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February 21 Christmas..Valentines.....Easter?Hi!!
It's long overdue but a blog update at last!
Last year before Christmas saw Chris and I become part of a rescue train line moving an abandoned and very pregnant Husky "Coco" from Taree down to Canberra. Unfortunately lost of dogs are abandoned around Christmas..before when people want to go away for holidays and no longer want their pet...and after when there are numerous unwanted Christmas presents
We have a website list of places to the right "Give A Dog A Home" you can adopt orphaned doggies if you are looking for a new family member so check them out!
Kish had a fun Christmas morning eating snacks and chewing squeaky toys from the stocking she had been eyeing off ever since it was hung up for her.
New Years was spent in the snow in beautiful Canada..though minus 15 degrees was a little shock after Christmas at the beach in Newcastle
 I needed Kish wrapped around me to keep me warm in haf a metre of snow.January saw our DA submitted and all appears to be moving forward which Kish and I are VERY excited about!
I've just had a visit with some lovely new friends with gorgeous Doggy businesses in NZ. So my Valentines Day this year was spent surrounded by Kiwi furballs and Miss Kish was being loved at home by her aunty Stella and Ali :)
Sending lots of doggy love to all the furries out there!
 Mandy & Kish xx
PS. Poor Kish had a very large bone crunching tooth pulled out a little while ago at an unpleasent vet visit. Her snout had disappeared on one side it was so swollen after the operation and she spent the drive home from the vets wanting to eat something but not being able to stay awake long enough to do so. Here are a couple of pics from my phone...
December 11 Friendship in the snow..HI!
Good news- we have signed a lease for our first PawPaws in Sydney! Stand by for further details and please register on our website if you haven't already as our email updates are about to start!
I had to include this series of photos as they are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen..these photos were taken by Norbert Rosing in Chuchill, Manitoba, Canada. From 1992, every year for ten years he saw up to 4 polar bears playing with up to 4 Canadian Eskimo working dogs. In this set of pictures a bear appeared and started walking towards a pack of about 60 dogs. All the dogs except one were barking and puling at their chains. The bear made his way over to the quiet dog, lay down in front of him and put his paws out to play...
Mandy and Kish xx
November 12 A Dog's PrayerAfter three and a half years as the National Marketing Manager for the RSPCA and an animal lover who has read/watched videos and seen way too much animal cruelty in the world to bare, this lovely prayer made me cry! Someone emsiled me today in bewilderment that his beautiful dog was breaths away from death and still her happy self. A few years ago when I was in the process of moving back from NZ I had to leave Kish in a boarding kennel. After 2 days she became paralysed with a mystery illness. All the nurses fell in love with her because she couldn't move, I was in NZ but she was still wagging her tail! (And I was on the next plane back)
This is why we love them..
Mandy
"Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than my loving heart. Do not break my spirit with a stick, for I would lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do. Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when the sound of your footstep falls upon my ear.
When it is cold and wet, please take me inside for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to bitter elements. And I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth. If you had no home, I would prefer to follow you through ice and snow, rather than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest house in all the land. Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I should not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me fresh food, that I may stay well to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life. And master, when I am very old, if the Great Master sees fit to deprive me of my health or sight, do not turn me away from you. Rather, hold my trusting body gently. I shall leave you knowing, with the last breath I draw, my fate was always safest in your hands. " Bronwin
October 28 Our First HomeHi!
Lots has been happening and we think we've found our first location at last!! We're just negotiating on the property and then we begin the DA process and we are on our way...woohooo!!!
Poor Paws! Soi Dog in Phuket,Thailand are having a few dramas after being told they have to move out of their current location. PawPaws has started sponsoring it's first orphan pup over in Thailand and Kish is sponsoring another. Marley and Jai are also sponsoring a little Thai orphan to be cared for. We'll have photos and their stories soon! In the meantime if your puppy dog would like to help an orphan overseas paw open http://www.soidog.org/
Little Kish has had a few months of sore legs and what appears to be the onset arthritis but we think she's on top of it now! She was having a particularly lovely play at the beach the other day when she found something fishy and nice in the sand to roll in....and I had to drive home with my head out the window as a result :)
Happy playing!
