ohmidog!

A family in northern Maine says it is “overwhelmed” by the generosity they saw from friends and strangers who donated enough money for them to get a service dog for their 5-year-old daughter, Faith.

Faith has spina bifida and experiences seizures. The new dog — a black Lab named Dandy — has been trained to detect when they might be coming.

Bruce and Beverly McNally, of Island Falls, took Faith in as a foster child, then as their adopted daughter. They quickly realized they needed help monitoring her for the seizures, which could be deadly if not addressed.

“The family became very worried, which is why they wanted to get the dog,” Michele King, Faith’s aunt, told the Bangor Daily News.

King is also the chief administrative officer for Brave Hearts, a nonprofit Christian home for young men in Island Falls, and that organization sponsored a fundraiser last month to try and raise the $2,500 that was needed.

King said that donations came from the more than 100 people who attended a benefit supper, and from people as far away as North Carolina.

“We just couldn’t believe it,” Beverly McNally said. “We eventually had enough money and we had to gently turn people away. We had to tell them that we had enough for the dog, but that we wanted them to donate the money to a charity of their own choosing.”

Dandy came from CARES — Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education and Services — a nonprofit organization in Concordia, Kansas, that trains and matches assistance dogs with owners.

“Dandy has just been wonderful for Faith,” McNally said on Friday. “She picks up on a chemical change in the body when a seizure occurs. One day when we got back, Faith was very lethargic. She was in the chair with me and needed to be snuggled a lot more. And the dog got up in the chair and started whining. And I didn’t realize what was going on. And 45 minutes later, Faith had a seizure. Then I realized what the dog was trying to tell me.”

(Photo: Michele King)

Barkitecture Houston, a two-day fundraiser that features some innovative interpretations on that old standard, the dog house, will begin Oct. 26.

This year’s benefit, for Pup Squad Animal Rescue, promises to be bigger than ever, with more than 20 dog house designs being featured, along with a full slate of activities for dogs and humans.

The fundraiser calls on local artists, designers and architects to create stylish and functional dog houses, which are then sold at auction. It’s in its fourth-year running, according to the Houston Press.

Last year’s event brought in $18,000 for the animal rescue group.

“Houston is definitely a dog town, but there’s also a huge problem of overpopulation,” said Julie Landry, co-founder of Pup Squad. “It’s just a matter of getting the message out, to spay and neuter your pets.”

This year, the festivities kick off with a “yappy hour,” on Friday, October 26. On Saturday, the dog houses will line the two blocks of the Houston Pavilions. Attendees can bid on their favorites, or buy them for $500. Judges will select the “Best in Show.”

The Houston Press previewed this year’s entries, which included a giant rescue chopper that  lights up, a doghouse with a roof drainage system that collects water, and a colorful fan of a dog house that folds up like a briefcase.

We’re pretty sure none of them, though, have what a dog house in Houston needs most — air conditioning! 

Here’s where you can find more information.

(Photos: Some of last year’s entries; Rachel Bohanan / Houston Press)

Prepare yourself for a party.

The Forsyth Humane Society is celebrating 71 years of service with ”Gala at Graylyn; A Fetchin’ Good Time!” — an evening of dining, dancing and more to benefit homeless and neglected animals.

The event will take place on Saturday, Nov. 3, from 7 to 11 p.m. at Graylyn, the historic estate in Winston-Salem, N.C., that now serves as a conference center.

The black tie optional gala will raise funds to support the FHS “no kill” adoption center, educational outreach programs, and low-cost spay/neuter assistance program.

The event, presented by Dr. Michael Morykwas and Ms. Christine Thornton, will also feature a silent auction and open bar.

Tickets are $100 per person or $175 per couple. For information on tickets, sponsorships or other details, contact Darla Kirkeeng at 336-793-6480 or visit the Forsyth Humane Society website.

Dogs Against Romney has sniffed out another connection between Mitt Romney and animal cruelty: An upcoming fundraiser for the apparent Republican nominee for president is being hosted by a man once arrested in connection with the barbecuing of a dog.

It was more than 50 years ago, and the charges were dropped, but Fred Malek, who’d go on to become the president of Marriott Hotels and former finance committee co-chair of John McCain’s presidential bid, was in the crowd when five men were arrested after authorities found a dead dog, skinned, gutted and barbecued on a spit in a park in Peoria, Ill.

Charges of cruelty to animals were later dismissed against Malek and three other men after Andrew P. O’Meara testified that he alone had struck and killed the dog with a 2-by-4, skinned the animal and tried to cook it. O’Meara said he was trying to show Malek and the others how to live off the land.

