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DogsAspen is your local, up-to-date resource for dog-friendly events and activities, for businesses who offer the best dog and cat stuff, and for valley pets still looking for the perfect home. Dogsaspen.com offers lots of information about our animal shelter, our boarding kennel, our programs, our success stories and our non-profit Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter. We are always adding new items so stay tuned!

Pets and the Holiday Season

As the holiday season approaches, it is important that we are all aware of the dangers for pets. Various kinds of chocolate can be lethal to your dogs. For more information about this, please go to http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

 

A Success Story for a Rescued Krabloonik Sled Dog: Treadrae

  

I adopted Treadrae (a.k.a. Montana, T and Tready) in September 2005 from your shelter, she had come in at the age of 11 as a retired sled dog from Krabloonik.

We moved from Denver to Scottsdale, AZ then back to Madison, WI and now we have made our home in New York. I adopted a lab/harrier hound puppy back in 2006 from the Dumb Friends League (Sophie) and she quickly became Treadrae’s best friend. Just a note to let you guys know that she is doing well, going on 14 now. She is the most loving dog I have ever met. She is still running very strong and spends her days relaxing and playing with Sophie and cuddling up with my girlfriend Nicole and me and getting attention from EVERYONE that sees her. Quite an amazing dog. I want to thank you again for your continued rescue work with the sled dogs from Krabloonik as I know first-hand that these dogs become wonderful pets and can make many families very happy.

Thanks and good luck with the shelter!
Cheers

Scott Martell

 

2009 Aspen Animal Shelter calendars available soon

Purchasing the 2009 pet calendar is a fantastic way to help the homeless animals in our community and to support our many shelter programs. We expect the calendars to be available before Thanksgiving. Call Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter at 970.927.1771or email us at aspenpetcal@gmail.com. Our 2008 calendar was once again a huge success. It won the "Best in Category" award from the 2007 Printing and Imaging Association, Mountain States Pride Awards.

A'Hound the Shelter: Husky Mixes

Orion
Orion is one of our newest arrivals of Husky mixes who have retired from being sled dogs. He is 2 years old, very friendly and willing. He needs socialization with other dogs and people but he ismaking great strides every day.. He likes female dogs. Orion is energetic, strong and smart. With training, he will become a loyal companion.

The most fun thing about these retired sled dogs is watching them slowly change from being scared and unsocialized when they arrive to happy, calmer dogs who love people and enjoy the company of other dogs.

  

To read more about our current residents--cats and dogs--click on ADOPTABLE CATS or ADOPTABLE DOGS. For more information about our programs and philosophy, go to PROGRAMS.

 

Cesar Millan Brings the (Dog)House Down

"Cesar Whispers in Aspen" in July an overwhelming success!

For event photos, click here. Thank you to all who participated!

    

 

Kai Gets a Wonderful Home with the Bristol Family

  

Kai came to our shelter last fall from Denver with his brother Kona. Kona was on the chubby side and Kai was extremely thin--they were so close that we assumed Kai was just letting Kona eat his food. But after numerous visits to the vet, Kai was diagnosed with cancer. He was becoming painfully thin, had constant diarrhea and his coat looked awful. He looked so bad in February that we considered euthanasia. However, while he looked terrible, he did not appear to be suffering and still showed a great spark for living--especially when Ted and Karen Bristol came by every single day to take him out for a walk and to bring him fresh chicken treats. They had been coming to visit him for quite a while and decided to give him a chance to live in a comfortable, loving home environment in spite of his diagnosis. Shown above is Kai looking absolutely gorgeous with a beautiful coat and added weight --so happy with his new owner Ted (and Karen) who notes that he and Kai have “the same stupid smile”!

Ted writes “I was really glad to see you today, because you saw Kai at his absolute worst that Sunday in February. He currently is on a different fresh cooked meat twice a day plus a small amount of yogurt, pumpkin, coconut oil, Prednisone and his prescription Iams dry food. His bowels are not normal but are very manageable and he has never had an accident. Kai and my other Husky Alex are “joined at the hip.” They have a very large 3/4 acre fenced-in yard that allows a point of shelter from the weather-- although Kai must have been a house dog as he prefers to be indoors. We walk both Huskies twice a day anywhere from two to four miles per walk. The walk keeps all of us a little more fit. He has complete run of the house and as I have said he has never had an accident. We are extremely happy that he has put on muscle mass as we were told that he was not absorbing protein. We have no illusions as to the eventual outcome, but you know that he will have the best possible life until then.”

