Now I know this annual celebration/spectacle is not as popular in Australia as it is here in North America, but it makes a good ‘doggy’ reference title like the one above. You should see to what lengths they get up to here. Costumes, lollies, decorations and pumpkins galore. It got me thinking about how we would like to spend a Howlaween when we get back to Oz at some stage.

Well as it would be the last day of Dogtober, Roxy and I should do something that would help raise awareness about Assistance Dogs, and help our neighbours and community members understand the importance of these special canines. So I instead going ‘trick or treating’, we would go knocking on everyone’s door a go ‘sit and speaking’! We could educate the community on what the dogs do for us, like pick up things and open doors. We would be able to show them a few of those tricks as well. It would be a great opportunity to explain how much money it costs to train and place an Assistance Dog, over $20,000 by the way, and that we rely solely on donations, fundraising and bequests. Instead of giving us candy (and chocolate isn’t good for dogs remember), people might like to take more information, go to our website and possibly make a donation or sponsor a puppy! That would be a great way to spend a Howlaween and celebrate the last evening of Dogtober.

How can you help Assistance Dogs this last weekend? Get out there on the streets and raise some dead …. I mean funds and awareness!!!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful time enjoying Dogtober and keeping busy in with events and fundraisers to help Assistance Dogs Australia.

This weekend we all went down to Niagara to see the famous world wonder, Niagara Falls! Now Roxy loves water. I will never forget the first time we took her to a friend’s place and let her off her leash for a bit of a run around the front yard after a long drive. The second she spotted the pond complete with fountain, she was off and dived straight into it doing laps around it like Thorpie! So suffice to say I made sure that her leash was tightly secured to my wheelchair as we ventured towards the thunderous rapids flowing over the Niagara cliffs.

There were crowds a plenty who were taking photo after photo of the falls, but amazingly Roxy was also a sightseeing wonder and we had many tourists asking to take her photo too. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to explain what she does for me and where she comes from. People are always amazed at the many different things she can do and I always laugh when I tell them that “she can also answer the phone and speak like Scooby Doo!” Their eyes light up in amazement until they realise what I just said. It’s great to be able to spread the news around the world about the wonderful job that Assistance Dogs Australia do for people with a disability.

After seeing the falls from above we decided to see it from water level on the Maid Of The Mist Boat. This was where Roxy was really in her element as she loved the spray of water coming up into the boat. Check out a couple of the photos on the Facebook page to see her adventure to the falls. It is fantastic that experiences like this allow service dog’s to accompany their handler. The Niagara Council have many signs up saying that assistance animals are permitted. There are still many places around the world that are not yet educated about the rights of people with disabilities and the laws governing animals assisting people in public places. But in general, we very rarely have a hard time.

Over here in Toronto, everyone is getting ready for Halloween…. or should I say Howlaween. We are going to go shopping for a costume for Roxy so make sure you check back on the blog next week to see what we come up with. In the meantime continue your good work in raising awareness and funds for Assistance Dogs Australia, we appreciate every little thing you do!

Tim & Roxy

For those of you who are new to Assistance Dogs and this wonderful celebratory month, my amazing dog is named Roxy. She will actually celebrate 5th birthday on October 3rd, so my wife and I are busy organising her party … er pawty, complete with pupcakes from an amazing shop down the road. She has already been in to choose the one that she would like as you can see from the picture.

I am a quadriplegic with limited arm movement and no hand or finger function. So as you can imagine, just everyday tasks are sometimes impossible for me to complete myself. Every day I am faced with these physical challenges and you may think to yourself how hard that must be. But I can tell you now, that this wonderful friend that is constantly by my side is always willing and ready to assist me with any of them and together we forge a path of independence. In fact you have probably never seen anyone so happy at the moment one shuts a door. Obviously I cannot hold on to a door handle and shut the door by myself, but one of our favourite moments in the day is when I give Roxy the command to “tug” on the rope and pull it shut for me. She does so with such excitement and gusto that it nearly comes off its hinges and she loves the sound of it banging shut, knowing that she has done the job well. I sit there with a big grin on my face laughing about her energy and she wags her tail and looks up at me as if to ask “did I do a good job”. “Of, course you did Rox. Good Girl!”

Enjoy the month ahead and I look forward to sharing our stories with you. Make sure you take advantage of a wonderful tips and hints on how you can celebrate Dogtober by holding events and raising funds, which you can find on this website and on Facebook.

