All Dogs Welcome

The Animal Foundation of Las Vegas presents the 'Best in Show' Event at the Orleans Arena

02/29/2012

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Calling all Las Vegas area dog lovers, keep the date open.  On April 22, 2012 the Animal Foundation of Las Vegas will present ‘Best in Show.’  This event will be an American Kennel Club style dog show featuring more than 50 of their beloved shelter dogs.  These dogs will be competing both to win over our hearts and for the coveted 'Best in Show' title.  Audience participation will determine the winners.  So be there to vote for your favorites with your applause.  And best of all, the participating dogs will all be available for adoption immediately following the show.  So be prepared to fall in love! 

For additional details regarding this event please visit the Animal Foundation website and click 'Best in Show.'

Want to help with the fundraising in other ways.  There are plenty of opportunities to help or contribute.  Would you like to foster a dog and get him or her ready to compete?  Contact the Animal Foundation's Foster Coordinator and request a BIS Foster Care application.  

In addition to the dog show contest there will be a silent auction held at the event.  Maybe you'd like to contribute an item (or 2 or 3) to be auctioned. The Silent Auction & In-Kind Donations form is available online.  All of the information you need to donate is right there in the form.  But hurry - these donations and commitments need to be received by Monday, April 2, 2012 to give them time to have everything ready for the event.

Maybe you'd like to purchase a VIP Sponsorship table.  Or maybe you'd like to support the Animal Foundation and get some advertising for your organization in the process. The necessary forms and information you need, including pricing, are available online.  Just visit the Animal Foundation's Best in Show page.  But hurry for this one too.  The information needs to be completed and submitted to the Animal Foundation on or before April 11, 2012.

Remember, all proceeds from tickets, sponsorships, donations and the auction will benefit the 50,000 plus lost, unwanted and abandoned animals rescued by the Animal Foundation this year.  This event will be held at the Orleans Arena.  Tickets go on sale March 1st through the Orleans Box Office.

Article cross-posted on the Examiner.com

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Can we save Zena - a Senior Lab who needs us

02/11/2012

 
UPDATED Feb 26:  Zena has done very well with her recovery.  And now that she is well enough to have been re-evaluated the shelter reports that she is approximately 8 years old - not as old as originally thought.  But she is still looking for her home.  If you are interested in adopting Zena  please contact The Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends organization or email  janice@911ruff.org.  

UPDATED Feb 19:  Zena is recovering nicely from her surgery.  She still needs a home that will take her in when she is well enough and RUFF Rescue desperately needs help to cover her medical bills and to care for the remaining dogs they are housing.  If you can help please contact The Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends organization or email  janice@911ruff.org. 

UPDATED Feb 15:  Zena is ill and is at the vet undergoing x-rays and blood work.  She has a kidney infection and may have pyometria. If so she will require surgery.  Once again, RUFF Rescue has lost their funding and needs help to cover these bills.  If you can help please contact The Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends organization or email  janice@911ruff.org.
UPDATED Feb 13: Zena is still looking for a rescue or family to take her in and continue her care.  But RUFF reports that she is moving much better since getting the Rimadyl, has been wormed which has stopped the rectal bleeding, and is eating like a champ.  But she still needs our help.  Can anyone step up for this little lady?
Original Post Feb 11, 2012
This beautiful purebred yellow lab was found lying on the side of the road in front of the Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends organizations facility.   
She couldn't get up and was bleeding from the rectum so they thought she'd been hit by a car.  But apparently she was a dump job! They've named her Zena and have stated that she is 'very old' and has arthritis.  She also has a great deal of hair loss from biting herself due to a flea allergy.  Can anyone explain to me how someone could have a dog this long, let it get in this condition and then just dump it!  And don't tell me finances.  Because if that's the reason there are several ways to turn you pet over to a place or an organization that will  give it the required care.  Anyway  --  the good people at 911RUFF gave her Rimadyl for the arthritis, cleaned her up, and cooked her some chicken and noodles just so she would eat.  And she did!  And she's moving a bit better now.  She will probably need to stay on an arthritis medication such as Rimadyl and may need some other medical attention to deal with the flea allergies and resulting woulds.
The Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends organization (aka: RUFF) happens to be the organization that I blogged about yesterday that is in danger of shutting down due to the lack of funding since the Gulf Oil Spill.  They really did not need to have another needy dog dumped on them like this right now.  We are desperately seeking a Senior Dog Rescue that can step in and help Zena get well and find a safe place to live out her remaining time.  If you can help please contact janice@911ruff.org
 

6 New Breeds to debut at the Westminster Dog Show

02/11/2012

 
The annual Westminster Dog Show airs this Monday and Tuesday, February 13 - 14th.  The AKC has recently admitted 6 new dogs that will debut in their groups during this years competition.  These are not new breeds of dogs. Don't be confused.  Some of them have been around longer than we can track.  But rather they have been newly admitted to the AKC and are now eligible to compete in one of the most prestigious kennel shows in the world.

