The 7th Annual Barkin' Bash has been moved to Sunday, Oct 26th, from 1-4PM. It is being changed due to the possibility of really nasty weather. If want to volunteer, show up early and be ready to work. This is a great event and they could use your help!

All this means is that you just get your furry ones in costume a day later... no worries

Some News from the Park...

I wanted to give a BIG DOG BARK out to Duncan's Mom... aka Melissa... who welcomed in a new addition. A baby girl! Mom and baby are doing well and we congratulate Melissa and wish her whole family the best.

Don't forget the time change next week. The parks will be closing earlier. Get your crew out there now because it is going to be a long time before we can get back to the park after work.

This weekend marks the 7th Annual Barkin Bash Howl-O-Ween Event...This event provide dollars to the dog park and beach to help keep them in the great shape they are in. It also provides you and your pooch the chance to get dressed up and have a good time together in the park.

Here is information from the Barkin' Bash website:

The 7th Annual Howl-O-Ween Barkin' Bash will be held on October 25th from 11am - 3 pm. Doggie vendors, canine rescue groups, raffles, costume competition and more are on the docket. Dogs and their owners are encouraged to come in costume. 100% of the proceeds of this event go directly to the Quiet Waters Dog Park and beach for maintenance and improvements! Registration will be open shortly. Park entrance fees are waived during the bash. Don't miss this fun and informative event!

If you want to check out the site, or get more info, here is the link:
http://www.barkinbash.com/

As a follow up...

We want to thank everyone who came out for our Dog Blood Drive. It went very well and we had a great turnout! The EVBB will be having more donation locations coming up, so if you missed the event you can always go to their site

And a little reminder...

Just because it is getting colder does not mean you can stop treating for fleas and ticks. The fleas are looking to get into your house and once there they are really hard to get rid off. Ticks do not die off until there is at least 10 days of a hard frost.

How did I miss this... Japan and the Canine market has taken off. There are over 13.1 million dogs, as of 2006, in Japan. That is insane. I thought that we had a TON of dogs, but that is just crazy. That outnumbers the total population of children 10 and under! Forget video game marketing, we need to market more squeaky toys....oh and tennis balls!

Well, they decided to go after the market. And the idea was one I didn't see coming... Owners are taking their dogs in the city to Oxygen Bars" Yep... you heard me. Oxygen bars!


I have friends who have owned oxygen bars for humans and there are people who swear by the effects that breathing pure oxygen has on the body. I found that it cleared my head, but made me almost feel drunk. I was not into it, but if it is your thing...woohoo. Go For it!

Back to the dogs:

The thought by the Japanese people is that if it works well with humans, it should work well with dogs...This type of thinking has spanned over 30 "doggie oxygen bars" in Tokyo alone. Wow! That is like going to Seattle for Starbucks. They are everywhere.

I know you are trying to figure this out or you are just thinking that this is crazy. The thought behind this is that the city dogs do not get enough exercise, which the bar owners say leads to the lethargy and depression of your pooch. They say that a 30 min session, at a cost of $18, with your dog in a oxygen chamber will create vigor and help your dog be happy. Okay... Sure. I just take mine to the park for a lot less and it makes mine tired and happy. I would rather them sleep instead of being punchdrunk or to think more clearly... They are smart enough now, thank you and I don't need them to become barflys.

If you want to learn more, check it out here

In other dog health news... Do not forget THIS WEEKEND. It is the Dog Blood Drive Event and we still need dogs to be there. We have a pretty good crowd that has said they want to be there, but we need to make sure we have 20+ dogs. Your dog can save the lives of 4 dogs!! We need you and your pooch to sign up, or just show up. It is from 2-4PM at Muddy Paws, on Hillsmere road, right outside the entrance to Quiet Waters Park. If you need more info, please check www.socialpronetwork.com/community.cfm

I will be there and I look forward to seeing you and your pooch there!

