Hello my little (and big) furry friends.  I was discussing with mommy the other day that I needed to dish with my peeps about the upcoming holiday and some safety tips.

See, every year my mommy brings ALL this stuff out of this scary hole in our basement and within hours our house becomes this winter wonderland. Shiny tinsel, sparkling lights, dangling balls and so much more. 

How mommy can think that my fellow house pack members and I can behave ourselves when being mischievous and curious is what we do best.

I have decided to tell you how to help your humans this holiday,  so that you don’t get blamed for their wrong doings… (like tempting us with holly, shiny items, yummy smelling food, and even Lilies)

1. Don’t Drink the Holiday tree water!  Our humans may add fertilizers and other additives to keep the tree living longer.  These products can cause tummy trouble and some are very toxic to us dogs and those felines.

2.  Lilies are pretty and smell so good, but don’t tell your feline family member to eat them.  Several varieties of lilies can cause kidney failure in the feline.

3.  Shiny and hard for us dogs and felines to resist, the tinsel and ribbons. If our humans only knew that if we pets ingest them in our excitement, they can get lodged or twisted in our intestines. OUCH!

4.  Mouth off! It may look like a ball, but it isn’t for you.  Those balls that are up on that holiday tree can shatter in your mouth and really leave you hurting. Imagine shattered glass in your mouth……

5.  Mommies and daddies have this strange need to make little people houses and towns…why my sister Gigi and I are still trying to figure that one out.  But that marshmallow looking stuff isn’t food, it is fake snow that if we eat it can cause terrible tummy hurts. When the little houses and towns go up cords come down and our felines love to bat at the cords that dangle.  So, try to keep your feline house member away.

6.  Last but not least, our humans are prone to forget to feed us during these joyous times.  They are all caught up in shopping, visiting friends, company coming over..and whatever else it is that they do to keep them from focusing on us.  So, make sure you stand around your bowl during feeding time. Meow and bark as much and as loud as you can when it is feeding time, and if this doesn’t work, find your bag of food drag it out in the middle of the room and give them, “the look.”

7.  Finally, you will have all these people coming over, big ones, small ones, tiny and grabby ones…who are these people??? They dont know our rules - not opening outside doors while we are standing there, no shutting inside doors or closest that our felines are sure to be in, or the biggest one, leaving their food laying around for us to run over and help ourselves.  So, make sure you find a place in your house where you feel safe and will not get blamed for those human mistakes. 

Thanks to Fido Friendly for giving me the help I needed to get this information out to my fur friends.

On Wednesday the 19th I was asked to join my fellow “Portraits of Passion” participants at the State Capitol for the anniversary of the slogan, “Virginia is for Lovers.”

This slogan was launched in 1969. With eyebrows raised and lots chuckles, it took off and quickly became the most recognized nationally known slogan .

The original intent was to gain tourist attention that reflects Virginia’s attraction to history lovers, mountain lovers or beach lovers. Whatever a tourist was in love with, they could find it in Virginia. 

The Virginia Tourism Corporation is giving a face lift to the slogan, “Virginia is for Lovers”, by bringing in their martketing series, “Portraits of Passion. ”

I am one of the faces that will tell the world to come and live passionately in Virginia, especially in Alexandria, Virginia.

Follow me as I continue to live passionately in Virginia and bring tourisim to our town.

My next appearance as a Portrait of Passion will be disclosed shortly….the Tourisim Corporation believes New York will be our next stop!

Thursday night I attended an event at the Tommy Hilfiger on M St. in Georgetown. The event was hosted by Capitol File Magazine and 10% of the evening’s purchases were donated to the Washington Humane Society for their upcoming Fashion for Paws event. Fashion for Paws will be held at the Italian Embassy on March 28, 2009. Last year Barkley Square outfitted all of the doggie models at the Fashion for Paws event.

At Tommy Hilfiger I noticed some very cute Argyle sweaters which are a perfect match for the doggie argyle sweater we have at Barkley Square.

The event was a great success and we ran into several old  friends as well as made some new ones, including Advisory Chair for Fashion for Paws, Tara DeNicolas; Miss DC, Kate Marie Grinold; Miss Teen DC, Jasmine Alexis; Katherine Kennedy and Andy Baldwin.

We hope all of our Barkley Square and Karing by Kristina friends will attend this year’s Fashion for Paws event. Let us know if you are planning on attending…