Canine Christmas

Congratulations to the thousands of people and their dogs for attending and participating in our 13th Canine Christmas Festival. Fun was had by all, especially the dogs who of course are the stars of the show. Thank you to all of our sponsors for their support, please patronize these businesses because they care about Manatee County Animals.

Several things happened at the recent Canine Christmas Festival that really need to be acknowledged. First of all we tried to break the Guinness World Record for the most dogs doing a sit/stay. It appears by photographic evidence that we feel short by 11, but you can bet that we will try again next year. Thank you to Jack Elka for the fantastic photographs. Thanks to Paul Heyman, of Paul’s Tree Service for providing the bucket truck for the aerial shots. Also recognition to Trisha Antonelli of Dawg Phonics dog training for her expertise and advice, and to Joe Hutchinson for printing our “ I came, I sat, I stayed” bandanas. Special credit to Dr. Nancy Gerhardt for being our Guinness required veterinarian. Pictures of the sit/stay challenge and a video of Canine Christmas by Duke Overstreet are available at caninechristmas.com.

Thanks and special appreciation goes out to Bishop Animal Shelter SPCA. Keith Pratt the director, the staff and Board of Directors deserve gratitude for providing such an extraordinary venue for our event.

Much appreciation for all our sponsors and volunteers, and especially for the representation from the No-Kill faction, including Commissioner Whitmore and Bill Hutchinson, the head of Public Safety that includes Animal Services. They and State Attorney candidate Ed Brodsky had the difficult decision judging the popular fashion show featuring our charming canine super models.

Special thank you to Dr. Luke Berglund of Beach Veterinarian Clinic, who not only provides services to many rescue groups, he provides vet services for the county. He was the winner of the 50/50 drawing that was $4700.00. He donated his portion to the No-Kill movement. He did this without a moment’s hesitation, and deserves recognition for this kind donation.

Please recognize these sponsors and patronize their businesses. These fine folks deserve your dollars for their contributions to animals in Manatee County.

Hope to see you all November 17, 2012 for a bigger better Canine Christmas Festival.

Don't miss the fabulous video made by Duke Overstreet about Canine Christmas 2011.

The Animal Network and

Bishop Animal Shelter

Canine Christmas was started in 1999 while a bunch of us crazy animal lovers were working to get our dog park up and running. We became aware of the problems within our county and wanted to make a difference. Many of us have rescue animals and we desired a showcase to present what great pets you can get at area shelters. That is why our fashion show is the most popular event of the whole day. It features rescued, adopted and special needs canine supermodels dressed for the cat, I mean dog walk. This portion of the day is at 1:30 PM. The fun starts out earlier though for our Canine Contests. We have a lot of categories such as longest ears, smallest and largest dog, tail wagging and more fun and it is open to all dogs, even store bought and designer dogs. This starts at 11:00 AM. At 11:30 we have our hilarious “American Fido” talent show, which is also open to all canine companions. This is four paws up competition and there are so many talented dogs out there, like some of our previous winners, such as bubble biting dogs, siren howling hounds and singing dogs, even dogs that actually do nothing, but still get a round of applause for their effort. Great prizes for the winners.

We have many vendors selling their pet items for the holiday and pictures with their pets, kids or families with Santa.

Great food and drinks are available, Grilling is done by our famous Animal Network grill team.

Many of the area rescue groups and shelters are represented showing off their wonderful cats and dogs that are available for adoptions in the Parade Of Dogs Up For Adoption. Canine guardians can learn about breed characteristics and other important animal issues.

There is a great silent auction and raffle with many wonderful prizes available donated by local and national companies. Many people get their Christmas shopping done at Canine Christmas because of all the bargains.

There is a 50/50 raffle with tickets at $5.00 each. Last year $2350 was awarded to a lucky winner.

Admission is pet food, toys, and treats to benefit homeless cats and dogs in our community

Mark November 17th, 2012 on your calendar for the favorite pet festival of the year.