Renting With Rex

Blogging Authors: The Best Dog for Living in an Apartment

2012-01-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "The Best Dog for Living in an Apartment"

The Best Dog for Living in an Apartment

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. All dogs can successfully be taught to live in an apartment.

2. Some common breed differences when living in an apartment

3. Small size dogs

4. Medium size dogs

5. Larger size breeds

6. Some Good Habits to Establish If You Live in an Apartment with Your Dog

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet

www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: Benefits of Living in an Apartment with Your Dog

2012-01-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Benefits of Living in an Apartment with Your Dog"

Benefits of Living in an Apartment with Your Dog

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Improves Your Relationship

2. Better Health for You and Your Dog

3. More Training and Socialization

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet

www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: Four Myths

2012-01-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Housetrain Your Dog in One Month."

Four Myths

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Myth One: Dogs need a lot of space with a big house and a yard

2. Myth Two: Only certain breeds can live in an apartment

3. Myth Three: Dogs can’t be happy in an apartment

4. Myth Four: One might be OK, but more than one is just too many

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet

www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: Housetrain Your Dog in One Month

2012-01-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Housetrain Your Dog in One Month."

Housetrain Your Dog in One Month

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. How long can he/she currently wait between bathroom breaks?

2. Does he/she have a consistent schedule and diet?

3. Puppies and New Dogs

4. Using a Crate for Training

5. Using Pads for Training

6. Housetraining Your Dog Once she/he has Learned to Use a Crate

7. You Don't Want to Use a Crate for Training

8. Eventually Training Your Dog to be Loose in the House

9. "Dog Proofing" a Room

10. Suddenly Your Dog Starts to Eliminate in the House When They Never Did in the Past

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet

www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: "Give Your Dog Physically Stimulating Exercises."

2011-11-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Give your dog physically stimulating exercises"

Giving Your Dog Physically Stimulating Exercises

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Are you willing to provide exercise for your dog?
2. Age: Puppy, Young Adult, Adult, Senior
3. Health
4. Fitness level
5. Weight
6. Need for Social Activity
7. Mind Stimulating Exercises for your dog
8. A tired dog is a good dog.

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet
www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: "Does your dog have separation anxiety issues?"

2011-10-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Does your dog have separation anxiety issues?"

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/10/19/renting-an-apartment-and-having-a-dog-does-your-dog-have-sep.html

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Separation Anxiety
2. Self-Mutilation
3. Your dog's problem seems occur when left alone
4. Finding your dog his/her own space
5. Training your dog to use a crate
6. Making the area "dog-proof" and safe

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet
www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: "Using a Crate as an Important Training Tool"

2011-10-07T17:56:00.001-07:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for "Renting with Rex: Using a Crate as an Important Training Tool"

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/9/24/renting-an-apartment-and-having-a-dog-does-your-dog-have-any.html

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Fitting the crate to your dog's size.
2. Great for housetraining
3. Dogs Need to Have Their Own Space

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet
www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: "The Difference in Moving from a House to an Apartment"

2011-09-03T18:54:00.001-07:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "The Difference in Moving from a House to an Apartment."

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/9/3/renting-an-apartment-an\ d-having-a-dog.html

Here are some of the topics covered in this segment:

1. The Difference in Moving from a House to an Apartment
2. What questions should I ask myself before moving to an apartment from a house?
3. What will you do when company comes over and they are wearing really nice
cloths?
4. How many people will be handling the dog?
5. Can you afford to bring in a dog walker or take them to doggie day care while
you are gone if needed?

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Thanks!

Jackie Phillips
jackie@thesocialpet.com
www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: "Moving with Your Dog, Part Three: Settling into the New Place"

2011-08-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Moving with Your Dog: Part Three: Settling into the New Place."

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/8/6/moving-with-your-dog-settling-into-the-new-place.html

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Discard old ID tags and put on new ones.
2. Make sure familiar items are nearby
3. Locate a new veterinarian
4. What if you are not able to find a place that takes pets in your new location?

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet

Blogging Authors: "Moving with Your Dog: Part Two: Planning Your Trip"

2011-08-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Moving with Your Dog: Planning Your Trip" Part Two

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/7/30/moving-with-your-dog-planning-your-trip.html

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Planning the Car Route

2. Extra Note of Caution for Pit Bulls and Pit Bull Mixes

3. Final Week's Checks

4. Moving Day!

5. During the Trip

6. Hot Weather Warning!

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet

www.thesocialpet.com

Blogging Authors: "Moving with Your Dog" Part One

2011-08-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!

