Running some errands on the Berlin Turnpike this weekend? 

Please consider a quick stop to my office at 2600 Berlin Turnpike to drop off unopened cans or bags of cat/kitten food.  Your food will help Our Companions' volunteers who manage and feed feral cat colonies throughout Connecticut.  

For details and directions, please visit my blog at CTRealEstateUnleashed.com.

Ruthmarie Hicks tagged me for this MeMe earlier this week...I'm a little late to respond since I've been on the sofa recovering from a yucky encounter with a stomach bug.

Anyway, this is my first MeMe.  In fact, I had to look up how people respond to these things.  My first question was, What the Heck is a MeMe?

So, I patrolled Active Rain and it occurred to me that these MeMes remind me of something...

Are they the new chain e-mail (Pass this on to ten people and you'll win $1,000,000 kinda thing) without the e-mail or the money.

Or, are they the blogging version of the invitation to a Pampered Chef party (oh, God was I glad when all my newly married friends stopped having these things - I can fit only so many dip mixes in my pantry)

Or, maybe they stopped inviting me?  Could it be my poor attitude?  Hardly...I'm the perfect Pampered Chef/Tupperware/Partylite guest. Just look in my cupboards.

So, here is the answer to my first MeMe...

The instructions were:

1. Pick up the nearest book.

2. Turn to page 56.

3. Find the fifth sentence and post the text of the next two to five sentences.

4. Don't dig for the favorite or coolest or most intellectual book.

5. Pass it on to five more people.

Ruthmarie was right...I am reading a dog book. Really it's about a boy and his dog. I just started it, a gift from my mother in-law for my birthday.  

From The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski,

When he finished he found his mother in the whelping room.  She was holding a pup in the air in front of her, examining it and singing under her breath how she was crazy for tryin', crazy for cryin', crazy for loving it.

The truck was still gone when he got off the school bus that afternoon.  His mother enlisted his help retrieving sheets from the clothesline. 

"Don't they smell great?" she said.

I'm tagging some pet-friendly Realtors for this one, just because.

Jackie Kyle

Teresa Harris

Tracy Santrock-Cary

Lyn Sims

Molly LeBlanc

I posted this last week on my other blog at CTRealEstateUnleashed.com but thought it was worth it to share with everyone on Active Rain.

Last year, I read From Baghdad With Love: A Marine, The War and a Dog Named Lava. It is a war memoir centered around a Marine's struggle to adopt a stray puppy he found in Iraq and bring it home to the US.

Since then, I've been following the stories of other soldiers who've rescued stray dogs in Iraq and then try to bring them home.  Unfortunately, the military has a policy in place forbidding soldiers from keeping animals. Despite this, many soldiers have grown attached to pets they've found or saved from starvation and neglect.  Their bond with these animals not only helps the pet but provides immeasurable comfort to soldiers who are far from home.  Furthermore, the miltary makes it impossible for soldiers who rescue pets to transport them back home, which is where the SPCA has stepped in.

The SPCA has been working to help soldiers bring home pets from Iraq.  Their Operation Baghdad Pups (the slogan is No Buddy Gets Left Behind) has successfuly helped rescue dozens of soldiers' pets and there is one more to report.

From the SPCA via the Furry Paws Chronicle,

"Yesterday, a U.S. soldier’s dog arrived in Connecticut after a long journey from Iraq. Wayne and Susan Szmyt welcomed their son’s dog, Kindi, to their Trumbull home this weekend.  Kindi arrived in the U.S. at Dulles International Airport Saturday afternoon along with 3 other soldiers’ dogs thanks to SPCA International’s Operation Baghdad Pups program. The Szmyt’s son, Derek, will be returning home from Iraq soon to be reunited with Kindi."

To read more of Kindi's story, click here.

The YouTube slideshow shows pictures of some of the pets rescued by soliders.

When you have three rescued male dogs over 70 lbs each, you pick up a few things about dog behavior, not the least of which is getting along in a competitive (dare I say, dog-eat-dog) environment.

Allow me to introduce my teachers, Obie, Morgan and Willy.  Maybe you'll pick up a few useful kibbles of wisdom.

Sniff First, Then Growl

I live on a country road with a lot of "nature" around, like bunnies, fox, deer, skunk, frogs, cats and woodchuck.  I can tell when one these critters is outside because Willy, who has deemed himself my personal bodyguard, will get up with his ears perked and run to a door or window to check it out.

Most of the time, he decides the threat is low and he goes back to laying on his bed.  Bunnies are a low threat.  Once in a while though, a backyard intruder warrants a low growl.  When I hear that growl, I know something is up.  It's usually deer or skunk.  Once, it was someone on the property.

The point is that Willy doesn't just growl for anyone or anything.  He checks it out first - who is it, what are they doing and are they any danger? 

You all know those agents (or people in general) - they're the little yappy dogs of the human world always looking for a fight.  You don't call an agent within 5 minutes of your showing for feedback (the horror!) or you bring them an offer based on comparables (but they're still insulted!).

When Someone Bites You, Don't Hold a Grudge 

Morgan is the best at this.  Despite being bitten by Willy (for entering Willy's crate when he was guarding a bone) and other such abuses, Morgan always shakes it off. Literally - he just does a quick shake and he forgives Willy for any growl, bark or bite as evidenced by taking every opportunity to sit next to or play with Willy.

And he must have forgiven people, too, for leaving him locked up in a tiny crate for the first 10 months of his life because he is a very sweet dog to people.

I need to follow this advice more often. It's so easy to hold a grudge against someone for some slight (for example a family member who used another agent or another agent who insulted you). Morgan says, "Move on, people."

Praise and Treat Often

Every time my dogs go to do their business, I give them a biscuit. I'm so consistent that just opening the cabinet brings my dogs to the back door. They love treats - who doesn't.

For people (and pets) that help us or just make life a little easier, we need to remember to say "thanks."

I've written thank you letters to:

-A police officer who was investigating a crime near my home.

-An installer from the water company who took the time to explain my new water meter to me and who found a problem that I didn't even know I had.

-A woman who consistently greeted me at dog day care every day, ensuring that I was in and out very quickly.

-My hairdresser for changing my hair color to a color I didn't know I would like but she knew I would.

Heck, I feel great writing those letters and typing about them now so I can just imagine that the people who received them felt pretty good, too.

Mark Harrington, a mortgage lender with Horizon Home Mortgage in Windsor, shared this information with me recently:

The USDA provides 100% financing for mortgages on homes in "rural" areas, including many in Connecticut. Towns like Burlington, Avon, Granby, Canton, East Windsor and Suffield in Hartford County and towns such as Marlborough, Hebron, East Hampton, Colchester and Ellington in surrounding counties.

There are income limits - for Hartford County the current limit for a 2 person household is $73,150 and the program is only available for owner occupied, single family homes.

But there are also some significant benefits for qualifying properties and buyers:

-Seller may contribute closing costs.

-No down payment required.

-Competitive rates.

-No minimum credit score.

-No monthly mortgage insurance premium.

Looking for the perfect home for a USDA Rural Development Loan?  This home at 124 Gates Road in Lebanon is located on 4 acres and qualifies for this program.

To check availability in your area, click on this link: USDA.