Creeping and Crawling All Month Long

October is the month where all manner of creatures shall creep and crawl, searching for happless prey or wandering through the streets searching for victims. Oh, wait, that might just be my dogs looking for critters in the back yard.

Halloween is one of my favorite seasons of the year. When I was a kid (10-12) I got to stay out late, tromping through the neighborhood until all hours of the night, basically unsupervised. That was back in the day when we had the whole neighborhood as our playground, and nobody worried about kidnappers, or pins buried in your candy, and everyone really got into the "spirit" of the evening. People dressed up their houses, both inside and out. You might even go inside someones house to grab your booty, and the whole living room would be decorated to match the homeowners theme.

I don't have kids - just dogs, so we try and make "howl-o-ween" fun for the dogs as well as the neighbor kids. I try to keep the tradition going, and if you trick or treat in Lowell you might find my house as the neighbors call it, "the spookiest house on the block". I have even adorned our house with bloody foot and hand prints the whole way up our driveway. Hey, ketchup is biodegradable, right?

There are a ton of dog events this month, and so we start with our annual Howl-O-Ween costume contest again this year, only this year it will be all month long. Submit a photo of your dog in one of the following categories:

• Cutest Ensemble - This category is the best costume that works with your dog - breed, size, and owner participation all factor into this category.
• Best Hand-Made - one of a kind costumes have their own category - no store bought costumes, but you can assemble props and pieces.
• Scariest Costume - We're looking for scary and spooky. Blood is encouraged!
• Best Overall - Chosen by the Bigwag staff - this will be our overall favorite and can be any of the other categories.

You can submit photos by emailing them to sales@bigwag.com, Facebook, or Twitter, or bring them into the store the old fashioned way - on photo paper. You can also bring your dog into the store all dressed up and we will snap the photo for you.

Tuesday, October 26th - Halloween Yappie Hour. Get your spooky spirit all warmed up in advance! We have a gift basket valued at $50 for the best costume that we see tonight! So bring in your dog in their costume, whether it's spooky or sweet, for a chance to win! Plus, get the employee discount on all Halloween Treats, Toys & Costumes tonight!

Prizes for the four categories will be awarded on Saturday, the 30th, and we will inform the winners via email. The prize awarded at the Yappie Hour will be additional and you have to be present to win.

No Howl-O-Ween would be complete without tricks and treats, so be sure you check out our special Howl-o-ween treats this year.



(top to bottom, left to right) Tombstones, Jack-o-lanterns, Cinnamon Ghost Crunch, Candy Corn, BBQ Bat Wings, and Jolly Rogers.



And don't forget the Murphy Dog Park Howl-o-ween social:

Howl-O-Ween Social

When: Sat, October 16, 11am – 2pm

Description: Fundraiser for Murphy Dog Park/Humane Society for Animals Will include trick-or-treating and costume contest with categories including most creative, owner/dog look-a-like, and vendor's choice. Vendors will be participating in a booth decoration contest with the favorite winning a 4x3 sign at Murphy Dog Park. A Biggest Wag contest will also take place.

And finally, Dog Party USA's Halloween and anniversary party:

Dog Party USA 5th Anniversary & Halloween Party

When: Sat, October 23, 5:30pm – 8:00pm

Food, Beverages, Treats, Goody Bags, Games and more. Costumes encouraged for all. For more more information contact Dog Party at 479 306-4660 or visit their website at www.dogpartyusa.com

It's "scary" how much there is to do with your dog this Howl-o-ween.

Play Ball Photo Contest Winners

Hey Everyone!

Announcing the winners of our "Play Ball" Photo Contest - Bill & Nancy Gross with their photo of Miss Mollie and Brett & Erin Clark with their photo of Jaina.  We had planned on choosing one photo as a winner, but both of these entries were so perfect in their own unique way that we couldn't choose just one.  Congratulations to both winners, who receive a pair of tickets for today's Bark at the Ballpark Naturals' game.  Also, congratulations again to Robbie Cornelius, who won the drawing for two tickets at Tuesday's Take Me Out to the Ballgame Yappie Hour.  If you weren't a winner, we'd still love for you to join us today.  The game begins at 2pm at Arvest Ballpark, but if you'd like to go with our group you can meet us at Bigwag at 12pm.  If you're wearing yellow, you will get a surprise!

This is Miss Mollie, among her many balls.  Nancy points out that she's even sitting on one.  We loved this picture because it so embodied the theme of play ball!

Erin titled this photo of Jaina, "Thinking Outside the Box".  When I received the e-mail, I couldn't see the picture immediately but I could read the title and as the picture downloaded, I wondered how it was going to be outside the box.  I wondered if there would even be a ball in the photo.  When I finally saw the photo, I laughed so hard!  It's just too cute and clever to pass up!