Please take a few moments to click on this link to my latest Blogging Authors entry for Renting with Rex: "Moving with Your Dog, Part One."

This is the first part of the chapter in my book "Moving with Your Dog."

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/7/28/moving-with-your-dog.html

Here are some topics that are covered:

1. Preparing a Move with Your Dog

2. Planning a Move

3. Finding a New Place to Live

4. Deciding What Type of Transportation

5. Deciding What Type of Carrier

6. Acclimating Your Pet to the Carrier

7. Using a Harness in the Car

8. Talking to Your Dog's Veterinarian

9. Ordering New ID tags

All feedback and comments are welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read the brief article!

Jackie Phillips
The Social Pet

www.thesocialpet.com

Honorable Mention: Bay Area Independent Publishers Association

2010-04-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

In June 2010, "Renting with Rex" won an Honorable Mention with BAIPA

(Bay Area Independent Publishers Association)

Trip to Hollywood for Awards Ceremony

2010-03-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

On February 24, 2010, I drove down to Hollywood for the awards ceremony for the Los Angeles Book Festival and the DIY (Do it Yourself) Book and Film Festival. "Renting with Rex" won two awards in these contests in their "How To" categories

I had originally intended to drive down on Highway 5 through the valley. However, a close friend who does a lot of RV driving, suggested that I reroute to Highway 101 since she had been stuck in snow over the grapevine north of Los Angeles.

Since the award ceremony was at 6 PM on Thursday, I wouldn't have had enough time to drive all the way down on Thursday, especially since I was taking both dogs and Mercury, the cat. They definitely need time to have a break.

I decided to drive the first part on Wednesday and stay the night in Pismo Beach on the coast. I had never taken the drive down to LA on 101, so the whole drive was brand new, and I had never stayed in Pismo Beach. What a beautiful town. It is right on the coast and the cliffs. I got to town around 4 PM, so I decided to find a nice beach and let the dogs and cat out and give us all a nice time on the beach. Mercury, of coarse, stayed in the van for the trip walking around and down to the beach

Here is the slideshow for Pismo Beach:

The next day I drove down to Hollywood. Along the way I lost a hubcap. There were parts where the road was so rough, I am not surprised I didn't loose more.

I got to Motel 6 around 3 PM. Due to the size of my van and the size of their underground parking lot, I had to find street parking to park for overnight. I found another lot but they wouldn't take overnight parking. I found another lot that had a higher ceiling, but that was full. After around a hour of driving around, I finally found a spot on a steep hill about four blocks away. At least I didn't have to pay because the other lots wanted to charge me $20. I put on my alarm and steering wheel lock and prayed hard that my car would be safe.

I had just enough time to bring all my stuff in and park the car, relax a bit and watch a little of the Olympics and then walk to the hotel where the awards ceremony was being held. What I didn't know realize was that the street where the hotel was is on Hollywood Blvd, where all the Hollywood Stars are on. I promised to check out all the stars and take some shots after the ceremony.

The ceremony was nice. They showed several of the short films that won awards. They were very creative and fun to watch. The people running the event said that they would have links to all the awards and the films. As soon as that is available I will post those.

Here is a shot of my certificate:

So, after the ceremony, I walked up and down Hollywood Blvd and Vine Street and photographing as many stars as I could before my cell phone battery died. I had to do a lot of post processing to the images because I shot them at night, and the lighting was very bad. Plus, there was a lot of traffic on the sidewalks, so I had to work around shadows and blocked lights. There are several that were right in front of Capital Records. Those were a nice surprise. The big surprise to me was that Paul McCartney didn't have one but John, George and Ringo did. Now, I could see those stars were very new, so maybe Paul's is coming along soon.

Some of the images in this slideshow are taken from large paintings that are on role up doors that are up and down Hollywood Blvd. Those were great. Some had some graffiti, like Gracie Allen's, but most were in good shape, especially with the very large amount of traffic on that street.

If anybody wants copies of these stars, please email me at: jackie@thesocialpet.com, and I will email them to you if you have a favorite star I have photographed here.

