Wags, Whiskers & Tail-Pipes to be mine. I brought him home that very next day! He gives us such...
Transcript of Wags, Whiskers & Tail-Pipes to be mine. I brought him home that very next day! He gives us such...
Our pets become a part of our most beloved family
and companions. When asked what they specifically
get from their relationship with pets, many members
the Club Auto Sport community typically mention
companionship, a play partner and the need to care
and love for another creature.
In ancient times and in cul-
tures worldwide animals have
been respected as essential
partners in human survival,
health and healing. Many
spiritual traditions have hon-
ored the relationships of peo-
ple to animal forms of life as part of the interconnect-
edness of the natural world and a link to the spirit
world.
Over recent decades, companion animals have be-
come increasingly important in the lives of Americans.
More than 63% of U.S. households and over 75% with
children currently have at least one pet.
Pets have also been valued companions to our nation’s
leaders and first families in the White House.
Over the past 30 years, an abundance of studies in a
wide range of journals offer mounting evidence that
interaction with companion animals contribute to good
health, psychosocial well-being and recovery from
serious conditions. One of the strongest positive evi-
dences from studies correlates to lower blood pressure
and alleviating the cardiovascular effects of stress. Simply
stroking a dog significantly reduces blood pressure in
both the person and the animal.
But you don’t need a scientific study to tell you that
scratching a dog’s belly or a cat’s ear is a great stress re-
liever! As one those individuals of the Club Auto Sport
business community who have shared workspace with a
shaggy friend will
attest, animals have
powerful ability to
change the vibe of an
office and the work-
day as well as provid-
ing the unconditional
welcome home with a
wagging tail or a
whiskery purr from a
best friend in the evening.
On occasion you will see “Katie” and Chris Sigler trotting
down the drive aisle to their weekly staff meeting.
Or you may see “Dakota” quietly taking herself for a visit
to her neighbors Mike Drysdale and Carrie Weimer of
Millers Vinyl Graphics.
Here are a few stories of the of the four-legged BFF’s of the
friends the of Club Auto Sport.
“I don’t know if you’ve met my little Katie, but she is the most beautiful, loving little treat in all of the
WORLD! When the world is messin’ with me, I look at her and melt. Then……Everything’s OK. Chris Sigler
Wags, Whiskers & Tail-Pipes
Don’t miss the next Cars & Caffeine Event “Jags & Wags!” on Saturday May 10th from 8:30 am to 1 pm. Bring your best four-legged friend and show off your tail-pipes for a fun-filled day!
By Debbie Simoni, General Manager
“Katie” & Chris Sigler
Debbie: “How did Katie make her home with you?”
Chris: “Katie found her way to the Sigler home about 6
months ago. We had a little dog named “Mona” and
she died last year. One day, my wife Anne texted me a
picture of this pretty little dog and I said “Oh how cute,
who’s is it?” and she replied “Ours!”. Anne had visited
the Humane Society in Milpitas and saw her and knew
she was “our girl”. She is the best thing that has hap-
pened to me in a long time. I was close to our other dog
but this one is just a little love bug. I try to bring her to
work as much as possible.”
Debbie: “What makes her special to you?” (there was a
long pause as the emotion hit Chris’s eyes)
Chris: “They way she looks at me. She looks at me with
such love! She looks at everyone with love. Our busi-
ness is a bit stressful and some times it’s just madden-
ing. Then I look over and she is there and I go over to
the loveseat in my office and she jumps up and buries
her little head in my arm and everything is
ok..everything is ok. No matter what’s happening.
Whatever drama is spinning around me she brings me
comfort. Then she walks out of my office and goes to
visit the staff and has the same effect on them. She’s
endeared herself to every-
one and makes everyone’s
day a little better.
She was timid when I first
got her. Within one of the
first few days she bolted
out the front door and I ran
after her and was terrified
she would get hit by traffic.
I yelled for her and she fi-
nally stopped. She doesn’t
do that anymore, She trusts
me and knows I love her.”
Debbie: “Would you adopt
again?”
