furry family

rowing up, my family had Jack Russell Terriers, which meant every piece of clothing and furniture had a nice coating of white fur.  So, I was prepared when we got Dusty to have fur clean-up become part of my life.  Everyone told us that Corgis were big shedders, but for the first year we had Dusty she barely shed at all!  She lulled us into thinking she wasn't going to shed a lot, but then this spring-- BAM.  I was dodging corgi-fur tumbleweeds left and right.  Sweeping up piles of Dusty fur is a regular occurrence these days, so when Swiffer contacted me asking if I'd be interested in trying their sweeper thingies, I was definitely interested.  I could have made 10 Dusty's with the amount of fur I've cleaned up in the last 9 months!
I was more interested because Swiffer is supporting the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA) in a year-long effort to help find homes for animals in need!   Since pet clean-up can become a huge ordeal (especially if they shed like Dusty does), Swiffer is trying to help make the challenges of cleaning up after a pet less of a concern for those considering adoption.  According to the Swiffer Cleaning Index, half of Americans say that concerns about pet hair and shedding in their home is one of the top reasons they worry about getting a pet, wouldn’t get a pet or don’t have one. More than one third of pet owners also say the leading source of “pet cleaning tensions” in their home is hair, dust bunnies and/or shedding.  

 

To help pet adopters cope with the newfound cleaning challenges, Swiffer is donating Big Green Boxes full of Swiffer cleaning products to more than 100 shelters nationwide and gifted each of an estimated 7,000 pet adopters with a free Swiffer Sweeper during the ASPCA Mega-Match-A-Thon.  Swiffer also gave me a second box full of pet cleaning accoutrements to give to a friend with pets and my friend Amy was the perfect candidate! She has two bunnies and they're shedding their summer coats right now like crazy!  I had no idea bunnies were shedders.  Her giant bunny Riot got curious and came over to inspect the box, such a cutie.  

I've wanted my own dog ever since I left home, but one of the reasons I thought it'd be a good idea to get a puppy was as a baby step towards someday starting a family with a tiny human.  I had never really raised a dog from puppyhood, I was pretty young when our Jack Russells were pups, but I knew that taking care of a little dog would be a good learning experience.  My mom came over the other day and as we were about to leave for dinner, Dusty came in and her butt fur was covered with poop.  We'd been dealing with diarrhea for a couple days due to an upset tummy, so without a second thought I quickly plopped her in the sink and sprayed down her fur to clean her up.  My mom laughed because it was definitely a "mom" type thing that I was doing.  Taking care of a dog isn't totally the same as having a kid, but it's taught me that I'm capable of more than I would've thought and it's shown me a different kind of selfless love I didn't know I had.  I'm sure I'll learn a ton more about that type of love whenever we end up making a person, but I feel a bit more comfortable with the idea after becoming a dog-mom.  

 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.  Thanks for supporting those companies which keep
Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking.