Can a rescue dog save your life? Marlo Thomas thinks so ...

Award winning author, actress, and activist Marlo Thomas makes no bones about it.  "Adopt a Shelter Dog. It Could Save Your Life", she wrote in her blog dated 10/23/2012.  You may read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/adopt-a-shelter-dog-it-could-save-your-life_b_2001925.html

Since October is National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, Marlo encourages anyone thinking of getting a family pet to at least consider adopting instead of buying a puppy.  She mentions that it's a common misconception that all shelter dogs are damaged or unsuitable.  The vast majority are just animals looking for love.  We at www.DogShirtStore.com and www.Pet-Fanatic.com feel the same way.  We've known many rescued pets (and rescued a few ourselves) who have been nothing short of wonderful family members, companions, and sport dogs.  Many of our flyball and agility friends have won numerous awards and titles with their rescued dogs, in such venues as NADAC (North American Dog Agility Association), USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association), CPE (Canine Performance Events), NAFA (North American Flyball Assocation), and UFLI(United Flyball League International).  And even the AKC (American Kennel Club), once only for "purebred" dogs, has softened its stance to allow some "mixed breed" dogs to compete. 

DogShirtStore supports rescue organizations whenever we can.  Some of the organizations we are pleased to support include GREAT, Inc. of Florida (www.great-greyhound.org), Greyhound Rescue Adoption Team of NY (www.greathounds.org), Gold Coast Greyhound Rescue (www.GoldCoastGreyhounds.com), and Lost Angels Animal Rescue (www.LostAngelsAnimalRescue.org).  You may find shirts and other products we do for these organizations on our website at www.dogshirtstore.com, under the heading "Rescue & Adoption Stuff". A portion of all sales in this category is donated to the rescue organizations. 

Of course, one of the best things you can do to help rescue organizations, if your circumstances permit, is to become a foster family.  Says Kelly Faircloth of GREAT, Inc. (Tampa), "Donations are always welcome, but sometimes there are just so many of these beautiful dogs in need of a place to stay while they find their forever homes that our foster families are stretched to the limit to care for them.  More foster families are always needed."

If you can find it in your heart to either adopt or foster one or more of these animals in need, why not contact a local rescue organization to see how you can help?  You may find the rewards you reap far outweigh the sacrifices.  And, at least according to Marlo Thomas, it might even save YOUR life!

Mother's Day Sale

In honor of mothers of four-legged kids, DogShirtStore.com is having a Mother's Day sale!!  All "Proud Mom" products are $3 off through May 9, 2010.  You can find them as featured products right on our home page.

Agility, Flyball, and . . . Cake?

Most of us appreciate the unusual.  And some of the things we come across make us smile, some make us think, and some are truly astounding.  For example, this past weekend, Stacy, one of the competitors at our Flyball Tournament in Lakeland, Florida, and not a professional decorator, baked this very cute tennis ball cake to celebrate her team's debut, the Barkaholics from Sarasota/Manatee.  (It was also pretty darn yummy)!

We were reminded of Sue, another local cake decorating hobbyist, who did this cake as a wedding surprise for two of the people on her flyball team (the Barkaneers of St. Petersburg, FL). Complete with Border Collie, jumps, flyball box, and a basket of tennis balls - this was a true work of art.

These are two excellent examples of a creative outlet that many share: cake decorating.  We've probably all tried our hand at it at one time or another in our lives.  You buy a tube and some icing and try to write "Happy Anniversary" or "Happy Birthday" on someone's cake, and you may have found that it's not as easy as it looks like it would be (at least for me it isn't!).

Well, if you haven't heard of the Ultimate Cake Off (aired on TLC), prepare to be amazed.  This video was brought to our attention recently, dealing with a reality TV show / competition wherein three teams of professional bakers / cake decorators competed to create agility-themed cakes over a nine-hour period.  All three of the cakes produced were mind-blowing, involving rotating motors, sculpted dogs, illuminated logos, and more. They were as tall as eight feet and weighed upwards of 500 pounds each.  The winning cake was displayed at the 2009 AKC Invitational in Long Beach, California, as the centerpiece of the competition.  The winner took home a $10,000 prize, but we'd bet if they were selling these cakes, they'd likely command even more than that.

