Pet Haven's 2010 The Fast and the Furballs Team

Many thanks to all who helped raise donations for homeless dogs and cats and who participating in the Dogs Day 5K9 run .... for the second year in a row, Pet Haven's The Fast and the Furballs joined in the fun!! As a result of our online fundraising we were able to raise $975, all of which will go directly towards homeless dogs and cats! What a great turn out at the inaugural Dog Days 5K9 run with over 300 pooches, of all different sizes, colors and breeds! We had one foster dog, Julius, who joined us for the run. Volunteer Tiffany who begins training for the Twin Cities marathon today kicked off her training with Julius .... at the end of the run, all she had to say was "Julius was a perfect runner." Sounds like he was so focused on running that he didn't even want to stop for water breaks ... even squirrels couldn't distract this boy ... and best of all, no swerving or tugging on the leash!! Here's Julius giving Tiffany a big kiss after the run .... Julius got to hitch a ride to the event with Ahnung (Pet Haven alum), who like Julius was rescued from up north at  Red Lake reservation. We believe Julius could be one of Ahnung's pups from a litter prior to when she was rescued. Ahnung is now a registered therapy dog and is protective of her "son" :) She says that Julius is the perfect dog and would make a great therapy dog. If you'd like to learn about 10 Reasons why you should adopt Julius, check out Ahnung's blog. She has a lot to say about it!! Many thanks to all who participated in this year's event!! Without your support we would not be able to continue in our mission of rescuing and re-homing dogs and cats and reducing the needless suffering of homeless dogs and cats. To view more photos from the 5K9 Run click here.

The newest member of the Pet Haven Team - Betty!!

Check out the newest member of the Pet Haven's The Fast and the Furballs team ... Betty! She's the one in the front. Who knows, maybe she can convince her friend in the background to join in on the fun too!! :)

Betty was adopted from Pet Haven about a year and a half ago. It looks like she hit the jackpot with her new family!! Way to go Betty!!

And her dad has already set up his fundraising page to help raise donations for her homeless furry friends ....

Our wish is that there will be more happy endings like Betty's happy ending ... but we need your help!

Thanks Luke (aka Betty's dad) for joining our team and helping raise money for homeless dogs and cats!!

Check out Luke and Betty's fundraising page. And if you'd like to join the team you will need to first register with Dog Days 5K9. Click here to register. Once you've registered (and the registration fee is $30 through May 1st) send us an email at furballs@pethavenmn.org to join the Pet Haven team and get started in your fundraising! You can either use the general Pet Haven 5K9 fundraising page at http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Dog-Day-5-K9-Run or if you'd prefer create your own fundraising page.

And click here for photos from last year's event!

Save the Date for the Dog Days 5K - June 12th

Yes!!! We are forming a team again in 2010 of Pet Haven supporters ... this year we will be participating in the inaugural Dog Days 5K9 Run/Walk on Saturday, June 12th.

The Pet Haven Fast and Furballs committee is finalizing details and will be sending out information on this in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, get those running/walking shoes out and start training for the 5K9 Run/Walk.

For more info, and to join the Pet Haven team, email volunteer@pethavenmn.org. Join the team and help us raise money for homeless dogs and cats!

To check out photos from last year's event click here. 

A huge success!!

The weather yesterday for the 5K-9 Run/Walk couldn't have been more perfect!! The team met in front of the StuntPuppy booth at 7:30 ... everyone had their bright orange t-shirts on and the dogs (adoptable Pet Haven dogs and alums) adorned orange bandanas that either read "ADOPT ME" or simply The Fast and the Furballs.

Savannah, Pet Haven dog up for adoption, wooed a runner even before the race began. We of course gave him a Pet Haven business card and hopes he checks on her :) How can you not love this adorable face (she insisted on closeup shot!).

Other adoptable dogs that were there included: Winston, Lilah, Pepper and Katie (cheerleading team!) ... and two 9 month cattle dogs who will be coming into Pet Haven's foster program!


And Bode, co-captain of Pet Haven's Fast and the Furballs team, races to the finish line with his Human, Joe. He's the first to cross the finish line ....

while Mister, the other captain of the team, has pretty much had it with running. His Human has to drag him across the finish line. He claims he had a 5 mile warm up which is why he was too tired ... after a goodnight's sleep though he has graciously accepted the fact that Bode is #1, because the reality is, we all finished first ... thanks to everyone for helping make this a success and for helping us raise almost $3,000 which will go directly towards helping homeless dogs and cats.

