In honor of National Dog Day 2012, Best Friends Pet Care will be giving away a free doggy ice cream treat to every dog who visits any of its 42 pet care centers across the U.S. on Saturday, August 25. The treats are made of yogurt or soy with dog-preferred flavors like peanut butter and honey.

Best Friends Pet Care, which provides boarding, grooming, training and doggy day camp, has 42 locations in 18 states. For a complete list, visit www.bestfriendspetcare.com.

“National Dog Day acknowledges the important role that dogs play in our lives,” says Best Friends Vice President Renee Coughlin. “And, while we celebrate dogs every day at Best Friends, we wanted to do something extra special for this occasion.”

“Although Sunday is the official day, we’re celebrating early. All dogs – whether Best Friends clients or not – are invited to stop by any of our 42 locations on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. for a free ice cream.”

Canine guests must be on leash and accompanied by a human companion.

Founded in 2004, National Dog Day is observed annually on August 26. It honors dogs of all breeds — from working dogs to family pets — and encourage pet owners to do something special for their dog.

This is the second year that Best Friends has hosted an ice cream giveaway in honor of the day. This year, the company is expanding its celebration, starting its observance on Friday, August 24, with treats for all dogs participating in its doggy day camp program that day.

Best Friends Pet Care, is a leading pet care company, is celebrating its 20(th) anniversary this year. The company is headquartered in Norwalk CT and provides high quality boarding, grooming, training and doggy day care in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. For information, visit www.bestfriendspetcare.com.

So where can you celebrate with your pup? There’s one Oklahoma location:

Best Friends Pet Care
13517 Railway Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73114
(405) 751-1944

Edmond resident Rita Gray-Martin will sign copies of her book Erick on Saturday, July 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Vintage Timeless Coffee, 900 NW 150th in Oklahoma City. As an educator, Gray-Martin encounters children who are very angry. In her book, a student acts out. Ms. Gray, his teacher, discovers why he is angry. Erick shows how a caring and loving relationship from an adult can make a positive difference in a child’s life. Rita Gray-Martin says “Erick is meant to help adults understand and take the time to investigate further into a child’s outbursts. Children see themselves in Erick.”

In addition to hardback and paperback books, Erick rag dolls, coloring books, CDs and bookmarks will be available. Ten percent of sales that day benefit Best Friends of Pets, a local animal welfare organization dedicated to reducing pet overpopulation by helping pets and their owners.

Rita Gray-Martin has spent over three decades in education. She currently is a Certified Trainer of Trainers, Transformation Coach, and motivational speaker. For more information, go to www.ritagraymartinauthor.webs.com.

For some reason, a group called The Pet Collective has done a parody video of their video “One Thing.” With dogs. Yes. It’s just dogs running around. Let’s just be grateful that the dogs aren’t barking along. The doggy suspenders are pretty hilarious, though.

Watch this video about how this dog went from Michael Vick’s fighting rings to loving therapy dog. It makes my heart happy.

The annual Pupnic in the Park will be from 1 to 4 p.m. April 28 at Ross Park, NW 62 and Ross. (The rain date is April 29.)

The shindig will include a parade and contests for costumes, tricks, size and look-alike cuteness. Vendors will be there, and there will be dog obedience demonstration. My dogs will not be part of that.

Dogs should be leashed. For more information, go to www.Pupnic.com.