heatherwitt.com blog

I get a DogFriendly.com newsletter from time to time and they always have a few great tips for traveling with your pet and suggestions for pet-friendly destinations. In this week’s edition there were links for a North Fork Wine Tour and off-leash beach run on October 4th and October 17th and then a 6-mile hike on [...]

WordPress blogging software was corrupt and it took them a long time to finally upgrade to a new edition. Hopefully everything is working now and you’ll see more posts from me.
In the meantime, here is an interesting article Time Magazine just published about how a dog’s “social intelligence”  is learned…

Not sure how many of you attended the first annual Lyme Walk fundraiser at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport on Sunday, but we were there with our kids along with several thousand other runners and walkers. As our son has battled with Lyme Disease for a few years now it was great to see so [...]

It seems all too common these days to hear stories about dog-on-dog (sometimes dogs-on-dog) attacks leaving someone’s beloved pet perminantly injured, handicapped, oftentimes dead. The Town of Trumbull unanimously passed “Gracie’s Law” in October 2005 in response to a deadly pitbull attack on the Jositas family collie while she was walking her dog down the street. The law strengthens the town’s codes on [...]

It was mentioned here on a February 15th post that the rights for beach access for dogs to Fairfield Beach were at risk. Now there is a petition to charge a $400 to $800 permit fee as well as shortening of the season by two months.
There is a petition to oppose these new rule changes being considered by the Fairfield Parks [...]

 
Maple and I achieved the 2007 Top Leo obedience award (2nd Place). That means only one other Leonberger who is a memeber of the Leonberger Club of America (the parent club for the LCA is the AKC), accumulated more points. It’s been so much fun competing Maple in Obedience. We plan on continuing, with two [...]

There are a lot of lists on what to do and not to do when getting a dog. I thought this one published by Real Simple was worth posting. It nailed some common mistakes to avoid to keep your four-legged friend happy, healthy and mentally stimulated.

Channel 8 picked up an interesting AP story about a Trumbull animal shelter that spend $200 trying to prove a dog is not a pitt bull to increase its chances for adoption:
Trumbull (AP) – Animal lovers have spent $200 for DNA testing to prove that a dog resembling a pitt bull is instead a boxer.
They hope it [...]

Dr. Candace Benyei of Schulhof Animal Hospital in Westport has sent out another letter with an important update about pet insurance, specifically VPI’s WellCare Protection program. If you have any interest in pet insurance this new program appears quite comprehensive and affordable, as far as pet plans go. This WellCare program even includes treatment for cancer–the number [...]