Feature Fosters!

Our foster homes provide us with a number of invaluable things: a place for a dog to live while he gets healthy, training, a really good idea about a dog's personality... Today we have two very special ladies.

Adeline is SCBR's best kept secret.  She is one of the sweetest, most even tempered dogs we have ever met.  Adeline loves kids, dogs and thinks cats are pretty interesting.  She's a very friendly 2 year old girl looking for a forever home.

Unfortunately, we don't know much about Miss Roo here.  This poor little girl has been hanging out in our boarding facility for over a month.  We need to find her a foster home ASAP.  She is young and has lots of energy.  She's a boxer/lab mix and desperately wants a foster home (Roo is going a little kennel crazy...).  We can't wait to get her out and find out more about her!

If you're interested in adopting or fostering, please fill out an application.  We know both of these girls deserve forever homes and need some help finding them!

Wellness Wednesday - Pet Allergies

Who else has an itchy dog?  You know, the ones chewing their paws til they're swollen, scratching their ears, losing some hair maybe... Who knows exactly how to deal with their pet's hot spots?  Today we're taking a closer look at allergies in pets, what commonly causes them, and how to help your pet feel better.

Casey is a great example of a dog dealing with the most common allergies in pets: environmental allergies and food allergies.  We'll start with environmental...  Every spring and fall, the oak trees bloom and you suddenly start to see a lot more yellowish-green cars in Florida.  The pollen drives me crazy.  Some mornings I wake up wishing I could scratch the back sides of my eyes and I know Casey feels the same way.  Oak and grass pollen both do it for her and the sneezing, scratching, face rubbing and paw chewing starts.  She just loves to be outside though (in case her roll in the grass didn't clearly demonstrate that...) so we had to find some ways to cope.  We try to limit outside time and walks on days when I know the pollen is highest.  When we come in, I wipe down her face and THEN her paws with a wet wash cloth to try to get rid of as much residual pollen as possible.  On the days when she simply can't help herself and decides to go roll in the grass, she gets a bath before bed time.

Figuring out the food allergy was a little bit tricky.  There are so many things in food dogs can be allergic to and dogs can also develop allergies to something they've been eating for a very long time.  Common dog food allergens include beef, chicken, dairy, soy, corn and wheat among others.  I spent a lot of time emailing back and forth with Casey's vet trying to figure out what to feed her.  Dog Food Advisor was a great resource for us and along with the vet's help, we were able to find something that helped Casey a lot.  High quality foods can go a long way in helping your dog, but your vet may also recommend supplements during allergy season or throughout the year.

Just like bees for some people, pets can be allergic to fleas.  Fortunately, I don't have to deal with that nightmare with my dogs but the cat I had for 20 years would rip all of her fur from her shoulders back when the fleas got really bad.  Unfortunately for poor Cinders, topical flea treatments weren't an option (we'll revisit this in the next section) and I got the distinct pleasure of bathing a very angry cat who frequently left my arms looking like they'd been through a paper shredder.  Flea allergies in Florida are always a nightmare because the fleas never seem to go away.  Cinders was a little easier to cope with than a dog would be.  She quickly became an inside-only cat and that really helped, but if she had been a dog our only option would have been frequent baths and oral allergy medications.

So back to the topical flea treatments... The last major category of allergies we're covering today is contact allergies.  These work similarly to poison ivy in people: frequently a delayed response and always from coming into direct contact with the allergen.  We never figured out which part of the topical flea treatment Cinders was allergic to, but I did discover it's a lot more common than I thought.  People and pets share many common allergies including fragrances, formaldehyde (found in some paper products, paints, fabric finishes and household cleaners), topical medications and preservatives found in soaps and shampoos.

It can take a very long time to figure out what's causing Fido to be so fidgety, but it is definitely worth the effort.  I was glad I traded a few months of trial and error for the peace of mind I now have.  If your pet is driving you crazy with late night scratching, itching and licking, start by calling your vet to discuss what the most likely causes and most appropriate solutions may be.  Just like any other condition, never give your pets medication without first clearing it with the vet.  Do some research on the products you use on and around your pet and you may be surprised at what you find.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Tuesday everyone!  We had an awesome weekend.  Saturday, we had an event at Three Birds Tavern.  Trigger City Trio put on an awesome show for us and we had several fosters and SCBR alumni come out and say hello!

