The Art Colony Association, non-profit producer of the Bayou City Art Festivals, has just come off its most successful year ever, which translates into its contributing the most monies ever in one year to its 14 nonprofit partners, the City of Houston and Houston Parks & Recreation.  Bayou City Art Festival Downtown just donated $106, 303 in proceeds and Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park donated $98,768, for a grand total in 2008 of $205,071 from these fine juried art festivals.

Art Colony Association checks were distributed (including surprise BONUS CHECKS) to its Nonprofit Partners earlier this month at an event hosted by CapitalOne Bank at the House of Blues in downtown Houston.

In October 2008, City of Houston officials agreed to hire Nathan Winograd, the leading expert in No Kill sheltering to assess BARC, the City’s high kill, animal control facility.  However, over 2 months have passed and the assessment contract has not been executed by the City, even though Houstonians donated funds to pay Mr. Winograd’s fee.  Additionally, City officials have not agreed to hire Mr. Winograd to recruit the new Bureau Chief for BARC which is the most important factor in reducing the kill rate there. 

Further, in the past few weeks, the interim Bureau Chief has enacted several interim procedures which make it increasingly difficult, and in some cases impossible, to get adoptable animals out of BARC alive. 

It has been proven by pioneering shelter directors all over the country that, by following Nathan Winograd’s “No Kill Equation”, high kill shelters can be transformed into No Kill shelters.  Citizens have demanded, and paid for, this service at BARC. 

“Many people won’t consider adopting a larger more mature dog, because they assume that a larger dog can overwhelm a household. However, with a little training a hefty hound can easily become a polite family member that gives love and loyalty for many years,” says Sherry Ferguson, Executive Director of the Houston Humane Society.

Connie Archer, of Bark Busters Home Dog Training, says, “In addition to the fact that these more “mature” dogs deserve a loving home, there are several important benefits to adopting these older furry friends.”

            1.)  Most older pets are already housetrained, so the hassles and  headaches of toilet training are                         already taken care of.

            2.)  Older dogs have usually grown out of the “puppy stage” and therefore are much less likely to                         chew, nip, dig, etc. 

            3.)  Older animals have already grown into their size, shape, and personality.  There are fewer                             unknowns such as the disposition, health, and size; with these dogs what you see is what you                       get.

            4.)  Older pets are generally calmer and quieter, and most likely will not require as much time and                        attention as younger, more energetic animals.

            5.)  Older animals are grateful for the second chance they have been given and will give you a                              lifetime of love.

Bark Busters is offering a free in-home training session to help owners and these featured new dogs get off to a smooth and happy start. “We want to make sure these ‘mature’ adoptee’s fit well with their new homes and families,” adds Connie Archer.

“Please come out to the Houston Humane Society, or take a look at our website at www.houstonhumane.org to find your next family member,” says Sherry Ferguson of the Humane Society.

Targeting - what is it?
A target is anything that the dog must focus on and perform some action towards. Attention is a form of targeting, where the dog is focusing his gaze on your face (or hands). “Come” is a form of targeting in which the dog must find the area right in front of you. The dog can show his focus on the target in many ways. The most common are a nose-touch or a paw-touch.

What’s it used for?
There are many specialized uses for targeting. In competition obedience, a dog is trained to move away from the handler on a “go out” in targeting. They are also asked to retrieve certain objects. In agility, dogs must step within a certain area called a contact zone on many obstacles.

What about pet dogs?
Two of the best uses for targeting are teaching a dog to walk by your side and to go to his bed on command. It’s possible to teach a dog to walk at your side just by rewarding him for doing so (and of course removing the reward for walking anywhere else), but it may be that “at your side” is too vague for many dogs. If they have something to focus on, they can immediately know where they’re supposed to be. So, if you teach your dog to follow your hand (or a stick in your hand, for a shorter dog) with his nose, he will be perfectly placed and ready for reap your rewards.

There are many times when you may want to send your dog away from you. Maybe you have guests coming over and want to greet them at the door without your dog’s help. Maybe everyone’s sitting on the ground to enjoy a barbeque. Wouldn’t it be nice to cue your dog to “go to bed” and have him find his special pillow or crate to curl up in for a while? Targeting will help.

