In the market for a new home? Don’t miss the Open House guide in the paper Saturday and Sunday.
Join the staff of High Hopes dog training for “Obedience 101″, on Tuesdays starting May 14 at Green Ridge Recreation Center. These classes use positive reinforcement to train your dog in a fun, easy way. For dogs ages 6 months and older.
- Submitted by Roanoke County Parks & Recreation
Photo courtesy of Charlotte Hale
Charlotte Hale sent in this photo of “Wishes” frolicking in the snow in the Glenvar area. Thanks, Charlotte!You can share your snow photos by emailing news@sosalem.com, or upload up to 10 photos at a time using our share tool.
Sally. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Mills
This is Sally! Her people slaves are Casey and Elizabeth Mills! She loves St. Patrick’s Day! She said the color green really brings out her eyes!
– Submitted by Elizabeth Mills
My English setter, Gemma, and my friends boxer/aussie mix, Nova, playing in the mud puddle after snow at the Salem Dog Park.
Submitted by Hiliary Shelton
Saturday, March 2 – March 23
Puppy Kindergarten
Give your Christmas puppy a good start! Join trainer Lewis Redd for a four-week puppy kindergarten class. Your puppy will have important social contact with friendly strangers, will learn “good” play behavior with other puppies and age-appropriate obedience skills. Puppy Parents will learn how to get through the challenging first months of dog ownership and learn how to raise a steady-tempered, good canine companion. For puppies 12 weeks to 20 weeks. Sponsored by Salem Parks & Recreation.
When: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Where: Salem Senior Center, 110 Union Street, Salem
Cost: $60 for 4 weeks
Contact: 375-3054
– Submitted by Kris Cranwell
Liz's Pet Portraits / Photo courtesy of Ann Whitenack
Ann Whitenack of the Salem Farmers Market shares this photo and says:
Many of you had the opportunity last year to see Liz at work taking an animal picture and turning it into an amazing pastel portrait capturing the petality (pet personality) of your beloved pooch, puddy cat, horse, donkey or any other animal you choose.
Liz brings with her many of the prints she has finished along with the pictures so you can see the uncanny likeness, it’s hard to determine at times which is the photograph and which is the pastel.
Are you having trouble thinking of a gift for your friends with pampered pets? Well think no further, come on down to the Salem Farmers Market on Saturdays and see for yourself what Liz has to offer!
Thanks, Ann! Do you have photos you’d like to share? Email news@sosalem.com or upload up to 10 photos at a time using our share tool.
A community rabies clinic will be held on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 at the Fort Lewis Volunteer Fire Department, located at 3915 West Main St. in Salem, from 9 a.m. until noon. Three hundred rabies vaccinations will be available first-come, first-served. All Roanoke-area residents are invited to bring their pet dogs and cats to be vaccinated for only five dollars each. State law requires all dogs and cats be vaccinated for rabies by a licensed veterinarian.
Dogs and cats must be three months old or older. Dogs must be on leashes or in carriers; cats must be in carriers. Please bring your pet’s vaccination record, if possible. Checks or credit cards cannot be accepted, so please be prepared to pay with cash and bring correct change. You also can save time by pre-registering by Oct. 18.
The clinic is sponsored by the Roanoke Valley Veterinary Medical Association, Roanoke County and Roanoke City Animal Control and Protection Units and the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts of the Virginia Department of Health.
“We usually see an uptick in animal rabies cases in the fall, because both domestic and wild animals are more active out of doors at this time of year, so encounters between pets and wildlife are more likely,” noted Stephanie Harper, M.D., director of the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts. “Rabies is found throughout Virginia. Any mammal can catch it and it’s almost always fatal. Vaccinating your pets will help prevent the spread of rabies and it can save the life of your pet and your loved ones.”
To prevent the spread of rabies:
If a person is bitten by a wild or stray animal or a pet, wash the wound with lots of soap and water, and give first aid as you would for any wound. Seek medical attention immediately. Report the incident to animal control or the health department. Be sure to report any altercations between wild and domestic animals. Contact animal control or the health department immediately if a cat, dog or other mammal is bitten by or exposed to a potentially rabid animal.
For more information, call 540-204-9764 or click here.
Submitted by Robert Parker, Virginia Dept. of Health, Office of Risk Communication & Education.
Monkeys will ride dogs on the diamond at LewisGale Stadium during and after the baseball games this Friday and Saturday nights, July 20 and 21 as the Salem Red Sox take on the Wilmington Blue Rocks. No, really!
“Team Ghost Riders” features white-faced capuchin monkeys and border collies, and while ring leader Tim Lepard originally created the show for a rodeo ring, they’ve performed at halftime shows for the Denver Broncos vs. the New England Patriots, the Orlando Magic, NASCAR, and many other coliseum-caliber events in just the past year. Lepard, who has been a rodeo clown for over 30 years, received many awards for his monkey business. His animals will even be featured in the movie “Gambit” starring Cameron Diaz and Colin Firth, which is due out in October of this year.
“It’s been like a huge tidal wave, and I’m sitting here riding this thing trying to stay with it,” Lepard said. Years ago, he originally tried to train his first capuchin monkey to ride his Shetland pony, but the pony wouldn’t have it, he said. One night he and the monkey were watching Johnny Carson and eating popcorn, when the monkey began to groom his border collie, then fell asleep atop the dog.
“And I thought ‘how cool does that look, that monkey, setting there, laying on that dog?’” Lepard said. “I took the dog and the monkey out there[ in the yard] the next day and had the dog out there walking around with the monkey on his back. I thought, well, if I can get some saddles made, it can even be better.”
He started out just having the monkey ride the dog around the ring and has since added more animals and a little more variety – the monkeys and border collies can now herd sheep into a pen together, which Salem Sox fans will get to see during the show. An article by ESPN about Lepard said that he uses pop tarts and time, love, and care to train the animals. The monkeys are not fastened to the dogs in any way, Lepard said. One of his monkeys, Dawn a.k.a. stage name Dakota, just gave birth a little over a month ago, so she will not be performing, but there will be two monkeys and three dogs at the Salem Sox.
For more about Lepard and Team Ghost Riders, visit their web site at www.teamghostriders.com . For videos – just google “monkeys riding dogs” or “Team Ghost Riders,” Lepard said – plenty of Youtube videos will pop up.
-Miranda Beck
Christina Lee of Salem shares this photo of her pup, Nitro, celebrating flag day.
Happy Flag Day! (Thursday, June 14 2012)
Salem City Council voted Monday night — in a rare split vote — to allow chickens in the yards of single-family homes in the city, legitimizing the numerous people already keeping chickens and allowing others to join them.
The 4-1 vote came after a long public hearing during which only residents in favor of keeping chickens spoke. They thanked the city for legalizing chickens but at the same time questioned the ordinance for limiting the number of birds they may keep and containing language they worried amounted to a violation of the Fourth Amendment right against illegal search and seizure.
To read the rest of the Roanoke Times story by Matt Chittum, click here.
