Please note:  I AM NOT A RESCUE GROUP!  

Do not contact me if you are trying to find a home for your pet.

My heart goes out to every pet that needs a home,
which is why I am helping over 200 Rescue Groups raise money.

Go to the links page to see if there is a rescue group near you
who can help you in your pet's time of need.
Barnum:  Golden Retriever/Irish Setter
Jackie: Papillion/Pomeranian
Coltrane: Domestic Short Hair Brat Cat







I have always spent the Holiday season looking at calendars in bookstores.  
I'm that person who likes to check out each calendar with a subject I like and
flip through every month, even reading all of the Far Side jokes before I buy it.
 Every year I saw the same dog calendars.  "For the Love of Poodles," "For
the Love of Yellow Labs"... and they were always pictures of each breed at its
best posed beautifully and majestically.  But what about my dogs?  What
about all of the dogs in my neighborhood and my obedience classes?  These
"For the Love of..." calendars were nothing but Cindy Crawford runway
model-dogs!  What about the rest of us?!

And, of course, what about the RESCUES.  The mixes, the purebreds past
their puppyhood, the elderly, the dogs missing limbs- each dog with some
evidence of a not-so-wonderful life now behind them hidden deep in their
eyes, but overcome by the happiness of a new, loving forever home.

The final kick I needed was when my brother spent a huge chunk of money to
have a purebred puppy sent to him from another state- when the rescue
group for that very breed was in our hometown.  His "you get what you pay
for" attitude launched a fire in me.  And he DID get what he paid for.  A dog
with hereditary hip dysplasia that he only found out about by accident.  The
breeder never reimbursed him for the money for the puppy, which he had
fallen too much in love with to part with anyway.  So now this young dog has to
spend her life on medication.  And do you think her breeder stopped breeding
that line of dogs with this knowledge?  As a Veterinarian I once worked with
told me: "A Good Breeder is an Oxymoron."

                                                Janurary 2005

My new husband, Jeremy, and I set out to create our calendar.  Through an
ad in Craigslist, I organized photo shoots all over the Los Angeles and
Ventura Counties in one of the wettest winters Southern California had
experienced in some time.  With each new person we met, I felt stronger and
stronger about what we were setting out to do.  The love and pure joy these
people had for their dogs equalled my own for my little pack at home.  How
wonderful to be around such dedicated, loving people!  

                                                   March 2005

I started soliciting rescue groups using Petfinder.  It was often difficult to
explain to the groups what I was embarking (pardon the pun) upon.  I think I'm
the first to do this on such a large scale, so many people were skeptical.  But
the few folks who joined up were a good core of loving rescue people, and
interest started to grow.

                                                October 2005

The calendars were ready to go.  It was a lot of work, some mishaps with the
printers, but finally they were here.  The online orders started coming in, and I
spent every single weekend from October through December going to any
and every rescue event I could get invited to to sell the calendars for the host
group.  Hey, Kim Basinger even bought one for her daughter!

I'd like to say they sold like hot-cakes.  I overestimated and had quite a few left
over.  But lessons learned for 2007!

                                                   April 2006

This year I started taking submissions of pictures from rescue groups and
individuals who had rescued their dogs.  It gave us a chance to have pictures
we never had had before.  Like dogs sleeping, since they were always awake
to check out the strangers when we came to take pictures!  

With the number of pictures sent in, I decided to move the "Happy Ending"
stories to the back of the calendar to allow more space for more faces each
month.

                                                September 2006

The second year of calendars are here.  A little more conservative in the
amount we had printed, we were able to completely sell out before February!  
Many more groups had jumped on board by then, and what a joy to have
return customers!  I was so thrilled that people liked the calendar enough to
get another one.  

                                                    April 2007

The second year of photo submissions is met with a huge response!  Where
our first calendar for 2006 had a mere 60 dogs featured, 2008 was preparing
to feature 150!  In lue of the amount of dogs, more changes had to be made.  
I decided to not feature the dog's breed next to the photos.  It was tough for
me because I think people enjoy trying to guess what breed dogs are,
especially mixes or ones they've never seen before.  But I thought 150 happy
faces was far more important!