I've provided a brief description of each of these breeds below but strongly recommend that you watch the show to learn more!

Entlebucher Mountain Dog - Herding Group

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The Entlebucher Mountain Dog is the smallest of the four tri-colored Swiss Mountain Dogs.  This group also includes the Appenzeller Sennenhund, Bernese Mountain Dog and the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog.  The overall appearance of the Entle is that of a strong, compact dog of medium size.  This breed presents with a short, thick coat consisting of tri-colored markings that truly stand out.  The primary color is bright black with symmetrical, pure white markings on the feet, chest, muzzle and blaze.  Shades ranging from fawn to a deep mahogany are seen on the eyebrows and between the black and white markings.  This is a highly intelligent dog that trains easily.  He is as happy to play as he is to exercise his impressive work ethic.  This is an extremely self-assured dog of high energy and intensity.  This is not a breed that is recommended for the casual dog owner.

Norwegian Lundehund - Non-sporting group

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The Norwegian Lundehund is a small, Spitze type of dog that, as the name suggests, originated in Norway.  The breed was developed for the purpose of hunting Puffin (small birds) and their eggs.  This is a small dog with a unique blend of spitze type characteristics assuring that it has a great agility, prowess and range of motion that allows them to easily maneuver in tight places, including extricating themselves from small passage ways during their hunt. Thus making them perfect for their task.  The double coat consists of a harsh undercoat and soft outer coat ranging in color from fallow to reddish brown to tan with black hair tips and white markings, or, white with red or dark markings.  The black hair tips increase as the dog matures. This is an intelligent and playful breed that is very loyal to their people.  They are at times, however, wary of strangers.  But their small size and winning personalities make them ideal pets.

Finnish Lupphund - Herding group

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The Finnish Lupphund is medium sized and displays the temperament of a herding dog with a look common to northern type dogs.  The face of this dog somewhat resembles a cross between a wolf and a teddy bear!  This breed originates from north of the Arctic Circle and was, in fact, developed to live and work outdoors. Therefore it possesses an extremely thick and profuse double coat that is both warm and waterproof.  The color of the coat varies tremendously including white, black, red, brown, sable and wolf-sable.  However each dog should be predominately one color with markings of another color.  The breed was developed from hunting dogs but bred for herding.  They enjoy their work and while herding are very agile, noisy and active.  There interactions with people tend to be calm and friendly, bordering on submissive.  Lappies, as they are also known, require daily exercise and activities.

Cesky Terrier - Terrier group

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The Cesky Terrier is a small, terrier type dog that originated in Czechoslovakia.  It somewhat resembles the Miniature Schnauzer in appearance though it is actually a cross between the Sealyham Terrier and the Scottish Terrier.  It is a rather short-legged yet long bodied dog with a bushy beard, mustache and eyebrows on its elongated head.  It has a silky, wavy coat that can be seen in shades of gray-blue with tan, gray, white, or yellow furnishings or light coffee, drop ears and a natural tail.  Although most pups are born with black coats that change as they mature.  The Cesky was bred to work in packs and is considerably quieter and less active than most terriers.  Though this breed is extremely loyal to their family members they have a tendency to be quit reserved with strangers.  Therefore they should continually be socialized throughout their lives.

American English Coonhound - Hound group

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The American English Coonhound is a descendant of the English Foxhound that arrived in the U.S. and was used in the development of the 'Virginia Hounds.'  It is renowned for its excellent voice, tremendous speed and endurance.   The earlier stock dogs were bred to be able to hunt both fox and raccoon.  The American English Coonhound was developed to be a wide-ranging hunter capable of performing in tougher terrain than were his forbearers.  This is a very strong, athletic and graceful animal.  He is a medium sized dog with a hard, protective, medium length coat that presents in three types: red and white ticked, blue and white ticked and a tricolor tick pattern.  Given that he will be an avid hunter and athlete in need of regular exercise and activity to avoid behavior problems associated with boredom and frustration, this dog should be owned by active, experienced dog owners.

Xoloitzcuintli - Non-sporting group

Xoloitzcuintli was previously known as the Mexican Hairless Dog.  It is bred in three sizes: toy, miniature and standard, and two varieties: hairless and coated.  The hairless variety will sometimes actually have short crops of hair on the top of the head, the feet, and the last third of the tail.  This variety tends to have smooth, tough, protective skin to compensate for the absence of a coat.  The coated variety is completely covered with a short, smooth coat of a dark, uniform color ranging from black, gray black, slate, red, liver or bronze, although white spots and markings are sometimes present.    The 'Xolo' (wow - that's so much easier to say) is native to Mexico where the breed is believed to have existed in access of 3,000 years and has served as both a guard dog and a companion.  the development of this breed is credited to evolution, not intentional breeding for form and function.  Xolo's make excellent companion dogs with their calm and tranquil personality and require minimal grooming.
 