Buster, of the Bill and Buster Brown team, hung out on the patio for a while and was super excited to let everyone know he's now an SCBR ALUM!

Chuly came out for a bit too.  He was the resident ladies' man for the evening.

Johnny Cash played it cool while hanging out by the raffle and silent auction table.

Ms. Matilda is not an SCBR dog, but her mom tells me she might get to be a foster sister soon!  We always need foster homes and we're keeping an eye out for Matilda's application.  If you're interested in fostering or adopting, you can find the application here.

UPDATE ON JR:  JR's fundraiser is starting to pick up a little steam and we're almost to the half way point! His foster mom says he really likes to eat and his skin is starting to look a little better.  We hope to have a progress picture for everyone after his vet appointment next week.

As always, thanks to everyone who supports SCBR.  We can't do what we do without all of you!

Monday (Late) Wrap Up

I like to post our updates on Monday morning usually, but today's weekend wrap up includes a very special segment.  We'll get to that in a bit though.  We had A LOT going on this weekend!

First up this weekend was Kids' Day at the Village.  Casey had a blast saying hi to everyone and just LOVED seeing all of the kids come by.  We got to meet the nice ladies from Wags and Wiggles pet sitting and really hope to work with them again in the future.

After Kids' Day, we went back over to Groovy Cats & Dogs for the Patio Pawty and PHOENIX made a surprise appearance!  We're hoping to get her eye surgery scheduled ASAP but we need to raise another $1300.  Who has a dollar or two they could contribute to this girl's fundraiser?  It all adds up and no amount is too little!

We were glad to see everyone come out Saturday.  We made close to $200 and every little bit helps us take care of the dogs!

As many of you know, we have a new addition to the SCBR family.  JR comes to us from Hernando County and will need all of our help over the next few months while he recuperates.  He weighed barely 30 pounds when he went into animal control and surprisingly put on a few pounds there!  Since he's gotten settled in his new foster home, he put on another few pounds and we were thrilled to find out at the vet yesterday that he's now up to 37 pounds!  A few down, 20 or so to go...

We know he looks like a sad bag of bones now, but with some love and a lot of vet care we hope he'll be a very handsome boy soon!  JR has demodex and as a result, he has lost most of his fur.  We're working closely with the vets to get it under control and help him heal.  We did get some good news!  He's heartworm negative!  JR's condition is still pretty serious though and his foster mom is closely watching him.  Yesterday at the vet, he sat between me and his foster mom and gave everyone (including Dr. Register!) lots of kisses.  JR has a very long and challenging road ahead, so please share his fundraiser with your family and friends.

Tomorrow's Wellness Wednesday: Allergies and Your Pets.  Stayed tuned and thank you from all of us here at SCBR!

Happy Friday!  Today is our first edition of Foster Friday and today we have Suri.  She came to us from a Louisiana shelter about two months ago and is ready to find a forever family.

Hey y'all!  I'm Suri, the little girl who came back from Louisiana with Bill after he dropped Circles off at Dag's House.  My foster family says I'm a very sweet boxer mix with a really pretty flashy brindle coat.  I'm two years old and I've learned lots of new tricks!  I can sit, stay, lie down, give my paw, and I just know I could be a perfect addition to your family!  I love other dogs and people are just awesome.  I love to share happy times with you and I'll give you kisses when you're sad.  I'm always happy to see my foster family come home at the end of the day and I promise you I'll wait patiently and love you unconditionally.  I've come such a long way since leaving the Bayou behind!  Won't you consider making me part of your forever family?  If you want to adopt me, fill out an application and one of my friends will call you.  Until then, cheres...  Love, Suri

Weekend Events

SCBR will be out and about a lot this weekend so swing by and say hello.  On Saturday we'll be at Kids' Day 2013 in the Carrollwood Village area from 10:00-3:00.  After that, we're headed over to Groovy Cats & Dogs from 4:00-6:00 for their Patio Pawty.  We'll have items to raffle off and t-shirts for sale.  Last time we all had a blast so be sure to swing by and say hello!

Sunday, if you're headed out to the Rays game come by the third base food court and say hello to our volunteers! We'll be working the Italian Sausage stand near section 119.  We hope to see you all out at the ballpark!

