I can’t help but think about all of the dogs and cats (and other animals, too!) that don’t have a home, food, shelter and someone to love and care for them!  It breaks my heart to think of them being outside in the cold and searching for food on their own.  Reach out and help your local animal shelters and rescues whenever possible so that they may continue their dedicated work in finding forever homes for the animals in their care.  Whenever I look at my two little cats, I think of them being outside in the cold of December searching for anything they could find to eat and a place to stay warm.  Thankfully, there were wonderful people who came to their rescue and helped their stories have a happy ending!

One thing is for certain.  I will never, EVER, run out of photos of adorable dogs to post!  I’ve been having fun this week looking back through my 2014 images and picking some new favorites to share.  This image is from the Gloucester Kennel Club show in Buena, NJ in October.  The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is one of my favorite breeds.  They are the smallest of all retriever breeds and love to have a job to do …. like luring and retrieving water fowl!

As the biblical legend goes, God bestowed cold, wet noses on dogs for saving Noah’s Ark from sinking.  One of the dogs on the ark discovered water pouring through a hole in the hull. The dog stuck his nose in the small hole to keep water from flooding inside.  A second dog ran off to alert Noah, who quickly repaired the hole. The dogs saved the day. For their actions, God made a cold, wet nose the symbol of good health for a dog.  (If that had been my cats on the ark, they would have stood by the hole and tried to drink the water as it came pouring in!)