Grand Opening of Dog Park

If you live in the Hartford, VT area and are a dog owner check out Watson Dog Park. The grand opening of this fenced in two acre off-leash park will be June 7th at 10am. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremeony an dog owners and their furry friends are welcome to join the fun.

For more information on this event, contact: info@watsondogpark.org, or call Hartford Parks & Recreation • (802) 295-5036.

Dog Bite Prevention Week

We see it in movies and on tv, but dogs chasing and biting our mail carriers has actually become a problem. Postmaster William H. Dunn of Winchester, MA is trying to make sure dog owners will be responsible and keep their pets contained during mail delivery times. 3475 mail carriers were bit last year, which can result in pain and suffering for the mail carrier and the mail delivery itself can be disrupted. In the last 6 months there have already been over 35 dog bites.

Dunn offered these great tips for being a responsible dog owner:

· When your letter carrier comes to your home keep your dog inside, away from the door, in another room or on a leash.

· Don’t allow your dog to bark, jump up against the door, or bite the mail as it comes through the mail slot; this will only teach your dog to attack the letter carrier.

· If your dog has to be out during mail delivery time, make sure it is restrained and that the length of that restraint does not allow it to reach the path the mail carrier has to take in order to deliver your mail.

· Do not tie your dog near the mail receptacle.

· Do not let your child take mail from the letter carrier in the presence of your dog. Your dog’s instinct is to protect the family.

· Obedience training can teach your dog proper behavior and help you control your dog in any situation.

· Spay or neuter your dog — un-neutered dogs are more likely to bite.

· Make sure your dog has had its shots and is licensed.

Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com, Beware: Dog Bite Prevention Week

Get Ready for your New Pet Calendars

It is already that time of year again and the Houston Astros are gearing up for their 2009 Pet Calendar. Here is the press release with more information.

HOUSTON ASTROS HELP “STRIKE-OUT”
PET OVERPOPULATION
Photoshoot for 2009 Astros Player & Pet Calendar will take place on April 21, 2008


HOUSTON, Texas, March 26, 2008 – Next month, a whole team of professional athletes will come together to promote kindness to animals, pet adoption and the importance of spay/neuter. For the third consecutive year, the Houston Astros will help “strike-out” pet overpopulation by producing a 14-month Astros Player & Pet Calendar! Petco and the Petco Foundation have joined the team and will sell calendars in all of their Houston and Austin area stores, and the Houston Humane Society (HHS) will be the beneficiary of the proceeds.

On Monday, April 21, 2008 Astros players and pets will be on hand at Minute Maid Park for a photoshoot with well-known Houston photographer Evin Thayer, who is donating his time for the project. Players will be posing with their own pets and with homeless animals from the Houston Humane Society. Media is welcome beginning at 1 pm CT and should use the media entrance on Texas Avenue .

Astros Pitcher Dave Borkowski started the project to raise critical funds and awareness for Houston ’s homeless animals. He says, “My wife, Jill, and I have three adopted pets so pet adoption and spay/neuter are very important to us. We hope the Astros Player and Pet Calendar will be a great fundraiser for the Houston Humane Society, we hope it will bring attention to the wonderful animals available for adoption and we hope it will be a great educational tool.”

The Houston Humane Society is a non-profit animal shelter dedicated to eliminating cruelty, abuse and the overpopulation of animals. HHS receives no federal, state, or local funds and relies solely on donations, special events and fundraisers like the Astros Player & Pet Calendar to care for the animals and fund programs. HHS provides a wide variety of animal welfare services to Houston area residents and pets including pet adoptions, humane education and Houston 's only $30 spay/neuter clinic for the general public.

The Houston Astros also remain committed to helping the community. The Astros in Action Foundation sponsors a number of community events during the course of the year. In 2007 alone, the Foundation held the following events: Astros Race for the Pennant, Astros Spring Training Week of Caring, Astros Wives Charity Softball Game, baseball clinics at Boys & Girls Clubs, Fielder’s Choice School Visits, Impact a Hero Day, Literacy Day at the Ballpark, Prostate Cancer Awareness Day, Stroke Awareness Day, the Astros Wives Gala benefiting the Houston Area Women’s Center and more.

