February 2018 Newsletter

This handsome kitty is Raja, sporting a tiny jewelry tag.

Thanks to Laura Mullin of Warminster, PA

And this is Rocky the Boston Terrier, smiling in the sunshine!

Thanks to Marie Schottin of Ann Arbor, Michigan for this nice picture.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted pictures of their pets! If you have a great picture of your pet (showing off our tag would be nice!), you can submit it here.

If you haven't seen your picture submission in our newsletter, check out our facebook page. Once there, you can see lots of pet pics, submit more and chat with us or other pet fans!

On a Saturday, just a couple weeks ago, Brandon Fox was out doing what he loves: back country skiing in the fresh powder that had fallen on Berthoud Pass, 50 miles west of Denver, CO. And as usual, he was accompanied by his Shiba Inu, Yoshi (who might even love the ski trips as much as Fox).

The two were having a great day until Fox noticed that Yoshi wasn't with him. He waited, looking back, expecting Yoshi to appear any second. But that didn't happen. He called and started back to look for him, still expecting him to pop out at any moment, smiling. But every minute that went by gave him time to imagine the worst. The minutes searching turned into six agonizing hours. Then, finally as it turned to twilight, he heard Yoshi bark back and spotted him. Yoshi was high above him, trapped on an icy ledge over a rock face. There was no way to get up to him from below. Above Yoshi was a steep snow field. It was a very bad spot to be stuck.

Fox had contacted his girlfriend Liat Arochas, Yoshi's other human, who had jumped in her car and was now with Fox on the mountain. They looked up at Yoshi and realized they would need help to get him down. They contacted Grand County Search and Rescue, but unfortunately, they were in the middle of rescuing someone injured in a snowmobile accident nearly one hundred miles away. They wouldn't be available until the next morning.

"We didn't know if he would survive the night," Arochas said. "It was so windy, it was snowing." As it got dark, Fox and Arochas had no choice but to leave Yoshi alone on the mountain.

Arriving at first light in the morning, they were afraid of what they would find. They couldn't see him though they were sure they were looking at the right spot. They called his name.

"He popped his head out and he started barking," Arochas said. "We were so happy. It was music to our ears. He had made a burrow for himself."

But he still was very much stuck in a bad spot. Finally, Search and Rescue arrived- certainly, it was only a matter of time before they would have Yoshi safely in their arms. But after a lot of quiet conversation, they got an unexpected blow; the official decision was that the avalanche danger was too high and that they had no choice but to "decline the rescue mission".

The rescue team reluctantly packed up their gear and left. They left one team member to make sure that Fox didn't attempt the rescue himself. Fox and Arochas spent the next two hours talking to anyone in the area who might be able to help them.

"The worst part was, we could see him the whole time," Arochas said. "We could see him looking down on us. It was like a death sentence for him."

Then, completely out of the blue, two men came down the mountain and walked right up to Arochas and asked if that was her dog stuck up there. They said they were going up to get him down.

The two men, George Meres and Franklin Jacobs, were experienced ice climbers. They had all their equipment with them to safely make the climb up the treacherous rock face from below, thus avoiding the precarious snow field and potential avalanche above Yoshi.

It took them four hours to reach Yoshi, just as the sun was about to set. As they reached him, as if on cue, the clouds broke for an amazing sunset. They got him!

Aside from being cold, Yoshi was in remarkably good condition. You can read more on the Sky Hi News website. The article contains "MUST SEE" drone footage of Yoshi on his perch.

Oh yeah- amazing work Mr. Meres and Mr. Jacobs!

Featured Tags

It's time to order your shamrock tag for St. Paddy's day! Makes a great pet tag (obviously) or print any message for a keychain or even a gift tag. On St. Patricks day, everyone is Irish.

And yes, it has been pointed out to us that the metal tag shown above is technically a clover and not a shamrock -but I won't tell if you won't.

Growing up in West Brownsville, PA, one of Nicole Grimes' happiest memories was when she was 10 years old and her mother and grandmother got her a puppy. Chloe, a rambunctious Pomeranian-Poodle mix was Grimes' constant companion and best friend.

A few years went by and all was well. But when Grimes was 14, her father took a new job that required him to work from home. It wasn't long before it became apparent that a "yappy" little dog in the background didn't make for a very professional sounding office environment. They tried to come up with a reasonable solution, but nothing worked.

“My dad picked me up from school and Chloe was in the car,” Grimes said. “I knew that day was coming because he had been saying we needed to do it. I remember I was so sad and my stomach was nervous driving her there that day.” And that became one of Grimes' saddest days, leaving Chloe at the Washington Area Humane Society. She never knew what happened to Chloe, but thought of her often, especially on Chloe's birthday.

Earlier this month, a now grown Nicole Grimes' noticed on Facebook that a friend needed to re-home her dog. The picture showed a small grayish dog. It had belonged to an older couple until they died. Then Grimes' friend (the older couple's neighbor) adopted the dog. Circumstances changed and she could no longer keep the senior dog and she really needed to find her a new home.

Grimes looked at the small picture of the small dog. It reminded her of Chloe. Then she saw the dog's name: Chloe. She chuckled at the odd coincidence. She wasn't looking for a dog but without much more thought, she messaged her friend that she'd take her. The dog was nice enough and seemed happy to meet her. It jumped in her lap and licked her face.

As her first day with Chloe progressed, Grimes allowed her mind to wonder if this was some sort of cosmic alignment; could this really be her Chloe? Her friend didn't know where or when her neighbors got the dog so that wasn't any help. Grimes told her family about her new dog but they didn't really believe it could be their Chloe. They got out old pictures and you could see similarities. But no.

They couldn't take the wondering anymore. Their Chloe had been micro chipped when she was a puppy so Grimes' mother contacted the humane society to get the old chip number. The very next day, Grimes took a trip to the vet to see if her "new Chloe" had a chip. She did. Grimes anxiously held the piece of paper her mom had given her with "old Chloe's" chip number. The veterinarian read the chip number...

“I felt like I won the lottery,” Grimes said. “That was one of the most exciting moments of my life. I just never thought I’d see her again.”

Chloe was probably wondering why it took so long for Grimes to get excited to see her again!

Read and see more pics and a cute video on the Observer-Reporter website.

Those ears though! (15 sec)
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"No Touchy..." (15 sec)
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Battle over the food bowl. (15 sec)
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Nice save! A little pup has a close call on the stairs. (15 sec)
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Watch this Husky when he's told his best friend is coming over. (2:49)
YouTube

You may also call 1-800-543-TAGS and mention the coupon code; one of our happy, helpful customer service representatives will gladly give you the discount.