Just a few weeks after her brother Hudson’s birthday party, Bella the beautiful Yorkie turned two this weekend. Take a look at the pictures that her mom Amanda sent us.

Here she is with her special birthday hat.

Here is another cute picture of this adorable Yorkie- doesn’t she look so happy?

Happy birthday, Bella! And remember- if you have any pictures of your Boston-based pup you want posted- send them in!

We received very sad news from our dear friend Laura: her beautiful yorkie Sophie has passed away at only 12 years old.

Sophie was known to many as the South End’s best dressed dog and was often seen in her “Sophie Buggy” that she rode due to her heart disease. This picture below shows Sophie (on the right) in her buggy with her brother Teddy at the Red Sox parade.

And here you can see from the left Sophie, Teddy, and Winston in their official Red Sox gear.

Sophie will be greatly missed by all of us at SnifBostonDogs.

Here is what Laura wrote to us:

“It is with the heaviest heart and sorrow that I have to report the sudden death of Sophie on 21 February 2008.

So many people in the South End know the famous trio from sightings all about the neighborhood. Most notably is Sophie riding in her famous, red, Sophie buggy while the boys, Winston and Teddy walked obediently alongside.

The famous trio were in the South End News edition November 8, 2007, on page 8, wearing their official Red Sox Jackets. This was the day of the opening of the Joe Wex Dog Park in the South End.

Many South Enders followed Sophie’s progress when she first became ill with Mitral Heart Disease in June 2007. In July 2007, she was diagnosed with a liver problem as well. By the end of the summer, many caring South Enders, and owners of businesses, as well as their employees followed Sophie’s failing health when her Mama thought that she might have to euthanize Sophie.

I cannot stress how kind, thoughtful, caring and loving the people and certain businesses of the South End were during this extremely difficult time for Sophie, her Mama, Winston (who grew up with her) and little Teddy that her Mama rescued in November 2006.

People were always coming up to us inquiring as to who the lucky one was that gets to ride in the buggy. I would politely tell them that she is not so lucky as she has heart and liver disease; she is in the buggy because it makes her happy to be with the boys and Mama.

When Sophie became ill, I would have to take her inside and continue on walking the boys. This made her very sad indeed, and I had heard about

I know that many people must have thought that I was a real loon pushing Sophie about town in her buggy (specially designed for dogs only I might add). People were very polite and kind though. It brought a smile to so many people’s faces to see Sophie’s little head sticking out of the front of the buggy enjoying her ride, and happy to be with the pack.”

We are so deeply sorry for your loss, Laura. Our thoughts are with you!

In honor/memory of Sophie, she would like if you would make a donation to MARC, her Mama’s Animal Right’s group so that they may continue to speak for and help animals.

MARC Contact Info

Online: http://www.massanimalrightsorg/home (Click on Donate button on top of any page)

By mail: The Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition (MARC)
P.O. Box 2653
Acton, MA 01720-6653

We received an email from a reader with some disturbing news this weekend. Her email is here:

“In 2007, artist Guillermo Vargas Habacuc took a street dog, tied him up with a very short rope to the wall of an art gallery, and left him there to die from thirst and starvation.

For several days, the author of this cruel act as well as the visitors to the art gallery watched the long agony of this poor animal. The dog finally died of starvation, after having gone through this painful, degrading, and incomprehensible torture.

Horribly, now the prestigious Centroamerican Art Biennal decided to invite Guillermo Vargas Habacuc to repeat this action at the Biennal in 2008.

Please sign this petition to stop this atrocity!”

The petition can be signed online at this website. On the form, Ciudad/Localidad is your state and PaÃs is your country. The good news is that so far nearly 1.5 million people have signed the petition- but everyone should stand up against this! Make sure to visit the site and sign your name to stop the horrible act!

One of our very favorite readers sent us in a great collection of pictures he took while at the “Maratona della citta di Roma” - also known as: The Rome Marathon!

This huge event, held in Italy’s capital city, is a highly competitive international race, as well as a 4km Fun-Run for less competitive runners. You can read more about the event at the official race website (in English!)

Take a look at the Flickr gallery from the Fun-Run for many more pictures of alll the super athletic dogs!

Last week our friend Martha, the Director of Veterinary Medicine at the Animal Rescue League, told us about an amazing new service offered at the ARL: DNA testing to determine your mixed breed dog’s background.

For about $200 (for the Wisdom Panel analysis and testing), they will take a blood sample from your dog, then a few weeks later you’ll have the results, telling you the exact mix of your dog’s breed, broken down from 130 AKC-recognized breeds.

Here are Martha’s dogs T-Bone and Roxy (as pictured on the Cape), both of which were adopted from the ARL!

Through this testing, Martha found out that T-Bone is a combination of: German Shepherd and Samoyed with distant traces of Clumber Spaniel, Labrador Retriever, and Shetland Sheepdog.

Roxy is a makeup of American Staffordshire Terrier, Bichon Frise, Bulldog, Mastiff and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. How cute!

If you have a mixed-breed dog and want to make an appointment, call 617-226-5605 today!

Last week Anya wrote a special post on Pet Friendly Hotels and we’ve talked about doggy hotels as well, but a friend sent us a link this weekend that we really wanted to share with you.

USA Today’s article on Airport Pet Hotels!

This seems like a great idea for anyone that travels for work often, plus it must be very convenient to be able to bring the dog right to the airport.

Has anyone used an airport pet hotel before?