Frankey and Lacey hanging out in the lounge.

Mr. Beau Jangles and Miss Bela Mae snoozing after a hard morning of play at camp.

Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne spent some time over the holidays at Camp Bow Wow.  Then the caped-crusader (AKA Batman??) is off to fight crime and keep the streets of Carmel safe for all the girls and boys! We enjoyed Bruce's stay at Camp Bow Wow.....and we didn't reveal his real identity to his furry friends!

  

Cassidy dons her new Christmas mittens and hat.  A big thanks to Lorna Alexander and Steve Day for the mittens and Starbucks cards.  Also thanks to all our clients who supplied our staff with lots of goodies this holiday season.

Merry Christmas Katana

Katana gets an early morning Christmas kiss.  She made some new friends this holiday season -including Belle, an English Retriever and Oreo, a tri-color Sheltie.  

GUNTHER finds his forever family!

Gunther is so happy to go home with Roseanne and his new forever family!  

Zach

Zach gets a little encouragement from Lauren to eat his dinner!

PUPPIES !!! We have PUPPIES!

Camp Bow Wow welcomes Jesse James and Black Bart.  They are available for adoption through Love of Labs.  Come by and see them if you are interested in a lovable lab!

Duke's Diary: Surgery Update

Hi friends, Duke here....

This a picture of Linda picking me up to go off to surgery.  I didn't want to leave, but I knew eventually things would get better.  Ally and Lissa wished me well before I left.

Update: Duke's surgery was successful and on Friday November 21 he went to his foster home for rehab.  We will keep you updated on his progress!

Duke's Diary: What I'm Thankful For...

"Imagine having a nice warm home where people took the time to teach you the basic commands like "sit" and "shake."  Imagine feeling loved and secure with your family. Then one day I somehow got hurt. My knees hurt me badly.   I could barely put my right leg down to walk.  I tried to tell them I was in pain.  They loved me and I knew they would help me.  But imagine how my heart  broke when I ended up in a shelter because they couldn't afford to take care of me.  Imagine sitting in the cage at the shelter, crying the way dogs do....with our big sad eyes.  I remember saying a prayer that God would send someone to help me.  And He did."    Duke

Duke is thankful for lots of people who have given of their time and money to help him:

Love of Labs In and Linda Acup and her staff

Camp Bow Wow Carmel (Steve & Michele Alexander, Eric Padget and the entire CBW staff)

Pet Co and Joe Harris

Dr. Hurd and the Michigan Road Animal Hospital

and last, but not least, the many people who have donated their change and their dollars to help out a very good dog!

Duke's Diary

Hi Friends, Duke here....

Just wanted to give up an update on my condition.  I saw the vet last week. He wants to do surgery sometime before Thanksgiving.

Why I Am Thankful For My Dog

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."    Roger Caras

Camp Bow Wow would like to celebrate your special relationship with your dog this Thanksgiving season.  Take a moment to pen why you are thankful for your dog...this could be an essay of how your dog has enriched your life or a simple note of endearment to your dog.  We encourage writers of all ages.  We will display your writings, photos, and drawings of your dog at Camp Bow Wow through the month of November.

Duke's Diary

Hi Friends, Duke here...

I just wanted to thank all of you for caring about me.  Many people have called to see how I am doing.  I am feeling much better since being on pain meds.  My human friends are taking good care of me at Camp Bow Wow.  I get special on-leash walks so I don't put too much strain on my knee.  You can see the picture of me and Camp Counselor Sebastian having some one-on-one time together.  Thank you so much for donating money for my surgery.  Every little bit helps.  I think we have $200 saved so far for a surgery that will cost around $2000. 

 I will always be grateful for your kindness, 

Lots of Kisses, 

Duke

Halloween Party

Thanks to all the campers and their humans for participating in Camp Bow Wow Carmel's fist Halloween costume contest.

Best Costume Winner: Cloe as Dorthy from the Wizard of OZ
Scariest Costume Winner: Louie

Hello,

My new name is Duke and I am a very loving lab mix. I was recently rescued from a shelter by Love of Labs Rescue. While meeting the staff at Camp Bow Wow Carmel, my new foster home, they noticed one of my legs was bothering me. The vet says I have a partially torn ACL and need an expensive surgery to fix it. I am lucky enough to be able to stay here at camp while I save up enough money for my surgery. I am now relying on the good nature of my two legged friends to help me out as I do not want to go back to a shelter. I will also need a home to recover in after my surgery, so if you know anyone who needs a roommate, let me know. Thanks again for all your help and for giving me the chance to find my forever home.

Duke

For more information, contact Camp Bow Wow Carmel or Love of Labs Indiana.

Camp Bow Wow at the Association of Professional Dog Trainers: Play in Our Dogs' Lives

Camp Bow Wow attended the APDT conference in Louisville, KY this October.  Among the presenters were noted animal behaviorists Patricia McConnell, PhD (author, "The Other End of the Leash, among other books), Suzanne Clothier (author, "Bones Would Rain from the Sky) and Grey Stafford.  You likely have seen Grey on the nighttime talk shows or with Jack Hanna. He is a marine animal trainer and Director of Conservation for the Wildlife World Zoo in Phoenix.  