You can use targeting to start a lot of tricks too. You can teach a dog to spin in a circle or push doors closed and you can teach a paw wave or pushing a lever with a paw-touch on a target. You can easily groom a dog who is keeping his nose or feet on a target. Hearing ear dogs for the deaf often touch their partners with a paw to alert them to phones, doorbells or fire alarms. You can teach your dog to run to a door or to a certain part of the yard at the sound of your own smoke alarm.

How do you train it?
The beginning of target training takes advantage of the dog’s natural curiosity. Most dogs will sniff or even touch your palm if you hold it out to them - especially if you’ve just been handling food treats. Simply mark and reward your dog for each touch. It helps if you hold it close to their nose, maybe just below their nose level. If you want to eventually transfer the nose-touch to some inanimate object - like a target stick, sticky note or margarine lid - simply put some food smell on that and hold it cupped in your hand when you begin.

To train the paw touch, move your hand around in short, jerky movements low to the ground near the dog’s paws, or hold a treat under your hand. Most dogs will paw at this. Mark and reward for each touch. Repeat this a few times. See if your dog becomes more confident in his touching. Many dogs, even those with some experience with training and treats, act as if they don’t believe that simply touching your hand will work. Make sure that you reward this easy first step quite a few times before making it any harder.

Once your dog is fairly confident in the initial touching, hold the target out a little bit further, a few inches away, or just enough for the dog to really stretch out their neck (or leg) to touch it. Mark and reward those touches, repeating it a few times.

Now begin varying the position of the target relative to the dog and relative to you and you relative to the dog. Hold it out slightly to one side, hold it an inch or two above or below the original level. Hold the target out while you stand or sit, while you face the dog or have the dog at your side. Make it clear that it’s touching the target that is causing you to mark and reward, not any of the other factors your dog is seeing.

When your dog will consistently touch the target each time, add a cue like “touch” or “paw it”, or a hand signal like touching the target yourself with two fingers of the other hand. Add the cue just before you think the dog will do it to form the association between the cue and the action.

Fading the target
For some actions, you won’t ever need to take away the target. Your front and eyes will always be there for your dog to find on a “come” or “pay attention.” Your dog’s bed or crate will always be there for him to trot over to when you ask him to go there.

For other actions, you’ll want to fade away the target. You probably don’t want to walk with your hand or target stick in front of your dog’s nose. If you’re teaching a paw wave or head shake you’ll want the dog to move his body without having to follow your target, so you’ll need to fade it away.

You can make it less relevant by making it smaller (cutting down the lid, shortening the stick or fading your palm to a few fingers) or by holding it further away, while still rewarding the dog for following through with the actions that you want. In fact, the less relevant you make the target, the more you want to reward the action. You’re shifting the importance from following the target with nose or paw to completing the action in the absence of the target. Have fun with it and think of creative ways to teach your dog new tricks with his targeting skills.

This toy delivers 100% of a dog’s daily requirement of rompoflavin, chompohydrates, vitamin WAG and dietary fun. Non-toxic, recyclable and rinses clean. Recommended for small dogs only.

Available online at www.planetdog.com.

I’ve been offering my clients pet savvy interior design for about ten years. The most common complaint repeatedly expressed to me is about the disdain they have for the copious amount of fur that is shed on furniture, like sofas and comforters, by their four-legged children. This is perhaps, akin to living with a teenager who has a severe aversion to picking up his dirty clothes - it’s completely natural and is not the perpetrator’s fault. However, with a bit of dedication, it can be completely eradicated. For the human solution, taking away the car keys will solve the issue in a heartbeat! For the four-legged solution, the following tips and tricks will bring more harmony and style to your animal house.

There are simple techniques to eliminate the issue of fur on furniture, even if you don’t have the budget for an interior designer. The sad thing is that so many pets in the shelter are there and facing their demise because they shed. How tragic that something so natural and so easily manageable can cause one to abandon their best friend.

