Chapter One can be found here: The Traveling with Dogs Series Chapter One

Chapter Two can be found here: The Traveling with Dogs Series Chapter Two

Today’s Chapter:

Campfire Dogs

When we left off we were getting ready for the evenings campfire. We had done the dinner thing, cooking chicken over an open fire and eating like we hadn’t seen food in a month of Sundays. You know how hungry you get while camping, you feel as if you could eat everything in sight. Anyway, dinner done and the dishes cleared and washed, we set out to make s’mores by the campfire. We tied up the dogs two on either side of the fire taking special care to ensure that they could not reach the flames. “There” we thought, “finally five minutes of peace to enjoy our campfire.” Oh how deluded we were!

We set up camp chairs for the kids and broke out the marshmallows for toasting. The campsite was quiet save for the sound of crickets and bull-frogs, and the muted voices of the other campers in discussion at their own fire sides. Suddenly off in the distance we heard the lone howl of a wolf. Our campsite suddenly came alive with the sound of four dogs howling in answer. The rest of the campsites suddenly came alive with the sounds of other campers shouting “shut those damned dogs up!” Oh no! We were on park Ranger radar yet again!

We finally managed to quiet the dogs down. My friend’s big yellow lab had been the ring leader in the howl at the moon escapade so he took her off her tie-out put her on a leash and brought her fireside to sit at his feet. This way he could control her by correcting any bad behaviour immediately. A good theory, but put into practice it definitely did not go as planned. The seventeen year old and I put the younger children to bed, and returned to the fire. Our bottoms were barely in our seats when a racoon ran through our campsites. Once again the dogs began to bark enthusiastically straining at their ties to go after it. The dog sitting at my friends feet decided to give chase. She darted sideways and in doing so dislocated my friend’s knee. He hit the ground and dropped the leash. Campers all around were yelling at us to keep the dogs quiet, my friend was rolling around on the ground yelling “I lost my leg! I lost my leg!” From inside the tent trailer I heard the sound of my daughter bursting into tears. She had heard my friend scream “I lost my leg!” and thought that his leg was actually missing. I scrambled around the campsite muzzling dogs to keep them quiet. After picking my friend up off the ground and returning him to his chair, I went into the tent trailer to calm my daughter down. She did not stop crying until I brought her to the campfire so she could see that my friend still had both legs attached.

After helping my friend to his tent and ensuring the fire would not flare up during the night, stowing the dogs in the van, and cleaning up the remains of the s’mores ingredients, I finally climbed into my sleeping bag exhausted and sore, and vowed that I was going to cut this camping trip short and head home in the morning. I could not take one more disaster. I fell asleep thinking camping with dogs was a very bad idea, and promising myself I would end the trip early. I underestimated the ability of children to make one feel guilty about a decision they don’t agree with, but that is another story. Suffice it to say I fell asleep confident that I was leaving for home in the morning.

What happened the next morning will be revealed in the next chapter:

Traveling with Dogs: The Camping Trip from Hell; We Don’t Want to go Home!

Samson is big and lovable, but we don't want him reproducing and adding to the pet overpopulation problem so neutering is a MUST.

It certainly was a crazy morning here at the “dog house”. One of our dogs was scheduled for surgery and had to be at the clinic at 8 a.m. He was not happy about it, and when an almost 100 lb. dog decides he is not happy about something it makes for an interesting tale.

It all started last night when we had to crate him. Samson is one of the most food oriented dogs I have ever seen. Hold a dog biscuit in front of him for more than five seconds and you have a puddle of drool on the floor at his feet. So because he had to be NPO (nothing by mouth) before his surgery, we had to crate him, or he would have managed to eat something even if it was not really something edible. So we hauled the monster sized crate out of storage and set it up in the dog den next to Nakita’s crate. (The only dog I have crate trained in years is Nakita, and then only because she is related to Houdini and constantly escapes from any other form of confinement.)

We put Samson in the crate, but no sooner had we settled into bed to watch an evening movie, when the howling began. Samson it seems does not like small spaces, the crate is quite spacious even for a dog his size but he simply sees no reason why he should be confined. Well we could not have this dog howling all night long, what would the neighbors think? (One of them already HATES our dogs and will do anything possible to relieve us of them, a noise complaint would not help the situation any.) So we tried the bark collar (the ones that emit high pitched sound when a dog barks) but that did not stop him. Eventually we were forced to muzzle him or get up in the morning bleary eyed and sleepless.

