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Days of Thunder

This morning, I was awakened by my hair being pulled tightly.  In fact, the pain was so bad, it took me a minute or two to realize there was a furry dog butt firmly planted on my head.  To make it worse, I could not turn over or move my head because the hair was pulled so tightly.  I finally managed to coax Princess further down the bed, much to the relief of my scalp.

She quickly plastered herself on top of the covers against my side, preventing me from turning over once again.  Her body shook and the panting began.  It took me a while, but I finally pulled the covers from under her in hopes that I could get her to cuddle up under the covers with me.  (She often sleeps like a human with her head on the pillow and body under the covers.)  Princess was not having any of that, though.  She freaked out as I draped the cover over her.  Frantically, she squirmed, trying to rid herself of the comforter.  She simply wanted to be against me with my arm holding her tightly.

Her trembling was reduced, but for the next hour or so, I still had a vibrating bed courtesy of Princess.

It has been a long time since Princess freaked this badly during a storm, and with the temperatures already in the mid-90s this summer, I know we will have some horrific storms in the coming weeks.  When we adopted Princess, she would squeeze herself under the bed, and I must mention that at any other time, there was no way Princess could slide underneath.  We’d have to free her by lifting the entire bed.  I hope this morning’s episode is not indicative of her behavior during all storms now.

I haven’t blogged in a while.

At least not here.

I was trying to wait until I was able to repair my project and get it uploaded onto YouTube, but so far, it simply hasn’t happened yet.  However, I came today with news regarding two of the coolest dogs I know–Ginger and His Royal Pinkness.

Last week, Ginger was diagnosed with two large bladder stones.  It’s amazing she had not shown discomfort.  I can’t tell you how crappy I felt last week knowing she was enduring all of this, and then added to the fact that I was out of town… I felt downright horrible.

Fortunately, Gin’s surgery was a success, and she is doing great.  We should know in a week or so if we need to change her diet or not.

In HRP news, Ben’s heart murmur has gotten worse.  Our vet back home is very concerned and wants to run tests on the little man in two weeks.  She will keep him for a day while they monitor his heartbeat, and pending the findings, we will most likely have to put HRP on medication.

Hopefully, I will have some pictures soon and will post them here.

Update: Final Project

I will be presenting general information on my project in class tomorrow. I do not have to have any video or picture elements prepared before then. Basically, it’s an introduction to my project followed by a Q&A session and allows classmates to brainstorm for additional ideas that may provide more in depth insight into the plight of homeless animals.

I skimmed through several thousands pictures last night of shelter animals and previous fosters and have narrowed them down to 112 images.

The “documentary” will be a compilation of pictures and video and will discuss the crisis of irresponsible owners and the violences our society imposes upon animals. These violences include but are not limited to: intact animals, roaming animals, breeding and exploitation of animals from puppy mills and backyard breeders, and the dumping or rehoming of animals due to moving, too many to care for, or behavioral issues. We will also touch on euthanasia, which many people see as the problem with animal shelters. However, euthanasia is the result of the real problem–irresponsible people.

His Royal Pinkness

A couple of Benjamin:

Looks like someone changed his mind…

Callie reunited with owners

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http://www.comcast.net/news/articles/odd/2008/04/17/ODD.Canine.Imposter/

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — Ken Griggs finally brought the right dog home. More than two weeks after the Lake Oswego man claimed a boarding kennel returned the wrong dog after spring break, he and his family were reunited with their black Labrador named Callie.

During the break in late March, Callie shared a kennel with a lookalike named Dixie. When Griggs went to retrieve Callie on March 30, he somehow ended up with Dixie.

Griggs knew something wasn’t right when Callie wouldn’t heel and the family cat — normally pals with Callie — hissed at the dog.

Griggs returned the dog to the kennel and Allison Best, the kennel owner, examined whether Callie might have gotten mixed-up with any of the other black Labradors staying there that week and contacted the owners.

