Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I answer questions, highlight reader’s comments and generally just wrap up my week.

You Make Me Laugh – July 13, 2014

Mary said, “How do you not melt!”

It’s tough, he’s so cute and so sweet, he really just melts my heart.

Cupcake said, “I think there’s just enough room for me to squeeze in with you Sampson! Stairway headrest for two! Yay!”

Head on over Cupcake, he’ll make room for you.

Sand Spring Chesapeakes asked, “looks comfy to me, did he put that blankie there?”

That is actually a towel and I put it there so he could have his frozen night time treat.

These Dogs You Guys

2 Brown Dawgs said, “I think that you are right and he is finally feeling better. I think jumping out of the car is proof. Glad to hear it and good luck making him take it easy now.”

Yes, I definitely think the slow, timed walks combined with the Glucosamine and the Acupuncture are helping!

Jan K said, “Oh my goodness, I can just imagine how much that freaked you out when he jumped!”

Oh my lord!  You know how you see something’s happening and try to stop it?  Yeah, I threw my hand out (like that would stop him!) and it landed on his back.  I told him “You are a bad boy!”  

He actually stood there for about 30 seconds.  I think he was as shocked as I was. LOL

Rebekah said, “I am glad he is doing better! I call my Bruce an asshole on a regular basis. Seeing that Sampson is one too makes me feel better.”

Thank you Rebekah, that makes me feel better.   It helps to know I’m not the only one. 😉

Making a Difference in North Carolina

Jan said, “Sometimes people from outside can see what local residents have just taken for granted as the only way to carry on.”

Exactly Jan! When you live with a situation for so long, you sometimes can’t see a way out of it.

Amy said, “Wonderful story – Debbie is a real hero. Our Toby came from a rural N.C. shelter. The rescue collected him and his 2 brothers and brought them to their vet here in Virginia to be cleaned up, then contacted us. We were told the shelter was in bad shape and the pups had been sleeping on dirt, probably since birth. Two days after going home all three puppies had parvo and went to the emergency vet. Luckily all three survived.”

I’ve heard that some of the shelters down south are really bad.  I’m so glad your boy beat that Parvo, so many of them don’t.  And here’s a quirky little fact, the woman whose dog had Sampson had originally named him Toby. 🙂

Beth said, That’s awesome that county offers the spay/neuter certificates in the first place and even better that Debbie picks them up and donates them for others to use. I would have never thought of that, I’ll have to see if my area has a similar program.”

I think it’s incredible!  I need to find out if there is something like that around me as well.

My Dog’s Liver Levels Are Elevated, Now What?

Jackie Bouchard said, “Oh my goodness! Not another health issue!? ”

I’m telling you, I feel like I just can’t catch a break. Not only do they want to do a liver biopsy (about $700) she needs a dental cleaning which will require an extraction.  

Retro Rover said, ” Also I would aks the vet about what will be gained from the biopsy. In Pings case we elected not to do it as they said it would only possibly reveal the big C and there was basicall nothing to be done about that.”

You brought up a great point and I did speak to my vet about it yesterday.  My comment will be quite long though, so I intend on making a whole post about it early next week.

Emma said, “That fart in a church thing totally cracked us up! On the other side, that really sucks with the liver issues. I guess having two dogs close in age is nice until they get older, but Mom says having three of us spread at 1, 8, and 12 is not easy either as we all have totally different needs. ”

Try sitting in the row with the little boy who farted VERY loudly during the wedding.  I almost lost it. 🙂  On the one hand having two (or more) dogs all close in age, is tough in terms of aging and ailments that go along with the whole aging process, but I can see how having three dogs with vastly different ages could be challenging as well.

I’m sorry I haven’t been around to your blogs so much.  I’m back on the book again and partaking in a 100 day challenge.  My goal is to write 50 words each day in my book.  We are only a week in but I’ve done more than 50 every day.  It’s the kick in the ass I needed to get myself over the hump.

