We invited newly appointed Dallas Park and Recreation Department Director Willis Winters to join us this past Saturday to enjoy the festivities during Dash for the Beads, supporting FIDO Oak Cliff‘s efforts to bring a dog park to North Oak Cliff. Mr. Winters graciously attended, and was by our account impressed with the amount of interest and activity surrounding our event.

On February 11th, we had the pleasure of receiving a call from District 1 Council Representative Delia Jasso. The District 1 Representative informed us that she met with Mr. Winters today to discuss our proposal for a permanent off-leash dog park at Kidd Springs Park and to offer her support for it. The following is a letter we received from council woman Jasso:

Thanks for all of your hard work and your efforts with a dog park for North Oak Cliff. The success of the pop-up dog park as part of the Mardi Gras activities this past weekend, has certainly proven that there is a huge need for this in our area. Thanks, also, to all who participated in the event and other FIDO events.

It is my pleasure to announce to you that I have asked our new Park and Recreation Director, Willis Winters, to begin a site plan and cost estimate for a permanent dog park in the area where the pop-up dog park was held this past weekend. Simultaneously, my office will be sending a survey to the adjacent neighborhood.

I am very happy that we have worked together to come to this point and can’t wait to see this to completion. A time schedule will be done when the site plan and cost estimate are finished. Again, thank you and I look forward to working together to “finish what we’ve started”.

Time is running out to register for the 4th annual Dash for the Beads 5k Run/1 mile walk! Proceeds from this dog/kid friendly event will once again benefit our mission here at FIDO Oak Cliff and will help to bring an off-leash space to the neighborhood.

If you can’t run in the event, there are always other ways to help.  Volunteering includes a variety of activities including registering runners, working on the run route, manning water stations, and other race setup and cleanup. Volunteer for the full day and you can come to our volunteer after party at Eno’s!

Shift 1 – 8:30am to 10:30am

Shift 2 – 10:30am to 12:30pm

To sign up to volunteer, contact Stefanie Bradshaw, the Dash Volunteer Coordinator.

Laissez les BONE temps rouler!

Howdy folks,

The weather is mighty fine and its time for you and your pup to enjoy every minute of it. In two weeks we’ll be setting up shop at the Elmwood Street Fair. This is a Better Block style event complete with food, fun, art, entertainment and now an off-leash dog space!

Thats right. It’s time to get the party started as only dog lovers can do. Come on out  and join us on Saturday, October 13th from 1-6 PM!

A few months back, Facebook updated all Brand Pages to the Timeline format. While this has done great things for the organizations and companies using Pages to sell their products or services, it is not good for a non-profit organization seeking to use social networking to better connect their neighbors and community.

We’re concerned that your posts, particularly those about LOST or FOUND animals, have taken a very significant back seat to our own posts. Additionally, we’ve had trouble sharing your posts to our larger audience. We’d prefer to be on equal ground with you, which is why we’ve developed a Group page specifically for you. The FIDO Oak Cliff Community Forum and Lost & Found is a place for you to share and connect with your community. It is a place where you can reach out and get recommendations from your neighbors about their favorite vet, where you can post about the dog you found or about an upcoming event you heard about. Notification settings allow you the flexibility whether or not to be notified when a fellow member makes a post. Meanwhile, we’ll keep you as best informed as we possibly can via posts on our brand page.

FIDO Oak Cliff has succeeded because of a supportive community of dog owners and animal lovers who live in Oak Cliff. We’re always looking for ways to be the best virtual bulletin board we possibly can be. If you have suggestions or comments, please let us know.

In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out big changes here on our website. We hope these changes will help us continue our mission for greater animal welfare in the Oak Cliff area.

We at FIDO are so pleased and honored to be the beneficiary of the walk/run event. This money will be put towards our greater cause of establishing the first off-leash space in Oak Cliff!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped make this possible, especially to the runners and walkers (and dogs) of the event who helped contribute to our cause.

While walking with the dogs to grab some groceries at Urban Acres this morning, we noticed a shiny new storefront and sign for Oak Clips, a new pet boutique offering dog grooming. We spoke with owner, Mari Mendoza, who was very enthusiastic and excited about the new business. “It’s really becoming a great area and people are walking by all the time, very often with their dogs,” Mendoza said, “we’ve designed the actual store to be very dog friendly.”

The boutique will specialize in grooming but also offers a selection of great dog and cat food brands, such as Orijen and Petcurean, at competitive prices.  Inspired by the homes in our beloved Oak Cliff neighborhoods, Oak Clips is also designing and building Craftsmen and Prairie style dog houses – something very unique to the marketplace. “The dog houses have already generated a lot of interest and we already sold a few at our soft opening,” she said. “the dog houses could really be customized to match your home if you wanted.”

Currently, the store is in its soft opening phases but will be full-time soon once they figure out the most ideal hours. They are starting to accept grooming appointments if you call 214.484-6881.

Oak Clips is located at 502 N. Edgefield Ave. also known as that cool Swiss-looking building at Davis and Edgefield. The boutique will hopefully begin a resurgence of leasing in the building, which is a prime location for Oak Cliff residents. Mendoza added that she is planning to open a coffee house/frozen yogurt place next door once the pet boutique gets its footing.

Adoption is the responsible way to be a pet owner and we at FIDO are pleased to see such an effort. With a constant surplus of animals, it’s getting harder and harder for rescues and agencies to take in new animals. Irresponsible pet owners neglect to spay and neuter their pets which leads to more and more animals on the street. Puppy mills and breeders continue to operate adding animals to the mix, when such actions are simply unnecessary.

Pet ownership is about love and no pet needs your love more than the ones that will be available for rescue on Earth Day. FIDO OC will have members on site promoting our brand new pet registration feature (which is coming to our website soon!).

In addition to animal rescues, there will be a Mutt Strut costume contest! This year’s event promises to be a great one for dog and animal lovers of all kinds. Don’t miss out and don’t forget to stop by and see us!

This will be our first pop-up event of the year and first since Fidofest back in September. We’re very excited to break out the fencing materials and show once again what it would be like to have an off-leash space right here in our very own neighborhood.

There will be a multitude of activities for all ages, so don’t miss out!

This has the potential to be a great new service for those looking for alternative boarding options. As Mashable reports,

“Dog Vacay does some legwork to make sure everyone in the transaction feels comfortable. Hosts can verify their addresses and phone numbers, add certifications like “Dog CPR” (yep, that exists), or be interviewed over the phone or in-person by the startup to receive a badge on their profiles. All parties can use Facebook Connect to see mutual friends. Dog Vacay insures dogs (but not yet homes) up to $25,000 for emergencies, and dog owners can request periodic photo updates during their dog’s stay.”

The service is currently in Beta mode in their home town of Los Angeles, but is looking to expand across the country, with Dallas-Ft. Worth being a huge potential market. Dog-sitters in the beta phase have charged typically between $30-$35 a night.

Would you be interested in taking part of this service – either as a sitter or as a user?

Beautiful Day at the Dog Park from Kelsey Wynns on Vimeo.