Sampson is a social dog. If you ask my husband, he’ll say we socialized him too well. The minute he spies dog or person, he’s a dog on a mission.
If it’s a dog, he barks, yips and lunges trying to get to the other dog.
If it’s a person, he roos at them and pulls towards them. If they pass him by without acknowledgement he’s slightly dejected, but he will try again the next time he sees them. He just doesn’t give up.
Take the woman up the road who always seemed to be out working in her yard as we passed by. After a couple of days of rooing at her, one day she spoke to him. Three days later she pet him.
That’s a win in Sampson’s book.
Of course there are some folks that are just dog people and it really takes little to no effort on Sampson’s part. Take last Tuesday. I took the day off to spend with Sampson while Delilah had her dental surgery.
Sampson wanted to head a certain way on our walk and I let him go. It was not typically a way I would take him because we would be walking along a busy road and there were sidewalks only part of the way. Still it wasn’t a busy part of the day, so I figured why not. I knew it was a bit of a longer walk than Sampson is used to, but I thought if we take our time we’ll do okay.
About 25 minutes into a 40 minute walk he saw her. She was crossing the street to put something in her mailbox, he roo, roo, roo’d and before you know it, Sampson was getting loved on and she and I were talking on the side of the road.
After a few minutes, Sampson got tired of waiting and pulled up a spot on the ground. He lay there patiently waiting, just enjoying the day.
We chatted for about 15 minutes, which was just long enough for Sampson to catch his breath enough to continue his walk.
Do you think Sampson is over socialized? Is that even possible?
Welcome to Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dogs and Heart Like a Dog.
The Barks and Bytes hop is for anything at all and all bloggers are welcome. You don’t have to be a dog blog to join.
For new blog hoppers, a blog hop is list of links that is shared on multiple blogs. In order to be fair to all participants we ask you to please use the linky list. If your blog does not support a linky list, please link back to your hosts.
Just a Run of the Mill Dog
This post is part of Be the Change for Animals, a quarterly blog hop focused on animal welfare.
I was undecided as to what to post about today. Until my sister’s dog, Bandit went missing.
Typically one wouldn’t think a lost dog would be a cause to write about concerning changes in animal welfare.
Except Bandit isn’t just a dog. You see Bandit came from a Puppy Mill. This is Bandit’s story as I remember it.
Twelve years ago when my sister decided she wanted a Jack-Rat (Jack Russell/Rat Terrier) she found a ‘breeder’ in North Carolina. Excited she and her husband drove to Virginia to spend the weekend with friends and then my sister and her friend, drove from Virginia to North Carolina to pick up her puppy.
My sister was horrified when she got to the ‘breeder’s’ home. There were cages, upon filthy cages chock full of dogs. The ‘breeder’ took her past these cages on their way to the Jack-Rats. My sister noticed one cage where a dog lay dead, just hanging out of the crate. The ‘breeder’ said, “Oh, she died having puppies this morning, I haven’t had the time to clean out the cage.”
My sister was appalled. When she got to the crate containing the Jack-Rat’s raised her hand and pointed, “I’ll take that one.”
And so Bandit came to live with my sister.
It’s important to note that Bandit did not know how to walk on a floor. He’d never had the opportunity. He spent his entire young life in a wire crate. And he’s never been in one since. He’s terrified of the crate and when my sister attempted to put him in one he lost his stuff.
Typically when a dog goes missing you can set up a humane trap, and the dog can be lured in with food. We’re almost certain Bandit would never go into one of these Have a Heart traps. He’s too afraid.
So my sister and brother-in-law have to hope that at some point Bandit will either find his way home or relax enough to allow someone to get close enough to snag him. The good news is he’s been spotted near a farm just a 1/2 mile down the road from my sister. The bad news is so far he’s eluded capture, and he’s spending his time in the wilds of New Hampshire where some dangerous predators also live.
Bandit’s story is important to Blog the Change for Animals because his story sheds light on a very unsavory section of animal welfare. Puppy mills.
I want to be clear here. There is a difference between responsible breeders and puppy mill breeders.
- A responsible breeder screens purchasers of their puppies and almost always has some type of application or contract when you purchase that puppy.
- A responsible breeder will take the puppy back if health or behavioral issues arise.
- A responsible breeder would NEVER allow their dogs to be sold in pet stores.
Which means the puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy millers.
Many areas of the country are taking steps to prohibit puppies from being sold by pet stores.
So how can you help?
- Educate people about responsible breeders, whether it be on your social media resources or in person.
- Find out if there’s a local chapter that advocates for stronger animal welfare laws. CT has an advocating organization called Connecticut Votes for Animals. I signed up to receive e-mail alerts when a law regarding animals is coming up for a vote. Not only do I know when a vote is coming up, they also tell me what action I can take to facilitate the passage of the bill. Because of organizations like CVFA, CT recently passed a law prohibiting chaining a dog out 24/7.
- Contact your state representative and ask how you can get involved.
If we can stop pet stores from selling puppies, we can shut down some of these mills.
If we can educate people about responsible breeders, we can shut down some of these mills.
If we speak up for those who have no voices, we CAN be the change for animals.
Together we CAN be the change for dogs like Bandit.
On The Right Track
In June we discovered our dear Delilah’s liver levels were slightly elevated. Since then we’ve had them checked twice and each time they seem to increase ever so slightly.
Last Tuesday she had her dental cleaning and a very bad tooth was removed. While Delilah doesn’t have dental disease I’m very hopeful the tooth is the root of the liver issues.
Still I want to be as proactive as possible, so I had my vet fax over the results of the latest blood tests to our Holistic Vet.
He called me Tuesday while Delilah was having her cleaning. Bottom line, he’s not super concerned about the slightly elevated levels.
Here’s why:
Delilah’s ultrasound showed her liver was the correct size, shape and texture and there were no obvious signs of liver disease, and no masses.
He did say that Gastrointestinal issues can cause the liver levels to become elevated. On the surface Delilah (or Old Iron Guts as we often call her,) doesn’t appear to have stomach distress.
I think she’s vomited three times in the entire seven years she’s been with us, and her stool is usually firm. She has however taken to eating grass lately. Not mowing on it, like a cow, but she takes bites here and there.
My vet has recommended a liver biopsy as the next step and both Hubby and I are very uncomfortable with it. I discussed the biopsy again with the Holistic Vet who asked me, “Will you do anything differently if the biopsy showed you something was wrong?”
Our answer to that is no. Don’t get me wrong. We want Delilah to be healthy and happy and are willing to spend the money to make her feel better. We just don’t want to do it with synthetic drugs, or chemicals.
The Holistic Vet wants to try supporting Delilah’s Gastrointestinal system and Hubby and I are on board with that. Since last Tuesday we’ve added Enteric Support by Standard Process and a Chinese Herb called Leaky Gut. I’m also going to be adding a probiotic (although they do get Kefir) as well as a good multi-vitamin. In addition, I’m making some dietary changes by trying to incorporate some new proteins.
With the tooth out, we will keep her on this new protocol and recheck her levels in two months. We’ll adjust our plan from there, when and if it warrants it.
Because I have a tendency to second guess myself, it helps to talk things over with a professional. I felt much better after chatting with the Holistic Vet.
Like we are on the right track.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Next Page »
Recent Comments