Carl Wozny (1998-2009) RIP

the way he smiles when he sleeps
the way the fur bunches in dreadlocks behind his ears
the rise and fall of his breathing
the sound he makes lapping water
the smell of his paws like popcorn
the way he sleeps on his back while the fan blows over him
the little circle dance when he greets you at the door
his obsessive pacing before he poops
his sniffing of snow banks and signposts
the way he places his feet when he tiptoes into the river
the way he trembles and stares when you pause before throwing a stick
his little ski jumper pose when he pees
the clean smell of dog in the room
his grin when the treat jar opens
the way people smile when they see us walking
little warrior
without you
I am
merely
human

By Bruce Wozny

“To my boy, my buddy, Wiskaka, Snoopy and my friend.
I miss you, Tara-Lynn misses you. Everyone that knew you are sad that you are gone.
All the things we did, all the places we went together. I hope you are not hurting anymore. I hope you are chasing squirrels again.
We constantly think about you.
You will never be forgotten.”

With the deepest love,
Dad, Tara-Lynn, Anik, Skye and Alex

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

I got an email a while back with a submission for a charity event, which I took as any other and put into the queue to add when I had a moment to do so. When I got to adding this the other day, I realized it’s different than the regular charity events I post on this blog.

Firstly, it’s about a cat. Now being a dog blog, we definitely prefer dogs, but cats are wonderful companions as well and we wholeheartedly acknowledge that.

This event is different because it’s an ongoing project that sprouted out of the hardest of times, the death of a true friend. Kim lost her beloved cat, Katie, at 19 years of age in 2007. Katie’s death inspired Kim to create a fundraising program to help fund a project she’s dubbed, Katie’s Condo.

The Ottawa Humane Society is building a much needed new home. Currently 11,000 animals per year are cared for in a shelter designed for 2,500 animals! Construction begins in 2010 with occupancy in late spring 2011.

I have decided to support the OHS by working towards raising $10,000.00 in order to have a cat condo in the new building named in memory of my cat Katie.

Katie was adopted from the Ottawa Humane Society in September 1988 when I first moved to Ottawa. She was with me through many of life’s ups and downs. 19 years worth of ups and downs!

You can donate through the Katie’s Condo website as well as the Ottawa Humane Society Website (If you donate directly to the Ottawa Humane Society please mention that you are supporting Kim Meechan’s project “Katie’s Condo”.). OR you can send a cheque, made out to the Ottawa Humane Society, to 48 Roblyn Way, Nepean, Ontario K2G 5Z5.

Continue reading →

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Samuel, our beloved Treeing Walker Coonhound. He was only 8.5 years old.

We took him to the emergency vet on June 7th thinking that we were being over cautious. His only symptom was that he seemed lethargic. All his vitals seemed normal but the vet offered to do additional tests. The first test was a chest x-ray. Unfortunately, they found a large mass in his chest. We continued to do testing to determine what it was but Samuel’s condition started to deteriorate. Later that night the vet determined that Samuel was bleeding out into his abdomen, and his condition was getting worse. We also learned that the presence of a mass and the bleeding into the abdomen were signs of a splenic hemangiosarcoma, a very aggressive cancer. We only had two horrible options to choose from. We could have his spleen removed, and if Samuel survived the surgery (as his condition wasn’t good anymore) he might live another three months but the cancer would return to kill him, or we could let him go now. We made the incredibly difficult decision to say goodbye to our best friend Samuel on June 8th around 3am on June 8th. Putting him through major surgery to spend the last 3 months of his life recovering from surgery and dying from cancer seemed more cruel than anything.

Samuel was Ottawa Dog of the Week on June 30th, 2008.

We will miss him always.

Samuel is remembered lovingly by his family; Darren, Dina & Floyd.

Continue reading →

Gordon, our beloved fawn pug, was born on July 9th 2006. He came home with us from a breeder in the Ottawa Valley in early September ’06 and quickly became the focal point of our family.

He was keen to learn and set on impressing us. He was graduated with honours from his puppy school – class of ’06. Gordon would sit, stay, lie down, go easy, wait and many more. He could also do figure eights, and would ‘clean’ his toys on command and put them in his various toy boxes. He learned to swim, usually with his life jacket and hiked and climbed with us (in suitable weather) in Lake Placid, Maine and all over the Ottawa and Gatineau Region. He was with my husband and I on three consecutive anniversary dates in our canoe, walking the beautiful trails in the fall… He would do anything as long as we were together. He loved camping in Algonquin Park but would just as easily love to snuggle up and watch TV or read a good book with us. He didn’t just sleep on our laps. He would work his way up until he was snuggled into my shoulder with his whiskers tickling my neck or cheek. I so miss that touch right now. He kept my kitchen floors spotless with his constant hoovering. While we worked in the kitchen, Gordon would seat himself between our legs and sit on our feet like baby penguins would. We were in constant contact unless the bright sun won and he was lying soaking up rays at our back door.

Gordon sniffed everything – all the time. He didn’t weeze like some other pugs and didn’t suffer any respiratory problems. He ate the best foods, was at a healthy weight and had no health issues.

Our healthy 2 2/3 years old pug suffered a 20-30 second episode right in front of us on March 1st. Immediately afterwards, he went limp in my arms. 30 minutes later at the Alta Vista Animal Hospital he was dead. We were/are in shock. This is absolutely unimaginable.

We believe it was PDE which seems (after much research) to be quite prevalent in the pug breed.

Our house in no longer a home. It is a silent reminder of all we have lost. I have lost my best friend. I so wanted to see him grow old, walk on the new path to my mother’s house, snuggle just once more… I have had dogs as pets before, but none could come near the bond we had with our dear Gordon Freeman Marincak. He is one of a kind and is truly missed by the four of us and our extended family who loved him as much as we did.

Gordon is remembered lovingly by his family, Trish and Dave.

Continue reading →