Brown Dog Blog

I wanted to let you know about some really fun events that may be taking place in your community.  Get out there and enjoy some of these great events with your best buddy!

August 16th 2008 – 3rd Annual Pet Fest – Missoula, MT

The 3rd annual Pet Fest happens on Saturday, August 16th at Caras Park in Missoula, MT. Pet food distributors, retailers, groomers, vets, rescue organizations, breed clubs, pet boarding and pet adoptions. Wiener Dog Races, Agility Demonstration, Parade of Adoptable Pets and Adopt a Pet Row.

August 16-17, 2008 – Petapalooza – Huntington, NY

Join us for a fun-filled weekend that will include Search & Rescue displays, entertainment, other rescue groups, a Blessing of the Animals Service, kid’s games, a delicious barbeque, huge Chinese auction, dog contests, demonstrations, and hundreds of adoptable animals.
As always, this is an event not to be missed!

August 24, 2008 – PADS Walk & Roll for Independance – Burnaby, BC

Registration Opens 9am, Walk starts at 10am.  Walk and Roll through Central Park and raise money for PADS.  Choose the 5k or 2k route and stick around for a bbq and party in the park. Fun for the whole family with bouncy castles, airbrush tattoos and so much more!

September 6-7, 2008 – Fido’s Festival USA – Woodstown, NJ

 Calling All Dogs and Dog Lovers! Get ready to move those paws! Fido’s Festival USA is proud to present two full days of dog-centered, dog-loving fun and activities for dogs and dog lovers on September 6-7, 2008 at Salem County Fairgrounds, 735 Route 40, Woodstown, NJ.  The festival includes Fido’s Shopping Mall, Friendly Canine Competitions, Celebrities, Health & Training Seminars, Entertainment, Adoptions & Rescue, Kiddie Fun Park, Doggie Play Park, Food Court, and much, much more!

September 8, 2008 – DuPage County’s 1st Annual Dog Fair and Amateur Dog Competition – Wheaton, IL

 The fun takes place Sunday, September 7th at The DuPage County Fairgrounds, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2015 W. Manchester Road, Wheaton, IL. Join the parade to kick off the event at 9:15 a.m. in the parking lot on the northeast corner of Roosevelt and County Farm Road. Let us know you’re coming to reserve your FREE Dunkin’ Donut!

September 14, 2008 – Canine Cruise – New York, NY

Canine Cruise
Sunday, September 14, noon to 3 PM
Circle Line Cruises, Pier 83, W. 42nd St. and 12th Ave.
It’s a 3-hour sight-seeing cruise for small dogs and their people. There’s also fun doggy-centric activities including, pet psychic readings, doggy massages, and cool contests.  This is what your pooch has been barking about! 

 September 14, 2008 – Pet Rockfestival – Worcester, MA

Pet Rock is the largest animal expo on the East Coast. A daylong festival of fundraising fun for the entire family, Pet Rock’s purpose is to promote responsible pet ownership, bring attention to animal cruelty and educate humans on a variety of animal related issues. Proceeds benefit New England based animal welfare organizations. Pet Rock Fest boasts live music, vendors, vegetarian fare, games, prizes, raffles, guest speakers, rides and more than 200 breed rescues, shelters and animal welfare organizations. The 10 Annual Festival takes place Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 [rain date, Sept. 21] from noon to 5 p.m., at Quinsigamond Community College, 670 West Boylston St., Worcester.

October 11, 2008 – Wiggle Waggle Walk – Lake Mary, FL

Franklin’s Friends was created to raise money for the SPCA of Central Florida’s annual Wiggle Waggle Walk, scheduled this year for October 11. This is a “no kill” shelter so any healthy, non-aggressive animal can stay until they find the perfect “forever” home. Please help us help the pets!

November 6, 2008 – The 2008 DogCatemy Awards – New York, NY

This pet-friendly event will take place on November 6, 2008, from 6-10 PM at the spectacular venue, Capitale, located at 130 Bowery Street, NYC. At this Red-Carpet event, an expected crowd of 400 people will screen celebrity-made short films starring their pets. Awards will be presented for Best in Show, Best Tail-Waggin’ Comedy, Best Musical, Best Dogumentary and Best Pawformance. There will be an extensive national media campaign as in 2007, when Rachael Ray, Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky, Richard Belzer, and Katie Lee Joel attended. Join notable celebrities alongside authors, socialites, media influentials and supporters of North Shore Animal League America at this year’s event.

All proceeds will benefit the life-saving mission of the Animal League.

