Stop Barking and Go Vote!

Because I am neither of the appropriate age or species to vote, I can say what I think about this hullabaloo. After all, I am neither an elephant or a donkey. I am a DOG, but even I know when enough is enough, and I am about at my wit's end with politics this year! I have heard, seen, and read, (OK,maybe not the latter) about some really disturbing assaults, flat-out lies, thefts, and other acts of ugliness and violence over this election. This is ridiculous and I am beyond ready for it to be over!

Both parties have made choices, spoken words, and taken actions that have been terribly divisive. Just because someone does not agree with your way of thinking does not make them bad, or stupid, or unpatriotic. It just means that they have a different opinion!


If you remember, my words for the year were "humane education", which is a process that encourages an understanding of the need for compassion and respect for people, animals, and the environment, and recognizes the interdependence of ALL living things". (Quote from World Animal Net) That means that every being has a right to be respected for who they are.

Why are folks stealing political signs......or painting them black? Why is there so much name-calling? Why is almost every ad on TV negative, and why is everyone slinging mud and assassinating the character of the other candidates? In my not-so-humble opinion, your species has sunk to an all-time low.

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion and beliefs -- that is a sacred right in this country for which men, women, and dogs have all sacrified their lives during times of war. What I don't understand is why some folks have no respect for any opinion but their own.

Surely you people have better things to do with your time than to steal or vandalize political signs, or to say hurtful or ugly things to your neighbors. Why not put your anger and frustration to work doing something positive? Why not volunteer to help your neighbors, or the animals, or the planet? You can volunteer to help the political party of your choice! Or volunteer to drive a neighbor to the polls -- no matter who they vote for!

At the end of the day, you are the one who will win -- as will the others who choose this path. If we're not here to help each other, well, why are we here?


Woof!

CHAMP

P.S. The Foothills Shelter on Little Mountain Rd. is having their Open House, this Saturday, November 1st from 11am until 2 pm. There will be free food, drinks, CAKE (YUM!), live music, pony rides, and photos with Santa! Dana Bergman will provide excellent music so please come out and enjoy this event...I hope to see you there!

The Any and All Dog Show

Come One, Come All!

Well, where else? The Any and All Dog Show is coming up on Sunday, October 12 at Harmon Field! This fun event is hosted by the Tryon Riding and Hunt Club for the benefit of the Foothills Humane Society. It has become an annual tradition for many folks in these parts and is a great excuse to get outside with your family and other animals!

I really hope you dogs will nudge your owners off the couch and out from in front of the TV for this one. Maybe you have what it takes to be the biggest dog....or the smallest dog....or maybe you look like your owner? Do you like to get dressed up? (I don't - last year I lifted my leg on my costume, much to my humans' chagrin.) Do you have the most unusual tail? I did one year! Or do you have the best trick of all the dogs in Tryon? Ha, I wish.....but then, I never did like to obey! And now there is a new class for "family dogs", dogs who may not be related but who live in the same household. Relatives by proxy, as it were. And don't forget, you can show off your very own human if you were adopted from the Foothills Shelter -- there is a special class just for you! This show is not only fun for the dogs and their owners, it is wildly entertaining for the spectators as well. And it is pretty cheap to enter....a buck per class or 5 bucks for all the classes you want to enter....


Father Doty will be doing a blessing of the animals at 1:30 pm and I sure could use blessing again this year......maybe this will get me through another year of being a "good" dog. Or maybe not.

They decided to have a Tailgate Contest this year.....get it, TAIL gate.....but I have considered going on strike about this. I think the dogs should judge who has the best tailgate spread. We could sample one of everything at each tailgate to decide the winner or, better yet, have the tailgate part be judged on who fixes the best dog food, and I don't mean just ordinary dog food either (blech) but something like peanut butter dog biscuits, or doggie deviled eggs, or peanut butter pupsicles.....I guess you get the picture!

The show starts at 2:00 pm but you have to register ahead of time, so plan to arrive between 1:00 and 1:30. I look forward to seeing all of you there -- with any luck, the only outfit I will be wearing this year is my Therapy Dog Vest!

P.S. -- a HUGE thank you to all who sent in the absolutely fabulous photos of their pets for the Po'Kitties All Pet Photo Contest. I have been truly amazed at the quality and beauty of these pictures! And
don't forget the Awards Ceremony on October 16 at the Red Clover Gallery in Landrum at 6:30pm. My dear friend and admirer, the magnificent Randy Grobe, will be hosting the gala affair, which means it will be a hoot! The photos will be on display at the Gallery from Wednesday, October 15 through Saturday, October 18 during Gallery hours. Stop by and take a look at these terrific photos! I think you will be impressed.