In a 2006 Washington Post story, Malek explained that he and O’Meara , recently having graduated from West Point, went to Peoria in the summer of 1959 to visit friends at Bradley University. The whole group got drunk and O’Meara had killed the dog. Malek said he was not a participant in the killing or the cooking.

Malek , on Monday, will be hosting a lavish fundraiser for Romney, who more than 25 years ago strapped a crate containing the family Irish setter, Seamus, to the roof of his station wagon for a 12 hour ride.

Dogs Against Romney founder Scott Crider is making much of the connection, as is Brad Bannon, spokesman of the Super PAC Mitt is Mean.

“I am surprised Gov. Romney is going to go to this fundraiser and get money from a guy who barbecued a dog, especially with Mitt Romney’s history with dogs,” Bannon said. “It illustrates Romney’s general indifference to people and to animals. He doesn’t care about poor people, he doesn’t care about his dog, he doesn’t care about what Fred Malek does to dogs, he is the classic cold blooded corporate raider. He just doesn’t care.”

Malek worked with the administrations of both Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush.  While in the Nixon administration, he compiled, at the president’s request, a list of Jews in the federal government. In 1988,  Malek resigned from the Republican National Committee over questions about his earlier role in President Nixon’s push to oust Jews from government positions.

Malek apologized and, as with the case of the cooked dog, denied playing a substantial role in the scheme.

Ace’s favorite strip club — and, to be clear, the only one he has ever visited — is hosting a car wash this weekend to benefit Best Friends, the Utah animal sanctuary that rehabilitated many of the dogs seized from Michael Vick.

The annual charity car wash, “Headlights and Hounds,” has been scheduled for Saturday, July 16 at The Lodge, an upscale gentlemen’s club in Dallas where Ace spent some time during our travels.

A spokesman for The Lodge said the event, which lasts from noon to 6 p.m., will be “family-friendly,” featuring dancers in bikinis and other staffers washing cars and motorcycles to raise money for Best Friends.

Best Friends, best known for its animal sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, is a national organization that works to eliminate the needless killing of millions of animals through supporting shelters, adoption programs and spay/neuter efforts around the country.

It was one of several organizations that took in and rehabilitated some of the animals seized from the dogfighting operation of NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

Almost all of them have since moved on to happy homes — including Mel, who was adopted two years ago by Sunny Hunter, VIP manager at the Lodge, and her husband, Dallas radio personality Richard Hunter. (Ace got to spend some time with Mel last summer.)

“We have a special connection with Best Friends because of Mel,” said Lodge owner Dawn Rizos. “But beyond that, this is a wonderful organization and we’re proud we can help support all the good that they do.”

The Lodge, which is donating all proceeds from the car wash to charity, has raised nearly $200,000 for animal causes over the years.

The car wash will also feature a buffet, music, games and psychic readings by Sandra Larson, a Texas pet psychic.

The Lodge is located at 10530 Spangler Road in Dallas, just off Northwest Highway and one mile west of I-35E.

The Baltimore Humane Society will hold its first annual Catsino Night this coming Saturday (June 11).

It’s an evening of faux gambling aimed at raising money to help find homes for the surplus of homeless cats that fill area shelters around this time of year.

The event is being held at Mia Carolina Restaurant, 4844 Butler Road in Glyndon, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Included in the $150 ticket is an open bar, food and gaming chips.  To purchase tickets, or for more information about Catsino Night, please contact Jen Swanson, Director of Development, at jswanson@bmorehumane.org or call 410-833-8848 ext. 207.

The Baltimore Humane Society (formerly known as the Humane Society of Baltimore County) is offering free kittens during the month of June as part as the “Baltimore 500 — A Race to Save Lives.” That program is a project of the BAWA (Baltimore Animal Welfare Alliance) consisting of the Baltimore Humane Society, Maryland SPCA, and Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS).

The Humane Society of Baltimore County was founded in 1927 by Elsie Seeger Barton.  As a privately funded non-profit, it receives know funding from the county, city, or federal governments, and is not affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States.

Baltimore residents Leon Fleisher and Katherine Jacobson Fleisher will perform together Friday night at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in a benefit concert for The Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS).

The internationally-renowned pianists will be performing spring favorites by Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, and Schumann.

Tickets are available at $35, $50, $75 and $125 at BaltimoreAnimalShelter.org. The $125 tickets include premium seating and a reception with the artists.

The concert takes place at 8 p.m. and will be preceded by a silent auction at 6:30 p.m. The silent auction features 50 items including a piano lesson taught by Leon Fleisher, a week at a country house in France, a Pandora bracelet from Smyth Jewelry, original artwork and gift baskets from Baltimore area retailers.

