It's always a great time to adopt a pet; ASPCA's #FindYourFido

In November, the ASPCA partnered with the networking app Bumble, and The Dodo to help the millions of shelter dogs that need loving homes, through their #FindYourFido initiative.

My good friend Dorothy Wills-Raftery of the FIVE SIBES blog helped raise awareness of this initiative.  As part of her efforts to help spread the word, Dorothy held a giveaway on her site and we won an ASPCA #FindYourFido gift pack!

Here's a peek at the fun stuff we won in the prize pack. 

PIN THIS!

The ASPCA's #FindYourFido prize pack we won from the Five Sibes crew!

Yikes! Phoebe really needs a haircut doesn't she?! We love the ASPCA Find Your Fido canvas tote bag and small zippered bag, frisbee, rope toy, and water bottle. Something tells me Icy will be the one to really enjoy that rope toy!

Icy had a blast playing with the ASPCA rope toy we won in the #FindYourFido prize pack!

Thank you to the FIVE SIBES for this great giveaway! And thanks to the ASPCA for everything you do to help shelter animals in need and to fight animal cruelty in all it's horrible forms.  Where would we be without organizations like the ASPCA? 

Read what the ASPCA has reported about the impacts of the Government Shutdown in the U.S. on animals. The shutdown is now in it's 27th day with no clear end in sight.  It's not pretty.

I was lucky to find a mom who adores and spoils me.  But dogs like me are still waiting for their forever homes in animal shelters across the country

If you want to add a pet to your family, I hope you will Consider Adoption first

As many of you know, we recently lost my beloved cousin Carolyn and our family has been grieving.  In tribute to her life as a compassionate social worker and an animal welfare advocate, I made a memorial tribute donation to the ASPCA in her name.  Personally, I think donations to causes that someone you love believes in is a wonderful alternative to flowers or gifts, for any occasion or event.

Always loved, Always remembered.  Go with God, my dear Cousin

Other Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them posts you might enjoy:

** There are rescue organizations for nearly every breed of dog out there.

** Kids want a Guinea Pig? Please consider a Guinea Pig rescue like Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue.  There are also animal rescues for other small animals like rabbits, hamsters, mice, gerbils, and others.  Just do an online search for one closest to you!

Dog Friendly Getaway in historic Rhinebeck,, New York

When the holidays roll around we know it's going to be a busy, stressful time so we try to plan an early pet friendly holiday getaway with the dogs.  We usually go the first few days of December, when holiday decorations are up but before the holiday crowds are in full swing.  This year, our dog friendly holiday vacation was a few days in the quaint upstate New York town of Rhinebeck.

QUAINT AND HISTORIC, RHINEBECK, NEW YORK IS A PEACEFUL GETAWAY

Rhinebeck has always been a wonderful place for us to get away and unplug not too far from Long Island.  Our favorite place to stay is the Beekman Arms Inn.  The Beekman Arms, established in 1766, is dubbed the "Oldest Inn in America" and has quite an interesting history.   The hotel consists of several buildings, the most popular being the main Beekman Arms Inn and the Delamater House Inn.  We enjoy staying at both of these beautiful, charming properties.  We've stayed there many times but neither of these properties are a pet friendly hotel so we've had to leave the dogs at home.  😞

Beautiful waterfall, partically frozen, on one of our walks through the quaint town of Rhinebeck

We love to vacation with our dogs, they are our family, so it was disappointing that we could never take them with us.  I understand why pets are not permitted in the main Beekman Arms Inn or the Delamater House because they are historic inns with upscale furnishings and antiques.  I really can't blame them for not wanting dogs or cats in those unique and special hotel rooms.

DOG FRIENDLY HOTEL IN RHINEBECK, NEW YORK

The Beekman Arms does have one building that allows pets, it's called the Guest House, and is described as a "motel style" hotel on property.  We were never able to find photos of this building or their pet friendly rooms online in the past, they just didn't have them which made us suspicious that they might be hideous. Recently though, we found a photo of a dog friendly room at the Guest House on the web site and it didn't look bad at all!  We decided to take a chance and book a dog friendly room in the Beekman Arm's pet friendly Guest House property.  We were pleasantly surprised.  It was a far cry from the beautifully appointed rooms of the main Beekman Inn and the Delamater House, but we really enjoyed staying there.  It was wonderful having our dogs with us in one of our favorite quaint upstate towns.

The pet friendly Guest House building at the Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck, New York.  There's actually a cute courtyard area behind this fence, I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of it.

The Guest House at the Beekman Arms doesn't look like much from the outside.  It's definitely more "motel style", but it was clean and comfortable.  We were so delighted to be able to finally bring our dogs with us to Rhinebeck!  There don't seem to be any other dog friendly lodgings in the town of Rhinebeck.  Here's a photo collage of our dogs Icy and Phoebe in our Guest House room.

Our pet friendly room in the Guest House property of the Beekman Arms Inn, Rhinebeck NY

GREAT WALKABILITY AND DOG FRIENDLY!

Having our dogs with us on our Rhinebeck getaway was great.  We loved being able to walk through and around this beautiful little town with them.  The sidewalks weren't too crowded and there were several places for both the dogs and us to enjoy together.

There's a lovely little park with a lake at one edge of town, which Icy and Phoebe loved exploring.  The lake runs off into a creek with a waterfall that was partially frozen.

Just steps from our hotel room we discovered another great dog friendly park with a gravel walking path and a large grassy field.  Each morning and evening we went for nice long walks with the dogs here.  It must be gorgeous when it snows.  Unfortunately it's not an off leash area but we enjoyed it so much.

A wonderful dog friendly park where we took lots of long walks with the dogs

ENJOYING THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT IN RHINEBECK, NEW YORK

The town of Rhinebeck and the Beekman Arms hotel were beautifully decorated for the holidays. This wonderful antique sleigh stood right outside the Beekman Arms Inn so we took advantage of a photo op for Phoebe.  Too bad there wasn't any snow, maybe we could have gone for a sleigh ride!

What, we're not going for a sleigh ride?! 

At night the streets were all lit up with beautiful Christmas lights.  It was so nice to stroll through the town in the evening enjoying all the lights.

Rhinebeck all lit up for the holidays

I love Broadway shows in New York City, but I really enjoy dinner theater too. Great food and a show at the same time - I love it! A wonderful theater company performed A Christmas Carol in dinner theater style and sang Christmas carols in the Beekman Arms hotel.  We loved it!  The actors and singers were all so talented.  The little boy who played Tiny Tim was such a talent, I won't be at all surprised if I see that kid on broadway one day soon.

The talented theater company performed A Christmas Carol at the Beekman Arms hotel

I hope you enjoyed this post. We love sharing our dog friendly adventures and all the great pet friendly hotels and other places we've taken Icy and Phoebe to.  If you're interested in other dog friendly vacations and pet travel tips, check out more of our Dog Friendly Travel posts.

THIS IS A BLOG HOP!!

Remembering all the great trips we've taken with our dogs, today we're joining the FiveSibes Flashback Friday blog hop, hosted by our friend Dorothy Wills-Raftery of the blog FiveSibes.  Discover new blogs & link up your own if you're a blogger too!