The other upcoming event is the Open House at Foothills Humane Society Shelter on Saturday, November 1. My good friend Dana Bergman will provide the music, and there will be food, drinks, and CAKE (my favorite)! There will also be pony rides for the children, and Santa will be available to pose in his sleigh for pictures with you and your pets. Between Santa's butt and my butt, it was a pretty tight fit last year! The Viewers' Choice Award for Best Photo will be announced (from the Po'Kitties All Pet Photo Contest) and if you're really lucky, you might even get to see ME!!

Woof!

CHAMP

Champ: Simply the BEST!

This is supposed to have the audio from Tina Turner's "Simply the Best", but as you can tell, youtube and I are not having a good day! So hum along when you watch my slideshow!

It helps!

CHAMP

Photo credits to Emily Bartlett and Emmy Summers.

Check it out!

Here is the link to the Po'Kitties All Pet Photo Contest!

Photo Contest Link

All monies from this will go to help our feral TNR program with spay-neuter costs!

My New Award from Addie!

Check out this cute girl's site! Raising Addie

My Official Vest!

These last few weeks have been pretty hot -- no -- too darn hot! Like most of you, I have been working in spite of the heat. I have been to FENCE Day Camp three times with the Foothills Humane Society. This photo was taken at the camp with the children, and I would like you to notice my new and, I think, extremely handsome Official Therapy Dog Vest.


As most of you know, I have routinely been dressed up in all kinds of garbage......er, I mean garb, for the various seasons......the hats, the sunglasses, the light-up antlers, the ties, the bandanas, the abominable black feather boa (and you remember what I did to that), and, of course, the ridiculous orange fright wig I wore for Halloween. I do try to be a good sport about it, but sometimes I have been downright embarrassed by some of my outfits. The children and the folks at the assisted living homes seem to enjoy the "Champ-Wear" though, so I do my best to keep from looking as disgusted as I feel. If the truth were known, however....



Now, for the first time, I finally have something that I am proud to wear. It is a (very) bright red vest with an emblem that says: "I Am a Therapy Dog" and underneath that it says, "Sharing Smiles and Joy". I believe it is obvious by the expression on my face that my relief at having an official uniform (as opposed to an "outfit") is great. I do try to bring joy and smiles to all the folks I visit, but would prefer to do so in a vest rather than a rhinestone tiara, thank you very much.


I wore my new vest to FENCE Day Camp and I am happy to report that everyone there made quite a fuss over it, and me. It was highly satisfying and hopefully my humans are taking note of this. The children at the FENCE Day Camp were a lot of fun and they were also very well behaved (which matters a great deal to me) during all three visits!

I went to check out the Columbus Farmers' Market this past Saturday, and it is a really neat "down home" market. They have lots of local produce, some is even organic. They have everything from okra and blueberries to tomatoes and honey and plants and potatoes and cucumbers, and even some beautiful embroidered towels and crocheted hot pads. And there is a man who sells fresh bread and delicious goat cheese made from goats who are guarded by..........YEP.....a Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog! (Simply the best!) They have fresh baked doggie cookies there (and the lovely lady gave me one so I can attest to the fact that they are absolutely delicious). They also have some human baked goods that I could only drool over. I think I could really get into those sticky buns....and I believe the nice lady who sells them might be charmed into giving me one if my humans weren't around!

I thoroughly enjoyed making the rounds of delicious smells, meeting people and greeting old friends. I met two very well behaved boys whom I really liked and tried to follow around, and I met a very, very small, very, very yappy thing that I am told was actually a dog....hmm....and lots of other folks who all admired me and said what a great dog I was. I believe I need to become a regular.

Stay cool. Woof.


CHAMP

P.S. Please start taking some great photos of your pets....(any and all pets, yep, even the horsey ones!) for the Po'Kitties All Pet Photo Contest. Details at www.pokitties.com , click on the link to the contest!

NO Excuse!

"Spay and neuter, spay and neuter" yada, yada, yada.......

Are you bored yet? Everyone knows, or should by now, that spaying and neutering cats and dogs is the only answer to the pet overpopulation problem, the problem that causes shelters all over the country to have to euthanize healthy, adoptable pets because there are not enough homes for them.
I guess what I don't understand is WHY people still don't spay and neuter their pets! What part of spay and neuter don't they understand??? There is just no excuse for it!


