Outta the Cage

09/02/2026

Where do you want to go? 🏔️🌴🏰

Our Outta the Ordinary online auction is officially open, with three destinations up for bid:

🏔️ Lake Arrowhead: A 3-day, 2-night cabin getaway.
🌴 Riviera Nayarit: Six days and five nights in Lo de Marcos, a laid-back seaside village on Mexico’s Pacific Coast about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta.
🏰 Disney: Two chances to make some magic, with separate $200 and $500 Disney gift cards.

Bidding is open now through Sept. 13.
Pick your destination and start bidding. 👇
https://givebutter.com/c/outta-the-ordinary-2026-triple-match/auction
Have some fun. Help some dogs.

08/31/2026

A year ago, friend and shelter volunteer Page Starvish called me about a colleague who couldn’t keep their doodle.

At the time, I still occasionally said things like, “We don't do doodles.” Cute, huh?

Because apparently we do doodles. We have now helped several of them, and I have been forced to revise my position. They are wonderful dogs. Especially when they're rescues. I reserve the right to change my mind about almost anything if there's a dog involved.

I spoke to Beni's owner. They had little kids, a busy household, and simply no time for him. When I went to pick him up, I found a dog completely overwhelmed by the noise and chaos that inevitably come with babies and toddlers. Beni barely knew what a leash was. He was sweet and bewildered and sadly undersocialized. Nobody had really taught him how to be a dog.

So we brought him to Joe at DogFitLa. And it was like somebody flipped a switch.

Beni learned to walk on a leash. He learned about other dogs. He gained confidence. He played. He relaxed. The nervous, overwhelmed dog started disappearing, and this big, goofy, spectacular creature emerged in his place.

We posted Beni for adoption. To say there was interest would be an understatement. People lost their minds. Someone offered me $2,500 for him. We probably could have gotten more.

But Beni wasn't an auction item. He was a rescue dog, and our job wasn't to find the highest bidder. It was to find his person.

Enter Tiffany. Tiffany had previously applied for another one of our dogs—and lost out when the foster decided to adopt the dog. I wasn't entirely sure Tiffany would even take my call after that. Possibly she'd blocked me. Reasonable. But I asked if she'd meet Beni.

I brought him over. They met. We talked to Joe. And somewhere in there, it became obvious: Beni was home. Tiffany adopted him.

And because sometimes the universe has already extracted enough fees, we waived the adoption fee.

That was a year ago. Today Beni lives in a spacious home with room to stretch those absurd doodle legs. We've learned that he's cat-friendly. We've also learned that beneath the handsome exterior lurks an enormous goofball. Mostly, though, we've learned what happens when the right dog finally lands in the right life.

Beni didn't need to become a different dog. He needed some training, some confidence, and somebody who had time for him. Then he needed Tiffany.

Happy one-year adoptiversary, Beni.

Thank you, Page, for making the call. Thank you, Joe, for showing Beni how much fun it is to be a dog. And thank you, Tiffany, for giving him the life we wanted so badly for him.

We always say the dog hit the jackpot. This time, we're pretty sure the jackpot went both ways.

And yes. Apparently we do doodles.

08/24/2026

Something Outta the Ordinary starts TODAY. 🎉

We’re putting the fun in fundraising with three ways to help the dogs:

🎤 ATTEND: See One Liner Madness at Dynasty Typewriter on September 20.
🌴 BID: Lake Arrowhead. Baja California. Disneyland. Our online auction opens August 30.
❤️ GIVE: Every donation is being matched 2-to-1 for a limited time. Give $50 and it becomes $150 for the dogs.

Pick one, pick two, or go for all three.
Have some fun. Help some dogs.
https://outtathecage.org/outta-the-ordinary

08/17/2026

We expected some dialogue after writing about LAAS volunteer policies—but we weren’t prepared for the flood of personal stories that followed.

You might have similar experiences. You might be surprised.
Either way, it’s a 5-minute read.

