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And be sure to check out our Puppy Up! Blog. Puppy Up! is about the undaunted spirit of the dog! This Blog is dedicated exclusively to them, to telling their stories, and open to all who want to share!

Texas A&M veterinary professor Heather Wilson-Robles with some of her canine patients.

This article is from EarthSky.

“COLLEGE STATION, May 9, 2012 – It could be that man’s best friend might one day be man’s best healer.”

“Dogs are among the best animals when it comes to providing models for better medical treatments in humans, and with more than 77 million dogs in the United States alone, it’s another way the human-animal bond has become closer than anyone had ever dreamed. Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences are looking into ways how dogs – and several other animal types – can provide a variety of medical benefits to people, ranging from bone cancer studies to spinal cord injuries and others.”

“Dogs can be ideal models to study,” says Theresa Fossum, director of the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies.

“This is especially true when it comes to certain types of cancer. Cancers in dogs, such as bone cancer, lymphoma and many other types of tumors, are almost identical to those same kinds found in humans and they tend to develop faster and run their course quicker, so it’s an ideal way to see if a certain therapy will work. Dogs also tend to be better predictors of how new cancer drugs and medical devices can work. By studying cancer treatments in dogs, we can come up with better and more improved ways to treat cancer in humans and animals.”

…
” Bone cancer in dogs, Fossum explains, is almost identical to human bone cancer. To get a big picture of just how the disease forms and progresses in dogs, Fossum has helped to create the Texas Veterinary Cancer Registry, a database of treatment information. “

For the full article, and to find out more about the Texas Veterinary Cancer Registry, please follow this link.

When being treated for cancer, Jessy, Troyanskaya’s dog, brought the Princeton researcher and Sorenmo together, launching their ongoing research collaboration. (Photo copyright by Olga Troyanskaya)

“Cancer collaboration could someday help dogs and their humans”

An extensive article from Princeton University on collaborative work in comparative oncology. 2 Million Dogs’ recent contribution to Princeton’s work has helped further this critical research.

Thanks to all our supporters and sponsors whose continued support make contributions like this possible. Through work like this, we’re closer to finding the causes of cancer in companion animals and people.

From the article posted May 7, 2012 by Catherine Zandonella: “Through the work funded by 2 Million Dogs, Troyanskaya and her team hope to find gene expression patterns that govern the transformation of a tumor from a benign to malignant state, contribute to tumor growth and govern metastasis. The investigators anticipate that their studies will be a starting point for developing diagnostic methods that veterinarians and doctors can use to predict whether a newly discovered tumor will grow slowly or rapidly. They also hope to identify novel pathways that could serve as targets of new drugs to treat cancer.”

To read the entire article and see how your contributions are supporting this valuable research, please click on this link.

Elizabeth and Cagney, Memphis' Puppy Up! Cancer Heroes.

This Sunday, April 29th, we”ll be having our first 2 Million Dogs’ Puppy Up! Walk of 2012 — in Memphis, Tennessee. Hosted by our Executive Director, Ginger Morgan, the Walk will be held at Overton Park – Rainbow Lake Pavilion. Registration begins at 12 noon and the Walk begins at 2 PM. General registration is $20.00 before the event.

Festival includes vendors, food, entertainment and fun! Bring your dog (no retractable leashes, please), have a great time, and support 2 Million Dogs and their invaluable work investing in comparative oncology and supporting canine cancer research.

You can register for the walk, donate, and get more information here.

Also check out the great interview with Elizabeth, Cagney, and Luke Robinson on WREG TV.

Memphis Puppy Up! Walk or bust ... wait! How do we reach the pedals?

Come join us for a fantastic day! We look forward to seeing you there. Puppy Up!

Attention Tweeters: Our hashtag for Sunday’s Puppy Up! Walk in Memphis is #mempup12. Use it to interact with us and other Tweeps as you’re walking! Be sure to follow our feed @2milliondogs… and we’ll see you in Memphis on Sunday!

Whether your dog has cancer or not, maintaining a balanced and healthy diet is vital. When a dog’s immune system is compromised, either by disease or treatment, nutrition is critical in giving your companion the best chances possible for fighting disease. As many are becoming aware, good nutrition is at the heart of the battle against cancer.

If you feed your pet a commercially prepared diet (canned and/or dry foods), it’s essential that you know what’s in the food and how to read the label. But after the first few ingredients, reading dog food labels is often like reading hieroglyphics.

