Kennel club hosts dog day at park - Longview News-Journal
No signs were changed, and it wasn't official, but a Longview park could very well have been renamed McWhorter Bark since it was the site of the annual Responsible Dog Owners Day sponsored by the Longview Kennel Club.
Assisting dog owners with meeting their pets' basic needs and just having fun with the animals were the order for the day, according to Tina McIlveene, event chairwoman.
"It's an AKC (American Kennel Club) activity designed to educate the public and show them various ways they can become more involved with their dogs, whether it's obedience, therapy dogs, and any number of activities," she said.
"It's a day to get out and meet other dog people: just have fun with your dogs. We have tons of literature for people to do just what the event says: to be responsible dog owners. We're doing the Canine Good Citizen Test. Your dog doesn't have to be registered or purebred."
The good citizen test includes accepting a friendly stranger, sitting politely for petting, sitting down on command and coming when called. If the pup fails, it's try, try again after additional time, treats and tutoring.
The event also offered low-cost vaccinations, rabies shots and microchipping, courtesy of Dr. Christina Odom of Longview Veterinary HospitaL.
The importance of microchipping cannot be overstated, according to one of Odom's vet techs.
"A friend of mine in Dallas has Great Danes. One of hers got away and ended up in North Dakota. Microchips are important; people don't realize how important," Jami Arnold said. "She looked on Craig's List and put out fliers. It was two years later, she got a call from a shelter in North Dakota."
Many animals are recovered because they were microchipped or wore a tag on their collar. Then, there are the dogs that languish in a shelter unless someone adopts them.
Bill Spencer and his wife, Tracie, had five small dogs at Saturday's event for vaccinations and microchipping. They got Lefty, their 15-year-old Pomeranian, from the animal shelter in Longview.
"Lefty was on his last day when we got him," Spencer said. Trixie, a 4½-year-old Chinese Crested, also was rescued. "She was being used to breed at a puppy mill. She was really sick when we got her."
When Chia, their 13-year-old Chihuahua, was a puppy, B.B., their 15-year-old terrier mix, "just took over like her mom," Spencer said.
"B.B. came from a Walmart parking lot. They were just giving the puppies away. They home-doctored them, and her tail was kind of a mess. We got it fixed up. We tend to take the hard luck cases."
This was the third year the Elderville residents have attended the Responsible Dog Owners Day in Longview.
McIlveene estimated more than 60 people were in attendance by 10:30 a.m., an hour into the event.
"Oh, we're very pleased with the turnout," she said. "Most people stick around all day."
18 Sep, 2011--
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