BARCS is a non-profit organization created in 2005 to manage the Baltimore City animal shelter. BARCS provides shelter, food, and medical attention to over 400 animals daily.

Leon Fleisher was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honors award presented in 2007 by President George W. Bush. His wife, Katherine Jacobson Fleisher, is a soloist, duo-pianist and chamber musician who has received international critical acclaim for her talents.

“Hey That’s MY Dog!” a photo exhibit featuring more than 150 South Baltimore dogs — on display until May 10 — got off to an amazing start last night at Captain Larry’s.

Dog lovers packed the joint. Close to 50 of them took home photos of their dogs. And I only ripped off one customer.

Before we get to that, allow me to point out that proceeds from the exhibit go to Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS), and to issue special thanks to two Philadelphia friends — Margaret Grace, who helped me put the exhibit up, and Don Groff, who took the accompanying photographs

Thanks as well to Adam and his singing dog Sierra. While there were too many distractions for Sierra to focus on her singing, she howled a bit, and her presence, and Adam’s sidewalk saxophone playing, were appreciated.

The idea behind the exhibit — the culmination of about two year’s worth of my dog photo-taking — was that dog people would pay big money for photos of their own dogs. (The prints, all hanging from clotheslines, are selling for $25).

One of the first friends to drop by was a former Baltimore Sun colleague who owns a Boston terrier named Buster. She was very happy to see Buster’s photo hanging in the exhibit.

Sadly, I informed her that the photo was not Buster, but another Boston terrier friend, the irrepressible Darcy.

Not long after she left, Darcy’s owners showed up and forked over the money for the photograph. Then they took a seat and looked at it a little more closely. The dog in the photo looked older than their’s, and the markings were slightly different.

Turns out it wasn’t Darcy (top); it was Buster (bottom).

Most graciously, they did not demand their money back. And, since I have dozens of Darcy photos from the times I’ve babysat her, I’ll be getting a new print to them — their own dog this time.

We’ll be back tonight at Captain Larry’s, 601 E. Fort Ave., in hopes of selling more photos, and none of them, we hope, under false pretenses. The exhibit will be up through next Monday.

“Hey That’s MY Dog!,” a photo exhibit featuring more than 150 South Baltimore canines, kicks off tonight at Captain Larry’s.

If you’ve strolled by the Captain’s, you might have seen my sign out front, a piece of which is shown here.

The exhibit is a benefit for Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter, once the home of my dog, Ace, and a passing through point for another 11,000 or so dogs a year.

All profits, once the costs of the exhibit are recouped — and I sure hope they are recouped — will go to BARCS, a non-profit agency formed in 2005 in an effort to upgrade the former city animal shelter and reduce the rate of euthanizations.

All photos are for sale and can be taken home with you. The grand opening party starts today at 6 p.m., with Captain Larry’s offering some “Hey That’s MY Appetizer” and “Hey That’s MY Drink” specials. The evening may also feature some musical entertainment, depending on the weather, and whether Sierra the singing dog shows up. (City laws don’t allow dogs inside dining establishments, but Sierra plans a sidewalk performance.)

There’s no charge for admission. Donations to BARCS are welcome. The event’s Facebook page can be found here.

In the year and a half I’ve been writing, taking photos and assembling ohmidog!, I’ve amassed quite a few dog photos. And, thanks to my trademark photographic technique — take 100 pictures and one or two  might accidentally be good — some of them are even exhibit-worthy.

So an exhibit it is: “Hey, That’s MY Dog!”

Starting with opening night festivities on May 3, and through May 10, my photos of more than 150 south Baltimore dogs — possibly even your’s — will be on display at Captain Larry’s, 601 E. Fort Avenue, with profits from the exhibit going to Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS).

Above is a preview of the exhibit, set to music by David Israel and performed earlier this month at the South Baltimore Hootenanny, a semi-regular gathering of semi-regular musicians who congregate at Captain Larry’s.

Thanks to Captain Larry’s for providing the venue, and to sponsors K-9 Kraving and Lucky Lucy’s Canine Cafe.

All of the dogs in the exhibit are, or at least once were, from south Baltimore. Most of the photos were taken at Riverside, Federal Hill and Latrobe parks. A handful of dogs now residing, and available for adoption, at BARCS are also included. (BARCS is where I adopted my dog Ace, almost  five years ago.)

Those familiar with Captain Larry’s might wonder how one might exhibit photos there — given that nearly every available inch of wall-space already has something hanging. You’ll have to show up to see my solution.

There will be free doggie treats Monday night (while supplies last) and all the unframed prints will be available for purchase. (Dogs will have to view the exhibit from outside.) There is no cover charge, but you are welcome — even if you don’t buy a photo — to make a donation to BARCS.

Hope to see you there.