Long, long ago there were no dogs on Planet Earth
Planet earth was a dark place filled with danger an turmoil...Invaders threatened Green Valley...bears were taking sheep from farmesr...children were missing in the dark woods...the old and sick often lived alone, in isolated places...children were kidnapped and taken to the Castle in the Mist...the Black Hawk tribes were bringing war to the land of the forest people...and two of Santa's reindeer were missing and there could be no Christmas.
It was then that Visitors came down from another planet to help humans learn about peace, love, loyalty and courage...and to save Christmas.
They were from the Planet Of The Dogs.
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‘Circling the Waggins’ will touch every dog lover’s heart,
This headline by Examiner books editor Michael McQuire, brought smiles to us at Barking Planet Productions.
We feel the same way about our new publication, by author C.A. Wulff...
“A dog lover's true life adventure: Two middle aged women maneuver through one unexpected pet debacle after another in a rugged and isolated cabin in a National Park. They emerge from a dark and difficult time as they discover that even the tiniest of lives is precious; heartache and joy go hand-in-hand, and love is an eternal circle of wagging tails.” Available at Amazon, $14.98, 344 pages
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The photo above shows some of the 320 volunteers at People Animals Love (PAL), a Washington, DC, based therapy dog group that does it all... comforting the elderly...after school and summer camp programs for disadvantaged kids... and PAWS to Read programs...here is a quote from their website...
The more I learn about therapy dogs, their owners and the librarians and teachers who work with them, the more motivated I am write about them.
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Planet Dog Foundation is celebrating a decade of Grant Awards. This year, ten Grant
awards will be given at the 7th annual Woofminster on September 29 at Camp Ketcha in Scarborough, Maine. There will be Dog Games, Agility Demos, Raffles, Bake Sales and more good time things at this combination Dog Day, Award Day and fundraiser.
Freedom Service Dogs in Lakewood, CO, is one of the ten organization to receive a grant this year from the Planet Dog Foundation.
"Freedom Service Dogs rescues dogs from shelters and trains them to assist people
with disabilities. All the dogs are provided free of charge to their partner. They also give extensive public outreach presentations and educate the public about the role of service dogs. Their priority for the past several years has been with injured service members, and they serve children with disabilities (though many programs do not serve children). All of their dogs are rescued from shelters, and even if they cannot be placed as service dogs, are utilized as therapy dogs and are made much more adoptable through the training process. They expect to rescue 150+ dogs within the next year, and place more than 30 with a partner." Click here to view their site.
To see PDF's award winning TV spot on Mystic, a guide dog and his owner, click here: Mystic
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Read Sample Chapters of the Planet Of The Dogs Series at: www.planetofthedogs.net
All books in the Planet Of The Dogs series can be purchased at your favorite independent bookstore or on the internet through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Powells and many others.
Librarians, teachers, bookstores -- order our books directly from Ingram...professional discount, of course.
Therapy reading dog owners, librarians and teachers with therapy reading dog programs...write us at [email protected] and we will send you free reader copies of books from the Planet of the Dogs Series.
"Loved it...this book works on so many levels for readers of all ages"-Mary Jacobs of Bookhounds
Read Dog Books to Dogs....Ask any therapy reading dog: "Do you like it when the the kids read dog books to you?"
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"Walking My Dog", is a unigue and engaging song performed here by Nellie McKay at a TED presentation...for dog lovers everywhere. Here is the link: NELLIE ...not like anything I had heard before.
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The Hunger Games...continued...
Reader numbers for Suzanne Collins's bestselling trilogy are huge... more than 50 million copies of the books are currently in print in the U.S. The books have been on bestseller lists since their release...the Hunger Games movie has been extremely successful and created even more readers... the books are available in 50 languages and 55 territories worldwide.
Our readers are younger, but the question of dealing with violence and possible death remain. If your life and your land is threatened by warrior invaders, what do you do?
The solutions in the Planet Of The Dogs series, however, are nonviolent. The dogs bring peace to the land through cleverness, courage and love and by appealing to the humanity of powerful people and by exploiting their vulnerability...The dog's success is quite plausible.
It's too bad no dogs were there to help Katniss in the Hunger Games... I believe that every president, prime minister, king, despot and dictator should have a dog. It might not solve the problems of this world, but it would help.
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Castle in the Mist was named Dogster Dog Eared Book Club Book of the Month forJune...All three books from the Planet of the Dogs series have now been honored by the Dog Eared Book Club.
