Mardi Growl Parade

Knoxville is hosting its first ever Mardi Growl Parade on Saturday, February 2 starting at 10:00. The dog and owner costume party will start at Market Square and continue up Gay Street to the site of the new dog park at the southeast corner of Summit Hill and Central.

Petsafe Village and Invisible Fence are sponsoring the event.

Happy Dog DNA is donating some dog DNA tests as prizes and will be hosting a booth to present the DNA test to the public.

Dress your dog and yourself and come join in the fun! To register your dog, call 865-215-2680.

BioPet Vet Lab in Knoxville News Sentinel

The Knoxville News Sentinel profiled BioPet Vet Lab's new DNA Breed Identification Test that has been available since January 1. BioPet Vet Lab is a division of EDP Biotech, a company that also is researching a cancer marker test that is about to be re-tested in trials. Exciting stuff.

http://knoxnews.com/news/2008/jan/17/determing-breed-a-breeze/

The DNA Breed Identification Test is available from www.happydogdna.com for $59.95 with free shipping through January.

I'm hoping to begin posting photos and stories from satisfied customers after they receive their test results.

Check back soon!

DNA Breed Testing Goes Mainstream

You know when People Magazine does an article on something, it's entered the mainstream and is quickly becoming the latest cool thing. On Page 134 of the current (Dec. 31, 2007) issue of People, they asked volunteers to submit a DNA sample of their mixed-breed dog to see what it's made of.

They came up with clever names for the different combinations: a "Cocker Samuel" for a Cocker Spaniel/Samoyed mix and a "Chug Chow" for a Chinese Shar-Pei, Pug, Chow mix.

Here's a cute story about a Yote, one of the dogs profiled in People: Yote.

Shameless Plug: You too can find out what your doggie is made of for the low price of less than sixty bucks (vs. 80 bucks for the test in the article). Check out www.happydogdna.com for more information.

The Proliferation of Dog Parks

Did you know that, according to the Humane Society, there are nearly 75-million dogs in the United States? That's more dogs than citizens of the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy or France. Owners of dogs have long needed a comfortable place to take their pets for a walk, a run, a splash in a fountain or simply a place to let there dogs socialize with other dogs. Strict leash laws that are now common in most urban areas are a good thing but they tend to (intentionally) limit a dog's freedom to do what dogs like to do.

Luckily for dog owners, and even non-dog owners, there has been an explosion of new dog parks springing up all over the country. Knoxville, TN, the scruffy little city I call home, has only one dog park inside the Victor Ashe Park. But, the City recently announced plans to build a new dog park inside the Tommy Schumpert Park and at an underutilized triangle of land in downtown adjacent to the Old City. It's hoped that the park will do wonders to alleviate the poop problem around the 100 Block of Gay Street. Now, if only the young hipsters who walk their dogs will go the extra block to the park... and pick up after their pets.

The two new Knoxville dog parks slated for opening in 2008 are made possible by a large contribution from PetSafe, local pet supply manufacturer, who makes dog doors, automatic feeders, wireless fence systems, etc. Hats off to them!

Happy New Year! Try to get to know your pets a little better this year and keep them healthy!