Puppy Up Newsletter, November 2017

“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.” – Dave Barry

In This Issue

Last PuppyUp Walks of 2017 Were A Great Success!;The Pet Hospitals Make The Puppy Up Foundation Their November “Speak Up For Pets” Program Donation Recipient; Hollywood Feed Does It Again!; Research: Jackson Lab Turns To Dogs In Brain Cancer Research; The 2018 “Cancer Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down” Calendars Are Ready To Pre-Order; Pup Of the Month — Dakota Baxley; Shop Amazon Smile And Help Puppy Up.

Last PuppyUp Walks of 2017 Were A Great Success!

On Saturday, November 4, scores of people and their pups turned out for our last two PuppyUp Walks of the year in Little Rock, Arkansas and Lake Norman, North Carolina. Thank you Little Rock and Lake Norman!

Pups and their people took to their local parks to enjoy the autumn air and delicious smells of fall to support The Puppy Up Foundation’s ongoing efforts in canine cancer research and comparative oncology.

As anyone who has participated in our Walks will tell you, our PuppyUp Walks are a not only a great way to show support for our educational and research efforts, but they create a growing community of people who not only share their experiences with canine cancer,  but also form lasting connections and friendships based on the love and compassion they feel for their canine companions. There is progress in numbers, and the more people who participate and share what they have learned, the closer we get to making cancer in pets and people a thing of the past.

We have many more Walks in the works for 2018. To keep abreast of what’s to come, please check our website periodically to see if there is a Walk coming to your town. If there isn’t, and you’d like to get involved, either as a Walk Coordinator or a volunteer, please click the links below.

We hope you’ll enjoy some of the highlights from our two most recent Walks.

Upcoming Walks
Join a Walk
Start a Walk in your area

The Walk in Lake Norman.

PuppyUp Little Rock

The Puppy Up Foundation Is Recepient Of Speak Up For Pets Donations Thanks To The Pet Hospitals

The Pet Hospitals Make The Puppy Up Foundation Their November “Speak Up For Pets” Program Donation Recipient

Thank you to The Pet Hospitals for making us their November recipient of their Speak Up For Pets Program. We hope you’ll visit their website, learn about their various services, and stop by one of their many locations and buy a T-Shirt (or a few) in support of The Puppy Up Foundation.

What is Speak Up For Pets?

Each month, The Pet Hospitals select a different local charity to help fund fostering, medical care, rehoming, and more for abandoned pets across the Midsouth and beyond. Every year in the United States alone, 6.5 million dogs and cats enter shelters and 1.5 million are euthanized.
The Pet Hospitals’ charitable donation program is funded by T-shirt sales and their staff T-shirt program. Shirts (pictured above) cost only $15, and this month The Puppy Up Foundation will receive 100% of the profit from the shirt sales. Employees pay $2 every time they wear the shirt to work, which goes straight to recipients as well.

From The Pet Hospitals: “The Pet Hospitals is proud to have The Puppy Up Foundation as the November recipient in our Speak Up for Pets program. Ginger Morgan (Executive Director) of Puppy Up recently said, “Comparative oncology has tremendous potential to give us key insights to what’s causing cancer across species. These efforts are a step towards a world in which cancer is no longer one of the top killers of our children, our parents and our pets.”

To buy one of these great T-shirts, please visit a location near you. If there isn’t a location near you, please give them a call at their Collierville, TN location (901-853-7330) and order your shirts directly from them. Shirts come in sizes Kids S-L, and Adult S-3x. Shipping and handling are extra.

You can also find The Pet Hospitals on Facebook.

Hollywood Feed Does It Again!

Research: Jackson Lab Turns To Dogs In Brain Cancer research

Photo: Roel Verhaak, a biologist who is researching brain cancer at The Jackson Lab, and his dog, Lola. (The Jackson Laboratory)

(by Stephen Singer – Contact Reporter)

(Source: Courant.com)

Researchers trying to draw a bead on one of the deadliest forms of cancer are turning to an old and trusted friend: the family dog.

The Jackson Laboratory is among the most recent research institutions to join the race against brain cancer. The Farmington genomics research center is using tumors from dogs to find clues to the disease that killed more than 15,000 people in 2015, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The goal is simple, said Roel Verhaak, a biologist and professor at Jackson Lab: “Anything we can find to prolong life expectancy and ultimately a cure.”

There’s an urgency to the work of Verhaak and others. Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, ranks high in “worst outcomes.”

Treatment for brain cancer — surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy — hasn’t changed very much in 30 years, Verhaak said. Nor has life expectancy for those battling the condition, which is about 15 months, he said.

Verhaak, a researcher at the Farmington genomics lab, and his team examine tumor cells in pets donated by owners through their veterinarians. Viewed under a microscope, the cells of humans and dogs are very similar, he said.

Researchers are looking at the molecular makeup of a tumor in great detail, Verhaak said.
Certain breeds, such as Boston terriers, pugs, French bulldogs, shih-tzus and Pekingese are technically known as brachycephalic and have a greater risk for developing glioblastomas and gliomas. Those brain tumors have a particularly high mortality rate in dogs and in humans.

Dogs are a good model for brain cancer research, Verhaak said. And because owners make a point of donating their pets’ tumor samples to help find future cures, more are available than from most other animals commonly used in research.

For the complete article, please visit our blog.

Dakota Baxley — Pup of the Month

(Amanda Baxley) This is Dakota. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in March 2015, when he was just under 2 years old. He has always been an active dog and loves to play Frisbee. On April 1st (2015) he had to have his front leg amputated. I think this may have been harder on us than him. Within a few weeks he was back to normal ― running outside and grabbing a Frisbee, barking at the TV every time a ballgame was on, and racing me to bed to try to get the pillows before me. Dakota is also going through chemo to help keep the cancer from spreading. He is a constant surprise as even the chemo cannot keep him down. When he comes home from treatment he is back outside with a Frisbee in his mouth, waiting for someone to come play. He is a fighter and we hope to enjoy a full life with him, even if that means being outside every few hours throwing Frisbees!

(Dakota was a contestant in the 2016 “Cancer Can’t Keep A Good Dog Down” Calendar Contest.)

Shop Amazon Smile And Help The Puppy Up Foundation Too!

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? Do you use Amazon? Shop for everyone on your gift list this holiday at Amazon Smile and Amazon donates to The Puppy Up Foundation.

If you are on Facebook or Twitter, we hope you’ll share this Amazon Smile link and encourage your friends and family as well.

Thank you for your continued support!

Disclaimer
The Puppy Up 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
The Puppy Up Foundation