What rescue group has not received a desperate request to help save a dog from a high risk shelter? How often have you wanted to get a dog to safety but been unable to find an available foster home? What do you do?


In many communities, rescue groups partner with doggie daycares, dog boarding or traditional kennels to offer a temporary housing solution to help get dogs out of high risk shelters until a foster family is available. The beauty of this arrangement is that in most cases, dog business owners will do this at no charge. Aside from almost certainly being dog lovers themselves, why would a dog business owner provide services to your rescue group for free?


Because your rescue group can help promote their business, that’s why. Rescue groups are made up of devoted volunteers, foster families and supporters all of whom spend money on pet related businesses in your community. They are much more likely to spend their money at a business that supports your rescue group than at those that don’t.


What about dogs in foster homes who need a little socialization time? Doggie daycares are often willing to offer free services in exchange for free marketing through your rescue group. Foster dogs get to burn off a little energy and enjoy some often needed socialization.


When approaching a local boarding or dog daycare business, consider offering them the following in exchange for free services for your foster dogs:


•Offer to post the business link on your shelter website.
•hand out their brochures and business cards at all adoption days and fundraising events.
•Regularly feature the business in your rescue newsletter, blog, or on your website. Share the stories of individual dogs who have been helped by their donation of services.
•Offer the business owners the opportunity to promote their business in person at fundraising events.
•At off site adoption events, place a sign on each dog’s crate featuring the business logo and contact number. State that the business is providing free boarding/daycare for your rescue dog.


In addition to offering free boarding or daycare services for your rescue dogs, many businesses will also help cross promote your rescue group by:


•Featuring your dogs on their website, in a flyer and on their check-in counter.
•Promoting your dogs and adoption days in their customer e-newsletter and on their website.
•Linking to your rescue group’s website.
•Placing your rescue’s business cards or adoption day details on their bulletin board.


It seems clear that cross promotion is a win-win for everyone involved. If you’re not currently taking advantage of cross promotion opportunities in your community, now is the time! Creative, free cross marketing with local business owners can help you rescue more dogs, increase adoptions, even help you attract more volunteers. In the end the winners will be the dogs that you and your community partners helped save by working together.


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Heather

Labor Day is here, but the Black Dog Walking Group is still going strong! Our weekly black dog walks are now listed on the Star Tribune's Pet Central:
http://petcentral.startribune.com/event ... ke-harriet and WCCO's event page: http://wcco.com/events/Black.Dog.Walkin ... d=8_3_2008


If the summer heat was daunting, come join the Black Dog Walking Group now that the temps are cooler. We meet every Sunday in front of the Linden Hills Dunn Brothers at 10:30 a.m. For walk details, visit our events page : http://www.startseeingblackdogs.com/blackdogevents.html



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See you Sundays!


Heather

These aren’t your typical pet portraits. For artists Jessie Marianiello, it’s all about capturing your dog’s individual personality in every work of art. While the darker color of black dogs makes then harder to photograph, this doesn’t present a problem for Marianiello. Skilled at painting darker colored dogs, her pictures depict nuances that photographs often can’t hope to capture. Offering commissioned portraits in a unique and contemporary style, Marianiello’s paintings are a heartfelt gesture celebrating the unconditional love and infinite happiness that our four-legged friends have brought to us. Her paintings tell a story – the story of your one-of-a-kind dog.


As part of a special fundraising promotion and in time for the holiday season, Jessie is will be donating 20% of every portrait and a substantial amount from her greeting card sales to local volunteer run, no kill animal rescue groups such as Pet Haven. Marianiello also has gift certificates available – a helpful hint for any well-meaning relatives who never know what to get you. Live out of state? No problem! Jessie does all her paintings from photographs, so you and your pooch can be anyplace in the world.


For more information on commissioning a portrait of your dog, go to:


http://straydogarts.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... otion.html


Our Best to you and your dog(s),


Heather

Black dogs on the radio? It's true! On Sunday I had the opportunity to be interviewed about our work on behalf of black shelter dogs on the nationally syndicated radio program, Animal Wise Radio. Judging by the number of website hits we've received since yesterday, we had a lot of listeners who care about the plight of black shelter dogs as much as we do.


You can listen to the interview on your computer online anytime by going to: http://www.animalwiseradio.com/ . My interview is 20 minutes into the program. Just click on the "Listen to the Program" button in the upper right hand corner. A window will open that will begin the program broadcast automatically.


Thanks again for your support for black shelter dogs and for our website. Thanks also to Mike Fry and Beth Nelson of Animal Wise Radio for inviting us on the show and asking such great questions.

Our best to you and your dog(s),


Heather Rosenwald

Have you ever wished that you had an easy way to raise awareness about Black Dog Syndrome? Kim in California sent us this fantastic, easy idea that anyone can use to tell others about the plight of black shelter dogs. She graciously gave us permission to share it with our website readers. Kim uses the cards pictured above which she orders from Vistaprint.com. If you order 250 cards, the cards are FREE. You just pay for shipping and they don't gouge you on the charges.


Kim leaves these cards everywhere; on restaurant tables with her tip; at the gas pump after she fills up; she hands them out when walking her dog and she even tacks them to bulletin boards wherever she finds them.


We love Kim's idea so much that we're creating our own cards with the startseeingblaackdogs.com website on one side. Kim stresses that anyone is welcome to use this design or the card copy to make their own version. Her goal is to raise awareness and increase adoptions. A woman after our own heart!


To order cards from Vistaprint.com go to: http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/welcomebac ... av=welcome


Our best to you and your dog(s),


Heather