I was in the bay area today, on our weekend Thanksgiving Trip to visit my family.  My husband and I like adventure, but didn't expect the events of today to transpire - and definitely- didn't expect to be posting a "LOST DOG" poster online! 

We have 2 dogs:  Chelsea, a 7 year old Great Dane Mix and Rocky, an 8 year old "Heinz 57 variety" (we were told at the shelter when we adopted him as a puppy that he was Shepherd and Rottweiler mix, but he's only 40 lbs, is very "cattle dog like", very similar to a breed called "Kelpie" 

So, our Great Dane, has some arthritis issues and today, seemed to be in a lot more pain than usual. She was grunting and moaning and could not seem to get comfortable. So, we decided to take her to a nearby vet. We left Rocky in the back yard, at my Mom's house, while we all went to her appointment. We were gone approximately 2 hours and when we returned.... no Rocky. 

So at 5:30pm, we had a large dog doped up on pain medication to worry about and now, trying to find our other dog (fur baby as I like to call them) in a neighborhood he doesn't know! SCARY! 

It appeared that he somehow managed to get under the house and escape out of a grate he pushed through at the front of the house (probably chasing the cats my mom has had inhabiting under there). 

We spoke to some people outside at a neighbor's house who said that Animal Control had been by a little earlier asking about a Shepherd dog, and if they knew the owner. They didn't because we were just visiting. They gave us a good clue that he had probably been picked up by them, but of course, the shelter doesn't open until Tuesday (3 whole days away) and like any good "mom", I couldn't just sit around and wait... "What if he didn't get picked up?" "What if he's out there lost?" So, I had to take measures of my own, just in case. 

While my husband and sister drove the neighborhood, and my 9 year old nephew made home made posters, I took to the avenue I know best: social media. I first went on the Animal Control Website where you can search to see if your pet was brought in (actually, it's a link to PetHarbor.com). It was too early yet, for Rocky's picture to be there, so I submitted a lost dog alert and then took to Craig's List to post in the Lost and Found. 

I did, almost instantly, get a call from a wonderful community member, named "Marilyn", who was just a volunteer who was passionate about animals, who had seen my posting on Pet Harbor. She thought she had spotted him, but it turned out to be a similar looking dog who's been there since November 5, 2013. 

From there, I got an email, suggesting I post on the Facebook Page: Fido Alert: East Contra Costa County .  I did as she suggested, and with-in minutes, she created the flier that you see above. That was wonderful in and of it's self.  Within 31 minutes, it had been shared from her page, 30 times!! There are 4,000 plus "fans" on this Facebook page, and they proved very quickly how passionate they are about connecting fur babies back with their parents. 

If that wasn't exciting and supportive enough, I got a text at 8:54pm from a leader of the Fido Alert Page, "Cat" (ironic huh?) who stated that it appeared that the shelter had posted Rocky on the Pet Harbor website, sometime within the last few minutes. I jumped on there and sure enough, there he was. My little jail bird.  He is micro chipped (with unfortunately, the wrong contact information) so they were able to know some things about him before posting him online. 

You can see his mug shot here: 

I am so truly thankful for the support of complete strangers tonight. It has restored my faith in humanity knowing that they are so willing to help someone they have never met, and probably never will.  As an animal lover myself, and one who will stop just about anywhere to try to rescue a "lost" dog, I am grateful for those who go beyond themselves to help others. Please, if you are an animal lover too, consider supporting your local shelters and rescue organizations like Fido Alert and Pet Harbor. They truly do make a difference in the lives of people and pets, both on and offline! 

Because of Social Media, texting and the shelter website, I am able to sleep a little easier tonight... 

Yesterday, September 20, 2012, I was attending the "Unstoppable Conference" in Sacramento, CA , hosted by "The Bam Project" , A Christian Business Women's Networking Organization. 

This was the first night of a two day conference and was the first ever, for Bam! I was excited to be there with our Social Media Kiosk, to help spread the word about the  great things that were happening! 

Upon entering, I had no idea what to expect. I was enjoying myself, listening to great worship music by Christian Artist, Amari, and meeting some incredible women. At one point during the conference, one of the hostesses, Barb Wilber tasked us with finding someone in the room that we had yet to meet, and scheduling a time to get to know them better.

Before I had time to stand up from my chair, this adorable, southern woman approached me and said, in her cute accent "I want to get to know you"! 

Me? I was honored, because I had JUST looked at this woman's picture in the program for the conference and realized that she was now standing before me! It was none other than Julie Ziglar Norman! You, know the Ziglar name, don't you? She's the "daughter of the motivator’s motivator, Zig Ziglar"! And she was asking to get to know ME better! I was so excited and honored. 


Unfortunately, we didn't have too much time to chat, as we were quickly asked to come back to the larger discussion. But we were able to talk on break and share a few laughs while she and some other ladies were being silly and posing for the Social Media Kiosk! 


What's even more funny to me, is that the largest lesson I learned from my few hours at this conference, from Barb's key note and "Sacred Space" activity was that we are often living as what we are NOT, instead of what we are! We are constantly living in the world of "Im NOT Smart Enough", "Im NOT pretty Enough"etc, instead of who we really are! 

When I was asked to write down my biggest "Who I am NOT" - it was "I am NOT Worthy". The funny thing is, I was worthy enough because Julie chose me out of over 50 women in a large room. She chose me, because for some reason she was drawn to me. And from that moment, I promised myself, to let myself be as worthy as other see me, and live with who I am vs. who I am NOT! 


Learn more about The Bam Project Online, and Julie's Organization, "ZIglar Women" here. 

Got a little publicity for my Networking "Hand Off" Technique! Great article on how to exit a Networking Conversation! 
Ritika Trikha, A Career Bliss Writer, wrote this great article on how to
"Break Off a Networking Convo Without Being Awkward"! She has some great suggestions! You can read the entire  article here. 

Thanks, Ritika, for the mention!