Pup Abandoned in Fort Greene Park

According to the Fort Greene PUPS, a seemingly sweet young Pit Bull was abandoned in Fort Greene Park yesterday. She was found tied up at the Visitor's Center and was taken to NYC ACC as all the other local shelters were full. She is not yet appearing in an online search of the dogs at ACC, but she should be available soon. Fort Greene PUPS thanks to the individuals who stepped up and got involved because it's always heartbreaking to come across a dog that's been abandoned.

This picture of the dog was taken by the kind person who took care of her.

While I can't speak for her disposition, she is a gorgeous little pittie in need of some nourishment. The ACC is packed full with dogs in need of homes, many of them pit bulls. She won't last long at the ACC before they euthanize her, so if you're considering adopting please go meet her ASAP. It would be terrible for such a beautiful girl to be put down.

Special Needs Dog in Need of Forever Home

Hope's information came to me from a television production company that is producing a new show for Animal Planet about dog rescue and adoption called Last Chance Highway:

Hope is a very calm Lab mix. This poor girl had been struggling on her own as a stray for so long that she might never have had contact with people. The moment she was rescued she just reverted into herself and showed no signs of being social. She has NEVER shown signs of being aggressive towards people or other animals, but she is very shy and will need a family that is willing to be patient and help this poor girl break out of her shell. Our rescuer got Hope vetted and spayed and found out that remarkably Hope was heartworm negative! A wonderful foster mom has taken her in so this loving dog gets the and attention she needs. Now several months later, Hope looks like a completely different dog and she is 100% healthy. Hope's tail has started wagging and she is slowly, but surely building up a trust in people. Hope is an incredibly brave and resilient dog and she just needs a loving family to help her become more social.

We have rescued a "special needs" dog named Hope and we are hoping to find her a loving family that would be willing to take on her shyness and help her break out of her shell and become a beloved family member. Hope was rescued down in Mississippi and she is currently there in a foster home where she is being house and crate trained and interacting with other dogs, people and kids. Because of stricter spay and neuter laws and the overall better treatment of dogs and pets, our rescuer only adopts dogs to families in the North East through the rescued dog transport service PETS, LLC. The transport service drops of newly adopted dogs to families in PA, NJ, NY, CT, and NH.

UPDATE: Hope has found her forever home in New York!

Brooklyn Mutt Show Wrap Up

What a great weekend at the Brooklyn Lyceum! Even with all the rain, tons of mutt families joined us to celebrate all things dog and raise money for BARC (I got my BARC t-shirt, did you?).

I loved meeting tons of great people and their mutts and helping them with some of their behavior questions. Hank was happy to be my demo dog, showing off useful behaviors as well as useless tricks. I'm sure he would rather have been romping with the other dogs all day, but he did manage to make a few love connections anyway. A super cute Pit-shund (part Pit bull, part Dachshund) named Sparkle was his favorite playmate. He might be in love.

Some of my current clients joined in the fun and participated... Gray even won a bronze medal for best tail! Congrats!

Regan Fishman, the director of the event, did an amazing job and I'm already looking forward to next year's Mutt Show.

Doggie Academy at the Brooklyn Mutt Show

To conclude our week of announcements here goes:

Doggie Academy will be on hand at the Brooklyn Mutt Show to answer your behavior questions!

March 13th and 14th, the Brooklyn Mutt Show will celebrate all things mixed-breed. Dogs will complete in catagories such as Sloppiest Kisser, Best Tail, and Least Useful Pet Trick. Wanna register your pooch? Go here. The best part? A portion of all fees go to BARC Shelter.

During the show, I will be in the vendor area (I hear there will be lots of great dog product vendors to check out). I will demonstrate how to teach simple and useful (or at least fun) behaviors. Hank might even make an appearance!

I'll also offer mini-seminars on topics such as:

• What to know before you get a dog
• Tug: is it ok?
• Is your dog bored?
• Leash walking: what equipment is right for my dog?

Sign ups for one-on-one time slots with me will be available both days. Or just stop by and let me shake paws with your mutt! This event is sure to be tons of fun for dog & human alike.

New Classes Beginning This Month

This seems to be the week for announcements and this is a big one:

Doggie Academy will be offering group classes beginning March 28th at Ciao Bow Wow in the Financial District!

The classes offered will be "Puppy's First Class" and "Basic Obedience." For information about what they will cover, go to our Services page. The one hour classes run for 6 weeks and the puppy class starts at 11am while the basic class begins at 12:30pm. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I am especially excited for 2 reasons:

1. I get to design courses that address issues that, from experience, I've learned dog owners want and need.
2. Ciao Bow Wow is a gorgeous, eco-friendly facility.
   

To register for either of the classes go to our Sign up page.

Plus, one more announcement will be coming this week. How's that for a teaser?

New Website Live Now!

I am very excited to announce that the re-design of my website is now live!!! (Three exclamation points, that's how excited I am)

I worked with a designer who works specifically with pet related businesses and am thrilled with the result. You'll notice it still has the same feel of the old site, but is much more attractive.

Click through the new site, tell me what you think.

And stay tuned, because the blog is next up for an overhaul.