Suds and Snacks… Dog Wash / Bake Sale Fundraiser!

Pet Harbor is hosting a Dog Wash / Bake Sale fundraising event! In addition to the dog wash and bake sale, there will be BBQ sale (catered by a BBQ restaurant) and a Pet Harbor adoption event located at the nearby Fredericksburg South Petsmart store. To make these events a success, we’re going to need a lot of help!

Here are the event details and how you can participate:

Dog Wash / Bake Sale / BBQ Sale
When: Nov 21 from 11am to 4pm
Where: Wags-N-Wheels, 5101 Plank Road, Fredericksburg, VA
Donations Needed: Lots of towels and baked goods (for humans and/or animals)
Volunteers Needed*: Dog washers, dog dryers, bake sale attendees, helpers to set up and/or clean up.
* Note: Volunteers should plan to arrive NO LATER THAN 10:45am

Pet Harbor Adoption Event
When: Nov 21 from 10am to 4pm
Where: Petsmart, 9751 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA
Donations Needed: None
Volunteers Needed**: Helpers to set up and/or clean up, dog walkers, customer greeters
** Note: Volunteers should plan to arrive NO LATER THAN 9:45am

To donate and/or volunteer for these events, please contact Debbie S. at grayguppy@petharbor.org by Friday, November 20.

Cure for a Case of the Mondays

Submitted by Paulette J.

k-M&P-best

Two friends and I decided to go dog sledding in the Fair Hill area of Maryland, which features almost 6,000 acres of woods with wonderful trails. After our three sled teams had traveled several miles, I decided to turn back. My friends’ teams not only had more dogs, but theirs were conditioned for more miles than my Siberians. They continued on while I headed back for our trucks.

My team had three dogs: my two Maryland-bred Sibes and Slick Willie was running lead. I had adopted Willie from Iditarod musher Wayne Curtis, who is a member of Team Stormwatch. While Willie had never been trained as a lead dog, he has champion bloodlines and had run 1,500 with Team Stormwatch in Alaska. This certainly qualified him for leading my small team.

While backtracking to the trucks, we came to the first “Y” in the trail. Willie wanted to turn left, but I shouted “NO-GEE” which means “turn right” to a trained sled dog. Willie followed my command and turned right. I soon realized that we were headed in the wrong direction and was forced to turn around to the other trail. Not long after, we came to a second “Y” and Willie wanted to turn right. This time I shouted, “NO-HAW” which means “turn left.” Again, Willie obeyed my command and took the left trail. And, you guessed it… it was the wrong way! I turned my team around for a second time and took them down the correct trail. Finally, we came to a third “Y.” Before I could give any direction, Willie STOPPED. He turned around to look at me, like “well, dummy… which wrong turn do you want me to make this time?”

I laughed, threw my hands in the air and just said, “go ahead!” He hit the harness and easily lead my team right back to the trucks, which were just over the next small hill! I immediately made the long-distance call to Alaska so I could tell Wayne Curtis the story and we both laughed about me un-training his sled dog.

Does anyone else have a funny animal related story to share?

The Nature Hound Fundraiser – Doggy Treats for Under the Tree!!!

Pet Harbor is this month’s featured rescue on The Nature Hound’s website. Nature Hound creates all-natural dog treats, made with natural ingredients. There are banana & peanut bones, vanilla mint bones (for doggy breath), and pumpkin ginger bones, just to name a few. They sound yummy enough for humans to eat!

This month 10% of all purchases are donated back to Pet Harbor!! And if you use the coupon code “PetHarbor” at checkout, you can receive an additional 5% off! Please visit the website and see the attached flyer for more details. Information can also be found on the Pet Harbor website.

This is the perfect opportunity to find something healthy and yummy for our four-legged children to put under the tree from Santa Claws. Orders must be placed by November 30th.

Commenters: Have you ever ordered from The Nature Hound before? Do you plan to participate in this fundraiser?

Shelter Dog Becomes Surrogate for African Painted Pups

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium staff were desperately seeking a surrogate mom for nine African painted puppies when they searched the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society‘s North Side shelter and found the perfect match. Honey, a lab mix, had just given birth six weeks prior and was still able to nurse.

This domestic mixed-breed dog is acting as a surrogate mom for nine African painted dog pups at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The pups' mom died a few days after their birth.

“Latching onto nipples is huge for them, much better than latching onto a bottle,” said Dr. Stephanie James, the zoo’s director of veterinary service. “Raising African painted dogs on a domestic dog has not been done before. We’re breaking the mold.”

[...] “[Honey]‘s just been perfect, an absolutely fabulous mom,” Dr. Baker [the zoo's president and chief executive officer] said. “All of the pups are gaining weight.”

It’s too soon to know if all nine pups will survive, but thanks to this local shelter dog they’ve been given a fighting chance.

Friday Cuteness Overload

Submitted by Terra G.

Just hangin' around...

Meet Girl Kitty… Yes, that’s her name. She is 9 years old and her favorite activities include collecting loose change in her food bowl and hiding from her big bully brother, Boy Kitty. She was rescued from a backyard in Mercer County, WV at 5 weeks of age and has been a superb cuddle-buddy ever since.

Want a Tax Break for Owning a Pet?

U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan has introduced a bill that will allow a tax deduction up to $3,500 for qualified pet care expenses. It’s called the Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act.

“Considering that most responsible pet owners stand to spend about $1,700 on each pet per year, such a proposal would help each individual or family support a couple of pets a year in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed.”

Do you support this bill? Why or why not?

Declawing is NOT the Answer

I once had a friend who was owned by a large, beautiful Siamese cat. This friend also lived in a very luxurious home with silk wall coverings. Tia (the cat) took a liking to the walls and would run at full tilt and jump up about four feet and land on the wall with claws on all four paws fully extended, and then slowly slide down. You can imagine the mess this made of the wall. My friend decided that it was time to take Tia’s claws out. He only had the front two paws done trying to keep her from any pain??? Small difference between the pain of two paws and four, but he didn’t see it that way.

Well, Tia came home and recuperated for two weeks. Of course, my friend had to shred newspapers daily because kitty litter was a no-no on Tia’s poor feet. After three days of this chore and seeing his cat in pain, he began to rethink his idea of declawing Tia. But what was done, was done. There was no going back. When she was completely healed, the walls fixed, and my friend very proud of himself for achieving all of this with no mishaps, we watched as Tia took off running at full tilt, jumped four feet up, landed on the new silk wall and proceeded to slide down with her back paws. About halfway down she got stuck and hung upside down for as long as it took to get to the wall and remove her. She didn’t get hurt, though I can’t say the same for the new wall covering.

I guess the moral of the story is: Do not declaw your cat. Not only is it painful and medically unnecessary, but it will not eliminate your cat’s unwanted behavior. Just like a puppy or a small child, it is your responsibility to teach your pet what his or her “toys” are and what behavior is not acceptable. Also, declawing prohibits a cat from climbing. So if a declawed cat ever slipped out of the house (and they can find a way) they would not be able to climb a tree to escape a predator. That could have very fatal consequences for your cat.

Would anyone like to add more reasons why a cat owners should not declaw?

The Harbor Master's Log

Siberian Husky Rescue in Virginia

Monthly Archives: November 2009