“A Wichita man who was arrested after Oklahoma authorities found more than 100 emaciated pit bulls on a farm he rented near Newkirk was sentenced this week to 90 days in jail.”

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/08/24/1460839/wichitan-sentenced-in-animal-cruelty.html

“An attorney for Riverside dropped a majority of more than 200 citations against self-described animal rescuer Charlotte Spadaro, but he argued Wednesday that Spadaro should be made to answer for 30 counts of having unlicensed dogs. ”

Read More: http://bit.ly/d6Mbml

“O’Connell, a 75-year-old former dog breeder, was charged in January 2009 with two counts of animal cruelty, but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct .”

Read More: http://bit.ly/ckraBC

“Officials with Lee County Animal Services say a man kept nearly 40 dogs in a home filled with their waste. He pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges, but won’t be serving any jail time.”

Read More: http://bit.ly/bZa7j2

Is your dog cool?

I mean really, really cool?

Then sign him up for Spike’s Pack!

To submit your dog for consideration, submit a large photo and a short biography of your dog to spike@askspikeonline.com.

Mom has known Ms. Cox for a few years now and has had the privilege to have a few of the dogs attend her classes.

You may have seen one of these dogs as they visit malls and grocery stores as part of their training.  They are the guys with the blue and white vests that read “Puppy in Training”.  This means that you should not pet the dog; he or she is learning to work!

And work they do!

Southeastern Guide Dogs began in 1982, is accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation in Reading, England and is also a member of the Council of U.S. Dog Guide Schools.  The school has been providing dogs to the visually impaired for over 27 years.  Currently, there are more than 800 active guide dog partnerships, with more than 2500 since the inception of the program.  The school estimates that 70 new graduates will be added during this fiscal year.

Located on 23 acres in Palmetto, Florida, Southeastern operates their own breeding colony, with more than 100 dogs.  Among the breeds used are Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Goldadors (Lab/Golden mix) and Smooth-Coat Collies.

Ms. Cox is training a Vizsla named Cheyenne.

While the dogs are very important, enough cannot be said about the “puppy raisers”.  These people are volunteers and they give up many days, hours, vacations and money to prepare these animals for future service.

A quote from Ellen Cox says it all.  “To devote 18 months of your life to raising a puppy so that someone you have never met can walk freely about their everyday life is sacrificing for your fellow man.”

The puppy is placed with his foster family at 9 weeks of age. The new family is responsible for socializing the pup, teaching obedience and building confidence.  Puppy raisers are often asked to promote their organization by participating in fund raisers, visiting schools and public meetings.

Raising a puppy is a project for the whole family.

Southeastern is attempting to expand its operation in many Florida communities. Contact them if you think that you and your family have all that it takes to sacrifice for your fellow man.

The organization meets bi-weekly in various places conducive to training a future guide dog.v There are currently 11 dogs in the Georgia program.  The dogs are taught all the common commands such as, sit, stay, come, down and “take a break”, which  means to cease working.  Go busy is the potty command for Southeastern dogs.

Speaking of go busy, blind people are taught to feel the dogs back in order to know what is going on.  If the back is flat, the dog is urinating.  If the back is round, get out the bags.

Ms. Cox estimates that puppy raisers spend around $1000.00 a year raising a puppy.  This may or may not include mileage.  However, it costs about $60,000.00 for the full raising, training and post-graduation support of the dog.  One may assume that it must cost a lot of money to acquire a guide dog from Southeastern.  Not so.  In fact, it costs nothing to obtain the dog.  The dogs are paired with new owners and the new pairs then spend 26 days of on-site training in the Florida facility before they are released to face the world and their new jobs!  The average working life of the dog is 8 years.

During this interview, we followed Ms. Cox and Cheyenne through a local mall.  At one time, Ms. Cox instructed Cheyenne to find the elevator and shortly we were standing in front of the elevator.  Mom can’t locate an elevator that fast and she can see and read!

