Help!!!!

 

Help me, my furends!  (Assuming I have any furends left!  After all, it has been eleventy-seven YEARS since That Mean Girl let me post on my bloggy!)


I need somepuppy to call the SPCA, or the police, or 911, or something.  I need to be rescued!  That Mean Girl is neglecting me terribly.  I'm sure that keeping me away from my bloggy and all my furends is a crime, and they would help me.


I know that all of you have been wondering about us, whether we're okay, or even still alive!  Well, we are alive, but obviously all is not well at my house.  That Mean Girl is doing all kinds of other things, and she has some pretty messed up priorities, that much is obvious!


I am doing pretty well other than never being allowed on my own bloggy.  We had some bad thunder for a few weeks, and I was worried about that.  But I'm doing better, especially since it's been a while since we had those awful storms.  Cross your paws that we don't have many more!


I am settling in well at my Nanny and my Papa's house, which seems to be where we'll be living for a while.  All of our stuff is here, so I guess we're staying.  I don't mind, really.  The wind is kind of scary sometimes here, more than at The Roomie's house.  But my Nanny and my Papa have a nice big backyard, and my Nanny puts out a birdie feeder so they come around.  Then I can chase them, which is one of my fave-fur-ite things to do!


My Nanny and my Papa also like to share their foodables with me.  This drives That Mean Girl crazy, because she says that I have to "stay lean, because he only has one front leggie".   I think she is just jealous, because my Nanny and my Papa don't give her foodables.  My Papa always gives me half of his apple.  And lots of other things that That Mean Girl doesn't know about, so I won't write about them here.


They also let me bark more than That Mean Girl does.  Wroo!


I also really wuff to roll on my Papa's bed!  If he doesn't close his bedroom door all the way, I sneak in there and roll.  It is really pawsome!


I don't have much time, since I had to sneak on here when That Mean Girl wasn't paying attention.  It is furry hard to type with my nose, because all the keys on the laptop thingy are so close together.  But I seem to have figured it out okay, so I'll try to sneak on to my bloggy more often.


I guess I better say something about how That Mean Girl is doing.  She has been going to the People V-E-T a lot lately, and she takes a lot of different pills.  (She doesn't even take them with peanut butter, or CheezeWhiz!  She has no idea, really.  It is quite sad.)  She says they are "trying to find a meds combination that works".  I’m sure it would work better if she took them with CheezeWhiz.


She is also doing lots of cheating on me with other doggies.  Evfurry Monday night, she goes away and comes back hours later smelling of puppies.  Can you imagine???  She says she is teaching the puppies’ people how to train them.  A likely story.


She also is doing something with the SPCA shelter doggies and the magic clicky box.  I don’t know why she feels the need to go there to use the magic clicky box, since I’m always ready, willing, and able to let her click it at me and give me treats.  I really don’t understand her.


She spends a LOT of time on this laptop thingy.  She says she is “learning”.  Another likely story.


Anyway, enough about That Mean Girl.  And I think I hear her coming back, so I’d better go lie on the chair Upside Down so she doesn’t suspect anything.


I miss all of you, my furends.  Here’s hoping you’re all still out there somewhere!  And hoping that That Mean Girl gets off the laptop thingy evfurry once in a while, so I can sneak on here and post!


WROO!

Me and My Hedgie

Wroo, evfurry body. Girlie took a picture of me today on her cellphone. She was too lazy to go across the room and get the camera. I guess I can't complain, because at least we're posting something!


I have had Hedgie for years. He is my oldest stuffy, and you will notice that he is still intact. It is not from lack of trying, believe me! I can't seem to get him to explode. Usually I tear off a stuffy's limb, but his little feety-feets are just so tiny that I can't seem to get a good grip. Never fear, I'll post pictures of Hedgie when I finally manage to make him explode!


Girlie is getting over the buggy she had, but now is losing her voice. She's got papers evfurry where, getting ready for the SPCA Annual General Meeting on Sunday. She keeps saying that she is the chair, but that doesn't make any sense to me. I know chairs; I like to steal them from my people when they get up. But you know, The Girl babbles all the time about stuff that doesn't make any sense. All I know is that this meeting thing will be another thing I don't get to go to!


