Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday

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Welcome to WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday.

Some blog post or news article cross your path that left you shaking your head thinking WTF?  Or did you hear about something that raised your spirits and you screamed, Whoo Hoo?

That’s WTF/Whoo Hoo Wednesday.

My friend Julie from the Daily Dog Blog made me a nice spiffy badge.  Please feel free to use the badge whenever you’d like.  I am going to figure out how to add badges to my side bar, I promise!!

Graphic Designed by Julie Melfi, Leg up Creative Solutions

 

Meanwhile, since I’ve really limited myself to time spent with my arch-enemy facebook, I’ve not had a lot of WTF’s cross my path, so I’m shooting from the hip on this one.

In the past I’ve appealed to animal rescue organizations about their criteria for placing dogs.  Specifically I’ve heard of people (myself included) being turned down for puppies because someone was not home all day.

That’s water under the bridge now.  I have Delilah and I guarantee she is puppy enough to satisfy anyone’s puppy itch. 🙂

 

The pig came that way, I swear. I did NOT chew off its ears.

 

The reason I raise this issue again is we ran into our friend Brady and his mom on our walk Saturday morning.  Brady’s mom was struggling with two small dogs on leash.  One looked like a white Scottish Terrier while the other was a Jack Russell.

The JR definitely had issues with other dogs, because as soon as he saw my dogs he started wigging out.  Brady’s mom was practically dragging the dogs through the woods, the JR snarling and barking.

Of course this did not sit well with Delilah and it was a real hairy minute there before we untangled the two dogs.

Brady’s mom wanted us to walk with them and help the dogs adjust but I said, No way, this is not going to help.  I used my treats to guide Sampson and Delilah in another direction.

As we were wrapping up our walk we ran into Brady and his mom again.  She had brought the smaller dogs home and had come back because she thought she had one of my leashes.  (She didn’t.)

We had a minute to chat and I asked about the dogs.  She told me they were her mom’s dogs, she’d recently put her mom in an assisted living facility, and while they had paid for her mom to have the dogs in the facility her mom really couldn’t care for them, so she and her partner took them.

The kicker is this.  The JR was adopted 7 months ago from a humane society in Florida.  They were told the dog was about three years old.

The humane society adopted out a three year-old dog to a 79 year-old woman.

WTF?  Did they really think a 79 year-old woman would 1) be able to provide the basic needs for a three year-old dog (such as exercise and training) and 2) outlive the dog?

So here, seven months later the poor woman needs to go into assisted living and who takes care of the dogs?  Someone who really doesn’t want them.

It’s not fair to anyone, least of all the dog.

When I spoke to her on Saturday her plan was to send the dog away to a trainer at Cabela’s.

I did offer to help her but sadly, our training methods differ.

Angry child hangs dog because he was ‘mad.’ Salinas, CA

Just when you think you’ve seen and read everything you see something like this.

WTF?  Really, WTF?

A 12 year-old boy hung his dog because he was mad at it.  The boy who showed no remorse, was booked as a juvenile on animal cruelty charges.

My God, can you imagine what this kid will be doing in ten years?

Makes you wonder WTF is going on in this kid’s house.

Sacramento, CA

This came across my facebook page last night.  Apparently there’s a growing trend in Sacramento to cut off puppy’s ears and then treat the puppy with Aleve for pain.

There’s a sweet little pittie who’s shutting down at the Front Street Shelter.  If you are in the Sacramento area or know someone who is, this guy could use some help.

All I have to say is, what the fuck is wrong with people?  I don’t see the appeal in a dog with cropped ears, but I can tell you I’m thinking it might be a fitting punishment for people who do this.

Can you imagine?  All you’d have to do is take one look at them and go, yup that piece of filth abuses animals.  Then you can treat them accordingly.

I can’t really think coherently about this topic, I just feel like letting loose with a string of derogatory comments, but that won’t accomplish anything.

Pitbulls against misinformation has set-up a ChipIn to offer an award for reporting puppy ear butchers.  If you have even a dollar, it adds up.  You can contribute here.

Whoo Hoo

Former Marine Raises $4K for Dog Reunion, Afghanistan/Alexandria,VA

I love our military and this story makes me love them more. A marine takes care of and falls in love with a dog in Afghanistan, when his tour is up, he comes home, but still wants the dog.  He finds an organization that will help but he needs $4,000 to bring the dog over.  He puts this up on facebook and before long he has raised the money he needs.

The dog is currently in quarantine and they should be reunited within the next ten days or so.

