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In This Issue: 2015 Calendar Contest; Scientific Research Committee Formed; “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhoods”; Promising Research; Featured Photo; Upcoming Walks. Please follow us on Facebook.
Our 2015 Calendar Contest Has Begun!
Lily Lisle was our cover girl for the 2013 Cancer Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down calendar.
Our 2015 Cancer Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down Calendar Contest Is Up And Running
Submissions and voting started June 10th, 2014, and we’d like you to participate.
By entering the contest to honor your canine cancer hero, you also promote awareness of canine cancer and raise funds for cancer research to benefit both pets and people.
Who Can Enter? Anyone with a dog who currently has or has had cancer (living or passed) can enter, including dogs who have entered in previous 2 Million Dogs’ calendar contests.
To start your page, click here.
How Does It Work? Register your dog as a participant in the contest. You create and edit your own home page by uploading your dog’s story and photo and tell how they came to be touched by cancer. Upload your best high resolution digital photo. Please be prepared to submit a high resolution digital photo of the same image (minimum of 500kb, please) upon request. 1MB resolution or greater is ideal for reproduction in the calendar.
Voting Begins as soon as you enter and create your page! Your $10 registration fee applies as 10 votes for your dog. (Votes are $1.00 each, with a minimum donation of $5.00.) To vote, click on the “Give Now” button at the top right of your favorite dogs’ pages.
If you want to enter more than 1 dog, there will be a separate registration fee for each, and you will create a separate page for each dog.
The 13 pets with the highest number of votes win. Winners will choose which month they want their photos and stories on.
And ALL of the photo entries will be included in our 2015 Calendar Photo Gallery. No dog will be left out! For questions about the contest or technical issues with your photographs and stories, please contact Erich Trapp at erich@puppyup.org.
For complete information about the contest, read our blog here.
Scientific Advisory Committee Formed
We are pleased to announce the formation of our Scientific Advisory Committee.
Luke Robinson: It was very important to us to take the time to identify and assemble a group of leaders in their respective fields of research. We are honored and privileged to have such a distinguished team of scientists and veterinary oncologists working with us.
Members include: Dr. Chick Weisse, Dr. Heather Wilson, Dr. Carolyn Henry, Dr. David Ruslander, Dr. Nicole Ehrhart , Dr. Kai Shiu , Dr. Susan Ettinger, and Dr. Craig Clifford.
Our committee of researchers was carefully chosen for their knowledge and accomplishments in their respective fields including: veterinary oncology, radiation oncology, cell and molecular biology, internal medicine, etc.. The Committee is charged with designing near and long-term research blueprints for The Foundation, and will help recommend projects that reflect our scientific aims and research objectives.
To learn more about the members of our Scientific Advisory Committee and their fields of expertise, please click here.
For more information on applying for a grant from The Puppyup Foundation, please follow this link.
Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhoods
Diane and Molly
by Teri Modisette
PORTLAND, OR–
“Ironically, I didn’t know about Luke Robinson’s walk until a few days before he arrived in the Washington/Oregon area,” says Diane Reyes. “I was online looking for information about Great Pyrenees, because we fostered one for a while. Then I saw these two gorgeous dogs and thought, I wonder what that’s about? When I found out Luke was passing by so closely, I was excited. I started calling every number I could find, and looking up every person with a website, saying, ‘What can I do? How can I help?’”
Cancer itself made an unwelcome, surprise visit to Diane and Vince’s doorstep in 2003, coming to their beloved golden retriever, Molly. A tragic diagnosis for a household committed to health. Diane, a dietician herself, is wife to a cardiologist and sister to an oncology nurse.
With canine cancer, treatment options were quite limited one decade ago. At age six, Molly did a year of intense chemotherapy that thankfully obliterated her mast cell tumor–and just like that, the tail wags were back. “I was so concerned that the treatment would hurt. I went to the oncology center in Beverly Hills, and everyone there was so wonderful. The tumors are so much like what [humans] get. Back then only two places in the state of California even dealt with canine cancer.”
Molly lived until age 13, when new cancer cells started to rapidly multiply in her lungs. “There was nothing anyone could do,” said Diane. The day she started going downhill, I took her to her favorite pond to do her favorite thing: swim with the ducks. At midnight, she was dry heaving and wouldn’t eat or drink, so we went to the vet. I was with her during those last breaths, just hyperventilating, but she wouldn’t leave me until I calmed down. After a minute, I calmed down, and took one long breath–and I finally felt her head drop on my arm.”
Molly’s battle is like many other accounts of human and canine lives ended too early–accounts that got Luke Robinson walking America’s pavements in the first place. “He walks with such commitment and authority; it’s almost reverent,” says Diane. “I read about Malcolm and Murphy and what happened to them. My husband read his blog and said, ‘Do you know how many miles he’s walked?’ Luke loves his dogs. It’s scary how often [cancer] happens, and no one seems to understand why.”
With the phones and computers stowed and the dogs trading shy sniffs, Luke, Diane, and Vince swapped stories of bereavement and healing, becoming fast friends. “I have three step-children, and it was like they’d visited,” said Diane. “Luke came down in the morning with his sheets and towels and told us he’d made his bed like his mom always taught him.” Diane laughs. “He is so considerate of people’s homes. He said, ‘You know, I can cook!’”