She's been furry busy all month, trying to get ready for this meeting. She says that this is the end to a furry long year, and she can't wait for the meeting to be over. Because of her brain sickies and what the people v-e-ts told her, she has to take a break from working so hard at the SPCA. Even though they told her that she should stop right away after she got out of the hospital, she said that there was some things that she just didn't feel right about leaving for other people to have to do. If only I could get her to feel that way about walkies and super-extended play sessions! But maybe now that she's taking a break, we'll get to do more stuff together. Like trips to the dog park! And BLOGGING! Wroo!


Anyway, The Girl and I thank you all again for being so supportive the last while, and for sticking by us even though we haven't been around much! Wroo!

Featured blog for February at DWB!!!

Wroooooooooo!!!! Congratulations to our furends Gus and Louie and Callie, those Three Happy Heelers! They were chosen by DWB'ers to receive the Awesome Blog award over at Dogs With Blogs, and they're featured on the front page of the site! We wuff their bloggy, especially when they get to go herding! Brown dog wags to you three!


We were the runner-up, and brown dog love to all of you who voted for us! Also to all of our other furends - we know it was a tough choice this month, so many great bloggies were nominated! So The Little Brown Dog's Blog is DWB's Featured Blog for February! I can't express how happy we are, so check me out:



The Girl says excuse the lint on the couch cushion. I say, Girlie, my furends aren't going to be fooled, this is an old picture! My more observant readers may notice that this is my old collar. The Girl has been too busy to take a single picture of me! She has been most disappointing of late, though she thanks all of you who have commented about her work for the SPCA being important and that it's okay that we're MIA lately. The more she gets into it, the more work she finds to do. I'm all for helping other doggies and kitties and hammies and bunnies and all, but what about ME??? She doesn't even take me to the shelter with her, cuz she says that I mark everywhere and need too much supervision. Excuse me, but hasn't she SMELLED that place?!? Wroo!


I wanted to send another big thank wroo to our Relentlessly Huge furend, Mango, who nominated us for the Awesome Blog award over at DWB! We'll soon get our Featured Bloggie graphic, and I'll make The Girl post it right away! Right, Girlie? Right!


Mango is also hosting a really pawsome event over on his bloggy, so go over and find out about Mango-Minster! Better hurry, the deadline to enter is noon on Sunday, February 9th! (There's a link to the rules in his sidebar over on the left-hand side.) You'll find me over in the Hound group, competing for fame and fortune! (Well, fame, anyway!)


We also owe Mango thanks for coming over to our bloggy and commenting so that we found out about Mango-Minster in time! We almost missed out, and that would have been terrible. So far, I've worked Girlie's guilt to get a walkie and some parmesan cheese cookies! I think we might also visit some of our furends this weekend! We're going to read as much as we can, and we'll try to comment at least once so you know we've been by!


Our next post is going to be about an award given to us by another one of our furry good furends, Biggie Z! Thanks to Biggie for letting us know in our comments that we had an award waiting over at his place! It is going to be a lot of fun, so The Girl and I are both looking forward to that post.


It has been furry nice and warm at Nanny and Papa's house the last couple of days. I have been lying on their back step on a fuzzy blankie and surveying my domain, basking in the sun. I'd love to show you some pictures of that, but THERE ARE NO NEW PICTURES! I've guilted Girlie into a lot of good stuff today, but I might be pushing my luck to demand a photo shoot. We'll have to see.


Wroo, evfurrybody!!!!!

Dannan vs. The Little Cardboard Box

Wrooooooooo! Evfurrybody seemed to like my picture of me as Superman! I got The Girl to take that picture because sweet Stella (swoon!) told me that I run faster than Superman! BOL!!


Today, we are going to show how cheep The Girl can be. She is always on the lookout for cheep ways to keep me occupied. So she found a little cardboard box, put some of my kibble in it, taped it up, and put holes in the box where the kibble could come out when I moved the box. She's never done it before, but she should have known that it wouldn't take me long to ann-ny-a-late the box!





She took a couple of videos, too.

Here is the box after I was done with it!




Silly Girlie! She's seen me rip up cardboard before, I don't know why she thought it would keep me occupied for furry long!


She says that next time, she's going to duct tape all over the box, and see how quick I am then. Ha ha, Girlie, I'll take that challenge!


