The best part about starting Project PAL has been seeing that there are people in our community who truly WANT to help. Our followers have been SO supportive and we would not be where we are without you guys, and trust us… we know it! So, for this week’s fashion series, enter Jill. Jill is one of the many amazing people who support our initiative through Pup Tees and we are so thankful for her <3.

Jill’s favorite part about Pup Tees is that 100% of the proceeds go straight to the Shelter Dog Program. Have we advertised that before ;)?! Of course, it doesn’t help that in exchange, Jill receives a soft, comfortable, AND cute shirt for her donation! We are SO grateful to all of our generous sponsors for covering all costs and allowing us to truly donate 100% of the proceeds to One Love’s Shelter Dog Program.

As you have seen, there are tons of ways to style the various Pup Tees on our website. Jill’s favorite way is a classic – denim shorts, comfy shoes, a Nixon watch, and beaded bracelets for a pop of color. Of course, in this Arizona heat no one bothers to have their hair down, so Jill opts for an amazing messy bun! Question… If I haven’t been able to perfect the messy bun, can I still call myself a Phoenician?!

In the colder dessert winter, Jill prefers to wear her Pup Tee with skinny jeans, converse, and an open cardigan (so that the cute phrases are still readable)! But sorry, it’s just too freakin’ hot in AZ to model a winter look right now but trust us, it’s a cute outfit ;)! Jill loves when people ask her where her shirt is from because she can help spread the word and send them STRAIGHT to ShopPupTees.com.

After Pookie came into Jill’s life, she realized how important it was to help shelter dogs find homes. Jill, like the rest of us, wants ALL dogs to find a forever home and hopes to end the stigma that Pit Bulls currently face. Jill truly walks the walk and supports companies that align with her beliefs. Besides Pup Tees, Jill also purchases products from Max and Neo who donate a collar to a pup in need whenever a collar is purchased (modeled by Pookie!). Jill is a true role model who leads by example and we are just so thankful for her support and for her agreeing to be featured on this week’s Style Blog :).

Pup Tee, Shoes, Shorts, Watch, Jewelry, Pookie’s Water Bowl, Pookie’s Martingale

This week’s style series features the most wonderful guy in the world (ok, maybe I am a LITTLE biased), my husband, Justin French! It also features his soul pup, Hayley Marie French!

(YOU GUYS, I cannot handle the level of cuteness here)

Justin is a Pup Tees by Project PAL supporter first and foremost, because he has to be one. Literally zero choice in the matter. BUT, I will say that after our family adopted Hayley last year, I think Justin’s whole world changed.  Prior to adopting Hayley, Justin and I would participate in the monthly Hope Whispers Walk at MCAC East. He would also always be on board for being the photog behind Pup Tees promo pictures for us except the very first shoot we ever did when he drank too much fire water the night before and disappeared after like the first 10 photos (he walked home without telling anyone…so that was hilar). Thank goodness for my dad who also brought his camera and saved the day.  Anyways, after we adopted Hayley his whole world changed. I’m talking nightly walks with treat pouches clipped on to his shorts, high-pitched words of affirmation when Hayley walks without pulling for 1/2 a second, and take-your-dog-to-work-days. ❤
Fast forward to a year and a half later and I truly believe that Justin is now actually a true Pup Tees fan. His favorite shirts are his Pup Tees. Why? Because he is tall and lean, and our unisex Pup Tees fit him literally perfect. Once our Mutt Life campaign came out, it was all over. I think Justin might actually be our best Mutt Life hat customer. Nine times out of ten, if you see Justin outside of the work day, he is wearing a Mutt Life hat. He has also had to purchase multiple hats at this point because he wears them to the gym and sweats through them (don’t worry, Justin pays full price for every Pup Tee he owns. #nofamilydiscountshere )

T-Shirt, Hat, Sunglasses, Shoes, Watch

Justin owns a Resurfacing & Paint company called SX Paint + Resurfacing. Even though he works in the construction industry, he dresses up every single day.  So, when he’s not working, this is his go-to outfit combo.

When I told Justin (the night before at 10pm) that he had to be a Pup Tees model the next morning…he was a little irritated that I had yet to do laundry that week. BUT, he pulled together two good looks. Enter the JORTS:

Hat, Sunglasses, Watch, Bracelet, Shoes, Shorts, Shirt

BEHOLD! Check out how great the fit on this Mutt Life shirt is…and it is soft AF, which are the two main reasons Justin wears it whenever it is clean!

Also, can we just talk about how Hayley took a casual swim in the Scottsdale Civic Center pond?  Totally a no-swim zone. We are so classy.  BUT, we forgive her because LOOK AT HER:

OK SORRY JUST ONE MORE OF HER:

SHOP HAYLEY’S LOOK:
COLLAR BOW, HILARIOUS DOG TAG 

❤ ❤ ❤
Our blog photog Monica Adalsteinsson really outdid herself on these photos of JF and Hayley!!!! Thank you, Monica!!! We appreciate you and your dedication!!!

