Post - Bailey

Hi, everypuppy, it's me, Dannan.

There are no pictures for the blog today. And The Girl is totally behind on reading blogs, so bear with her.

The reason there are no pictures for the blog is named BAILEY. You know, the little blonde cocker spaniel from yesterday's post? Well, let me tell you all about how that went.

The Girl's sister J told her that Bailey doesn't get along with most dogs. So The Girl arranged for us to meet on neutral territory down the street from Nanny and Papa's house. She said that at least then I wouldn't have any territorial issues, whatever she means by that.

The Girl and I approached J and Bailey, leashes all 'round. Bailey, who looks sweet and cute and everything, turned into a pulling, roaring, monster-dog! I had been quite good to that point, interested and pulling to meet her. When I heard her growls, I said, "Game on!" and launched myself to the end of my leash.

The Girl moved me away, and I calmed down. Especially since I got turkey jerky. So now, to me, being near Bailey is actually pretty good. I love turkey jerky!

We tried a few more approaches, and Bailey was having none of it. I pretty much ignored her, because what's the big deal anyway? Turkey jerky, my fur-ends, turkey jerky.

J and Bailey went off for a short walk while I went in and greeted everyone. Then, if you can even IMAGINE! I got kicked outside into the back yard, ALL DAY. At one point, people were going in and out the door, and Bailey snuck out. She again launched herself at me, and I'll always give as good as I get. Lots of noise and fury, she bit me, I bit her back, and then J and The Girl were pulling us apart. No blood, no skin broken. Bailey got dragged back into the house by J, and as far as I'm concerned, I won that fight! (The Girl: You should have seen him grinning.)

Anyway, I got left outside, which normally I don't mind, but today I just knew SHE was in there with all my people. We left right after dinner, which Nanny served early so I didn't have to be by myself quite as long. And both Nanny and The Girl came out and visited with me. J came out, too, to help clean my ears. I was a Very Good Dog and amazed the heck out of J. She said that Bailey would never stand still and let her even pick up her spaniel ear without freaking out. Well, I can totally believe that!

So I will get left at home for the duration of their visit. But you know, I did get a marrow bone in the yard to chew on, and I got to visit with my Papa in the basement. (The Girl tried to baby gate me in the downstairs rec room, but I totally blew through that plastic thing! But The Girl had another baby gate at the top of the stairs! Apparently she somehow foresaw that I would go all freight train at the first gate. That's when I got kicked back outside again.

Ahem. The Girl here again. Before you feel too badly for Dannan, you should know this: he ended up with TWO marrow bones, half a dozen squares of turkey jerky, more visits and belly rubs than he would have normally got (and he would have chosen to stay outside all afternoon anyway, which is what he always does!). AND he got to have a fight (which he is never allowed to do), AND he got to win! He didn't have that bad a day, all said.

But he's right; he'll stay home for the next few days while they are here. I'm pretty proud of him, though. He would have been friendly with her if she would have allowed it. He indeed was a Very Good Dog today!

(I'll be by everyone's blogs hopefully over the weekend. I'm addicted! I can't stand days that go by when I don't read what everybody is up to!)

Bailey

Dannan doesn't know it yet, but he's going to meet Bailey tomorrow. Bailey is my sister J's dog, and J and her family are in town for a visit. They are staying at my parents' house, which is probably a good thing.

Typically, Bailey doesn't get along with other dogs. Dannan has his challenges with other dogs, too. He's usually fine with dogs that are smaller than he is (perhaps because he lives with Min Pins?), but he takes issue with dogs the same size or larger. It's like he thinks that he's got to prove something, and he thinks that the best defence is a good offence. So we'll see how it goes tomorrow when they meet. I hope they get along!

--
Shelter dogs -- the original "designer dogs"! Make the SPCA your first adoption option!

Wordless Wednesday

A good day for animals in BC

Just had to add a quick note... On September 13th and 14th, the BCSPCA hosted Paws for a Cause, Walk for the Animals. Dannan raised $220 (more than I've ever raised, he's obviously much cuter than I, LOL), our local branch raised over $32,000 ($5,000 more than last year!), and provincially, we raised over one million dollars!!!!! Animal lovers are super people!

freaky laser eye collection

I was just noticing how I've got all these pictures of Dannan with the laser-eye-thing going on. I though I would share them (since I haven't got anything new, LOL).