Complimentary copies of our books are available to librarians, teachers and therapy reading dog owners who work with dogs to encourage children to read...simply email us at [email protected]
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Way Cool Dogs continues to provide a wide range of useful, reliable, and interesting information...recent articles have ranged from Puppy Control and Smart Dogs to Pet Parties and Healthy Pet Food.
Recently, a featured article related the latest reults of canine research on Osteoarthritis and how it relates to humans.
"Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is a difficult disease to diagnose unless painful physical symptoms begin to show themselves. Currently, the United States has about 27 million patients who have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, in the form of arthritis.
Researcher James Cook and his research group from the University of Missouri’s Orthopaedic Laboratory have been studying arthritis in dogs to improve findings for human patients, finding a way to detect and predict the disease before painful arthritis symptoms begin to emerge. Joint pain and stiffness are the primary arthritis symptoms first observed by doctors and vets in their patients, too late for preventive and minimal invasive arthritis treatments in order to prevent their patients from suffering...
The article continues with information about research, tests and findings important for both dogs and people. Read all the article on this link: Osteoarthritis
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Click Dog Joy...for a bouyant 58 second video on You Tube...
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New Yorkers...Therapy Dog owner Nancy George-
Michalson,sent us this notice:
Please join us for the 1st Annual Ronald McDonald House /Angel on a Leash “1st Annual Family Fun Dog Walk”
Riverside Park West 83rd Street Promenade
Saturday, August 18th, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Please see the website for details to register online at: www.rmh-newyork.org/dog-walk
The photo is of Callie, Nancy George-Michalson's therapy dog participating in the R.E.A.D. program
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New Study Reveals Dogs and Cats Make Babies Healthier...
An article by Kathleen Dematera in One Green Planet reports that enfants are healthier when dogs, and to a lesser extent, cats, are around babies.
"Infants in households with dogs and cats are found to be healthier, according to a new study published in the August edition of Pediatrics. More specifically, the results show that infants with dog contacts in the household had fewer respiratory tract symptoms or infections, had less frequent otitis and required fewer antibiotics, supporting the theory that animal contacts during the first year of life possibly leads “to better resistance to infectious respiratory illnesses during childhood.”
The study, conducted in Finland, followed 397 infants where the mothers were instructed to closely monitor the symptoms on a weekly basis during the first year after giving birth, beginning when the infant was 9-months-old. According to Medical Daily, infants with dog contacts were 31 percent healthier than those with cat contacts. The study revealed that while cats appeared to have a positive impact on children’s health, it was not as strong or multifaceted as the dog’s..."
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The dog illustrations in this blog are from the Planet Of The Dogs series.
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Dogs Open the Classroom Door
Michelle Lecker was a teacher for 30 years and retired in January 2011. However, she missed working with kids. Fortunately, two years before retiring, she had adopted Rory, a rescued long haired Siberian Husky.
" I had seen a therapy dog in a hospital a year ago and thought it would be a wonderful way to give back after I retired. Rory and I did the training and started visiting in the assisted living facility where my mother in law lives.
This was very rewarding, but I really wanted to get back to working with kids. I contacted my former principal, and she directed me to the Nor'wester Readers program already serving schools in my district. We are the first therapy dog team in my old high school..."
Michelle's work with Rory has continued and grown. Here is a link to the Nor'wester Readers Canine Assisted Learning Program in Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Norwest
Nor'west Readers program is now working in 4 school districts and two private schools – seeing more than 700 children weekly. This summer some of their teams are supporting the local free library Canine Book Buddies program.
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Sunbear Sguad is an information center for dog and cat rescue...guidelines for what to do and how to do it...True stories of rescue are included...Here is one regarding hunting dogs:
"An ice storm was bearing down in the southern United States and a pack of 3 adult Beagles and 5 puppies were sighted in a rural Arkansas forest. Concerned animal lovers sent numerous emails to locate a rescuer who could take immediate action to save the dogs, and two compassionate women rose to the challenge.
It's not like they didn't have anything else to do that day. Desiree had successfully lobbied for felony animal cruelty laws and had just been informed of the law's passing, and Carol worked full-time. But later in the afternoon, after learning of the ice storm coming, they gathered their gear and drove 45 miles to the woods where the dogs had been sighted." Read it all at: Sunbear
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"The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue" - Author Unknown
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