Chris: “YES! You don’t
know what you are getting
because you don’t know
their story and it makes me
feel super bad to know that someone could have treated
her badly. Sometimes I will act so out of character with
her. I will lay on the floor and kiss her and talk to her and
people think I’m crazy. But I don’t care. She makes me
“She looks at me with such love.
She looks at everyone with love.”
“Dakota” & Jay
Jay recued Dakota from a breeder who used her to breed puppies and didn’t care at all for her. Jay had another dog
for 14 years and when he lost her, he knew he would have another. “She keeps me sane!” says Jay.
Jay affectionately calls Dakota his “little monster” but she
is the most mellow German Shepherd you will ever met.
She can more frequently be seen curled up on her pet
bed inside Jay’s Club Auto Sport business suite of Auto
Emporium. More often than not however, she prefers the
comfort of his sofa.
Jay says “she keeps me calm and gives me that sense of
parental responsibility. In a way I feel safe with her when
I walk with her because she is a German Shepherd but
she is really laid back. I take her to the park every day so
she can play. She goes everywhere with me.”
Dakota is nine years old and is a part of the Club Auto
Sport community. Every once in a while she will go two
doors down the hall to pay a visit to her neighbor Carrie
Weimer of Millers Vinyl Graphic. Carrie told me she just gives her a greeting and a little rub and then she quietly
goes back to her dad Jay.
"I wanted to share my story about finding this
little angel.”
I was devastated after losing my forever Shel-
tie dog Beau and my heart was so broken. I
had a dream the night before fathers day. I
was holding a puppy and was with my Dad
and Beau, who are both deceased. I woke up
and was crying because I missed them both so
much.
That afternoon, I went to the store to pick up
food for our other dog Jenny, who was also
missing her best friend. I went to the local pet
store and they were holding rescue adoptions.
When I walked in, I saw all of the dogs for
adoption. I was looking at all of the babies
and got so emotional. I turned and then I saw
these big brown eyes and happy smile! He
was warm and furry and some thing just
grabbed my heart.
I was sitting on the floor and scooted over to
him and was so drawn to his kind eyes. I
stood up and that was when I read his name
tag - 'My name is Butch.' Oh my goodness! I
could barely stop myself from crying. You
see, that was my Dad's nickname as a young
boy. I knew from that moment on he was
“The girls” -Shyla, Leila and Sydney with Sherry & Joey
2013 was a tough year for my boyfriend Joey and I, losing
both my cats of 15 years. Sadie passed suddenly to cancer
and Smokie had a growing tumor that doctors were un-
able to remove without amputation. After sending Smokie
to heaven, the house seemed so empty and I was heart-
broken.
A few days before I had to say goodbye to my dear friend,
I stopped by a pet store adoption. Just to look, like I al-
ways do when I see an adoption fair. As I made my way
along the cages saying hello to each kitty there I saw two
calico kittens, both of which were missing their right eye.
They were found as feral kittens and had a severe respira-
tory infection that af-
fected their eyes and
the doctor was unable
to save them. Ironi-
cally, my dad also had
one of his eyes re-
moved as a baby due
to cancer so I felt an
instant connection to
these two girls. I spent
some time with the
girls and exchanged
information with their
foster mother. A few days had passed and Smokie had as
well. I thought about the girls a lot over those days but felt
it was too soon to adopt. Then I get a phone call from their
foster mom. She said she normally doesn’t call people but
she thought we were a perfect home for the girls. I told
her I wasn’t sure if I was ready to adopt but I’d think about
it overnight and let her know. She offered to send a photo
of the kitties. The photo showed them hugging each other
while sleeping right after they both had surgery to re-
move their right eyes. It was absolutely adorable, so that
sealed the deal. I picked them up the next day! Over the
next few months Sydney and Leila helped heal my heart.
We needed to take the cats to go get micro chipped and
had to return to the shelter that they had been cared for
when they had the surgery. When we arrived at 9 Lives
Foundation in Redwood City we were overwhelmed. It is a
no kill cat shelter with over
200 cats living at the facility.
The in house veterinarian
Monica Rudiger is amazing!
