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

The Story of Custard (part 1)

(Custard, the great orange kitty, left us on October 31 just short of his 19th birthday. I will post about him a few times this month.)

The Story of Custard (part1)

In 1995 a man named Joe boarded a cat with us. The cat, named Custer (like the Little Big Horn general), was a gift from his children to keep him company. But he traveled a lot and didn't really like the cat so he offered me $50 to find him a home. I got to liking him and so we took him, and the $50. We renamed him Custard.

He lived the first portion of his life upstairs, where Katie the Doberman wouldn't go. Katie wasn't a terror to all the cats, but for some reason Custard couldn't get comfortable with her. When Katie died, Custard thought his luck had changed but we got another Doberman, Kendall, who took over the role of Custard tormentor. 

Custard really wanted to come downstairs, and whenever we put the dog in her crate he would join us. When we began to crate Kendall less and less, she would sleep on the couch, and Custard would creep down the stairs, peek at Kendall on the couch, and sneak over to us, never failing to have an eye or an ear or a whisker tuned to the dog. Kendall knew the game too. Invariably she would pop open an eye, then leap off the couch just as Custard flew back up the stairs. 

Kendall lived a relatively short life and we got yet another Doberman, Titus (Ty), who didn't give off the same threatening vibe as the previous two. It didn't take Custard long to figure out that Ty was just a big loveable galoot, and Custard became a full time downstairs cat. This is when he really started to shine.

Custard loved people. He loved being held and he loved sleeping in laps. He also loved people food, often staring at us during dinner, begrudging our every bite. He was vocal, chirping whenever you entered a room, said his name, or woke him up with a pat on the head. And his purring machine started the moment you picked him up.

Titus also died young and I like to think that Custard was proud to have outlived three Dobermans. We stopped getting Dobermans, and maybe part of that was that we didn't want Custard to have to go back upstairs if it turned out to be like the first two. But even though we have two (very cat-friendly) dogs, and two other cats, this was Custard's house for a long time, and I'm glad he lived long enough to enjoy it.

 

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.

Since summer is here, let's talk about dogs dying in cars

I know everyone from Dick Goddard to your best friend, Sal,  talks about not leaving dogs in cars. Here's why.

I can barely stand how hot it is for the short time it takes for my A/C to ramp up. Imagine being a dog in the back seat for ten minutes. Or fifteen or twenty. Because you only meant to run in and pick up that one little half gallon of milk, but then you remembered you were out of cheese, then you met your old fifth grade teacher in the cookie aisle when you were reaching for that package of Double Stuf Oreos, and all of a sudden it's been 30 minutes.

Have a great, and safe summer.

So when we talk about the goodness of people this is what we mean

This young girl decided that her birthday wasn't all about her. I'll let Portage Animal Protective League tell the story (as borrowed from their Facebook page)

Alexis of Ravenna, totally shocked the APL yesterday, April 23, with "A" Birthday donation! 75 of Alexis' third grade schoolmates from Willyard Elementary, and family and friends, brought gifts for the Shelter. The daughter of Ricky and Michelle, Alexis has done this before. When Alexis turned 7 last year, she decided that the furry friends at the APL needed "gifts" more than she did. On April 17 of this year, Alexis turned 8 and she knew what to ask for. In sight of all the bad things recently, this donation and all like it, are a reminder that there is so much good in the world. Alexis is an example of thoughtfulness, generosity, and great upbringing. To Alexis, her parents, schoolmates, friends and family, we say "THANK YOU! YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE!"

If you want to donate, here's the web site  Portage Animal Protective League

Please Choose Wisely

I've seen it time and time again. People get a sweet little lab puppy because they're so cute and labs are "such great pets." They are. And they are also big and energetic and bouncy and enthusiastic. They can be bulldozers and they can pull over small trees. They are a lot of dog. A LOT of dog.

Choose your pet wisely. Please. Please. Please.You can get great advice from your veterinarian. Their number one concern in the welfare of the dog and they will steer you in the right direction.

New technology for lost finding lost pets

QR codes are not just funny looking checkerboards. Now they can help your lost dog find his way home.  Red Dingo, among other vendors, is now making a collar tag on which a QR code can be printed. When scanned with a smart phone, it can take you directly to a web page that tells who the dog belongs to, his medical history and other important information.



 

Dogs happen

We don't usually go looking for pets. Pets usually find us.

Before last week we had a dog and three cats, all of whom were due to the right mix of time and place (or if you are a Star Trek fan (like I am) being in the right spot on the time/space continuum). Lucky, the cat, was hit by a car and brought to the Aurora Veterinary Clinic several years ago. My wife, the stellar veterinarian, pulled him from the brink of death, then stitched him together in somewhat Frankensteinian fashion. Then after the owner didn't want him, she was stuck bringing him home.

Cosmo the cat was born at the Aurora Veterinary Clinic. One of the staff had found a stray cat who turned out to be pregnant. All the kittens found homes, one of which happened to be ours.

Custard was a kennel boarder. The owner, whose name was Joe, needed to board him and when he got here he told me that the cat was a gift from his children and he really didn't have the inclination to mess with it. He offered me $50 to find the cat a home. Guess where he ended up.

Leo was one of a large litter of golden doodles that the breeder had a hard time getting rid of. As they got bigger and bigger, she made a deal with my wife to trade a puppy for veterinary services.

Pets who are no longer with us include Comet, a large mixed breed who was born at the Aurora Kennel after his mother was rescued form being tied to the railroad tracks in Solon; Buzzworm, who Robin got from a clinic she interned at when she was in vet school; Molly, a research cat Robin brought home form vet school; Mosey, a cat who moseyed into the vet clinic several years ago; Riley, a cat born of an accidental (aren't they all?) litter of my mother in law; and Hogan, a German shepherd who had a broken leg that the owner didn't want to repair so we had it fixed and kept him.

We've also had three dobermans, all of which we paid for. We like dobes.

And that brings us to Gordy.

 
My newest staff member, Sue, is a volunteer trainer for Pilot Dogs, based in Columbus. One of the dogs she worked with ended up flunking out of the program because he shied away from things like street signs and such. She mentioned she was going to Columbus to bring him back and try to find him a home. Eureka! That little light bulb that signals "Pet Opportunity" flashed in my brain. And we'd been wanting to find a pal for Leo.

Another pet has found us. I hope he likes it here. 

Tattoo You

Here's an article where a woman has tattooed the names of her dogs on her arm. You know, if you're going to get a tattoo, this is probably the very best reason. There is also some stuff in here how she uses animal communicators, which I think will be the topic of another blog post one day.

The unintended consequences of a mild winter

Fleas!

Whenever we have a mild winter my wife, the veterinarian, laments, "the fleas are going to be bad this year." This is because we non-flea loving creatures, which include dogs, cats, and people, rely on a hard winter to kill off some of the fleas who are out there waiting for an unsuspecting warm blooded creature to saunter by so they can hop on. Hard winters are good at culling at least some the population. Every little bit helps.

So if you were considering maybe saving a little money on flea preventative, or if you're one of those people who tends to forget and misses a dose or two, this is not the year to do that.

And here is where I like to reiterate the kennel's policy on fleas, as stated on our website:

Regarding fleas: We don't like 'em. Please leave fleas at home. If you wish to board fleas, we will have to charge extra in the form of a flea treatment, for which you will be billed. We will not return your fleas to you. 

Today we learn a new phrase

'Anticipatory grief.' In this excellent guest blog post (not my guest, not my blog, I did a lot of borrowing here), the multi-talented Dale Wisely talks about pets and worry and, well, I'll let you read the rest.