Today's 'Why I Hate Facebook' Moment

There are perhaps 13-19 legitimate reasons to hate Facebook, and most of them involve privacy. I have read them and I have essentially decided to ignore them with the vague hope they won't come 'round to bite me in the ass somewhere down the road.

One of the other reasons is the way Facebook chooses to populate our feeds. What I want is for every post from every friend to appear in strict chronological order, giving me the option to tell Facebook to stop showing me posts by people who annoy me but not to the point of unfriending them. How hard is that?

I've noticed that lately it seems to be dredging up old posts more than it used to. How that manifested itself today is I saw a post by a friend announcing that her dog died.

"Aww," I commented, "he was a good dog."

It turns out that this dog died weeks ago. Now why, Facebook, would you facilitate the opening of old wounds? And why would you so readily assist me is making such a gaffe? What monetary gains are there to be made by allowing random, past posts to bubble to the top as though they are new?

Let me join my voice with the millions who share my anger about this. Stop it, Facebook. Just stop it.

Way to go, New Jersey

New Jersey just passed 'Dusty's Law,' which gives greater protection to service dogs who are attacked by another dog. Before that, if a dog attacked a service dog it could only be investigated by animal agencies. Now the police can be involved and criminal charges can be filed. .

Service dogs are near-miracles and I love every one of them. Lot's of good people worked very hard to get this passed. Hats off to them and to everyone who supported it.



Thanks for reading.

When a dog eats something he should not

Every job has its perks. Being married to an attorney means free legal advice. Being married to a chef means at least one of you knows how to cook. Being married to a cab driver means you can always get great directions (admittedly less valuable in the age of GPS). And being married to a veterinarian means (convenient but not free) pet care. 

This is never more valuable than at 11pm and your dog

(Leo from a few days ago)

is vomiting and won't stop. First, she can tell the difference between incidental vomiting and vomiting that signals trouble. Second, she can pack him up in the car at 11pm and take him to get x-rays, which she can also read for herself and deem to be inconclusive. She can prescribe and administer medicine right there-- no waiting. And she can keep an eagle eye on him through the night.

The next day she can determine he's not doing better. Then she can pack him in the car again and get more x-rays, which today show something more suspicious. She can email them to specialists and have then concur that there is an obstruction and she can schedule surgery twenty minutes later, which she can perform herself. 

She can remove a peach pit from the middle of his intestine and text me a photo (WARNING--possible gross alert.

And she can recite all the possible post-op complications so we can worry about him together.

All this she can do, and I'll tell you, it's pretty great.



Thanks for reading.

Potpourri Day

A few items I found interesting:

From the Daily Dish: a small piece about human versus animal consciousness.

From Cleveland.com : Ohio State University perfume? Sign me up, unless it smells like my old dorm then, nevermind.

From the BBC: DNA hint of European origin for dogs 

And finally from my friend Sue, The slowest lawnmower ever.

Have a great Saturday and Go Bucks!


Thanks for reading.

Forget Downton Abbey, I want a show about this place

If you're ever in Glasgow, Scotland, and you take the Erskine Bridge, head Westbound on the A82, and, approaching Milton, you stay in the right hand lane before you take the turn off that is opposite the Arnold Clark dealership, do not, I repeat, do not take your dog. Or at least make sure he's good and leashed.

For you will have arrived at Overtoun House

in West Dumbartonshire, hard on the river Clyde, a castle built in the later 1800's as a retreat for a wealthy industrialist named James White, then bequeathed to the burgh of Dumbarton on the eve of the war in 1939. And it is here, on a bridge over a steep ravine, where an unleashed dog may inexplicably jump to his death. Yikes.

So far there have been more than 50 reported such deaths and though there are many theories, no one has an explanation. Well, except for this guy (creepy video intro alert!) whose flimsy investigation leads him to believe it's the smell of mink.  Dude, it's called the scientific method. Go read about it.

Pet news items you may have missed

In my never ending quest to bring you--oh nevermind, I have a news feed. How hard is that?

