Underdog to Wonderdog Casting in NYC!

If you haven’t seen the Animal Planet series Underdog to Wonderdog, you have got to check it out. Each week, the show’s team rescues a stray dog from a local shelter and helps place the animal into a permanent home. On the show, the dogs are rescued, trained, and basically given a dog makeover.

Underdog to Wonderdog's "Wonder Team"

The show is currently casting for its next season, so if you’re interested in becoming the new owner of a homeless dog, call 212-239-7919 ext 214 or 212 or email jessicaw@sharpentertainment.com.

To catch an episode of the show, tune in to Animal Planet (or set your DVR, obvs) at 6 pm on Saturday nights.

Birthday Cake for Dogs

If you’re someone who celebrates your pet’s birthday, at least one company now has cake for dogs. Puppy Cake comes in two flavors—banana and carob—and each box makes 6 cupcakes with frosting.

The company uses all-natural, human grade ingredients including whole wheat flour, banana, carob powder, honey powder, salt, baking powder and yogurt powder. (Yes, you can eat it; No, they don’t recommend it.) If your dog has some sort of gluten issue, Puppy Cake is planning on launching a wheat-free peanut butter version this fall.

For buying information, check out their website.

A Social Networking Site for Pets

There’s basically zero chance it will rival Facebook, but Petizens.com is a truly hilarious site. It allows you to create a profile for your dog (complete with location, breed, sex, and age) and post comments, photos, and videos on his behalf. There are no words for some of these profiles.

Speedway, one of the dogs who has a profile on Petizens.com

While parts of the site are downright bizarre, there are actually some pretty interesting service-y posts on the forums like “how to brush your pet’s teeth” and “how to make your own dog food” (if you’re so inclined. I’m not.).

Apparently, there are tons of pet networking sites, including Doggyspace.com (which is hugely popular), Dogster.com, MyDogSpace.com, Dognamic.com, and MyPetChat.com. Has anyone ever created a profile page for their pet? Do you think this is funny, or just totally weird? Please post your comments!

Another Dog Bug Hits the City

Leptospirosis—a potentially fatal infectious disease found in dogs—is on the loose in New York City. According to a story in the New York Daily News over the weekend, the illness is hitting the city more aggressively this year. This is largely because “lepto,” as it’s called, thrives in warm, wet weather, which we’ve had for basically a month straight.

East Villager Traci Schiffer with her dogs, Fenway and Clementine, who were afflicted with the illness. Michael Ip/Daily News

Some symptoms, says the story, include: weight loss, vomiting, lethargy, depression, muscle pain, and sometimes diarrhea or bloody urine. Lepto is spread by bacteria in the urine of animals such as rats, skunks, and raccoons.

The disease can be fatal because it can result in kidney failure, but luckily, it’s highly treatable. A vaccine is available, but it doesn’t work 100 percent of the time.

Outward Bound Gear for Dogs

If you’re the outdoorsy type—and you tend to take your pooch on NOLS-ish trips on the weekends—it’s worth looking into RuffWear. They have some really cool accessories for dogs of all sizes. For instance, if your pup goes boating, kayaking, or dock-diving (and may or may not have subpar swimming skills), you could get him a Float Coat (as in, a life vest).

A "float coat" from RuffWear

I love the idea of these because they’ll give you piece of mind—whether you’re far from shore or your dog just isn’t in peak swimming condition. Another pretty cool accessory are dog packs for when you take long hikes. With one of these, he can carry extra water, food, and even first aid supplies.

The Palisades Pack from RuffWear

To see more RuffWear products and performance gear, go to http://www.ruffwear.com/.