Studs with Pugs: Well hello, ladies!

Just a little update: A Place to Bark just posted a new blog today-- definitely worth reading.

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I’m mixing things up a little this week.

For the past few times, I’ve found that Studs with Pugs has been strangely fortuitous. My friend got offered a job when Ted Danson was featured, The WTTHMG was overthrown when The Human Male was our specimen, and Izzy came home the very next day when my bro Pedro was El Stud (he was also going through finals at the time, and it seems he did really well).

I mentioned to my boss (who received her PhD two weeks ago) the day that Izzy came home that I'd been having some luck with the blog. She started laughing and said, “Boy, I could’ve used you last week when I was defending my dissertation!”

I immediately started trying to put together how I feasibly could’ve made Studs with Pugs for her. Does her husband have any pictures with pugs? Maybe there’s a photo circulating the internet of a hot guy holding a pug standing near our exhibit booth at a public health conference we attended?

Likely not. In the elation of Izzy returning, I forgot about this great burning question until a few days ago.

A couple months back, I learned about a no-kill rescue in Tennessee called A Place to Bark. They work with shelters and animal control offices in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Tennessee to take in dogs that need care, get them healthy, and find them homes (I think they do some internal adoptions, but mostly work with local Humane Societies). It seems like they're not adverse to taking in some really tough cases.

I’ve been following the founder Bernie Berlin’s Twitter feed. For 140 characters, she can fit a lot in. She seems like a neat lady: funny, kind, and so passionate about her work-- and a fellow Midwesterner to boot! It’s almost as if the tough and extraordinary work she’s doing is “just something you do”, if that makes any sense. The vet expenses, the long interstate transport drives, helping animals in bad situations-- it’s just something you do, no questions asked. All in a day’s work. And yet, you can tell that she still has that joy and excitement for her work and the dogs and cats that come in, as well as the sadness when a dog has dealt with too much and passes away. I’m not sure how she’s found that great emotional balance, but she has.

On her blog, she has a ton of beautiful photos of her dogs. Not only is the artistry there, look at the smiles on their faces-- ALL of their faces. Those are some happy canines!

Scrolling farther down, I got to a picture of Ms. Berlin herself. WOW—on top of a good heart, she’s gorgeous! After the girly part of my brain decided that was totally unfair, it hit me: maybe the Studs with Pugs doesn’t necessarily need to be a guy. Maybe we could give it to a lady once in a while. I mean, even GQ puts a woman on their covers upon occasion, right?* Maybe we could have a Babe with Barkers once in a while?

So behold: This week’s Studs with Pugs is Ms. Berlin. And in another twist, it’s a video entry (it happens around 1:30).

Excuse the high pitch with which I write this: LOOK AT THE CUTE PUGGLE PUPPIES! THERE ARE BLACK ONES, TOO! EEEEE!

And in a far more civilized, audible tone: look at how happy PuggleMom is. It's like she knows that her babies are going to be raised in a safe place (on an aside, don't miss out on these pictures, too. Double EEEEE!)

Okay, so maybe you’re saying first a lady, then a video—and you’re making us do the work of clicking on links this week? Cop-out, Human Female! Well, if watching someone get the familiar puggle kiss-attack hasn't melted your heart yet (or haven't realized I'm driving you to their sites), then try this on for size…

A Place to Bark is in the middle of building a shelter, and like many non-profits, they’re hurting for donations right now. Ms. Berlin seems tough and determined that they'll make it through and continue their mission, but obviously, it’s going to be tough.

So I’m going against the Studs with Pugs grain this week, in hopes that it could persuade the Shelter Donation Powers that Be that A Place to Bark could use a hand. Especially now, when there are so many dogs out there who need help-- a safe home, a warm lap, medical care, a bowl of food.

After hearing how wonderful my parents’ neighbors were to take time out of their days to help find Izzy, I can’t keep quiet about someone who’s out there every single day trying to make the world right. As I see it, it’s everyone’s responsibility to do our part—whatever “our part” may be, big or small: a prayer, a dollar, a kind word, or a helping hand—to help fight for the causes we believe in and support the true warriors among us.

* By the way, Mamala—I meant to tell you that GQ sent a back issue to The Human Male: the Jennifer Aniston cover. Fortunately the next issue had a very large watch ad with Daniel Craig in it, which The Human Male kindly gave to me without prompting. So all is well.