Greetings, everyone!

We'd like to welcome all our new subscribers and offer a warm welcome back to all our current readers. You are all appreciated.

We hope everyone made it through Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne without major damage or loss. Seems it was just summer, but now we hopefully bid good riddance to hurricanes and hello to trick or treat time. To help carry the theme throughout this month's NewsPetter, we even have a "Florida-Halloween" joke for you...Q. What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A. A sand-witch.
(I know, I know. Forgive me, I couldn't resist!)

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In this month's issue, we feature a couple of pet-friendly activities, a vacation haven where pets rule, a spooky dog photo, a few travel tips and tales and FloridaPets.net's contest,for subscribers only.

Speaking of contests, the winner of our July contest for a free pet portrait was Elmo Reyes. Theresa Speranza nabbed a terrific doggie goodies basket as the winner of our August contest. We didn't have a contest for September because the hurricanes affected areas where many of our subscribers live and where many of the merchants providing prizes do business. We knew getting power back on and cleaning up debris were the main things on their minds.

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We hope everyone will enjoy this issue of the NewsPetter. Please pass the word about FloridaPets.net and write us with any suggestions or requests. Until next month, thanks for "tailing" along with us and remember our motto:

"They're part of the family, so take them along!"

Patricia Collier
Editor

Special Note: If you cannot see the photographs in this NewsPetter, you are missing a lot of neat stuff! Some of our readers just can't get email in the HTML format that allows them to view pictures and other artwork, so we've come up with this solution:

Dog-O-Ween, For a Howling Good Time
By Patricia Collier

Come join the fun at Dog-O-Ween, Sunday, October 31 at Tom Brown Park in Tallahassee.

In addition to the main attraction, which is of course the costume contest for dogs, Dog-O-Ween will include:

A silent auction
NASCAR simulator
Dog photographs
Massages for dogs and their guardians
Activities for kids
Ask-A-Trainer booth
Food provided by Sonny's BBQ
"Create an ice cream sundae for your dog" presented by Dogsters Ice Cream

There's no cost to attend the event, but there is a $5 registration fee for each entry into the dog costume contest. Proof of rabies vaccination is required for every dog entered in the contest. A cool prize will be given for the overall best costume.

All proceeds will go to assist the Leon County Humane Society, whose Web site you can view online at Leon County Humane Society.

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A Cordial Canine Invitation Just for You
By Patricia Collier

Buddy Christopherson wants to meet you. Buddy, pictured below, is a service dog, most particularly, the service dog who takes good care of Carol Christopherson, the president of Florida Service Dogs, Inc. Buddy is very smart and very talented!

You and your well-behaved dog, who doesn't have to be a service dog by the way, can greet Buddy and Carol at the Second Annual Pawsitive Action Days Saturday, October 23, 2004, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The event, sponsored by Florida Service Dogs, will be held at the Dog Wood Park of Jacksonville, located at 7407 Salisbury Road, off JTB Blvd.

"Pawsitive Days is a chance to serve the community with awareness of service and working animal uses, rights and responsibilities," Carol told us. "Also, to promote the proper care and etiquette of these specially trained animals."

Service/working animals are utilized by persons with disabilities, police departments and other organizations, such as therapy and rescue groups. The event is free for members of the public and their well mannered and leashed dogs.

The day will include many activities, including low cost micro chipping by a vet, canine good citizen testing and temperament testing/evaluations of your dog to become a service animal and demonstrations by the City of Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Drug K9 Team and regional Frisbee dog teams.

For directions or more information about the event, contact Carol at buddynme @ tmail.com or buddynme @ bellsouth.net. (Be sure to replace the spaces in the email addresses which FloridaPets.net includes to prevent spammers from harvesting email addresses.)

Kick Back at Florida's Oldest Hotel
By Patricia Collier

The Florida House Inn has a past that goes back to 1857. Pictured here, the inn is located in the downtown historic district of Fernandina Beach on northeast Florida's Amelia Island.

Charm? You'll find plenty of that here. Start with a great night's sleep in one of 15 beautifully-decorated guest rooms, one which is pictured below. Antiques add to the atmosphere and all rooms have fireplaces and jacuzzis or old fashioned claw foot tubs. The next day, enjoy a full breakfast and lunch in the boarding house style restaurant where you'll share a table with the rest of the guests and second helpings will be encouraged. By evening, after a full day's outing around the town, you'll be ready for the warmth of the inn's own English style pub called The Frisky Mermaid Bar & Grill.

For animal lovers, the most charming thing of all about the Florida House Inn is the extent to which the experience is pet-friendly. Pets of all sizes are permitted for an extra $15 per night. They must be on a flea-control program and leashed at all times and there are anti-barking rules. But well-behaved pets are permitted in the inn's breakfast room, the pub, a few other area restaurants, and on Amelia Island's beaches that have yet to be spoiled by too many high-rise condos and hotels.

Amelia Island is one area not harshly handled by Florida's recent tropical storm or four subsequent hurricanes. So whether you need a romantic getaway, a good dose of golf and sunshine, or just a couple of days to unwind, the Florida House Inn awaits you - and your furry friend.

The Bewitching Yorkie

They come in all sizes. There are big, scary witches with green, bumpy noses. And then there are the really scary ones...tiny, furry ones with wet noses, like Tori, pictured here.

This five year old doggie diva and her sister, Tara, were featured as Pets of the Week on FloridaPets.net in March. As you might imagine, Tori has won more than her share of Halloween costume contests. Her human mom, Nancy Solomon, said Tori loves to wear clothes and jewelry and has about 50 outfits!

Johnson Placid of Altamonte Springs suggests being careful at places that say they allow dogs, but yet allow resident cats or children to roam unsupervised. Your usually-well-behaved canine can turn into a nightmare if distracted by hissing or screeching not the norm around your house.

A Web site to bookmark: We hope the bad storms are over, but here's a link to keep you up to date on tropical weather: http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical.

Did you know? There were 253 dog parks in 1999 and 623 dog parks in 2004. Wow, that's about a 60% growth in just five years! Dog parks rock!

Do you have a handy tip or humorous tale about traveling with pets? Send it to WebMistress and we'll share it here with other readers of the NewsPetter.

Here at FloridaPets.net, we want everyone to be able to show off their beloved companions. We offer two avenues for that, either as a Pet of the Week or a special article in our monthly NewsPetter.

So, if you haven't already done so, please send your stories and/or photos to WebMistress. Please put the word "Photo" in the subject line of your email.

Besides a photo, or two if you have them, please send your pet's breed, age, sex, personality traits, likes and dislikes, how you found each other and anything else you think we should know. Thanks for your submissions!

The Paw Patch Shoppe

Have you seen the new "Cool Kong" toy, pictured to the left? Did you know there's a "Kong" for cats? You'll find them, and much more, at the FloridaPets.net Paw Patch Shoppe.

We offer lots of items at great prices. Click on the Cool Kong or the link below to visit the Paw Patch Shoppe.

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Email: webmistress@floridapets.net

Phone: 904-879-9352

Web: http://www.floridapets.net