Susie’s Senior Dogs is a one-woman movement to save dogs that have entered their golden years. Erin O’Connell lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A while back, Erin created a Facebook page called, “Susie’s Senior Dogs.” Its tagline reads: “Matching humans and senior dogs one bond at a time.”

Word spread fast. Snce it’s launch in January 2014, the nonprofit’s Facebook page has reached 596,040 likes. This 501(c)(3) organization is responsible for multiple senior dog adoptions. I wanted to find out what had inspired this great effort so I clicked “Like” on the page and sent a private message asking for an interview. Erin graciously agreed to talk about her instant-soup campaign success.

Dorri Olds: What gave you the idea for Susie’s Senior Dogs?

Erin O’Sullivan: The first part of my story is about my boyfriend Brandon Stanton. He runs a project called “Humans of New York.” He takes photos of random New Yorkers. Brandon lives in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, and three years ago he spotted Susie the dog and her previous owner. He took a photo of Susie, who was 11 then, and posted it to his blog with the caption, “This is the best dog.” Soon afterwards the owner contacted Brandon and asked if he could adopt Susie because his new wife said they couldn’t keep the dog.

Brandon was hesitant at first. Friends said he’d be crazy to take the dog; a senior dog would die and he’d be better off getting a puppy. Who doesn’t love a puppy, right? But Brandon felt bad for Susie. He didn’t want her to go to a shelter so he took her in.

Susie is Brandon’s dog?

Susie is technically Brandon’s dog because he adopted her and if Brandon and I were standing next to each other Susie would jump inside of his lap  but I love Susie so much, too. She really is the best dog in the world. Just for fun I started a page called, “Susie The Dog.” It started getting likes and I wondered how to take that already engaged audience who loved Susie and make it more than random meaningless posts. I didn’t really plan anything out but I had this vague idea and made the new Facebook page, “Susie’s Senior Dogs.” Within 48 hours the new direction took hold.

How do you think you got so many followers so fast?

It’s really thanks to Brandon. He had been building his own big audience by taking photos of people he interacted with in New York City. His audience got so big he even has a book now. His Facebook page is up to 3.5 million likes so I asked him if it would be okay to post a link to Susie’s Facebook page. I told him I’ll do all the work and he’d get lots of love. So he said okay. When I’d posted a photos to my Susie’s page I got 400 likes but when Brandon shared it on his page, Susie’s Senior Dogs got 100,000 likes in one night!

What breed is Susie?

We’re not sure what breed she is. Her ears make her look like she’s definitely part Chihuahua and the poof frizz of hair on top of her head makes her seem like she’s part Chinese Crested.

Did you know things were going to catch on this fast?

We were on ABC World News and we’ve been filmed by Animal Haven. It’s been a whirlwind. I just hope we keep spreading the word to encourage people to adopt a senior dog. You know, you can plan and plan in life, but sometimes an idea just comes to you and it works. This was like that.

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Written for Sniff & Barkens

Empty the Shelters (ETS) recently had its fifth pet adoption event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A whopping 2,631 pets were rescued! That number includes adoptions that took place in the week leading up to the event plus one glorious day when 1571 pets were adopted—726 dogs, 827 cats, and 18 other animals.

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“I have strictly been designing couture for dogs,” Rubio told me. “This is only the third time that I also designed women’s wear.”

And design he did! The women and dogs wowed the crowd.

Rubio had just returned from vacationing in Italy. “It’s non-stop,” he said. “I’ve been invited to so many shows. I’m getting to be known as the designer with the dogs, and I’m breaking the mold. In the past, you might’ve seen dogs used as fashion accessories, but in my shows, it’s the humans that are the accessories.”

There were people streaming in, hurrying to get seats. Socialite Eric Andrew stopped for a moment to say he loves attending New York City fashion events. “I feel very fortunate that I can go to so many. I love Anthony Rubio’s fashions, and I’m looking forward to the show! Excuse me, I have to go grab my spot.”

Rubio said, “I’ve done shows before, but this was a crunch. I was receiving e-mails while I was still in Italy. It was at the end of my trip. I said, ‘I don’t know if I can do this in so little time.’ They said, ‘Of course you can!’ [Laughs] Sometimes I amaze myself. I don’t know how I get it all done especially because I’m a perfectionist and my own worst critic. But it all came together for the show, and I feel happy.”

Rubio’s inspirations for this Spring 2016 line came from his vacation in Italy and “a lot of movies.” He described his fashion line as “affordable luxury.” The show included couture gowns and cocktail dresses with lace.

Of course, I have the doggie moms come along,” said Rubio. “After all, the dogs are their babies. I have the moms come backstage because I don’t want anybody else dressing their furbabies. And it brings the doggie moms into the experience, too, so everybody is having fun.”

Morgan Avila owns four Leonbergers. Magneto (above) was a winner at Westminster. She is teaching him rat hunting. “It is finding rats in barns and being able to chase and corner them so that they can be collected and given to the proper authorities who like taking rats,” she said, adding that another of her Leonbergers, Mr. America, “does a lot of movies. He did ‘The Equalizer’ with Denzel Washington. He’s also done plenty of theater work, ‘Annie,’ ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Oliver Twist,’ ‘The Miracle Worker,’ ‘A Christmas Carol.’” Her dog Hollywood, a dock diver, travels with Avila to many states where he wins AKC titles. “All of my dogs are champions in the AKC.”

Avila said that Rubio made a special outfit for Magneto to walk down the runway tonight, “but I didn’t get to see it yet. I have to get to wardrobe.” She smiled and waved goodbye as she and Magneto hurried into the already-canine-crowded elevator.

“My Boston Terrier Rita had been kept in a crate for five months in a hoarding situation until I I rescued her, and now Rita is modeling,” Patrice Scalera shared. “I trained her and desensitized her so she’d be comfortable around people, and now she is, and she’s signed up with a talent agency, All Creatures Great and Small. She’s obedience trained, and we do trick training now. I also just rescued a Frenchton named Francis.”

I learned that a Frenchton is half “Frenchie” [French Bulldog] and half “Boston” [Boston Terrier]. “Dog fashion designer Ada Nieves always laughs when we have them both in the show,” Scalera said. “She sees Francis and Rita playing, and it’s like a comedy routine. You can’t tell who is cuter.”

Scalera runs a small home-based business. “It’s called PAWfect Dog Beds,” she said. “If I get $35 dollars on a bed, I then give $5 dollars towards animal rescue.”

Ilene Zeins said she and her ZZ will be attending the upcoming “Strut Your Mutt” walk and the Ronald McDonald House “Family Fun Dog Walk.” In June, they went to the “Fabulous Fur-Baby Cotillion” in Florida. “We had a lot of fun,” Zeins said. “ZZ was a debutante and introduced to society; something I never had the opportunity to do [Laughs].”

Summer Strand goes to as many charity events as she can. She said the doggie community here in New York City is growing. “We’ve been a tightly knit group for years, but always welcome new, warm, friendly souls — two-legged and four-legged,” she explained. When I asked about her favorite rescues she said, “I think all rescues are awesome” before adding, “We love to helpWaggin’ Tails Dog Rescue, Sean Casey Animal Rescue and Soi Dog Foundation.” Strand is a personal trainer. She goes to her clients’ homes and teaches them fitness moves they can do with their pet.

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