The Doggie Park

Well last Saturday, our sweet little Boston Terrier, Midnight has a blast out at the Rockin’ the Dawgs Bark-tober fest that took place in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. The  event had booths were you could purchase things such as bandannas for your dog, have a photograph done of your dog and frames as well as other booths for purchasing things that us humans would enjoy. In addition there were two bouncy houses for kids there, so that young children could stay occupied. There was also a live band playing that actually did a really great job with the music. 

The purpose of this event was to help raise money for a free/reduced priced spay and neuter clinic in Poplar Bluff Missouri. There are so many dog owners that would like to have this procedure done on their dogs however the cost of the procedure prevents them from doing so. This clinic is a much needed addition to the community, so we went and paid our $5 per person to help support the clinic and in addition had a very fun filled day with our sweet Midnight.

Midnight found a few doggie friends to play with while we were there.  He got a little excited a couple of times while trying to play with the bigger dogs, so we had to keep a tight hold on his leash. Poor little guy thinks he is a big dog. While he has grown in size he is still a pretty small Boston Terrier. I will be posting some up dated pictures of him on here when I get the chance to take some. When I do I will have him model his new bandanna that he got at the festival that is customized with his name on it.

I was playing a game on this dog site that I belong to. Well the game had us list our dog’s name with the letters running downward and off each letter we had to name a dog breed. For my dog’s name when I got the letter “T” I did not want to just name Terrier, so I googled dog breeds to come up with a good breed that started with “T”. What I found was a breed I had never heard of before, Taigan. So I decided to offer up all my readers a glimpse into the breed of Taigans.

The Taigan is used for hunting and though it is an old breed these dogs are not recognized by any major kennel club. They are a member of Eastern sighthounds that are found from Northern Africa to China. However unlike other sighthounds the Taigan hunts will all of its senses because of the rugged terrain of its native habitat.

Height Minimum for males: 65 cm

Height Minimum for females: 60 cm

Colors: Black, Black w/ White, Grey, Brown, Yellow and White.

Coat: The coat is long and thick with a very soft feeling. During the winter months the Taigan will develop an undercoat to protect it from the harsh winter cold.

Distinguishing feature: The tail has a ring at the end. The base vertebras in the ring are jointed as to prevent the ring from coming unrolled.

Well the entry into the contest did not quite go as I planned. I promoted this contest all over the place and yet I still did not get the turn out I had hoped for. Never the less those that did enter into the contest are up for votes. Originally I had said that we would pick our top five and then let everyone vote on their favorite to determine the winner. However we only had two contestants enter.

So the following pictures are our two contestants.

Maizy:

Lassie:

If you wish to view the full size picture before casting your vote just click on the picture you wish to view. When you are ready to vote just go to the poll box below and cast your vote.

Cast Your Vote for the Best Dog Halloween Contestant
( polls)

With Halloween coming up now is the perfect time to start shopping for that perfect costume for your dog. As the owner a cute Boston Terrier puppy I have trolled around on the internet in search of that perfect costume for my puppy. I found some great costumes, some are for smaller dogs as he has grown quite a bit since I got him and will not fit these costumes and others are way to big for him. However since our aim is to bring you informative information for dogs, I will share the links with you to these great costumes.

These are not affiliate links, I receive no compensation for sharing them with you.  These are the links that I used when searching on the search engines.

Doctors Foster and Smith:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pet_supplies.cfm?c=3307+11828

They offer costumes such as Ladybugs, Barnyard animals, Shrek, Zorro, Star Wars and a few others.

Wiggle-n-Waggle:

http://www.wiggle-n-waggle.com/servlet/the-Dog-Halloween-Costumes/Categories

These costumes from Wiggle-n-Waggle are cute such as the Black Cat costume, Hot Dog, Pirate, Prisoner, Butterfly, Clown, Ballerina and much more.

Costume Craze:

http://www.costumecraze.com/Traditional-Costumes-Halloween-Costumes-Halloween-Costumes-for-Pets.html

Some of the best costumes for pets are here such as a harem costume, hippie costume, king and queen, bride, Big Daddy Pimp, Rock star, Dracula and much more.

Do not forget that after getting your Halloween costume to enter into our Halloween photo competition. Check out the blog post on it to learn about the competition and how to enter. We look forward to seeing your great Halloween costumes.

To many of us our dogs are just loving companions that we play with and spend time with. To others though their dog is more than this. Their dog is their personal hero who has saved them for a life of stigma as just a disabled person. For those with disabilities who aquire service dogs they notice a different in how people look at them when they are out and about doing normal daily activities. This opens doors for them that would have other wise been closed to them. In addition to all this these dogs are dedicated to helping their disabled companion with everyday tasks that the person can not do on their own.