An entire day of the 5 day conference was devoted to PLAY and it's importance in the lives of our dogs.  Through early play, puppies learn bite inhibition, emotional control, and social boundaries. Dog may engage in  solitary play, wrestle play, chase play, object play or social play.  One concept in social play is that of self-handicapping play.  An example of self -handicapping play is when a younger, stronger pup plays tug-of-war or wrestles with an older dog.  The younger dog clearly can outmatch the older dog, yet he gives the older dog a "leg up" by putting himself in a voluntary down or relents at times in order for the play to continue as meaningful for both.  In general, play does not follow a 50/50 rule and research shows that play is increasingly asymmetrical over development.

If you watch your dogs play with their partner or in a doggie daycare setting, you'll will notice that dogs communicate with each other through tactile signals (using their body to invite  or monitor play bx's), visual signals (position of tail, ears, commissure), and vocalizations (eliciting sounds, pleasure sounds, warning sounds, withdrawal sounds).  

CBW was impressed at the number of people with PhD's focused on dog behavior! If you are interested in some of the resources we picked up at the conference, let us know and we will be happy to share what we learned. (www.apdt.com)

Meet Our Foster Dog Hershey

Hershey is a friendly and handsome Lab Mix.  His coat is a soft brown  with golden highlights.  He loves his human and canine friends at Camp Bow Wow.....come see what a a good dog he is! If you have room in your heart for Hershey, he promises to give you all of his! 

Russ and Maggie

Russ and Maggie are frequent campers at Camp Bow Wow

Dolly and Sydney

Dolly and Sydney enjoy a mild fall evening with their friends at Camp Bow Wow

SMILING DOGS

Steve and Sky must have heard 

the same joke ...."Did ya hear

this one.... why did the cat 

cross the road???"

Prince Gets a Bath

Prince gets a bath  and Lauren does too!

SMILEY wants to love YOU!

We had the pleasure of spending time today with Smiley, a FANTASTIC  lab from Lucky Lab Rescue.  He is a playful, gentle, and happy soul. If you have room in your heart for Smiley, please contact luckylabs@luckylabrescue.com and give Smiley the loving home he deserves!

TOKA turns 4

TOKA celebrates his 4th birthday on September 12th with a doggie cake from "For the Love of Dogs" bakery in Carmel.

Make some friends

Myles likes the one-on-one TLC attention from Camp Counselor Tyler.  However, on the other paw, Woody and Dixie Belle played and played and played all day!!  Do you really think they are sticking their tongues out at each other??

Check out that Crest Smile

Brother Rooney takes it easy while Emily flashes her "pearly whites"

The Falcones

We saw friends Rick, Katie, and Remy Falcone at the Monon Center.  Remy got to take a splash in the pool for an end-0f-summer party.  Your friends at Camp Bow Wow wanted to say "Hi Remy."

Beau & Bela

Mr. Beau Jangles & Miss Bela Mae, regular day-campers here, are very excited for their first experience as overnight campers!

Hello From Dexter!

Dexter is having a wonderful time here at Camp Bow Wow as usual! He is doing wonderful during his stay here and would like to say hello to his family!

Morry looks like a professional model

Morry certainly knows how to strike a pose for the camera!   A job as a professional model may be in his future....IAMS, are you watching???

Welcome to the Pack!

Camp Bow Wow Carmel welcomes new campers. Play the slideshow to see the new campers that joined the pack since August 1st. Welcome!

Vinnie's Going Home

Vinnie, a big ol' crazy yellow lab, loves to ride in the Mini Cooper with his guardian Gavin with the top down. Vinnie, you are one lucky dog!

Pet First Aid

Camp Counselor Bryanna practices her CPR skills.  Camp Bow Wow camp counselors receive training in Pet First Aid and CPR through the American Red Cross.

Sparky

Sparky was one lucky dog this week! His vacationing family sent him a care package. The package contained treats for Sparky and his canine pals at camp, and for his new human buddies Camp Counselor Justin and the other camp counselors. Way to go Sparky's family!

Sorry for the blurry picture, but Sparky was so excited he would not hold still!

A Camper Gallery

Here are some photos I took of our campers doing what they do best. I also published some of their extremely witty comments. Enjoy and feel free to comment.

Camp Counselor Justin Spectates Lively Campers

Just Another Day at Camp Bow Wow Carmel

TOKA says "Don't be shy.  Jump on into Camp Bow Wow for some summer fun."  Photo courtesy of Larry W. Beals aka  Poppa.

Carmelfest 2008

Camp Bow Wow Carmel was a big hit at Carmelfest 2008! Scout flew in from Boulder to entertain all the children at the event. Lauren, our foster dog, was also in attendance and had many interested passerby. The good news is- Lauren has found a home! We will be drawing one winner out of our camper can to win his or her choice of three days of daycare or two overnight stays! Thanks and welcome to all of our new Carmelfest customers!

Collars and Safety at Camp Bow Wow Carmel

The health and safety of your camper is our number one priority here at Camp Bow Wow Carmel. For this reason, we would like to remind you to bring your camper dressed in a quick-release collar. This eliminates the potential risk of injury due to tangles if a fight were to break out. Counselors can easily snap open quick-release collars and prevent harmful situations if a dog's collar is caught. We would also like to remind you to make sure your dog has an identification tag on his or her collar. This enables us to act quickly if an emergency were ever to occur. We have ordered a selection of quick-release collars for available for purchase here at the camp, or you can find them at many pet stores. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Here are some pictures of today's happy campers!

Belle

Little Belle gets dried off after having her "spa" treatment.