Maya profile picture

Maya

I am here for Friends

About Me

Just so you don't feel tricked later, I'm a dog. A smallish German Shepherd, and a very good one. It has been years since I smelled early morning air or stretched out in front of a fire.
I was whelped in 1971, and before I knew which way was up I was being chased by three small children around a blue linoleum floor in New York City. I lost several of my baby teeth wrestling with the boy, but I never hurt any of them. I prided myself on that.
That family took me everywhere. Short walks around the neighborhood, and longer trips to the park, or way out to the country. My favorite was a romantic trip to Santa Fe. My family brought back rocks and Indian artwork. I brought back puppies. Even if I never knew his name, I have never forgotten.
When I turned 14 (two, to some of you) we moved out west, where I could wander and make my own friends. The children grew up and went away to school, leaving the parents to feed me, brush me and massage my tired body as I faded away.
I miss them all now, but hear they are doing well. I sure am - thanks to MySpace I can wander to more places than ever, and meet folks like you.
By the way, Lancelot Black Cat and I have decided to build a web site to let people find the cutest pet photos. Our MySpace friends told us to name it Daily Paws , so we did. Please send us any ideas about what you want to see there. Great pet photos - a must. Group contests to let you compete with your friends, or pit pugs against pugs, Persians agains Persians - it's there. Adoptions - only right. Places to learn and share information - yes. But what else? Thank you for your help!
Come check me out at Daily Paws !
Mike Davidson - thanks for the template. Dogs love Newsvine, too.

My Interests

Catching balls, dirt clods, stuffed animals, flies, pretty much anything in the air. I tried to start the Canine League, but, politics, you know...Luring people into a wrestling match. My great technique? I bite their shoes while they are watching TV. Then, watching them carefully, I shift my grip until I hit a bone or a nerve and they flinch. A couple of hard bites and the battle is on! Such memories.

I'd like to meet:

* Balto, of course. In my younger years I could have turned his head. Of course, since he's a dog that may be no great claim.
* Truffle, my successor. I wonder if she found any of the bones I left. In my later years I misplaced more than a few.
* Ivan Pavlov. I would bite him right on his kneecap.

Music:

Anything but Heifetz. My god, the stuff makes me want to bark my lungs out.

Movies:

* The Thin Man
* Babe: Pig in the City
* Baited Trap - Fangs was my teen crush
* The Boys from Brazil

Television:

* National Dog Show on ESPN
* American Idol - if I can't be on it, at least I can howl along with them.
* Star Search. It was a long time ago, but Ed McMahon always made me smile.
* Anything on land by National Geographic

Books:

* Balto
* Omaha Steaks Cookbook

Heroes:

* Balto (yes, I think I am obsessed)
* My family. They really were good to me.

My Blog

New Version of Daily Paws Coming...

Lancelot and I are closing in on a new version of Daily Paws.  Linus has been released from the Betty Ford Clinic and has been allowed to count his work on the site toward his community service o...
Posted by Maya on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:36:00 PST

Planning the Next Version of Daily Paws

Lancelot and I are very happy with Daily Paws.  In the 6 weeks since it launched Daily Paws has attracted thousands of visitors and a ton of great new animal photos, including adoptable cats and ...
Posted by Maya on Tue, 15 May 2007 09:21:00 PST

Why Mix Photo Contests with Animal Adoptions?

Why build animal adoptions into a photo contest site?  To show adoptable animals in a fun environment and give them much more exposure than they might find on the web site of a breeder or a shelt...
Posted by Maya on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:36:00 PST

First Dog Breeder Signed with Daily Paws

Lancelot and I created Daily Paws to combine photo contests with animal adoptions, so that any animal posted for adoption with us would get lots more exposure to potential adopters.  Since the si...
Posted by Maya on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 07:23:00 PST

Daily Paws Now Public!

After a 4-month beta period Lancelot and I have finally launched Daily Paws with plenty of cute pet photos and fun tools for pets and pet lovers.After the beta we realized that Daily Paws needed large...
Posted by Maya on Sun, 25 Mar 2007 09:19:00 PST

Daily Paws Finally in Beta

It's running, but it is still pretty awkward.  Lancelot and I have gotten earfuls of advice (yours is welcome, too) - and we have big ears - so we're moving to improve the site before we start ma...
Posted by Maya on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:03:00 PST

Close to Quiet Launch

Linus has told us not to tell anyone, but Daily Paws is nearly ready to launch.  He says it's still "tippy."  I think he means it is buggy, but he might have been talking about his own condi...
Posted by Maya on Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:09:00 PST

Building a New Tool for MySpace Animals

Costa Rica was fun.  They have howler monkeys that are all black, except for snow-white fur on their private parts.  They love to argue all night, which they did with a neighbor's dog who ju...
Posted by Maya on Thu, 19 Oct 2006 02:47:00 PST

Off to Stand Guard on a Tropical Beach

You know the boy in that old picture of me?  The one with me on the old linoleum floor?  He's taking off to go surfing for almost 2 weeks, and I think I'll just drift down to Costa Rica with...
Posted by Maya on Wed, 27 Sep 2006 10:25:00 PST

What Should a Pet Website Do?

I have been doing all the talking here, but maybe my MySpace friends would be interested in giving me some guidance. Lancelot and I are about to start building a web site for pets.  So far we agr...
Posted by Maya on Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:03:00 PST