Saturday, February 27, 2010

Just What We Needed: More Snow

Yes, we got smacked with more snow this week. And the beasts love it. And, could these be "new ears" for Charlie?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Skeletor Needs Your Help!

Have you ever seen a dog this skinny - still standing?

Skeletor, as his rescuers have named him, wandered right up to them one morning. This poor fellow is just skin and bones, yet he's friendly and playful just the same. It seems nothing gets him down, even the fact that he's at least 25 lbs. underweight!

Today, Skeletor went to the vet for his initial vaccinations and bloodwork. While he doesn't have intestinal parasites, he is heartworm positive and will need treatment.

Read more about this adorable pooch and the couple who are working hard to save him. 

And, if you can, make a donation toward his care. He made sure he didn't die on the streets, and now he deserves our help.


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Double Gag

Why a double gag?

Well, first, who wants to see Michael Vick at all, never mind naked? Apparently, Playgirl has offered a cool mil to the ex-con to pose nude for the magazine. Blech.

The second gag? His paycheck for posing naked would be donated to PETA. If that isn't worth a double gag, I don't know what is. The one organization that doesn't believe animals should be kept as pets, has a kill rate that hovers around 95%, and they're going to get $1 million dollars? Well, we know it won't be used to save animals, that's for sure. Give it to BadRap, or PBRC, or another rescue that focuses its efforts on helping Pit Bulls.

So, let's see how "bad" this guy's life has been so far. On top of being reinstated to the NFL, keeping millions in bonuses, getting a reality TV show, and getting the Ed Block Courage (cough, cough) Award, he's being asked to show his bod naked in a magazine. Just what this jerk needs, a nude pic in Playgirl. That will certainly keep his ego nice and small.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

February: Responsible Pet Owners' Month

February is Responsible Pet Owners' Month. And I've got some advice, heh, heh.

1) Flexi-leads. Throw them away. They're not good for anything, ever. Think of trip wires - that's what these really are. If you've ever been on a bike and have come across one of these babies, you're a goner. Face, meet pavement. And why is it that people who use them seem to have no regard for anyone else around them? Or, even worse, they let their CHILDREN control them?!

2) Train your dog. Nothing fancy, just basic obedience. More animals end up in shelters because of bad behavior that can be curbed with simple training; yours doesn't have to be one of them. Added bonus: You won't believe how much happier both of you will be when your dog understands that you're his leader. Dogs love having a leader to help them make decisions!

3) Anthropomorphizing is not a good thing. Yes, dogs are intelligent, but they're not human. Here's a great example: A lot of people - okay, men - don't like to neuter their dogs. They think Fido will miss his testicles after the Big Operation. Believe me, Fido doesn't care. After a day or so, he won't even notice. And implanting Neuticles is just assuaging you, not Fido. (Boy, has this company capitalized on you anthropomorphizing humans!) Let your dog be a dog!

4) Spay/neuter your pet. It's safe, relatively easy, and good for their health. If you can't afford it, try Friends of Animals for spay/neuter certificates. There ARE options to help if you're financially strapped!

5) Please, please, please don't tether your dog. Dogs are social animals and love to be with their humans and in many cases other animals. I mean, why did you get her in the first place? To tie her to a tree in the back yard? Tethering makes me sad. If you do have to tether for short periods of time, make sure you provide lots of clean, fresh water. And don't make tethering a habit.

6) Get your dog an identification tag and a microchip! These are soooooo important! All of my dogs have a tag with their name and my contact info on them and they're microchipped. Many shelters offer low-cost microchipping on a regular basis, at a fee much lower than a vet's office.

7) Exercise your pet and feed them a proper diet. An exercised pet won't be bored and therefore inclined to destroy things in your house. And the hope is that a good diet will be reflected in a good, long life. Which leads me to...

8) Visit your veterinarian! A lot has been said about the pros and cons of regularly vaccinating dogs. I, personally, vaccinate my dogs, except for Buster, who cannot be vaccinated for anything other than rabies (he's got osteosarcoma and his oncologist feels that the risk to vaccinate is greater than the risk not to vaccinate). Either way, a wellness visit to your vet can reveal other health issues that you might not have detected.

