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The Fire Safety Dogs Remind You to Test Your Smoke Alarms!

It's the first of the month and the Fire Safety Dogs, the Keep Kids Fire Safety Foundation and our friends at First Alert remind you that it's time to test your smoke alarms!

(If unable to see the video, click HERE)

We want you, your pets and your family to stay safe!

The Fire Safety Dogs Remind You to Test Your Smoke Alarms!

It's the first of the month and the Fire Safety Dogs, the Keep Kids Fire Safety Foundation and our friends at First Alert remind you that it's time to test your smoke alarms!

(If unable to see the video, click HERE)

We want you, your pets and your family to stay safe!

The Fire Safety Dogs Remind You to Test Your Smoke Alarms!

It's the first of the month and the Fire Safety Dogs, the Keep Kids Fire Safety Foundation and our friends at First Alert remind you that it's time to test your smoke alarms!

(If unable to see the video, click HERE)

We want you, your pets and your family to stay safe!

Molly the Fire Safety Dog and her Playdate with Finnagus Sage

Molly and her new friend, Finnagus Sage had their very first playdate!

Finnagus (Finn) is a law enforcement dog and a Bloodhound. A Bloodhound loves to work finding the bad guys!

Be sure to turn up the sound button on the video to hear the sound and watch all the fun!


If unable to see the video, please click HERE .

Finnagus was very sweet and even brought Molly a new toy! Thank you for coming over Finn!

Follow Finn on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/finnagus.sage and Molly and the Fire Safety Dogs at https://www.facebook.com/firesafetydogs.

Until next time, stay safe!

Tango the Fire Safety Dog Nominated for American Kennel Club Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog Blog Featured as Blog to Follow by nannybackgroundcheck.com

Photo from nannybackgroundcheck.com

Thank you to the Nanny Background Check blog for featuring our blog as one of its 30 Child Safety Blogs to Follow!

You can read about it HERE!

The Fire Safety Dogs Remind You to Test Your Smoke Alarms!

It's the first of the month and the Fire Safety Dogs, the Keep Kids Fire Safety Foundation and our friends at First Alert remind you that it's time to test your smoke alarms!

(If unable to see the video, click HERE)

We want you, your pets and your family to stay safe!

Congratulations to PetSmart on its 25th Anniversary

Congratulations to PetSmart on their 25th anniversary! 

Tango was really excited to get a stuffed 25th anniversary toy from his friends at PetSmart!

Since May of last year, PetSmart has been tweeting our daily fire safety tips, and we are so very grateful! PetSmart has also helped the Fire Safety Dogs by tweeting other important information about the Fire Safety Dogs and have really helped them reach more children, petparents and others with the fire safety message!

So here is to another 25 years!!! Congratulations and best wishes!

About PetSmart:

This month specialty pet retail leader PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) celebrates 25 years of helping pet parents provide the best care for their pets. Over the years PetSmart, which has 1,249 stores in North America, has led several industry trends that have changed the pet shopping experience, most notably through exclusive products and services, a wide food assortment focused on natural ingredients, and by providing free space to facilitate more than 5 million local pet adoptions.
Reimagining the Pet Retail Category
By providing a specialized approach and offering many pet-care essentials under one roof, PetSmart continues to lead the industry. “We are driven by the needs of pet parents,” said Bob Moran, PetSmart’s chairman and CEO. “Our goal is to provide the best products and services that help our customers care for their pets.”

This solutions-based approach has resulted in PetSmart creating a unique mix of services and products. With grooming salons in every store, PetSmart is America’s leader in pet grooming services and has become the largest home-away-from-home for pets by creating PetsHotel^® and Doggie Day Camp^SM boarding services. And in 1994 PetSmart partnered with Banfield Pet Hospital® to offer veterinarian care centers that are now in more than 800 stores.

In recent years, PetSmart initiated an industry trend of developing  generation-centric apparel, toys and products through exclusive brand partnerships with Martha Stewart Pets™, GNC Pets ™, Marvel Entertainment, Toys “R” Us^®, and, most recently, Bret Michaels Pets Rock™. “We know our pet parents enjoy sharing their passions with their pets so our goal was to develop unique, pet-friendly collections with other brands that pet parents love,” Moran said.

A staple of the business, the pet food category has evolved substantially over the past 25 years becoming more focused on pets’ specific nutritional needs and health conditions such as skin and stomach sensitivities. PetSmart now sells approximately 1,000 premium varieties of natural-ingredient and expert-recommended foods to meet pet parents’ requests for high-quality and limited-ingredient foods, including grain-free and organic options. 

