Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Help Your Local Shelter – BTC4Animals

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Blog the Change for Animals

Whenever possible, I try and purchase locally. Whether it be for my own food at the Farmer’s Market or food/treats for my dog, at our local, small business pet stores.

One of my favorite stores almost always has a large collection can right at the registers. Coincidentally, they usually have a treat that is on sale right on the counter and they are good about asking, “Would you like to donate a $2 dog or cat treat to the Sadie Mae Foundation?”

This method works. At least on me. Every. Single. Time.

I mean, sometimes I’ll have conversations with the cashier. Like this, “If SnoopDog is donating one dollar for every two dollar treat bar purchased, why doesn’t he just donate the money anyway?” THAT kind of stuff pisses me off, (maybe something I need to tweet Snoop about :-)) but it’s not the dog or cat’s fault, so I always support the effort by purchasing at least one treat/food product.

Isn’t that a simple and easy way to help your local shelter?

Easy steps to get you started:

  • Ask your favorite pet store if they’d be willing to showcase an ‘on sale’ treat or food at the check out counter.
  • Choose your favorite local rescue/shelter etc.
  • Purchase a large trash can (31 Gallon at your local Home Depot for less than $25).
  • Make up a sign to put on the trash can indicating what the local organization is.
  • Make arrangements with the pet store as to when the donated items will be picked up.
  • Deliver the donated items to your favorite rescue!
You think it's cute. I don't, you better watch your back when you're sleeping.

The Mama saved me from a high kill shelter, I’m glad she did. I’m also glad she tries to help others that aren’t as lucky as me.

It’s simple and easy and requires very little time commitment on your part. Plus it’s helping local animals in need.

Check out some other contributions to Be The Change 4 Animals in the blog hop listed below. Many thanks to my co-hosts, Talking Dogs, Pet Faves, and CindyLu’s Muse.



The Sidler

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I know this is dating me, but are there any Seinfield fans out there? If so, do you remember the episode about the ‘sidler’?

For those who don’t remember (or know) there was this one episode of Seinfield where Elaine had a co-worker that was so quiet, they would suddenly appear and startle/surprise their co-workers.

The suggestion was to give the man a container of Tic Tacs that he could carry in his pocket, with the hope being the Tic Tacs would rattle as he approached and therefore warn his co-workers.

My Goddaughter was a sidler. Every Saturday night we used to hang out with Hubby’s cousin and her husband. Most of the times we’d be playing cards at the kitchen table and the kids would be watching TV in the other room. Inevitably, Sammi, who was six or seven at the time, would wander into the room. Typically we wouldn’t even see her come in to the room, but before you knew it, you were play ing cards with Sammi on your lap. It wasn’t like she came in and came over to sit on your lap, it was more like a very slow, casual thing. She’d stand next to the person she had chosen, then she’d do the one cheek sneak and soon enough she was on your lap.

At one point someone would look up and say, “When did Sam come in”? No-one could answer the question and we’d all laugh.

We joked that we needed to sew a pocket into her nightgown and put a package of Tic Tacs in there, to warn us of her approach.

Flash forward 15 years and I have another sidler in my life. This guy right here.

She lays on the floor one time. ONE TIME, and she complains about dust. She should see her housekeeping from my perspective.

I don’t know what a sidler is, but I hope it comes with fries.

It seems a CCL injury gives this dog sudden Ninja Stealth Super Powers.

Examples:

  • The chipmunks have been out, and Delilah loves trying to catch herself a chipmunk. About a month ago I saw a ‘chippie’ out on the deck. Delilah was on the couch and Sampson was on the living room floor. I went up to Delilah and whispered, “Chippie” and pointed to the door. She got up and hurried over, I stood at the door until she had a bead on the little sucker and then I opened the door. Out she went in a flash! Before I could close the door, Sampson went flying after her. Of course he hit the slippery deck and his back leg failed him and he fell.
  • Dinner time – Every night I fix the dog’s Kongs before I serve them dinner. Delilah ALWAYS comes into the kitchen and waits for me to drop something. At some point in during my routine, I will look over and there is Sampson, patiently lying there watching me, waiting for his dinner.
  • I go into the bathroom to get ready for work and with no noise or notice whatsoever, I look up to see this.
I don't know what a Sidler is, does it come with fries?

Can I get those fries super-sized?

What surprises me the most about this is this, how does he get there? You see Sampson has never been a noisy or clumsy mover (unlike another dog I know.) BUT when he sets himself to lie down, he usually flops. (Unlike another dog I know, who is Super Ninja in THAT department.) So much so, that when you are sleeping you typically feel him flop, because it’s that apparent. Except he’s not doing this.

One second he’s not there, the next second he is. I’m wondering if he’s doing the Army crawl? Do I need a camera for this dog too?

Do you have a sidler in your life?

And just a quick reminder, tomorrow is Blog the Change for Animals, a quarterly blog hop where we share causes, petitions or organizations that are working towards a better life for animals. Won’t you join me, along with my co-hosts Talking Dogs, Pet Faves, and CindyLu’s Muse?

Shhhh, don’t tell anyone, but here’s the code for tomorrow’s hop. 😉

<!– start LinkyTools script –>
<script src=”http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=268681″ type=”text/javascript”></script>
<!– end LinkyTools script –>

Hope to see you there!

 

One Step Forward – Two Steps Back

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I thought it might be a good time for a little update on Sampson’s CCL injury.

Since his partial tear on the 26th of January he’s been on restricted activity. Short, slow leash walks twice a day and no off-leash in the yard.

We started off with six minute walks and have worked ourselves up to 1-10 minute walk and 1-12 minute walk.

Four weeks ago we started on Hydrotherapy using the underwater treadmill. With the goal being to help build up some muscle and give him some strength and stability in that knee.

Except that hasn’t happened.

Instead he seems to take one step forward and two steps back.

After four weeks of Hydrotherapy there are still days when he won’t put any weight on his foot. Sometimes he puts his foot down, but his toes are just touching the floor. There are times when he holds his foot completely off the floor. And if he tries to move quickly, whether it’s in the house or on a walk, he holds that foot up and does a little three legged scoot.

With only one week of Physical Therapy left, it’s time to re-evaluate the situation.

I’ve been researching Conservative Management of CCL injuries and alternative treatment plans, so I felt it was time to speak to my vet and get her thoughts.

I shared all of the above with her and explained that eleven weeks post injury I’m not really happy with his progress. I shared my concerns with him not putting any weight on his foot in the house but using it outside and she feels like he might be afraid of slipping, so she gave me the suggestion of some things we could do to help him feel more confident. Once I make a decision as to what we will be using I will share that here with you.

I told her he was starting his fifth week of the Hydrotherapy and the final week of the package I had purchased. At this point I am wondering should I purchase another $500 Physical Therapy package or is my money better spent on something else.

She feels it’s time to try something different.

One the treatments we will be considering is Platlet Rich Plasma Therapy and the other one is IRAP (which has been used with great success for horses.) Dr. Soutter gave me the name of two different veterinarians, so in the next couple of days I’ll be making some phone calls and seeing if I can schedule Sampson for some consults.

In the meantime, he will finish out his Hydrotherapy and I will continue with his short, slow walks.

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog if you keep giving me short, slow walks!

You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog if you keep giving me short, slow walks!

I’d love to hear any experiences any of you have had with conservative treatment of CCL injuries, also if you’ve heard or used either Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy or IRAP I’d appreciate hearing about that as well.

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