Items of Dog Interest for the Day

I'm finally feeling much better this morning. Yeah! Hopefully, I'll be back to myself in no time. Not a whole lot going on today. I've just got to get the training packet finished for Kindred Spirits and finish up a few items for Celebration Pet Day. I got an e-mail this morning informing me, that we've lined up another vendor!

Last night, when Casey and I were just channel surfing around, I came upon the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. WOW!! What an exciting show to watch. They had dogs competing in agility, dog diving, freestyle frisbee, and Jack Russell hurdle racing. In the dog diving competition, they had a Border Collie, named Cappucino, break a world's record by leaping 28 ft. into the dive pool!! It was awesome!! There are more events scheduled through the summer, so if you live close by or just want to watch on t.v., it's well worth it.

The other is a dog tale with a VERY happy ending! I heard about this from a little blurb on my local news this morning. Enjoy and have a great day!!

Long-lost pooch Hooch soon to be headed for home

Woman offers dog a ride to Fresno area

By Liz Neely UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 30, 2005

Labrador mix Hooch will be reunited with his owners

EL CAJON – Hooch was separated from his family two years ago, but no one knows how he ended up more than 350 miles from his Fresno-area home. The Labrador mix was picked up by an animal control officer Friday after someone reported a dog on the loose, said Kathy Cleveland, the city's animal control manager.

Hooch, who is more than 2 years old, has an implanted microchip, so animal control officers were able to find his owners, a family living in Dinuba, a city 28 miles north of Fresno.

It turns out the dog disappeared from the family's home about two years ago. The Dinuba family recently bought a home and can't afford to make the six-hour drive to claim their pet, Cleveland said. But they have seen stories about Hooch on television, and their son is excited to have him return, she said.

The animal shelter has received several calls from people offering to drive Hooch home. A woman from the Fresno area happens to be visiting her daughter in Oceanside and has volunteered to give the dog a ride home tomorrow.

Before he was found, Hooch had lived with an El Cajon family for six months. If they had brought him to the shelter sooner, he would have been reunited with his owners by now, Cleveland said.

El Cajon will pick up the tab for the impound and boarding costs, which amount to $33 a day.

Cleveland urges people to register their pets and to make sure the information in a pet's microchip is current.

"If you find an animal, contact the local animal shelter so they can find the owner," she said.

Shelters keep pets much longer than they used to, and the animals are euthanized only as a last resort, Cleveland said. Every effort is made to find a home for a healthy pet, she said.

Liz Neely: (619) 593-4961; liz.neely@uniontrib.com