Canine addiction...

As I think about what tomorrow is and what I am thankful for in my life, I have to say I am thankful that I am addicted to dog rescue... Tonight I was driving home after picking up a few dogs, and I was reflecting not only on the crazies on the road, but just how very lucky I am that I have the ability to rehabilitate dogs, be involved with some really very special people in TLC and that what I do makes a difference --- even if in a small day today for just one dog... 

Dogs are addicting, of that there is no doubt... You can have the worst day ever and when you hit the door and see just how happy they are to see you, it can chase away a lot of the stress of your day... And then again, you can open the door after having a decent day and find your new pair of shoes chewed beyond recognition as one is inside your new puppy's mouth... It can spoil even the best of days!... LOL... 

But if you woke up tomorrow and there was not a dog anywhere in sight... No dogs barking in the neighborhood ever again... And the only way you could actually see a dog was in a museum somewhere with dinosaur bones and artifacts, just how joyful would this world be?... If Lassie and RinTinTin had never existed, would our childhoods have been what they are?

As for me, I don't know if I save the dogs or the dogs save me!... On a gloomy overcast day, there is always some email or new photo from someone who has adopted from TLC - and the arrival of it brightens my day... I don't how much time I spend observing dogs, but I know it is a lot... And if I didn't have that to do every day, what would I fill the void with - laundry?  OH DEAR!

Yesterday and today, I've been mulling over something in my mind and I still haven't quite worked it out... Many people believe that puppies arrive in life, learning to nuzzle their mom's muzzle to indicate they are hungry... And later, this behavior is replicated as they show respect to the alpha of the pack... Now, this is all theory because I truly don't believe ANYONE knows it ALL, nor what makes dogs do most of what they do, but it is something interesting to ponder...

So, going on these theories, exactly what are we telling the dogs when we get all kissy face with them?... Do they read it as US show due respect to THEM as alphas?... Do we confuse them and/or lose control of the alpha status of the pack by kissing their muzzles???...

Interesting notion, huh?...

Like I said, dogs are an addiction if nothing more than to ponder and wonder all your way throughout your day!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Linda

Not for the faint of heart...

Today is Wednesday and we have gotten 11 phone calls already from people who want to give up their dogs...   The last call I received, I spent 35 minutes on the phone with a woman who was determined to surrender her two "babies" because she's 'moving'... Despite giving her the grim statistics that so few pets make it out the shelter alive, I got the feeling that those two 6 year old "babies" will be showing up on some kill list very shortly...  

It seems our phone number is consistently being given out at pet shops and other dog-friendly venues instead of retail clerks simply telling this people the hard grim facts of life - if they choose to surrender their "babies" to a shelter, they need to accept the responsibility that these dogs are not likely to find another home... 

Having done rescue work for 30 years, I have heard many disparaging comments made about us rescuers throughout this time... "Rescues always get the best dogs first"... "They are in it for the money"... and so on... We're the first one who gets called when someone is trying to give up a dog and the first one to be blamed when "there are nothing but Chihuahuas and Pit Bulls in the shelters" any more... 


I have zero patience with people trying to give up their pets at shelters any more... Today's lady just simply could not understand why we were the 6th rescue she'd called and no one had any room to take in her two "babies"... Finally, just about at my wit's end, I asked her how she could call them her "babies" and just abandon them to more than likely die?... Honestly, at about the 10th time hearing that term she referred to them as, I just could no longer bite my tongue... 


Did I make a difference in what she intends to do?... Probably not, but I certainly gave her something to think about... She can't just walk away and not think about what she has done... 


Rescues have an overwhelming job just to attempt to make a difference in the life of the dog they see today that needs help, let alone all the others we know will be abandoned tomorrow, the next day and the next week... And I also question the heartlessness of some humans who don't seek care for their pets, neglect them and then expect the taxpayers to foot the bill keeping shelters open and bulging at the seams... 


About 10 days ago, we pulled a small demodex pup out of one of the shelters... He was covered from head to tip of tail with crusty scabs and smelled even worse... Once bathed and treatment started, he also has struggled for the past 10 days with a very bad case of upper respiratory infection... 

Each day Rooney has dutifully allowed me to administer antibiotics, stuff on his skin and sat for 20 minutes in a nebulizer with medicated oxygen... And you would think from this photo, that he's scared, right?


Wrong... He has not received the proper good quality nutrition for a VERY long time...  It is not just that he's skinny and underweight, his entire spine is visible and sticking out... 

Not only did he not receive medical care for the demodex, he has practically been starved to death... 

God only knows how long this has been going on, but he's not quite 5 months old...  He is so malnourished, that he cannot stand up properly and put his weight evenly on all four legs... How could anyone allow this to happen and call themselves human?... Aren't we supposed to care with compassion?

With treatment, Rooney is slowly regaining his strength, recovering from his respiratory distress (we don't hear him coughing all night long and throughout the day) and with time, his coat is starting to come back in as you can see from the photo of his face... A few months from now, you won't be able to tell it is the same dog at all... 