Everyone, meet Mack.  Mack is a really special guy…and we are about to tell you why.

A few years ago, Mack came to our friends at One Love from a suspected dog fighting bust in Laveen.  The Arizona Humane Society Animal Cops removed him from the scene. Mack was held as evidence, along with 13 other dogs until the owner signed them over. Unfortunately, most of the other dogs did not make it :(. Mack was valley fever positive at the time. Here is Mack, the day he was confiscated from his owner:

😦 To be honest, it’s hard for me to even stomach the thought of where Mack came from because it is so easy to let myself get sucked down the rabbit hole and end up writing hate emails to Michael Vick’s agent because he is the only dog fighting ass wipe I actually know of and we might be slightly insane end up forgetting the real reason we are here.

SO, while it is important to share where Mack came from to show his resilience and what a special guy he is, we want to focus on who he is now, and what he has been doing the past few years! Mack is simply a really happy go lucky, energetic fella who literally lives for snugs. He truly has a precious innocence about him and we just ❤ him to pieces.

Mack was adopted out to a family, and lived with them for a few years.  He was recently returned to One Love because, well, life happens and things change for people. Mack is still the same, fun-loving dog, but his family could no longer care for him after adding more dogs to their crew. Rather than pass judgement, our friends at One Love are taking this opportunity to pour their energy and resources into Mack so he can find his REAL forever. Mack has actually been enjoying a board & train visit with favorite trainer, David from ZenK9. Mack got rave reviews and we know he has enjoyed the company of other tolerant, similar-sized pups.

Mack is no lazy bum either. This pup is always up for a walk, a run, a hike, or a swim! He is a true gem.

This week, we’d love to help our friends at One Love find Mack a home. We would even settle for helping them find a foster home for Mack that way he can have a bed/couch to relax on since that’s the life he’s grown accustomed to these days!

Look…here’s the deal. Mack is a really special guy and he deserves a really special family. One that will choose him, every day….even when life happens. If you are interested in meeting Mack, or learning more about him contact our friends at One Love info@oneloveaz.org ❤

GUYS, we totally dropped the ball on last week’s Style Series. We are sure you were all super devastated so, don’t worry, we’re BACK.  This week we are featuring Nikki Maggio!  Nikki is one of the co-founding members behind Project PAL.

We are super excited for Nikki because she actually just had a major life change…she changed jobs!  Nikki literally just finished her final days working for Cutter Aviation at Phoenix Sky Harbor, a private FBO where general aviation aircraft fly into. She says that working for Cutter was one of the best jobs she has ever had, she loved the variety it offered from greeting guests on the ramp, pulling catering and personal vehicles for passengers, to working dispatch and billing. This week, Nikki started her new job as an Administrative Assistant for DriveTime where there will be more room for personal growth! We are so pumped for her!

While working for Cutter, uniforms were required each day.  SO, obviously as soon as she walked in the door from work the first thing she did was take off her bra change into comfortable clothes. Guess what her go-to shirt is….our vintage Pup Tee, Turn Up For Pups campaign! LOLing at my use of the word “vintage” since this campaign came out less than a year ago, but guys…you have to act fast with Pup Tees! Once they’re gone, they’re gone! Anyways… here’s what Nikki has to say about styling her Pup Tees:

FROM NIKKI:
This tee is my absolute favorite! It is comfortable, extremely soft, AND you can literally wear it with ANYTHING.  My personal favorite happens to be to pair it with my signature Lululemon Inspire crops accompanied by my favorite pair of flip flops by Rainbow. I have to be in heels or running shoes constantly for work, so you could say that my feet are a little claustrophobic.. I wear flip flops almost 365 days out of the year, yes sometimes even in winter.  Like I said, my style matches my personality!

Leggings, Necklace, Ring, Ring 2,  Shirt (Vintage)
Now, having left Cutter Aviation and starting a new adventure as an Administrative Assistant at DriveTime, I had to find a whole new wardrobe of clothes to wear to work (okay, so maybe uniforms I had to wear at Cutter Aviation weren’t THAT bad..) so when I’m not seen in my uniform or yoga pants which is a RARE occurrence, you can find me in my absolute FAVORITE pair of jean shorts ever. Enter the Hudson jean shorts! These have a sewn cuff, which makes washing extremely easy as I don’t have to fuss with re rolling the cuff and it not staying put. And again pairing it with my favorite pair of flippy floppies.  You can find me also wearing a few of my most loved accessories, a dainty gold bracelet my sister got as a gift for me on her Eurotrip, accompanied by two gold rings (links above), and my favorite necklace of life—the gold bar necklace (link above).