She seek out cats from shel-
ters that are on death row or
special need cats and gives
them homes at their facility
even knowing they may
never be adopted. She per-
sonally cares for all of the cats and performs needed surger-
ies, diagnosis for medical needs and seeks out feral colonies
to spay and neuter cats so the colony does not continue to
grow.
So of course we wanted to say hi to all the wonderful animals
they have. As we were about to leave we found a tiny fluffy
black Persian kitty that seem to hide behind the other cats in
her cage. Her name was Shyla, very suiting for her person-
ality. We left the facility without Shyla that afternoon. We
got back home and Joey keep persisting he wanted her. We
decided to flip a coin.
Heads we get her, tails we
don’t. We got tails. His re-
sponse….”I don’t care,
we’re getting her” so back
to Redwood City we went.
We are now we’re a happy
family of 5 and life couldn’t
get any better! They bring
so much joy, laughter and
love to our lives!
“Over the next few months Sydney and Leila helped heal my
heart.”
Wags, Whiskers & Tail-Pipes
By Sherry Stephens
“Little Bear, Jenny” & Debbie By Debbie Simoni
meant to be mine. I brought him home that very next day! He gives us such love.
He is just like a little teddy bear and cuddles with us every chance he gets! He
kisses our other dog Jenny endlessly. I can't begin to tell you how lucky I am to
have him. I can't imagine anyone giving him up, but I guess it was meant to be so
he would find his way to us!
Jenny, our Lab, has been with us since she was 6 weeks old. My husband visited a
neighbor across the street from us one morning and learned that our neighbors
wife had just come home with two puppies the day before. Our neighbor insisted
they could only keep one and my husband couldn’t resist taking her. I saw my
husband from our front window walking back from across the street cradling
something in his arms. I thought he had a package of something. As he came up
the sidewalk, I ran to the front door and said what is that? “MY puppy”...he said.
Well, that was 12 years ago. Jenny is the most comical and entertaining dog. She
smiles with full-toothed grins and even though she is older now, she still makes us
laugh. She’s not the brightest of labs (they are know for their intelligence and I’ve
only been able to teach her “sit” after all these years) but what she lacks in smarts
she makes up for in sweetness and personality!
Dog adoption has always been very important to the
Arndt Family. Just after Christmas, 1998 our family at-
tended a pet adoption at Town and Country, now know
as Santana Row. While others were cooing and awing
over the pen of
puppies, my chil-
dren Courtney and
Kevin went to the
back of the room
where the older
dogs in cages
were. There was a
medium sized
brown dog sleep-
ing in the corner of her cage, knowing it was a long day
and not expecting anyone to take her home.
The Foster parent informed us that Gracie was found in
a field with 3 puppies. While her 3 puppies were
adopted quickly, Gracie was not. The Foster parent
warned us that Gracie was very skittish, afraid of men
and may not be a great dog for kids…. Courtney would
not give up…She wanted to pet and walk Gracie.
Gracie seemed surprised that her cage was being
opened and as walked her around the mall, she lit up
and actually smiled. The foster parent was shocked at
her positive reaction to Courtney and Kevin. We all fell
in love with her and brought her home that night.
“Gracie” blessed our house with joy for 8 years! She
was a complete joy and the best dog we ever had!
A few month after Gracie Passed away, we decided to
adopt another dog, this time April came into our home.
April was found on the side of the freeway on a rainy day in
Monterey with a broken leg. The Foster Family paid for her
leg to be reset and casted. The Arndt family drove to Mon-
terey and met April. Her cast
has just been removed and
one would ever know she
had a broken leg. She was
running around the house
with three other dogs.
April has been my driving
force in getting up in the
early mornings for a walk or
a jog. While she is only 25 pounds, the terrier in her needs to
be exercised EVERY DAY. If not, she can be found down the
street on a walk of her own..unfortunately she has not learned
to stay away from cars.
She is a dog who loves Life. She loves to go for a walk; play
searching games and being the center of attention. She is the
first to the door as you
come in. She tells you
when she wants to play,
wants to go for a walk or
just wants you to pay at-
tention to her! She is a
great dog and full of life…
she adds great energy to
our home.
Gracie, April and The Arndt Family
“I knew from that moment on he was meant to be mine.”
By Darla Arndt