A few posts ago I mentioned to you that I was working on setting up a blood drive event with the Eastern Veterinarian Blood Bank (EVBB) and Social Pro Network. Well, I have been able to make it happen. It will be Oct 12th, Sunday, from 2-4pm. I was able to get the kind folks at Muddy Paws to allow use of their location for the event. They are excited to be able to host this event and give something back to the community.

There is always a need for blood for animals that have been injured, require surgery or have other ailments. The original idea was to have a blood drive, similar to the human types, but I found out that it does not work that way. Here are the requirements:

* A healthy canine weighing 35 pounds or more and between the ages of 9 months and 7 ½ years. (A dog may remain in the program until they reach the age of 8 ½ years. Therefore, a dog must be no older than 7 ½ years to make the required one year commitment.) Blood donors must have no history of serious diseases, and cannot be on medication.
* A commitment to donate five to seven times over the course of one year. (Dogs can safely donate as often as every three weeks.)
* Donors must be brought to our facility or to a blood drive location. If you are not in our area, please contact the EVBB; we may be able to direct you to a nearby donation site.
* Dogs must be maintained on heartworm preventive and must be current with their regular veterinarian's preventive health and vaccination schedule.
* Please note that some medications may exclude your dog from the blood donor program. Please contact the EVBB for details prior to scheduling an appointment
* Please note that the EVBB cannot function as a hospital should your pet become ill in any way.

Any dog that fits the above requirements is welcome to show up. There will be treats and gifts for all donors. To sign up in advance or for more information, please check out the info page at Social Pro Network. Once again thank you to Muddy Paws, EVBB, Social Pro Network and everyone involved... Let's make this a HUGE event. The animals need your help and it takes just a little effort to make a big difference. We are looking for 20-30 donors and I know we can make it happen!

I will post another blog here in about 2 weeks to remind you and to update any info

One of the nice things in life is that when you like something, you usually find yourself surrounded by that most of the time. I was sitting back and taking a look at my last 2 weeks since the last time I was here and I thought about my everyday life. It was amazing how many times it involved animals (other than the dog park) surrounding me.

Here is a partial list
1)Turtle Extraction - It had been quite a while since I had seen a turtle up close but I got the chance last week. Somehow a turtle made it to the middle of one of our busiest streets, Admiral Drive. I am not sure where it was trying to go, but hanging out in the middle of this road would end it's journey quick. I saw it when I crested the hill. I was not sure what it was, but when I saw a head pop-up, I realized what it was. I slowed down, opened my door, picked it up, put him in my lap and took it to the other side of the road(I was told you never put them back where they came from because they will just do it again). With him safe and no traffic snarls, I moved on and he crawled off. What was my thank you(not that I expected one)? A stream of turtle pee on my leg!

2)Ice Cream Social -
Now, before you ask...how does this figure into this wonderful list? Well, it was a Ice Cream Social for Dogs! I was lucky enough to be invited to this little gathering and man was it a good time. I took the leash of a very young and strong, mixed-pooch. Anything and everything that looked like, smelled like or was food was in this one's sight. Along with my little sled dog, there were Danes, mixes, spaniels, and all kinds of four-legged marvels. It was great to walk around Annapolis (City Dock Area) and have people ask if just came from a dog show, if we are part of a parade, or just plain cooing! The Danes are great with people(not that the others weren't) and the people went crazy for them. After a short walk, we got some yogurt (I know it is not Ice Cream!) for the humans and the dogs (Thanks, Karen!). The dogs went crazy for these frozen delights, which in turn delighted everyone outside of Ben and Jerry's. It turned into a huge sticky mess with yogurt mixing in fur, ears and chins. I want to go again!

3)The Stalker Cat - There is a cat that lives across from me who has decided it wants to stalk my apartment. It is a friendly cat, well taken care of and one that seems to have no fear of humans or dogs. Every time I step outside, this little stalker comes out of nowhere to rub against me, purr and try to get an invitation to come and play with my crew. I have tried to explain to this little guy that, even though it may seem like a great idea to play with dogs, it is not usually a good match to do so. I am not truly a cat person, I love animals of all types, this guy has won me over. As much as I like this cat, it is just creepy to look outside my window and see eyes staring back at me from the porch across the way. It is like some bad indie horror movie.