Saving 5 Million Lives Through PetSmart Charities
From the beginning, PetSmart chose not to sell dogs and cats, instead providing free space in every store to facilitate pet adoptions. In 1994, PetSmart formed PetSmart Charities^® to provide financial support to animal-welfare organizations and to manage the in-store adoption program which is responsible for more than 5 million pet adoptions.  In fact, a homeless pet is adopted about every 60 seconds inside a PetSmart. And with the support of customer donations, PetSmart Charities has provided more than $165 million in grants and program support to animal-welfare groups in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

PetSmart Facts

·         1,249 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico

·         More than 50,000 employees

·         8 distribution centers handle more than 11,000 products

·         194 in-store PetsHotels and 195 Doggie Day Camps

·         Provide training to more than 370,000 dogs every year

·         14,000 safety-certified salon associates bathe and groom over 10.7 million pets annually
·         Helped more than 5 million homeless pets get adopted through PetSmart Charities
·         Based in Phoenix, Arizona

# # #

About PetSmart

PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. The company employs approximately 50,000 associates and operates more than 1,249 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, over 194 in-store PetSmart^® PetsHotel^® dog and cat boarding facilities and is a leading online provider of pet supplies and pet care information (http://www.petsmart.com). PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet products; and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp ^SM day care services and pet adoption services. Since 1994, PetSmart Charities, Inc., an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization and the largest funder of animal welfare efforts in North America, has provided more than $165 million in grants and programs benefiting animal welfare organizations. Through its in-store pet adoption partnership with PetSmart Charities^®, PetSmart has helped save the lives of more than 5 million pets.

Follow PetSmart on Twitter @PetSmart   
Find PetSmart on Facebook www.facebook.com/PetSmart

The Fire Safety Dogs Remind You to Test Your Smoke Alarms!

It's the first of the month and the Fire Safety Dogs, the Keep Kids Fire Safety Foundation and our friends at First Alert remind you that it's time to test your smoke alarms!

(If unable to see the video, click HERE)

We want you, your pets and your family to stay safe!

Fire Safety Dogs on Scratchings and Sniffings Blog!

Thanks to our friend Yvonne DeVita and her furfriends for blogging about the Fire Safety Dogs on their Scratching & Sniffings blog! We are so very fortunate to have been included in their blog as we admire them so much for all the work that they do!

We very much appreciate Scratching and Sniffings including information about Sparkles' Fire Safety Skype Tour. That was the most exciting news of all!

You can read their blog post HERE.

Fire Safety Dogs on Animal Radio with FIDO Friendly Magazine!

Thanks to Susan Sims from FIDO Friendly Magazine for the wonderful interview on Animal Radio last week!

The Fire Safety Dogs and I have fun during the interview and it was broadcast on our end from Sparkles' Clubhouse!

To listen to the interview and to learn more about the Fire Safety Dogs, Sparkles' Clubhouse and the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation's programs, click HERE.

Thank you FIDO Friendly Magazine and Animal Radio!

Tango the Fire Safety Dog 7th in Emerging Hero Dogs Category for Hero Dog Awards

A big huge THANK YOU to everyone who voted for Tango the Fire Safety Dog in the Hero Dog Awards! Below is the press release!

Your support helped raise awareness for the work of the Fire Safety Dogs and the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation. Thank you!

Live recording of Sparkles' Safety Spot Live Streamed from the Unified Fire Authority in Salt Lake City, Utah. June 22, 2012. Episode 42.

Chatting with people from all over the United States

Sparkles' Safety Spot was live streamed from Unified Fire Authority in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 22nd. This 42nd Episode was streamed live with firefighters from Unified Fire Authority from Fire Station 101.

Unified Fire is the largest Fire Department in Utah, with 26 fire stations and 450 sworn firefighters and running 40,000 calls a year. Unified Fire has 2 Hazmat Teams, 2 Heavy Rescue Teams, a Dive Rescue Team, a Swift Water Rescue Team, a Bomb Squad, and many other unique divisions.

Putting something together like this takes a lot of work! Special thanks to Monica Colby, Dean Hunt, Benjamin Sharer, Z and Captain Karen Minchow for helping us put this episode together so quickly! 

Zeteo ("Z")

We were so excited that Zeteo, ("Z")  and his human, Captain Karen Minchow were on the show! Z is a chocolate Lab that works for the Urban Search and Rescue Team. The USAR team is called Utah Task Force 1. Z is trained to search for live victims in urban disaster settings like collapsed buildings and he also detects live human scent and
finds it. 


