My brother sent me these – there were lots more, but I picked out the relevant ones.
Continue reading Funny Friday: Dog Pictures to Make You Smile
Meet Micah, the Therapy Dog
Tonight, we went to the local hospital to visit friends who were in a very bad motorcycle accident last weekend. As we were walking into the hospital lobby, just ahead of us was a huge, beautiful Husky, and I knew he must be a therapy dog because he had his “working clothes” on.
We stopped in the lobby to briefly talk to Micah and his partner, Cindy Carr, learning that Micah suffers from Cushings Syndrome, a disease of the adrenal glands that makes Micah have trouble controlling his weight, which is why he is so much bigger than most Huskies.
After we chatted for a bit, we went into the gift shop for some flowers, and when we came out, Cindy asked if we were going to see someone who liked dogs. Little did she know that our friend Pam runs a wildlife rescue, works with the local pound AND lives with five dogs. She was absolutely thrilled to see Micah!
If your dog is well-behaved, you might consider training him as a therapy dog. Contact your local hospital for details. Here in Canton, one hospital uses an organization called “Happy Tails”, while the other relies on dogs with Delta Society Certifications.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Dog bites police officer, gets tasered and shot 3 times
OK, when you read the headline you’re thinking it’s a Rott, a Pit, or some other big strong dog, right? Nope, it was a 5-pound Chihuahua mix! Here’s the story from WCPO, a local TV station in Cincinnati. Continue reading Dog bites police officer, gets tasered and shot 3 times
Help out animal rescues and dog shelters
(This button is not a valid link – read below for how you can help.)
Come on, admit it…you’ve clicked on ads on your favorite websites before. Now, you can do so to help out a cause near and dear to all of us. If you go to this website and click on the “Click Here to Give” button, their sponsors will give a little over half a bowl of food to an animal rescue organization. You can only click once a day, but if all of us work together, we’ll make a dent in animal hunger. It’s easy. It’s free. What more can you ask for?
Best of all, the site is part of the PetFinders network, so it is legitimate. The site also features some success stories of dogs who have found homes.
If you look at the very top row of tabs, you’ll notice that you can do similar FREE good works for other causes such as breast cancer, literacy, and the rain forest. Not a bad deal!
I look at it this way: I have to look at ads all the time when I surf. (I know. I know. They make it possible for many sites to exist, but sometimes they’re annoying.) By clicking on these “Give” buttons, the advertisers have to give something back to the community. Seems like divine justice!
If you don’t have doggies.com set up as your home page, consider having TheAnimalRescueSite as your home, so you see it every day when you log on. That will help you remember to click the button every day and provide food to our needy 4-legged friends.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Survey Saturday: What’s Your Favorite Breed of Dog?
I nearly got into an argument today with a friend over what the best breed of dog is. So, we’ll let you, the readers, decide. Listed below are the 9 most popular breeds, according to 2008 AKC registrations, as well as the ever-popular “mutt-i-gree”. I had to narrow it down somehow, so AKC rankings seemed like an easy way to do it.
Continue reading Survey Saturday: What’s Your Favorite Breed of Dog?
Budweiser Clydesdales and a Dalmation
The first Friday of each month, downtown Canton holds a “First Friday” event to draw people to the downtown area. Sometimes it’s a concert, sometimes a wine tasting, sometimes an art show – whatever. This month, the big feature was the Budweiser beer wagon, pulled by a team of 8 Clydesdale horses. Boy, were they beautiful!
How does this tie to a dog blog? Did you know that the wagon also carries a Dalmation, just like a fire truck? I sure didn’t, but I guess it makes sense historically. The Dalmations were originally used to keep stray dogs away from the horses used to pull fire trucks, so it follows that other industries that relied on horse-drawn wagons would use them, too.
Just a little history lesson for you!
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
The picture of the horses didn’t turn out as well due to the crowd, but thought you’d like to see the horses, too!
Why Some Men Have Dogs Rather Than Wives
Thanks to my sister for sending along this entirely sexist tidbit!
Emergency Medical Care for your Dog
This is CPR awareness week – do you have a plan for how to manage your dog’s emergency care? I have a couple of recommendations.
Take the Red Cross’ first aid class for pets. It’s been awhile since I took it, so I can’t remember if it includes CPR or not, but it did include a lot of valuable information on treating life’s everyday boo-boos.
Learn the location of the nearest emergency vet clinic and plot the quickest route to it. If you have the luxury of more than one clinic in your area, find out about any policies they have that might impact your choice of which one to use. Does one or the other have “forgiving” payment terms so you can get your dog treated even if you can’t pay right away? Is one or the other endorsed by your vet? Does one or the other offer follow-up care if you need it? What about hours of operation?
Ask your vet if there are certain treatments you can provide at home. Your dog is bound to be more comfortable with you touching him than the vet. (OK, that sounded bad, but you know what I mean!) If you are capable of taking care of some of his needs, whether on an emergency basis or for long-term medical issues, why not make him more comfortable by treating him in a very familiar environment.
Keep basic medical supplies on hand so you are prepared for emergencies when they arise. You don’t want to have your dog bleeding all over the floor when you find out you are out of bandages or antiseptic.
Keep an emergency kit stocked for any natural disasters that might occur in your area. Make sure you have enough food, water, and medicines for 3 – 5 days until basic services are restored.
Hoping you never need these suggestions!
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Protecting Your Dog Under Stormy Conditions
Received an interesting press release from InterVet yesterday. This may be something some of you are interested in purchasing, but even if not, they make many helpful points about keeping your dog safe.
Continue reading Protecting Your Dog Under Stormy Conditions
DockDogs Competition
We spent some of the weekend getting sunburned at the Dock Diving competition at Clay’s Park, in Canal Fulton, Ohio.� Sponsored by Cabela’s, Stihl, Time Warner Cable, and DockDogs , it was so much fun! We had a jam-packed weekend, so we didn’t get to stay as long as I would have liked, but we did catch some of the Big Air competition, where the dogs jump for distance.� If you’re not familiar with Dock Diving, check out the article in our Dog Den. Some of these dogs were absolutely amazing!
We saw a Norfolk Terrier, the first one who had ever competed in Dock Diving, jump a proud 5 feet! He was so cute in his little life vest – the handler held him off the ground while she was setting up, and his little feet would just go, go, go – he was so anxious to get started.
We met Misty and Stormer, from Westerville, Ohio, who inspired their humans to get involved in dock diving by jumping off the docks near their home. Unfortunately, on their first sanctioned jumps, they only went about 1 foot, but now they are up to well over 20 feet.
We also got to see a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog / Pit Bull mix – tell me that’s not a mouthful!
(To those of you who I interviewed, I have to apologize – somewhere between there and here, I lost my notes, so I know I didn’t include all of you here. Please rescue me by writing a comment & telling us your story!)
The longest jump we actually saw was 24’9″ from a Dalmation, but just as we were leaving, we heard the announcer call one at over 25 feet!
If you haven’t seen one of these competitions, it is well worth the trip. I’ll try to keep you updated on future competitions so you can find one in your area. This particular competition was part of the “Bark in the Park”, which featured displays from different vendors of dog toys, accessories, T-shirts, etc. The Dock Diving competition was the centerpiece, but there was lots of other stuff to do and see, as well. My middle son nearly cried when we had to leave!
The competitors come from all over – this event had dogs from Ontario, Canada, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Nevada, and Indiana. (After that, I lost track.) My son definitely wants to start our beagle in training, and I think we may take the Vizsla as well. I’ll have to find out how we get started, and I’ll let you know.
Here’s a nice article from our local paper about the competition with a great picture of the Dalmation.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!