Man Who Shoots Dog With Crossbow Gets 2 Years in Prison

Blind man and guide dog booted from flight

From the not-really-news-but-information department: Trainer to Stars Says Any Dog Can Learn New Tricks

An Interview with Tango

From time to time we like to interview adoptable pets from Pawsabilities: the Humane Society of Greater Akron.

 Meet Tango

From Pawsabilities' Facebook post: "In honor of Adopt a Senior Month, meet Tango! He is a handsome 7 year old Rottweiler that weighs about 70 pounds. He walks well on the leash and loves to play with squeaky toys. He needs a home where he is the only furry member. He already knows sit and down and would love to learn even more! This laid-back boy can’t wait to become part of a family!"

I stopped by Pawsabilities to get a better sense of what Tango was all about.

Me: Hi Tango
Tango: S'up?
Me: Thanks for making time to see me. What were you doing before I got here.
Tango: I was browsing the internet for a new squeaky toy.
Me: They let you work the computers?
Tango: I sort of insisted. I am a Rottweiler after all.
Me: I get it. So what do you do when you find one you like.
Tango: I bark once for buy it and twice for buy it this very minute.
Me: Wait, the description says you're laid back.
Tango: (whispers) I am but I have to act tough. I don't want to lose my Rottweiler card.
Me: (whispers) So you're really sweet?
Tango: Last person who called me sweet got bit on the face.
Me: You bit him?
Tango: No, not me. I licked him for being so nice. He next tried to hug a rogue chihuahua. Those guys are tough.
Me: Okay then, one last question. What qualities do you think you can bring to a new forever home?
Tango: Well, I'm a really good size, and I'm a Rott, which is a good kind of dog to have if you want people to know you have someone looking after your home.
Me: Well then good luck and thank you for your time.
Tango: BARK BARK
Me: No, I will not buy you a squeaky toy.
Tango: No harm in trying.

How we talk to dogs

 I don't know about you, but there are things I say to my dogs in private that I would never say in public. In public I'm all, "You're a fine specimen of a canine, Leo my good fellow," and in private it's, "Whaddagoodbubsiesdogmywiddlepuppypuppy."

In that light, enjoy!

Things I learned today from my Digg feed

When the Google Reader (GR) was discontinued earlier this year, its devoted users were left to find an alternative. While there were several news readers out there, none really did it the way GR did, and the alternatives were just not that acceptable.

Along came Digg, the news aggregating website. They heard the cries and made it their mission to replace GR with a reader that would please the hard core GR orphans. I have to say it's mainly as good as GR (Old Reader is actually the most GR-like of them all but I couldn't get it to work on my iPhone). I find the iPhone version of GR to have a couple of annoying deficiencies but overall it works.

As such I ended up with the Digg feed in my reader. Which is fine. I find at least one article a day there that makes me glad I have the feed. Here are some things I learned today:

Science discovered a new ligament in the knee: this is a bit disconcerting. I mean they've been studying the body for how long now? And they missed something?

1.3 million people in Norway watched knitting on TV:  It's on something called SlowTV, and they plan on airing a Day in the Life of a Snail. I'm not making this up.

Corgis are becoming extinct: Better not tell that to Aurora's new mayor.

America has more prisoners than teachers:  This is misleading (as is the wont of so many internet headlines). There are more prisoners than high school teachers. They don't list all teachers. I wish they would just give us all the info instead of the info that supports their narrative.

Who knows what I'll learn tomorrow. 

And, hey! There was at least one pet related item.

Another post that makes us wonder why more dogs don't revolt against the whole 'man's best friend' thing.

Since I've had exactly 4.7 minutes today to compose a blog post, I'm going to take a shortcut. I really prefer writing my own material when possible, but today I'm pulling something silly from the internet.

Without further ado, 34 Dogs That Hate Halloween

October is (was) National Dog Adoption Month

Okay so I almost missed it. But it's not too late.You can still adopt a nice, furry friend, from the adoption facility of your choice (go ahead, I'll wait).

Excellent.