Warms the cockles of your heart, eh.

That’s it for us, how’s things in your neck of the woods?  Everyone make it through Sandy?  Any WTF’s or Whoo Hoos to share?

 

 

Halloween Pet Safety

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Hi, Sampson here.  I’m filling in for mom today, with an important message for you and your pets in preparation for Halloween.

A lot of people get all caught up in the hype and excitement of Halloween and forget about their furry friends.

Personally I love Halloween, I love, love, love when people come to our house. The only problem is mom and dad won’t let us greet everyone at the door.  They make us watch from behind a gate. They say it’s for our own safety, to make sure we don’t accidentally get outside in all the excitement.

The gate is really for Delilah, she can’t control herself. 

 

I consider myself to be a pretty lucky dog, because mom rarely if ever dresses me up, don’t get me wrong, she’s tried a couple of times but I really hate it, so I just put my head down and refuse to pose.

She gets the hint pretty quick and that’s without using the clicker.

Mom says there are lots of people who dress their dogs for Halloween.  If you’re one of them, please make sure the costume fits properly.  A too tight costume will restrict movement and if the costume is too loose your pet can become tangled, which could have disastrous results.

Make sure your pets are secured when the door is opened for trick or treaters, some pets who aren’t as well-behaved as I am might take advantage of the open door policy.

Keep all candy out of your pet’s reach.  I would NEVER think of eating something that mom or dad didn’t give me, but there’s a certain chocolate lab who doesn’t follow the rules.

Be sure to monitor your pets when they go outside, no-one likes to think about it, but there are some people in this world who do bad things to pets, especially on Halloween.

Some people like to take their dogs with their kids while they’re trick or treating.   It’s a great idea if you have a well-behaved dog that can handle crowds and walks well on leash.  If your dog doesn’t like crowds it’s probably best to leave them home in their crate with a nice stuffed Kong.

If you do take your dogs out walking with you it’s a good idea to have some kind of light reflecting vest.  Dad picked these up for us at Cabela’s last year for less than $20 each.

Does this vest make my fur look fluffy?

 

Those are the Halloween rules at our house.  What kind of Halloween rules do you have?

Riding the Storm Out

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Last year we had Snowtober this year it’s Frankenstorm.

While thankfully there is no snow predicted, we are in for some heavy winds.  We also have a lot of trees around us, trees that were weakened or still have broken branches from last year’s storm.

Two weeks ago one of those branches came down with some wind.  Luckily for us, it landed on our gate, and wedged itself between the chimney and the side wall of the house.  Miraculously, there was no permanent damage.  I told Hubby, the Lord just keeps providing us with wood to burn.

Hey big branch! Yeah I’m talking to you. Get off my fence!

 

It looks like it’s touching, but really there is about six inches between the end of the branch and the house.

 

If it were just Hubby and I, there would be no problem. Since we have pets, we need to make sure they remain safe.

The first thing we did was tie down everything that can’t go inside.

Ghetto Grill

 

The storm is expected to last through Tuesday. The dogs will have to go outside to potty, that last thing we want is for something left out in the yard, flying through the air and striking one of the dogs.

On the off-chance that happens, we have hydrogen peroxide, EMT gel and vet tape handy.

It’s important to have plenty of food on hand for your pets.  We feed raw and I currently have five days worth of dinners and about three weeks worth of breakfast.  If need be, we will use the breakfast supply for dinner.

Luckily for us we have city water, but should contamination occur, I have six gallons of bottled water handy.

We also stuck some empty soda bottles in the freezer to use for ice if we need it, or defrost it and use for cooking or washing as the case may be.

Since we live on the side of a hill, it’s highly unlikely we will need to evacuate from flooding, but if we need to evacuate for another reason, the dog’s medications, their medical records, food bowls and going outside collars are all within 15 feet of each other and their leashes are hung by the front door.

Bob is on canned food, which is in very close proximity to the dogs items.

The important thing in any natural disaster is to have a plan, know what items you need to take with you and where they are.  If possible practice a dry run.   Having a plan of action in place for emergencies gives you peace of mind that nothing else can.

If we have to leave in an emergency I feel very comfortable saying we can be out within half an hour…..forty five minutes tops.

Where we’ll go, I’m not really sure, but I did hear on the news that the shelters are taking dogs. 🙂

What types of weather related issues do you need to be prepared for where you live?   Do you have a plan in place to evacuate your pets?  What if the situation springs up suddenly, have you and your family discussed who will get the pets?

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