Here is the slideshow for Hollywood Stars:

I drove back home the next day, which was a nice drive. I only hit rain when I got back to around Monterey and then all the way home. That was tough because we could only drive slow.

San Francisco Officials Talk About Mandatory Allowance of Pets in Apartments

2010-02-23T14:30:00.001-08:00

Mandatory acceptance of pets in rental housing
The issue of mandatory acceptance of pets in rental housing was heard again by the Animal Control and Welfare Commission on November 12, 2009. There have been two meetings on this topic.

This agenda item stems from the commissioner’s previous discussions about trying to ensure that no potentially adoptable animal be euthanized in city shelters.

There has been some discussion among commissioners about making the acceptance of pets in rental housing mandatory in order to increase the number of rental housing providers that will accept pets in their tenant’s rental units.

Debates have been heated and emotional. SFAA opposes mandating owners to accept pets in rental units. We believe pet policy is a choice that should be left up to the building owners. Contrary to what many of the speakers at the hearings and the commissioners have said, SFAA believes that owning a pet is not a right, it is a choice.

SFAA board member Andrew Long spoke in opposition to the legislative proposal. His comments are featured in a KGO-TV news story that ran November 12:

Chapter One Breakdown

2010-02-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

Each chapter will now be available for purchase individually through the webpage: www.rentingwithrex.com. As soon as my web designer gets that information up onto the page, it will be available directly.

The book itself is still available as a download directly from Lulu.com or as a hardcopy through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Dogwise, Ebay and LuLu.com.

All questions and comments are welcome. Feel free to email me anytime at jackie@thesocialpet.com or call me at 510/415-6185. Thanks.

Chapter One: Finding a Dog Friendly Place to Rent

1. Humane Society of the United States: "13 Steps to Finding Pet Friendly Housing"

(indent) Give yourself enough time

(indent) Why many housing communities reject pets

(indent) Use available resources

(indent) Why a no pets policy community won't be a good place to look

(indent) Gather proof you are responsible

(Indent) Talk to the person who makes the decisions

(indent) Ask why a no-pets policy is in effect

(indent) Let them know that you understand the need to be clean.

(indent) Promote yourself

(indent) Promote your pet

(indent) Be willing to pay extra

(indent) Get it in writing

(indent) Be honest

2. Questions to Ask Yourself When Looking for a Place to Rent with Your Dogs

(indent) Are you a prospective tenant with a pet looking for an apartment?

(indent) Are you a current tenant looking for a new pet?

(indent) Are you a current tenant with a pet and want to know how to keep your pet and neighbors happy?

3.Creating Your Pet's Resume

(indent) Your information

(indent) Pet's Description

(indent) Dog's personality

(indent) Training

(indent) Health and Grooming

(indent) Exercise

(indent) Miscellaneous

(indent) References

4. A Landlord Checklist

(indent) Medical health

(indent) Training/exercise

(indent) Being a responsible person

(indent) Past Experience in rentals

Honorable Mentions for Two Book Festivals!

2010-02-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 24 - Drive to Pismo Beach
Wednesday, February 25 - Drive to Los Angeles/Hollywood, Awards Ceremony at Roosevelt Hotel, Walk along "The Walk of Fame"
Friday, February 26 - Drive home
(more details and photos to come)

On Wednesday, February 3, I received an email stating that "Renting with Rex" had won an Honorable Mention for the DIY (Do it Yourself) Book Festival in the "How To" category. I sent in my reservation for the dinner on February 25, in Los Angeles.

Tonight, Sunday, February 7, I received another email that "Renting with Rex" won another Honorable Mention, also in the "How To" category. This time it was for the Los Angeles Book Festival. The dinner for the Los Angeles Book Festival is the same as the DIY Book Festival.

I was so surprised and happy to see that the book was finally receiving some recognition. I have received a handful of uncomplimentary comments from other so-called professionals "in the field." But the average person on the street really likes it. So, I had to tell myself, who is the book written for? Is it written for the so called "reviewer" or English Professor sitting in their ivory tower? Or is it written for the person who has pets, who needs to find a place to rent and does not want to give up their pets. Or for the person who has been in a similar situation in the past and needed to find a place to rent with their pets, and did not want to surrender them to a shelter? That was not to hard for me to answer.