Here are pictures from the big day! 

Getting ready to live stream

Captain Karen Minchow petting Tango

Firefighter Ben showing Tango the Battalion Chief's vehicle.

Tango waiting while the live stream was being set up.

Firefighter Benjamin Sharer participated in Sparkles' Safety Spot with us!

                                         If unable to see the video, please click HERE.

As always, we would like to thank our sponsor, First Alert, for providing the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation funding to bring you Sparkles' Safety Spot each week. Thank you, First Alert!

Sparkles' Safety Spot is live streamed every Friday morning at 9:00 A.M. CST. Follow Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, Tango the Fire Safety Dog and Siren the Fire Safety Dog on Facebook!

Siren the Fire Safety Dog Reminds You to Test Your Smoke Alarms!

It's the first of the month and Siren the Fire Safety Dog, the Keep Kids Fire Safety Foundation and our friends at First Alert remind you that it's time to test your smoke alarms!

(If unable to see the video, click HERE)

We want you, your pets and your family to stay safe!

Sparkles' Safety Spot~ Streamed Live TODAY!

Today will be the 43rd EPISODE of Sparkles' Safety Spot! Join us this morning for Sparkles' Safety Spot at 9 A.M. CST, live from Sparkles' Clubhouse! Brought to you by the Keep Kids Fire Safe™ Foundation and First Alert.


We'll learn some fun things about fire safety and we will also reveal pictures of the new Fire Safety Dog truck wrap, so you won't want to miss it!

If unable to see the video, click HERE. 

Today! Sparkles' Safety Spot Live From Salt Lake City, Utah!

Today will be the 42nd EPISODE of Sparkles' Safety Spot! Join us this morning for Sparkles' Safety Spot at 9 A.M. CST, live from Salt Lake City, Utah! Brought to you by the Keep Kids Fire Safe™ Foundation and First Alert.

We'll learn some fun things about fire safety and we will also reveal pictures of the new Fire Safety Dog truck wrap, so you won't want to miss it!

If unable to see the video, click HERE. 

Tango the Fire Safety Dog's Appearance Schedule in Utah June 21-23

Thursday, June 21

1:45 P.M. CST

KSL 5 News at Noon (NBC)

Watch live at: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1134&sid=18919973

3:00-6:00 P.M. CST

Tango the Fire Safety Dog and Dayna to attend Video Production workshop by Kenn Bell at BlogPaws

7:00-7:30 P.M. CST

Tango the Fire Safety Dog to attend opening of BlogPaws with Tillman, the skateboarding bulldog and Norman, the Scooter Dog

7:30-9:00 P.M. CST

Tango the Fire Safety Dog to attend Welcome Reception at Blogpaws

9:00 P.M. CST

Tango the Fire Safety Dog to attend screening of Kenn Bell’s “Hero Dogs of 9/11” at BlogPaws

Friday, June 22

9:00-9:45 AM CST

Sparkles' Safety Spot

Live from Unified Fire Authority

http://www.keepkidsfiresafe.org/sparklessafetyspot.html

Brought to you by the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation and sponsored by First Alert

10:40 CST or after

Good Things Utah (KTVX-TV (ABC)

4:15-5:30 PM CST

Live Streaming your Way to Success program at BlogPaws by Firefighter Dayna and Tango

Saturday, June 23

All Day

Tango the Fire Safety Dog to attend workshops at BlogPaws

7-8 PM CST (Approximately)

Sparkles’ the Fire Safety Dog Blog up for Nose-to-Nose Award at BlogPaws 2012 Conference!

BlogPaws 2012 Conference will be streaming the Nose-to-Nose Awards this Saturday around 6/7pm EST. Follow the link http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blogpawslive-preview to watch the festivities!

9:00-11:00 PM CST

Tango the Fire Safety Dog to attend pawty at BlogPaws

Sunday, June 24

Begin return trip to Arkansas

Big News! Next Episode of Sparkles' Safety Spot to be Live Streamed from Unified Fire Authority in Salt Lake City, Utah!

Great news! Sparkles' Safety Spot will be streaming its 42nd Episode LIVE with firefighters from Unified Fire Authority this coming Friday! Unified Fire is the largest Fire Department in Utah, with 26 fire stations and 450 sworn firefighters and running 40,000 calls a year!

Unified Fire has 2 Hazmat Teams, 2 Heavy Rescue Teams, a Dive Rescue Team, a Swift Water Rescue Team, a Bomb Squad, and many other unique divisions.