But there’s hope. Here’s a helpful article on WebMD by Elizabeth Lee that can help you decipher the contents of your dog’s dinner. The article starts here and lists 7 things you should know about reading dog food labels, what’s good, and what you’ll want to avoid, including: (1) How do I read the dog food ingredient list? (2) What are byproducts, and should I avoid dog foods that contain them? (3) What are all those chemical-sounding names? (4) How can I make sure the food meets my dog’s needs? (5) What is the guaranteed analysis? (6) What do “natural” and “holistic” labels mean? and finally (7) What is organic pet food? Additionally, the article provides a “Feeding Directory” with numerous articles on appetite, hydration, new-puppy diets, and a host of other helpful links.

And for more on nutrition and dogs with cancer, you might find the article on “Nutrition for the Canine Cancer Patient” at CanineCancer.com helpful as well.

by Luke Robinson, March 29, 2012

reprinted from the 2dogs2000miles blog

Since the conclusion of the walk I’ve been bouncing around all over the place starting blogs, fan clubs, and websites, too.  Two reasons for this; first I’m a lightening rod for novel thoughts and innovative ideas.  I was born this way and rarely a week goes by when I’m not climbing the conceptual walls.  Ginger has a placard in her house specifically for me that reads, “Go Fascinate Someone Else,” since she has historically almost always been on the business end of my ideations.

Second, it seems apparent to me now that some of them were designed by my subconscious mind as a distraction from accepting, internalizing, and processing Murphy’s loss.  I joked that after I returned from my fast last year I sat down in front of a spreadsheet to list all of the projects and ideas I had.  Three sheets later, I still wasn’t finished probably making me the busiest homeless guy ever.

I have been working tirelessly since then on multiple fronts all, in their own right in furtherance of my life’s mission and as extension of the walk.   The Homeless Chef was spawned from the many meals I made for host families to thank them for their kindness and generosity.  Finding Fuzzybutt Four was conceived by me to help find homes for other rescued Pyrenees once little Indy came into our life.

For a long while now I intended to phase out 2 Dogs 2000 Miles because that journey was over.  Evolve it into the Fuzzybutt Fight Club or one of the other sites I launched to become the central console for my efforts to eradicate cancer.

But managing so many projects mostly on my own has exacted a tremendous toll on me and it’s time to focus.

Although I loved every second of life on the road I never considered myself a hardcore hiker or adventure junkie.  That’s reserved for guys like Jonathan Stalls whom nature custom designed specifically for that.

Yes, yes… I knew we would have future adventures like 2 Dogs 2000 Beers or 2 Dogs 200 Golf Courses I hadn’t figured out what came next yet.

But I realize now after all of this reflection and introspection and the tragic circumstances in between, this story shall continue as it began.

I am 2 Dogs 2000 Miles and walking across Japan is Chapter Two.

Some of you were curious why I’ve chosen the Rising Sun next and I’ll address that in a future blog.  But for now to simplify and focus, some changes must be made.

1. My personal Facebook page, 2 Dogs 2000 Miles will continue.  However I have about a thousand people waiting to be my friend as it is my personal account.

2. The 2 Dogs 2000 Miles Group on Facebook will also continue . This will be the only authentic FB for now.  We may have to convert to a fan page rather than a group but  we’ll deal with that when we get to it.  Thank you for everyone who has been keeping the group alive and I will have a stronger presence there going forward.

3. Fuzzybutt Fight Club and the 2 Dogs 2000 Miles fan pages I’ll be phasing out and posting for everyone there to move over to the aforementioned group.

4. The 2dogs2000miles blog will be my own personal and professional public blog.  I’ll post things about cancer, the foundation I started – 2 Million Dogs events; but expect recipes, adventures, and social commentaries here as well.  If you only care to learn about developments in canine cancer and comparative oncology, please visit the foundation’s website.

5. The only other blog which will carry forward is Raising Indiana though there  will be changes there, too and to learn about those please read about them here.

Finding Fuzzybutt Four and the Homeless Chef won’t be, however, as I am winding those down. Although I’m tremendously appreciative of everyone’s involvement, I just don’t have time for them.

6. The Rock, The Ripple, and the River.  The book has been the greatest consternation and lack of clarity for me since the walk ended.  It plagues me still.  Part one, the first of the trilogy, is complete but I’m thinking now that the documentary should take priority as Jesse, my partner and DP and I have been working tirelessly to get it to a film festival for next year.  This may change.  Hell, it may change, then change back, then change again.  All I can say with absolute certainty is this story, its past, present, and future will be told.