Finally all was quiet and we settled down to sleep. At 6 o’clock this morning the silence was shattered by the sound of an unholy whining  from the dog den. It seems Samson had had enough of confinement and was voicing his displeasure, but since he was muzzled he could not bark so he set about whining as loudly as possible. Our furry alarm clock had spoken, it was time to start our day. Samson wanted out of that crate and he wanted that muzzle off! He got his one wish but we could not remove his muzzle or he would head straight for the food dish. So Samson wandered around pawing at the muzzle and bumping into everything in sight until it was time to leave for the clinic.

Samson does not like to ride in the car, so we have to get a running start and trick him into jumping into the back of the wagon. This morning thank goodness he did not make putting him in the car an issue. With the rest of the dogs settled in the house and Samson in the car we set off for the clinic. We use a high volume low cost Spay and Neuter clinic to sterilize our rescues, and they have some very strict criteria for how things are run. You must arrive with your pet on the dot of eight, no later, and leave your pet in the car while you do the paperwork. I have already mentioned that Samson does not like the car, so leaving him alone in a vehicle is out of the question if you want to come back to an intact car. My husband took an hour off work and came with me so he could walk Samson around the parking lot while I did the paperwork. A good plan in theory…in execution not so much!

I went into the clinic to get the paperwork started. As I got to the door a clinic employee was giving an orientation talk so we were all waiting to hear what she had to say. A woman standing beside me had broken the rules and was holding her cat in her arms. That of course,  is when Samson escaped as my husband was taking him out of the car. He began running around the parking lot looking for “MOM.” Spotting me he made a beeline for me, and the woman next to me panicked thinking he was going after her cat. I managed to grab him by the collar just as he discovered the cat. Samson contained (my husband took him for a walk) I proceeded to finish the paperwork, we took Samson in, and we will pick him up at 5 this evening groggy, sore, but incapable of breeding! In a society where there are so many unwanted pets in shelters, is it not MY responsibility to ensure that my pet does not add to the problem? I feel that it is, and so all my pets are spayed or neutered or scheduled to be so soon.

If your pet is not spayed or neutered please have them spayed or neutered. If cost is an issue check into low cost spay and neuter clinics that may operate in your area. It is important not only to control the pet population, but spaying and neutering are healthier for your pet and could prolong their life. If there is something you can do for your pet to ensure they live a longer healthier life, don’t you want to do it?

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

Anne Riel had the tip of her nose bit off when she greeted a customer and her dog at a Home Depot store on Cyrville Road in Ottawa, Friday, April 15, 2011.

An Ottawa woman who had the tip of her nose bit off by a Shihtzu wants the dog put down. Anne Riel who works at the Home Depot store in Ottawa, Ontario where the incident took place says that she was greeting the dog’s owner and had bent down to greet the dog when it jumped at her biting off the tip of her nose. Riel is calling for the dogs destruction, but is killing the dog really the answer in this or any other bite case?

When we approach strange animals it is up to us to ensure that they are indeed approachable. Just because someone takes a dog out in public, it does not mean that the dog is stable or that it deals well with strangers. I take my rehab dogs out in public all the time, but that does not mean strangers should be approaching them without consulting me. Dogs are unpredictable and no one knows them better than their owner or handler, it is wise to ask permission before putting yourself too close to any strange dog.

Which brings me to my point for the day. There are many things wrong with this situation, and everyone involved is responsible, except the dog! Here let me break it down for you:

1.) Store policy does not allow dogs into the building unless they are service dogs, but this policy is seldom enforced according to staff at the store. Therefore the store can be held responsible for not enforcing their OWN policy.

2.) While I can understand taking your dog along on trips to stores such as Petsmart or other pet supply stores, why did this woman feel the need to take her pet along on a trip to Home Depot? Is the dog redoing it’s dog house? Leave your dogs at home when you go shopping people!

The owner is responsible in this case for two reasons, a) she should have left her dog at home, and b) she should be in control of her dog at all times when it is out in public. An owner knows their dog’s temperament. If you know your dog does not deal well with strangers why put it in a situation you know is going to cause it enough stress to bite? We all love our pets and take them along whenever we can, but owners should be smart enough to know when leaving Fido or Fluffy at home is the better option.

3.) The victim? Well, what on earth was she doing approaching a strangers dog face first? Did she have a brain dead moment?Did most of us not have it drilled into our heads as children “don’t touch other people’s dogs without asking permission”? Or is my Father the only one who taught that lesson?