RUFF Rescue needs out help to survive

02/10/2012

 

Guest blog by the Director of 
Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends 
(aka: RUFF)
Follow on Twitter: @911RUFFORG

The Gulf Oil Spill was 22 months ago and “old news” to most everyone but us.  That is when our troubles started.  Many of our large donors lost their businesses or had to cut down just to survive, other individual donors lost their jobs and moved away or moved in with family while others just couldn’t donate anymore to survive.  When the donations stopped, we had over 149 dogs at the shelter.  We went to BP for help.  They gave us 1/3 of what they were supposed to give us and that is how we stayed open 8 of the 22 months.  When we asked them to please give us the amount due to give us time to get our dogs adopted, they stated that we should be glad we got what they gave us and that we should just put our dogs down since most of them are over 5 years old.  In their words, “why don’t you just put them out of their misery and you out of yours”.  

Our shelter is very large and we have adopted all the dogs except 34 and we are trying to keep our shelter doors open long enough to at least find homes for those we have left.  Our power bill, water bill, food costs, etc. haven’t gone away even though we have lowered the number of dogs.  The power, water, phone, internet access, gasoline for the van that we take the dogs to the vet along with auto insurance required by the state, cleaning supplies, medication for the senior dogs which includes medication for joints & arthritis and for the thyroid & diabetic dog, vaccinations, monthly heartworm & flea preventatives, are still there along with our dogs have no way to relieve themselves without being physically taken outside to potty.  We are fortunate that they are all potty trained and they must go out every 4 hours from 6am until 10pm 7 days a week… so we have to have kennel techs to not only take them out but to clean their stalls, feed them and keep clean water down for them and to answer phones & show the dogs to people who come to possibly adopt them.  Dogs are no different than people.  They need to relieve themselves several times a day as well as drink water and eat.  There are 4 kennel techs who are not there at the same time but one is there at all times from 6am to 2pm another from 2pm until 10pm and we have to have them there 7 days a week so they work shifts and change out to always have someone there with the dogs.

We are out of funding.  Our dogs only chance for a home is to keep the doors open long enough for them to get a home.  Since most are over 5 years old, it is much tougher to find them a home. It breaks my heart for someone to come in and enjoy playing with one of them and then saying “well, I’m going somewhere else because this dog is too old”.  We had someone do that very thing last week.  The dog they looked at was so proud to have a chance for a home that she played just like a pup with their 2 year old lab.  She put her front paws and head down with her rear end sticking straight up and played with this younger dog to the point that we couldn’t believe our eyes.  The husband wanted to give her a chance but the wife did not.  Princess would have given them all she had for a chance at this home.  She hasn’t had a chance for a home before this.  

If we could get monthly donations of $10 or $20 per month that will allow us to know how much we will have each month and if there are enough of them, it would allow us to keep the shelter open and we can at least save the dogs we have by buying time for them to get a home and if enough was donated monthly we could take in new dogs as we adopt out those we have and save more.  There is no where for our dogs to go other than the local pound if we can’t keep the shelter open and since they are mostly over 5 years old, they will be put down because they are harder to adopt.

To donate or to learn more visit Rescued Unwanted Furry Friends or follow them on Twitter at @911RUFFORG

 

His Rescue calls him "The Perfect Dog"

02/03/2012

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Information and pictures courtesy of Pawsibilities of Missouri 

Meet Lucky.  His rescue and foster family nicknamed him "the perfect'dog.'  He is a large, male, neutered Lab mix.  He is one of the 10 Adoptable Dogs in Blue Springs, Mo who is desperately looking for a home.   
Hmmmm - so why is he so perfect.  Well let's see.  He's housebroken, obedient, gets along great with kids, dogs and cats, and is said to happily adapt to any situation.  That means if you bring him home and pay a bit of attention to him he will probably be perfectly happy to be there.  He is unlikely to go through much of the stress and confusion that some newly adopted pets go through.  Can I guarantee that - NO - but chance are good.  And even if he's just a little nervous for a day or two, he will settle in nicely.  

What else might you like to know.  Well, is very sweet and playful and loves car rides. He is current on all vaccinations, neutered, and currently on heartworm and flea preventative and is even micro-chipped. He has been fostered with 2 young kids and several dogs and has been fantastic! A foster favorite for sure!  
If you are interested in learning more about Lucky please attend the 
Blue Springs PetCo Adoption Event on Saturday, Feb 04 or 
contact Pawsibilities at pawsibilities@ymail.com.  
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