Not just any wine, a wine with a cause.  Carivintas Winery has a special collection of wine in honor of the Pit Bulls taken from Michael Vick.

The wine labels feature beautiful paintings of  each of the dogs on front, with their story on the back.

It’s a tribute to what love and patience can do to turn a trained fighting dog around. A celebration of triumph for these dogs who beat the odds.

Best Friends Animal Society is commemorating its 25th anniversary with a special salute to 22 very special pit bulls taken from Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels and now living at Best Friends.

From damaged souls to national sweethearts, these dogs inspired us to tackle the very dark world of illegal dog fighting and we could think of no greater tribute than to shine spotlights on each one of them.

So, we’ve teamed up with The Dog Lovers Wine Club to create a signature wine series - a special two case collection featuring fine portraits of each dog painted by Best Friends Founder and artist Cyrus Mejia.

Cyrus was already painting the Vicktory dogs for his latest art project, Pits and Perception, a collection of larger-than-life portraits of pit bulls, supported in part by the Culture and Animals Foundation.

“The idea behind this project is to have people confront their fears and perceptions on these dogs,” explains Cyrus. “When I was a kid, Dobermans were considered dangerous. Now it’s pit bulls. I thought if perceptions can change one way, maybe they could change back. This is my way of artistically trying to change the way people have come to think about pit bulls.”

The creation of the wine labels grew out of that undertaking. Ten percent of all sales from the Vicktory Dog Wine Collection will benefit Best Friends by funding community programs such as legislative campaigns to end dog fighting and combating breed-specific legislation.
To order from the Vicktory Dog Wine Collection, click here.

Key in VDOGS for a special 10% discount when checking out. Limited time discount ends December 31, 2008.

If you enjoy wine, or are looking for a gift to give this holiday season, here’s the perfect choice.  You get a great bottle of wine, and at the same time give a little something back to help go towards bringing awareness to the cause.

What’s a day without a poop story, eh?

Here’s a funny one about a poop, the size of a house, breaking loose and flying away.

I know what you’re thinking,  “What kind of food is Fluffy eating to make her poo lighter than air?”

It turns out, the poop was an inflatable balloon, created in the name of art.

A giant inflatable dog poo has caused chaos, breaking windows and pulling down power lines, after it flew away from an outdoor exhibition.

It was carried 200 metres, leaving a trail of destruction, and breaking windows at a children’s home.

If this type of art is profitable, then I need to get my back yard re-appraised.

Thanks to Clementine’s furmom Kathy for this touching poem.

Their Messenger

This emissary has a gilded heart for all the furry ones
for the many souls whose time on Earth is done
and of the tales they tell, this messenger doth send

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Thanks to Liz with Daily Dog Painting for making this very generous offer to animal rescue groups.

I would love to bid on one of these paintings!

Hi,
I was wondering if you could help me get the word out that I will donate totally free paintings for charity for animal rescues.

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Doesn’t this sound like fun!?! Thanks to The Good Life blog for this heads up on this event.

Hudson goes to the dogs (while Catskill sticks with cats)

I have a soft spot for dogs and I love checking out the creations of local artists, so I think this idea from the Columbia County Council on the Arts is just the cat’s meow.

“Best in Show” 2008: Hudson and Columbia County Art Project

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I’ve always wanted to visit Vermont and now I have some place I MUST visit!

Thanks to the San Jose Mercury News for this article.

Chapel in Vermont for Dog-Lovers
By JOHN CURRAN Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 02/19/2008

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt.—Degas had his ballerinas, Monet his water lilies. For Stephen Huneck, inspiration comes on four legs—its teeth dug into a stick, or tugging on a piece of rope, or playing on a beach.

The eclectic Vermont folk artist, who started out whittling wooden sculptures of dogs and now specializes in dog-themed furniture, woodcut paintings and children’s books, has carved out a unique niche with his whimsical reproductions of Labrador retrievers and other dogs.

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Did these dogs come from a puppy mill? That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I read this release from the American Humane Association. First, whoar reputable breeder in his or her right mind would have released those puppies that early? Second, the fact they had Parvo suggests to me that these puppies were bred and raised in an unhealthy environment. Granted, Parvo can occur in many places but ANY reputable breeder would NEVER have had this bad a problem with Parvo OR released dogs who could possibly have been exposed to Parvo.

I don’t care how cute this movie could be, I don’t plan on seeing it. I can pass on full length ads for puppy mills, thank you.

Thanks to all of you who have barked in about the poor puppies who died during the new “Snow Buddies” movie. Here’s one comment from Nika but I have heard from too many of you to thank!

Nika wrote:
Hey guys.. I just wanted to make sure you know about this article on Snow Buddies. It looks like a cute movie, but I just can’t get past the sadness of knowing some puppies were shipped out WAY too early to make this movie and then some even died. It was so irresponsible on the part of the movie makers as well as the breeders. Anyway.. please share this article with folks, so they can read before they buy.

Here’s the press release from the AHA:

American Humane Association Statement on Snow Buddies

Los Angeles (March 27, 2007)

The American Humane Association is conducting an investigation after five puppies died while on location for the filming of the movie Snow Buddies. As many as six others have fallen ill after exposure to parvovirus. Twenty-eight puppies are being treated after being exposed to the virus. Earlier in the production, 30 puppies were removed from the set when 15 of them showed signs of illness, eventually diagnosed as giardia and coccidia. Three of these puppies were euthanized due to intestinal complications. Parvovirus, also known as parvo, is a highly contagious viral infection in dogs. It causes fever, vomiting, diarrhea and lack of appetite and it can be fatal.

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Did you notice that the Loaded dog is a mischievious Labrador Retriever? I think Buddy in the next post must have read this book.

Thanks to ABC News for this article.

Loaded Dog now larger than life
Posted Fri Feb 1, 2008

An unusual statue will be unveiled at Whyalla in South Australia this weekend - a steel sculpture of the “Loaded Dog” from Henry Lawson’s famous Australian story.

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Thanks to Lynn H. for barking in this article from The Washington Post.

Presidential Pet Display Finds a Place to Park
Annapolis Museum’s Contents Relocating to Williamsburg

It is what the Founding Fathers might have called “a more perfect union”: The Presidential Pet Museum in Annapolis is merging with Presidents Park in Williamsburg, creating a place where guests can wander through a garden of gigantic busts of all 43 presidents and wonder why Calvin Coolidge briefly kept a pet alligator.

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As I sit here in the North American Midwest with wind chills at or below 0 degrees Fahrenheit I can’t help but think about how nice a warm beach would feel about now. I can’t spend the time to get to the beach on a plane so I’m doing the next best thing; I pick up a copy of Jean Fogle’s Salty Dogs: A Book of Dogs at the Beach and let it take me away to a virtual vacation.

Salty Dogs is a fabulous photographic journey with insightful quotes joined to fun and touching pictures of cavorting dogs on the beach. You can almost taste the salt in the air and smell the seafoam on the dogs’ coats.

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