Wow what a class act.  I haven't been to a Coffee Bean in years and now that I know what I have been missing I will be a regular.

I was prompted to go when I read about the free 12 oz drinks in the Fast Food Maven section of the Orange County Register today.  The Coffee Bean was hosting a Holiday Open House from 4 pm-8 pm and offering a sampling of their holiday drinks.

What was even better was that all I had to do was walk across the street.  I had no idea that The Coffee Bean was located in the Bluffs Center (Newport Beach) directly across from me since 2006!

Walking into the store I was greeted by a friendly staff that was clearly happy to be there.  I ordered a Peppermint Ice Blended Drink and Rich ordered the Pumpkin Ice Blended Drink.

And here are the drinks and yes they really are 12 oz.  Not the dixie cup size that you normally get for sampling.  They were as good as they look.

As you can tell Rich really enjoyed his.  Normally I can't wait to get out of a coffee shop, but this place with the friendly staff made me want to stay for awhile. The nice thing about controlling the iphone is that there are no pictures of me :)

How could everything not taste great when the girls are so happy that are preparing it?

And who knew about the Belgian Waffles?  They are to die for!

Outside there was plenty of seating so I'll be walking the girls and Winston over in the morning.  I'll have to check, but it might be the perfect place for a Cavalier and one English Toy Spaniel meet up.

Thank you Coffee Bean!!!

Not only are Amber and Nina cute little trick or treaters, they are also on a mission.  Like most Cavaliers they love to eat.  And that is one of the things that Cavalier owners love to debate, what is the best diet for our beloved dogs.

While most of us can agree on what not to feed our dogs, we have a hard time on agreeing what is best for them.  While I am an advocate for feeding a raw diet, sometimes that simply cannot be done.

Which leads to the great debate.  Which dry foods are the best to feed your Cavalier.

Many of us are leaning toward high protein and grain free however many people are afraid of feeding a food too high in protein.  However one of the women on a Cavalier list that I belong was smart enough to contact Dr. Jean Dodds.  Those of us in Southern California are fortunate to have this excellent veterinarian in our backyard. She is an excellent resource in many areas.

Here is what she had to say on the subject of dog foods:

Dear Candy:

I know the holistic colleague, Dr. Steven   Marsden, from Edmonton, Alberta that developed this food. (The food that was originally being discussed was Orijen  - Liz).  It is excellent as would be Wellness CORE, Nature's Variety, Evangers, to name a few others

NO problem with high protein and metabolic or kidney function.  It's the quality of the protein sources that matters -- grain-free is the key

Best wishes 

   Jean

Could this little girl be any happier???  Here she is with her new mom Karen and sister Minnie.

Bella is now a well muscled 10 pound bundle of love!

Thank you Karen and family for all the tender loving care you have given and taking Bella into your home.

What a crazy week it has been!  Having two rescues at the same time isn't easy.  Katie is now Bella and she is settling in to her new home beautifully.

Winston spent the weekend with me.  My friend Deb and I  took this happy little fella for an outing to Glitterfest.  Glitterfest is an artists extravaganza put on by one of our favorite shops Whimzy.  For those of you out there looking for the unique, Glitterfest and Whimzy are the places to go.

To experience Glitterfest shoot on over to the blog of the very talented Stacey Steimle.  She has put together a slide show of that spooky day.  Be sure to watch to the very end, and you may see someone you recognize.

As you can see Winston loved every minute of Glitterfest, especially wearing his Halloween hat.  Thank you to the Glitterfest Crew, the artists and the shoppers who made Winston feel like the guest of honor.  At Glitterfest Winston met his potential adopter and is currently doing a sleepover.

Winston is doing great and ready to go to his new foster/forever home anytime.  He is really looking handsome since his mats have been removed and he has had a bath.

Katie is a really little thing.  She is 2 years old and weighs 8 lbs 8 oz.  She could stand to gain a little weight, however she is one of the smallest Cavaliers that I have ever seen.  Right now she is with Dr Earl so she can get her health check completed and a really good grooming.

