The 2nd Annual Canines for the Cure Texas Agility Shoot-Out held in Fort Worth, TX, on August 13-14, 2011, was one for the history books. Once again, the North Texas agility community showed the world what can be accomplished when everyone comes together for a common good. This year the Shoot-Out once again surpassed all expectations by raising $ 42,300 for canine cancer research, bringing the two-year total to $ 71,500!! Way to go Texas!! Many of us have lost dogs to cancer, but as a direct result of the efforts of each and every person who attended the Shoot-Out, we are confident that eventually many of our canine companions will be saved from this terrible disease due to the research that we helped sponsor.
All the passionate supporters of the TX Shoot Out!!!
Each year the Shoot-Out spotlights a local dog that has been lost to cancer. Our first year we honored Ranger, the dog whose death inspired the creation of the Shoot-Out. This year, we honored Libby, an Australian Shepherd loved and missed by Pamela Meeks. Libby was an extremely shy rescue that blossomed in agility and became the first rescue dog in ASCA history to be ranked #1, and she held her #1 ranking for two years. On January 30, 2009, though, Libby lost her life to hemangiosarcoma and that loss is what drove Pamela to become an integral part of the Texas Agility Shoot-Out trial committee.
Libby
Obviously, one person, not even one club, can pull off an event of this magnitude. The core team of Christi Farley, Pamela Meeks (Fort Worth Agility Sports Team), Linda Knowles (Gold Medal Agility), and Nikki Heep had numerous individuals and clubs step up to lend a hand with an astounding 104 people volunteering to work at the trial. There were 266 handlers with 382 dogs running a total of 1,975 runs over the weekend with one handler coming all the way from Sherwood, Arkansas! We could not have pulled this event off if it were not for the agility community totally embracing the concept. Everyone – trial committee, judges, chief ring stewards, course builders, raffle organizers, memorial wall creators, raffle ticket sellers, ring crew, competitors, vendors, and anyone who bought a raffle ticket - was an integral part of making the 2nd Annual Canines for the Cure Texas Agility Shoot-Out a smashing success. We look forward to seeing what next year’s event will bring!
Ranger, the original inspiration dog
Lucky, a seven-year survivor, at the Cynosport World Games where she did the agility
demo before our memorial wall presentation. She was offering the crowd a reason for
hope and her mom, Martine, tells her inspiring story here.
“My heart broke on March 9, 2004. I numbly listened in the veterinary office as the
diagnosis, treatment plan, and statistics regarding late-stage lymphoma hung in the air
while Lucky, my four-year-old, super-fast Sheltie, sat at my feet. My erratic outbursts of
‘Are you sure? She doesn’t seem sick’ interrupted but didn’t
stop the vet from finally saying, “She will die of cancer within
a year.†A silent ’No, Lucky won’t’ comforted me until a mental
reprimand reminded me I was in denial. “She is on today’s
schedule to start chemotherapy and by the way, no more
agility.â€
Lymphoma survivor, Lucky (Photo by: Tien Tran)
Our war began with a potent cocktail of two drugs and
followed a variation of the Wisconsin/Madison protocol that
lasted 36 weeks. Lucky’s body responded well to the drugs and
her lymph nodes immediately returned to normal. As quickly
as Lucky had gone into a clinical remission, she had also gone
into a depression.
Chemotherapy was working, but Lucky was dying of boredom. I honestly felt that she
should die happy doing what she loved best, agility. Returning to agility, Lucky’s mental
and physical health improved and mine did too. I stopped crying and started to fight the
cancer. Lucky brought home blue ribbons and defied lymphoma’s death sentence. Agility
is the one place where Lucky is Cancer free. There are no needles or prodding, she is just
a dog running agility and winning smiles and ribbons.
I knew the fight wasn’t over so I continued to research
treatments globally with a focus on new human therapies
since dogs and humans share similar DNA, environmental
exposure, ingest the same foods, and have the same cancers.
Researchers considered her a gold mine because she
was young, fit, and fighting off cancer.
Four days before the 2005 USDAA Chicago Regionals,
Lucky came out of remission even though she had far
exceeded treatment expectations. My vet was undeterred
and gave Lucky her first chemotherapeutic drug in seven
months and said, “Go compete!†And yes, we qualified. Thank you, Kirsten and Dare!
Unfortunately, this time the lymphoma was really bad and the drugs were not
working. Lucky’s body had become toxic to some of the drugs while the cancer had
become resistant to others. Lucky’s first round of chemotherapy had been so successful
that we withheld the most powerful drug so that drug was in our arsenal, but only for five
doses. Additionally, one of the researchers I had found used an ancillary therapy (similar
to one used with breast cancer) that he believed would work well with the chemo.
Lucky’s last chemotherapy appointment was October 15, 2005. Upon finishing the
chemo, the vet said, “That’s it, no more chemo. Thank goodness she’s in remission.â€
Huh?! Yes, Lucky was in her second remission. I was stunned. No one knew how long it
would last. That was seven years ago and she is still in remission. Lucky will be 12 years
old on August 28, 2011. She is fit, still doing a little agility, and running around and barking
at everyone just like any Sheltie. Lucky dog indeed!â€
Lucky, Agility Superstar (Photo by: Tien Tran)
You can see this story and other survivor stories on our website at www.wearethecure.
org/survivors. If you have a survivor, please let us hear about them! We encourage you to
read this article each and every month, as we bring you a reason for hope.
Gary D. Nice
President and co-founder
50 teams….check
500+ Bark and Bowlers….check
$ 42,000 for Canine Cancer….Literally…One BIG check!
