Animal Lovers Give Back to Paws with a Cause - March 1-8

www.pawswithacause.org

Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.
PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy.  Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some.  Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen.  PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors. 
Paws With A Cause
4646 South Division
Wayland, MI 49348
For more information about the organization, please visit:  www.pawswithacause.org

I love animals, dogs especially, although I'm a sucker for kittens, too.  The first dog my husband and I rescued was a German Shepherd named Thor.  He could have been an assistance dog, but he was trained as a K9 officer.  He was retired, of course, by the time we got him, and turned out to be a terrific family pet.  Very loving and gentle toward us, and yet as protective as a German Shepherd could be.

Muffy

However, the "naughtiest" doggie we've ever had was a toy poodle-mix who we named Muffy.  She was so tiny and cuddly when we rescued her in February 10 of 1988, yet very protective of me.  I should have nipped her yippy behavior in the bud from the start, but I was pregnant with our first child and thought a one pound puppy standing up to my six-foot-two-inch husband was cute.  Not a smart move on my part at all.  That dog and I were inseparable, almost literally, until May 10th, when I lost the baby.  My devastation regarding my loss put a lot of pressure on the small dog, since she became my lifeline and surrogate baby.  Another reason why her behavior never really improved.  I had her for sixteen years and the day she passed was one of the darkest days of my life.  I devoted a page on Pet Loss to her on my web site, and reading it can still make me cry today.

My husband and I are currently petless, though that may change next year since both of us miss having a four-legged, furry partner around.  We've owned a total of seven dogs in our thirty-eight years together with our last dog passing on Dec. 31, 2009.  Considering we had a dog every year we were together until that fateful day in 2009, four years is a long time for us to be without the patter of little furry feet.

Anyway, when I heard a group was getting together to help Paws with a Cause, I hopped on because I love animals and believe assistance dogs are of immense help to the disabled.

Laurie and Danielle are offering a grand prize to four winners.  Prizes include:
A $65 gift certificate to an online book store of your choice
A box of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies and Bitten by Paranormal Romance (US only)

To be entered for the grand prize, you must donate to the cause.

How to donate:

1. Go to https://www.everribbon.com/PawswithaCause

2. Click on "Make a Donation"
3. Enter the amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. Danielle's fee for donating $5.00 was .49 cents. So keep this in mind when deciding your donation amount. You will receive 1 entry into the giveaway for every $1 you donate.  
4. In the box that says "on the behalf of" please put your name. This is the name that will be listed on the everibbon website so put a name you do not mind being visible to everyone. Do not check the box to make a anonymous donation because neither Danielle nor I will be able to track your donation to enter you into the giveaways.
5. Next, it will ask you for your credit or debit card information. 
6. After that, it will ask for your email address to send you a receipt. This is so that you can submit it for tax purposes.
7. Ta Da! You're done making your donation, now you need to contact Danielle to enter the giveaway.
8. Please email Danielle at RomanceBookJunkiesDanielle@Yahoo.com with the name you used to donate your money. For example the name Danielle used to donate "on behalf of" was Romance Book Junkies. Do not send her your name off your credit or debit card because she will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used, please tell Danielle how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.
9. You're all done. Thank you for donating! 

You receive one entry toward the grand prize for every dollar you donate.  Then on March 9, four grand prize winners will be drawn from the number of entries received from individuals who have donated to Paws with a Cause through March 8.

In addition, each of the bloggers/authors listed below are offering a prize, so visit as many blogs as you can to enter their individual giveaways.  You'll be helping a good cause and reading lots of pet stories.

Back to me.  To help with this cause, I am donating either a print book or an eBook (readers choice) for one or two lucky winners who donate at least $5.00 to Paws with a Cause and leave a comment on this post.  Internationally (due to mailing expenses),I can only offer eBooks, but if you live in the states you can have your choice between Mortal Illusions, Deadly Enchantment, or A Dom's Dilemma.  For more information, or to read an excerpt, please see below.

For excerpts to Mortal Illusions and Deadly Enchantment, please visit: http://www.kathrynrblake.com/booksreviews.html

For 18+ only excerpts to Arrested by Love and A Dom's Dilemma, please visit:

http://www.kathrynrblake.com/spankingromance.html

To enter, please leave a comment below stating the book you're interested in receiving, whether you want print or eBook (and if eBook what format you prefer) along with your e-mail address, so I can get back to you, and the name you made your donation under (your "on behalf of"), so I can trace your donation.  On March 9, I will select a winner from the list, verify a donation of $5.00 or more has been made, then post the winner in a comment below as well as notify the person by e-mail.

Please see the list below of the other bloggers who are participating.