(Note from The Girl: It is a very challenging time at our local SPCA right now; we are in the middle of trying to hire a new Branch Manager, and our former BM is working two jobs (her new one and at the SPCA) trying to keep the local shelter running as smoothly as possible. Also, it's time to start planning our Annual General Meeting, and a lot of that is up to me. So we are (once again!) dreadfully far behind with our friends' blogs. It might last a while, so I wanted to tell you how sorry we are for not keeping up with your adventures. We'll catch up eventually, but right now, the SPCA is on the top of our priority list. We miss you all, and can't wait to see what you've been up to!)

Girlie, that's cheating!

Wroooooooooo, evfurrybody! That Girlie is finally feeling better. She says to thank you all for your good wishes, she thinks they helped!


But do you know what? She finally feels better, and all she's been doing is a bunch of stuff for the SPCA! Not stuff with me! So we're cheating today and posting videos we took last week. I told The Girl that we needed to make a new video for my furends, but she just waved me off and moved papers around. I don't know what she's trying to do with them, but it doesn't look to me like it's working.


So we've got two videos for you. You were all so kind about The Girl's movie-making skills, but really she needs practice. I keep telling her that, but all the compliments are making it hard to get through to her. So knock it off, already. (Dannan! That's rude, and mean!) But you say it to me all the time when I'm barking. (...uhhh...) Yep, I knew you had nothing to say to that.


Anyway. Enjoy the videos, even though they're OLD and happened a LONG time ago. And because I'm shameless, I'm going to ask you to make sure you go vote for my bloggie at DWB's Bone Zone. (The Girl is mortified at my shameless campaigning. No wonder she's never won anything! Wroo!) If you don't have the secret pawsword for the Bone Zone, just send an email to Opy asking to be let in. And don't furget to vote in the other competitions, too!












We haven't been to anybody's bloggy for wayyyyyy toooooooooo loooooooonnnnnnngggggggg. We'll be catching up this week, I hope. That SPCA paper-moving stuff better not take all week!

More snow pics and last day of Nosevember!

Wroooooooooooo! The Girl finally got herself a little more motivated and did some cropping on a couple of the snow shots from the other day. The snow is melting, melting, so the next group of pictures might just be of me having a bath.

So here I am, sniffing the snow.

Running away (The Girl's favourite of these pics)...

Coming back.

My furends seem divided pretty well down the middle on the issue of snow. That's okay, different strokes for different folks, that's what somebody once said.

I want to do a last-minute plug for Nosevember over at Bolo's bloggy. Today is the last day of the competition, so hurry over and make your guesses! Bolo and his Mom have worked pretty darn hard on this contest, and it's really been a lot of fun! (Even though I found out that I need to look MUCH harder at evfurrybody's nose! So if I seem to be staring rather hard at you, I'm just learning what your nose looks like!)


Finally, The Girl is getting ready to leave for her shift at the SPCA Craft Fair. I don't get to go, AGAIN. But at least she's helping raise money for the doggies and kitties and hammies and bunnies and birdies that haven't found their furever homes yet. Maybe I'll get something special for when she leaves!

Halloween Safety Tips

From the BCSPCA.


Halloween Can Spook Animals

Some tips to protect animals over the Halloween Season

While Halloween is fun for trick or treaters, it can be a scary and dangerous time for pets and farm animals. "Loud noises can cause animals to panic putting both pets and children in danger," says Lorie Chortyk, Director of Community Relations for the BC SPCA. Farm animals are at risk too. Dogs or cats could dart into traffic or jump through windows, while frightened farm animals could run into barbed-wire fences or other obstructions. Dogs can also act out of character at the sight of strangers in costumes coming to your door.

Keep Your Pet Inside

Prevent your pets from escaping or confronting trick or treaters by keeping them in a quiet room. You may consider disabling your doorbell for the night if your dog is the type that gets excited whenever it rings. Now is also a good time to make sure your pet has identification - a tag and a tattoo or microchip - in case your pet gets lost. Cats need identification too -- indoor cats too -- in case they bolt from fright.

Don't Feed Candy and Chocolate to Pets

"Any sudden diet change will cause stomach upset in your animal," says Dr. Jamie Lawson, BC SPCA Director of Animal Health. "Feeding animals candy can lead to health problems such as diabetes or obesity," says Lawson, "and chocolate is especially dangerous because it naturally contains theobromine, an ingredient which is toxic to cats and dogs."