The following video is an 11 minute long video that showcases a history of service dogs as well as how they are trained. See first hand how these wonderful heroes have made an impact on the lives of their disabled companions. I think everyone should learn what it truly means to be a service dog as well as what these services dogs truly mean to the ones that need them.

Give a round of applause to the wonderful service dogs out there.

Part of owning a pet is keeping it properly groomed. This can sometimes seem like a time consuming task but if done routinely it can go quicker each time that you have to do it. When it comes to Yorkshire Terriers, they need to be brushed daily. This will keep the amounts of mats and tangles down to a minimum thus allowing for less time spent brushing each time. One of the best things about brushing is that you can do this while watching your favorite show so that it doesn’t seem that daunting.

Bathing your Yorkshire Terrier should be a pleasant experience for your pet. So take the time to brush out all tangles and mat that is in your pet’s coat before you bath your pet. This way when you are working the shampoo in you do not snag a tangle or mat with your fingers.  When fixing the water for your pet’s bath make sure that it is a warm temperature. Think along the terms of the temperature that you would use for a human baby’s bath. You do not want to use to cold of water as this will chill your pet nor do you want the water to be so hot that it burns your pet. 

When it comes to the nails, I recommend allowing a professional take care of the nails. This way you do not run the risk of causing your pet any discomfort or worse serious injury.

My family and I love the support we receiving on the Halloween competition that we are hosting here at The Doggie Park. However I have come across a forum post that promotes our competition that really sickens me. The person that posted it, sent me the link to the post and when I checked it out, well lets say it really upset me.

The post was put on a beastiality forum. This blog is a wholesome family blog and being promoted on such a forum is really disturbing. What is more disturbing is the wording that they used.

Quote: ” looking for dog lovers to enter the halloween dog show we’re having. join us it will be fun and you can meet more dog lovers like yourself. here’s the link:
http://thedoggiepark.today.com/2008/08/17/2008-doggie-halloween-competition/
hope to see you there!” UnQoute

Now people please we do not want this blog to be made to look like such a thing. We want to keep this family friendly as for one we are not like that and two our children help us out with this blog. What do you image it would be like when one of our kids logs into the admin area and is look at the traffic that comes into the blog and clicks on a link that shows where the traffic came from and sees a site like that?

If I continue to see more references to my blog or any posts that makes it look like the owners of this blog posted it on porn or beastiality sites, I will be forced to shut this blgo down.  So please refrain from making mention of us on such sites. Thank you for your time and understanding in this matter.

The Doggie Park Staff.

Hey everyone as you know here at The Doggie Park we love all dogs of every breed. Well this rescue for Pugs is working very hard to help these sweet little dogs out. I recently joined an online community called Dogster and my little Midnight got invited to be part of an online group there. Well one of the other members had posted an email that they received from a great Pug rescue that they know.

I read the posted email and to tell you the truth this has really moved me. So I am posting on here that email for you to read as well as the links. Let’s spread the word and help in any way we can.

Dear Pug Friends,

We have had by far the worst year imaginable as have all the other pug and dog rescues. Due to the regressing economy people are giving up their pets every day. We need committed dog lovers to help us help these innocent creatures that to no fault of their own became homeless. Since July 1, 2008 we have taken in an unbelievable number of pugs. 28 to be exact and that is only in 6 weeks. We have taken in 68 pugs since January 1st. We have been very fortunate to be able to find homes for most of the pugs but we do still have some that need homes and we have ran up some unbelievable vet bills. Every pug we got needed some kind of vet work. Most needed all their vet work and we have the following that really broke the bank.

Please pray for Petey. He is only 1 year old and our vet is afraid he may have cancer. He will be going to the specialist this week for ultrasound and biopsy. He will most like incur very large medical bills but if he does have cancer he will be staying with me and be given every chance possible and lots of love.

Casey had two knee and two hips surgeries totally over $1,800 with a nice discount
We had 4 pugs go through mange treatments at ~ $200 each
We had 5 pugs go through heartworm treatment at $350 each
Matilda, Murphy and Mojo all recently had eye surgeries totally over $2,500
Frankie still needs knee surgery at ~$400
Buddy had emergency liver shunt surgery at $3,500
Several pugs still need to be neutered, shots, dentals etc.
We also still have 12 pugs in hospice that have ongoing issues that require vet visits and meds not to mention the amount of food it takes to feed 25+ extra

We really need help with fundraising. I look around at other groups and they have fundraiser and fundraising committees. We also need adoptive homes and we always need more foster homes ALWAYS! I have 12 dogs at my house no because I had nowhere else to put them and it’s becoming hard on the old dogs I have. But we are doing our best.