As I said before, dogs are unpredictable, you never know how they are going to react. If you are not capable of reading their body language (and the average person is completely incapable of reading it accurately) it is best to stay away from strange dogs until properly introduced. If you must come in contact with them, then for heaven sakes don’t approach them face first! Had this woman ignored the dog and concentrated on the human, her nose would probably still be intact and I would be hunting for another blog subject. More importantly, authorities would not be contemplating the fate of the dog for the heinous crime of behaving like a dog!

People need to learn to respect the fact that dogs are animals. They will act on instinct. If they feel threatened they will defend themselves. They do not think the same way humans do, therefore they do not always react the way humans expect them to.  They are not misbehaving, they are just being dogs.

The thing here is, this employee probably would not have approached a German Shepherd or a Doberman in the same manner she did this little Shihtzu. She would have had far more wary respect for a large breed dog. Small dogs give people a false sense of security. They are never seen as a threat because of their size and their “cute” appearance. People let their guard down when interacting with small breed dogs. Fact is, no matter what their size, every strange dog should be approached with a measure of wary respect for what they COULD do!

The moral of the story? There are two really;

1.) When you go shopping leave your dog at home.

2.) Never greet a strange dog face first!

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

Good morning all! Yesterday I skipped writing the blog to deal with our neighbors latest attempt at having our dogs removed from our home because she does not like dogs. This time she called the SPCA instead of the city, making allegations that our dogs are uncared for confined to the house and never let outside, and that our home was unsanitary. For the record, our neighbor has never stepped foot inside our home, we’re not THAT kind of neighbors. As with everything that is thrown at us we dealt with this head on by calling the SPCA agent who had left her card on my door. (Ironically I was out walking two of the dogs I was accused of confining when she showed up at my door and found no one home.)

Now most of my experience with SPCA agents has been negative, I have found them arrogant, full of false superiority, and quite frankly most of them know less about domestic pets than I do. These two were different however, these were two of the kindest, most gentle SPCA agents I have ever met. You could tell they were dog people, and that they new their stuff. I took them through our home, where they met our pride of six cats, then out into the yard where my husband was playing with the pack. They met the dogs, and we discussed their stories, telling them about Phoenix who had come to us over twenty pounds under weight (At last weigh in Phoenix weighed 105 lbs. 22 lbs. heavier than when he arrived in December) Hercules whose first two years in a puppy mill has damaged the little dog almost beyond repair, and Samson thrown away on a lonely country road as a ten week old puppy and left to fend for himself. They were pleased with the condition of the dogs, but disgusted by the fact that investigating people who clearly needed no investigation had taken time away from the work of investigating REAL abuse cases.

While being investigated by the SPCA is something I would not wish on anyone, it did something for us, it proved that we know what we are doing, and are capable of doing it. It also exposed our neighbors vendetta against us, and ensured that any further harassment from her would be swiftly dealt with. The SPCA in Barrie will not tolerate malicious complaints, and plan to charge her with making false complaints should she attempt to report us to the SPCA again in the near future. Perhaps now she will see that we will protect our pets and that she can not make us get rid of a single one. Perhaps her vendetta has ended? Somehow I doubt it, but it is a nice thought!

What bothers me about the trials this bad neighbor has put us through is the fact that her actions have been so selfish. Never once has she given thought to the lives of the animals she is putting in danger. She is a pet hater so she does not see them as living things, but as possessions she does not want her neighbor to be able to keep. She gives no thought to what her actions may do to the lives of those pets because she simply does not care about them. She selfishly wants them removed for her own convenience despite the fact she has never come within ten feet of a single one of them, and they have never disturbed her peaceful enjoyment of her home.

When someone will blatantly lie about something to try to get what they want they are not likely to give up any time soon. I am not sure what our neighbors next move might be, but her latest attempts to discredit us and have our pets removed from our home has put both her and us on the radar of the SPCA, but not for the same reasons. They know who I am and what I do, and they appreciate the fact that I am doing it. They are well aware that the animals that come through my home will never end up in their shelter. They know that when those animals leave here to go to their forever homes they will be healthy, balanced and without issues, and they know that our lives revolve around our pets. They also know that my neighbor will lie to get her own way, they know she likes to harass people, and they know that she is likely to try again, and are ready to deal with her if she does.

To the SPCA agents that “investigated” my neighbors latest allegations I say thank you. Thank you for having our pets best interest at heart. Thank you for understanding that we only have our pets best interest at heart. Thank you for being able to see how healthy and happy they are, but most of all, thank you for dedicating your lives to keeping animals safe from harm and abuse.

