About a year ago, I wrote a blog post about the the Top Ten Reasons I’m Grateful to My Dog. It’s based on the lessons I’ve learned from observing and interacting with my dogs.  Since it is Thanksgiving and there are so many reasons to be grateful, I thought it would be a good time to repeat this post. If you missed it the first time, I hope you enjoy it and I hope you will think about the blessings in your life. If you want to share what you’ve learned from your dog, I’ll share it in a future post. Wishing you all laughter and love with family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!  http://bit.ly/4NSBpt

It’s Thanksgiving and it’s time to indulge in all kinds of good treats. However, dogs seem to have a peculiar idea of what’s good. For some reason, Krissy thinks Andrew’s hair is like pumpkin pie!

We hope you have a wonderful Thansgiving and enjoy the all your holiday treats.  Just make some good choices…and avoid hair gel. It’s really not that good!

On Wednesday evening, we had a chance to share our book with  a group of children who attended the Read to Me program at Save the Family.  The kids listened intently to Max’s story (we were told that was the most attentive they had ever been!) and then were asked to share some of their ideas for their own stories. There were thoughts about events in their lives, people they had met and one moral tale about a Stinky Boy! I am sure there are some future writers in the group!

After discussing how I came to write the book and showing some of the book’s pictures and lessons, each child was given their own copy of Life to the Max so they could read the whole story at home with their parents. The kids were very appreciative and some of them sat down with their helpers to dive into the rest of the story.

But the show was stolen when Amber arrived to say “howdy do” to all the kids.

We all had a great time and I am pleased that we are able to support the Read to Me program, which is just one of the great services that Save the Family offers the children of the homeless families who are working to get back on their feet.

Now I hope you will join me in supporting Save the Family.  When you donate $50 or more to Save the Family, you will receive a free autographed copy of our book as a gift of thanks.  To make your donation  and receive your free gift, go to the Save the Family’s special donation page. In addition, when you purchase something in Max’s Store and designate Save the Family in the drop down box, 25% of your purchase on our site will be donated to Save the Family.

So please help Save the Family to put roofs over the heads and hope in the hearts of these families. For those of us with roofs over our heads, it is a small way to express our thanks for what we have.  And in this season of thanks as Max would say in Maxim #18: When times get tough, the smallest kidness can bring you joy!

As we get ready for our book reading at Save the Family tonight and our appearance at Artfest of Scottsdale this weekend, things have been moving fast and the dogs are no exception.  Here they are doing some of their favorite “ruff”-housing–inspired by Max.

During the holidaze, things are bound to get a little crazy, but people, let’s leave biting each other’s heads to the dogs!

This week I will be participating in the Read to Me program at Save the Family. Save the Family is a nonprofit organization that provides transitional housing and skill programs for homeless families with children. Although this is a local group, it has captured national news media attention for its innovative approach to helping homeless families.

In the Read to Me program, I will be reading selections from my book, Life to the Max: Maxims for a Great Life by a Dog named Max to some of the program’s children, talking about what lead me to write the book, and introducing them to Amber and telling them a little about Airedale Terriers. This is a great opportunity for me to draw the parallels between what Max teaches with his Maxims and what the kids are learning in the Save the Family program.

For example, as Max says in Maxim #4: Even after the worst experiences, the best things can happen.  Even though these children may come from devastating circumstances, Save the Family helps setup all their household necessities and helps them regain their stability and confidence to pursue a more hopeful future.  Families who complete the program feel like they have their lives back.

In addition to the reading, I am donating autographed copies of my book to the organization to use as an incentive to donate $50 or more to Save the Family. $50 will help support Save the Family’s children programs including Read to Me, Kids Works, Pre-and Adolescent Life Skills (P.A.L.S.) Programs, Tutoring, Therapeutic Art Projects, After School Programs, Summer Camps and Early Literacy and Development.

I know that the economy has hit us all hard, but just imagine if you suddenly had to flee a domestic violence situation with nothing more than your small children and the clothes on your back. You want to put a roof over your children’s heads and food on the table, but you have no job, no training and no one to turn to. This is the situation for many of the families who come to Save the Family.

Some of you may be wondering why I am not just sticking to animal rescue organizations since my book is about a dog, but my book is also about surviving loss, the importance of family, and maintaining a positive attitude-all of which are an important part of the work of Save the Family.

Also I believe that when people become homeless, pets become homeless. If we want to break the cycle, we have to start at the source and help families to become self-sufficient again so they can have a pet again. That is why I have also added Save the Family to my list of charities who can be chosen to receive the donation portion for items purchased in Max’s Store.

The link to donate and get your autographed copy of the book is http://bit.ly/b6R1I. Even if you really feel you can’t afford to donate, please do me a favor and tell your family and friends. This is an organization that is worthy of all of our support. As Max would say Maxim #9: Help someone else by sharing the gift of you.

We have been humbled and grateful that so many different groups of people have fallen in love with our book-teachers, parents, grandparents, teens, young kids, dog lovers and life lovers have praised the wisdom of Life to the MAX. Now you can meet the two-legged author, (that’s me–Robin Reynolds), at the ArtFest of Scottsdale, on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22. This outdoor festival will feature more than 200 artists and I will be part of a special “Book Street” for Arizona authors. The free event will be held at the Scottsdale Civic Plaza from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and I will be available for book signings from 10 am to noon and 1 pm to 3 pm both Saturday and Sunday. Life to the Max: Maxims for a Great Life by a Dog named MAX was named Best Gift Book in the Arizona Book Awards and earned an Award of Excellence from the Dog Writers Association of America.

In addition to our award-winning book, we will be offering our new Life to Max Gift Pack as well as individual Life to the Max items for sale at the show. Stop by to get a free Live Life to the MAX balloon!

The Life to the Max Gift Pack contains a hardcover book, pewter pet tag. pet bandana, set of 12 postcards, homemade dog biscuit recipe card with dog bone cookie cutter and four balloons

Amber and Krissy wanted to have a way to send holiday greetings to their fur friends and their families.  That’s why we’ve introduced Life to the Max Holiday Greeting Cards in Max’s store.  Buy one and add it to your Gift Pack purchase or buy packs of 10 or 20 for sending to all yur family and friends.  They’re perfect for families who share a variety of holiday traditions and even though Krissy worries about getting all those cards addressed, she’ll do a super job of licking the stamps.  Remember that 25% of all the items purchased in Max’s store will go to help your choice of animal rescue.