Holiday Happenings

The calendars are here! WAG's first Community Pet Calendar contest was a tough race to call. There were over 60 entries and most of them were pretty darn cute. But the judges picked 12 that grace the individual pages, plus a collage of all the entries on the back.

Everybody needs a 2009 calendar, why not make it one of ours? You can find them at Tractor Supply in Monroe, Boss Bros Country Store in Loganville, and many local veterinary clinics. If you can't find one, drop us an email at wagwalton@yahoo.com and we'll make sure you get one. These are part of our year-end fundraiser, so for $10 you'll get a great calendar and help animals at the same time!

Speaking of year-end, Santa Claws is only two days away. Saturday, December 6 is the big day, from 10 am to 2 pm at Boss Bros, so get your pets ready for their portraits. Get one photo, or a whole assortment of photo sizes.

As for me, I've put in my order with Santa for plenty of smoked pig ears. Let's hope he remembers!

'til later,

Buddy

Watch those holiday pet treats!

It's hard to believe the holidays are just around the corner. Pets are peeking at catalogs, making their wish lists. Soon the kitchen will be filled with all sorts of yummy smells.

With all that good food on the horizon, here's one bit of caution:

Watch your pet's food intake this time of year. It's awfully tempting to fix your pet their own Thanksgiving plate of turkey meat, crispy turkey skin, potatos and gravy, stuffing, and the works. But these treats can be deadly.

Vet clinics are overrun at the holidays with cases of pancreatitis, a stomach inflammation caused by, among other things, eating too much fatty foods. Well-meaning owners scraping table scraps into Fido's bowl are the main cause. These can be deadly treats. Pancreatitis is expensive to treat and painful to experience.

And while not every animal comes down with pancreatitis, gulping down fatty meals can still lead to upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea, or bloat. Not exactly a recipe for happy holidays!

If you want to give us a special dinner experience, how about our own turkey dinner made by a pet food company? We get a special taste of the holidays, but won't have the digestive rumblings later.

And I gotta be honest here - this is not knowledge I feel good about passing on to you. Because nothing makes a dog (temporarily) happier than a big bowl of fat, greasy food!

Apologies to my fellow canines.

'til later,

Buddy

And now..

I'm about "festival-ed" out. Between Fest, Loganfest and Monroe Fall Fest, the last couple of months have been busy. But we had a lot of fun.

Now we're looking forward to a couple of other things - Home for the Holidays adoption event on December 6 at Boss Brothers Country Store in Loganville. It's scheduled the same day as Pet Portraits with Santa Claws, so bring your pets out and then find them a new friend to take home!

Our first Community Pet Calendar will be in stores soon - 12 great winners have their own page, everybody else is featured in a photo collage. Judges had a tough time deciding because everybody was cute and appealing in their own special way. Thanks to all the entries. Get those cameras going for next years calendar contest!

It's been a good year for the animals. So far we've given second chances to over 100 cats and dogs that were running out of time in the animal shelter. Nearly all of them have gone onto new homes. Those who are still waiting would love to get their own special place before the year is out. Check them out on www.Petfinder.com.


'til later,

Buddy

Fall-ing

Can you believe how fast fall is falling? We're already midway through October.

Loganfest is Saturday, October 18, and we'll be there with a pet show. You can also look for us at Monroe Fall Fest on October 25 in downtown Monroe. Bring your pets out for an afternoon of fun.

I'll Wear Your Fleas If You'll Wear Mine

This is doggy-devotion personified - an owner wearing a coat made of her pet's fur.

It's true - some owners have actually collected dog hair and made it into jackets or sweaters. Owners of Chihuahuas need not apply.

I'm not sure why this is appealing. Humans are strange creatures!

B.

Once More, For Effect

I should really read the previous posts, huh? Seems I told you twice in a row about the calendar contest and Boss Brothers Pet Fair. Oh well, it's just THAT good.

How about a happy story instead? Check out Trooper, a dog we got out of the Walton County shelter. His before photo is a mess.

Here's the after version.

Barbara, a groomer at the PetSmart in Conyers, worked on Trooper for THREE HOURS! He had severely matted hair, twisted and pinching his flesh. Some thorns embedded in the mats had even worked their way into his skin. But when Barbara was finished, Trooper was prancing around the room, thrilled to be rid of that ugly, heavy mess of fur. Way to go Barbara!

September news

Hey everybody!

Is summer done yet? The calendar says so, but the heat hasn't caught on yet. I'm looking forward to a few crisp fall days.

WAG has a few things going on this month.

First, the Community Pet Calendar contest is underway. Send in your cute pet photos and watch your pet become a Pet of the Month pin-up star! The deadline for entries is September 30, so get those pictures in!

On September 27 we'll be at Boss Brother's Country Store celebrating their Pet Health Fair. Paradox Spay Neuter Clinic will be doing a vaccination clinic, we'll have a pet show, games for kids, pets for adoption, and plenty of pet-related information from reps of companies like Purina and others.

Oh, a side note - TV fans, check out "Dogtown" Friday nights on the National Geographic Channel. It's an awesome place in Utah that rescues thousands of animals each year. An interesting and inspirational show.

That's it for now, my evening Milkbone awaits. But there will be more soon!

'Til later,

Buddy