Well, my goodness, get ready for Saturday. You can't make this stuff up. Our pal Sara Craven with Great Dane Rescue of North Texas says the annual Danefest is expected to draw tons of big dogs -- literally -- to Dogs Unleashed Doggie Daycare at 2740 Keller Hicks Road in Keller. It's an INDOOR/outdoor festival.
"We expect 100 Danes, which is, of course, over 10,000 pounds of dog in one place," she says.
(I have some experience with Great Danes -- about that time of day it may be 10,000 pounds of sleepy dogs looking for a couch!)
And if you have a couch, what else do you and your Great Danes need? How about a 32-inch flat screen HDTV? Yep, they're raffling one off at $5 a ticket. (Check out details at www.danerescue.net.)
There'll be snacks, merchandise and dogs. The festival is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 per person, $30 for families of three or more.
Each year Danefest turns out to be a "family reunion" for people who have adopted Great Danes through this relentless rescue group. It's a reunion and an expression of appreciation.
Oh, yeah, that dog in the hat is Ozzy. Looks puzzled, doesn't he?
FROM WANTED TO UNWANTED: We got an e-mail from our rescue pal Beverly Fyfe. She'd gotten it from someone else. And it's one of those things that amounts to a "keep your eyes open" alert.
Here's the text from a woman who was in the area on business Thursday night and is going to be out of town for a funeral this weekend. But her heart was touched by what she saw. She writes:
"I was down on Cadiz Street at Industrial, downtown Dallas, earlier this [Thursday] evening doing my weird job. I had to stop at Frank's Beer & Wine and I noticed there was a fair-sized dog there, her ribs showing a bit. She was solid light tan and looked like a shepherd/lab mix.
"I had nothing to feed her and she would not come to me. When I sat down near her, she just went the other way and laid down further from me. I was in a rush, but I did ask the man in Frank's about her and he said she hung around there a lot. Her mother was killed when she was younger and she really needs a home.
"By the time I came back out, she had gone somewhere around the railroad tracks. It was dark by this time and, being a lady alone in that area, I did not want to venture alone.
"Maybe some kind soul would want to go to try to find her in the daylight this weekend when she is eating scraps off the parking lot."
I don't know, folks. Maybe this dog was one of those pups adopted by a homeless guy who couldn't even take care of himself. Maybe she came out of a nearby neighborhood and her family decided she wasn't worth reclaiming.
Maybe she is put there as a test of our souls. You never know.
ISN'T THIS A CUTEY! This little dog has dodged a bullet and now needs some quiet, calm help. Our friend Sigrid Mureen with Sheltie Haven says the dog has been rescued from the Glen Rose shelter (thanks to the good and decent people there) and has been taken to a vet in Fort Worth.
“Low and behold, he’s got heartworms,” she says with a certain amount of sarcasm. After all, finding a rescued dog with heartworms around here is like running a dog through a pasture and finding ticks. It’s just gonna happen.
So, Sheltie Haven is looking for a foster home in Fort Worth for four to six weeks for this pup. After the dog gets the OK from the FW vet, he’ll be moved to East Dallas for fostering -- unless, of course, someone decides that this beautiful dog would make a great friend on a permanent basis. To either adopt or foster, call Sheltie Haven at 214-327-1102 or e-mail [email protected]. (Sigrid didn't ask for this, but heartworm treatment isn't cheap, so even if you can't handle the dog, maybe you can offer some financial help.)
Remember, when you foster during heartworm treatment, you have to keep the dog still and calm otherwise you put its life at peril.
We’ve been through a heartworm fostering situation -- we’d never have made it without a comfy cage for the dog and a TV in the room with him. He was so patient. Dogs will be that way if you just spend some time talking to them and telling them how great they are for putting up with humans.