Upside down lasers

Lasers while saying "wroooooo"

Another upside down laser shot, not quite as dark and eerie :)

Upside down, laser eyes, and crazy whale-eye...

Laser eyes while he's chillin' with his buddy, Jay:

The Rarely Photographed Laser-Eyed Cheese Catcher:

Even from the side, my boy can shoot lasers from his eyes!

Dannan is sulking in his bedroom right now. He's not allowed to have a cat, which is his fondest desire. In particular, he would like this cat:

This cat is Cleo, and she is my favourite cat in the whole wide world. She is very timid and afraid of everything, except (oddly enough) Dannan. She doesn't want him to play with her or chase her, but she's not scared of him. She is, however, afraid of sudden movements:





















But she's lovely, all the same. Not a bad choice, Dannan, if you are going to choose a cat. If you chose this one:
























you'd be in big trouble! This is Hailey, who is a bad-natured cat who doesn't really like me (or Dannan) very much at all. The Roomie always thinks it's funny that I could assess the biggest, baddest, scariest looking dog at the SPCA and not think twice, but I am terrified of Hailey.


We figured when I brought Dannan home that it would take about 2.3 seconds for Hailey to give Dannan a good swat and end his fascination with cats. Well, it's been 3.5 years, and although she hisses and swears at him, she's never laid so much as a paw on him. Dannan delights in chasing her, and she always runs to the scratching post, leaps to the top, turns around and tells him off good (from seven feet above!).


But she does have some good laser eyes of her own:

DWB Holiday Card Exchange

If you haven't heard about it yet, Dogs With Blogs is having a Holiday Card Exchange!!!! I love getting mail, so I'm very excited about it! (I usually only get mail from thevet, and who wants that?)


If you haven't heard about this, or haven't signed up yet, click on the button to the right, right away!!!!


The Girl is thinking really hard about what our card should look like. I am nervous, because I sense humiliating outfits are in my future. This is one of the pictures she took making our card two years ago:


























There was a better one that actually made it on the card, but I can't figure out where The Girl saved it.


Any doggy got any ideas on how I can get a super-cool picture for our card, without having to undergo Christmas Torture???

so bored

PS to SPCA Saturday

I don't want anybody to think that I am against all breeders, which is not the case. I am against bad and irresponsible breeders. If you want to get a purebred, then check out this page from the Humane Society of the United States. It tells you how to find a responsible and reputable breeder.

SPCA Saturday - Puppy Mill Awareness Day

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Today is Puppy Mill Awareness Day. I would ask you to please read this post, even though it is a hard subject to read about.

A puppy mill is usually defined as a breeding facility that produces puppies in large numbers. In my neck of the woods (the Interior of British Columbia), we often include backyard breeders and smaller-scale operations in the definition of a puppy mill. What I focus on is the treatment of the animals, rather than defining a puppy mill merely based on numbers of puppies bred.

So, for me, a puppy mill is a place where dogs are bred and some or all of the following are present:

• lack of sanitation in the breeding facility;
• overbreeding;
• inbreeding;
• poor quality food and inadequate shelter;
• overcrowded cages or pens;
• inability of the animals to express behaviours that are natural for those animals, and necessary to their well-being;
  
• minimal vet care;
• lack of human contact and socialization of puppies (and their mothers); and
• focus on profit rather than on the welfare of individual dogs.

One of the reasons that I don't like to focus on the total number of puppies produced is because the conditions in which the dogs and puppies live is to me far more important. I have seen many puppy mills where there are many adult dogs forced to live in space that is too small for that number of animals. Where cages are piled on top of each other in every available space. Where the dogs live out in the open, without a roof over their heads.

Or where there is either a lack of food and/or water, or the quality of that food and water is deplorable. (And here I'm not necessarily talking about the food being of minimal quality in the way that many dog owners would judge. I am talking about food that has gotten wet and allowed to mold, or rotten human food given to the dogs, or dogs having to cannibalize other dogs who have died and not been removed from the area. And water that is dirty, nasty, or just not there at all.)