Paws Sincerely

Tim and Roxy

Working as a vet I get to see the amazing impact pets have on the lives of people and this is the reason I am so passionate about Dogtober. Dogtober is the month where Australia gets to celebrate each and every dog, big or small and acknowledge what man’s best friend truly means while helping out an amazing charity.

Everyone knows how much better they feel when they’re just hanging out with their dog so just imagine if your dog was not only your best friend, but your lifeline? Imagine how important they would be to you if they were the sole reason you could live a free and independent life.

This is how priceless Assistance Dogs are. They do everyday tasks for their team mates that people with physical disabilities find difficult and sometimes impossible to do by themselves.

As an ambassador of the charity I get to hear some incredible stories about the lengths these dogs will go to in order to help their team mates. Stories like that of Assistance Dog, Ruby and her team mate Nathan who is now able to play alone because Ruby is there to look after him, picking things up, opening and closing doors or switching on the lights. Or the story of Assistance Dog, Tiggy who barked down the house when his teammate Amanda was in trouble and then opened the door when help arrived so they could get inside. Or the amazing adventures of my mate, Tim and his Assistance Dog, Roxy in Canada. Every time I speak to the guys at Assistance Dogs I hear of more amazing tales that make me sit back and say ‘wow!’

By organizing a fundraising event or challenge this Dogtober you’re helping us to raise enough money to help train another 25 Super Puppies. There are heaps of doggie themed ideas that you can use as inspiration so make sure you check them out.

Get everyone you know involved, get them to sign up to facebook and to dig deep so they too can help the paw.

To everyone who has organized an event, thank you. You’re contribution means more to us than words can tell. You are changing someone’s life by helping to train an amazing Assistance Dog.

Until next time,

Dr Chris Brown and Rusty

It’s the last week of Dogtober and Rusty and I are so thankful to everyone who got involved this year. You’ve been incredible fundraisers and best of all you’ve spread the word about how amazing the Super Pups truly are, helping out people with physical disabilities everyday.

Last week I was on the 7pm Project talking about Dogtober with my little Super Puppy mate, Jacob. He is a smart boy (just like all his Super Puppy friends) and was so excited he had an opportunity to tell Australia all about the fundraising month, he kept trying to chew my microphone in an attempt to get all the important points across! He also gave me lots of licks to say thanks for helping him on the show.

We’re now in full swing of shooting for the next series of Bondi Vet and Rusty and I are in the process of helping a dog with one of the most strange ways of walking we’ve ever seen. People are definitely going to fall in love with this little guy. I’m also off to Melbourne this week for Derby Day as well. I hope I back a winner.

You can back a winner too, just by getting involved with Assistance Dogs Australia. There is still a bit of time left to have a Dogtober event – remember Howl-o-ween is coming up! By helping us to raise money during the month you can help cute little Super Pups grow up to help someone with a physical disability.

For those of you who have been involved thank you very much. With your help we’ve raise over 100,000 so far, making a huge difference to such a tiny charity. Some companies have been very generous too and have donated some fantastic prizes for you guys to win so make sure you enter your event ASAP. All you need to do is email your entry to info@dogtober.org.au

There are eight different categories you can enter your events or activities into – I’ll be judging the most innovative fundraising idea – so download information on the categories, conditions and prizes today. The winners will be announced the week commencing 15th November 2010.

Until next time,

The Bondi Vet, Dr Chris Brown

Rusty and I are still spreading the word about Dogtober and are so happy that lots of you have gotten involved and organised doggy themed fundraising events and challenges for sponsorship. So far we have raised $86,588 but we’ve still got a long way to go until we can afford to train 20 more Super Pups – so keep up the good work.

If you haven’t organised something as yet, don’t worry, there’s still time to help the Super Puppies to raise $500,000. Check out the get involved part of the website for some fun ideas.

This week, Rusty and I are in the clinic helping out a baby lorikeet that mistakenly flew into a sink full of washing up – detergent, dirty dishes and all. Talk about a rough landing for your first flight! I’m off to Melbourne to help out a friend who is having issues training their puppy and you’ll be pleased to know that Bubbles, the rabbit who had a sore foot last week has now had his operation and is back to hopping happily.

This week we started shooting the next series of Bondi Vet which has meant that Rusty is getting his run a lot earlier in the morning than he has been for the last few months. It’s taken him while to get used to the earlier wake up call!

Make sure you post your Dogtober Event and puppy pics to the website and the Facebook Page and keep your eyes peeled for ways you can win some fabulous prizes!

Until next time,

The Bondi Vet, Dr Chris Brown