Paws with a Cause Fundraiser Day #6 - Carly Fall

Please welcome Carly Fall to Romance Book Junkies to do a guest post for the fundraiser. Enjoy!

Nicky

Everyone, meet Nicky.

Nicky meet everyone.

If this were to actually happen, Nicky would be running from you and hiding behind a couch. She doesn't like or trust strangers.

When our son turned three, we decided it was time to get another dog. Our first dog had died shortly after our son was born, and the experience was especially difficult for me as I had my self a really fantastic case of Post Partum Depression. That combined with trying to figure out what to do with a newborn, I could barely take care of myself and the last thing I needed was another mouth that needed to be fed.

So when the time was right, we decided we would go with a rescue dog. We contacted the local organizations, and met many, many dogs. We even ended up taking one home, but she was inconsolable, running from one side of the yard to the other banging her head against the fence. No matter what we did, she wouldn't calm down.

We ended up returning her, and decided to focus on puppies, that hopefully, weren't as badly damaged as a full-grown dog.

We met Nicky at an adoption event in Petsmart. The rescue people had a litter of puppies that included the little black fur-ball to be named Nicky. We asked about the history of their short, little lives.

Nicky's mom was found abandoned, emaciated and very pregnant. She was taken to the pound where she died giving birth to her ten puppies, three of which also died. Nicky's first days were spent in the pound until the rescue organization picked them up, and she had been living with one their volunteers ever since.

I do believe that a person doesn't choose a dog, but that the dog chooses the person. As Nicky sat in the corner of the pen trembling, the other puppies did what puppies do—chewed on each other, barked and rolled around. I picked her up and sat down on the floor with her. She didn't squirm, but she continued to shake. After a few moments, she curled up in my lap. Our son petted her, and she licked him. A while later, she was relaxed and asleep.

Our dog had found us.

When we picked her up at the volunteer’s house, I couldn't believe my eyes. The woman must have had twenty puppies there, all of them looking for homes. She had no furniture in her living room, just rows of dog crates. It didn't bode well for Nicky getting much attention.

Nicky was four months old when we adopted her. For the first four months of her life she had little interaction with someone to care for her, and that still shows today. I would describe her as terribly shy, insecure and needy.

However, she is a very important component of our family. We love our Nicky-dog, and I can't imagine our lives without her.

Nicky and our son "dancing"

So if you ever meet Nicky and she barks and runs away, cut the girl some slack—she had a rough start. And if you stick around for a while, you will most likely earn her trust, and end up like this:

Carly has generously donated the 2 ebooks in the Six Saviors Series, "The Light Within Me" & "Finding My Faith", she is also including some swag. In order to win Carly's prizes please leave a comment with your email address. To enter the main giveaway follow the directions below.

Main Giveaway:

Hello Everyone! We have a lot of blogs that have gotten together to help raise money for a great cause. There are going to be some awesome prizes up for grabs for people that donate money to the cause. Here is a little about the company that we are raising the money for:
 

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

How to donate:

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

2. Click on "Make a Donation"
3. Enter a amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. My 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 I will not 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. Then 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! Your all 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 I used to donate on behalf of was Romance Book Junkies. Do not send me your name off your credit or debit card because I will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used please tell me how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.
9. Your all done. Thank you for donating!

Warning: Do not try to email Danielle the name and donation amount of another person that is not yourself. If Danielle receives more than one email with the same persons name and donation amount she will have to ask for your copy of the receipt from Everibbon to verify that you are the correct winner. Thank you.

We will have 4 winners for the main giveaway.
We have 2 $65 gift certificates to any online book store.
Also we have a huge box of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies and Bitten by Paranormal Romance for US residents only.

Good luck to all and thank you for helping make this fundraiser a success.