In which Jill talks to former shelter volunteers about the rules they didn't know they were breaking.

08/14/2026

Aren’t these amazing pics of Macy?

They were shot by professional photographers Raymond and Charlie at Charlie Nunn Photography. They recently wrote a book, “Hollywood Tails,” that features beautiful photos of celebrities and their dogs.

These two are artists and—as you can see in Macy’s photos—really capture the spirit of their subjects.

Hollywood Tails will be in digital and brick-and-mortar stores on September 1st. Preorder: www.charlienunnphotography.com/hollywoodtails.

We rescued Macy from West Valley shelter in May. She’s 3 years old, dog and kid-friendly, and in foster with Megan Karasch.

08/11/2026

HELP?!?

We’d heard about them for months, and every story was the same: They’re wonderful.

So we invited best buddies Enzo and Parker to our adoption event on Sunday. They were everything we’d been told: gentle, polite, affectionate, easygoing with other dogs and sweet with children.

They were abandoned by their rescue, Gisele’s Legacy, and have been warehoused in boarding for the past 2 years. 2 YEARS.

They’re not being overlooked because there’s something wrong with them. They’re being overlooked because no one knows they exist.

It’s their turn.

This bonded pair comes with free training and a crew that loves them. Please share this. There’s someone out there for them—the perfect person or family. They just don’t know about them…yet.

08/07/2026

There should probably be a support group for rescuers who say, "Oh, someone else will save that dog."

That was Tiger.

It was a sunny day in March 2022, and we found ourselves at West L.A. shelter watching a four-year-old Shepherd-Rottweiler mix happily investigate the agility course. He trotted around the play yard like he'd been hired to entertain the volunteers, occasionally stopping to check in with his favorite humans before launching himself over another obstacle. For a few glorious minutes, you could almost forget he lived in a kennel.

We loved him immediately. But we also made the classic rescuer mistake.

"He's so adoptable," we told ourselves. "Surely someone will notice him."

Spoiler alert: someone eventually did. It was us.

We hemmed. We hawed. We made responsible noises about limited resources. Then Tiger barreled straight through the agility tunnel, popped out the other side looking ridiculously pleased with himself, and that was that. Decision made.

We rescued him, had a lipoma removed, and sent him off to enjoy a foster fling with our friends Ted, Daniella, and their dog Heath.

Somewhere along the way, I mentioned Tiger to our friend Ian—a rockstar volunteer at West Valley shelter. Ian and his wife Clare agreed to foster him for a few weeks.

You already know where this is going. A few weeks became forever.

Today, Tiger—now known as Arbie—shares a home with Ian, Clare, and his canine brother. His competitive agility career is behind him, but he has become exceptionally skilled at navigating the couch and reminding us that sometimes the dog you think someone else will save is simply waiting for you.

Congratulations, Arbie. You had us fooled from the very beginning.

08/01/2026

Some stories just take a little longer to find their happy ending.

We first met Strider at West Valley Animal shelter after he and his brother were surrendered by their owner's family. Having spent their whole lives in a home, they were both terrified. Visitors who stopped at Strider's kennel saw a trembling and retreating to his cubby.

Then his brother was adopted, and Strider was left to face the shelter alone. Thankfully, volunteers didn't give up on him.

As they spent more time with Strider, they discovered the dog hiding beneath the fear: a joyful, goofy little Queensland Heeler who loved to play, sprinted around the yard with dogs twice his size, and wore the biggest smile you've ever seen.

And now... Strider has found his forever home. ❤️

Strider lives with two wonderful parents, a human sibling, and five cats! He loves playing in the backyard and has a doggie friend across the street.

Special thanks to Jennifer Downs, Joe at DogFitLa, and Rico and Janet Long Zuniga for fostering Strider and making him an honorary member of their pack.

Congratulations, Strider. We knew there was a happy little Heeler in there all along. 🐾