Loud Bangs Panic Some Animals

Because exploding fireworks can affect pets in varying degrees be sure to spend time consoling your pets whenever there are loud noises. Some dogs will howl, while others might cower and whine. "I've seen cases where a dog has bolted in fear right through a screen door. The dog was gone for days just because of a loud bang," says Dr. Dave Sedgman, veterinarian with Thompson Rivers University, in Kamloops. "In extreme cases animals will try to dig into a hardwood floor or even jump through a plate glass window in fear."

On Halloween night, leave your dog at home while trick or treating; bring dogs and cats indoors; and set off legal fireworks in areas away from pets and farm animals. By thinking about the animals, Halloween will be a safer and stress-free occasion, as well as fun for kids.

Exciting day!!!

The Girl here. Just a quick post for now....

I am incredibly pleased to be attending a press conference this afternoon, announcing that Kamloops is getting a low cost spay/neuter clinic. The BCSPCA bigwigs are coming up, schmoozing will happen. We’ve been lobbying for a long time for this clinic, and it is going to make a huge difference in our community. I would do backward handsprings, but I’d hurt myself. So I’m settling for an enormous grin, and 13 Reasons to Spay/Neuter Your Pet. (Dannan is very pleased, too!)

1. By having your pets spayed and neutered, you will help to reduce the terrible overpopulation of companion animals. In just seven years, one unspayed cat and her offspring can produce over 450,000 cats! (Average litter of three, twice a year). In seven years, one dog and her offspring can produce over 4,000 dogs! (Average litter of four, once a year.)

2. Your female dog or cat will live a longer, healthier life. Spaying helps prevent pyometra (pus-filled uterus) and breast cancer, and eliminates the risk for ovarian and uterine cancer. Spaying before your animal enters her first heat offers the best protection.

3. Your spayed female won’t go into heat. (I don’t know why anyone would want to go through a heat season, personally!) In trying to attract a mate, the female cat will yowl and urinate more frequently (all over the house!). The female dog will often have a week of bloody discharge, and she is fertile for approximately a week afterward. While dogs generally come into heat twice a year, female felines usually go into heat four to five days every three weeks during breeding season.

4. Your male dog or cat benefits from neutering, too! If he is neutered before six months of age, he will be protected from testicular cancer and less likely to develop prostate enlargement or prostate cancer.

5. Your male dog will be less likely to try to escape to go and find a mate. An intact male will do just about anything to find a mate, and once he’s free, he can be hit by a car or get into fights with other males.

6. Your male dog will likely be much better behaved, as well! Neutered cats and dogs are better able to focus their attention on their human families, because they are free from sexual anxiety. If a cat or dog is unneutered, they may mark their territory by spraying strong-smelling urine all over the house. Also, when indoors, male dogs may mount furniture and human legs when stimulated. And importantly, many aggression problems can be avoided by early neutering (preferably before six months of age).

7. It is a MYTH that neutered dogs won’t be good protectors of your home. A neutered dog protects his home and family just as well as unneutered dog.

8. It is also a MYTH that fixing your animal will make him/her fat. Lack of exercise and overfeeding make pets fat, not spaying or neutering.

9. Spaying and neutering is cost-effective. The cost of spay or neuter surgery is a lot less than the cost of having and caring for a litter. It is also less than the cost of treatment when your unneutered male escapes and gets into fights, or the cost of cleaning the carpet that your unspayed female keeps mistaking for her litter box, or the cost of cleaning bloody discharge from your carpet.

10. Your pet doesn’t need to have a litter for your children to witness the miracle of birth. Letting your pet produce offspring you have no intention of keeping teaches your children irresponsibility. Anyone who has seen an animal euthanized for lack of a home knows that this is a dangerous MYTH. There are many fabulous books and videos available to teach your children about birth in a responsible manner.

11. A female pet does NOT benefit from having one litter before she is spayed. Allowing your female cat or dog to have a litter does NOT provide any benefits. There are health risks to the mother during pregnancy and when giving birth.

12. If you have more than one companion animal, they are more likely to get along better if they are spayed and neutered.

13. Even rabbits should be spayed and neutered! Check out why here.

Bonus: You will be a responsible pet guardian if you have your pet spayed or neutered!

Thanks to the BCSPCA and the ASPCA for these lists.

Dannan will post either later today, or tomorrow!

Penelope's Ball - The Dust Bunny cometh!