Color Choices
Multi-colored fabrics with a pattern are always going to conceal multi-colored pet hair the best. Try to find a pattern where the primary colors are similar to your pet’s primary colors. For multi-colored pets, you’ll want to source out material that has a small pattern of the combination of their colors interspersed throughout. Well, that’s a no brainer.

Fabric Choices for Furniture, Throws, Duvets, Linens and Comforters
Regardless of concealing color patterns, your pet will still shed. But you don’t have to contemplate adorning everything in 50’s plastic (although in some genres, that’s actually cool again!) or buying new to match your fur child. All of the above, including sofa and chair covers, come in all sizes, materials and patterns these days. Fabrics to avoid that can actually pull out and hold on to your pet’s fur is micro-suede, denim, flannel, corduroy, velvet and wool-type fabrics. Fur is very attracted to this material and very difficult to remove, even with a sticky roller. The color rule applies to rugs as well.

Choose fabrics that are slicker to the touch, such as faux leather and blended polyester, acrylic and silk fabrics. These fabrics make fur practically slide right off.

Prevention is Key
Weekly brushing with the right tools (one of them being patience) can make your life, your pet and most areas of your home fur-free.

One important note: never dry clean rugs or furniture, as the chemicals used in the process can be hazardous to your pets and young children.

Colleen Paige is an animal behaviorist, author and pet savvy interior designer in Los Angeles, California. She is also the founder of National Dog Day and the creator of Canine Design, a new TV series aimed to educate pet owners on how to live more harmoniously with their furry kids.

We recently treated a dog for a twisted stomach. This is known as GDV - or gastric dilatation volvulus. Large breed dogs with deep chests, usually greater than 50 pounds, are more predisposed to this condition. German Shepherds, Dobermans, Weimaraners, Standard Poodles, Great Danes, Setters, Retrievers, Basset Hounds, Old English Sheepdogs, Boxers, Collies and Spaniels are the most commonly reported breeds among the purebreds. The condition has also been noted in small breed dogs.

Our adrenaline really starts to pump when we see a GDV. It is a truly serious and life threatening surgical emergency. The most common clinical sign is unproductive retching. While the dog is trying to vomit, nothing is being expelled.

After a recent GDV surgery on a Doberman, we untwisted the stomach and it was then stitched to the left side of the body wall to prevent it from twisting again. Surgery and recovery were uneventful.

However, post operatively, the patient would not eat. At first, we attributed it to his age, his surroundings (hospitalized patients often prefer to eat at home) and potential underlying metabolic diseases. All of his test results were normal, yet he still refused to eat. He was about to be discharged in hopes that he would eat at home and as he was standing in the lobby, he vomited a green substance. Our gut instincts, no pun intended, caused us to order an ultrasound to take a second look at his internal organs. The sonographer informed us of a foreign object in his intestines.

Back to surgery he went for retrieval of an unknown foreign object. Lodged in the small intestine was a small black ball. It was just the right diameter to cause an obstruction. In hindsight, the ball was probably in the stomach at the time of the original surgery, yet it was not seen hiding amongst the food and kibble that was also present.

As owners of large breed dogs, it is important to know the clinical signs of a GDV and to keep small objects away from large dogs. As veterinarians, it is important for us to think of all the causes, including a small black ball with a very high bounce. Fortunately, in this case, the patient bounced back from his second surgery with no further complications.

Dr. Laurie Noaker is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (SAIM) and is the Chief of Staff at the Veterinary Emergency Referral Group, Inc.

They say “you are what you eat,” and the same concept holds true for our pets. A healthy diet is the foundation for overall health. But what constitutes a healthy diet for animals? Well, I can tell you that the healthiest pets in my practice eat raw diets.

These natural diets are what Mother Nature intended carnivores to eat - the food our pets evolved from eating for five million years. It is common sense that the unhealthiest people are those who consume diets that consist mostly of processed foods. Likewise, a strict diet of processed food is detrimental to the health of dogs and cats. So what’s my beef with processed pet foods?

For one thing, speaking of beef, pet foods contain meat that is unfit for human consumption. Some pet foods even contain protein supplied by rendering plants which is especially disgusting since it may include euthanized dogs and cats. It can be difficult to tell the quality of the pet food ingredients by reading the label.