The Sherwood woman who owns Dixie told Best her dog seemed to have undergone a personality change. But the woman was insistent that she had the correct dog.

Still, Best arranged for the owners and their dogs to meet March 31.

Griggs arrived at the Dundee kennel before the Sherwood woman and a black Lab got excited when he and his children approached. The kids declared it was Callie, and everyone went back home to Lake Oswego.

But it turned out to be the same dog Griggs had just returned.

Still thinking there might be a Callie impostor roaming his house, Griggs took the dog to his regular veterinarian. She confirmed through X-rays that the dog lacked Callie’s surgical marks.

The case finally resolved itself when the kennel owner got a phone call from an acquaintance of the Sherwood woman, who had told her that “Dixie was not Dixie.”

Best visited the woman’s house Tuesday and examined the dog. After realizing it was Callie, she told the woman she needed to meet with Griggs.

The real Callie finally returned home Wednesday, and spent the evening playing with Griggs’ four younger children.

“I’m happy and relieved and just want things to get back to normal,” Griggs said after the exchange.

Best told The Oregonian newspaper she had no comment about how the confusion might have occurred.

“We tried to do everything we could, and it’s really unfortunate we had two customers who couldn’t identify their dogs,” she said.

The last line really gets me.  Best and her employees allowed two identical dogs to be boarded together without identification, yet she puts the responsibility on the owners?

Bringing home the wrong dog?

http://www.wsoctv.com/family/15847789/detail.html

Family Says Kennel Gave Them Wrong Dog

April 10, 2008

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — A black Labrador happily wagged its tail at Ken Griggs’ home Wednesday night, but there’s just one problem.

The family told Portland television station KPTV that the dog, recently picked up at a local kennel, doesn’t belong to them.

The Griggs family said the Tail Wag Inn in Dundee gave them the wrong dog when they picked it up after spring break.

“I’ve got five kids,” Griggs said. “She’s like the sixth kid, and everybody wants the dog back.”

Griggs took Callie, his pet of seven years, to the kennel for boarding. When he returned the next day, his family didn’t get Callie back.

“You don’t think that somebody’s going to give you the wrong dog,” Griggs said.

At first, Griggs thought the dog belonged to his family — it looked the same as Callie. But he said the dog wasn’t enthusiastic to see the family and its habits and mannerisms were also different.

Griggs called the kennel to return the dog.

“I was very concerned when that happened,” said Allison Best, the kennel owner. “I’ve been in business 10 years and I’ve never heard of anything like this happening.”

Best said the kennel had eight black labs over spring break and they all played together in the yard every day.

The Griggs are certain the kennel made a mistake. Callie had her dew claws clipped off as a puppy, but the dog returned to them still had its dew claws. X-rays also showed no surgery on the dog’s elbow as theirs had.

But Best said she’s done all she can.

“I have called all of the female black lab owners that were here,” she said. “They’re all confident they have their dogs.”

The mix-up may have been prevented by the use of a collar, but the kennel does not allow collars because it considers them dangerous. Best said she’ll review the rule to see if there’s another way to identify pets in their care.

Griggs has spoken with an attorney. He said if no one recognizes the dog at his home, he’s not sure where he’ll turn next.

I can’t imagine how thoughtless someone would be to let EIGHT black labs play together without some sort of identification. Unless you know all of them really well, it would be hard to distinguish them from one another. I mean, when our rescue was boarding multiple black labs at the vet’s office, we were in charge of taking them out for potty and play breaks. They ALWAYS had some sort of identification despite the fact that we worked with them on a daily basis.

Second of all, what kind of owner are you to not step forward admitting the dog the Griggs family was given by mistake is really YOUR dog? I also have to wonder what type of interaction this family had with their real dog and the interaction they now have with Callie, a dog that isn’t even theirs. Perhaps, they are one of those families who prefer to have a yard ornament and leave the dog outside. Outside dogs rarely have the quality interaction like their indoor counterparts.