The 2009 Astros Player & Pet Calendar will be available early this fall at all Houston and Austin area Petco stores, The Astros Team Store in Minute Maid Park , the ballpark souvenir stores in Corpus Christi and Round Rock and at www.houstonhumane.org.
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If you are interested in adopting one of the homeless animals featured in the 2009 Astros Player & Pet Calendar, please contact the Houston Humane Society at 713-433-6421, visit www.houstonhumane.org or stop in to the shelter – open seven days a week! – at 14700 Almeda Road .

Oprah's Dog Passes Away

Oprah's Cocker Spaniel, Sophie passed away yesterday at the age of 13 from kidney failure. This is Oprah's second dog to pass away in a year. Her Golden Retriever, Gracie passed away in May of 2007 from choking on a ball. This has to be a rough time for Oprah since she has had the dog for 13 years. Although they new Sophie was not doing well there is no way to prepare for the loss of your pet, especially when they have become such a huge part of your family. Our condolences go out to Oprah and her dogs.

Source: www.allheadlinenews.com, Oprah's Dog Dies Of Kidney Failure

Wearing your dog?

Wondering what to do with all that dog hair laying around? Well now instead of getting the vacuum out you can have it spun into a sweater! I am not sure how I feel about this, but it seems to have turned into a new trend. Victoria Pettigrew, the owner of VIP Fibers will spin your pets fur for $9 per ounce. The first thing I thought of was the smell, but Pettigrew states the spinning removes the enzymes that cause the dog odor.

Another knitter, Betty Burian Kirk will make you a coat, sweater, or other accessory for $50-200.

It turns out pet fur is 80% warmer than wool, remember that next time your dog is left outside in the summer!

Well I guess I better jump on board with this trend...gotta go brush my dogs.

Source: blogs.usatoday.com, Sweaters made with dog fur take Internet by storm

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The annual San Diego St. Patrick's Day Parade honored service and rescue dogs this year. Members of the Westie Rescue of California marched right along with elected officials and dignitaries. The West Highland white terriers were marching in style with their kilts and leprechaun hats to help celebrate and show their Irish spirit.

An estimated 10,000-15,000 people attended the volunteer-run parade, many of those in attendance were animal lovers.

Source: SignOnSanDiego.com, Annual St. Patrick's parade a real pet project

Dog's Five Senses

My son recently brought home a project from school on the five senses. It made me wonder about my dog's senses and how they really experience the world differently from us. Dogs have the same five senses as us; seeing, hearing ,tasting, touching, and smelling.
Before reading the article, 5 Ways Your Dog Senses The World Differently From You, by Charlie Lafave I had only known dogs are color blind and have a heightened sense of smell and hearing. I have now learned that dogs can see some color, and have better night vision due to a reflective layer in the eye. So when they are barking out the window and you tell them there is nothing there - maybe you are the one that is wrong.

I knew my dogs could hear better than me, but I learned they can hear 4x greater than I can. So the next time I am calling them to come inside and they don't respond, I guess it's not because they can't hear me.

Dogs can sense touch all over their bodies just as we can, another reason to give them that extra squeeze each day.

The second I walk in the door my dogs are at my legs smelling and sniffing every inch they can. I usually shew them away and don't understand why they do that when I have just gone to the grocery store. Well it has been estimated that our dogs sense of smell is 100,000 times more powerful than ours. So the next time you are at a friends house and they have pets, be a little more patient with the snout attack when you walk in the door - your furry friend is just finding out where you have been.

I have often wondered if a dogs sense of smell is so good, why do they try to eat such horrible things? Well it turns out the smellier the better -dogs differ from us because if something smells bad they will eat it!

After learning about my dogs senses, I have a better understanding of how they experience this world and I hope you do to. I am going to be more patient with my dogs and realize that we don't see things through the same eyes!