Karma Collars is a small business with big heart. When Amy McMullan designer/owner of Karma Collars offered SCCR an amazingly generous gift, we were delighted.   The offer was to custom design a collar for SCCR and to give SCCR half of the selling price for every collar of that design sold.  Basically, Karma Collars offered to create and sell an SCCR collar and give us the profit.

Amy has been a professional designer for more than ten years and a champion of underdogs her entire life.  Karma Collars grew naturally from her work with rescued pit bulls.  The correct gear is especially important when working with larger, more powerful breeds and when Amy could not find quality gear naturally she began designing her own.  Soon she was making collars for friends and Karma Collars grew organically from there.  Amy has always loved all dogs and has donated countless hours to shelters and rescues her entire adult life.  When asked about cockers, Amy humorously describes her lifelong love of them and her own childhood cocker Phoebe.  She remembers being almost obsessed with wanting a cocker and pestering her single-mom mother until she caved.   Despite a rather temperamental nature, Phoebe lived a long and healthy life with Amy.

Designing collars for smaller dogs has special challenges.  There is less surface area with which to work and the smaller size limits the products that can be used.  The leather Karma Collars uses is also thicker to promote its lasting quality.  Smaller dogs cannot handle double layers and some of the other design options of larger collars.  The result is a challenge to the designer to reach deep and tap their innermost creativity.   The SCCR collar design was inspired by the craftsman style homes near the Sacramento  park where Amy walks her dogs, works and lives; the cocker spaniels she knows and SCCR.  Amy describes the SCCR design as having a craftsman or art deco style that matches the classic look of our cockers.  The collar is suitable however for all smaller breeds of dogs or for larger dogs where the look of a lighter collar is preferred.  The original design is fully-studded which has greater durability, is easier to maintain, easier to clean and less likely to get caught on things.  But Karma offers the option to replace the large studs with stones or jewels upon request—just call or email to let them know.

Karma’s philosophy is to make hand-crafted works of art that will stand the test of time in both function and taste.  Karma Collars are designed with the big picture in mind of supporting  a cleaner environment by crafting collars that will not end up in landfills.  They use USA made materials whenever possible and meat by-product leather and avoid trendy/novelty designs. Karma Collars are crafted to draw positive attention to our four-legged friends.  Buy a Karma Collar and when you hold it in your hands you will know you hold quality.  Place it on your dog and you will see that Karma met its goals.

To order the original design SCCR collar click on this link (or call 916-502-1004 for additional customization):

http://karmacollars.com/products/the-second-chance-rescue-collar

“Dear Elizabeth,

I have been living with Ceci for a little over a month and I have gone from a quiet, shy puppy girl with a red itchy butt to a silly, full of energy, happy doggie.  My butt still itches some, but it is getting better and I am always trying to run away from a bath or some ointment that Ceci wants to put on my skin ( it is getting better though).

I used to whine a lot when she would leave me even for a few minutes because I was scared she wasn’t going to come back. She always does. And she takes me to the beach, on runs with her on San Francisco hills – she can’t keep up with me (: and everyday to the dog park to try to make new friends and play ball.

What I have learned is that almost a year ago, Ceci lost her little doggie Maggie to cancer. She has pictures of Maggie everywhere and gosh darn it,  I look a lot like her.  I know I cant replace Maggie, but I try to make Ceci smile again.  I listen to her commands, I snuggle with her at night and during Sunday afternoon naps, and I even bring her dead birds as presents.  Ok, so she wasn’t crazy about the dead birds, but I really do try to make her happy. And Ceci smiles more nowadays and she has all these silly little names for me.

So, Elizabeth, I know Ceci wasn’t sure initially if she wanted to keep me.  And I know there are other people that want to adopt me, but I think she would be sad again if I left.  Is it Ok if I stay with her forever?  I know she probably has to sign some papers and pay some fees, but I think she would be Ok with that. 

I want to THANK YOU Elizabeth and your friends for rescuing me from that scary shelter.  I never knew how good it could be.  🙂

Love,

Bethy
(that’s what Ceci and her friends call me )”

(SCCR)Elizabeth definitely says yes to this sweetheart’s request.

This is a letter to one of our volunteers, Ann who worked with a woman who was trying to rehome her dog, Harley. One day she got home and found that her mother had taken the dog to a high kill shelter and left him without telling her. She was beside herself but Ann was able to step in and we saved him.

Donations in  honor of Harley and Ann

Hi Ann,

We have added a new section to our website labeled “Cool Cocker Stuff“.  The goal of this section is to have accessible, trustworthy source of information about Cocker Spaniel-specific issues as well as offering recommendations for vets, trainers and products we have used and love. All medical advice and information comes from reputable sources like the American Veterinary Association or has been approved by one of our vets.  All our dog training advice and information comes from reputable sources or has been approved by one of our trainers. We hope you find this information helpful and interesting

We welcome recommendations, new tips and products that wow-ed you. Just send us any information you have to elizabeth.mazzetti@cox.net. We will run it by our experts and post it up to help others. This section will continue to be a work in progress.

To all those supporters of SCCR who helped make it possible for BJ to see again… he wants to say a HUGE THANK YOU!! His new eyesight makes him an EXPERT ball fetcher (where it used to take him upwards of 2 minutes to sniff the thing out!).

His sight has also given BJ a new appreciation for sitting and relaxing on the patio. He now takes in all the sights and sounds of our condo “backyard” (mostly this involves barking at the birds) and he loves taking naps in the breeze.  Before his sight he never even went on the back deck.

He also loves his toys now. His tiger and his hedgehog are his buddys… he loves getting the squeakers going and tossing the hedgehog around. He never played much with anything except his ball before his surgery and now he must have his “friends” in bed with him (pic below).

BJ was always a happy boy, but you can see what a difference this eye has made to him- he can explore so many more things now! He loves getting in to EVERYTHING and checking everything out thoroughly. He’s so curious and excited and that has made his “parents” also see the world in a whole new light.

From BJ and his “parents” thank you thank you thank you!  We are forever grateful for this gift.

Donations Towards BJ’s Surgery

This message from our wonderful supporter Jim Hill is worth reading and repeating.

“My wife and I just took in not 1, not 2, but 3 Cocker foster dogs! What we found: our own 2 Cockers enjoy having the other dogs here, they all sleep in the same room with no issues, it’s fun seeing the different personalities, and we’ve never felt such love all at the same time! They seem to compete to be the most affectionate. This was our first time fostering and it’s been great for us and our dogs. Just do it! The more fosters we have, the more Cockers we save.

Here’s a pic of all 5 eating together. The fosters have on pinkish orange collars.”

SCCR and K-9 PALS are proud to announce the return of what was a proud a Santa Barbara tradition, the Santa Barbara Dog Parade and Festival. On Saturday, September 29th, dogs and participants, most dressed in zany and creative costumes, will start the day with a parade at the end wil participants and spectators will enjoy a fun, sun-filled day at the Festival. The parade of canines will be judged for “Best Costume”, “Most Humorous” and “Best in Parade,” and other fun categories. You and your canine companion will enjoy live music, games, prizes, exhibits and much more well into the mid-afternoon.. Dogs, groups, and marching bands, along with enthusiastic spectators, will make this year’s event as fun as ever.

For more information on the parade and signing up to volunteer, for a vendor booth or to sponsor the event, visit www.SBDogParade.com or contact, Janelle Ward at 805 570-0415.