A common ingredient in processed, commercial diets is grain. Many times this is the most abundant ingredient in the food. So, what’s the matter with grain? The carbohydrates in grains contribute to weight gain, predispose pets to diabetes and are a common factor in many food allergies. Furthermore, cancer cells preferentially feed off carbohydrates as opposed to fat or protein, so high-carb diets fuel cancer. Certainly you don’t see our pets’ wild counterparts grazing in the grain fields.

In fact, according to veterinary nutritionists, there is no need for carbohydrates in the diets of dogs and cats. So why do pet foods contain grain? Two reasons: you can’t make a dry pet food without a carbohydrate to glue the kibble together and grains are a cheap source of calories. Pet foods are high in carbohydrates because of convenience and cost. Notice that neither reason has anything to do with the wholesomeness of the diet.

You also do not see our pets’ wild relatives cooking their food before eating it. Cooking food (especially the high heat and temperature processing of pet foods) destroys vitamins, amino acids and other nutrients. The high heat processing of meat and carbohydrates also creates carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals).

Although the labels claim that pet foods are “100% complete and balanced” it is simply not always true. Even the experts agree with me on this one. According to veterinary nutritionist, Dr. Tony Buffington, “The recommendation to feed one food for the life of an animal gives nutritionists more credit than we deserve.”

Mother Nature is smarter than even the smartest veterinary nutritionist. The diets we feed our pets should mimic what wolves and wild cats eat. this would include raw meat, bones, organs and shredded vegetables. The safest way to provide such a diet is by using pre-made, raw diets such as those made by Nature’s Variety. These foods are naturally balanced with the nutrients our pets need. I personally feed Nature’s Variety and recommend it for my patients.

Doug Knueven is the author of The Holistic Health Guide: Natural Care for the Whole Dog.

Many of you probably adopted your dog from a small rescue group. But you may not have realized that the group that cared for your pup before you adopted it was a volunteer-run organization relying on the support of people like you to keep the rescue efforts going. Now there’s a great way to help all of those smalltime rescue groups so they can keep on finding forever homes for deserving dogs. The Rescue BankSM is Houston’s only “food bank” for animal rescue groups. 

One of the founders, John Kane, first saw the need for a rescue bank after helping Tylertown’s Best Friends shelter during the Katrina crisis. He coordinated the work and resources of volunteers that arrived in New Orleans from across the country. His experience there showed him just how much work is done by small rescue groups and how limited their resources are. In June 2006, he and co-founder Elizabeth Asher established the bank to relieve some of the costs and concerns of  those groups.

The Rescue BankSM collects donated food and supplies, then redistributes them to nonprofit rescue organizations. It operates similarly to the Houston Food Bank, one of its biggest contributors. The Best Friends shelter provided the first major donation. Donations are received from businesses like grocery stores and pet supply stores, as well as from individuals like you. Any non-profit rescue group can request to be on the distribution list, and the amount of food and supplies given to a group is determined by its size and needs. Volunteers from each group then pick the goods up directly from the bank’s warehouse. Last year, it was able to provide a quarter of a million pounds of pet food to about forty-five rescue groups. That kind of help makes a big difference to groups who are kept going by generous volunteers! Just like the groups it services, the bank depends entirely on volunteers and donations.

While pet food makes up a large part of the contributions, the Rescue BankSM provides other much-needed supplies like crates, leashes, flea treatment, washing machines and veterinary equipment. It also supports a grant program that collects money for spaying and neutering, which is an enormous help to the rescue groups and the community alike.

You can help! Donations of food and new or used supplies are essential. Monetary contributions may be given, and if you want, you can specify that it be used for a particular purpose, like a neuter grant, or that it be used for a particular group listed on the Rescue BankSM website. Of course, volunteers are always needed. E-mail infoall@rescuebank.org to find out what you can do as a volunteer.

Another very important way that you can help is to open your home to a foster dog. Dedicated foster families are vital to rescue organizations. If you can care for a dog who’s still waiting to find its forever home, contact Rescue BankSM today.