Hi. I'm Catherine, owner of Generation Dog: Where Dogs Are Family. Generation Dog is a retail store located in Birmingham, AL and on the web at www.generationdog.com. We offer unique products for dogs and dog lovers - as well as a few things for our kitty cat friends. We strive to have a community of like minded animal lovers who really live our motto - "Where Dogs Are Family". Check out our web site to learn how you can become a member of "Gen D".
My primary inspiration for starting Generation Dog was my love of dogs - especially my own. Cooper is a four year old golden retreiver mix. He was rescued by St. Francis Animal Sanctuary at a week old when his mother was hit by a car. He and the rest of his litter were bottle fed from that point on until they were ready to be adopted. He came to live with me at 2 months old and has been my baby boy every since. I've never known a dog like Cooper before. He will sleep in your arms all night, or sit without moving while you clean his ears. I think it's because he imprinted on humans at such a young age.
My other inspiration was Sasha, Coop's big sister and my doggie soulmate. She died three years ago at at the ripe old age of 11. I still miss her a lot but since she taught Coop everything he knows, I see traces of her in him - especially when he's protecting his mommy! I can't wait to be reunited with her again some day in heaven. In the mean time, I commissioned a painting of her from one of my favorite pictures. It's in my pictures on this site if you want to check it. Coop's painting is on there too. If you want to commission your own, let us know. Generation Dog represents five different artists so that we can help you find the right portrait of your pet.
Recently, we added two more furry children to the Generation Dog Family so I'll be commissioning two more of my own soon. Back in December, Fred, a Jack Russell/Beagle mix became the official "Wild Man" of the family. He runs faster than a speeding bullet and gets into anything he encounters. He's started quite a collection of found objects under the bed. He is cute as can be though so we put up with his mischievous side! I call Fred our "unplanned" child. We took him in to prevent him from being returned to the Humane Society when he decided he didn't really like living with a 9 year old and let him know it by biting his nose. We don't really know what Fred's life held prior to being tied to a tree and ultimately arriving at the GBHS Shelter. According to recent estimates, he's a little over a year old and as far as he can tell, he's just been looking for someone to love him. We hope we can keep him safe and make sure he doesn't have to look any further.
Just a few weeks ago, a dream come true happened for me when Stella, a 3 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel joined the family. I'm always wanted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel but since I'm a true advocate for rescuing dogs, I could never reconcile myself to buying a dog from a breeder. I registered with Cavalier rescue and have just been playing the waitin' game. So imagine my joy when the day after my birthday, I received an email about a local woman who "rescued" 7 Cavaliers from a Puppy Mill. She loved the breed so much that she bought all the dogs just to get them out of there. So as a result, "Lady Stella Dubois", a.k.a. Stella, is now my baby girl. Having lived the first three years of her life in a puppy mill, Stella has been having puppies and living in a cage up until a month ago. Not only were treats and toys foreign to her, but she didn't even know her name. There is no way to know how many litters of puppies she was forced to have but one thing is for sure - she won't have any more. It's amazing how quickly she is learning to be a pampered pet. She loves treats, wears clothes like she was born in them, and even had her first birthday cake! My goal is to make sure that every day I strive to make up for the first three years of Stella's life.
In addition to my own furry children, I've had many other puppy friends over the years who have shown me how special and loving dogs can be - Ophelia, Meri Jane, Tipitina, Rex, River - and the list goes on. Generation Dog is my way of saluting each and every one of them.
