Wordless Wednesday

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.

Vets and How Pets Can Help

A nice story from CNN about how pets can help soldiers heal.

There's Nothing Like the Love of a Dog

Watch CBS News Videos Online

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.

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!

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?

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.

She who has the ears rules the roost