We all know how important it is to keep our dog’s nails trimmed. Untrimmed nails can cause serious problems for your dog. Nails that are too long can hinder your dog’s mobility. Older dogs can also have a tendency to slip on wood or tile floors. Just as in older humans, slips and strains become more dangerous.

Over the years we had given up trying to clip our Guinness’s nails ourselves. Labs tend to have very thick, difficult to trim nails. To make matters worse, Chocolate Labs have dark toe nails, making it impossible to see the quick. After a few painful yelps during nail trimming when Guinness was a puppy, we decided to always let his Vet (or one of his techs) handle this for us. $10 once a month seemed like a small price to pay for this service and Guinness like the people at his Vet’s office. He began to see this visit as a social call so he has never really minded visiting the Vet.

In the last year or so I have been noticing that Guinness seemed to need to go for a trimming more and more often, we are now at once every two weeks and his nails always seem to still be too long.

I found out that this is common in senior dogs. The nails can become thicker and more brittle and the quick gets closer to the surface so that you can’t always trim off as much of the nail as necessary.

We were watching TV one night and saw an advertisement for a product called Peticure. We copied down the web address. The next day we received a pet industry trade magazine in the mail. They also had an advertisement for this products.

If ytou have not seen this, it is basically a dremel type of tool. The difference here is that it does not have the high pitched sound of a regular dremmel, that often frightens dogs. It also has a guard or cover around the sanding drum which should help guide the tool smoothly across your dog’s nails.

It sounded like just what we needed. We waited three weeks for this thing to come and when it arrived we were VERY disappointed. Fist of all our model did not look at all like the picture on the box. It seemed very flimsy and we had ordered the upgraded, more professional model! It was hard to put together. When we finally had it going we realized that the sanding drum did not fit properly over the dremel. It seemed very loose. We went online and watched an insturction video to make sure we had put it together correcctly.

When we were satified that we had done everything according to instruction, we decided to give it a try. Armed with a bag full of venison treat for Guinness, we went to work. Within 5 seconds of operating the Peticure, the sanding drum slipped down off the dremel.

The next day we called the company. To their credit they were very nice. They told us that the sanding drums should fit tightly and perhaps we had a defective model. We decided to send the thing back. They do promise us a refund of the purchase price. We are out the shipping cost both ways.

I found the whole experience very disappointing. There now some similar items coming out on the market. Brown Dog Treasures will be traveling to Super Zoo in Las Vegas in September. We will have a chance to try out many new products. We will keep you posted on which products we think will be beneficial for you.

If anyone else has had an experience with one of these newer grooming devices, please let us know. 

Earlier this evening someone sent me the following prayer in an email. I just wanted to share this with every dog owner. This post will be short because I am going to take the author’s advice and spend some time with my Guinness.

I am your dog, and I have a little something I’d like to whisper in your ear. 

I know that you humans lead busy lives.  Some have to work, some have children to raise.  It always seems like you are running here and there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer.  See the way my dark brown eyes look at yours?  They are slightly cloudy now.  That comes with age.  The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle.

  You smile at me, I see love in your eyes.  What do you see in mine?  Do you see a spirit?  A soul inside, who loves you as no other could in the world?  A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for just a simple moment of your time?

 That is all I ask.  To slow down, if even for a few minutes to be with me.  So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen, of others of my kind, passing.  Sometimes we die young and oh, so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat.  Sometimes, we age so slowly before your eyes, that you may not even seem to know until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes.  Still, the love, is always there, even when we must  take that long sleep, to run free in a distant land.

  I may not be here tomorrow, I may not be here next week. Someday you will shed tears from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills their souls, and you will be angry with yourself that you did not have just “one more day” with me.  Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me. 

  We have NOW, together.  So come, sit down here next to me on the floor and look deep into my eyes.  What do you see?  If you look hard and deep enough, we will talk, you and I, heart to heart.  Come to me not as “alpha” or “trainer” or even “Mom” or “Dad” but as a living soul, and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another’s eyes, and talk.

   I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something profound about myself, or even life in general.  You decided to have me in your life because you wanted a soul to share such things with, someone very different from you, and here I am.  I am a dog, but I am alive.  I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls.  I do not think of you as a “dog on two feet”–I know what you are.  You are a human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

 Now, come sit with me, on the floor.  Enter my world and let time slow down, if only for fifteen minutes.  Look deep into my eyes, and whisper in my ears.  Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true self.  We may not have tomorrow, and life is, so very short.  We have today.

With much love,  Your Dog

(Author Unknown)