When my dogs are boarded, I leave their collars, so that even if they are not allowed to wear them while inside, they will at least have their collars when they are outside for potty and play times.

If the owner of this Oregon boarding kennel will not allow dogs to wear collars inside, I hope that she changes her policies and requires collars or some other form of identification to be worn while they are in the yard playing with multiple dogs. This incident could have easily been prevented, and the kennel should be held accountable. I hope that Callie is located and returned to her family very soon. And if the family who has her now honestly has not realized by now that they have the wrong dog, then perhaps, they need to evaluate how well they know their dog.

*The only exception I can currently think of to this would be if the family very recently adopted their dog and had not had enough time to get to know her, but somehow, I find this to be highly unlikely.

Good luck to the Griggs family in their plight to get their beloved Callie back!

Mmmm…Apple Cider Vinegar.

Ok, so maybe it isn’t so yummy to us, but if you have dogs, you should probably look into ACV, especially if you prefer a holistic approach.

I have read several articles promoting the use of ACV, but it wasn’t until this week that I actually put it to the test. My “kids” were boarded at the vet’s office last week and apparently began stressing middle of the week or so, which is the first time they have reacted adversely to boarding there. Behavior-wise, though, they got rave reviews!

Anyway, Princess came down with diarrhea, and I noticed both she and Ginger appeared to be suffering the onset of UTIs as of Sunday. I remembered that ACV was listed as one of the many all-natural treatments for canine urinary problems. Being a Sunday, the vet was closed, so I opted for making a trip to the grocery store to pick up a bottle of ACV.

Since then, all signs of UTI have vanished in the girls, and we even started Ben on it as well because he typically has skin problems in the Spring. (He also managed to steal some of his gal pal, Peaches’, food while we were gone, causing him to be rather itchy.)

ACV is quickly winning me over, and I look forward to seeing continued improvement.

Here’s a quick rundown of some conditions that can be treated or eased with ACV:

• Urinary Tract Problems
• Skin Rashes and Hot Spots
• Ear Infections
• Constipation
• Joint and Muscle Discomfort
• Fleas, Ticks, Flies, Mosquitoes, and Ringworm
• Tear Stains
• and many more…

Not only is it great for pets, ACV also has numerous benefits for humans.

Max

J and I had the pleasure of getting to know Max, a gentle Labrador mix, who would melt your heart, and though we only had the opportunity to dogsit him a handful of times, he certainly made an impression on both of us.

Max was already getting a tad senile–he’d wander aimlessly sometimes as though he couldn’t remember what he got up for originally– but it made him even more irresistible. He was recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure and began to go downhill rather quickly. The meds just could not get keep the fluid off, and the last time I saw Max, we had stopped by to let him out for a potty break. He was having a bad day, and we had to help him up off the floor. My heart ached as I knew it wouldn’t be much longer.

I desperately felt the need to see Max before we left for the trial last week, but unfortunately, we ran out of time and were not able.

Max passed away while we were out of town.

His mom is one of our professors, and I can not imagine how she felt as she had to rush Max to the vet after he took a turn for the worst, just hours before she was to fly to a conference (also in Louisiana, ironically.)

Rest well, sweet man.

Revamping the Blog

Originally, I planned to blog about the kids in fur, but it soon turned into wedding planning, travel, and burdens.

So, now it’s back to the drawing board, and over the next few days, I will be making some changes to accommodate the original plan. Over the next few weeks, I will be making a documentary focusing on a violence that is rarely made public–puppymills–for my final “Sex, Violence, and Culture” project.

Despite recent media attention, the problem is steadily increasing in my area, along with the number of backyard breeders. Being a college town, these victims are the result of “I want it now” mentality where the local pet store caters to the students who insist on having purebred (poorbred) runts (teacups) to carry in their Coach bags or other breeds who are already overpopulated and dying in area shelters.