A Place to Bark and Meow Blog by Bernie Berlin

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
I'm here..
Sorry for the delay to post..
I arrived home last Thursday, to a terrible situation:(
Many of my puppies have broken with parvo and I have been treating with I.V. fluids & antibiotics and montioring them, around the clock.  
What is most upsetting is they have had at least 2 rounds of shots and this should not be happening.  I lost 3 since Thursday and have been treating 20 pups.  
3 are at the vets office on I.V. pumps.  
The strains of Parvo are mutating and the vaccine which should provide some protection, just are not working.  I have also see a few adults die this year, which is pretty rare.  
I will be contacting the vaccine company so that they are aware their product is not working.

Please bear with me, I have been promising Claudine to draw the winners for the prizes for several days now, I just haven't had the energy, at the end of the day.   
I have been crying alot lately..  
Losing a little one is never easy and it's such a hopeless feeling, to not be able to do much more than treat the illness and pray...

I will get to it soon, I promise!!!
Need sleep, will post tomorrow, if things ease up...
Much Love,
Bernie

Thursday, February 07, 2008
Leaving Tomorrow..

"Goodness is the only investment that never fails"
-Thoreau



Well, still here!!! The tornados didn't blow us away..
Just missed us...
But I will say, it was a nail biting nite, Tuesday, I didn't sleep much.
Was really worried about all my animals at the vet clinic.
Thanks for all of you that sent e-mails to check up on us.
The house I live in, is pretty new, about 5 years old.  
The old house was actually picked up during a tornado and dropped into the basement.  
Which is not normal, the tornado usually will take it away.  
The previous owners were on the stairs when it happened, so that was too close for comfort and sold the house to us.   
Last year the tornados tore thru our local towns, it was just horrible, the destruction and all the animals who were lost...

I am franticly getting ready for CHA.  Will be leaving tomorrow.
As much as I hate leaving the homestead, it is vital that I do so professionally.
I am a homebody and wish I didn't have to leave, but the upside is I get to see all my wonderful friends who not only are my art buddies, but animal lovers!!!  
Claudine and I have already been plotting out food places we want to eat at:)
Thai for sure!!! 

This is one of my favorite pictures I took of Claudine last year at CHA, while she was doing her demo for Ranger Ink.


Her and I will get together and pick the winners from our drawing as a "Thank You" for donating during the contest!!!  I will probably get to shipping the items out when I get back home.  So please be patient and bear with us:)

My schedule at CHAwill be as follows if you are there and want to stop and say HI!!

I will be demoing "LuminArte's" Luscious products all day on Sunday, 2/10/08
booth #2755.  
I LOVE, LOVE, their products and am so excited to be working with their product line!!!

Monday 2/11/08 I will be at the F+W Publications booth at 10:30 a.m. book signing and doing a demonstration, one free book per person, with quantities limited.

Tuesday 2/12/08 I will again be at the F+W Publications booth at 3:00 p.m. book signing and demostrating, one free book per person, with limited quantities. 
I'll be leaving Anaheim to drive to San Diego, Tuesday nite to attend seminars at The Helen Woodward Animal Center.  
This seminar will be a vital element to our growth at "A Place To Bark."  
We have so very much to learn!!!  
I'll be there for four days and then off to Los Angeles with Patsy, if all works out as planned.

When I get home, I will start to work on finding an architect and builder:)  
Will keep everyone updated thru the blog...

In the meanwhile, if you use a search engine often, like Google, please take a look at Good Search, everytime you search, you can be donating to our cause, "A Place To Bark".  
It costs nothing and over time, if enough people use it, we will receive money for the critters!!

Gotta keep moving, not even packed yet!!  Eeekk...
Why is it, nothing ever fits or looks good, when you have to go somewhere of importance???
Blessings and Light to you all!!!




Angels Among Us...
"The little Things?" " The little Moments?"
"They aren't Little.."
-Steven Potter



Children never cease to amaze me and this little girl is one I am very proud to know..
Her name is Jacey and she is 4.  She is my youngest foster angel:)
The day these pictures were taken, she said to me:

"Miss Bernie" I am going to be working for you for a very long time, because I love aminals:)
As you can see, they love her too!!  
These are her new foster pups, last I heard, she was teaching school to them.



Jacey's grandparents have become very dear friends in a very short time...
They are all animal lovers and give their hearts and souls to helping anything in need.

More amazing kids are "Sam" & his friends from Minnesota.
Sam decided to have his friends donate to my rescue, instead of receiving presents for his birthday...  WOW!!!  I was just floored by his generous heart.
The world is changing and our young people will make that change!!
Parents leading, teaching and supporting their children make all the difference.
I applaud you all!!!
Sam, did I mention.. "You ROCK!!!"
Thanks a million!!!