Luke Robinson and Ginger Morgan present a check to Princeton University for the The Canine Mammary Tumor Program.

by Luke Robinson

[Wednesday, January 11, 2012]  Six years ago to this day, I lost my boy Malcolm to metastatic cancer and on this anniversary, it is with tremendous honor I announce the funding of The 2 Million Dogs Foundation‘s first research initiative: A breast cancer study benefiting both humans and canines.

The 2 Million Dogs Foundation presented a check for $50,000 to Princeton University today to help fund the school’s Molecular Study of Canine Mammary Tumor Development and Progression: From Genome To Clinical Outcome.

Mammary tumors are the most common tumors in intact female dogs, and in humans, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women – approximately one in eight women develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Mammary tumors in dogs and breast cancer in women have many similarities, both in terms of risk factors and biology.

The 2 Million Dogs Foundation chose this study for the following reasons:

First and foremost, it’s translational in that people stand to significantly benefit as well as our canine companions.

Second, it’s collaborative. The Canine Mammary Tumor Program  began at The University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Karin Sorenmo whom we met while walking through Philadelphia. Collaboration, we feel, is key if we plan to make significant strides in cancer research.

Third, the tissue samples were collected from shelter dogs diagnosed with breast cancer, and they were all treated, at no expense, by UPenn as part of their program.

And finally, we feel that the approach of this study is novel, not incremental, and could potentially yield critical insights into metastatic breast cancer.

While we have donated $50,000, 2 Million Dogs has pledged to raise an additional $30,000 this year to study more tissue samples.   Click here to help us raise the additional funds needed or contact ginger@2milliondogs.org for other ways you can help.

I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the many, many people who made this day possible. My family back in Texas, our supporters, fans, and friends, both new and old, the hundreds of strangers that helped Hudson, Murphy and me get from Austin to Boston safely, the folks at 2 Million Dogs, and to Ginger Morgan, the Executive Director, who has believed in my vision since the day we walked through Memphis.

And finally, to those who had the courage to always believe. God bless you.  Keep the faith and puppy up!

Postcript

I remember standing atop Savage Mountain, the highest peak on the Rails-Trails from Pittsburgh to DC in August of 2009.  It was a glorious afternoon – a crystalline sky colored in an indescribable blue like the Frio River that cuts through the Texas hill country.  I wrote a poem about Malcolm entitled “Savage Heart” and I thought it incredibly ironic that this mountain was our highest hurdle.

As I sat perched upon a rock, reflecting on our journey, I could see for hundreds of miles.

(Reprinted from http://2dogs2000miles.blogspot.com/2012/01/savage-mountain.html)

To view the video presentation, please click here.

To view the WZBN TV coverage from Princeton, please click here.

Kate Cordts with her dog Rowdy pose for a photo on November 17, 2011. Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, JUANITO GARZA / By Melissa Ludwig, mludwig@express-news.net

Portions of this article are reprinted under the Fair Use Doctrine covering  news reporting and research. You may find the full article here. (From San Antonio Express News)

When Kate Cordts  noticed swelling on the foreleg of her Great Pyrenees, Rowdy, she knew exactly what it was. Bone cancer.

“One of my previous dogs had the same disease. We had to put him down because it was too far along,” said Cordts, a librarian at the San Antonio Public Library.

A trip to the vet confirmed her suspicion, but this time she wasn’t ready to give up without a fight.

Putting her research skills to work, she found an experimental treatment at Texas A&M University’s veterinary school that could save her dog’s leg — and one day maybe the lives of children suffering from osteosarcoma, or bone cancer.

On Friday, Theresa Fossum, a veterinary surgeon at the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies in College Station, injected radioactive isotopes into Rowdy’s bone using tiny drills about the size of two human hairs. Researchers will watch the results carefully to see if the cancer shrinks and if the treatment could hold promise for humans.

“One of the reasons it costs $1.2 billion to get a new drug on the market is that most fail in clinical trials,” Fossum said. “Many get tested in mice with no immune system so they can grow a human tumor. Dogs are good models; they probably get cancer for the same reasons as humans and have an intact immune system.”

… Around 10,000 dogs a year develop osteosarcoma, which seems to favor large dogs like St. Bernards. The disease strikes about 900 humans each year in the U.S., many of them children under 15.

Just in time for the holidays! You can pre-order your 2012 Cancer Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down calendars here.