Okay, I'll get off of my soap box. Take care of your pets, that's all I ask.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

When People Have Nothing Better to Do But Complain

Apparently, Mrs. Wallbank of Baltimore has had it up to here with urine in the snow. If you'll recall, that's the 30+ inches of snow that slammed their area, and that people have barely managed to clear from sidewalks just to make them passable in Her City.

She recently wrote to the Baltimore Sun to complain about the yellow snow she's been tolerating, poor thing, since the recent storms.

Now, never mind that Baltimoreans' roofs are caving in from the weight of the snow. Noooooo. Urine on the city sidewalks is at the top of Mrs. W's I've-Got-to-Get-A-Life List.

Mrs. Wallbank asks why, if dog owners can scoop the poop, they can't also carry a small shovel to remove the frozen urine. I suppose standing by waiting for warm urine to freeze would be an okay idea.

But I have an even better idea. Maybe they could start a buddy system of sorts, where my dog would pee, but the next guy would shovel it up, after it's had time to freeze. My obligation would be to find other frozen pee to shovel up. Sort of a Pee Swap or Pee Honor System.

No, seriously.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Charlie's Ears

There's no doubt that Charlie has weird ears. Lovable, but weird ears. I can only describe them as garden shovels sticking out of the sides of her head.

When I first met her at the shelter, she was a small bulldozer with flopsy ears on the top of her head. I mean, how could you tie a 10-week-old puppy to a stop sign to begin with, but one with these ears (and eyes)? I mean really:


Of course, we didn't expect them to stay this way, but then again, we didn't really know what to expect. Would they stand straight up? Would they flop over like a Lab or a hound?

One thing I can tell you that we never said "hey, do you think they'll look like garden shovels?"

But, within a few months, we had this:


A bulldozer with ears that had the wing span of an eagle. Thank goodness she grew into them. Sort of. But again, we didn't think they'd stay that way, sticking out of the sides of her head.

Who knew we'd be watching her watch TV with her TV ears:


Of course there are the Love Me ears:


The Don't Let My Ears Fool You; I Am Evil ears:


The Yes, I Want a Cookie ears:


The I Don't Really Care for the Vet ears:


And the I'm Very Relaxed ears:


And let's face it, except for a few subtleties, they're all pretty much the same!

One video I have to get is of her running through the yard flapping her ears like she's about to take off. It's pretty hysterical from behind. Until she actually loses contact with the ground; then I get a little nervous.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

A Little Snow

We had a bit of snow yesterday. This was when the storm had dumped just about four inches; we still had about eight more hours of blizzard conditions to go. It was cold and windy, but the pooches loved it!



Friday, February 5, 2010

Pit Bull attack in Hoboken, NJ

The lead paragraph of this story goes like this:
Police said they don't know what provoked two pit bulls to attack three people in an upscale residence here.
Three people are in the hospital with bites to their legs and both dogs are dead. There isn't much reported just yet, and chances are we'll never learn more or at least the truth.

Dogs don't just attack their owners out of the blue.

There are so many factors that could contribute to these dogs' "turning" on their owners. Did the owners recently adopt them and did they know little if anything about them? Are they fostering them, and again did they know little about them? Shame on the rescue organization, if that's the case.

On the flip side, were these dogs used to protect something, say, a drug stash? Were they taught to be aggressive? Was one person in the apartment being violent toward another; did that trigger the dogs into action?

But what was the real story here? The media story? It was a Pit Bull attack, pure and simple. That's the media sensation and that's why it's likely we'll never know the full truth.

Score another one against the Pitties.

Update: http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/02/pit_bull_shot_and_killed_by_ho.html

It's not completely clear, but it seems that one of the dogs did all of the attacking. The second Pit Bull "remained harmless," and according to The Humane Society  "was apparently ownerless." Could one of the apartment residents have taken in the dog from the streets in an attempt to help it and things went horribly wrong?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Get this monkey off of my back...


... and quit flashing lights in my face. I'm tryin' to sleep!

(Sorta) Wordless Wednesday: Mindy

Mindy was at the shelter where I volunteer and has 
been adopted, but not before I took this silly picture.
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