Wrooooo, every pup and kitty cat! Dannan here, and I'm overjoyed to be blogging today! The Girl has been groaning and moaning about how sickie she is, but she did admit that she is feeling better than yesterday. And I said, hot doggie! Let's get blogging!


The Girl did indeed go to Penelope's Ball on Friday night, which is the local SPCA's last major event for the calendar year. I told her that she had to get a picture of herself in her costume so I could post it on the bloggy. (She puts any and every kind of picture of me on here, it's only fair.) I obviously wasn't clear enough in my instructions. She waited until near the end to get someone to take her picture, and by then, the costume looked quite the worse for wear!











The Girl is the one in the grey blobby costume. She went as a dust bunny. At the start of the evening, she was pretty well covered by grey and white fluffy stuff. Through the evening, she apparently "lost" a lot of her fluffs... she says, what else can you expect of a dust bunny? (The Girl here. I hadn't realized how much I'd lost until after I saw this picture! I really should have had the picture taken earlier!)


The Girl tells me that a good time was had by all. I don't know how that could be, since there were no doggies allowed, no kitties, no pets at all. I don't have any idea how they passed the time! The Girl says there was really tasty food - build your own tacos and then build your own sundaes for dessert, and then they had cha cha cha lessons. Then the one-man band played, and everybody danced and had a good time.


Dancing is one thing The Girl does like, I have to say. I am always telling her that I do not dance, and no, I will not dance with her. I'm glad she had a place to go do that, maybe she won't ask me for a while.


There was some talk of changing the event from a fundraiser to a staff and volunteer appreciation event. The Girl says that it really is more a place for everyone to have fun and celebrate all their hard work, rather than a big money-maker. They probably made $600 or $700 at the end of the day, after all the expenses were paid. The Girl thinks that's pretty good, and that the local fundraiser did a great job!


There might be a picture out there from earlier in the evening that might show The Girl's dust-bunny-ness better. I'll put it up if we find one.


(The Girl wants to thank the Mango Man for his wonderful comment on the first Penelope's Ball post. He said, "I know the peoples can be camera shy. I don't know why. They all love doggies which makes them just sparkle in my eyes." She said it made it easier for her to put these pictures up, and really touched her heart. So thanks, Mango Man!)


Now, on to ME! After all, it is my bloggy. Not hers, she has her own. Girlie, go post there!


We had planned to do a posting on Saturday about Pit Bull Awareness Day. But The Girl had too much wine on Friday night (The Girl - Hey! I've been sick!), and she didn't take dictation for me. So even though it's late, we're still going to do a post about pit bulls soon.


In other Dannan-related news, my friend Bolo (who is famous for his Nose Reports) is doing a November Nose Expose! He will post a nose picture, and we get to guess what breed's nose it is, and we get extra points if we know whose nose it is! So I have asked The Girl to take some pictures of my nose.





Um, a little blurry, Girlie. We'll have to work on it. At least this one was better than this one!






How's THAT for blurry! I bet we're making somedoggy motion sick just looking at it! The Girl doesn't take close ups very often, BOL! We'll keep trying, though.


And here is a picture of me, just because you need to see at least one decent photo!





The Girl is holding a treat for me. Can you tell by the craning of my neck? Wrooooo!

Penelope's Ball

Wroo, everypuppy and kitty! Dannan here.







The Girl is getting ready to go to the Festival for the Animals - Penelope's Ball, which is the local SPCA's Halloween fundraiser. She says that animals can't go, which I don't get. How can it be a festival for the animals if animals aren't even allowed? This is how this makes me feel:




You've seen pictures like this before. They really are different pictures; I am in despair quite often. (I've got that whole hound/spaniel sad face, and I really work it.)


The Girl is dressing up for the ball. She is going as a dust bunny; there will be pictures tomorrow.


Last year, she went as a Watch Dog. This is the only picture I could find:





The Girl is on the right. She's not fond of getting her picture taken. (Yet she subjects ME to it all the time. Are all humans so full of contradictions? Rhetorical question. I've noticed that most of my bloggy friends have humans who don't post their own pictures, but take zillions of pictures of my friends. That's okay, I'm here for them, anyway.)