Our own Murphy is on the cover of the 2012 Calendar. And for the first time we have two covers from which you can choose.  One is of Murphy running through a field in Bowling Green, KY just a little over a month before he was given rest. Cancer may have won the war but according to this picture, Murphy won the battle that day. It’s the battles won along the journey that we cherish and remember most.

The other cover is Luke carrying Murphy, the brave and valiant soldier, the one who was always the first out of the tent, who walked thousands of miles, always smiling, for others; the one whose courage and strength will always lead the way because he embodied our rally cry and our song, “Puppy Up!”

What makes our calendar so special? Our calendars aren’t  just a collection of pretty faces, although they certainly are that. Each month features a special dog and his or her story, written by the person who loved them best. Our calendars also include not only the regular ‘people’ holidays but special dog holidays as well, like International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day, Squirrel Appreciation Day, K9 Veterans Day, International Homeless Pet Day, Stand up to Cancer Day, and a whole collection of special days set aside just for dogs.

Additionally, our calendar features a gallery of photos of all the dogs entered into this year’s calendar contest, a gallery of last year’s winners, and special features like the 10 early warning signs of cancer in dogs, a selection of photos from this year’s Puppy Up! Walks nation-wide, a note from Luke, and a special message from our Executive Director, Ginger Morgan.

These calendars make great gifts for family and friends, your vet, groomers, pet stores, your Great Aunt Bessie from Duluth, and are terrific keepsakes as well.

We know you will enjoy the beautiful layout designed by Brian Kristensen and special features of our one-of-a-kind calendar. Please order yours today!

For orders over 10, please contact Ginger for shipping costs at: ginger@2milliondogs.org.

Photo courtesy of Lafmil Photography.

We’re not done yet! One more Walk this year and it’s in sunny California.

Tomorrow (Sunday, November 13th) is the Ventura Puppy Up! Walk for canine cancer awareness at San Buenaventura State Park. The walk begins at 1PM. To register, follow this link , click on the “Walks” button and choose Ventura.

Schedule of Events:

11:00am – 1:00 pm Registration
1:30pm – Walk Begins
Festivities until 5:00pm

Location:

San Buenaventura State Park
1200 East Harbor Blvd
Ventura, Ca. 93001

Come out, bring your pup, meet new people, enjoy the day, and have fun for a terrific cause. See you there!

The Puppy Up! 2011 Walk begins -- Belton, Texas

by Tish Beauchamp Cotham

Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 5:30 AM my alarm makes my headache, which was pounding, even worse. My only thought was “let me sleep a little bit longer” and “if I get up then please let the coffee be good.” These thoughts came and went fast because those are not the thoughts of someone who Puppys Up!

I had loaded my truck the night before so I only had to shower, grab a few last minute items, then head to the park. I arrived to a quiet park, free of cars, people and dogs. Within a few hours I was off and running! It was a day of remembrance, honoring and helping. It was a day like no other.

I watched as the four legged, three legged and two legged made their way into the park towards registration and vendors.  Some came from as close as ten minutes away to as far as three hours away.  The estimated 100 people with their companions came to walk two miles because of their own personal desire to make a difference in this fight against cancer.

I walk for Brutus.

I had no idea what I had done until I looked into their eyes, listened to their stories and shared tears with them.  I had no idea what it truly meant until I stood before the crowd and began my speech.  It was a simple speech in the beginning.  I had thanked them all for coming, and introduced our sponsors and acknowledged our vendors.  I introduced our human breast cancer survivor of four years.  She’s a tough woman and refuses to let cancer keep her down.  I moved onto our many canine survivors that were there in the crowd.  Mast cell tumors, lymphoma, osteosarcoma were just a few.  Then there were those individuals who, days before the Walk, had their shirts made in remembrance of the canines they had loved and lost.

I finished my speech and moved onto the dedication of the first Puppy Up! Walk in Belton, Texas which was organized each day for eight months for the love of Murphy Robinson.  I had written so much about what I felt and what I wanted to say.  I had told Luke that I was nervous about my speech and he simply said to speak from the heart and if I got stuck then to look at my bracelet and share what Murphy meant to me.  With tears I did just that.

Following the dedication, the Puppy Up! song was played and my heart was racing with excitement and a sense of sadness.  This was it — the moment had arrived for our two mile walk.  I saw so much in each person.  I saw tails wagging, smiles and tears.  I saw history being made.

I will never be able to truly thank those that made today possible. There are no words that even come close. I know and realize the best thanks I could give is to never stop and most importantly, never forget.