Puppy Up!

Today I want to reprint, and share with all of my friends, this blog from Erich Trapp of 2 Million Dogs that concerns the amazing walking which will be going on this Sunday, November 6,  and for many Sundays to come.     I urge ALL of my readers to subscribe to the Puppy Up! news and to sign up for a walk in a city near you.
   
My Mom and I are going to walk down our road, in this wonderful Fall weather and think about how important this work was, is and will continue to be.
Puppy Up!

Love,
Bob



Special Issue - Puppy Up! Walks 2011 

Coming This Weekend to a City Near You

 
If you haven't already made plans this weekend to come and walk with us, here's your chance. We're holding Puppy Up! Walks nation-wide and we hope to see you and your puppers there, rain or shine. For a complete list of Walk locations, registration times, and activities, please follow this link.  Please: for your dog's safety, no retractable leashes at any of the Walks. 

How did it all begin?
In 2007, Luke Robinson and his two Great Pyrenees, Hudson and Murphy, began training for what would become a 2300+ mile journey from Austin, TX to Boston, MA. Their goal? To tell people across the country about canine cancer. Luke was so affected by the loss of his beloved Great Pyrenees Malcolm to cancer that he was determined to make others aware of this growing epidemic. So they took to the road and walked from town to town, sharing Malcolm's story and telling people about the growing crisis of cancer in dogs. As they walked they built a nationwide grassroots movement. Luke's promise to Malcolm was to educate people about canine cancer - one mile, one city, and one person at time. Luke, Hudson, and Murphy fulfilled that promise and walked into Boston June 19th, 2010. By then, thousands of people from around the world had heard of them and were eager and ready to help spread the word.

Their walk from Austin to Boston is chronicled on their blog, and Luke will soon be publishing his book, The Rock, The Ripple, & The River. Their walk was also the inspiration for the Puppy Up! Walks nationwide.  

What started as just one man and his two dogs has grown into the 2 Million Dogs Foundation, formed with the belief that if 2 dogs could walk 2000 miles to bring awareness about canine cancer, 2 million dogs can walk 2 miles with the same goal. 

And so the Puppy Up! Walks began last year. This year we're pleased to have doubled the cities we're in, spreading from coast to coast. Because November is National Pet Cancer Awareness Month, we chose November as the month to hold the majority of our Walks, most of which will be held this coming Sunday, November 6th. 

Our mission is to promote canine cancer awareness and education, and support canine cancer research and comparative oncology.

Be a part of history this November 6th as thousands in cities all across America join in on the promise.

  Luke Robinson, founder of 2 Million Dogs organization and his Fuzzybutts Indiana, newest member of the family, and Hudson, will walk on November 6th in San Antonio, Texas with their Grand Marshal, Odie. The San Antonio evens will take place from 11:00AM to 5:00PM, rain or shine, at McAllister Park - Pavilion 2, 13102 Jones Maltsberger San Antonio, TX 78232. On-site registration starts at 11:00 AM. Come out and meet Luke and his boys for a fun day with a cause! 

Say hello to Odie! Odie is the Canine Grand Marshall for the Puppy Up! Walk in San Antonio. While Odie has cancer, he still enjoys every day. Check him out on FOX 29 KABB.

A Letter from our Executive Director, Ginger Morgan 

I'm often asked, "How do you do it, work tirelessly for the cause and the mission?" And, "Why did you get involved in the beginning?" The ugly truth is, in the beginning, I just wanted to make sure that Hudson and Murphy arrived in Boston safely. And if Luke got there safely, too . . . well, that would be an added bonus.  

I watched over Hudson, Murphy, and Luke from the fateful day they walked into Memphis in August 2008, to the time they took their final steps into Boston on June 19, 2010, and I learned. I thought I knew that one out of three dogs gets cancer in their lifetime and that one in four die from it. I thought I understood the meaning of "Puppy Up!" Then, in 2010, I lost eight close canine friends to cancer, including my very own Pete. The numbers are just numbers until one of your own is one more. When I heard Pete's diagnosis, I wept silently in a friend's arms. I prayed to God that if He was truly merciful, He would take Pete and not make me have to make the decision that every pet parent dreads. 

My prayers were answered.

  Then, weeks after getting the news about Pete, our very own Murphy was diagnosed with nasal cancer. My cries were not silent this time. I wailed, kicked, screamed, and cried on the floor for hours. Not Murphy, my God, not Murphy. It was sick, unbelievable, that Murphy's cancer had been growing while he walked all those miles to raise awareness of canine cancer. There must have been days he didn't feel good. As Luke tells the story, Murphy was always the first one wanting to start the day, always the first one out of the tent in the morning. He never wavered.

  That same strength is what kept Murphy going through eighteen rounds of radiation at CSU. He came back to Memphis, full of life, running in the back yard, taking down my Lilly and holding her there with that big Pyr paw. Sure, there were times he slept more than not, wouldn't eat - or only if I hand-fed him. But there were also times he was all Murphy, and then some, demanding belly rubs, dinner. I had hope. 

Those last months, there were times we danced, times we snuggled, times just shared. In the end, there were times we leaned into one another to just "be." And then time ran out.

  Time is what we have. On our Puppy Up! Walks, we'll be walking in unison across the country in nearly twice as many cities as last year. For some of you this is your city's first walk. You may get the same questions I get. "How do you do it? Why did you get involved to begin with?"

  I can't answer that for you. But personally and as the Executive Director of 2 Million Dogs, I'm asking that whether you join a Puppy Up! Walk near you or you walk in your own neighborhood, take a moment before your walk begins to remember and dedicate each step to the one who was always the first out of the tent, who walked thousands of miles, always smiling, for others... though he suffered himself; the one whose courage and strength will always lead the way because he embodied our rally cry and our song, "Puppy Up!" 

And I have my answer. He is still my reason. Murphy. 

Puppy Up! 

Ginger

Special Thanks    

None of the Walks would have been possible without the unflagging dedication of Ginger Morgan, Executive Director, and all the PUPS from all over the country who have worked so hard for so many months to make these Walks possible. 

       We hope to see you and your dog at a Puppy Up! Walk this weekend!   

2 Million Dogs is a 501 C (3) organization. We rely on the generosity of individuals and corporations to help us in our mission to eradicate cancer through investing in comparative oncology studies.