Will try to get pictures up tomorrow.  Thank you to everyone who has helped with these two deserving Spaniels.

I am now the Fairy Godmother to two wonderful dogs.  Today I paid the bail on Katie at the Orange County Animal Shelter.  So now we wait the 1-10 days for her to spayed so that I can pick her up. Then off to Lido Animal Hospital to get her vet check and spa treatment to get rid of her mats.

Katie was picked up as a stray.  She is about 1 year old.  Petite, pretty and playful  describe her.

She will be looking for a foster/forever home as soon as she is released. 

* Winston Update*  Dr Earl says he is good to go into his foster/forever home.  So hopefully that will happen quickly for this charming fellow.

I have been leaving messages for the President of the National English Toy Spaniel Club and we have been playing phone tag.  With luck, they will be able to help out with the financial aspects of Winston's care.

* * Winston Update Update * * Today (Saturday) I was able to talk to Bruce, the President of the National English Toy Spaniel Club and it looks like they will be able to help out.

Also Winston met a kitten at Lido Animal Hospital and he was very disinterested.  He did not even want to sniff the kitten.  So it looks like he will be able to go to a home with cats.

Well, I am a Fairy Godmother again.  I picked up Winston from the Orange County Animal Shelter today.  Winston was labeled as a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, he is not.   He is an English Toy Spaniel which is the first cousin of the Cavalier.  They are affectionately known as ET's by the people that own them.  I also have a friend that refers to her ET as a Cavalier plus.

Winston was found as a stray, so little is known of his previous family life.  He is about 3 years old and as charming as can be.    Right now he is with Dr Earl getting his health evaluation so he will be ready for his forever or foster home.

Since I made a decision to bring home Winston even though he is not a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of Southern California will not be helping out with his adoption fee and medical bills.

Despite this, I knew that I could not leave Winston there.  I also am not willing to take him back to get a refund.  So I have accepted the responsibility for Winston.  He maybe a "mistake", but I do not think so.  I would gladly bail him out again.

Right now, Winston needs a Team to get him healthy and ready for his foster or forever home.  If any of you can help out and want to be a part of Team Winston, please email me at dogslovemoe@aol.com.

Thank you to Brenda for going to the shelter and paying Winston's bail when I couldn't. There is a really good story there and I will tell it to you later. The Orange County Animal Shelter has you pay and then they neuter the dog that you adopted and you pick them up 1 -10 days later.

Amber enjoyed playing soccer.

Both Girls enjoyed the warm California summer in their grassy backyard and posing for pictures.

And winding down on the cool tile.

This time it is a 2 year old Blenheim boy. He is currently being neutered and will then be ready for his foster home. No name yet, since he was found wandering the streets of Orange County. Unfortunately I do not have a picture however as soon as I do I will post it.

King has been formally adopted by his foster family.  We wish them a long and happy life together.

After working her little paws of in the store with temperatures at well over 100 degrees, Pickles knew exactly how she wanted to spend her Sunday morning.

King and I were very busy last week.  While King's foster family was on vacation, I was able to take King to the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of Southern California's August Meeting.

King had a wonderful time greeting all of the members that attended.  He is very social and made sure that everyone felt welcome.  He was especially pleased that it was Movie Night.  That meant that there was popcorn and hot dogs for everyone.  And yes, everyone included King.

He also had a photo session with Rocky McDonald who took many wonderful pictures of this happy boy, including the one above. Click here to see more pictures from movie night.  Thank you Rocky!

So many exciting things have been happening that I am way behind on updating the blog.  One of the best things to happen was that Amber and her family came to visit us at the South Bay Kennel Club Show in Torrance. 

It was wonderful to see Amber who is the sweetest Cavalier ever! Amber got the chance to visit with her sister and it was obvious to all of us that they really missed each other.  So Trotter who is back to Nina, went home with Amber and they are having a ball together. 

