www.TheNewBarker.com 62 THE NEW BARKER It’s certainly not debatable that dogs and many other pets give us comfort. No matter what kind of day I’ve had there is nothing more soul soothing than being greeted by my four-legged family.They just explode with happiness when I come home—five minutes, five hours—doesn’t matter. I am the center of their universe and they are integral to my well-being.When our TampaPets brigade assembles to plan an event like Woofstock, we start with “what will make the dogs happy.” If the dogs are happy then everyone else will be as well. Splash pools, races, agility courses, icy treats, contests…everything with drooling tongues and happy tails is in play. But of course, there’s more to it than that.What we would like the human takeaway to be is a deeper understanding of our rescue community and how easy it is to support and contribute to the welfare of homeless pets as they take the journey to a new home. People and companies are creating innovative ways to help save animals all the time. One of the most exciting new venues is training rescue dogs to provide comfort to veterans and kids with special needs.The requests for these trained pups is extraordinary, so now many of these training organizations are opening their doors to mature rescue dogs. It’s not just about purebred puppies anymore. One of them is even more special — our partner for this spring’s Woofstock — Kids and Canines. We welcomed another Woofstock participant, K9 Partners For Patriots of Hernando County as one of many progressive organizations in Florida that accepts rescue dogs into their program. Kids and Canines is part of the curriculum at the Dorothy Thomas Center, an ESE school for children with emotional behavior disabilities, where high school students participate in the program as an elective.A select group of children helps train and take care of the dogs in training.A rescue dog is saved; room is made at a foster home so another can be rescued; a child earns recognition, confidence and skills they’ve never expe- rienced before; and another child with special needs or a veteran with PTSD receives a donated special friend to ease the stress of their daily lives.That’s a lot of wins in one sentence, but it’s true, and provides another purposeful path to save dogs in rescue. This is the core reason our TampaPets team loves the inspiration of Woofstock. It is a privilege to recognize our local rescue heroes for the endless hours they volunteer, dealing with stag- gering expenses and the emotional wear and tear of not being able to save them all. Seeing all of our generous business sponsors giving up the day to be with us—supporting rescue and making sure the event remains free—is really overwhelming. So, dog lovers and pet lovers of all species, please take the time to explore the many ways to help at TampaPets.org. I promise you, there is something you can do to change a life, and I promise the big winner will be you. Please mark your calendars for Saturday, October 27th, 2018, for our Woofstock Wag’oween Spectacular. Thank you for your ongoing support: The New Barker dog magazine, SmithJoy Realty, Central Bark Doggy Daycare, Reeves Subaru, Invisible Fence, Pet Loss Center and so, so, many others. Visit TampaPets.org for more photos of the spring Woofstock event. For more infomation on Kids And Canines and Ewenity Farm, visit KidsAndCanines.org EwenityFarmsBCH.com WFLA’s Meredyth Censullo (right) joins Kelly Hodges to present young Kaden (left) with his Kids and Canines pup, Sam, who came from Ewenity Farm Herding Dog Haven. (Below): Everyone went nuts for the peanut butter eating contest. The Best Gift In Life Is A Second Chance. –by Cory Cooper U Z