Stuff Going on

(These are a couple of dogs having fun last summer at a lab fest at Seaview Park)Lab Rescue of Nova Scotia is having their annual auction on June 13th - in Enfield at Shooters - which I'm assuming is a drinking establishment/restaurant. The live auction starts at 6 and the real bidding begins at 7pm. Paddles are $5 and there's no set dinner, you can just order from the menu. I've been to a few lab rescue fundraising events - and the lab rescue auction I went to back in 2006 was a real hoot! Trish - the head of the organization has created a Facebook event for the evening if you care to go and join up.


And not to be missed is the Metro SPCA dog jog on June 21st - it's one of the SPCA's biggest fund raisers - so it's important for everyone to get out and participate - and it's always such a fun day and a great way to spend time with our canine life companions - who wouldn't want to go and hang out at Point Pleasant Park for such a good cause?

There's going to be a dog wash at Vetcetera Animal Hospital on June 27th in aide of Bide A Wile, Pick of the Litter Society and the Metro SPCA - this is an annual thing that's been a big success every year - so if you've got a dirty dog - Bedford is the place you should be on June 27th - There's going to be a bbq, refreshments, and door prizes - for the humans I'd imagine! It's from 10am to 4pm at 1440 Bedford Highway - for more information you can call 832-4818.


For those of you who have been avid readers of the local magazine Furry's - it has unfortunately shut down for good - it's owner Lynne MacKay has moved to Lunenburg and is going to be starting up a new business venture.
That is too bad for local dog owners who enjoyed the content and articles by Adina MacRae and other local writers. We'll just have to satisfy ourselves with "Pet Country" magazine and the NS SPCA newsletter for our dose of local dog writers.

I'm hoping to have the energy to write a separate post about this - but just as I was writing my post about some of our sports fields being off-leash - the city has decided to close Robert Park Drive to off-leash use for at least the month of June. They say that it's to regenerate the grass in the area - but in the advisory they posted on the HRM's web page at http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/index.html - they also say that "complaints concerning dog owners who are abusing their off leash privileges at the Robert Drive off leash sport field."

They also say "Complaints have also been received concerning dog owners who have unleashed their dogs while children are playing in the field. Please remember that children come first. If you arrive at the field and children are playing then please wait until they have left the field before unleashing your dog"

There are like 100 places for children to play in the HRM - and probably 100's more than that - and about currently 13 places to legally go offleash with your dog. That sounds a bit uneven to me. It's another clear cut case of the HRM trying to bully dog owners - and if you feel moved to write to the city because you are a regular user of the Robert Park Drive off leash space - you can email John Charles at parkdog@halifax.ca

A new canine learning centre has opened up! "Ditto's Canine Learning Centre" has opened up in Mahone Bay - owned by Jane Smith, formerly of Lietash - she has new classes starting up in the middle of June - and is also going to be offering puppy classes - which always seems to be a super popular thing that I seem to get tons of emails about from people who are looking to start their new dog-love life off right with. So you should definitely check out her new website and join her facebook group - and sign up for a class too!


Have I mentioned before about "Pugapalooza" going on July 25th from 12 - 4pm at Fetch on Joseph Zatzman Drive in Dartmouth? It sounds like it's going to be the biggest small dog event in the HRM this summer - so start getting read for it now! And it's open for all small dogs - not just pugs - so if you've got a small friendly dog - get your cutest outfit picked out now, and get ready!

I've been a big fan of the "Petstuff on the Go" organization for years. They've always been at most of the dog events I've gone to, selling their stuff - and they've had a table at the Halifax Farmer's Market and one of the flea markets in Dartmouth as well. They are a local not-for-profit pet supply delivery business operated by mental health consumers, specializing in top quality pet foods and products.

The lady who runs the place has been talking about opening a store front operation for the last couple of years - and they've finally done it. They had their "official grand opening" May 29th and 30th - which I missed, because I'm so far behind in my emails - but I still wanted to mention here on the blog about their store - so that I could make sure that people know that the store is open and ready for people to go visit them. They're at 261 Pleasant Street in Dartmouth and their website is at http://www.petstuffonthego.ca/

For a couple more business newsy things - I recently got an email about "Tails of the City" - it used to be owned by Bob Curran - but is now owned by a man named "Robin Hall" - his website is at http://citytails.ca/


There's also a new institutional type doggy day care opening - it's called "Happy Hounds Doggy Day Care" and it's at the corner of Barrington and Young Street - you can check out their new website at http://happyhoundsinhalifax.com/

Lastly - the "Disaster Animal Response Team of Nova Scotia Group" - is putting on some great training in August - it's a 3-day course designed to familiarize participants with disaster situations and provide the background necessary to become an effective emergency animal relief responder. The class includes two days of mixed classroom/hands-on instruction and a long half-day of specialized tabletop exercises. After completion of DART, graduates will have a basic understanding of disaster response for animals and will be in a position to help develop their own local DART teams.

It runs from August 15th to August 17th and tuition ranges from $50 to $125 depending on who you are and it's being held at the Nova Scotia Agricultual College. It sounds pretty interesting! You can check it out at http://www.humanesocietyu.org/workshops_and_classes/dart_novascotia.html - thanks to Kelly at the NS SPCA who's the Education coordinator there for telling me about this great opportunity for us all!