Basil, faboulus and famous

In just one week, we have met two very famous pups! First, we were introduced toMurphy, who was issued a citation for taking himself on a walk without his owner...or leash! Yesterday, we met Basil who is known for his modeling work. Basil is the official spokesdog for Draper Canine Therapy that specializes in producing
therapeutic dog beds.

Basil can also be spotted in ads for Echo Silverware!
Basil and his owener, Cindy, met us at the Garden of Eden, located at 571 Tremont St. This quaint cafe organizes several gourmet events, in collaboration with Lionettes Market. The following is a list of some of the events!



Saturday 7 April 2007, noon-5 p.m.
Market test some chocolate treats at Lionette's Market
It is free!
Kory from Shootflying Hill chocolate sauce will be in Lionette's market testing out her decadent chocolate treats and sharing recipes. Come in and indulge yourself: she's not only an amazing chocolate (and other sweets) sauce maker, she has a great personality (our staff always loves to have her doing in-store demos!).

Sunday April 1st
Garden of Eden's Patio Opens for the Season!
A true mark of Spring in Boston's South End, the neighborhood's legendary patio will usher in the new season by offering you a place to eat comforting and delicious fare from clean, local, and sustainable farms. If it's a little chilly, grab a wrap or a sweater and enjoy the pleasure of eating outdoors (because you know food always tastes better outside, anyway).

and here is our favorite:

Wednesday 18 April 2007, 7-9 p.m.
Slow Food Wednesday's "A Pile of New England Cheeses"$25
That's 12 cheeses being served by the farmers and producers who make them. They will be on hand to discuss local cheese making. To make a reservation: 617.778.0360
Last month we participated to the "Pig Event" and we can guarantee that it was really a lot of fun: food and wine were delicious, and the people attending really friendly.

The Beacon Hill dogs calendar

In Beacon Hill there is an elegant shop called Four Preppy Paws, that we visited last Saturday. Heidi, the owner, is also furnishing the delicious Polka's Bakery in the Back Bay area. What I liked most is the calendar they created featuring dogs from the area. The pictures are spectacular! The talented photographer is Margaret Crow, who spent a total of 9 months on the project. Below are some other pictures she took.

A dog meet-up at Brookline Avenue Playground

On Sunday morning all kinds of dogs and their owners meet at Brookline Avenue Playground. Elisabeth Carver is here with her dog Bubba and has organized this meet-up yesterday. She is new to Boston and thinks it's great to socialize with other dog owners and dogs in the area. There are new meet-ups every Saturday or Sunday in different parks. Check the next meet-up at Brighton All Dogs Play group!


Turbo is the small chuihuaha sitting on the child's lap. He has just celebrated his fist birthday, he is 1 year old, and it's his first time at a dog meet-up. Little bit shy, the safest place to be is in somebody's arms! In the next picture Silvia takes care of him.

And here is Turbo with our friend and colleague Phil.


Parker (in the picture belove) is also a young dog, and he has never met so many dogs gathered at one time. He is little bit overwhelmed, but the meet up is a great opportunity to get used to other dogs and get socialized.

Take a look at our calendar to see even more meet-ups and events for dogs.
See you next time!

A Boston Terrier at Boston Common

Boston common is America's first public park, established in 1634! Until 1830 cows were grazing here, but now the dogs has taken over.
I met a cool Boston Terrier named Linus, 8 months old, visiting the park to play with other cool doggis (in the pic together with his mommy Marin).


The Boston Terrier is one of America's native breeds, resulting from a cross between an English Bulldog and a white English Terrier. And yes you guessed right, the Boston Terrier is from Boston!
You can read more about this cool playful breed on The American Kennel Club webpage: http://www.akc.org/breeds/boston_terrier/

Beautiful dogs need help!

Woof, my name is Lucy.
I enjoy spending time at the Carleton dog park, but after a while I get thirsty! We have to raise $5.000 in order to build a water fountain here. If you can help with a donation please email carletoncourtdogpark @ hotmail.com.
Please send this link to other people you know would be interested.
You are welcome to come the park anytime! The park is located at the intersection of Carlton and Holyoke Street at the Southwest Corridor.
Most of the dogs will be there early in the morning and after 5 pm.

Dreaming of being a dog while visiting Just Dogs Gourmet

If you happen to be in Newton and you want to spoil your dog with some really special treats you could stop by Just Dogs Gourmet in Newton Center. We payed a visit to this shop just before lunch time and we were drooling. But the treats are just for dogs tough..!



We met Kim (in the picture, in front of a wall of pics of her customers), a nice lady who works in the shop.
She explained us that the gourmet cookies and candy bars sold here are made solely from dog friendly ingredients. As dogs are unable to metabolize the chemical substance in chocolate called theobromine, the "chocolate" on the cookies is actually a natural product called carob and not only looks like the real thing but is similar in taste as well!




Just Dogs Gourmet has cool accessories as well, like jewelery and dog clothes, and a grooming salon in the back of the shop!

You can visit their webpage here:
http://www.justdogsnewton.com/

A meeting with Jake Tedaldi

We met with Jake Tedaldi, a veterinarian based in Newton, MA, who is winner of Boston Magazine's 2006 "Best of Boston" award for veterinarian.

Dr. Tedaldi is a great veterinarian not only because of his expertise with pets but also because we felt that he has a deep understading of pet owners' needs. Dr. Tedaldi don't have a clinic, but pays personal visits to pets all around the Boston area.

He told us that there is an increasing number of pets, especially cats, with kidneys problems, and there is not really a treatment. In fact, there is not dialysis for pets. Owners have to prevent the problem. A solution exists, and that impressed us. Angell Medical Center in Boston do transplants, but it is not so popular. In fact .... who is the lucky donor?
The donor is normally coming from a research facility or is a rescue pet, and in need of a home. You enter the clinic with one cat, and you go home with two cats and two kidneys, one each.
Kidney transplant is easier to perform with cats than with dogs, also because of the easier genetic match.
Ethical questions are probably without an answer - a pet can't choose to be a donor. Anyway, it seems that both pets can recover well from the operation.

The most complete website I found about the kidney transplant is about cats:
http://www.felinecrf.com/trans0.htm

The Italian Greyhound meet up

We decided to get a dog!
Meet ups are one of the best opportunities to understand which breed would match better for us, so today I went to the Italian Greyhound meet-up, at the Doggy Day Playcenter in the South End. Around 25 dogs attended, and for now they are on the list of my favourite dogs (being Italian helped them!).
I met Donna there (left, with her sweet Robin - her husband Jake is behind her), who is an expert on the breed. These dogs are similar to cats for many reasons, she said. Other than elegant, they don't smell and they don't drool. They can jump as high as a cat with their long muscled legs, so they need to play in a place with a high wall, or they can run away.
If a bird is around, they get out of control, and start to run trying to catch it. Many Italian Greyhound owners I spoke with seemed worried about losing their dogs. For this reason, this kind of dog needs a leash all the time, a special kind of leash that fits with their heads.
Their tiny legs can easily get broken, and fixing them can cost up to 3.000$. Also, their feet are delicate and need to be cleaned every day, as these dogs don't normally like shoes (but they do like polish nail a lot!). It is important to wash their feet (during the winter, the salt on the streets of Boston hurts them) and to brush their teeth every evening.

They look like really social dogs, and their owners too!
Silvia