Fundraising Updates

As always, we have lots of fundraising stuff in the works and a few very special things coming up as well.  Phoenix's fundraiser is a little more than half way to our goal!  As soon as we're within 10% of our goal, we will schedule her surgery to remove the cataracts.  Circles' fundraiser is making a little progress, but we still need your help.  We received the first invoice from Dag's House this week and the donations we've received toward his care are phenomenal!  We need to keep building momentum for him though so we can make sure he gets all the rehabilitation he needs.  Right now, we're about $3,600 away from our goal with a May 31st deadline, so please continue to share.  In case you missed it, here's the latest video of Circles.  He's going to be able to run all by himself soon!

Thanks again for all of your ongoing support and encouragement!  We hope to see everyone out and about soon.

Wellness Wednesday - Here Comes the Heat Part 1

Monday, we posted a different graphic highlighting the dangers of leaving dogs (or any pet or child or elderly person for that matter) in a car.  Even with the windows cracked or down, heat still gets trapped in a car.  Ask anyone who's dealt with a summer in Florida and broken air conditioning in their car.  I can tell you from personal experience it's easily 10 degrees warmer in the car than outside, even with the windows all the way down and driving fast enough to feel the wind in your hair...

There are 14 states which have laws on the books dealing with animals being left in cars.  They all carry penalties of $250 to $5000 and/or jail time.  Although Florida does not have a law specifically for pets in cars, people have been tried and convicted of animal neglect or abuse under Florida Statute 828.13, which covers improper confinement and abandonment, and others which cover felony animal cruelty and animals found in distress.  Many individual counties have ordinances on the books stating that people who leave their animals in cars can face civil and criminal penalties and anyone who sees an animal in distress should call the local authorities.

It only takes minutes for a car to reach unsafe temperatures and some 'snub nosed' breeds, like boxers and pugs, are more susceptible to heat exhaustion and heat stroke.  The effects of heat stroke can be devastating and it doesn't take long for a dog to wind up with a permanent injury, disability or even die in a hot car.  It's too much to risk for animals we love so much, so this summer please think about any stops you may have to make before taking your four legged friends for a drive.

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone!  Welcome to our very first blog post.  We hope to be able to keep everyone up to date with all of our upcoming events, fundraisers, updates on dogs going through treatments as well as new addition, fosters and adoptions.  Once or twice a month, we would like to do educational posts so if you have dog health, training and/or well-being questions email them to secondchanceboxers.florida@gmail.com and your question may be featured in a future post!

We have a lot going on in May and it started with our dog wash at Groovy Cats & Dogs this weekend.  We had an awesome turn out and had some of the best volunteers anyone could ask for working this weekend.  Everyone's hard work helped us a lot and our total for Saturday's event was $577.11 which goes a long way toward helping some of our dogs get the vet care they need!

Groovy Cats & Dogs had Veronica from Tailored Pet Sitting, LLC come out to take some photos and we just couldn't get enough of Beamer's close up here.  He's such a handsome boy and hung out at the ticket desk with his fur sisters and our volunteers.  He is deaf but he's such a smart boy he's learned some hand signals and was a great assistant all afternoon.

Phoenix, Dodger and Lucy are all having different eye issues, so they will be our next big fundraising and events focus.  If you know of a venue where we could host an event, could donate raffle or silent auction items, or can help us drum up some donations or ideas for future fundraisers send us an email!  One of our volunteers came up with our theme for the next event: Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades!  Details to come...

YouCaring is a huge part of what we do and we were able to raise enough money to cover all of Bentley's and Snow's vet needs, but Circles seems to be losing steam and Phoenix's just launched yesterday.  Please share both of them.

We have several upcoming events and hope to see you all out and about.
Saturday, May 11 10:00-3:00 Kids Day 2013 at the Village
                                               4535 West Village Drive Tampa, FL 33624
                             4:00-6:00  Patio Pawty at Groovy Cats & Dogs
                                              2305 W Linebaugh Avenue Tampa, FL 33612
Sunday, May 12  Rays v San Diego Padres
                            Sausage Cart in the 3rd Base Food Court

We couldn't do what we do without our supporters.  As always, thank you from the dogs and volunteers of SCBR.