Wordless Wednesday: Woof Gang Bakery Stop on the Simply Buckhead Pet Boutique Tour!

First, some not-so-wordless Wednesday to address the critical needs in Japan, and then we'll get to some much-needed Wordless Wednesday love.

Please join us tomorrow to help spread the word about Paws for Japan, a day when the pet community will come together to support relief efforts for animals in Japan. Led by BlogPaws Be the Change for Pets, we'll spread the word and help raise funds for World Vets, an organization dedicated to providing veterinary aid worldwide.

The first World Vets responder deployment is en route to Japan to support a coalition of Japanese animal welfare groups. You can read a little more about it on Pawcurious and get codes for all the badges and other idea from BlogPaws.  Also, donations can be made by clicking "ChipIn!" on the Japan Animal Aid widget on our right sidebar. 

You might also like to know about Dog Bless You, a wonderful organization that champions the selfless acts of animals. We had the chance to hang out with them at SXSW and tell you more about them here.

Now back to regularly scheduled programming:

We recently toured our favorite local pet boutiques for an article in Simply Buckhead magazine. Today's feature comes from Woof Gang Bakery Buckhead!

In addition to having incredible baked goods for dogs and a full supply of pet products, Woof Gang Bakery hosts lots of events to help raise money and awareness for animal causes. At a recent event, Cosmo and his pal Frankie from BarkWorld got a chance to visit with Victoria Stilwell from Animal Planet's It's Me or the Dog!

The fabulous table of bakery goods for dogs is the focal point of the store!

Cosmo hopes some baked items will fly off the table and into his mouth!

On our trip last weekend to SXSW, we got to meet our pal @WrigleySchnauzr! He sent these treats home to Cosmo from the recently-opened Woof Gang Bakery in Austin! Here's more about our recent tour of Atlanta area pet boutiques.

Dog Bless You Challenge for 100K Dollars for Japan Search and Rescue Dogs Answered in 24 Hours

I'm loving on 14-year-old Lucky, retired search rescue dog
and constant companion of  Charlie Annenberg

I met a nice guy with a dog and a few of his pals during a trip to the SXSW conferences in Austin this weekend.

Turns out the guy was Charlie Annenberg, vice president of the Annenberg Foundation and his dog was Lucky, a retired search and rescue dog trained by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF). Charlie and Lucky were in town to share their films from Explore.org, a project from the Annenberg Foundation that supports humanitarian causes and celebrates the selfless acts of others... including animals.

After loving on handsome Lucky for a few minutes, I noticed Charlie was wearing a "Dog Bless You" t-shirt. "What's that about?" I asked. Charlie said he woke up that morning and had an idea -- actually Lucky inspired the idea -- and since he was at a huge interactive conference, why not pose a challenge to get everyone involved in helping the victims of the disaster in Japan AND help the organization that launched Lucky's search and rescue career too.

Here's what Charlie said:



Charlie challenged SXSW to spread the word and "like" his organization's Dog Bless You page on Facebook. If the goal of 100,000 likes was reached within five days, the Annenberg Foundation would donate $100,000 to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF).

Sunday night, March 13, that goal was reached, just a little more than 24 hours after the challenge was issued. Now, six canine search and rescue teams have been deployed to Japan to help the recovery efforts and victims of the earthquake and tsunami. The funds raised will help recruit and train more SDF canine disaster search teams.

Lucky thoroughly enjoyed hanging out on the grass
by the river in Austin. Love ya Lucky!

I had the opportunity to witness this challenge unfold in person, frankly because I can't let a dog pass by without petting it. After hearing a little more about Lucky -- rescued by Charlie from a local shelter after he learned Lucky was picked up on the same day his beloved Golden Retriever passed on -- we hung out with Annenberg, Lucky and a few folks from their camp the rest of the day.

Charlie explained how he and Lucky have traveled the globe, helping people and making films to champion the selfless acts of others. An animal lover, Charlie and one of his assistants created Dog Bless You for people who love animals and believe animals improve the human condition.

Thank you Charlie, Lucky and the rest of your team, and the vast community of supporters and dog lovers who rallied for the cause. Your passion is contagious. As Charlie says, "Sometimes when things are done collectively it's more powerful." And this time, it was 100,000 times more powerful.

Note: Keep up with the progress of the SDF canine search and rescue teams on their Facebook and Twitter pages.