My book word count as of yesterday: 43,300

That’s it for me, thanks for joining me, have a wonderful weekend!

 

On the 15th, join Team BtC and those who care about animals in need. Write and read about your favorite animal-related cause, read posts, leave comments, and share! Need ideas?

• Tell us what you’ve done to Be the Change for Animals
• Who do you know who acts tirelessly on animals’ behalf?
• What favorite cause has a special need right now?

I decided to make my BtC for Animals about someone I know who works tirelessly on behalf of animals.

Just about a year ago, my friend Debbie, along with her husband packed up their belongings and moved from Connecticut to North Carolina.  Before leaving Connecticut  Debbie was very active in dog rescue.  Her landlord in Connecticut did not allow dogs, so Debbie got her fix by transporting dogs coming up from the south heading towards their forever homes.

Little did Debbie know that once she moved to North Carolina, her large heart and generous spirit would continue helping animals in need.  But I’ll let Debbie tell you.

ME: Hi Debbie, thanks for joining me and agreeing to share your story with us.

Last year you and Walter relocated to North Carolina.  You’ve told me before that God had a purpose in leading you there.  Can you share with my readers a little bit about the animal welfare situation you discovered in North Carolina?

Debbie: Lord, it was terrible.  On three separate occasions I saw pregnant dogs laying in the street.  They were so big they could hardly get up when a car would drive by.  My heart cried every time I saw one.

The town’s dump consisted of dumpsters.  Every time I went to get rid of my garbage I saw unwanted pets that had been dumped off.  Some of them were healthy, like they’d just been dropped off, while others were sickly looking.  There were so many animals that someone had built a makeshift crate to be used as a shelter.  My heart cried again and again because every time I went to the dump there was a new addition to the population.

Every time I went I’d bring buckets of food and gallons of water, to try and help feed these poor, unwanted souls.

ME:  That’s terrible, did you come up with a more permanent way to help these dogs?

Debbie: Eventually I decided to talk to my vet about what would be more helpful to the animals.  She suggested I attend a town meeting and bring my concerns to their attention.

ME: How did that go?

Debbie:  The town was concerned about the dump site, because every time they’d empty the dumpsters, people would fill them up and people were also pulling stuff out of the dumpsters and leaving the garbage laying around.

While my concern was the welfare of the animals, their concern was the mess.  I decided to join their cause, while taking care of my own at the same time.

I spoke up at the meetings and said I was a new citizen and the dump was an eye sore from the street, and the animals and the dump posed a health threat to the environment and it was just disgraceful.

Some of the affluent residents came up with some money to move the dump and make it manned,  but once they started the process they noticed all the sick babies and could no longer ignore it.  I call it a two for.

ME:  So now they are aware of the situation, what happened?

Debbie:  Well they set up Have a Heart traps and caught the dogs and took them to the vet.  My vet runs a small foster out of her practice.  The healthy animals were put up for adoption or fostered and the sickly animals were humanely euthanized.

ME: So how is the situation now?

Debbie:  No more dogs are being dumped. When the dump started clearing and pets were being caught and cared for finally, I looked to the sky and smiled at my Lord for showing me a way to help.

ME: Awesome!  You mentioned another way in which you help the animals, can you tell me about that?

Debbie:  Every quarter, the county offers three spay/neuter certificates to every resident.  It’s a forty minute ride, so that can be a problem for some folks.  Every quarter I go and get my three.  I give these to my vet to use for people who can’t afford to spay/neuter their pets.  If I know of someone specific in need, I can indicate I want the certificate to be used for that person.

ME: One last question for you Debbie, if someone is having a problem such as this in their community do you have any advice for them?

Debbie:  Yes! Ask questions. Find out how the town does business. Vote your town meetings. They have them! So many never participate. You can make a difference anywhere you choose. Stand tall and say your peace.

ME: Thank you SO much Debbie, for sharing your story with us.  And thank you for all you do to help our four-legged friends.  The world is a better place because of people like you.