This is one of the two days each year that I think it’s okay to torture your dog by making him wear a costume/clothes (the other is when you’re taking his picture for your holiday card, of course!!).  I am in favor of this humiliation and degradation for two reasons…

1)  I spend the other 363 days of each year catering to every whim (real or imagined) of my precious pooch - he can humor me for two freakin’ days!

2)  Dogs in costumes are just SO DAMN CUTE!!

Here’s a fun montage of some first class Halloween torture…

And if you’ve never been to the site “Bee Dogs” you absolutely must check this out too….from the Bee Dog site: 

Your daily intake of beedogs has been critically low.  Click here or you will die.

Make sure you see ALL of the Bee Dog pictures!  If you make it to the end you can even subscribe to be alerted when new Bee Dogs are added!!

The ASPCA and other animal protection groups warn that Halloween can be dangerous to your pets.   Check out this article for tips on what to watch out for and how to keep them safe.

Send me your doggie Halloween/costume pics and I’ll post them in the blog for all to see!!

I just found out about a fundraiser for the Carroll Gardens dog run being held in DiMattina Park in Brooklyn this Sunday.  From the organizer:

Join us at the dog run for cider and donuts, a dog costume contest, dog games, photo booth and raffle. Costumes are optional but if you dress up your doggie you may win a prize for Best Costume, Best Handmade Costume, Cutest Costume or Scariest Costume. $10 suggested donation, all proceeds go towards improving and promoting the dog run. Sponsored by Monster Mutt, Mobile Mutts, Walk This Way and Hope Vet.

Miro’s Run is located in DiMattina Park, on Hicks Street between Rapelye Street and Hamilton Avenue (next to the baseball field). It was the first official dog park in Brooklyn, established in 1997.

For contact information, check out the full posting on our calendar.

They may not be able to show off their duds on the subway…but that doesn’t mean they can’t rock NYC Subway apparel.  The New York Transit Museum Stores are now stocking a new subway-inspired clothing and accessories for dogs.  Dogs now have an opportunity to sport NYC Subway line logo T-Shirts, Hoodies, leashes and collars.

Subway-themed dog merchandise is available at the New York Transit Museum retail stores located, in the Museum, at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn Heights, and at the Museum’s Gallery Annex & Store in Grand Central Terminal. You can also shop online.

Check out Max the Wonder Puggle sporting a subway themed T…

Enter your pet in FEARnet’s Halloween Pet Costume Contest by Nov 3rd for a chance to win $100.  Here’s my favorite entrant so far…

Think your dog is cuter/scarier?  Just grab a camera, snap a picture of your pet and upload it.  The community will vote and the winner will be crowned the ’Pet To Die For’.

Oscar says, Happy Halloween week!!

Wow, we had such a fun dog-filled weekend!  First, we went to a Brussels Griffon Halloween meetup at Animal Haven in Soho.  Oscar wasn’t very happy about his costume, but he was a pretty good sport about it.  And I think we can agree that he makes a killer giraffe!!! 

As if that wasn’t enough fun for one weekend, we also got to attend a Delta Society reception.  Oscar received a special “thank you” for all his hard therapy dog work in the form of a doggie cupcake, which he eagerly scarfed down, and we got to meet a whole bunch of other Pet Partners teams.  We got to see our friend and inspiration, Mr. Gruffyd Babayan- Brussels Griffon therapy dog extraordinaire and we even met a therapy pig!!

Finally, on Sunday we went to D is for Doggy to celebrate our new friend Cuba’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Cuba!!  We had a great time meeting some of our online doggy friends in person and making some new friends too!    

I found an interesting blog/post on Ephemeral New York.  Their mission is “Chronicling an ever-changing city through faded and forgotten artifacts” and they recently decided to chronicle pooper scooper signs/laws in the 5 boroughs. 

I didn’t see any other dog-related tributes, but lots of interesting NYC tidbits for all you history buffs!

I don’t know why I’m telling you guys this, since Oscar already has this contest locked up with his uber-cute mug and his amazing tissue trick….but the Today Show is looking for America’s Favorite Dog.

Register online or by mail before November 6th and your dog could be one of 12 semi-finalists who will get to come to NY and share their talent or story live on the Today Show plaza. Viewers will vote for their favorite dog, ultimately narrowing the pool down to a final three.

In December, the three finalists will come back to the plaza, have a photo shoot in the December 3rd issue of US Weekly magazine and one victorious dog will become “TODAY’s Best In Show” and receive a grand prize package.

 Good luck!

A local shelter in Queens has come up with a creative way to encourage donations.  For a small ($25) donation to the Animal Shelter of Queens, you can have a litter box or a dog kennel lined with pictures of your LEAST favorite candidate!

Just think about how good you will feel knowing that you helped unfortunate animals AND that a picture of your least favorite candidate is being urinated on by one of those unfortunate beasts.  Talk about a win-win!

Oscar had a great time at the My Dog Loves Central Park Country Fair on Saturday.  Our favorite part of the event was the mini-agility course.  For a $2 donation, we got 5 minutes of 1-on-1 instruction and got to run the mini-agility course a bunch of times.  Of course, Oscar ROCKED the agility course, here he is jumping like he’s a stallion competing in a steeplechase…

Oscar blew away the competition -  he’s a natural!  He did have two agility lessons before an unfortunate toe injury side-lined him.  I think we’re going to have to sign up for another class. 

Here are some more pictures of Oscar being cute at the Fair…

Were there any other dogs there?  (You might be asking yourself….since all of the pictures are of Oscar.)  But yes, there were TONS of other dogs…a good time was had by all.

Oscar’s 21st birthday is coming up (so, he’ll be 3 in people years) and what better way to celebrate his 21st than letting him crack open his first doggy beer??

So, I was excited to find Happy Tail Ale (non-alcoholic beer for dogs) made by the Dog Star Brewing Co. 

Unfortunately, their website says, ” We have decided to put operations on hold for now and are not selling product at this time.”  Uh-oh…that doesn’t sound good…I searched around, but couldn’t find any info on WHY operations are on hold??  Does anyone have the scoop?

Oh well, maybe we’ll have to celebrate Oscar’s 21st with strippers and gambling instead!