vendors were great and their set ups were great too. If anyone who came is reading this I thank you and hope you enjoyed yourself! If anyone who meant to come couldn't, i'm glad that you at least heard about the event/picked up the postcard at a local pet boutique/saw it on a blog, facebook, myspace or your meetup groups website, etc. I'd like to know which promotional events worked and which didn't and did ask several people who attended. Mainly it seemed like "word of mouth" worked the best.
Photos of the event should be posted by tonight on liveedit.com Both the user name and password are luckydog. Many who came took the opportunity to have a portrait taken of their dogs and i'm looking forward to seeing all of those as well as the party photos. We are a few days late in posting mainly because it takes a while to edit the photos, but also we were wiped out after Saturday night and now I am sick with a cold to boot!
Still, this is New York and the week before Christmas and the city is abuzz with SO many events that I want to make the rounds of and attend. And I'm looking at all of them with a new regard.... Appreciating the efforts that went into the making of them, and appreciating that I am on the guest end rather than the host end of these!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Some More on The Lucky Dog Party...THIS SATURDAY!
The day is almost here and it's exciting since i haven't asked for rsvp's and have no idea really what to expect as far as a crowd goes! I also realized that I haven't mentioned this enough, but if I am able to raise additional funds, that money will be donated to the amazing organization i adopted Nathan through...DRNA (Dachshund Rescue of North America). I haven't mentioned it because i don't know if I'll even be able to raise more than $5,000, but it's important to note and I will post all information regarding that here the day after the party.
I've always planned events for fun (and have wanted to do it professionally), and I've always had a theme to my events. I hate throwing any kind of party without something special involved. That's why i've been knocking myself out to recruit vendors with unique products, and have planned a lot of additional events like the dog runway show! come on...who doesn't love to see dogs dressed up. Nathan now has a favorite sweater that i picked up at PS9 pets and he gets excited every morning when i dress him in it. he offers his little arms to go into the sleeves and just totally gets that this is what he wears during the day to stay warm! Again, you can dress your dog up any way you choose for the show...in a cute dress or new outfit or a costume of some kind...holiday related or otherwise, and you do not have to dress yourself to match (but you get one bonus point from the judges automatically if you do)...that doesn't mean you will win, because someone else can get more points in the creativity category for example.
That show is at 3:30pm by the way, so please plan to be there for that if nothing else! Especially because we have amazing prizes for you if you place in the top three (all three prizes are great and i blogged about those a few days ago so check that blog below).
Hope to see you and meet you all there this Saturday afternoon at one point or another. It'll be cold, but SUNNY at least that day, so hopefully that will help encourage you to leave the house with your dog. And if anyone is reading this that does NOT have a dog...if you know anyone who does, please tell them! and if you need to shop for a cute gift for anyone with a pet, this is a really easy, one stop way to do that shopping and you might just get a really big smile across your face when you watch the dog runway show too!~:)
I've always planned events for fun (and have wanted to do it professionally), and I've always had a theme to my events. I hate throwing any kind of party without something special involved. That's why i've been knocking myself out to recruit vendors with unique products, and have planned a lot of additional events like the dog runway show! come on...who doesn't love to see dogs dressed up. Nathan now has a favorite sweater that i picked up at PS9 pets and he gets excited every morning when i dress him in it. he offers his little arms to go into the sleeves and just totally gets that this is what he wears during the day to stay warm! Again, you can dress your dog up any way you choose for the show...in a cute dress or new outfit or a costume of some kind...holiday related or otherwise, and you do not have to dress yourself to match (but you get one bonus point from the judges automatically if you do)...that doesn't mean you will win, because someone else can get more points in the creativity category for example.
That show is at 3:30pm by the way, so please plan to be there for that if nothing else! Especially because we have amazing prizes for you if you place in the top three (all three prizes are great and i blogged about those a few days ago so check that blog below).
Hope to see you and meet you all there this Saturday afternoon at one point or another. It'll be cold, but SUNNY at least that day, so hopefully that will help encourage you to leave the house with your dog. And if anyone is reading this that does NOT have a dog...if you know anyone who does, please tell them! and if you need to shop for a cute gift for anyone with a pet, this is a really easy, one stop way to do that shopping and you might just get a really big smile across your face when you watch the dog runway show too!~:)
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