by Judy Weinberg and Sue Doctrow

We met at the Jefferson Cutter House in Arlington Center. The first half hour was a meet-and-greet with Arlington's new Animal Control Officer Katie Kozikowski. The regular meeting followed.

Brief introductions were made as we went around the table with 13 people in attendance. We also welcomed our newest Board Members, Jen Burns, Jessica Farman and Janice Zazinski. They join existing Board Members, Joan Black, Susan Doctrow, Ellen Finnie Duranceau, Andrew Fisher, Deborah Goldsmith, Amy Goldstein, Mary McCartney, Anita Pliner, Ann Smith, Roslyn Smith, Judy Weinberg and David White.

Joan Black passed out index cards, asking us to write down what we would like to see for A-DOG in the coming year. There was a drawing and Ann Smith won Lakota Cookies, donated by Joan. What could be better! There were great ideas for new and continuing projects.

Katie introduced her "positive reinforcement" program. Secret ticketers around town will "catch" dog-owners following the leashing and clean-up rules or doing other helpful things, making them eligible for monthly prizes. She also described plans for the recent Belmont Animal Control on a "Living with Coyotes" presentation, held in collaboration with A-DOG. A program is in the works to allow online dog license renewals. Katie is considering offering a rabies vaccine clinic in conjunction with licensing your dog.

Membership Report: 449 total A-DOG members, compared to 402 in 2014. Many more on our Wags and Tags mailing list, including Friends of Thorndike Dog Park, Friends of A-DOG and other supporters.

Next, highlights of the past year were reviewed, including:

TOWN DAY in September was a huge success, there was always a crowd in front of our booth which featured an interactive "Name the Breed" game, free dog massages by Janice Zazinski, a drawing for a gift basket of donated prizes, a contest to name the mechanical dog and great conversation with fellow dog owners. More new members than ever signed up at the booth.

K9 REC ACTIVITIES, from Arlington Recreation, offers fun events for dogs and their humans, and A-DOG will continue to provide publicity to support them. Their most recent event was the Howl-o-ween costume party at Thorndike Dog Park. A-DOG will be invited to all events to distribute membership information.

A-DOG DONATIONS, thanks to donors to our Friends of Thorndike Dog Park fund, donated about $1100 to the town for a visitor's bench the Thorndike Dog Park.  In an effort organized by Board member Ellen Finnie Duranceau, A-DOG also donated money to Robbins Library to purchase our recommended books on dog training and the canine-human bond.

ACMI, Arlington Community Media Inc. A-DOG has renewed its ACMI membership and Board Member Jen Burns has been training with ACMI to produce videos, which will help increase A-DOG's social media and online presence.

Some events were suggested for the coming year including:

~ Paint Your Dog fundraiser at Art Lounge in February, already in progress organized by Jen Burns

~ The First Annual Dog Video Festival, with Judy Weinberg and Anita Pliner expressing interest

~ Dog training workshops, repeating successful ones organized, most recently, by Joan Black

~ Pet first aid and CPR program, repeating the successful one organized by Mary McCartney and ACO Amanda Kennedy

~ Meet-and-greets with Katie (ACO) at the different parks around town during off leash recreation times

 

There was enthusiastic discussion and lively participation. Refreshments and conversation were enjoyed by all and the meeting concluded at 9:00.

Join us in 2016 for our A-DOG meetings! (Watch Wags and Tags for the schedule, beginning in January).

 

 

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Judy Weinberg and Sue Doctrow are A-DOG board members and officers, as well as members of the Wags and Tags editorial team. Photos (top to bottom): Attendees at the Annual Meeting, except for photographer Jen Burns; close-up of the new visitor's bench at the Thorndike "dog park"/off leash recreation area. Photos by Jen Burns, also an A-DOG board member and member of the Wags and Tags Editorial Team.

by Katie Kozikowski

Arlington Animal Control Officer

Arlington Animal Control has come up with a fabulous new idea to REWARD those who follow the canine control bylaws in Arlington, as opposed to just punishing those who do not! Some A-DOG members have stepped up to help out. 

So here's the [pooper] scoop....There will be a few people around town who carry raffle tickets with them, if you get caught following the leash law or helping out in other ways by one of these ticket holders (e.g.: leashing your dog after off-leash hours hours and in the appropriate areas, picking up after your dog, assisting someone with finding their dog, picking up after other people's pets or even helping out wildlife - in a 100% safe manner of course - along with whatever we feel will appropriately earn a ticket) you will receive ONE of these raffle tickets. To urge you to keep doing what you are doing, there is no limit to how many tickets you can receive each month! 

Now, you may be asking yourself what you might be getting in return for these good deeds of yours. Well, we have a plethora of prizes ready to go for you good deed doers! The prizes will be donated by Friends of A-DOG and other supporters of responsible dog ownership in Arlington and range from gifts cards to pet supplies! I'll give you a little sneak peek at the first month's prize...we have a $20 Whole Foods gift card generously donated by Whole Foods themselves!!!! You can choose to spend it on you, your family, your family pet or whatever you'd like. Nothing beats that! 

The last Friday of every month, we will choose one of these raffle tickets and post the number and picture of the ticket on the Arlington Animal Control and Arlington List Facebook pages (be sure to go on facebook and like these pages so you know if you are a winner). Keep an eye out for the winning ticket, if it turns out to be you, not only will you win a prize BUT also you (and your pet, if you have one) might be featured in A-DOG's Wags and Tags monthly newsletter! You can tell others what you did to receive your ticket that led to your fabulous prize and we are hoping this will urge others to do the same. 

We will be rolling out this program ASAP and the ticket holders can be anywhere at any time so be prepared with your leashes.

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Check out this ACMI interview with Katie!

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by Ricky, with a little help from Ellen Leigh and Joan Black

 

On November 3rd 2015 my companion Ellen Leigh, Joan Black and I interviewed Matt Robertson at Whole Foods in Arlington about SHARE THE CHOW PROJECT. I am a nearly three year old NEADS Service Dog and I have lived in Arlington with Ellen for sixteen months. We are members of Arlington Dog Owners Group {A-DOG}. I was inspired to learn more about SHARE THE CHOW and how it benefited shelters, rescue groups and food pantries. Matt told me that the staff at Whole Foods Arlington had the idea to reach out to local groups in need with surplus pet supplies. The response was overwhelming. People nomin ated organizations and WHOLE FOODS was able to award over 700 pounds of food to feed shelter and homeless pets in the Boston area during October. Among the recipients were: Northeast Animal Shelter, Last Hope K9 Rescue, Boston's Forgotten Felines, Schultz Guest House, and Sweet Paws Rescue. Matt explained,"We reached out through social media requesting nominations for charities which would qualify. The interest generated was amazing. It was one of our most popular ideas and is something we would definitely attempt again." 

 WHOLE FOODS will be partnering with A-DOG for future endeavors as well as supporting Arlington ACO Katie Kozikowski's PAWSTIVE INCENTIVE Program which will debut this month. In behalf of A-DOG I barked a hearty "Thank You!" to Matt and the staff at WHOLE FOODS and awarded them The PAWSOME AWESOME AWARD. As for me I was gifted with a wonderful new blue bone, so i gave Matt an example of some of my best "thank you" kisses for helping animals in need.

Click below to watch a video by Jen Burns of our visit with Matt!

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Photos (top to bottom): Matt, Joan, Ricky and Ellen; Matt with Ricky; Ricky with his gift from Whole Foods Arlington