Here is a graphic with lots of cool information, compiled by the American Veterinary Medical Association's 'U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Source book.' Among other things, it tells us that Arkansas is the number 1 dog ownership state in America. Ohio is not in the top 5.

Also, the top names are Max (male) and Bella (female). When I mined my own database a couple of years ago Max was number 1 but Bella (and it's variations) were number 6, and was the number 3 female name behind Maggie and Molly. But my database lags behind the newly named dogs and also accounts for a lot of dogs who are very old and passed away.

I can almost guarantee the number 1 name for a chocolate lab is Hershey.

Another fact the graphic pointed out is that Hispanics have a higher rate of dog ownership than any other group.

So enjoy even if you don't celebrate Dog Adoption Month by getting a dog, consider making a donation to a rescue facility near you. But if you do get a dog, I predict you will name him Max. Go ahead, you know you want to. It's a pretty great dog name.

Speaking of dogs who are heroes (con't)

Just another reason to admire the selflessness of dogs (Kleenex™ alert)

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/09/26/pkg-guide-dog-dies-to-save-boy-from-car.wxia.html

Welcome to Fall

You may or may not be as happy as this guy,




but it's my favorite season: The weather is cooler, the Buckeyes are playing, it's perfect dog weather, and the trees are getting ready to put on a show. The enjoyment is short lived, lasting only until the winds shift and November smacks us in the face. But until then I'm going to make a pile of leaves and see if my dogs want to play. You're welcome to join me.

Sadly this stuff happens all too often

Jamie White, self described blogger and dog lover, scored a point for humans by giving a sick dog some happy last days.

Her invective leads to some words (that are meant for adult eyes,) but we can all understand her indignation. Sadly we humans are not always kind to each other and we are not always kind to the other species with whom we share this world.

It reminds me of the little terrier mix that was rescued by Valley Save A Pet many years ago. She was pregnant and had been found tied to the railroad tracks in Solon. They named her Carly, and fostered her here where she gave birth to eight puppies. We kept the last one who wasn't adopted and he was the best dog we ever had. I have often wished I could one day meet the people who did that, and I would be accompanied by several burly, card carrying ASPCA members. I hope those people never again have adopted a dog, but many people who have no business having dogs have no idea they have no business having dogs, and they keep being crappy dog owners their whole lives.

So a big shout out to Ms. White for her service to dogdom. And a big thumbs down to the people who failed their family friend when she needed them most.

Speaking of dogs who are heroes...

One of my long time clients had a golden retriever named Theo.  One night there was a fire in the house and the smoke detectors weren't working. Theo ran into the bedrooms, barking and jumping on them, and they all got out. I have always wondered if my dogs would be similarly heroic.

Well, here is another example of a dog who took the whole 'man's best friend' concept to a whole new level. Dogs can be completely amazing sometimes.

The gift of sight

For those of you who are still wiping away the tears from the latest post about pets who have died, I have a welcome change of pace.  Danny, the sweet looking puppy, gets cataract surgery and can see for the first time ever. Kudos to the vets and donors and volunteers who made it happen.

All it takes is for one person to have a brilliant idea

And for someone else to say, "Let's do it!"




It's brilliant. Brilliant.

 I want a chubby tailed german dobenauzer. Except I happen to know that adding schnauzer to doberman will make it even barkier. Maybe a bunny tailed scottish shepterrier.

Sarah Silverman and her 'Duck'

Like her or not, she wrote a nice little tribute to her canine companion of 14 years. It was part of a larger collection called The Last Lesson We Learn from Our Pets in a blog called The Dish. We all have these stories to tell and I always appreciate when someone can put it into well written words.

A Dog-tastic Welcome Home

I wish every single man and woman who comes home from overseas could have a welcome like this.

Everyone thinks he a comedian

What could have been a horrifyingly sad story about a dog stuck in a car engine while the car was driving from one Florida beach to another, turned into an opportunity for amateur comedians to show us their stuff, not the least of whom is Broward County Fire Rescue worker Mike Jachles.

Side note to reporter: dogs don't sweat.

Click here  http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/07/05/pkg-puppy-rescued-from-car-hood.wsvn.html