Search Results for: blog starting a shelter how are you doing

Have You Thought About Working From Home?

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One of the biggest difficulties that parents of children who have special needs face has to do with employment. Parents who are called away from work too often, in order to tend to the needs of their child, can end up becoming unemployed. One solution to this problem might be to work from home. Raising children is expensive. All children are going to require the basics: food, clothing, and shelter. There will be money spent on things like toys, games, and movies to provide entertainment to the child. You can count on there being fees required by schools, and medical … Continue reading →

Shelters are Bad Enough, Deplorable in Tennessee

Not all Tennessee animal shelters are horrendous, but it seems there’s been way more bad than good lately. Case in point. (Three, actually.) Bad Shelter #1 The first time I heard a stir was last year. I forget which county the shelter was in, but wherever it was it had to be shut down for unsanitary conditions and poor treatment of the animals. I think lack of funding was a major contributor in that case. Bad Shelter #2 Then back in December the Sumner County Animal Shelter found itself in trouble. One of the local news stations, WSMV, conducted an … Continue reading →

The Top Pets Blogs of 2007: January – May

Aimee and I, along with the occasional guest blogger, tried our best to bring you informative, interesting, and entertaining articles this past year. But you seemed to like some more than others. So I decided to do a Year in Review recap of the ones that you responded most to. What Makes a “Top” Blog? Even though you all may enjoy most of the blogs we write, not all of them inspire you to leave comments or rate them. Those that received star ratings made the Top Blogs cut. January 2007 Top Blogs Assistance Dogs of the West and The … Continue reading →

Starting A Shelter: Money Stuff

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If you’re going to run a shelter, you’re going to need money. Lots of money. Money for the land and building your animals use. Money for dog food and cat chow. Money for advertising your shelter so your resident animals can find homes. Money for veterinary services, grooming, and training. Get the picture? The best thing you can do is find a pet-loving accountant and/or bookkeeper to help you set up an accounting system. You need to document income and expenses — and in categories that make sense for when you’ll be doing this on your own. Otherwise, you’ll be … Continue reading →

The Pets Blog Week in Review for May 21-27

Delivered for your reading pleasure is another installment of the Pets Blog Week in Review. Below you’ll find all the topics Aimee and I covered the previous week. Monday, May 21 Poor Aimee, Moose and Lally! They just arrive in their new town, find a great dog park, and what happens? Poor Moose gets attacked! Aimee tells all about it in You Should Have Seen the Other Guy? This incident also sparked her to write about dog aggression in general. The days of aggression in my household (except mine is cat-based) might be nearing an end as there have been … Continue reading →

Starting A Shelter: How Are You Doing?

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Running a shelter is not an easy job. There will be hard days and depressing days. There will be happy days and triumphs. You’ll spend a lot of hours sweating over your finances or cleaning kennels. You may be witness to cruel mistreatment of animals. You’re going to encounter a lot more doggy doo and kitty poop than ever before. So how do you objectively assess the success (or failure) of your shelter? The shelter leaders and board of directors are responsible for seeing your mission statement come to life. If you aren’t fulfilling your mission, then something may need … Continue reading →

Steps To Teaching Your Children To Save Money

Teaching our children to save money, is certainly not an easy task. In fact, it is one that sometimes requires careful planning and a whole lot of repetitive discussing. Children don’t come programmed understanding finances and budgets. In fact, they come programmed with a “I want that” attitude. Completely normal. But how do you break your child of their I want that attitude, and work on teaching them to save money? It isn’t as hard as you think. It entails several different steps or processes and it means keeping at them consistently. Children learn by watching and also by doing. … Continue reading →

Giving Back

With the economy still in the dumpster, a record number of Americans searching for work, and people pinching pennies to make ends meet, it may be hard to fathom that there are individuals financially worse off than you. As the sun dips below the horizon on the last day of 2011, now is a good time to assess what you really have. In all likelihood you have an abundance of material possessions, some of which can help improve your financial situation. If you are in need of quick cash, go through your closets and garage and see what items you … Continue reading →

Gardening Tips for a Cold Spring

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Oh, spring around here has been cold. Some of you who live in cooler climates than I do might laugh at the fact that we’ve hit winter clothing temperatures repeatedly into May, but I’m not. My garden isn’t laughing too hard either. What can you do to salvage a cold spring in your garden? Take your cues from the weather. If it’s really, really cold, you don’t need to plant, even if it is officially spring. It’s better to plant when the garden is ready instead of by the clock. Get a head start, but hedge your bets. I’ve learned … Continue reading →

Try to Instill Confidence

Even after years of what I consider “successful” single parenting, I am dismayed to report that my children still occasionally worry. I am not sure where it comes from since I have always taken care of them and they have never really wanted for any of the basics. I think they are old enough now to be starting to realize what it takes to hold things together and they occasionally will say things like “We’re doing alright, right mom?” It always catches me off guard since I have done everything in my power to portray an air of strength and … Continue reading →