DogWise Books Picks Up "Renting with Rex"

2009-10-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

I would like to announce that my book "Renting with Rex: How You, Your Dog, Your Landlord and Your Neighbors Can All Thrive in Rental Housing" is now available through Dogwise Dog Books directly!

Here is the direct link:
http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DEG932

Their page has detailed information on the table of contents, sample pages and reviews.

Please take a look and support Dogwise Publishing and the wonderful work they do for dogs.

Finally! Book is Out!

2009-06-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

I heard today that finally the book is ready and available to order online. I still can't believe this is finally true. After all this time and all the setbacks and delays. Finally!

Right now it is available through Lulu.com. Eventually more avenues will be available very soon. I purchased the extended distribution, so more online stores will have it soon. I am waiting for that to kick in.

Cover is Approved!

2009-06-14T17:11:00.001-07:00

I got the final approval into the formatting/typesetting team this week. Index is in! All edits are made! Waiting to hear when the book is due out. I sent in an email two days ago to get a status.

Index Ready!

2009-05-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

May 19, 2009

I turned in my index finally to LuLu formatting team. Finally! That took me several days to do. Very tedious, but worthwhile. I was able to clean it up and take out a lot I felt unnecessary. I also added a few more items.

I got one version of the cover. I asked to make one change and they are working on that.

Manuscript Complete!

2009-05-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2009

Got the manuscript completed. Now just finishing up on the index, which has to be done by hand. Everything else is ready to go!

Next Step!

2009-04-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

My next step is a Spanish version of "Renting with Rex." I also have ideas for other off shoot products.

Oh, I have already started on my next book. That topic is soon to be announced!

PDF Proof from Lulu!

2009-04-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Got the proof from LuLu formatted in Adobe PDF! I took it to Kinkos to have printed, and then I will review it. I am waiting to hear back about the cover. They didn't send me anything.

I have my press release completed, and I will be sending that out through a service.

I am continuing to accumulate a long list of apartment complexes throughout the US that allows pets. I plan to fax them them a notice of the book when it is available.

I purchased an Extended Distribution Plan through LuLu, which allows me to list the book for sale on sites and lists beyond Lulu and Amazon.

Finally! A Company that does a great job!

2009-04-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

I finally found a professional company, Lulu. Everything is on track and ready to go. The book should be out any day. Finally, I will get a chance to talk about this subject to everybody, even though I have already talked to many, many people already.

I already have my next book in progress and that should be out in a few months. This time, I won't waste time with people who can't do the job that they promise to do, and I will go straight to LuLu again to do the job right the first time.

Submitted Manuscript to LuLu

2009-04-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

April 8, 2009

Last Friday, April 3, I tried to submit the manuscript to Borders Personal Publishing. I had everything done and ready. I had to do a new cover because the existing cover did not work and the designer has gone AWOL. He won't return my messages. I tried purchasing the program and it did not work. I tried several times. Nothing. I was pretty pissed off. I was trying to get this done before leaving for Sloughhouse for another weekend of shooting at a dog show. I sent in an email and later that morning received a message that the program had been discontinued. I was fuming. I had done all that work for nothing.

She sent me a link for more programs they have through LuLu. I took a look at those on Monday after I got the photos up from the show. I choose the cheapest program, which was identical to the program from Borders, except LuLu was about $60 more expensive.

I signed up for that. I got an email from LuLu with instructions on how to submit the manuscript and how to fill out the form online.

It took me a couple of days to create the index since that had never been done. That was one of the most interesting exercises I have ever done. That definitely needs to be done by the author because that details the book page by page. It was tedious but interesting to see what I picked as important in a phrase that I thought a reader might need to find the information. I had to really comb through each page paragraph by paragraph finding what I thought were the key phrases.

In the end, I think I did pretty good. First I pulled all the headlines and sub headlines. Then I went through it a second time and pulled all the breed names and small key words and key phrases. Then I had to go through the index by itself and clean up the mistakes. That was gruelling because I had to delete and recreate the index each time so I could be sure the correction was made and put into the right place. But it was necessary to do.

I then had to go through and correction all the formatting that the indexing caused. Everything had to be in 12 point Times Roman and all headings and subheadings had to be one point size large and bolded. I had to check everything. That was gruelling.

Finally, late Wednesday evening, I filled out the online forms and uploaded everything. Now, all I have to do is wait and wait and wait to hear from LuLu about if there is anything else to do.