Sandals, Jean Shorts, Bracelet, Purse, SHIRT (duh)

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

We are actually obsessed with our brand new campaign “Puppies/Evertyhing”  Be sure to visit shoppuptees.com today to pick one up while we have inventory!! They’ll go quick!!! Remember 100% of the money you spend on a Pup Tee goes straight to the Shelter Dog Program!  How can you not want one of these new v-necks?! Look how effing cute it is on Nikki!!
HUGE THANKS AS ALWAYS TO MONICA ADALSTEINSSON FOR BEING THE BEST BLOG PHOTOG EVER!! WE ❤ YOU!

This week’s PAL is named Harley! Harley is a sweet and sensitive 7-year old Pit Bull/Lab mix. He is quite shy and takes a bit of time to warm up to people but he eventually comes around!

It takes some patience to get this fella to open up but one volunteer said that after spending some time with him and giving him (a lot) of treats, he was feeling much more comfortable. He even wagged his tail a little when they walked by his kennel afterwards <3. Apparently you can buy friends with treats haha!

Harley is extremely mellow and gentle. He likes cuddles and *gentle* pets and would probably do best in a quieter home environment. However, Harley gets along GREAT with other dogs. He has a kennel mate and they get along GREAT! He loves to be around other dogs and they seem to make him very happy, like the below picture!

Recently, Harley had his first training class and did very well! He completed many confidence building exercises and commands. He responded very well to the hot dog treats, which I FULLY understand. Harley is at MCACC West (2500 S. 27th Avenue) and his ID is A3542718. Come and meet this cutie today! This is the week to find his FUR-ever home <3.

In every class each student plays different roles.  There are the brainiacs, the too-cool-for-school kids, the jocks, the techies, and of course, the class clowns.  This week’s featured pup is Peaches.  And Peaches is 100%, hands down, no debate…the class clown.  This girl is such a goofy, carefree, march-to-the-beat-of-her-own-drum kind of gal!

The pictures we found of Peaches from One Love Shelter Dog Training all looked like this:

One volunteer said when she saw all the photos from training she thought to herself, “Peaches….you do you!”. And that, my friends, is exactly what Peaches does! Peaches had a case of “shiny ball syndrome” this weekend at training.  She really considered being the star student (because she is def capable) but then:

This girl is so effing charming though, we don’t care that she has a little bit of doggie ADD.

When presented with the option to bail early on class to sprawl out on the grass and take a moment to just unwind, relax, and breathe in the fresh (hot) summer air, Peaches took full advantage of it, and was truly in her element. This girl + grass = happiness. So given the chance, she is happy to just veg:

Peaches also LOVES play groups at the shelter.  Sometimes she is is laid back and just hangs with her amigos, and sometimes she’s the hype girl and gets the group going!

This blonde girl is literally Peaches in a human body.

So, here’s the deal: this three year old girl loves her dog friends, but she is not a fan of cats (since she was literally returned to the shelter after a minor disagreement with the household feline). It’s probably best if Peaches has dog siblings who are her size…so she can really fulfill that deep calling to be the best hype girl ever.

This ultimate party girl is petite, playful, velvety, plump, and just a lovable little nug. She’s down to dress up, binge eat hot dogs, and help you throw the best end of summer BBQ of your life:

To know Peaches it to love Peaches.  So go meet Peaches today at MCACC East.  Her ID is A3949136.

Ladies and gentleman, today on the blog we are going to discuss one of life’s great mysteries: why (the F) does Ozzie not yet have a home?

The other day, I was scrolling through Instagram and what do I see? Ozzie’s face on the page of one of his fellow classmates in One Love training. The caption read “This is my friend, Ozzie, that I met at my One Love doggie training.  He is my favorite classmate! He is so chill and laid back, SO friendly and plays GREAT with others. I’ve heard he’s a shelter favorite!…” So, here’s the thing, the caption did not surprise me…because we already knew all of that about Ozzie.   What surprised me was that the dog who’s perspective the caption was written from is usually pretty vocal and reactive to other dogs…SO to hear that he had found a friend at training speaks volumes about Ozzie.

Ozzie isn’t the type of dog to ignore human attention for K9 attention, he is a believer in equal opportunity. So, why is he still available for adoption? He’s been at the MCAC East shelter for a LONG time. And back in June he was even invited to the MCAC Shelter Dog Pool Party…where he literally got to go to a pet resort and swim/run/play for a few hours.  He was invited because he’s such an all-around great party guest. Ozzie has manners, he is polite with everyone, and he has good indoor and leash etiquette. When he gets pulled from his kennel, he knows to ignore the other (envious) dogs barking at him trying to get a rise out of him and continues on his merry way.

This past weekend Ozzie went to training (and was a perfect student), went to Petco (and was a perfect shopper), went to his friends house (and was the perfect house guest). There is literally no downfall with Ozzie. No hang ups. No road blocks. And no weird quirks.

The time has come for this two year old, precious pup to land a family deserving of his perfection. He is located at MCAC East and his ID is A3871243.