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Blog archive

October 2025

September 2025

August 2025

Lessons From A Fire
08/31/2025

A Warm Welcome to A New Board Member
08/28/2025

About Kieran Highsmith
08/28/2025

Finding Common Ground in a Divided Society
08/27/2025

Art From The Ashes: Second Reception
08/26/2025

Building Community Through Connections: Some Advice for New Members
08/26/2025

Critical Issues: A Call to Action
08/26/2025

Organizer Training Empowers Villagers to Lead the Way
08/26/2025

President's Message
08/26/2025

Reflections From a Backyard Garden -Taking a Moment to Be Still
08/26/2025

Reflections From a Backyard Garden -Taking a Moment to Be Still
08/26/2025

Super Agers
08/26/2025

The Altadena Dining Club
08/26/2025

Use It or Lose It: How to Offset Muscle Loss at Any Age
08/26/2025

Dunbar Number: Understanding the Limits of Human Relationships
08/25/2025

A Turning Point Towards Growth and Purpose
08/23/2025

Unbreak My Heart
08/23/2025

Lora's Return to Writing
08/18/2025

Nice Clean Colored Girls
08/18/2025

Sanctity Denied: A Pasadena Story of Race and Silence
08/18/2025

Some Thoughts at 3:00 AM by Beverly Lafontaine
08/16/2025

Old Again by Sally Asmundson
08/15/2025

Old by Sally Asmundson
08/15/2025

Art From the Ashes
08/07/2025

Claire Gorfinkel Retires from Board of Directors
08/05/2025

2025 Annual Meeting: A Year of Resilience
08/04/2025

A Walk Through 2024-25
08/04/2025

President's Message
08/01/2025

July 2025

June 2025

May 2025

A Day to Celebrate, Connect, and Empower: Older Americans Month at Victory Park
05/30/2025

End of Life: You Do Have Choices!
05/30/2025

Get Moving, Pasadena Village: Walking Toward a Healthier, Happier You
05/30/2025

Music: A Universal Language
05/30/2025

President's Message
05/30/2025

The New Grammar Guardian of Pasadena Village
05/30/2025

Undue Influence: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
05/30/2025

Village Within a Village
05/30/2025

What do we do now?
05/30/2025

A Tribute to Dad
05/05/2025

A Tribute to Mom
05/05/2025

A Board Director Perspective
05/02/2025

A Death Valley Adventure
05/02/2025

Ask an Architect
05/02/2025

Message from the President
05/02/2025

My 15-Minute City
05/02/2025

Neighboring Anew
05/02/2025

Scam Red Flags
05/02/2025

Sir Beckett, A Woman's Best Friend
05/02/2025

Volunteer Appreciation: Giving a New Level of Love and Caring
05/02/2025

April 2025

March 2025

About Senior Solutions
03/28/2025

Building a Bridge With Journey House, A Home Base for Former Foster Youth
03/28/2025

Come for the Knitting, Stay for the Conversation... and the Cookies
03/28/2025

Creating Safe and Smart Spaces with Home Technology
03/28/2025

Finding Joy in My Role on The Pasadena Village Board
03/28/2025

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!
03/28/2025

Managing Anxiety
03/28/2025

Message from Our President: Keeping Pasadena Village Strong Together
03/28/2025

My Favorite Easter Gift
03/28/2025

The Hidden History of Black Women in WWII
03/28/2025

Urinary Tract Infection – Watch Out!
03/28/2025

Volunteer Coordinator and Blade-Runner
03/28/2025

Continuing Commitment to Combating Racism
03/26/2025

Goodbye and Keep Cold by Robert Frost
03/13/2025

What The Living Do by Marie Howe
03/13/2025

Racism is Not Genetic
03/11/2025

Bill Gould, The First
03/07/2025

THIS IS A CHAPTER, NOT MY WHOLE STORY
03/07/2025

Dramatic Flair: Villagers Share their Digital Art
03/03/2025

Empowering Senior LGBTQ+ Caregivers
03/03/2025

A Life Never Anticipated
03/02/2025

Eaton Fire Changes Life
03/02/2025

February 2025

Commemorating Black History Month 2025
02/28/2025

Transportation at the Pasadena Village
02/28/2025

A Look at Proposition 19
02/27/2025

Behind the Scenes: Understanding the Pasadena Village Board and Its Role
02/27/2025

Beyond and Within the Village: The Power of One
02/27/2025

Celebrating Black Voices
02/27/2025

Creatively Supporting Our Village Community
02/27/2025

Decluttering: More Than The Name Implies
02/27/2025

Hidden Gems of Forest Lawn Museum
02/27/2025

LA River Walk
02/27/2025

Message from the President
02/27/2025

Phoenix Rising
02/27/2025

1619 Conversations with West African Art
02/25/2025

The Party Line
02/24/2025

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025

Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025

Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025

Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025

Wind and Fire
02/17/2025

Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025

Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025

Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025

Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025

Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025

Living the Mission
02/05/2025

Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025

Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025

Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025

Villager's Stories
02/05/2025

A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025

Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025

Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025

January 2025

Everything Doggie

By Judith Ray
Posted: 10/28/2025
Tags: small group gathering, judith ray, newsletter november 2025

Janie Heinrich is well known in the Village and the community as the founder of MobilityDog. As a person who suffered a spinal injury at the age of 53, she found it difficult to secure her second dog for herself at the age of 59. Out of that experience, she founded MobilityDog to assist people with mobility problems like herself to become more FUNctional (note the emphasis on fun) and extend the parameters of what they were able to do.

In early September, Janie embarked upon a new project. She conceived the idea, along with Brigid Crane, to just have some doggone fun. They created a Village small group called “Everything Doggie.”  The first meeting had about eight people and four or five dogs. A few folks who had sadly either recently lost their dogs or had dogs too aged and frail to participate even came, just to be around their favorite “people.” The doggies were all on their best behavior and so were the people.

The group talked about a lot of things, either fun things - like possible field trips for us and our dogs - or things of concern. Eventually the conversation moved to coyotes, and we all had a special added bonus of having Jane Brackman among us who is a scientist and an expert on coyote behavior. She gave us an off-the-cuff crash course on coyotes. It was fascinating, and we really felt lucky to have Jane in our midst.

Our second meeting happened to be the day of torrential rain, so we met via Zoom. My dog, Bella, was quite disappointed and sulked around all day since she had been very excited about seeing her new doggie friends again. We did have a productive meeting, though, learning some recipes for healthy snacks and telling some dog stories. One particularly fascinating one was about a dog who was found in a refrigerator after the Eaton Fire, who subsisted on charred hot dogs and raspberry smoothies. 

Another topic of conversation was why we wanted to join the “Everything Doggie” group. By and large, most of us were looking for socialization for our dogs, tips for ourselves, and just having a special activity for our dogs to enjoy. As my dog said, “Sometimes I get so bored, just laying around sleeping, hoping a squirrel will run by, and once it does and I rouse myself, it scampers up a tree and then makes fun of me.” 

If your dog has a person who would like to see him or her have some new kind of fun,  watch the PV bulletins for the next get together or contact Janie Heinrich. She is in the Membership Directory.

In the meantime, see if you can resist these beauties:

Tamanika's Granddog Casper

Judith's Dog Bella

Brigid's Dogs Peanut & Brittle

Janie's Service Dog Beckett
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