And Last but not least a very special Thank YOU to Beth North..
She, her daughter Mia, who is just a wee little one and her mother, all made the most wonderful items to sell at an art show with proceeds going to "A Place To Bark" this past holiday season.
Beth has been another Angel to me..  
She is a metalsmith and made me a keychain that I carry daily.  
The inscription keeps me going, even at my lowest times..

Forever, I am grateful for you all, who are with me in spirit daily:)

We have much in this world that brings sorrow..
What we must focus on is everyday blessings, thru people and their good and gracious actions. They are those that redeem the negativity of this world.  
The negative on a daily basis can bring us down, but good actions, that we know about and participate in, brings us strength.  
My grandfather use to tell me when I would get down and want to give up, was that misery loves company and the only way for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.  
So everyday, find something good in the world, be it your little ones or the fuzzy companion who depends on you, you make the difference!!!

Off to the next post..



Friday, February 01, 2008
Chicago Snow Storm
"Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. 
And seeing them, he cried,
"Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?"
God said, "I did do something. I made you."
-Sufi Teaching



This is my first chance to write and just want to say "THANK YOU!!!"
Amazingly so, this is going to be a very important year for us here and we couldn't have done it without you!!!
Who would have ever thought we could have kept up with the other charities:)
Words just don't seem to be enough, but the faces you help me to save daily should fill you up and let you know that what we are all doing together is so important!!

I arrived back from my transport to Chicago, on Sunday.
Since moving to the south, I haven't seen much snow in two years..
Yes, I miss the snow, but not the chores that go along with removing it:)
My arrival in Chicago, was just as the snow storm started.
I delivered the dogs, then drove to my friends house for the night, in Glen Ellyn.  
12 inches of snow fell.  
Next day, I drove to Wisconsin, to deliver "Harvey" to my friend Heidi.  
Before I left for this trip,  I took in 15 new dogs from the pound...
I know I shouldn't have, since I'm leaving town and will have to board all the dogs.
How could I leave these sweet faces behind, knowing that they would be put down if I didn't take them..  So many, many little ones...  
They are at my vet's office now along with the other 20, making a grand total of 35 being boarded, 5 beagle pups & 8 lab/ mix pups in foster care and still several at the house, being taken care of by Jeff, Terry & Allen.

Here are some of the darling faces we've taken in lately..

"Helga Hitchcock and Fudge are both female, we don't know what mixes:)
They are only about 4-5 weeks old. Owner surrenders to the pound. It makes me so sad, number one to be taken away from their mom so early, but even worse taken to the pound where they will get sick or get put to sleep. Augghh!!!
They are safe and sound now, being loved by all the staff at the vets office while I'm away.
Many times they will take the babies home with them..
LOVE, Love, my vet's office!! They are a loving team, who put their all into the animals that come to them for care...



This is "Otis" he is a Golden/ Aussie Mix. Approximately 10 weeks old and just a cutie!!



"Violet" is a Chihuahua possibly a mix. Female, approximately 2-3 years of age. 
She has these tiny babies, not sure what they are mixes of, only time will tell...



These three darlings were rescued by a couple, from Connecticut who have transplanted down here like we have...
They were scared but are doing well. 
When I get back to town I'll take more pictures when I get them home.
There is such a difference in the faces as many of you have seen, after they have been here awhile:)



"Sambuca" is a German Shepherd/Mix pup. Approximately 7-8 weeks old.



These babies are German Shorthair Pointer pups, approximately 12 weeks old. 
Super sweet, they were pretty shy and scared when I took these pictures. 
They are now running to the front of the runs at the vet office.



"Tori & Bongo" are Terrier mixes. Super cuties in person!!! Approximately 1-2 years of age.



This is "Nicki" she is a very busy girl!!! Had me running around in the rain chasing her:)
She is approximately 2-3 years of age, female Pomeranian and is a dancer. 
She stands on her hind legs and begs and dances.



Spring comes early, here in the south.. The pounds are overflowing with puppies.
Someone said to me yesterday, you took in 12 pups???
Well, if you think about it, that is many times, just one litter.
I have had so many people, tell me they are going to breed their dogs, so that their children can experience puppies.
I ask and beg, if anyone is thinking this, that they foster a litter that is already existing.
So many are put to sleep, because there is no where for them to go.
Or not enough people to care for them. Rescues and Humane Societies can only do so much, we all depend on others to help care for the animals. 
The more loving homes there are to help foster, the more that can be saved.
Currently I only have 2 foster homes, I supply my fosters with all the food, I vaccinate, worm and provide flea treatment and the vet care, if needed, is also taken care of. The bottom line is, people make the difference for the animals:)

Will be doing a few posts this morning, since I have to leave tomorrow....



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