Take a look!  http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/ultimate-cake-off-top-dogs-full-episode.html

Second Height Dog Contest Winning Design

At least we didn't wait another two months to complete this one! The newest height dog design is now available - "Size Does Matter". Our thanks to Teresa Y. of Texas for the great idea! To check out the newest design, go to Flyball Stuff - T-Shirts at www.dogshirtstore.com.

First Height Dog Contest Winning Design

Well, it took us two months since the contest closed, but we finally finished our first HEIGHT DOG* contest winning design, and it's now available!! It's so good we had to make two! "Seven Inches is Better Than Nine" and "I Like Seven Inches . . ." Many thanks to Jennifer S. of Maryland. To check out the new designs, go to Flyball Stuff at http://www.dogshirtstore.com/.

*A height dog is the smallest dog on a flyball team of four dogs.

What the Heck is Flyball??

All three of our Mini Schnauzers are flyball racers and are considered height dogs, since they are the smallest dogs on their team. They aren't the fastest racers, but they are very consistent (they jump over the jumps, get their ball, and come back over the jumps), and they sure look cute doing it!!

You can watch them practicing at www.youtube.com/dogshirtstore.

Taken directly from the NAFA (North American Flyball Association) website (www.flyball.org), the following is a good explanation of the sport of flyball:

Flyball races match two teams of four dogs each, racing side-by-side over a 51 foot long course. Each dog must run in relay fashion down the jumps, trigger a flyball box, releasing the ball, retrieve the ball, and return over the jumps. The next dog is released to run the course but can't cross the start/finish line until the previous dog has returned over all 4 jumps and reached the start/finish line. The first team to have all 4 dogs finish the course without error wins the heat.

Jump height is determined by the smallest dog on the team – this dog, called the "height dog", is measured at the withers, then that number is rounded down to the nearest inch and another 5" is subtracted to get the jump height (with the minimum jump height being 7"). So a 13 1/4" dog would round down to 13", minus 5", would jump 8". Maximum jump height is 14".

In the early days of flyball, there were no start lights and no passing lights. All of the starts and passes were called by the line judges, who also used hand-held stopwatches to time the races. The race was started by the head judge; the judge would do a basic "ready, set, go" and blow the whistle on the "go". Minimum jump heights were 10", and were determined by measuring the smallest dog on the team at the withers and rounding up or down to the nearest inch (so a 13 1/2" dog would jump 13", while a 13 3/4" dog would jump 14").

With the onset of the Electronic Judging System (EJS), which uses lights and infrared timing sensors [it reminds us of car racing lights], competitors were suddenly able to track their starts, passes, finishes, and individual dogs' times to the thousandth of a second. It's hard to imagine racing without an EJS in this day and age. Many teams run all 4 dogs through the course in less than 20 seconds. The NAFA World Record is now 15.22.

Hello and Welcome to the DogShirtStore.com Blog!

DogShirtStore.com is an online store featuring all-original designs on T-shirts, magnets, window vinyls, and stickers. We sell Easy-Walk harnesses, tugs, Sterling Silver jewelry, and other pet-related items such as treats, interactive toys, pet swabs, and more. We also sell flyball jumps and the Miller Elite Flyball Box.

In addition to dog sport items, we are also expanding our line: already we have added some cat designs and some yoga-related designs, with more categories to come.

The original designs we sell are all of our own creation, or the suggestions of friends and fellow competitors. My wife and I do all of the design and manufacturing ourselves (for now).

We are owned by three Miniature Schnauzers who are active in flyball and agility, and also two cats who aren't particularly active at all.

Located in Land O Lakes, FL, we also sell our products at various dog-related shows and tournaments throughout Florida and beyond, and a select group of resellers also carry our designs.