Where urine and feces are never cleaned up, just allowed to build up and rot. Where the breeding females are bred every time they come into heat, from their first heat onward. Until they are too worn out and no longer of value to the breeder. Where no one ever spends any time with the pups or the dogs, and they are not socialized to people or to situations. Where disease and genetic health problems are widespread, and veterinary care is lacking (often completely).

I know this is hard to think about. But if we don't think about it, and make decisions based on facts and evidence, then we unwittingly support the practice and perpetuate it.

Where do puppy mill puppies end up? In pet stores. Even if they say that they don't buy from puppy mills, those puppies are highly likely to have come from a situation of poor welfare and poor standards of care.

Where else? On the Internet. In the newspaper. From the breeder's backyard. From the mill itself. And if you go to breeder, you will not likely see where the dogs and pups really live, or how they are really treated. And if you ask to see the parents of the pups, you have no way of knowing whether they truly are or not. It is a common practice for bad breeders to show you better cared for animals that the parents actually are.

If you want know more about puppy mills and what you can do about them, please go to the Puppy Mill Awareness Day site. The number one thing that you can do to stop these inhumane breeding practices is to adopt a dog or puppy from a shelter, or pound, or rescue group.

And please don't think that all animals at shelters and pounds are "problem dogs". Most of the dogs who wind up at an SPCA, humane society, or other shelter are there because:

• the people who brought them there didn't know the dog would get so big/need so much exercise/have so much hair;
• they have developed allergies, or their children have;
• they have a new baby;
• and the number one reason that dogs are brought into shelters is that the people are moving and cannot find a place that allows dogs!

These dogs are there through no fault of their own. Many of them are "adolescent" dogs, who are full of energy and have no outlets for that energy. Many of them are not trained in even the basics of proper behaviour (like not jumping on people, or how to sit), and just need someone to spend a little time with them.

Dannan, my fabulous little dog, came into the SPCA as a stray. He is smart as can be, loves to learn, is healthy, and has no behavioural issues. He is also typical of the kind of dogs that are at shelters.

So please, think about where your dog has come from, and if you are getting another (or know someone who is getting a dog), please think about this issue! For the love of dog, please think about it.

couch monster

Hello again, everypuppy! I'm getting to post all the time lately!

After much thinking, and some advice from my good fur-end Sunny, my swollen head has gone back to it's normal size. Being featured on the Biscuit Fund website hasn't really changed my life, except that The Girl keeps telling me that I can't have bodyguards. Well, everydoggie, there's been no need for that, actually. No pupperazzi, no autograph hounds, no stalkers peering through the fence. My brush with fame was heady, but I'm back down to earth now. Thanks for putting up with the big head!

Actually, I could have used a bodyguard the other night. The Girl took some pictures of me being EATEN!

There I was, minding my own pup-ness, having a dognap, when all of a sudden I noticed that I was being swallowed by the couch!

You can see the alarm in my eyes!

Resigned to being eaten by the couch. Sigh, nobody's running to the rescue. The Girl is just flashing that stupid silver box at me. Where are the bodyguards when I need them?

This one is really blurry, but I think it captures the BEING EATEN part pretty

well.

You can see I'm hanging on for dear life!

In desperation, I go upside down in an attempt to appease the COUCH MONSTER!

Is it working? Is it working???

Life is very hard for little brown dogs.

Note from The Girl: Hah! If this is an example of how hard life is for Dannan, then you can all rest easy! He likes to perch on the back cushion of the couch like the Min Pins do, but he is significantly larger than they are. And he also likes to paw at the cushions until they start to fall off the couch, then wedge himself in between the back of the couch and whatever cushions are left. Life is indeed hard! LOL.

Award from Bolo! and my FLH

OMDog, I got another award!! This one's from Bolo, whose nose The Girl always sends extra smoochie kisses to! We wuff Bolo, and he has the most pawsome adventures! Thanks, Bolo!!

This is my happy face, cuz I've got so many special friends:

We don't know the rules for this award, so we're just going to send it to some of the doggies we've met while being on Dogs With Blogs:


Ben the Rotti, cuz he's grrrreat! And also cuz he and Lady Kaos are organizing the celebration for the 1000th member of DWBs.


