News items for the (very many) dogs of Maple Leaf.
1) Casting call for Husky fan dogs!
Calling all Maple Leaf dog owners and UW Husky fans! Bring your dog out to Red Square at the University of Washington on Sunday, August 9th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a chance to be in an upcoming BECU campaign commercial.
If you would like to participate, please RSVP to becucasting@dnaseattle.com and submit your name and contact information. We strongly encourage you to wear purple and bring your dog in UW gear, if you’ve got it, to join in on the fun!
BECU will be shooting a video of BECU dogs barking and playing to the sound of the Husky fight song. The video will be shared on becu.org and other social media outlets to help promote the upcoming campaign.
Please note this is a casting call and we cannot guarantee that your dog will make it into the final campaign commercial.
Enough said. (Except this disclosure: The mascot of the University of Washington Huskies is not, in fact, a Husky.)
2) This weekend the Natural Balance dog food company will be hosting “‘the exciting Natural Character Café’ — Seattle’s first pop-up “doggie foodie station” where dogs can sample a wide variety of wholesome Natural Balance food and treats specially formulated to bring out their one-of-a-kind personalities.”
Sadly, it’s in Kirkland. (Details are here.) But:
“Natural Balance has also partnered up with Learndipity Data Insights to conduct a survey of 1,015 U.S. dog parents on “pup personality.”
*99% believe their dogs feel happiness
*93% believe their dogs smile
90% believe their dogs worry
79% believe their dogs feel embarrassment
*79% of dog parents say their dog actively attempts to comfort them
*55% say their dog looks at them with loving eyes
*52% say their dog senses it when they are sad
Huh.
3) Finally, there’s a move apaw to develop more off-leash areas here for dogs, praised by Citizens for Of-leash-Areas in Seattle.
The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and Seattle City Council are giving dog friends an opportunity to voice their concerns about the present state of off-leash areas through a new survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SeattleDogSurvey). Want a separate area for shy, small, or recovering dogs? Wish there were lights for those February days when it’s dark by 4:30 p.m.? Speak! Even if you don’t use the off-leash areas, tell them why you don’t – the survey is anonymous.
Seattle has 14 dog parks providing a little more than 26 acres of off-leash land, but our big-city neighbors – Portland, San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C. – average 32 dog parks each. Those three cities can boast an average of nearly 120 acres each. Woof!
Nearby off-leash areas.
Let’s put a dog park in at the Maple Leaf park. There’s enough room and this neighborhood has a lot of dogs! Woof!
Beg to differ on the comment that the UW mascot is not a Husky – Dubs is an Alaskan Malamute, one of the oldest sled-dog breeds known collectively as huskies. A Husky by any other name howls just as loud. ;o)