4)Deer - They are everywhere I go. They walk in front of me when I leave Quiet Waters, have jumped out at me when I was walking in my neighborhood and have taunted the dogs from the other side of the fence. The ones in Quiet Waters, I can handle. They move on when you come by or they just stay in place and stare at you. But the one that jumped out from the woods had me shrieking like a kid. I know, I am a baby. But when it is late, dark and something that is taller than you, bigger than you, has instruments of pain attached to it's head, is looking pretty pissed off and jumps out from nowhere, I challenge you to be anything else!

5)Bat Man - I got lucky and found a bat in a parking lot... Woo Hoo! I like bats, but I am never quite sure how to deal with them, not that I have been around them that much. I was walking through a parking lot, looked down, and I saw something that looked like a ball of fur. Then I saw the wings. I knew that it was a bat, but I was not sure of whether it was alive or not. As I got down closer, I realized that this one was definitely alive, but not moving. I picked it up with a box top, put it in the bottom of the box and called someone who knew something about bats(I found the numbers on the web). They informed me on how to handle the bat and that they would be by the next day to come and pick it up. Home we went. The little guy(or gal) hung out with me (outside on my deck, with me inside) overnight. After it was taken away, in a VERY COOL bat cage, I was told I could donate and check on him. I did both and I found out the reason the bat was where it was...it was malnourished. They were giving him mealworms and they where helping him out. The cool part was that it was scheduled for take off later next week. One more thing... This story has another animal popping out. When I went to check on it, before they came, I looked in the box and could not see it. I was afraid that something had happened. I turned the box around and it was under the top (see pic) sleeping. I had my hand on the top of that box top and didn't even feel him there. I almost fell over when I saw it there!

As much as I love animals and have enjoyed the last few weeks, I will be working on thinking about other topics... ones I won't get into here... to see if I can surround myself with them as well!

The Hot Spot.... No, it has not been the Dog Park (well, it may have been) but instead it was something that Steve decided to wake me up with one morning that has made my house the spot I have been for the last 2 weeks.

Steve, also known as Mr. OCD (don't know where he gets it from... maybe breeding), had a small spot on his leg where it looked like some fur had come loose. I didn't think too much about it because he had been blowing part of his old fur and it didn't look like much. I cleaned it and went to bed. When I woke up, I had a dog that had licked the fur, the size of a softball, off his back leg. I will not go into detail of what it looked like, but I had trouble looking at it myself. I had no idea what had happened and called my vet. She had a free appointment and I was able to get Steve right in. Side note....Do not try to take a hyper dog on a ride of more than 5 miles when all he wants to do is lick and scratch and you won't let him.... It will feel like FOREVER.

Back to the story...hope you are still with me and not reading about hybrid dogs or something. Anyway, I got Steve to the vet and found out he is allergic to fleas! My dog is allergic to fleas? I have heard stories about this, but I never truly believed it. I felt that a dog being allergic to fleas is like having a calf that is lactose intolerant. How can it be?

My vet looked at the mass of wet fur and nastiness and told me that I should be proud, as it was one of the worse cases she had seen. She was impressed with his level of focus (Oh, if she could see him with a ball at the park!) and his ability howl, wail, moan, talk and growl... all at the same time (while she was creating a new style for his fur coat and he was eating treats). You know what? I am proud of that. We worked hard on those skills by riding by bikers, getting close to cats and just seeing people out and about. It is just nice to have someone else see this and be impressed. It is validation. Of what, I am not sure.

