The decision to create The Great Adventures of Nina Puppalina and Lizzy Lou has been an eye-opening journey. We adopted Nina through our local SPCA, thanks to a kind, caring family who adopted Nina’s mother when they found her pregnant and wandering down a country road. They took care of the mother and her litter until the puppies were mature enough to be adopted at our local SPCA.  

While raising Nina and writing about her, I have learned a great deal about the world of pet rescue and adoption. Although no one has the exact number, it is estimated that there are 6-8 million stray pets wandering the streets of America every day. That is an enormous number of animals in need!  

Almost every city and community has a locally-funded Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). In our area, we have The Charlottesville-Albermarle SPCA (CASPCA). For a small community, our CASPCA organization does an amazing job. Almost 3,000 pets are adopted every year. Additionally, they provide a wealth of services such as spaying and neutering almost 5,000 animals a year.  

Throughout our journey with Nina, I have made it a point to educate myself about exactly how the SPCA functions and thrives as a non-profit organization. The positive impact they have on our furry friends is remarkable and certainly worthy of our attention.

There are a multitude of ways to participate and volunteer. I often check event calendars since there are always fun opportunities for our family to get involved together—such as the upcoming CASPCA Bow Wow Walk, April 30th!

My journey has been eye opening, indeed! However, what has fascinated and amazed me most are the many unsung heroes of pet rescue who operate independently all over our country and the world. Read more about these heroes next week!

We’d love to hear from you! Are you involved with your local SPCA? How have they impacted you and your community? 

When Nina Puppalina came home with us, we were unprepared for the joy she would bring to our lives and the effect she would have on our family.  

Our then 4 ½-year-old daughter Elizabeth loved Nina to pieces, but she had no idea how to behave with her!  She squeezed her new canine BFF far too tight and pretty much treated her like a stuffed animal. I had to watch her like a hawk for fear her expressions of love would accidentally hurt the puppy. We had many discussions about how to treat the new puppy and what was appropriate behavior.

One afternoon, I heard Elizabeth singing, “Nina Puppalina, I love you, yes I do, I love you!” Nina’s only response was a whine. I walked into the room to find Elizabeth squeezing Nina too tight while singing her declaration of love.

I Iooked into our sweet puppy’s eyes as I gently set her free. I wondered what she was feeling at that moment—loved, scared, confused?! I considered how our puppy was adjusting to her new environment with our family. Those sweet eyes told me that her adjustment was not sailing very smoothly.

I felt like a mother who was failing. I was not able to effectively demonstrate to Elizabeth what is appropriate vs. inappropriate behavior with our puppy. Our Elizabeth hugged her to hard, kissed her too hard, and basically loved our little puppy too much.

At that moment, as I looked into Nina’s eyes, it occurred to me that a story from Nina’s perspective would resonate better with Elizabeth than my constant verbal reminders. 

I sat down at my computer and started to type. I stayed true to my original intent and wrote the story from Nina’s perspective. I wanted Elizabeth to understand Nina’s new world from her own eyes. The voice of an authentic dog proved to be a challenge, but I did my best and persevered.

And thus The Great Adventures of Nina Puppalina and Lizzy Lou was born.

My number one (and only) critic listened to my story. She squirmed with excitement and laughed with joy. But she proved my theory: she finally understood appropriate vs. inappropriate behavior with her puppy. Life between the two of them improved immensely.

And I had a book in my hands. What was I going to do next?

When Nina came home with us, she was so small and fragile. Lizzy Lou was four-and-a-half years old and this was her first puppy. 

Despite all of training books we read to prepare for training our new puppy, we had not thought about training our child how to behave around her new best friend! 

Our first rescue dog, Sugar, was eight years old and weighed 65 pounds when Lizzy Lou was born. Sugar was a very patient soul who allowed our toddler to climb all over her like a jungle gym. Sadly, Sugar went to heaven when Lizzy Lou was three-and-a-half years old. It was a long grieving process for all of us. 

By the time Lizzy Lou was four-and-a-half years old, we had a new house with a fenced-in yard. We were ready to adopt a new puppy. 

Two days before Christmas 2012, I was out doing last-minute shopping when I found a full parking lot. Serendipitously, I was forced to park in front of the next store in the shopping center. Petco. As I walked by, I looked in and saw the SPCA sign and a crate of puppies. I turned and walked right into the store. 

That’s when I first saw Nina. Her black and white markings reminded me of Sugar. I knew immediately that this puppy was joining our family. 

I called my husband with the great news after I had filled out the adoption paperwork. He came to meet Nina, held her close, and agreed she was coming home with us.

That’s when our great adventures with Nina Puppalina began.

For the past decade while working in corporate America, I spent a great deal of time on the road thinking of different entrepreneurial businesses to start. Among my favorites, Uncle Jack’s Jerky! This brainstorm came to me during a call with my Uncle Jack in Texas on a long drive home from a business meeting. We had so much fun laughing about this idea together, it still makes me smile now. 

Although, in my heart I’ve always believed I was a writer so I decided to take a chance on writing for children when I was inspired by our family’s experience of adopting an SPCA puppy. We thought we were prepared! We had read training books, researched training websites and talked to our friends. It never occurred to us we had to train not just the puppy but also our daughter on how to behave together.We were not prepared at all! Join me on our journey of how we learned along the way and did our best to smile through it all…..