And what a wonderful home it is.  King has 2 - 12 year olds, a Cavalier named Lola, and a rescue Greyhound, Rocca.  Rocca came from our good friends at SoCalGal.  If you are looking for a Greyhound I would highly recommend that you contact them.

King was so busy making up for lost time, that we were not able to get a good picture of him in the yard.  I think that the time in the shelter and at Lido Animal Hospital added up to about 24 days!  So he was thrilled to be able to run in the outdoors.

He will have his next blood test this coming Tuesday, if his anemia is improving, he will be ready for his forever adoptive home.

King is now well on his way to recovery with a foster family to give him what he needs to make it complete.  He is very grateful little dog.  Especially since August 1st was his euthanasia date at the Orange County Animal Shelter.  I am so thankful for all the love and support that has been given to King to get him to this point, you are appreciated.

To those of you who applied, thank you so very much.  John & Wendie live close by so King will be able to continue to receive care at Lido Animal Hospital until he is fully recovered.

The American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Trust still has adoption, volunteer and foster home opportunities available.  You can contact Molly at cavalierrescuetrust@comcast.net or me at dogslovemoe@aol.com.

He has started to grow hair, is much less itchy, has clean teeth, fresh breath, has a warm comfortable place to sleep and getting lots of love from the staff at Lido Animal Hospital.  Thanks to them he is well on his road to recovery!

Now all he needs is the worlds most perfect foster or forever home, if you are interested please email me at dogslovemoe@aol.com.  Short term fosters are ok.

I would also like to thank the Friends of King who have made contributions so that he can  receive the quality veterinary care that he needs.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

He will be able to leave the Lido Animal Hospital on Monday.  So we need to find a foster home for this very sweet, gentle boy.  He will need oral medication given to him twice a day and a bath once a week.  If you are interested, please contact me at dogslovemoe@aol.com.

Rich and I picked up King at the Orange County Animal Shelter on Tuesday, so I guess we are now his Fairy Godparents.  We got the news that King was in the shelter and in desperate need of rescuing from the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of Southern California.

King is a 6 year old very sweet Cavalier boy.  His tail has not stopped wagging since we picked him up.  We took King immediately to Dr Earl (Lido Animal Hospital) who is doing a thorough workup on him and getting his pink eye, skin yeast infection and a few other problems under control.  I cannot thank Dr Earl and his staff for being there and helping to make King comfortable.

I thought twice about posting these pictures of King, however I feel it is important that people get to see the "before" pictures of a rescue dog.  Hopefully I'll be posting the "after" soon.

Needless to say, King is going to have extensive medical bills.  If you would like to contribute to his care, please email me at dogslovemoe@aol.com and I will give you the information that you need.

Please think before getting a Cavalier or any other dog.  Make sure that you are up to being the guardian that these gentle souls deserve. 

Making King's rescue possible is the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rescue Trust.

Amber is very photogenic and when she was here with me I loved taking pictures with her, and so does her Mom Nicole.

Here is Nicole's reports on Amber:  Recently she developed a love for playing soccer! Its really cute, she uses her nose and paws to "kick" the ball. I need to get a picture of it so I can show you! Also her fur is getting much longer now. Each day she gets more and more beautiful :) 

Here is Amber in action . . .

 It was a little warmer, so everyone found a nice cool spot to lay on. The adult girls decided that the granite table was just the place to be!  Nice and cool and they could watch everything that was going on.

The youngsters Weldon, Sapphire and Ruby laid on the cool tile. 

The most adventurous and playful of the group was Solo - who I have learned is the same age as Weldon, and his companion Ruby.  Ruby is a very sweet ruby girl who has a white blaze.  Although she is a true gem, her full name is Ruby Begonia.

And watching guard over the group is Asa and Duchess.  They come from a very illustrious family and are relatives of the real Carl of the Good Dog Carl books written by Alexandra Day.