Welcome to Illinois Birddog Rescue's Have A Heart 8 Calendar contest. This contest is dedicated to all the dogs we bring into the program that are struggling with heartworms, tick-borne disease and other serious health problems. The photos that receive the most votes during the contest will win PAWSOME prizes, and the top 12 vote-getters will be featured in our Have A Heart 8- 2024 calendar. The rest of the photo submissions will be inserted into the date boxes.

We encourage you to enter the contest with your favorite photo of your dog/dogs and write a few words about why your dog is so special as I use that in the text of the winning calendar pages. Check out last year's Special Winning Calendar Pages. Then invite your family and friends to vote for your photo! The contest is open to anyone, and it is only $10 to enter your photo.

Voting is easy and fun. Votes are $1 each with a $5 minimum donation. Each dollar donated equals an equivalent number of votes. (A $5 donation equals 5 votes, a $10 donation equals 10 votes, etc.) A minimum donation of $5 is required. The proceeds will benefit Illinois Birddog Rescue and fund the medical expenses for many of our heartworm positive and special needs dogs. You can vote as often as you like during the contest, and you can apply all your votes to one photo or vote for multiple photos too and with so many lovely dogs- we encourage that!

For the best chance to win, be sure to spread the word about your dog's entry into the contest on Facebook, Instagram and via email. Also ask family and friends to go online and support your entry. You can use the sharing buttons that appear on your dog's photo page to share your photo entry with your Facebook friends, and you can email links to family and friends to encourage voting for your dog's photo.

Each year we bring in many dogs that need extra care due to neglect and this year has brought us many new dogs and puppies in need. Our cover dogs all have heartworm disease and tick borne disease:

• Southern Illinois Pointer- Loralyn
• Arkansas Treeing Walker Coonhound- Shailene
• Southern Illinois Beagle-Sophia
• Southern Illinois English Setter- George
• Mississippi Pointer- Wizzy

The cost to medicate 1 heartworm dog for 1 year through our slow-kill program can be in the hundreds and thousands especially if there are additional medical procedures needed like x-rays, dentals, tumor removal, etc. Many dogs take longer to become heartworm negative with slow- kill, but it is an ideal treatment plan as the dogs don't need months of cage confinement and can have normal low-key exercise and play. Finding homes for these dogs can be challenging but Loralyn and Wizzy did find Foster to Adopt homes. George is the only Setter from the 6 we pulled from deplorable conditions in June of 2022, that is still waiting to find his forever home. He used to live in an above ground cage with a wooden box for shelter. He has a stubborn heartworm case and is still positive, but if you look at his pictures, he is just the picture of health and is so enjoying life. I took the recent photo of him a few days ago. He deserves the best loving home, and I will make sure that happens.




Ever since we started this contest 7 years ago, Shelby, our Kentucky rescued English Setter and her adopter and IBR Board of Director- Eddie, were a huge part of our fundraising success. Shelby won 6 out of the last 7 contests while raising close to $11,000 as the most special fundraising team. Eddie had never owned an English Setter before, but together they walked thousands of miles around the city of Chicago over the years, while meeting so many friends and promoting IBR's mission- especially since Shelby was saved from an over-crowded shelter.

I will never forget the pride on Eddie's face the first time Shelby pointed pheasant at one of our photoshoots and some of those photos are featured in her collage. Sadly, we lost Shelby to cancer on November 4^th. Shelby was over 16 years old, and we are heartbroken at her loss. This year's calendar contest is dedicated to Eddie and his Princess Shelby.



As this is our 20th year as an official 501c3 Charity- I really hope we can raise some much-needed donations to help many more dogs and puppies. We hope we can get a lot of support again this year. Here is last year's HAVE A HEART 7 CONTEST & PREVIOUS WINNERS.

• This year we have a lovely prize set that includes Bird Dog Blended Whiskey, a glass treat jar with Nudges Natural Dog Treats, a LOVE shelf holder, and a gorgeous dog dish stand.
• winning photo will also be the cover of the Have a Heart 8 Calendar Contest and an insert into the calendar.
  
  

• Second through twelfth place winners win the eleven other coveted monthly calendar cover pages and a new Have A Heart 8 Calendar.

• TOP POINTER, TOP SETTER, and TOP SUPER MUTT will also win the following: A Go Dog stuffy, Greenbone Biobase poop bags, Buddy Training treats and our new 20^th Anniversary Pointer/Setter mug.
  
  
  
  
• New this year we also have a prize for the TOP BEAGLE!! My picture features my own rescue Beagle- Kasey and the prize includes the dog bed, and 2 fun stuffies.
  
  

VIEW CONTEST PRIZES ON FACEBOOK