Mandy & Kish x
September 13 On the move!Just had to show you the new PawPaws car!
If you see us cruising around Newcastle or Sydney wave.....or wag!!
;)
September 04 POOR PAWSHello!
Back from a fun escape to Thailand for a week before starting fulltime on the wonderful world of PawPaws! Shopping in handbag heaven, massages, an elephant kiss, exploring Phuket on a moped, kickboxing and lots of yummy food filled a week up way too quickly...and then there was an awful lot of sleeping to catch up on and a little bit of sunburn :(
One of the first things that struck me as is so often the case when visiting Asia were the stray dogs..although these ones were on the whole reasonably well fed and living in a place where the dogs are a welcome part of every day life it is SO sad...particularly when you come across one that need vet attention. I'm currently trying to locate someone over there to arrange some vet care for a gorgeous little blondie who was a regular at the "Beach Bar"..if there was no such thing as quarantine issues Kish would now have a sister (which I have no doubt she would not appreaciate at all) As it turned out a friend of mine who used to be the Darwin RSPCA CEO was over in Phuket for 6 weeks of being beaten and brusied at a kickboxing training centre so hopefully between the two of us can get some help to Blondie. As it was we made regular outings with roast chicken and whatever else meat we had to feed the furry little street urchins we came across.
Check out this site and sponsor a street dog food and medication $12 p/mnth!! http://www.soidog.org/
I have intended from the start to make PawPaws as socially responsible as possible and to use it as a mechanism to make a difference in the doggy world of welfare. The cat and dog furtrade for which my blog has links is one area I am passionate about but with Phuket came the idea of one day establishing Poor Paws centres overseas where needed...working on prevention via educational programmes to the public, desexing training programmes to vets + mobile desexing facilities. And of course providing a centre where homeless dogs could receive vet care, outreach feeding programmes etc. As PawPaws grows and with some of the corporate backing we are in the process of establishing along with the support of our customers for the furry orphans overseas I'm sure we will be able to make a difference somewhere....
WSPA are doing some work with stray dogs. Check out WSPA http://www.wspa.org.au/index.asp and http://www.wspa-international.org/
You can make a big difference by signing petitions and forwarding them to everyone you know also - this is an important one http://www.advocacyonline.net/eactivist/user/userC.jsp?13373&EXAMIN=1
Mandy & Kish x
PS One of the photos shows a lovely monument down on the beach which was built by a loving dog owner who lost their best mate in the Tsunami
August 13 New beginningsTomorrow is my last day in the role of the National Marketing Manager for RSPCA Australia after three and a half years. I'm finally going to be working on PawPaws 100% woohoo!!
It's been a sad week with my lovely nanna passing away last Monday, amid daffodils and roses that she loved so much and with some of her family(including my brother Craig and I) at her side when she left us..
We ended the week on a happier note with Craig and I joining two friends Scott and Ben for a run in the Sydney City 2 Surf on Sunday along with 70,000 other people- it was a beautiful day and great fun!! I was using it as a training session for the Sydney marathon - the boys thought it might psych them up to at least enter the Sydney half...I'm not sure they're were thinking that by the end :)
Last weekend provided some doggy fun with a trip to Hawthorne Canal Reserve, Leichardt and Cafe Bones www.cafebones.com.au for Puppuccinos! Kish and Marley scared themselves by deciding they were heading for a swim in the canal and then realising too late it wasn't going to be so easy climbing back out :)
I'm escaping to Thailand on Friday for a week in the sun and sea and then it's all truly beginning at long last... I'm buying a movie camera to record the ride.
Mandy x July 15 On on!Hi!
Well that great big ship has been moved from Nobby's and we can now once more visit the dog beach! Other things are also moving along finally at a speed that is keeping even me happy. Last week I signed the PawPaws Shareholders agrement and my new employment contract. I "officially" start working on PawPaws fulltime August 27th and I can't wait!!
I have spent some time looking at potential locations in Sydney, meeting with planners etc. That process is now well and truly under way and looking very positive with plenty of great options.
You may have noticed a couple of additions the the PawPaws website "BUBBLES" and "WALKIES" introducing two special services we are hoping to trial in Sydney over summer, see www.pawpaws.com.au
I've also had discussions with some major companies who are (understandably) very excited at the sponsorship and partnership opportunities PawPaws presents.