Lady Kaos, cuz see above; also, in memory of Mr. Duckie.


Roxie, Sammy and Andy, who still comment on our bloggie even though we're so behind on reading theirs!


Joe Stains and Tanner, cuz we wuff them, too. Also cuz The Girl always looks forward to Tanner Tuesday (she says, WHAAAAATTTTTTTSSSSSUUUUUPPPPP, Tanner!), and cuz Joe's got some things he's worried about.


Mango, Dexter, and Hector Wheelie, cuz we miss Mango and Dexter, who are at sleepaway camp, and because Hector is our favourite Wheelie.


The Canine Mafioso, cuz Carmela's new and takin' names!


The Girl here. I'm going to add The Zoo Crew, because Dannan is seriously crushin' on Zoey, their latest foster doggie!


Girlie, don't tell everypuppy that! Now I am embarrassed. Gotta change the subject.


Oh, yeah, I'm s'posed to write about how I need to be a humble dog, whatever that is. The Girl says that cuz I'M FAMOUS and all, I'm starting to get a Freakishly Large Head, and not in an attractive way. She says that Bruno's FLH is handsome and huge, and my head is just swollen. AND, no bodyguards or anything fun like that. The Girl is a big wet blanket, that's what I think!




--
Shelter dogs -- the original "designer dogs"! Make the SPCA your first adoption option!

I AM FAMOUS!

Dannan here again, wroo wroo everypuppy!

I found out that I AM FAMOUS!!!

Remember how I told you that a great BCSPCA fund called the Biscuit Fund paid to get my leggie fixed??? Well, Biscuit is a real dog, I think the first one that the fund helped, and Biscuit has a blog. AND IT FEATURES ME THIS WEEK!!!!!

There's a picture of me and everything!

(The Girl here: We're trying not to let "the fame" go to his head.)

So, bloggy-doggies, drop by Biscuit's Blog if you want to see a FAMOUS Three-Legged Little Brown Dog! (Oh, and there is a link to another three-legger named Remington there too. The Girl says we have to go check out Remington's blog. But I am FAMOUS!!!!)

Wordless Wednesday

Mango, the Fabulously Huge, gave us this award a bit ago, and just now The Girl is getting around to letting me post about it.

Thank you so much, Mango Man! We love your bloggy so much, it's a real honour to get this award from you!

(And The Girl will figure out how to put this in our sidebar, I promise!)




So, there are rules to passing this award along:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs that you've nominated.


We don't know who all has received this blog, so we're just going to give it out to some of our favourite bloggie-doggies who we think are kinda new, or maybe would be new to our friends.

1. The Texas Sun Dogs, a.k.a. Sunny, Scooter, and Jamie, cuz they're new to blogging, but love it! (You should see how many posts they have!) And we love to read them and to look at Jamie's pictures!

2. Daisy, who is one of our favourite Pitty pals! Daisy, we wuff you!

3. Dozer, (who is not the same dog as Daisy, even though they look like twins), because his bloggie is really fun to read, and we have the same wonky ears! (I'm going to get The Girl to post a picture, Dozer, so you can see my ears are the same as yours!)

4. Three Legged Max, cuz he's a tripod like me, even down to the same leg being gone! Max and his mom don't post as much as we'd like, cuz they should post EVERY DAY cuz TRIPODS RULE!!!!

5. The Stoutino Inn and Foster Kennel, because we just met them and they are really awesome doggies. They foster a lot of doggies until they can find fur-ever homes, and we wuff them for that!

6. The Brown Dog Blog, who are also pretty new, and are BROWN DOGS just like me!!!

7. Our last bloggie-nominee is It's a Dog's World, which is CANADIAN just like us! (That's why we spell things different sometimes!) Quincy is a new doggie-blogger, and he's an assistance dog in training! Madison is his puppy-raiser, and she teaches him (and the other dogs she's helped train!) all about the world.


Hopefully, one of these bloggies are new to you, and you'll make a new fur-end!

A Week at the Grandparents'

So, while I was running around like a lunatic getting ready for the Kamloops SPCA's Paws for a Cause Walk for the Animals, Dannan and I were also house sitting for my parents. My mom and dad positively dote on Dannan. Often, if I drop by to visit them, the first thing they say to me is, "Where's Dannan? Didn't you bring Dannan?" Good thing I know they love me best, right? LOL.

