We Met A Westminster Winner!

We made friends with a beautiful dog named "Ch. Sterling Ugly From the Front" this past weekend. His nickname is Lyle; he was named after Lyle Lovett, who has a song by that name.

Lyle was at the Green Mountain Scenic Cluster Dog Show in Essex Junction, Vermont. He and his siblings (whose names I unfortunately can't remember due to all the excitement of meeting them) stopped by the Bark & Sparkle booth at the show. Our crystal collars had them drooling! Their mommy generously bought each of them their favorite. When the shopping was done, they graciously posed for us.

Lyle "Ugly From the Front" was Best of Breed winner at Westminster in February 2006, and Best of Show in April 2003. Here he is, in our "Hearts United" style (in honor of his win on Valentine's Day weekend):

Here's Lyle's brother, showing his love for his country in a Patriotic collar:

Finally, here's Lyle's sister, jumping for joy in her new triple strand of pearls:


The dog show was lots of fun. It got us in out of the blistering heat for the day, into a nice, cool air-conditioned building. And the DOGS! They were all incredible. We wanted to take every one home. Thankfully they all have loving owners already.

The great thing about Lyle choosing the Hearts United collar is that we'll send a sizeable portion of the profits from it to HUA, the no-kill shelter we talked about in our last blog entry. Do check them out; there are lots of "gems" there, too.

A Happy Dog Adoption Story

You may have seen the "Looking for Love" link on Bark & Sparkle's home page. It takes you to the site of a national no-kill shelter and sanctuary called Hearts United for Animals.

One of our customers clicked on that link--and what she found there changed her life.

Lois, the owner of an elegant shop called Puppies With Attitude, already has two beautiful Maltese puppies named Sophie and Phoebe. But there was room in her heart and her home for one more. So she adopted this little sweetheart, named Polo.

Since he's such a regal little fellow, Polo's name was changed slightly to the more worldly "Paolo".

Paolo has made himself right at home with his new family. With Lois's permission, I'd like to share what she told me about him recently:

Paolo (as we now call him) came home on May 24th. He is a very
sweet little guy. When he wakes in the morning (we all sleep in
our Cal-King bed) he kisses my face all over, then he rolls
around on the blankets, then repeats this ritual about 5 more
times. I think he feels safe and loved.

Paolo loves to help me decorate; he has such a talent. Because of Paolo's expertise, all our trash bins are now on top of chairs. It's very charming; he is so clever. Here he is rearranging the hallway runner:

And here he is sleeping with his sisters in a chair with their duvet comforter and his blankie:

Paolo sure looks happy with his new family, doesn't he?

All I can say is thank goodness for places like HUA, and for people like Lois, who see the need for love and compassion for these precious creatures and are more than willing to offer it.

Why don't you go take a look on Hearts United for Animals right now? Tell them we sent you. I'm sure there's a perfect best friend waiting there just for you, too.