At around 14 months of age, the pups are returned to Florida to begin their specialized training.  A certified trainer is assigned 8 to 10 dogs to work with.  The trainers spend 8 hours a day for 6 months with the dogs.  Approximately 60% of the dogs will make the final cut.

So, what happens to those that do not make it?  These dogs are placed in the Gifted Canine program of Southeastern Guide Dogs.  There are four programs.

Therapy dog program is designed to enrich the lives of those in their communities while educating people on the mission of Southeastern Guide Dogs.

The K-9 Law Enforcement program places dogs with law enforcement agencies for further training in narcotic or arson detection.

Companion Dog Program places dogs with people with developmental disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome, Autism, hearing problems and anxiety disorders.

Public Adoption Program places dogs with loving homes.

Southeastern also has a Veterinarian Partner program. This program recognizes vets throughout the southeast who donate time and services to Southeastern dogs.  Veterinarians interested in participating in the program should contact Michelle Dumas at 941-729-5665 x 136 for more information.

Southeastern also features a program called “Paws For Patriots”, training service dogs for veterans.

A very busy organization, right?

I am a great dog and have earned my PTD (pretty terrific dog) title, but I’m not sure I was cut out to work that hard!

What? Red Labs?  

So, everybody stand up that knew there were red labs.

Now, stand up if you knew that red is not really a separate color but only considered to be a shade of yellow for labs!

Are you confused yet? I was. So I looked into the matter.

Original yellow labs were called Golden until the British Kennel Club began to register them. The Brits concluded that Gold was not a color, so they called them “yellow”.  The first yellow lab ever recorded was Ben of Hyde in 1899. People seemed to like the darker red/yellows until after World War II. Over the years, the lighter Labs became more popular. People kept breeding the labs lighter and lighter until some people called them White Labs. There is no such thing as a White Lab, so don’t get fooled into buying one!

Meanwhile, over in England, two breeders were interested in bringing back the fox red color. They succeeded eventually by creating Ch Wynfaul Tabasco, who is considered to be the father of the modern fox red Labrador.  He was a stunning red dog and the only modern fox red show champion in the UK.

Next, Wynfaul Tabasco was bred to Lady Bountiful and that litter was all fox red, proving the theory that breeding fox red to fox red will produce all fox red. Those fox red Labs also liked to hang out with royalty. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth owned one during the 1920’s.

Kelleygreen and Keepsake Labradors owned a big red import named Red Alert. Through this dog they have done a lot to bring the color back and Red Alert will likely be found in the pedigrees of most all of the fox red Labs of today.

If you have a fox red Lab, you may want to look through his pedigree to see if you can find such names like, Kelleygreen Kardinal, Scrimshaw Placido Flamingo, Tenor, Scrimshaw Duckless Fairbanks, Ch Lindall Mastercraft, Venture of Brattonsplash, Kelleygreen’s Lady in Red, Keepsake’s I Love Lucy or Keepsake’s Cajun.

It is said that Cajun was “everything a Labrador should be, a true gentleman in every sense of the word.”

So, now you know that there are really red Labs, you can learn more about them at Little River Labs or Keepsake Labs.

Just tell them Spike sent you!

Mom’s rolling out a new program called C.O.P.E..  C.O.P.E. is Canine Outreach Project & Education.  The program is designed to educate humans to better read canine communications.  It is geared toward Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H clubs and elementary schools or any interested organization.

If you would like to schedule a C.O.P.E. program for your group, call us at 404-323-1500 or shoot me an email at spike@askapikeonline.com. The program is free of charge.

The Braves will be “digging” in to beat the Houston Astros.  Log on to Braves.com and treat you and your best friend to a Sunday in the park!

Just a reminder: on Memorial Day, which is Monday, May 31, the Beach Boys will be surfin’ into the Ted for a post-game concert. And on that note, you should check out Celtic Thunder’s Keith Harkin’s medley of Beach Boys hits. It’s great. And I hear that he actually surfs the waves of Ireland!

Better watch those rocks Keith!