But what would happen at our local shelters if the rescues weren't there to step up and try to save as many as we can?  It would be EVEN worse than it already is (and it is already pretty darn bad!!)... So before you consider adopting that cute little puppy, think about where you will be in your life 5, 10 years from now when they are no longer cute and puppy like... Think about if you have to move, will you make the commitment to take your pets with you... We as a people have to stop throwing away these dogs like yesterday's read newspaper... The 'Rooneys' of the dog world deserve better!

Why yet another blog?

Why another blog?... Well, first off - it is fall... Normal for me to get into the spring (or fall) 'house cleaning' mode... In my life, this is usually right behind Halloween and before Thanksgiving as I get myself mentally, physically and mentally ready for the upcoming winter months... Born and raised in the Deep South, we don't really have a vast change of seasons where I grew it - it was all directed by how much rain (and floods) we got in Louisiana... But later in my adult life, I moved to Northern Virginia, which does have a real sense of seasonal change... So at the end of 53 years, I'm sorta/kinda a hodge podge of all kinds of things rolled up into one (as you will learn if you follow this blog!  UT OH)... 

.... (kickin' back to my original train of thought)... So at this time of year, I tend to look at what can I throw out, cleaning the house for the holidays, what needs to be done before the end of the year and where am I headed next year... Sorta/kinda like the time you start looking for a calendar for next year 'cause things are coming up that need to be scheduled and your dog-eared and tired looking calendar on the fridge needs replacing!... Another thing for my to-do list... the TLC calendar.... jotting it down right now! ... Excuse me for a sec... 

Back now... For years I wrote under an online person "LadyIsREAL"... It is still an odd thing to Google that and see there are 1,300+ items showing up on the Internet!  OMG!... And in the past years since I heavily devoted my time to TLC, I stopped writing, blogging, etc... And I'm an 'auto-writer' as my very smart and savy daughter (Desiree) told me VERY long ago... I write how I think and that can be confusing to many (including myself AND my family!!! :)

So don't expect to leave this blog with much more than a greater sense of confusion than when you arrived!

I'm full of 'wonder why' kind of things... Like this morning... My daughter has a little Chi named "BillyBoy" and despite his arrival in our lives at the age of three weeks old, he has developed an unusual character flaw that must be a genetic dysfunction of some sort!...  Without warning or reason, BillyBoy will start an ear piercing SCREAM and as he keeps it up, it increases with volume...

It is SO loud and SO annoying that it hurts the other dogs' ears... So when BillyBoy starts, you best be on top of him to stop it, or the end result is absolutely dog-gone miserable!...

We don't have a clue how he got this habit, have yet to figure out why he does it nor have we found a way of stopping him from doing it... And the end result is that we hate to leave him home alone because he can do it at random - we don't want him to start and have our neighbors complaining about barking dogs - that is just plain out rude!... So, he goes to adoptions every Saturday with Desiree at Unleashed in Simi Valley - not because he's a good spokesperson for TLC, but because of the opposite!

When Des can take one of her dogs to work, I usually beg her to take BillyBoy... He's adorable, I give him that... Cute, loving, friendly and pudgy... But that scream?... It is enough to wake the dead and beyond!

About a month ago, I decided in my head that I was going to break him of this habit - at least on my watch... So EVERY time he started, I'd track him down physically, do the stern "NO" and if he did not stop the screaming, I'd squirt him with the water bottle (our tool of discipline by choice)... The little sh*t... Now he starts his screaming and if he is within range of the bottle, he takes off and makes me follow him throughout the house and even into the backyard!...

This morning, I heard the 'speaker' kick start and BillyBoy happened to be fairly close to me... A mistake on his part... He heard the office chair squeak as I reached for the water bottle, jumped off the Kooleroo bed and headed out of the room... As I'm now up and mobile, he is looking over his shoulder at me, but STILL SCREAMING...

He has a perfect little Chi butt target, so I've left loose one squirt of water already with the command... He's still going strong... Has to take a breath but as soon as he does, he goes for it again - still in motion... He and I are now in the kitchen and he's getting a wet butt, I'm getting even more determined that he is NOT going to scream like this on my watch...

Out into the backyard he goes, not knowing about the high winds that are going on... A blast of wind hits him in the face, it stops the screaming for a few seconds as he readjusts, but he continues to move forward in that fast 'kibble and bits' run and yet again, another scream is unleashed by that pudge butt as I am in fast pursuit...

Now, why... Tell me why a dog we have raised from almost birth has developed into a dog with such a bad habit?... Besides the fact we are human and don't know everything, we are also very aware that you reward good behavior and ignore the bad... If we could ignore this screaming, we certainly would... He's not hurt, hungry, lonely or tired... He's certainly not bored... He does not like it when I get on him right away as he starts... And has learned to run from me if the squirt bottle is in my hand and I have told him "NO"...  None of us have been able to find the 'trigger' as to what causes BillyBoy to do this... We have his mom (Sookie) and she doesn't do it, so he didn't learn it from her - none of his canine BFFs do it either... This is totally a 'BillyBoy-only' behavior...

Sooooo.... Inquiring minds want to know what makes BillyBoy do this... LOL.... Yep, this is how my mind thinks and wanders throughout the day and night when I'm awake... Told ya that you'd never know what you'd find in one of my personal blogs!

As Always,

Linda, the CPPU

(Chief Poop Picker Upper)