6/26 Update: "Kai is still doing great and has maintained his weight and energy. The interesting thing is that he has become much more animated and is very interested in all the things going on during his walks. He has also acquired a fondness for field mice which we try very hard to prevent him from eating, but he does eat a few. We think that his cancer has gone into remission because if the medical diagnosis was correct he should not be with us any more. In the mean time he is having a great time with Alex and Karen and me." Ted

 

Volunteer Programs:
Giving Attention to Shelter Residents

Shown to the left are several of the adorable tabbies who were residents of the shelter with Tilly Swanson and her mother Jennifer. We encourage visitors to hang out in the cat room and play with the many cats and kittens. As you can see, they love the attention.

 

Photo by Heather Rousseau of the Aspen Daily News

 

Our Non-Profit: Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter

We have a number of programs which benefit the animals of the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. We are so grateful to our many donors without whom these programs could not operate. Go to our NON-PROFIT FAAS page for a more complete description of our mission and our projects (we are still adding information to this page).

We are very excited about our new spay/neuter program. We conducted a pilot program in conjunction with the Aspen Animal Hospital last fall, offering free spay/neuter certificates which resulted in the neutering of  201 animals. We are currently offering free neutering downvalley in the first quarter of 2008. This program is operating through the Carbondale Animal Hospital. We plan to expand our efforts further downvalley and beyond in the second and third quarters of this year, returning again to Aspen for the fourth quarter in the fall. (More information will be added soon)

Our major fund-raising projects at this time are the Cesar Millan events on July 10th (see information above) and our annual pet calendar. We are currently signing up sponsors for our 2009 calendar. All proceeds benefit our shelter animals and spay/neuter programs. They are available at Aspen Wags to Riches, our pet store at the shelter, and the following locations: Aspen Animal Hospital, Rocky Mountain Pet Shop, Explore Bookstore, Pierre Famille, CB Paws, the Woody Creek Store and in Basalt at Town Center Booksellers.

Our tagline is It's All About The Animals! If you would like to donate to our programs, our mailing address is: Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 985, Aspen, Colorado 81612. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The Shelter's Pet Shop: Aspen Wags to Riches

The Aspen Boarding Kennel and Aspen Animal Shelter are joined by Aspen Wags to Riches, A Pet Boutique and Salon, 970-544-9247 and on the web at aspenwagstoriches.com

Together, the Aspen Boarding Kennel and Aspen Wags to Riches generate revenue to sustain the Aspen Animal Shelter. In essence, the animals with homes support the animals without homes. The boutique has all sorts of of fun and unusual items for your dogs and cats: bowls, leashes, food and gifts.

The grooming business is booming--please call for an appointment.

Have a unique party at the shelter. Call Aspen Wags to Riches for details at 970-544-9247.

 

Our Shelter Vet

While we work with many vets in the Roaring Fork Valley, all of whom are very dedicated and accomplished, we have a special relationship with the Aspen Animal Hospital. The veterinarians and the staff are very caring, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about our efforts to care for our shelter animals. They offer up-to-date "traditional" veterinary treatments in addition to acupuncture and homeopathic methods. You may reach them at 970.925.2611 or visit their web site at aspenanimalhospital.com


Please join us in our mission to care for the pets of Aspen and Pitkin County, as well as those dogs and cats that are here on vacation. The shelter is located just west of the airport stoplight near the turnoff for the RFTA bus barn at 101 Animal Shelter Road.
970-544-0206.

 

 

 

Check out the animals on our Pet Cams!

To view these cameras properly, you must make sure that you have installed the Active X controller. For directions on installation see the following information.

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101 Animal Shelter Road · Aspen, CO 81611 · t: 970.544.0206 · email@dogsaspen.com