Heart Like a Dog

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

Charitable Acts

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Do you trim your dog’s nails yourself?

I used to.  My attempts at nail clipping, ear cleaning and teeth cleaning use lots of treats.  And lots of coaxing.

There was a time when I always clipped Sampson and Delilah’s nails myself.  Sampson really doesn’t care for it and hides his head with his paw or hides his head in the sofa when the time comes.  When you call him to you he will come, but very reluctantly.  I think it is because there have been a couple of times when either Hubby or myself have cut the nail too short and made it bleed. 🙁

Delilah on the other hand knows there is food involved and she will shove her way into you, completely pushing Sampson out-of-the-way.  She’s a big goof ball.

One time after our Thursday night obedience class I noticed Sara cutting someone’s nails.  I noticed she had a really nice, big clipper and she clipped even skittish dogs with no problem.

That’s when I asked her to clip Sampson and Delilah.

Keep in mind the Mellow Mutt is a doggie daycare and training facility,with a lovely little retail section.  There is a groomer at the Mellow Mutt, but she rents the space, and technically is her own boss.

Not that Sara can’t (and doesn’t do) grooming, bathing and trimming.  But her passion is training and daycare.

One day when I was dropping the dogs off for daycare, Murphy’s mom asked for Murphy to have a bath and a nail clip.  She asked how much the nail clipping was.

Imagine both our surprises when we were told by Sue, “Sara doesn’t charge for nail clipping, she asks that you make a donation to a dog related cause.”

How freaking nice is that?

Sara also still has her food donation box out so if you don’t want write out a check for a donation, you can drop off a bag of food.

After I dropped S & D off this morning I got to thinking about their nails and how long it has been since they were clipped.  So I called Sara up and asked if she would mind clipping them.

Here’s the answer I got.

“I was just laying on the floor making out with Sampson and I mentioned that his nails were looking pretty long.  He hid his paw and said, “Don’t look at them Auntie Sara.”  🙂

They both had their nails clipped today and I told Sara I would pick up a back of food and add it to the donation box.

I think what Sara is doing is really awesome and I think it’s awesome she chooses to provide this service to animals in need.

Book update:  My book has 1,646 words

A Year At The Park

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The  company I work for gives me Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday off.  While I love having a paid day off and have nothing against Dr. MLK, it irritates me that we don’t get President’s Day or Veteran’s Day off.   IMO our Veterans have done just as much (if not more) for this country as Dr. King.  But that’s not what this post is about.

I had today off.  It was a nice day off and started with breakfast with my nephew (the Veteran,) my mom, my sisters, my niece, one of my daughters and my son-in-law.

After breakfast and a quick stop at Ocean State Job Lots for some gluten-free goodies, it was time to walk the dogs.  I figured if I walked them early, I could spend the afternoon resting on the couch because I didn’t sleep so great last night.

As we walked up into the park, it suddenly occurred to me, that it was exactly on Dr. MLK day last year that I first began taking the dogs up to the park on a regular basis.  I started thinking of all the things I had learned while walking the dogs this past year and I thought it would be fun to highlight some of them.

Walking the dogs and letting them run for at least a half hour a day 3 to 4 times per week will result in weight loss.  For the dogs.  I still haven’t lost any weight. 🙁

Some dogs need to be on a leash, because they just cannot be trusted to return when called.

A dog on a 30 foot leash, even one who has lost a lot of weight, can cause a severe fall when she takes off across a wet field.

A piece of deer leg will not be given up easily, AND if you carry that piece of leg, your dog WILL be perfectly heeled at your side.

Even in woods close by your house, you can still get scared.  Especially if you have an active imagination. 🙂

Beauty is where you find it.

I’m sure there’s probably more and if I think of them I will recap them in my Follow-Up Friday post.

How was your day?  Did you have it off, or did you have to work?

Book Update:  1,268 words.

Blog The Change, BE The Change

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I almost forgot about Blog The Change.

At least three times this past week I’ve gasped in horror and said, “Oh My God, I forgot Blog The Change!  Wait a minute, what’s the date?  Oh, ok I have time.”

Then I thought, what the hell am I going to write about?  After mulling it over in my mind and reading one too many facebook/internet articles about animal cruelty, I decided I would write about harsher penalties for animal neglecters and abusers.

One of my friends lives in TN, you may remember her.  She wrote to me asking about helping with her new dog, Ginger and the issues they were having with their current dog, Candy. (If you missed it, you can find it here.)  Well guess what?  A puppy showed up on her deck on Friday.

But that isn’t what this post is about.  Once her comment was up a number of other comments followed.  Apparently she thinks this may be one of her neighbor’s dogs, because he has a slew of them and keeps them all outside, all of the time.  Even in horrible weather, his attitude is ‘they have a dog house, they can use it.’

That statement alone could send me off on a long tangent, but there’s more.  What I said was, “I hate people like your neighbor.”

Then someone else commented with, “Me too, Jodi.  Cruel and Inhumane.”

To which I responded, “Sometimes I think people should have to pass tests to have pets, and children too.”

Well here’s the crux of it and what I was trying to get to.  While the whole idea of someone passing a test to have a pet or a child is ludicrous, and would really give entirely too much power to a government with too much power already, I really believe if we had stronger penalties for cruelty and neglect, perhaps and it is a BIG PERHAPS.  Perhaps, people would think twice before committing crimes of this nature.

IMO, criminals have too many ‘rights.’ Listen, if you committed a crime, you lose your rights.  I’m sorry.  Yes you have a right to an attorney, and a fair trial, but just how do you figure you’re entitled to have a gym in prison and cable tv?

What has happened to society?  Each generation seems to become more and more perverse.  Where is the shame and embarrassment of doing something you know is wrong?  Once upon a time I was terrified of my father.  All he had to say was, “I have a bone to pick with you” and I would just about wet my pants.  Did he ever hit me?  No.  He didn’t have to.

Once upon a time people were embarrassed to have spent time in jail, now they wear it like a badge of honor.  WTF?  Really, what have we come to?

Personally I would love to see us go back to the stockades in the center of town.  Yes, even for the horrible crimes.  Before you go to prison, spend a day and night in the stockade in the center of town.  Make sure to leave boxes and boxes of rotten tomatoes nearby, so people can walk by and pitch one at em.  Of course you would need to make sure to have a guard posted because there would certainly be at least one that would pitch a rock.  (Then they would have to go in the stockade alongside the criminal.)

Stop.  Give me a minute to climb down off this soap box, I feel like this post has gotten off track.

I think there should be stronger penalties for people who abuse children, animals and the elderly.  I also think our prisons and jails should concentrate less on the creature comforts of prisoners and more on the idea that these people are being punished.

I would like to see this issue become a federal matter and not one based on a state’s opinion.  There are too many states where animals are abused and neglected with little to no punishment.

Let’s take a stand!  I am starting with my State Representatives, and asking where and how to start.

Whose with me? Will you Be The Change?

My book (which I haven’t worked on yet today) has 1001 words.

This is the Blog The Change For Animals Blog hop.  You can get your code here.

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