We really need support in the Kansas City area. We are having our annual fundraiser 9/13 in KC and our annual Pug O Ween in Omaha in October. But we need fundraising on a monthly basis to keep up with the influx of pugs that are going to continue to need help. This I fear is not a short term situation I am afraid it is going to keep on the same track for awhile.

Please visit the following links for MPR about the fundraisers and information about the pugs in need and also a tribute to some very special pugs and pug people. Please let me know if you can help with fundraising, fostering or adopting. Thank you for the support you have given the pugs in the past.

http://www.midwestpugrescue.com/

http://www.midwestpugrescue.com/summer08

http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=10356&CID=170166

Thank you for caring about the orphans!

Lisa Farrell
www.midwestpugrescue.com
www.zazzle.com/Midwestpugrescue*

Spread the Word

We here at The Doggie Park have decided it is time for your lovable dogs to get a chance at the spot light. Halloween is coming up and it is time for a competition. So if you think your dog has what it takes to be a contender then email your dogs pic over to us and compete for a chance at the title.

Entry Deadline to enter is : Tuesday September 30th 2008.

On Wednesday October 1st 2008: we will go through the entrants and pick our top 5 to compete for the title.

The Top 5: The top five will be placed on here in poll style so that the world can vote for their favorite.

The Winner: The dog with the most votes by by midnight on Saturday Novemeber 1st will be announced the winner.

What we are looking for: Dogs that are dressed up in unique costumes. So be creative and have fun with your dog. Use props if you want to. You can even be posed in the photo with your dog, so long as we can see your dog clearly.

Photos: They must be in jpeg format and attatched to the email that you send us. Try to send us the full size, don’t scale it down. we will do that ourselves for the blog. In the email please tell us about your dog. Name, Age (if you know it) Breed ( if mixed say so) and tell us what your dog likes to do, why you love yoru dog and stuff such as that.

Award for Winner: Your dog’s picture will be featured in a blog post just for your dog and the information that you told us about your do in the email will be placed in the post. This post will announce your dog as the winner.

In addition you will recieve an award certificate as competition winner. And a small doggie treat of some kind.

So get those emails to us with your dogs picture at the email address: thedoggiepark@yahoo.com

Make sure you use a valid email address as this is how we will correspond with the top 5 and then the final winner. We will need the winner’s mailing address for purposes of mailing the award certificate and doggie treat. You do not have to give us your mailing address until we have emailed you announcing you the winner.

Good luck everyone and we look forward to seeing your dogs.

The Boston Terrier has a sweet temperament that makes them a great family pet. Normally a very quite dog that rarely barks or makes any sounds, you do not need to worry about that annoying yapping or constant barking that is normal to other dog breeds. I took my Boston Terrier, Midnight, (who was 2 ½ months old at the time) on a 870 mile trip that took me 19 hours to complete due to traveling with three small kids. Midnight rode in the front floor board of my truck safely secured in his pet carrier. To my amazement my 2 ½ month old puppy did not make a sound the whole trip.

The Boston Terrier is seen as a gentle tempermented dog that is perfect for children. In fact they are very forgiving of the things that little children can do. My 3 year old is very attached to Midnight and just loves to carry him around. In some instances he gets a little rough when inspecting his puppy’s ears and mouth. Midnight seems to take all this in stride and has never shown any signs of aggression with my 3 year old during all this.

For those with other pets of the non canine breed, Boston Terriers are reported to getting along well with these other pets. However male Boston Terriers may be aggressive at times with other male dogs. Depending on the dog I guess because my Midnight loves playing with other dogs. It does not matter if it is a female or a male dog; he just loves having a playmate. Now Midnight seems to not do well with butterflies or small birds. Any butterflies or small birds that land in the yard he stalks and kills. So I would recommend keeping an eye on your Boston Terrier to see how his/her temperament seems to be with other animals both canine and non canine.

When it comes to the level of playfulness that your Boston Terrier will have, Boston Terriers are known to be very mellow dogs. They spend most times being mellow when they are given adequate amounts of attention. Now leave your Boston Terrier alone for a couple of hours and you will see a major spurt of energy and he/she will try and love you to death. They do not seem to do with isolation very well, so to see more mellow times and few rambunctious times you will need to give adequate attention every day.

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