                                            Early November 2007

WE SELL OUT!!  Holy cow!  The first year we actually go to re-print!  I make
the choice to reprint more than I know we can sell before the New Year, but it
was the only way to keep them cost effective.  I wasn't going to let any of the
groups lose donations simply because we were getting popular!  So a total of
1700 are ultimately printed, with approximately 200 left over (you can still
order them for $5 each  ORDER HERE)  

                                                      May 2008

You have until June 1st to submit your pictures!  Hurry to make it in the 2009
calendar!  PHOTO SUBMISSIONS


                                                  The Future?

I keep reaching out and trying to grow.  Groups are now finding me online and
I welcome each and every new participant!  I am also trying to find new ways
to get the word out about the calendars.  If anyone has a suggestion, think of
me as a Basset Hound- all ears!  

I would ultimately like to add a cat edition to this project.  My thoughts are
once I am no longer struggling to sell the calendars each season, I will be able
to take on an additional version of the calendar.  And my 3 cats at home are
going to say "about time!"

                               Besides the donations... why do this?

Living in Los Angeles in a tiny one bedroom apartment, I had as many rescue
pets as I could fit in there.  Although I enjoyed giving my time at the local
shelter, I knew I was only reaching a handful of dogs and getting the word out
to a handful of people.  How could I go to a larger scale?

Now I reach an endless audience on the web.  And I share with them faces of
dogs from all across the country.  The "Happy Endings" stories are there to
remind people not only the horrors these animals go through, but the
compassion that is out there to help them in their hours of need.  I want to
change the world!  I want you to hang your calendar up at work and have a
co-worker see a picture in it and say "That's the kind of dog I've been looking
for!  Where do I get one like that?!"  And you can proudly say "RESCUE!"

We'll never be able to put the bad people out of business.  The breeders, the
hoarders, the puppy mill villains, the abusers, the neglectful and the selfish
people will always be there.  But if through this project I can convince just ONE
more person that their preconceived notions about rescue dogs or animal
shelters is wrong.  That wonderful, beautiful, loving dogs of all kinds, ages,
and shapes can be found there.  That mankind has to take responsibility for
CAUSING the overpopulation in the first place, because WE are the ones who
have let these animals reproduce unchecked.  And the solution is not KILLING
THEM.

If I can help one more dog find his or her way to a warm, safe, loving home.  
Then it's all worth it.  As I've seen written on so many rescue websites:

                    Saving one dog won't change the world,
                but it will change the world for that one dog.


                                           Chrisi Sage

                                               EMAIL ME!
My Two Red-Heads
Barnum and Jeremy

A Short Resume
I am an actor and writer by desire,
but make my living in a traditional office setting.


I am a professional Dog Obedience Trainer,
graduate of ABC (Animal Behavior College)
and have done group dog training through ABTA
(Animal Behavior and Training Associates)
in Santa Clarita, California as well as at the
Los Angeles East Valley Shelter in Van Nuys and
at the Van Nuys Petco.

I have moved to the Atlanta area and am offering classes
at the Petco in Peachtree City:
PETCO CLASSES

If you are interested in group classes in L.A., I still
highly recommend two different locations:
GROUP OBEDIENCE CLASSES

I have worked in several Vets' offices, kennels,
as well as being a pet sitter and dog walker.
I have been a volunteer with the SPCA LA
and the Los Angeles East Valley Shelter.

What can I say?  I love to be around dogs!
(I own 2 Dogs, 3 Cats and 1 Fish)

My love to Dear Barnum who died of cancer
March 13, 2006
at the far too young age of 5.
Link on over to my
Sci-Fi Internet Show!  
Winner of the CONduit XVII
Short Film Festival in Salt Lake City
and the 2007 Conestoga Int'l Film Fest
in Tulsa!

Ships on strings,
Unionized Androids and Zombies,
and a Corporation who makes
working for Wal*Mart
look like a Promotion.

Comedy, Satire, Improv.
It's what I do when I'm not around dogs!