This group is dedicated to my best friend, Spike, a 2-1/2 year old male Yorkie Poo that was not only my closest friend, but the absolute best dog that I have ever had the pleasure of owning. He was a loyal companion, an outstanding watch dog and one of the sweetest, good natured souls one could ever hope to find. While he was proud to keep a relentless, watchful eye over his territory, the thought of ever hurting another living creature never once entered his sharp little mind. He was genuinely a one of a kind who was loved by all who knew him and will forever have a warm place deep in our hearts. We miss you, Spikie, and your daddy loves you more than you will ever know...

I created this group after my beloved Spikie drowned in our swimming pool early one Friday morning in May 2009. The loss devastated my wife, Carie, and I and the pain and feelings of guilt overwhelmed us beyond comprehension. But we weren't the only ones who suffered in the aftermath of this preventable tragedy - our 1 year old female Yorkie Poo, Gypsy, was forced to watch helplessly as her mate, best friend and the only other four legged creature she had EVER known died in the most terrifying, panic stricken, slow and agonizing manner that I can think of...

Like so many of us do, we are guilty of taking our dogs safety for granted and, unfortunately, our family member, Spike, paid for it with his life. We had worked with our dogs and taught them where they could go to get out of the pool and had made them do it all on their own on several occasions. We were there carefully watching them and giving them moral support as we coached them along to victory until we felt confident within our minds that they would be prepaired and able to get themselves safely out of the pool should an accident occur. And with our Spikie, beat cop at large... An accident of that type was not only inevitable, but a regular occurance! I can still see his huge, panic stricken eyes from the very first time he ran knowingly into the pool thinking it was just a pretty sidewalk or ?? ...and that is the same image that replays over and over in my mind as I think about his last moments of life.

That is why I wanted to create places where good, kind hearted people could gather to share their knowledge and experiences with other pet owners and caution them about the many, many dangers our extended family members face fearlessly each day... Some are simple common sence dangers dangers that we carelessly ignor or take for granted, much like we did with pool safety. Others may not be as well known to everyone but deadly, none the less! Things like one friend shared with me shortly after Spike's death - a neighbor was trimming his tree and some of the leaves and small branches fell into his back yard. His 2 year old Rat Terrier chewed on some of the Oleander leaves and branches and died shortly afterwards. I had vaguely heard of them being poisonous, but at the time I had no idea what to look for to prevent that from happening to my family!

Another topic that I was unfamilure with until after losing my best friend, Spike, was... PET C.P.R. and how to perform it correctly. It made me sick inside to discover that I should have at least attempted to revive my precious friend as we found him still floating on the top of the water right above the TOP step in only 5" of water and a mere TEN FEET from where I'm still certain I was lying awake in bed thinking about the upcoming events of my day...

Topics such as these are things I hope that ALL pet owners, animal lovers and/or kind hearted samaritans will feel free to openly share with everyone so that together we can make a difference and hopefully prevent another family from losing one of their priceless members in a tragedy that perhaps could have been prevented...

So regardless what type of animal it is that you consiter to be part of your extended "FAMILY"... (Even if it's your third cousin, Alfred, who everyone insists acts like a cross between a baboon and a long eared jackass) ...Please join in and share your experiences and your concerns as well as your remedies or solutions with us!

If this group of caring, safety conscience pet owners can save just ONE LIFE, then my beloved Spikie will not have died in vain! So please... Won't you join us in trying to make our pet's world a safer, healthier and ultimately a happier place for them to live?!

THEY WOULD DO IT FOR YOU...