I have two dogs, Jack (a retriever/pointer mix) and Dixie (a miniature schnauzer mix) and one cat, Homer.

Last year, my parents told me we could not afford to keep replacing our dog’s toys. My mom works part time at a fitness center and the tennis man would give her the used tennis balls for our dogs. I found out that fleece helps clean dog’s teeth and thought if I put them together, and made it well, our dogs would have a great toy to play with.

Courage is having an idea and not caring if someone laughs at you because it’s goofy.

When the first one was made and we gave it to Jack and Dixie, they went crazy playing tug-of-war and chewing on it. Then a friend saw the toy and suggested we make more and take them to the dog parks. My parents always taught me that God put us here to help take care of the animals. I thought if people bought the toys, I could give part of the money to help animals that didn’t have a home.

I knew I had to be brave and not be afraid when I would walk up to people at the dog parks and ask them to buy my dog toys. It wasn’t easy, walking around with my wagon explaining that I was selling dog toys and that $1 from every sale would go to help homeless animals. But I knew if I was going to help animals, I had to be brave and not care what people thought about me.

My dog Jack was the one we named the toys for, Slobber Dog Toys, because when Jack gets excited, he drools and slobbers! People liked the toys so much, they started asking for their school colors and requesting special orders. Last Spring, I even sold 2 to Marvin Zindler at the dog park. He was a nice man.

So far, I have sold 564 toys. I have donated to SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), CAPS (Citizens for Animal Protection), BARC (Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care), Arthritis Foundation, and most recently to Homeless Animal Protection Society to help the cave dogs from Ethiopia fly to Houston to get adopted.

I just mailed some Slobber Dog Toys to Pig and Wolf (Ellen Degeneres’ dogs) and to Sophie, Solomon, Luke & Layla (Oprah Winfrey’s dogs).

Yes, it takes courage to talk to people and tell them about Slobber Dog Toys and why I sell them, but I believe animals have courage too. Courage to trust us humans that we are going to take care of them.

I would love to some day have a farm full of pets, but for now I’m ok with helping homeless animals find their forever home.