We came home with about 20 bottles of pills (slight exaggeration), some surgical scrubs, cotton, a list of how to administer everything and a full explanation of what Steve had. One thing was missing. That was how much of a joy it was going to be to get Steve to take gel caps. Woo-Hoo! I would have paid good money to not do that. Peanut butter, cheese, bread, etc. all failed.I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and boy was it ever so nice to stick my hand all the way down his throat numerous times (he figured how to work his tongue to get it back up). After 3 days of this, I got it down and I think Steve resided himself with the fact that this was going to happen 2 times a day. Though we did get the pill issue down, we still had the 2AM potty breaks and the 5AM potty breaks to deal with.

I know that dogs don't always have fleas, but everything you have seen in cartoons (Yes, I watch cartoons) with fleas having cookouts, summer shacks and bluegrass concerts on the backs of dogs, while the dog blissfully was unaware, made me unprepared for the news that Steve will never be able to hear the sounds of happy fleas. How sad is that? Instead, his body will reject the idea all together and decide to blow off some fur, cause lesions, create sleepless nights for both of us (thanks to whining and constant bathroom calls), rack up large vet bills and keep the pharmaceutical industry going strong. Stupid Fleas!

When I watch the old time cartoons and see those happy little fleas dancing and singing their little flea hearts out... I am going to yell at my TV because it was all lies! I was lied to and it was all just a lie! Guess you cannot believe everything you see in animation.

One last thing.... In working with EVBB (Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank), Social Pro Network and Muddy Paws, I have put together a Doggie Blood Typing Event for Doggie Blood Donations. I will have some more information on this in the next few days here (once we confirm times and such), but you can get some preliminary information here

Ok... It is time for our first contest here. I am going to ask for your help with a little something for Steve. I need a designer name for him. He is a lab/border collie mix. I used a name generator and came up with "Jacob Bowers". I like that. Sounds like Jack Russell. If you can do better, let me know.

Back in the day, I paid a whole $40 for him at the shelter and he came fixed and ready to go. A girl there said "there are no mutts, just one of a kind designer dogs". I liked the sound of that, so I have used it many times over the years. Looking back on that, I realize I got a great deal on my, then, designer dog. We now have a whole cottage industry of "designer/hybrid dogs" where people shell out money for dogs that years ago were considered to be in the same class as Steve. I guess it only makes sense that in an age where people want hybrid cars, why not hybrid dogs?

I found a resource, http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/hybriddogs.htm , that shows over 300 different combos of hybrid dogs. Each name has a link to the dog-types, as well as pictures, of each. Oy Vey! or should I say, Ori Pei (which by the way is a Pug/Shar-Pei mix). Some of my favorites; Brat (Boston Terrier/Rat Terrier mix), Cheeks (Chihuahua/Pekingese mix), Frengle (French Bulldog/Beagle mix) and last but not least Shocker (Cocker Spaniel/Shiba Inu Mix).

Take a look at the pictures of all of your favorite "hybrids". Who knows? You may have picked up a hybrid without having to wait for 3 - 6 months, with a deposit, to get one or pay the extra price because of the hybrid naming.

Understand that I am not knocking this phenomenon, but find it intriguing. It seems like we are getting away from pure-breeds in favor of something that some of us knew...that having a hybrid can help alleviate the issues from the over-breeding of purebreds such as; hip and eye problems, skin conditions and other ailments. The hybrid dog can also allow you the option to you pick traits you want in a dog while allowing you to be able to say you have a shneagle (Beagle / Schnauzer mix) with a straight face. That last item, in itself, is worth all the money.

The dog park has a ton of shelter dogs, some Katrina dogs (Hey Bailey!!...Steve asked about you yesterday...) as well as hybrids and purebreds. What I have found is that regardless of whether you have a hybrid, a pure-bred or what is affectionately known as a mutt, dog people are dog people. We love our 4-legged friends. At the end of the day we all have our companions that can drive us crazy, make us laugh, comfort us or embarrass us in public, no matter what they look like. So maybe, even though Steve could be considered a Borador, I will just stick with one of a kind designer dog and leave it at that...