Zeteo ("Z")

We are also very excited that we will have Zeteo, ("Z") on the show! Z is a chocolate Lab that works for the Urban Search and Rescue Team. The USAR team is called Utah Task Force 1. Z is trained to search for live victims in urban disaster settings like collapsed buildings. Z detects live human scent and finds it. If the person that Z smells is not moving, he alerts his trainer. We've heard that it's pretty amazing to watch Z work amongst rescuers. He can smell plenty of live people on the rubble pile, but most of them are rescuers. Z runs right past them, because when people are up and working, they obviously don't need help. When he comes across a person who is not moving or in distress, he barks like crazy until a rescuer comes. Z is employed by FEMA, and is available to deploy anywhere in the country to help search for victims of disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, or tornadoes. Z's handler is Captain Karen Minchow and we are excited to meet her and learn all about Z!

Z at work:

Sparkles' Safety Spot will be streaming live from Unified Fire's Station 101. 

We have heard that the crew will be setting up an obstacle course for a training exercise while we are there. We hope that it will be put together in time for a little demonstration before we leave… Fingers crossed!

 

About Unified Fire Station 101:

Fire Station 101 sits in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley and has a 7 person crew, including Z! 3 firefighters work on Engine 101, 2 Paramedics work on Ambulance 101, and Battalion Chief 11 runs out of the station. Ambulance 151 is housed at the station as well, and is staffed with 2 EMTs during peak hours. Station 101 averages between 10 and 15 emergency calls a day. 

Some of the challenges that Unified Fire faces as a fire department are a rapidly growing community during hard economic times, a serious mix of urban areas and extreme wilderness, 4 large ski resorts, the world's largest open pit copper mine, and an extremely large wildland/urban interface area.

We can't wait and we hope that you can join us! You can watch the live stream this coming Friday at 9:00 AM CST and even participate in the chat!

Putting something together like this takes a lot of work! Special thanks to Monica Colby, Dean Hunt, Benjamin Sharer, Z and Captain Karen Minchow for helping us put this together so quickly! 

As always, we would like to thank our sponsor, First Alert, for providing the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation funding to bring you Sparkles' Safety Spot each week. Thank you, First Alert!

Tango the Fire Safety Dog to be on KSL 5 in Salt Lake City Tomorrow!

Tango the Fire Safety Dog is really excited that he will be on KSL 5 TV's noon show at 12:45 MTN time tomorrow! You can watch it live here tomorrow!  

Video Courtesy of KSL.com
If unable to see the video, click HERE.

Day 3 Trip to BlogPaws

Today we left Cheyenne, Wyoming for Salt Lake City. 

Boy, was it ever windy in Cheyenne when Firefighter Dayna was packing the truck! BOL (Barking out Loud). Check out the serious ear action from the wind blowing so hard!

It was so pretty along the way! Below are pictures from our big day!

We stopped at the Lincoln Memorial around Laramie, Wyoming. This is the largest

 sculpture of a head in the US!

How cool is this?

I love Wyoming!

I look sad cause that big white stuff behind me is smoke from a big wildfire in Colorado. I hope that everyone will be safe.

Behind me is Elk Mountain in Utah. Isn't it beautiful! One person owns 3/4 of it!

Wyoming had such pretty scenery!

Chilling at a rest stop. We stopped a lot so that I could stretch my legs.

We made it to Utah today! WHOO HOO!

See the back of the SpotMobile? It says, "Utah Bound!" We just had to take this picture of it by the Utah sign at the rest stop!

We arrived at the hotel. Almost all of this is mine. BOL.

Wiped out after a long day of travel. Night everyone!

Day Two~ Trip to BlogPaws

Today we left Omaha, Nebraska to continue our trek to Salt Lake City. It was a really interesting trip!

On Interstate 80, we saw the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument around, Kearney, Nebraska. It was so cool!

See my nice collection of bugs on the windshield? BOL

It was really hot on the western side of Nebraska. Check out what the temperature in the SpotMobile said that it was!

Firefighter Dayna found this fortune in her fortune cookie in North Platte, Nebraska and she gave it to me! I wonder what kind of bold and dashing adventure that I will have? BlogPaws! I am sooo excited!

We then drove all the way to Cheyenne, Wyoming! Whew, what a long day! We saw this beautiful sunset along the way! Firefighter Dayna said that it was one of the most beautiful sunsets that she had ever seen!

At the end of Day Two, I am tired! Night everyone!