This summer, my parents re-fenced their backyard. For Dannan. Did I ever mention that he is a Very Spoiled Dog???

These pictures are actually from the first day we visited after the fence was up, the first day he was in their yard without a long line or leash. The pics are a few months old at this point. There are no pictures from this last week, and Dannan says that we all know who is to blame for that!

Check out the tongue action!

Gotta scratch when you got an itch, right?

Surveying his new kingdom...

I just thought this shot was funny.

He's heard something... At one point, he looked at me with an expression (which I didn't catch, dammit!) that said, Hey, Girl, did you know there's different sounds here?

He's a pretty happy boy. It doesn't take much, which is a lesson I'm constantly striving to take to heart from him!

Another spot he was trying out...

Dog in motion.... Please don't look at the peeling paint on the garage!

We had a great week over at my parents' house, but it's also good to be home. Dannan has his Pins, his Cat TV, and his own yard (which he had to check immediately, of course). And the birds here are different than at Mom and Dad's - lots more here to chase, although he did a great job with the crows over there!

And just a last note... We raised over $31,000 for our local branch of the BCSPCA this past weekend! It was an awesome day!

Pee Ess We are going to slowly catch up on our comments and blogs over the next few days, and tomorrow, we will unveil the award Mango gave us (a really long time ago!)!

Shelter dogs -- the original "designer dogs"! Make the SPCA your first adoption option!

Hurricane Ike

I told The Girl that we needed to do this post, and she totally agreed.

Anyone in the path of Ike, please take care and be safe. We will be thinking of you.

Wordless Wednesday (almost!)

The Girl said she had time to put up a quick picture for Wordless Wednesday. Here's my "model shot"!



Pee Ess When we get back to blogging, we have some really pawsome news to share: Mango, the Magnificently Huge, has given us an award! When we're back, we'll do the whole formal post, but for now, THANKS MANGO MAN!

Dannan here again. The Girl says she is really busy this coming week, and she might not get to post, or read all our friends' bloggies, or comment, or anything! I'm pretty put out by this, but if she doesn't type for me, I can't blog myself. Damn the opposable thumb anyway.


We're already behind, we've got lots of comments to read but The Girl says she's too frazzled to get to it. So if you don't hear from us for a week or so, then you know I'm being neglected while The Girl does other stuff. Why she would want to do other stuff besides be with me, I'll never know! But we'll be back in a week, she says. I'm going to hold her to it.


And since The Girl hasn't taken any pictures lately, this is an old (not very good, either!) one of what happens to my lips when I run.






Pee Ess Next Saturday (the 13th) is the BCSPCA's annual Paws for a Cause, Walk for the Animals. Dannan is still collecting pledges; if you'd like to donate to help abandoned, injured, neglected and abused animals in Kamloops, please drop us a pledge! (All the info is at this post.)

troll

Wrrooooo, wrrooooo, everypuppy, it's Dannan again!

Today, I'm going to post about a guest doggy. His name is Troll, and he stayed with my Nanny and Papa in 2006. Troll's person, Bob, was my Papa's good friend, and he had to go to the hospital for a long time. Papa took him home, and they looked after him. (Bob didn't make it home, but his daughter from Nanaimo ended up taking Troll to Nanaimo to live with her pack.)

Troll and I did not get along. I didn't get to visit Nanny and Papa the whole time he stayed there, because The Girl said I was too rude and had tried to eat Troll. I told her, but he's at MY Nanny and Papa's house! That's MY home (well, my second home). But she said, no more visits with Troll. Hmmmph.

Anyway, The Girl said Troll was pretty cute, and he wa a doggy in a rough spot, what with Bob being sick and all. So she wanted to post about him. *I* would have preferred to post about myself, but she said she'd give me a marrow bone if I posted about Troll. So here he is.

Even Troll liked to be upside down!

It was a tough time for Troll; he liked to be under the table to feel safe.

So, that's Troll. Tomorrow, it will be all about ME, ME, ME!!!

(Going to have my marrow bone, now!)

--
Shelter dogs -- the original "designer dogs"! Make the SPCA your first adoption option!