The South Florida Chapter of the National Canine Cancer Foundation was proud to host their 2nd annual Bark and Bowl on Friday May 13th, an un-lucky day for Canine Cancer!
These teams went all out this year!
Returning to the place that started it all, Palm Beach Strikezone, the Bark and Bowl almost doubled in size from the 2010 event.  50 teams and over 500 people joined this must attend annual fundraiser that generated over $ 42,000 for Canine Cancer Research.  The Bark and Bowl is made possible by presenting sponsor Florida Public Utilities, Budweiser, the Petco Foundation and HALO, the only dog food to receive the National Canine Cancer Foundations Seal of Excellence.
The 2011 Bark and Bowl recognized working dogs in our community that are susceptible to this awful disease.  We were joined by the Palm Beach County Sheriff K9 unit with Officer Ontario, a German Shepherd, and Officer Clue, Bloodhound Unit.
K9 Unit
Three teams from Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control bowled for a cure and brought their 4 legged mascot, a victim of a recent cruelty case.  We also had a special visit from Red Ruff from Petco!
Red Ruff Petco!
Barbara Masi, Technical Specialist with the PBSO Animal Kindness Unit, attended the Bark and Bowl with a heavy heart and an all too familiar story to tell.  Just 2 weeks earlier she had lost one of her 2 very special Greyhounds, Comet, to Osteosarcoma.  The Comet and Bullet Team were the ambassadors of the Sheriffs Animal Kindness unit attending special events, schools and summer camps, not to mention appearing as “Bowerina’s†in A Midsummer’s Night Dream.   Comet lived a full life and had more accomplishments than many people, but to all of us we know he still left too soon.   You can visit Comet’s Rainbow Bridge Page:
http://rainbowsbridge.com/residents/COMET007/Resident.htm
His brother, Bullet, was diagnosed with extraskeletal soft tissue Osteosarcoma just a year ago and has undergone 2 surgeries and 5 rounds of Chemotherapy.  Recently we discovered that the Cancer had moved into Bullet’s lungs.
The National Canine Cancer Foundation presented Barbara with one of our Pink Paw WeAreTheCure.org hats personalized for Comet and Bullet, in appreciation for the work she has done and the fight she continues to wage against Cancer.
Our top team this year was Spunky Doodle Velcro Strips who raised over $ 3,100!  That is the top team fundraiser from ANY of the NCCF events and goes down in the Bark and Bowl record book!  For the first time, teams that raised over $ 1,000 received free Pawgarita’s and Strawberry Dawg-iri’s all night long with over 10 teams hitting that goal.  Top team shirts went to “The Cure Hunter’s,†top team name to “Barkers Bellevue†and because it’s 5 O’clock somewhere, best lane decorations went to “Barkeritaville.â€
Thanks so much to all of our teams, sponsors and volunteers.  Together, We are the Cure.
Everyone is looking forward to filling all 64 lanes in 2012!
Join us for our next Bark and Bowl on October 7 at Bowlmor Lanes in Bethesda, MD!
On March 26th Westbrook Lanes gave us the thumbs up and Bowled for a Cure!
The second stop on the NCCF’s Bark and Bowl was organized by Kim, Amy and the Delaware Valley Chapter of the NCCF and led us to Philadelphia PA. Over 20 teams registered to join the fight against Canine Cancer, some coming from as far as 2 hours away!
The City of Roses had a new name on January 22, 2011, the City of Paws; Pink Paws that is!
That’s because over 200+ friends came out to support the Portland, Oregon areas very first Bark and Bowl to benefit the National Canine Cancer Foundation.
Cancer is a major health issue in dogs with 1 in 3 dogs being affected, and of those half will die. The National Canine Cancer Foundation is a nationwide, contribution funded, 501 (c)(3) non-profit dedicated to eliminating Cancer as a major health issue in dogs by funding grants directly to Cancer researchers who are working to save lives, find cures, better treatments and accurate, cost effective diagnostic methods in dealing with canine Cancer.
After a very successful inaugural Bark and Bowl in 2010, the NCCF announced that it would take the Bark and Bowl on tour in 2011-First Stop Portland.
A supporter and friend since the beginning, HALO joined us for the second time as the Official Dog Food of the Bark and Bowl. The only dog food to receive the National Canine Cancer Foundations Pink Paw Seal of Excellence, every bowler went home with a deeeelicious sample of Spots Stew and official Bark and Bowl tee shirt! Needless to say, the pups ate well that night. Bowlers competed for raffle items such as a one of a kind “We Are The Cure†basketball signed by Portland Trailblazer LeMarcus Aldridge, Portable gas grill, and Free Doggy Day Care while 3 lucky dogs took home a 15lb bag and a case of Spots Stew!
Teams sign up at www.BarkandBowl.com, tell their story, and raise a minimum of $ 500 in order to compete. Team Lab Lovers, Pup Patrol, Sasha Chu and Penny and the T’s join business partners like HALO, Budweiser, Whole Foods, John Paul Pet, K103 fm and NW 32 TV in their commitment to Bowling for a Cure. No gutter balls here…it’s all for the dogs! The lights go down, glo balls come out and its Bark n Bowl time with a live DJ, complimentary team pictures on the Pink Carpet, team contests, vendors and raffle prizes all night long!
Mark it on your calendar and join the pack. The Bark and Bowl US Tour continues to roll with stops in Philadelphia, Charlotte, West Palm Beach, D.C., Dallas, Baltimore and Miami! See you there.
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