To my neighbor I say, grow up! Stop acting as if everyone else’s life should revolve around YOU. We have our own lives, and we understand how much our pets can contribute. We see them as more than smelly loud creatures that will destroy our home, we see them as family, and if you threaten our family we will protect them. You seriously need to learn to live and let live. I think your choice of not sharing your home with at least one pet is strange, but I don’t harass you for it, your choices are your own, as are mine. I think you are weird (I have never trusted a person who doesn’t like animals) but I leave you alone. Have the common courtesy to do the same. Realize you have two choices, you can either leave us alone to live our lives, or face the consequences of dealing with criminal charges which will arise from your constant harassment. Either way, you are not going to get what you want. We will meet everything you throw at us head on, after all it is our responsibility to ensure that no harm comes to any of our family members, and whether you see it this way or not, our pets are our family.

Until Tomorrow Remember
BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!
Janette

I know we all love our cats, and most of us would NEVER consider declawing them. While the practice has dwindled and many vets will no longer perform the surgery, there are still people out there who have their cats declawed. Personally I find the practice barbaric and abusive. Put in perspective, ask yourself this; would you be cool with having the tips of your fingers cut off? No? Your cat isn’t cool with it either!

In the following video clip Rescue Round Table interviews a representative of the Paw Project on the subject of declawing cats;

The Paw Project also put out this short Public Service Announcement:

Please remember your cat should not have to suffer pain for your furniture’s convenience. Our pets are worth more than ANY material possessions.

Until Next Week,
Meow for Now!
Storm

Hi Everydoggie!

Pebbles here! Harley is off chasing squirrels.

Mom took Phoenix to Dad’s work the other day. Phoenix is so big that Mom and Dad keep track of his weight gain by weighing him on the big freight scale at Dad’s work. So Mom took Phoenix over and they walked him through the shop to the scales. Mom says one really big burly guy took one look at Phoenix’ head collar and got all nervous. The big burly guy asked Dad why Phoenix was muzzled. Mom says Dad laughed at him and explained it wasn’t a muzzle, it was a head collar and it was so Mom could control Phoenix on walks without becoming a kite. Dad thought it was funny but Mom got mad and started yelling about how she was sick and tired of people who didn’t know the difference between a head collar and a muzzle always assuming that Phoenix was a mean nasty dog because of his head collar so she wrote this interesting post for me to share with you! Take it away Mom…

Training a dog to walk on a leash without pulling can be a pain in the butt, but proper leash training is an essential part of basic dog training.

Leash training a dog or puppy involves teaching it to walk calmly on a leash without pulling or tugging. A training tool called a head collar can assist in training a dog or puppy to walk on a leash. I use one regularly when training rescues to leash walk properly. Those of you that are familiar with the head collar can go grab a coffee and skip this post. I don’t need to explain this to you. The rest of you listen up!

Many people mistake the head collar for a muzzle because of the way it fits around the dog’s snout. However, there are important differences between a muzzle and a head collar. The head collar allows the dog to open it’s mouth freely in order to eat, drink, play, pant, bark or perform any other activity as long as the handler is not exerting pressure on the collar to close the mouth. A muzzle, on the other hand should completely restrict the dog from being able to bite either by keeping the mouth closed enough that biting is not possible, or caging the mouth completely as shown in the comparison photo below.

The purpose of the head collar is to allow the dog owner to gain control over the head of the dog or puppy. By properly controlling the head of the dog, the dog can be trained to follow your lead when leash walking without pulling or otherwise misbehaving. When using the head collar correctly, a dog does not have the ability to pull because the handler is able to guide the dog’s nose.

For all those people who stop me and say “excuse me, why is your dog muzzled?” My answer is this, “wait don’t run away! It’s not a muzzle!” Study the muzzle and head collar comparison photo carefully, and ask yourself, is my dog wearing a muzzle, or is it wearing a head collar? Educate yourself, my dog is no threat, he is under control. I just use different tools to get my results. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with them, they could be of assistance to you too.

Okay! I think Mom got that out of her system! But really you guys maybe if your doggie pulls on his leash on walks you should try a head collar. It even stops Samson from turning Mom into a kite, and NOTHING stops HIM!

Until Next Week

May your feet stay furry, your nose stay wet, and your food bowl never empty!

Love Ya Lots

Harley & Pebbles