 I have a fantastic team of shareholders together with a wonderful support network round me of business minds to keep me on track and brilliantly creative minds to keep me jumping off it!
Kish and I have discovered being featured on www.beneful.com.au in the DogSpace panel and Kish has decided to up her modelling fees now she is a confirmed pin up pup as a Beneful DogSpace featured face this month http://www.beneful.com.au/Dogspace/Public/Home/default.aspx
Until the next update- enjoy life!
Mandy x
June 18 David Darcy
Hi! I wanted to post up a note from a man who takes the most beautiful photos of dogs that you couldn't help but love. David Darcy has an exhibition opening Saturday June 23rd called Street Dogs of India. I've travelled around India and was amazed and dismayed at the masses of stray dogs homeless on the streets. If you love dogs and photography Im sure you will love Davids work and the cause he is supporting with this exhibition. Mandy x
Dear friend, colleague and dog lovers In February this year I embarked on the most significant photographic assignment of my career. A journey that took me across boundaries, both physically and emotionally. The assignment was to document the field work of the Australian based charity Vets Beyond Borders(VBB) in the north-east Indian state of Sikkim. Then, travel across northern India from east to west and photograph dogs on the streets of India. "Nothing can fully prepare you for the streets of India. The life and death struggle slaps you in the face the moment you step off the plane. I went to India on behalf of Vets Beyond Borders to document their work and to photograph dogs across the country. What I found was a brave and beautiful nation, albeit overflowing with both human and animal suffering. A place where mans best friend lives and dies in the gutter in front of you. It was confronting, sickening and there were times when I felt that the suffering was insurmountable and beyond help. But no problem can be solved by turning your back to it. Vets Beyond Borders is providing hope and inspiration to this otherwise hopeless situation. The "Street dogs of India" exhibition documents the lives of our four legged friends in this amazing country. I hope the work will inspire people to help in what ever way they can." David Darcy, for Vets Beyond Borders, May 2007. The first Street dogs of India exhibition (see attachment) will show at the Katoomba Fine Art Gallery www.katoombafineart.com.au in the Blue Mountains from 23rd June to the 10th July (Opening 23rd June 3 - 5pm). The exhibition will then tour Australia for six months showing in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane, before it heads overseas. In the coming weeks we will be updating www.mongrel.com.au and establishing a site that gives more details as-to the exhibitions next whereabouts, dates, etc. Please keep watching. Proceeds from the exhibitions will support VBB. I ask that if you can't make it to one of the shows you take a look at the website www.vetsbeyondborders.org and make yourself aware of their inspirational work. I look forward to catching up with old friend and acquaintances at the openings. Regards David Darcy June 12 Extracts from a dog and cats diaryJust for your amusement - I thought this was hilarious! Mandy :) Dogs Diary 8:00 am Dog food! My favorite thing!
June 07 Dragons Den and on
Well it’s been a little while since Dragons Den aired on Channel 7 and introduced PawPaws to the world…or at least Australia, closely followed by NZ. It’s time for an update on how things have progressed since the show. Im regularly receiving emails from furbaby parents asking if we are open yet. This blog will provide you with updates on where we are up to as we move forward as fast as is absolutely possible!! Kishka and I can't wait!
The response and support for the business concept and the limited part of my presentation aired was phenomenal and very exciting. I almost felt like a TV star! I did try to reply to the hundreds and hundreds of emails I received…I’m so sorry if I missed some! Please feel free to email me any time with your questions, ideas etc mandy@pawpaws.com.au If you register on the PawPaws website http://www.pawpaws.com.au/main.html then I'll email you when something really exciting happens!
After some months I decided not to proceed with the partnership proposed by the Dragons. This was purely a business decision with the deal struck no longer appearing to be in the best interests of PawPaws.
There have been many exciting developments and prospects appearing over the past year and the original business model has changed somewhat although the concept is of course the same…or better as it is refined with more fabulous ideas on how to provide the best holiday ever for our furry babies and best friends.
A fabulous team of investors has been formed and we are currently finalising the board and looking for land. Stay tuned and please let me know of anything you would like to see in this space.
Mandy x |
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