Follow-Up Friday

February 3, 2012 By Jodi

I’m deviating slightly in the format of my follow-up Friday post. Normally I start with earlier posts and work my way forward, today I am starting with yesterday’s post, “Has The World Gone Crazy?”

First I have to apologize to you, I saw the article on facebook and read a blog, which got me fired up and I wrote my blog post. What I didn’t do was my research. I should have looked to see if there was more to the story and unfortunately there was.

My dear friend at 2 Brown Dawgs who lives in Michigan and apparently not too far from Royal Oaks, found the following two articles. Feel free to read them yourself and make your own conclusions.

Banish, euthanize or what?

City of Royal Oak, The People vs Spalding

Here is a quick summary.

Apparently there were two dogs being walked by the girlfriend of the owner’s son. While they were outside a store a man approached and asked if they were friendly and the girl responded they were. As the man walked past the dogs (according to the police report) the dogs jumped on the man and bit his face. The man was assisted by store employees and then went to the hospital. He had bite marks on his nose and below his mouth. His wounds required stitches and at least one surgery.

The owner was cited for the dog bite and for not having either of her dogs licensed. The petition leads one to believe the dog will be euthanized on February 9th, which is not the case at all. Heidi is currently at home with her owner and will reside there until a decision has been reached. The 9th is the date scheduled for the pre-trial hearing at which point a settlement could be reached.

City attorney Dave Gillam “disputes claims that Royal Oak is out to destroy the dog. He said the city did present two options: euthanize the dog or move her outside of Royal Oak. However, the issue could be resolved by sending the dog to obedience school, muzzling her whenever she is outside the owner’s McLean Avenue home, or some other action.”

The dog is not in danger of being euthanized next week as the petition suggests.

First I’m mad at myself for not looking into the case. Usually I am the first to research something I hear.

Second I am really pissed off that the owner is manipulating the situation and making it seem like the city is out to destroy her dog. She is preying on the emotion of dog owners everywhere, IMO she needs to take responsibility for herself and her dog. The dog bit someone, really bit someone, she should not be classifying it as “Heidi popped up at the same time that the stranger bent over to pet her.” According to the reports the stranger wasn’t even trying to pet the dog.

I certainly don’t want the dog to be destroyed, but I’m thinking perhaps the dog needs to be re-homed. IMO this is not a responsible dog owner. She didn’t look out for her dog and she didn’t own her responsibility.

A visit to her website today has HUGE red letters across the top, “PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR EMAIL THE CITY OF ROYAL OAK. THINGS ARE PROGRESSING WELL. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.”

I’m still thinking I may send the city an e-mail and let them know I felt deceived by Ms. Spalding and while I don’t believe Heidi should be destroyed, I think she may need re-homing.

Please accept my sincerest apologies for misleading you in this cause, I promise to check facts next time I hear something that infuriates me and educate myself before going off half-cocked.

Death By Chocolate – Part 2 – Update

Delilah came away from her experience with a one time vomit, a tiny bit of diarrhea the next morning and a healthy fear of Mr. Honey Bear. (A lot better than most celebrities who take a handful of pills.) 🙂

Since I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know why Mr. Honey Bear came out, I’m pretty sure she will still eat stuff she shouldn’t, which just means I have to be more conscientious of what I leave lying around.

Drew Barrymore’s Bump – Update

My euphoria that Drew Barrymore adopted a shelter dog turned to dismay the next day, when I read that Prince William and Princess Kate adopted a Cocker Spaniel from a breeder. And don’t forget I am not against responsible breeders, just those crazy puppy mill people. When they see a demand for Cocker Spaniels they’ll start churning them out.

That’s it for me, I think I’ve done enough damage this week.

Book Update: My book has 8,457 words.

Follow-Up Friday

January 27, 2012 By Jodi

For those new to the blog, my follow-up Friday provides me with an opportunity to update or revise a post from the previous week.

You know sometimes you post about something and you need an update but it doesn’t warrant a whole blog. Or sometimes someone made a comment that really resonated with you. Yup, Follow-Up Friday baby! 🙂

I really only want to follow-up with Justice For Putz.

