Dog Clothes Horse

Actor Michael Urie, his dog Sprout and other guests celebrate an early doggie Valentine's Day at the Chef Michael's "Be My Valentine" Doggie Dinner Party at Gotham Hall Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010 in New York. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Purina)


Actress and dog owner Elisabeth Rohm poses with Bambi, an adoptable dog from Posh Pets Rescue, during the Chef Michael's "Be My Valentine" Doggie Dinner Party at Gotham Hall Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010 in New York. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Purina)

The event celebrated the winner of the national “My Doggie Valentine” contest, a Brussels Griffon named Ouzo and his owner Kristin Hartman from New Jersey. An inseparable pair, Ouzo and Hartman were selected as the winners of Chef Michael’s national “My Doggie Valentine” contest, which was conducted earlier this year at www.doggievalentine.com.

“Ouzo was my ‘Doggie Valentine’ from the moment we met,” says Hartman. “He is my true partner and I spend more time with him than anyone.”

As part of its overall Valentine program, Chef Michael’s will also donate $7,500 to Adopt-a-Pet.com on behalf of all of the entrants in the Doggie Valentine contest and all of the doggie diners coming to the Feb. 10 party. The donation will help support Adopt-a-Pet.com’s mission to find forever homes for homeless dogs who also deserve to feel loved on Valentine’s Day.

She is as happy in this frothing ocean as a Thoroughbred at the racetrack. She adheres to the surfboard as if her feet are made of Velcro.

How does an Australian Kelpie, bred to be a hardworking ranch hand, do an about-face and become an aimless surfer dude?

Easily, says her owner, Michael Uy. She has many talents, only one of which is herding sheep. The girl also enjoys mountain biking and rock climbing.

"But surfing is her No. 1 love," says Uy, 39, a software program manager in San Diego. "We surf together almost every day after I get off work."

Abbie girl is front and center in a dog-surfing craze spreading along California's beaches. These coastal canines fuel the real-life action scenes in the film Marmaduke, due in theaters June 4 from 20th Century Fox.

One of the story lines about the popular comic-strip character centers on the Great Dane being pressured to enter a surfing contest after his family moves to Southern California. Lee Pace, William H. Macy and Judy Greer are human stars in this live-action comedy in which the dogs speak. Owen Wilson is the voice of Marmaduke, an awkward teen Dane who is a very reluctant surfer up against champions such as Abbie.

Abbie got the nod to be a film extra (and earn $400) when the professional animal trainers who work with the Great Dane that plays Marmaduke saw Abbie surf in a contest, Uy says. Several of the other surfing dogs cavorting in the rough water with Abbie and Uy this particular day also will be extras in the film, which Uy says will show dogs surfing some spectacular waves.

Dog surfing is mostly recreational, but Uy and the dedicated followers bouncing up and down in these San Diego-area waves are taking it to new heights. Five competitions, up from two the year before, were held in California last year, drawing hundreds of dogs and thousands of spectators. The number of surf classes for dogs also is growing.

[Source: USATODAY]

It seems a reversal of logic, to wait all year for the snow to fall and then begin running outdoors. But to these dogs, it is the only logic that makes sense.

Throughout Canada and the United States’ snowy states, mushers are preparing their dogs for the winter dog sledding season. And, once again, a race near Olney will kick the season off for a group of mushers from around the Northwest U.S. and Canada.

The third annual Flathead Sled Dog Days, presented by Snow Action Sports, Inc., is held Jan. 8-10, with veterinarian check-ins the first day and racing on the final two days. In 2009, the event drew only 11 teams because of the recession and high diesel prices, down from more than 20 the first year.

But the numbers are back up again this year with 21 entries, ranging from four-dog teams up to 12-dog teams. Entrants come from the Montana towns Whitefish and Condon, as well as Alberta, Wisconsin and Colorado.

Brooke Bohannon, an organizer for the event, said Flathead Sled Dog Days is held earlier in the year than most other sled dog races, so some racers use it for training. Yet for others, it’s the biggest race of the winter. There is also a race in Seeley Lake the following weekend, which some of Flathead Sled Dog Days’ participants will attend, Bohannon said.

“There are some mushers with a lot of experience and some without a lot,” Bohannon said. “There’s a range. That’s a nice thing to see.”

In past years, there have been only two divisions: six dog and 12 dog, listed this year officially as six-eight dog and 10-12 dog. A team can race with either six or eight dogs in the former division and 10 or 12 in the latter.

This year, Bohannon and her fellow organizers have added a four-dog division, for which there was one entry as of last week: Rachel Wannamaker of Alberta. Wannamaker will race four miles on Jan. 9 and then four more on Jan. 10 for a two-day race total of eight miles.

The six-eight-dog division participants are slated for 25 miles each day, while the biggest division travels 40 miles each day, for a total of 80. The past two years, Bohannon said, the upper division has traveled 100 miles total. Even at 100 miles, the race was a relative jaunt in the park compared to the 1,161-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.

For more information about the race, Snow Action Sports, Inc., or to purchase Flathead Sled Dog Days merchandise, log on to www.flatheadsleddogdays.com or call (406) 471-4081

[Source: Flathead Beacon]

Despite the wintry chill, it really was a dog day afternoon on Sunday when the 5th Annual Times Square Dog Day Masquerade was held in, well, Times Square. Run, don't walk over to HuffPo and check out all the adorability.

About 5 in the afternoon, they started to gather on this central Pennsylvania college campus: The shih tzu brothers Boomer and Otis; Maggie, a lumbering chocolate lab; Cole and Chase, the David and Goliath of the bunch, of course named after Phillies; and the talented Bunsen, the boxer mix who has his own blog and can eat treats he flips off his nose.

Then it was time to send in the homesick freshmen.

"You're cute! You look like my dog," said Kayla Springer, 18, a biology major from Kennett Square, who was fussing over Chase, a border collie/German shepherd.

Thus began one of the "Dog Days," as they're formally called at Susquehanna University, along the banks of the Susquehanna River. Professors and other staffers brought their dogs to school for an hour of social interaction with students, especially freshmen, on Tuesdays during September.

The events, held in a grassy area outside the dining hall, are designed to help students overcome their homesickness - particularly the piece most painful for some: absence of the family pet.


"The fact is that students miss their pets, sometimes more than they miss their families," said Anna Beth Payne, associate dean of student life and director of the school's counseling center.

"You, as parents, didn't sleep with them in the bed every night before they came away to college. The dog did."

To read the rest of the story, head on over The Philadelphia Inquirer.