Ahem, back to what I was saying. The Girl had this Rotti hat (it's hard to tell in this picture, and the flaps down over her human ears are not the ears on the dog, you just can't see them), and she put brown felt on her chest and an old collar of mine (and MY tags!) around her neck. Then, she wore every watch she owned on her arms, and pinned ten or twelve dollar store watches to her clothes. Get it? Watch dog. She is so painful when she's trying to be clever!


Now I know that anyone who knows our friend Ben will say that The Girl looks nothing like a Rotti, and that she is not a particularly sound example of the breed. Perhaps she will do better as a dust bunny. She has promised me that there will be pictures. I packed the camera in the bag with her costume, so she better keep her promise.


Gotta go finish supervising the makeup application. There will also be hairspray, and much sneezing!

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Happy Saturday, everyone! The Girl here.


Our good friend Daisy posted yesterday about the release of Beverly Hills Chihuahua. She used this great poster, and told us to distribute it far and wide.


The issue here is that after a movie starring dogs is released, there is often a rush by people to get a dog "just like" the one in the movie. I think most of us know how 101 Dalmatians led to massive overbreeding (and irresponsible breeding) of the Dalmatian.


This can also happen after a TV show, such as Frasier, which led to many people buying Jack Russell terriers without a real understanding of the breed's needs.


Because they don't know the real needs of the dog they are getting, people end up surrendering many, many of these poor animals to SPCAs, humane societies, and other animal shelters. Their expectations don't square with the reality of the breed, and they give them up.


Now we've got a movie about Chihuahuas. It looks like a cute and fun movie. But we want to get the word out: if watching this movie makes you want to have a Chihuahua of your very own, PLEASE do your research! Learn about the breed to find out if your lifestyle and the Chi lifestyle are compatible.


And just as important, PLEASE start your search for your new Chi best friend at animal shelters and rescue groups!


Not long ago, I did a post about puppy mills. Well folks, this is just the kind of situation that has puppy mill owners and irresponsible backyard breeders rubbing their hands together in glee (and greed). They know that there will be an increased demand for Chihuahuas as a result of this movie, and they will overbreed and inbreed the poor Chis in order to meet this demand.



What many people might not know is that the Chihuahua is the fifth most posted breed on www.petfinder.com. (This is a great site! It advertises the animals available for adoption at shelters, rescue groups, and animal control facilities all over North America. I just did a search for Chihuahuas in Western Canada and the Western US, and I stopped looking once I hit 500 dogs up for adoption. I don't know how many more there were, but seriously: 500 Chihuahuas!) There are so many Chis out there already who are looking for a home. If you or someone you know decides that they want a Chihuahua, please adopt one from a shelter or rescue!


Spread the word! Rescue dogs are AWESOME!

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!

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.

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!

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.)

Wowzers, we're doin' good!

Wow, everypuppy, we've had amazing support for our fundraising campaign for the BCSPCA!

The Girl originally set our goal at $100. Then we reached that goal, and she upped it to $150. And just now, we hit $190!! So The Girl reset us again, for $250! We've never raised so much for the Paws for a Cause Walk for the Animals!

All the money stays in our community (Kamloops, BC), and goes to help abandoned, injured, and abused animals that come into the care of our SPCA. I was there before I found My Girl and found my furever home, and since The Girl says we can't bring home all the other doggies, we can at least make their time at the SPCA better.

The Girl's original post about this great cause is here. If you want go to our page to donate to us, you can find it here. And thanks!

Brown dog kisses,
Dannan

Beginnings

I have to say that I start this blog with no small amount of trepidation. I have been gorging myself on all sorts of clever blogs about dogs, with amazing photographs and witty content.


I am an indifferent photographer at best, with little prospect for improvement. (There are just too many other things I want to do!) I have... aspirations? pretentions?... oh let's just say that I hope to occasionally be clever, and sometimes witty. I have been inspired, and I do love to talk, and write, about my dog!


This is my dog:




His name is Dannan (taken loosely from the Irish for "little brown dog", apologies to any Irish-speakers who may read this). He came to me just over three years ago (gawd, can it really be that long?) when I fostered him for the local SPCA.


He was brought in to the Kamloops SPCA as a stray, sometime in the early spring/late winter of 2005. We don't get many smallish dogs, so he was a hit right away. Oh, and the staff named him "Ducky", after a dinosaur in some children's movie, Land Before Time, I think. I was the dog assessor at the shelter at that time, and I don't remember much about his assessment. What I do remember is him climbing onto my lap, then onto the boardroom table as I wrote up his results and recommendations.


