The kids in Canada are at it again… making me smile BIG TIME.  The 2nd and 3rd graders designed "doggie diva outfits" for her.  They are priceless!!  So for the next 2-3 weeks I will be featuring a "Frankie doggie diva outfit."  I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.  Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for book reviews the kids are writing for Frankie's book, as well as their own stories they wrote with Frankie as the main character.  Here's Frankie… Download Clown!

Congratulations to Cayr Ariel Wulff who won the Frankie T-shirt!  And congratulations to Linda Belthius who won a copy of Frankie, the Walk 'N Roll Dog! 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post on my blog.  I love hearing from my readers!!  Ariel and Linda, I have sent a separate email to each of you for your mailing addressess.  As soon as I get those from you, I will mail out your prizes.

Thank you again and I will do more give-aways in the future, so stay tuned…  Did you know you can follow me on twitter at joyful paws?  And you can also follow Frankie on twitter at walknrolldog… if you follow us you will know when the next contest is! 

While I very much love Eddie's Wheels and am so glad Frankie's cart is from this outstanding company, I also understand not everyone may be able to afford a cart this option.  A friend sent me a link to a website where you can get instructions on making your own dog wheelchair.  This is in part what their website says:

"Currently most wheelchairs are customized to an individual dog, leading to high costs and the inability of the wheelchairs to adapt to a growing dog or to be reused for another dog. Unfortunately for some guardians, the cost of a wheelchair is prohibitive, and may influence euthanasia decisions. Hence, the goal of this study was to design and develop a low cost, highly adjustable canine wheelchair prototype that is suitable for a medium sized dog. "

I applaud them for their efforts in helping all dogs live a quality life, so I wanted to share this resource and their website.  http://web.me.com/gbertocci/Canine_Wheelchair_Site/Canine_Wheelchair_Overview.html

Another wonderful resource is from Handicapped Pets and they offer an adjustable wheelchair for different size dogs.  They also have tons of articles and products to help handicapped animals.

The point is I think our animals deserve a quality life even if they have a disability.  I have often been heard saying that I believe an animal without use of their legs is not any different than a human who has lost or does not have use of their legs.  An animal deserves a chance at a long, fulfilling life too.  These companies listed above, and so many more which you can find on my resource page are doing what they do for all the right reasons.  They truly care about animals and want to help them.  Dogs with a disability are a beautiful example of overcoming adversity in a positive way.  I live with one everyday who continually teaches me that life is beautiful no matter what.