Join TIME’S UP for a dog-friendly bike ride starting in Union Square next Saturday, May 17th!

The Doggie Pedal Parade is a bike ride that highlights green transportation with animal companions and animal rescue and adoption.  The ride route features animal rescue shelters and animal friendly locations, as well as several East Village community gardens.

 Check out the TIME’S UP website for more details.

I think we would need more than a week to get Oscar bike-ready…I tried to put him in the special dog-friendly shopping cart basket in Bed, Bath and Beyond and he totally freaked and jumped out.  However, now that Oscar has mastered canoeing, maybe we should tackle biking next!

Do you think it’s strange that we’ve already had Oscar immortalized in art several times??  It does seem a little excessive, but every time I look one of our pieces of Oscar-art it makes me really happy…and isn’t that what’s art is supposed to do? 

I commissioned Josh’s step-sister (Kaetlyn Wilcox) to create this amazing personalized work for his birthday last year….

All of the dogs in the painting are friends of Oscar’s…I just emailed her some pictures of Oscar & his friends and asked her to do something with a Dog’s Playing Poker theme.  She did a truly amazing job and added many personal touches…the poker hand is the hand that won the World Series of Poker in the year that Josh was born, the painting on the wall (inside the painting) are molecule balls, etc.  We truly cherish this painting.

If you would love to have a one-of-a-kind piece of art featuring your dog, but can’t afford big bucks for an elaborate personalized painting, there are other more affordable options as well…

Josh found an artist (Amelia Makes Art) who creates miniature replicas of your dog out of felt.  You can get your dog a “Mini-Me” for ~$145. 

Oscar always wants to play with his Mini-Me - he stands on his hind legs and paws at the air in L’il Oscar’s direction, even though I keep explaining to Oscar that it’s ART and not a toy.  Silly dog.

A local Brooklyn artist has offered to draw your dog for free, all you need to do is send a picture via snail mail.  The dog drawings posted on his/her Flickr site are pretty impressive.

Or you can take a picture that you love and frame it in an artistic way.  We framed this picture that our friend took in a document frame to give it a more polished look…

We’d love to hear about other dog art or artists…must go now…every time I try to start typing on my laptop Oscar sticks his head on top of the keys and nudges my hands…someone wants some attention!!  Blarg…jkjjkl;

Enter your dog as a contestant to become the new spokesdog for Lees carpet and help the Delta Society therapy dog organization at the same time!!  For every entry, Lees will donate $1 to Delta Society! 

The winner of the last Muddiest Buddy Contest, Bob, is retiring and his title of official Lees carpet spokes-pet is up for grabs. If you think your pet has what it takes to represent the Lees brand, known for its exceptional durability, incredible stain repellency and 25-year wear warranty, submit a picture of your pet at his or her messiest. Entries will be accepted from May 1, 2008 until June 15, 2008. Starting on June 18, 2008 we will have five finalists online for voting. Be sure to check back and make sure your favorite Muddiest Buddy wins!

Click Here to Enter Your Pet Now!

The winning pet-owner will receive $5,000 worth of new Lees carpet and a year’s supply of Purina® brand pet food. Four runners-up will receive $250 Gift Certificates to Carpet One Floor & Home. For more information on the Lees brand please visit RelaxItsLees.com, CarpetOne.com, or your local Carpet One Floor & Home Store. For more information on Purina products and pet care, please visit Purina.com.

For every qualified entry, one dollar will be donated to Delta Society. Established in 1977, Delta Society is the leading international resource for the human-animal bond. Delta Society has been the force to validate the important role of animals for people’s health and well-being by promoting the results of research to the media and health and human services organizations. Delta Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to improve human health through service and therapy animals. For more information on Delta Society, please visit their website at DeltaSociety.org.

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Staten Island Advance reported that a recent “Senior Pet Adoption Month” campaign was a success with 17 dogs and cats (ages 5 years & up) adopted by residents of Staten Island in March.  The adoption campaign was run by the Animal Care & Control (AC&C) of NY.

I also found a really great article called 10 Reasons to Adopt an Adult Dog.  They are selling themselves short because they really give 11 reasons…bonus!! 

Puppies are so cute that it’s easy to forget how much trouble they are!  Now it’s true that Oscar was ridiculously frickin’ cute when he was a puppy, but he was also quite a handful.  I didn’t sleep for days after we brought him home…he cried all night if we left him alone, he wasn’t house-broken so we couldn’t let him sleep in bed - I finally ended up sleeping on the floor with him.  The house-breaking seemed to take forever…there was chewing, biting and even poop eating….ugh.

So, anyway…kudos to all of the people who don’t get swept up in puppy-mania and realize the benefits of adopting older pets.  We hope all of the newly adopted pets in Staten Island are enjoying their new families!!

We’re always on the lookout for new innovative dog products and we’ve found a few that we thought were worth sharing…

First is the LED Dog Tail Communicator- poor Oscar’s little stub of a tail wouldn’t be very conducive to this product, but it’s a pretty cool idea.

We also like Mutt Muffs…how cute would Oscar look in these???  Although I can’t imagine that he’d be very psyched about the plane ride that went with the dog muffs…

Dogmatic Products, Inc. brings us the Snackshotz Treat Launcher.  It looks a little cheesy in the video link, but they have a pretty cute interactive game.

Finally, we have to give two thumbs (or paws, as the case may be) down for the Dogone - Dog Gas Neutralizing Pad.

No, this is not a joke…the product is now discontinued, but Flat-D Innovations, Inc. (the #1 name in flatulence odor control products - according to their website) was actually selling special dog “thongs” to help control your dog’s “gassy discharge”.  Ya gotta love the product description:

The Dogone - Dog Gas Neutralizing Pad is a comfortable and least intrusive means for deodorizing gassy discharges in a thong design. This will eliminate pet odors and dog odors from flatus or flatulence.

Uses our famous activated charcoal cloth (washable and reusable)! A starter hole is placed in the cloth in order to help you locate the suggested tail hole. Carefully measure tail and cut-out hole to proper size. Elastic straps are used for flexibility. Suspender clips are used to make the garment totally adjustable. They also provide quick release for allowing the dog out to do his business.

Patent Pending

Hey, I only promised Innovative products…nobody said they were going to be GOOD ideas!  Please share any other dog-related innovations you have come across!

Thanks to our feline friends at Cat Sitter in the City for the great suggestion to Take a Pet First Aid Class This Summer! 

Classes held by the American Red Cross are going on all the time at their W 49th street location and other locations throughout the greater NYC area.  The 4-hour class costs $70 (including the $10 online registration discount).  Check out their website for details.

What a great idea - celebrate Be Kind to Animals Week with your children at the Animal Haven shelter in SOHO!