“And I said, ‘Well next time, you’re going to cook.’
He’s doing a good thing. It makes me want to do my own 2-mile walk.”
”There’s always something we can do.”
Teri Modisette is a Houston-based writer, Pinterest pinner, and speaker. She has an energetic Yorkie, Jake, and considers it an honor to write in Molly’s memory.
If you’re interested in walking with Luke, Hudson, and Indy, you can contact Ginger (ginger@puppyup.org) to find out how.
Bone Cancer Vaccine For Dogs Shows Promise
By CBS News
BROOKLYN, N.Y. –
Denali is back at work as a therapy dog at New York Methodist Hospital six months after he was diagnosed with an aggressive type of bone cancer called osteosarcoma.
“He had his 10th birthday two weeks ago; it was a birthday he should not have had,” owner Bob Ipcar said.
Denali received an experimental vaccine at the University of Pennsylvania’s school of Veterinary Medicine. Many dogs in the trial already had the standard treatment for osteosarcoma– amputating the cancerous limb followed by chemotherapy. Researchers gave them radiation and a live bacterial vaccine.
“So the concept of the vaccine is to educate the immune system, to recognize tumor cells and to kill them,” explained Nicola Mason, an assistant professor at UPenn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.
Most dogs with the disease die within a year of diagnosis, but many who received the vaccinations are still alive two years later. The research is not just encouraging for dogs with osteosarcoma. Scientists hope it could one day be used to treat children with the disease.
Denali’s disease is showing no signs of progressing.
Reporter: What if this trial eventually helps save human lives?
Jane Landis/Dog Owner: That would be fantastic because he is a therapy dog and it’s really been his life to promote healing.
The treatment may also be used one day to treat women with types of breast cancer that are similar to osteosarcoma. The vet hospital is still looking for six more dogs with osteosarcoma to take part in the trial.
For a video of this story and to learn more about Nicola Mason’s research, please follow this link.
Featured Instagram Photo
Indiana, Luke and Hudson taking a break amidst the roses.
Every issue we’ll pick a special photo of the West Coast Walk. This is Luke, Indiana, and Hudson at The Rose Gardens at 850 SW Rose Garden Way in Portland, Oregon.
Additional Ways To Help
Tagg GPS Pet Tracker is the industry leading pet GPS and fitness tracking device, and is supporting Luke’s mission by supplying their products and GPS service charges for free. In addition, during the 6-month journey, consumers who buy a Tagg GPS Tracker via www.pettracker.com with coupon code “2dogs” will receive an automatic ten (10) percent off the Tagg Tracker. At the end of walk, twenty-five (25) dollars of each purchase made with the coupon code above will be donated to Luke and his nonprofit The Puppy Up Foundation.
Follow this link next time you shop on Amazon and they will donate a percentage of your order to 2 Million Dogs. Great way to justify shopping! Everyone can use more dog toys. Or a new thriller for summer reading on the beach. Or some kitchen gadget you can’t live without. Let your imagination take you away!
Disclaimer
The 2 Million Dogs/PuppyUp Foundation does not endorse nor recommend any particular product, service, or treatment. We offer information strictly for educational and/or informational purposes. We believe it is the pet owner’s responsibility to do the research and draw his or her own conclusions.
We can always use your help. If you’re interested, send me an mail at ginger@puppyup.org.
Sincerely,
Ginger Morgan, Executive Director
Upcoming Walks in August. Follow the links to learn more.
August 8, 2014 Puppy Up! Walk in Granby, MA — DuFresne Park, Kendall Street,Granby, Massachusetts 01033 10:00 AM to 4 PM
August 16, 2014 Puppy Up! Walk in Wasena Park, 1119 Wiley Drive, Roanoke, Virginia — 12:00 PM to 4 PM
Thank you to our Sponsors
American Sprinkler Co.
Angel Care Cancer Center
Anshen Veterinary Acupuncture
bad dog frida
Boldt
Dawg Tired Premium Dog Beds
Edinger Surgical Options
Elite Human Capital Group
Fido-Vite
Great Pyrenees Rescue of
Wisconsin
Harmony Vet Acupuncture and Spine Care
Harmony Vet Acupuncture and Spine Center
Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc.
Hilst Home Euthanasia Service
Hollywood Feed
Homeward Bound Veterinary Services
Lori’s Pet-Agree Salon, LLC
Madison Veterinary Specialists
MARC-RES – Mrs. Bow Wowz
McConnell Publishing
Memorial Pet Services, Inc.
Memphis Sound
Memphis Veterinary Specialists
NorthStar Wisconsin
Out-U-Go! Madison
Paws & Claws Mobile Veterinary Service, Inc.
Patricia Simkowski
Paws & Claws Mobile Veterinary Service, Inc.
Ruffin’ It Resort
SCS Builders LLC
Smart Motors
State Farm
Uihlein/Wilson Architects, Inc
UW Veterinary Care
Veterinary Emergency Service
University of Wisconsin
Smart Motors
TAGG Pet Tracker
Dawg-Tired
Lori’s Pedigree
Out-U-Go
North Central Management Group
Whole Foods
Charlee Bear
Hills
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