Injured basset pup healing at new home

A basset hound-mixed puppy who had his leg broken when he was tossed over a 6-foot tall fence at the animal shelter is doing fine.

Shelter supervisor Pat Wiggins said big boy Blue's leg healed beautifully, thus ending the threat of amputation.

"He's all basset hound," Wiggins said with a laugh. "Stubborn."

Wiggins said although a few calls came into the shelter offering tips on who may have dumped Blue so cruelly on April 28, nothing panned out.

But Old School Blue couldn't care less. He has a new home with the Wiggins family.

After Blue's picture ran with his story in the Nevada Appeal, several people called to say he looked more like a beagle than a basset hound.

But the picture was deceiving, this was one large puppy - 45 pounds at five months old - and even full-grown beagles just don't grow that big.

Carson City resident Mary (Works) Covington, formerly of Silver City, is peddling her piece of Nevada history online. "The Life and Times of the Red Dog Saloon" is now available for $20 on DVD and entitled "Rockin' at the Red Dog; The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock."

Works directed the documentary based on one of Virginia City's more famous watering holes and its place in the history of the psychedelic era. More information can be found at: www.montereymedia.com/music/rockin_at_the_red_dog.html.

The promotional material on the Web site explains the film saying the following: "If the psychedelic '60s were born in the dancehalls of San Francisco, then they were conceived in a saloon in Virginia City where the musicians carried Winchesters and the kitchen served French gourmet meals.

"The psychedelic era fostered cultural growth and artistic expression. The Red Dog Saloon was the incubator for the lightshow and psychedelic poster art, an entire lifestyle that truly defined a remarkable era and defied classification as it weaved it's tapestry of free love and music, which the Grateful Dead would spread around the world.

"Filmmaker Works (assistant editor "Titanic," "Saving Private Ryan") was entrusted with access to the lives, antics and attics of this unique extended rock 'n' roll family that grew out of these wild times."

The DVD features include a conversation with the filmmakers; Where are they now?; and a Jim Marshall photo gallery and interview.

The 2005 Carson Valley Walking/Driving Tour Map is now available at the Carson Valley Visitors Center, 1513 Highway 395 in North Gardnerville.

The map features scenic points of interest including the wildlife management area in Jacks Valley with 250 species of birds common to Nevada; Cradelbaugh Bridge where a historic water wheel still stands and Topaz Lake a recreational area for boating, fishing, wakeboarding and waterskiing.

For more information call the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Authority at 782-8144 or toll free at (800) 727-7677 or online at: visitcarsonvalley.org.