People have different ideas about whether dogs are supposed to provide protection or not. Personally I don’t want my dog putting him/herself in harm’s way for me. My dogs are like my children and I would protect my children with my life. I try really hard to let my dogs know that I can take care of myself and in turn take care of them. That is the reason we train with other people and dogs as frequently as we can.

But I can’t get inside my dog’s mind to know what they are thinking and I can’t predict with 100% accuracy how my dog will react in any given situation. I’d like to think neither one of my dogs would EVER bite, but they are dogs and I don’t know. Which is why we take precautions with our dogs around other people, especially children. We also try and educate other people about how to treat our dogs.

I find it sad that because a dog bites, it is immediately the dog’s fault. My aunt and uncle had a dog once, Scooter who jumped their fence and bit a child. I don’t know all of the reasonings for their decision (if the law was involved or not) but they decided to euthanize Scooter. It broke my heart when I found out, because Scooter was a great dog.

After Scooter had been put down, my aunt and uncle found out that the child who had been bitten had been using a sling shot and shooting marbles at Scooter. One day Scooter had enough and stuck up for himself and he lost his life because of it.

Sadly Scooter and Putz aren’t the only stories about dog’s being wrongfully euthanized.

I wonder if Putz had been a Labrador or a different breed of dog if the outcome would have been the same? 2 Brown Dawgs left a comment about another pitbull who did nothing, and was still euthanized.

It concerns me, because right now the focus is on pitbulls, because a certain population of people have used the dogs wrongly. But that focus can change. When I was a kid I remember my father telling me how vicious Doberman Pinschers were, German Shepherds were also considered a “dangerous” breed, but we all know that isn’t the case.

We need to take action now and stop this breed specific crusade, because if we don’t we can’t be sure it won’t be our dog’s breed that’s next.

Book update, my book has 6,231 words.

Follow-Up Friday

January 20, 2012 By Jodi

For those new to the blog, my follow-up Friday provides me with an opportunity to update or revise a post from the previous week.

2012 Goals – Author’s Note

Many of you thought my goals were highly ambitious and I guess maybe they were, but you should know me by now. I’m the one going Mock 2 with my hair on fire.

That’s just how I roll, I want to succeed with my writing and am determined to do so.

Blog The Change, BE The Change – Author’s Note

I was surprised that no-one thought I was whacked out in that post. I mean, I really do believe in harsher penalties for animal abusers, I thought my idea of the stockade in the center of town would get some flack, but you guys didn’t blink an eye. Although at least one you was amused at the image of me with rotten tomatoes in my hands climbing down off a soap box. 🙂

Charitable Acts – Author’s Note

Some of you wrote in saying you used the grinding tool for your dog’s nails and you didn’t have to worry about cutting the quick. We thought the grinder would be a good idea as well, but they were almost impossible to get when they first came out because everyone wanted one. We finally got one and poor Sampson is terrified of it, I can’t stand his trembling while Hubby tries to file. I put it away in the back of the closet and some lucky person will be able to pick it up for like $5 bucks at my tag sale. 🙂

Never A Dull Moment – Author’s Note

I’ve been wanting to write about Delilah’s habit of jamming her head between my legs for a long time, but truthfully, it sounds weird. I really do think it would be a funny picture and might try to get a picture of it, she doesn’t always do it when there is someone around to take a picture though. 🙂

This morning when she did it, I decided to walk with her and see if I can teach her WALK so I can complete Pamela at Something Wagging’s challenge to train your dog month.

I had originally thought I would try to teach Delilah to roll over, but when I was preparing food and watching how high she was jumping, I started teaching her to jump up and put her two front paws on my hip. Why? I don’t know really, I was just thinking if I ever decide to enter a dance competition with her it might be a cool trick.

Which is also the same reason I am teaching her to walk with her head between my legs. Just in case I decide to enter a dance competition with my dog.

Yeah, that’s it.

I would have to say we’ve had a pretty good week, and how was yours?

Book update: My book has 3,650 words.

Heart Like a Dog

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