"It costs too much money."
WRONG. Foothills Humane Society has the Humane Alliance Program which costs $8.00 to spay or neuter a dog or cat. That’s what lunch costs these days. And if you truly cannot afford that, the Shelter will still help spay or neuter your pet! Call them at 828-863-4444.

"I want my dog/cat to have the experience of having a litter."
WRONG. I've never had a litter and trust me, I don't miss it. And for you big, macho guys, guess what? I don’t miss running in front of cars or going without eating because I am so obsessed with the scent of a female in heat! And by the way, I’m still as macho as they come!

"I'm afraid Fluffy will die going under the knife."
WRONG. Fluffy is a whole lot more likely to die having a litter than when she is having surgery, as long as she is healthy.

"I work all day and don't have time to take my dog/cat to the clinic."
WRONG. Bet you make time to go to the store, or eat lunch and dinner, don't you? You can drop your pet off at the Shelter on Humane Alliance day as early as 6:30 am and if you make arrangements ahead of time with the Shelter, the staff and volunteers will work with you about the timing of picking up your pet. You can also get a coupon from the shelter to help with the cost of spaying or neutering and you can then use the vet of your choice.

"I want to breed my terrific hunting dog."
WRONG. Just because the parent dog is a good hunting dog does not mean the puppies will be any good. You have a better chance of finding the right dog for you by carefully choosing one at the Shelter. And trust me when I say that a lot of good hunting dogs wind up in the Shelter.

"I love Pumpkin and want her to have just one litter....."
WRONG. There are too many dogs and cats already! Sure, you say, you can always find homes for these animals – only sometimes you can’t, and when you do, you are taking one more home away from the homeless ones. And that means that one more pet will be euthanized!

"I want my kids to see the miracle of birth."
WRONG. You're definitely sending the wrong message on this one. I'm not much of a TV watcher but I know you can rent a DVD or watch the miracle of birth online and not contribute to this terrible overpopulation problem!

It's a guy thing."
WRONG! Oh, for goodness’ sake.......c'mon guys! Y’all are smarter than that! Be a part of the solution instead of being the problem! It has nothing to do with you and how macho you are. Even a big dog like me knows that!

"I just want to let Nature take its course."
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Isn't there enough suffering and death already without adding to it? This is a simple, inexpensive solution to a lot of different problems!

Between 5 and 10 million pets are euthanized -- that is, put to death -- every single year in this country. (Yep, I said between 5 and 10 MILLION.) Imagine the pain of the people who have to euthanize these precious animals....and the tax dollars that have to pay for it! That is almost incomprehensible to me. Closer to home, two weeks ago in the span of only one hour, 17 cats and kittens were brought to the Shelter. One hour! The Shelter only has room for about 45 cats at a time, so you do the math......and you'll know that this is definitely not a good thing.
Humans bring litter after litter of puppies and kittens to the Shelter. They are asked if they want help spaying and neutering the parents, but they often have some lame excuse as to why they aren't going to do it! Well, they might not mind that many of the puppies and kittens brought in have to be euthanized, but let me tell you, the Shelter staff minds! They desperately want to adopt out all of the animals but there are just not enough homes!
And yes, it is always better to take them to the Shelter than to dump them on the side of the road. At least they will be put to death humanely. When they are dumped somewhere, they can get run over, or suffer and die a slow death of starvation and disease. Some are picked up by good people and brought to the Shelter, but then the staff and volunteers don't know the dog or cat's history and that makes it harder for them. Often they don't get to the Shelter until they have been injured or have gone without food for awhile, or have gotten sick, which makes it harder to adopt them out.
I really hope someone out there has some grand idea for getting the word out about spaying and neutering to the folks that need to hear it. If you do, please write to me c/o my blog at the Tryon Daily Bulletin or email me at champtherapydog@gmail.com. Two heads, or in this case, maybe a few hundred heads, are better than one!

On a much happier note, I was at Polk Central for the after school program and several of the students formed a pyramid with me in the middle, as you can see in the photo! (Get it? Pyr-amid?) It was a fun time and it amazed me how quickly they managed to do this maneuver!

And have I mentioned that the Humane Society is having an auction? As the Official Spokesdog, I would like to say that if anyone has one or more items they would like to donate, please contact Steve King at 859-7054, and he will happily arrange for the items to be picked up.


Woof!

CHAMP
P.S. June is "Adopt a Shelter Cat" month! Please help us save their lives and adopt one today!

Everyone in the picture is approved to have their photos published. The students are, starting at the top and coming down the right hand side of Champ:

Calab Byers
Regina Dotts
Amber Miller
Martin Ewing-Macchietto
Larry Dyer
Chyanne Davis