Help to find Porscha! (Doberman lost in Canada)

Griffyn, 11 year old Doberman, for adoption in West Vancouver, BC

Griffyn is an 11 year old Doberman who finds himself needing a home!

He's currently in a safe and wonderful foster home, but it would be swell if he could go home with somebody to live with for the rest of his days. As always, I'll refer you to "Reasons to Adopt a Senior Doberman".

(picture from Petfinder)

According to his Petfinder page, he's "level 5 obedience", and did agility in his younger years. He still likes to chase a ball, and is energetic! He lets you brush him, wash him, take care of his teeth and nails, and is housebroken. He will chase cats and squirrels, but has been around other dogs, horses, and children with no problem. His Petfinder listing is here if you are interested in adopting Griffyn. Though in a foster home, he is under the purview of Dogwood Rescue, in West Vancouver, BC, and per the Petfinder page, phone is 604-926-1842 should you be in British Columbia, and interested in this fine specimen of a Doberman!

Doggie-Vous Francais?

One day last week, I saw on some news site or other, that there was a proposal to make sure all dogs in Montreal understood cues in both English and French. The notion would be that since in that part of Canada, lots of folks speak French, there shouldn't be linguistic barriers if you were interacting with stranger-dogs and stranger-people. Yearly testing to make sure owners were complying, etc. The thought of legislated language requirements in dog training makes me suffer ennui.

Of course, it was evidently a spoof. But that doesn't stop it from being an interesting thought. Does your dog understand more than one spoken human language? How is your dog doing with just English?

Smiling Blue Skies Walk to End Canine Cancer ~ Toronto

On September 29, in Toronto, there is a sponsored walk for donations to end canine cancer!

Not being in Canada, I won't be walking, but a member of Doberman Talk is, with her handsome red boy Chase.

(photo credit: Kerry, Chase's "mom")

There are a lot of statistics out there, cited and otherwise, about how many dogs are affected by varying types of canine cancer every year. There is a "Rainbow Bridge" section on the Doberman Talk message board, and cancer is what many of those fine and loving dogs succumbed to. It's also what the Doberman Lexie unfortunately developed, very suddenly, and what K of Romping and Rolling in the Rockies had.  These dogs were not my dog, but their loss was felt. Their time with us is so short; things like cancer only make it shorter. 

The proceeds from the Smiling Blue Skies Walk to End Canine Cancer will go to research at OVC Guelph (Ontario Veterinary College at Guelph), which from accounts I've heard, has an excellent facility for owners whose dogs have cancer.

Kerry, whose donation page is here, has spent time walking around with Chase, raising awareness. Her goal is $300; she's currently at $175. Chase "carries all of [the] paperwork and guards the donations [they] collect on [their] walks.....He loves his job because it consists of petting and cookies." Sounds like a great job to me!

So, if you're in the area and have September 29 free, maybe you'd like to walk to end Canine Cancer! If not, perhaps you want to donate to the noble cause? Can you imagine a day when cancer, all cancer, is finally beaten? It's a far horizon, I know, but what a bright future that would be!