It is with great sadness that I announce that Duke, Ottawa’s most famous Great Dane, has passed. Duke was laid to rest last Thursday July 23rd at 3:30pm after a battle with bone cancer. Duke was a staple to the Ottawa and Kanata Bark and Fitz stores. He helped to raise thousands of dollars for charity and brought smiles to many people’s faces over the years.

Although he weighed in at a whopping 180lbs, Duke was the best behaved and gentlest dog I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, and working with. He appeared in many fundraising campaigns for “Photos with Duke” or “Shake a Paw for $1″ and always did so happily and lovingly.

Corduroy, at one point in her life, decided that all big dogs were bad – she’d bark non-stop and let them know that she did not like them, except for one, Duke. She loved Duke and never barked at him. He even let her climb all over him, even though he wasn’t too fond of puppies. That was the kind of dog he was, patient and accepting – people would come to the store just to see him!

Duke brought true meaning to the phrase “gentle giant” and will be missing by many, dogs and humans alike. He is remembered by his humans, Amanda and Matt as well as his doggy siblings, Bosco and Angel and by the entire Bark & Fitz Ottawa and Kanata staff, past and present.

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The Ottawa Humane Society (OHS) held its most successful Wiggle Waggle Walkathon [Sunday September 7th] in the Central Experimental Farm Arboretum. Over 1,500 participants and their companion animals took part in the 20th Annual IAMS Wiggle Waggle Walkathon, and raised over $141,000 for the animals, surpassing the goal and bringing in $12,000 more than last year. Read more…

Bark and Fitz hosted Photos with Duke the Dane to raise funds for the Ottawa Humane Society during the event. Here is a slideshow of the photos I took at the event. To see all of the photos bigger, click here.

If you had a photo taken with Duke the Dane, please follow these instructions to pick it up:

1. Click here to open the Photos with Duke album
2. Find your photo and click on it to make it bigger
3. Above the photo there will be a button that says: All Sizes – click on that
4. Click the link of the size photo you would like to download (Square, Thumbnail, Small, Medium, Large, Original) and a link will appear that says: Download the *size you chose* size

Bark and Fitz Raffle Winners!

1st Prize – Kathy from Portokay
2nd Prize – Margaret Moran
3rd Prize – Kim Greco

Congratulations to the winners and thank you for helping to raise money for the Ottawa Humane Society!

Saturday September 6th

NARC’s DOGGY WALKATHON
Time: 9am to 3pm
Location: 3925 Milton Road, Navan, Ontario

Join NARC and Eastway Kennels on our 2km doggy walkathon through fields and bushes to help raise frunds for our animals. Get your pledge form today! Tons of activities such as a police dog demo, dog training Q&A, nail clipping, food & drinks, etc… Also many great PRIZES to win! Rain or shine, our rescues will be there to have a great walk! 613-834-7005 to register.

Sunday September 7th

OTTAWA HUMANE SOCIETY’S 20th ANNUAL WIGGLE WAGGLE WALKATHON
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Central Experimental Farm Arboretum

Please join BARK & FITZ and Duke the Dane’s dog pack for the WIGGLE WAGGLE Walkathon’s Team Event in support of the Ottawa Humane Society, Sunday September 7th @ the Experimental Farm’s Arboretum pathways.

Pledge forms: Download your pledge form from the Ottawa Humane Society’s website or pick one up at our BARK & FITZ Westboro location. Collect pledges to cover your registration fee of $25.

Duke’s Dog Pack Team: To be a member of Duke’s Dog Pack, report your individual total to Duke after you’ve registered for the walk before 9AM the day of the Wiggle Waggle. Look for Duke wearing his Bark & Fitz Team jersey underneath the Bark & Fitz tent.

After the walk you can take in the festivities, visit local vendor’s booths and stop by the Bark & Fitz tent where we’ll be hosting a Dog Social and a Wiggle Waggle Raffle. For $5, you will receive 3 raffle tickets, a doggie gift bag and individual souvenir photos with Duke taken by me! Corduroy and I will be taking photos and representing the Ottawa Dog Blog. Come and visit us under the B&F tent!

BOTH Saturday AND Sunday

THE REGION 20 CO-HOST TOURNAMENT FOR HOPEFUL HEARTS AND BULLIES IN NEED
Time: 12 noon – 4 pm
Location: Carp Fairgrounds

The Paws on Fire flyball team is hosting a tournament called “The Region 20 Co-Host Tournament” on Saturday and Sunday, September 6th and 7th, at the Carp Fairgrounds. Over 150 people are registered to compete in this tournament. We also expect 50 to 100 spectators. That’s a lot of dog lovers in one place! Paws on Fire is generously donating the profits from this event, including the raffle and the canteen, to two dog rescue groups in the Ottawa area, Hopeful Hearts dog rescue and Bullies in Need dog rescue.

Both rescues are operated by volunteers who work tirelessly in the rescue and placement of dogs that, through no fault of their own, find themselves in a shelter, abandoned or abused, and slated for euthanasia.

BIN (Bullies in Need) focuses on the rescue of bully breeds and also takes in other breeds that find themselves out of time on death row in the shelter system. Their website is: www.bulliesinneed.ca

Hopeful Hearts rescue focuses on the senior and special needs dogs that are often overlooked by other rescues. Seniors and special needs dogs still have a lot of love to give and deserve a chance to find a new forever home. Their website is:www.hopefulhearts.ca

On Sunday July 27th, BARK at the Ballpark was hosted by Bark and Fitz to raise funds for BARK Rescue. I was there taking photos and the highlight of the day was to have a photo taken with Duke the Great Dane – the largest Dane in Ottawa!

Here is a slideshow of the photos I took at the game. To see all of the photos bigger, click here.

If you had a photo taken with Duke the Dane, please follow these instructions to pick it up:

1. Click here to open the Photos with Duke album
2. Find your photo and click on it to make it bigger
3. Above the photo there will be a button that says: All Sizes – click on that
4. Click the link of the size photo you would like to download (Square, Thumbnail, Small, Medium, Large, Original) and a link will appear that says: Download the *size you chose* size