Before long, "Ducky" was off to his new home. All dogs brought in to the shelter are examined by very knowledgeable shelter staff, and no one had noticed anything amiss. "Ducky" was taken to the vet for his free exam, then taken back to be neutered. And the vet clinic staff noticed nothing amiss, either.


It was not long after that point that his new people noticed that he didn't put much weight on his front left leg. He sort of held it up off the ground when he walked and ran, and even when he stood. So the poor little critter went back to the vet again. And this time, they noticed that something was very amiss.


The vet's best guess was that "Ducky" has been hit by a car as a puppy, and not taken to the vet or cared for properly. I have never quite understood what exactly had happened, but something had fused that shouldn't have. (Remember, at this point, he was just a dog that I had assessed, three or four weeks and dozens of dogs earlier.) At any rate, the vet said that because of the damage, and the way it had healed, "Ducky"'s best option was for the front left leg to be amputated.


The adopters, although and because they loved him, couldn't afford the $1300 price tag that came along with that treatment plan. And they had to bring him back to the SPCA.


Fortunately, the BCSPCA had just recently launched a new program, called the Biscuit Fund. This is a fund that is strictly used for the medical needs of otherwise adoptable animals that find themselves in the care of our shelters. "Ducky" would get his amputation, funded by the animal lovers of BC!


However, he couldn't get an appointment for surgery for a couple of weeks. The shelter manager (my very dear friend, Jennifer) didn't want "Ducky" stuck in the shelter while he waited, and so I agreed to foster him until he had recovered.


I live with another very dear friend, Karen. It is her house, so she had to agree to this plan. She knew all along that once he came, he wouldn't be leaving, but at the time, I was deluding myself that we could foster him for a few weeks and then take him back to be adopted. Even knowing the inevitable result, Karen agreed that "Ducky" could come to stay with us.


The rest, to use a worn-out cliche', is history. Darling "Ducky" (Dannan, as he soon became) came home.


His left front leg was, of course, amputated. Not that he notices, mind you. He runs like the wind (any skeptics out there are welcome to come to our backyard and watch him tear around like a little brown hurricane). In fact, we've often been at the dog park and it's only once he stops running that people notice that he's only got three legs. He has no inkling that he's any different from the other dogs, and it certainly doesn't slow him down.


Speaking of the dog park... A question I am often asked is, "What kind of dog is he?" This question irritates me slightly, because we as a society always want to identify the breeds that make up a mixed breed dog (I'll probably rant... er, write more about that later). My answer is always that he's a little brown dog. When pressed, I'll say that I think he's probably some sort of houndy/spanielly mix, but no one will ever know for sure.

(Blogger keeps deleting the rant that I want to insert here.... perhaps I should take a hint. But I never let better judgment prevent me from ranting.)

(Rant begins: I am also often asked if Dannan is a "baby pitbull". This question annoys me greatly, and the answer is NO! I am not annoyed because I dislike pitbulls; on the contrary, I like them extremely well, and the next addition to our family will likely be one. My annoyance stems from the fact that this question illustrates quite plainly that the general public has *no idea* what a pitbull actually *is*. Yet some in our society presume to judge, and then ban, them. The question is a flaming symbol of our collective ignorance; when we legislate in ignorance, lives are at stake. And pitbulls don't deserve it.)

(I am a ranter, you will have noticed. ;) )

I did mean to make this introductory post short, but I'm not very good at "short". (Another fault that is quickly apparent!) I will post pictures, and I do intend to take a lot more candid shots. (We'll see how long that resolution holds. Permanently, I do hope, because one of the thing I like best about other dog blogs is all the pictures.) They won't be of great quality, but they'll at least be pictures.

Mostly, I expect, I'll write a lot about what Dannan is doing. I'll also rant a bit about my pet peeves, talk about our roommates (human, canine, and feline), and indulge in some journalling. I'm not sure yet whether this blog will be of any interest to anyone else, but even if it just turns out to be a fun thing for me to do, it will be worth it.


Some pics of Dannan, just because I like them:




Dannan's "Noble Dog" pose, pre-op








Havin' a run, pre-op

My favourite pre-op picture, Dannan With Joy.

Crazy running dog. (Often, he "slimes" himself while running like this!)

And finally:






After the running stops...