A special thanks again to Downtown Dogs and Chuck & Don's, our t-shirt and bandana sponsors!

To view more photos from the event visit our Flickr site.

Last Minute Details

The Fast and the Furballs' first 5K-9 is this Sunday @ 8 AM @ The Depot in Downtown Minneapolis! Here are some of the last minute details you'll need to know.

5K-9 packet pick-up
You can pick up your race packets (t-shirt, flyers, race #, etc) Friday from 11 AM to 4 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 6PM and Sunday starting at 6 AM at The Depot in Minneapolis. If you don't want to run/walk with your goodies or don't have someone to hang on to them during the event, be sure to pick-up your packet early.

Fast and the Furballs participant t-shirts
You can pick up your t-shirt on Saturday, May 30th at the Pet Haven adoption event at the Richfield Petco between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM. If you can't make it to the adoption event on Saturday, please send your t-shirt size to Cheryl @ furballs@pethavenmn.org and your t-shirt will be available on race day.

The 5K-9!
The Fast and the Furballs team will meet near the Stunt Puppy exhibit booth between 7:00 AM and 7:45 AM on Sunday morning. Just look for the flashy Fast and the Furballs orange t-shirts. We'll head to the starting line at 7:45 AM for the 8 AM start. Team Ortho has parking information posted on their site @ http://teamortho.us/Minneapolis_Marathon_Parking. The Depot address is:
The Depot
225 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401

The Minneapolis Marathon and Half Marathon begin at 7:00 AM - there will be lots of activity starting early in the day, so you shouldn't have a problem finding it once you get close. Also be sure to plan ahead for parking, crowds, etc - there are 1400 participating in the marathon and 2500 in the half marathon, plus the 5K and 5K-9 participants. Car pooling and arriving early are strongly encouraged.

See everyone on Sunday!

Racing to the finish!

Mister (co-captain of Pet Haven's the Fast and the Furballs team) and I decided we needed to get moving on our training. Granted it's not Mister's fault as I've been the slug and have not take him on enough runs. Early yesterday morning Mister said enough is enough, so we set our alarm and met others at the Furballs training run/walk at 8 am yesterday morning. Mister had a chance to loosen up his muscles at the Lake of the Isles dog park before the training run/walk began. He got knocked over a couple times by the big dogs but that certainly didn't stop him. Bjorn (another furballs dog in training) was there to warm up as well. Mister was very excited to wear his bright orange furballs in training bandana! He thinks bright orange makes him look very dapper against his smooth, shiny black coat! :)

We took off for our run a little after 8 am and ran one lap around lake of the isles. Mister does NOT ... i repeat ... does NOT like to be #2. Bjorn took the lead for the first part of the run and Mister just about took my arm off. Fortunately, Bjorn had to take a potty break so that gave us our chance to take the lead. Once we were in the lead, Mister went back to being a perfect running buddy. Then, on the last stretch Bjorn came sneaking up from behind us, my shoelace came untied so we had to stop (much to Mister's dismay!) and Bjorn and his running buddy finished first! Mister gave it his all though, and since i've been somewhat of slug lately, I was huffing and puffing too!

I forgot to bring my camera to the training run so I took photos of Mister when we got home. As you can tell, he was pretty tired after the big workout!

There's still time to join Pet Haven's Fast and Furballs team! Email Cheryl at furballs@pethavenmn.org for more info.

And, of course, please consider making a donation to any one of us running in the team. Visit our Firstgiving site to make a donation!

Group Run/Walk Sunday, May 17th

Join us Sunday, May 17th at 8:00 AM for a Fast and the Furballs group run at Lake of the Isles. Meet at the Lake of the Isles dog park: 2845 E. Lake of the Isles Parkway Minneapolis, MN 55405 (http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=388). We'll start walking/running around Lake of the Isles promptly at 8:00 (don't be late, you might have to run to catch up!). You won't be able to miss our bright orange t-shirts! Hope to see you there!

Many thanks to our t-shirt and bandana sponsors: Chuck and Don's and Downtown Dogs!