The Story of Roma the Dog...and Introducing a New Blogger With Giveway...

A long post, but something different today for you. Tomorrow comes my review on the very first completed audio book. I admit, I am not looking forward to writing it. Instead, I thought I'd share with you a few pictures of Roma the Dog, as well as introduce you to my sister's new photoblog - and both are MUCH more interesting than the review I am trying to put together.

So. I, for one, do not like to drive anywhere if I have to be in a car more than six hours. It becomes confining, food eaten an hour ago is stuffed in the fast food bag and crumpled somewhere in the car. But this holiday, Roma the Dog was coming along to visit family, so driving was our only option. I'm so happy that we did drive because my sister got some of my favorite shots of Roma!

Introducing Two New Bloggers

Yes, my sister is one of the new bloggers - she is a professional photographer and after almost twenty years in the Navy, retiring a couple of years ago as a Commander, she is starting her business. She specializes in children's portraiture, and also focuses on stock photography and does the occasional wedding as well. Her artistic photos are some of my favorites! So, here are the sites:

• Digital Graces - Children's Portraiture
• Grace Protzman Photoblog - the blog with pics and reviewing tips she employs to get the best shot
• Digital Graces Facebook site - GIVEAWAY!  Become a fan of her Facebook site by clicking "like" at the top of the FB page and you could win a $15 iTunes card.  Specific details are on her site/blog.

If you are a newbie to photography, or just want some extra tips on picture-taking, and other items, stop on by to any of these sites!

Also, please visit Erika at The Black Dog Gang blog - she chronicles her adventures in fostering dogs in Missouri - it's an absolutely wonderful site as she does her part locally to help socialize and raise dogs into an adoptable environment for their forever home!

Courtesy of Grace Protzman Photography

About Roma the Dog

My niece put the headband on in this picture, and I... I admit that I did put Roma into the Santa outfit in the second one...

Roma is a mix Vizsla (pronounced Vee-shla), which is a Hungarian hunting dog. She, quite possibly, could be the sweetest dog I've ever been lucky enough to have in my life. Over the years, my husband and I have done our fair share of picking up stray dogs running in traffic, tracking down the owner, or finding a new home for them. We love dogs and were planning to get one soon, but we wanted to make sure we were ready to have a dog.

One rainy day in Florida about three years ago, my husband asked me to come out to the backyard.  I work from home and was in between conference calls, so I traipsed out from my office, and lo and behold, he had this very thin dog standing there with him.  She wagged her tail at me, and I immediately fell in love with her sweet eyes and face.

It turns out that my husband found her on an incredibly busy street, randomly walking around from one trash pile to another. Had she stepped four feet to the left, she would have found herself in the middle of two-way traffic traveling at 45 miles an hour at least.  My husband picked her up and put her into the car. She either must have been neglected or she was a stray for quite some time - the flea collar with no tags on it had grown into her skin and she had absolutely no hair on her chest. She was underweight by about twenty pounds.  I had to cut her collar off of her in order to get it off.

We chose to think that she had been a stray for quite some time, instead of thinking that she was neglected to give the previous owners the benefit of the doubt. We did everything we could to find them:

1. We took her to the vet to see if there was a chip in her
2. We posted flyers.
3. We posted online.

No response. She also got along with the cat from the very first day (who normally hates all dogs), to the point where Puppy the Cat (yes, his name is Puppy), would cuddle and sleep with her. We had a decision to make. We both knew what we wanted, we just had to say it out loud.

So we did. We decided to keep her and were lucky to have her as part of our lives. We named her Roma since my husband and I both love Italy, and it turns out that the name sweetly suits her wonderful personality.

During this cold winter, please remember that you can help the strays that you see. If you see a dog, take the time to call the local authorities that help in getting the animal so it's not hurt. And when you're ready for a dog, visit your local shelter first - they have an abundant availability of amazing dogs and cats so you don't have to pay the hundreds (or thousands) of dollars to buy a dog. And most importantly, analyze whether or not you have the time and resources to have a pet depend on you - can you spend the time to take them to the vet, get food for them, and just pay attention to them? Remember, a dog isn't supposed to be outside all day long - they are part of your family.

Your local animal shelters need your help to make sure that dogs like Roma are cared for and saved before they are hurt by a car, or just neglected. Dogs become what we teach them to be. In this case below, Santa's little helper.

Courtesy of Grace Protzman Photography

Happy Reading,

Coffee and a Book Chick