Heart Like a Dog

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

Sippin’ and Paintin’

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Kathleen Gage Community Challenge – Week Eight

The Thursday night I was at BlogPaws, there was a Sip ‘N Paint event hosted by the Red Roof Inn. Siriusly, is there anything that says community more, than getting drunk and painting with 100 of your closest friends? ‘-)

This here’s the sippin’ part.

I really had my doubts about me making a painting that might actually look like a painting. But the ladies who guided us on this painting adventure were quite simply, amazing. As you can see from the above photo, we started out using a ruler and pencil and drawing a line halfway down the canvas. Don’t worry, I moved the wine before I started painting. (Mostly I moved it into my belly. LOL)

We made these paintings using only the colors of blue, black, white, yellow, and red. When I looked at the painting completed by the woman leading us, I thought, shit, there’s no way in hell.

Look at Maggie, she’s all cool, professional looking, me, I’ve already sipped waaaay to much and veered off topic. Photo by Jodi Chick, used with permission.

I mean, look. I’ve barely started and I’ve got my canvas in my hand. What’s up with that? (Maybe it’s that half empty wine glass…) 😉

The ladies leading the charge gave us step-by-step instructions. As it turned out, we all made some really nice paintings. Many thanks to the professionals who guided us, and the nice folks at Red Roof Inn for supplying all the necessary supplies.

The dog looks like a butternut squash with ears, but all in all, I’m pretty pleased with it.

Oh, and Chloe was nice enough to ship the paintings home for those of us who didn’t have room to pack them.

Speaking of Red Roof Inns, did you know that pets stay free at Red Roof Inns?  Every Red Roof Inn allows at least one pet at no charge, while many others will accept more than one.  If you are traveling with more than one pet, please call ahead and confirm that particular hotel will allow more than one.

Anyone who travels with pets knows, it’s not always easy finding a place that accepts pets. My friend Jen, from My Brown Newfies, drove from Ohio to South Carolina, with Leroy, her Newfoundland. Being the diligent dog owner that she is, Jen had called ahead and planned on stopping at a Red Roof Inn. Then, because she was making such good time, she decided to keep driving. And she had to keep driving, and driving, and driving, because she had trouble finding another hotel that would accept dogs. Especially a dog the size of Leroy.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve reached the age, where when I travel, I like to know where I’m stopping. Those days of driving until I’m punch drunk, and have the “I’m tired” giggles, are well over. This ole’ gal needs to know there’s a place to lay her head. 🙂

One more thing before I let you go. Did you remember that next Saturday, July 15th is the quarterly Blog the Change for Animals blog hop? I’ll be co-hosting along with Kim Thomas from Cindy Lu’s Muse. For those that don’t know about BTC, it’s a quarterly blog hop where blogger’s write about causes that are near and dear to our hearts, or issues that are affecting animals.

Because of my co-hosting duties for the Pet Blogger Showcase, my BTC post will be up on Thursday, but the linky won’t open until the 15th.

I hope you’ll consider joining us. Even if you wrote a post a while ago, if it’s about animal welfare, please be sure to link up.

Hope to see you then!

 

A Little Respect Please

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Happy 4th of July everyone!!

I’m not sure how it is where you live, but beginning last Saturday, people have been setting off fireworks in celebration of this Nation’s birth.

Sadly, for a demographic of people and animals, these couple of weeks of celebration can be pure hell.

The 5th of July is the busiest day for Animal Control officers, because more pets go missing on 4th of July than any other day of the year.

Last Fourth of July, my cousin David’s dog, Heidi, went missing.

Heidi is a Black Labrador Retriever, rescued from Hurricane Katrina. Heidi is afraid of thunderstorms and fireworks.

My cousin lives in Maine, on a little five acre plot. Heidi has free rein of the property, and usually heads right for the door when the first rattle of thunder rolls in.

Last year, in the early evening while it was still fairly light out, Heidi was out in the yard, when a neighbor decided to set off a firework. Being totally unprepared for this sudden noise, Heidi took off.

She was gone for almost a week, before someone finally contacted David to let him know that Heidi had appeared on the woman’s deck about seven miles from home.

Seven miles.

A frightened dog can run extremely far. When my sister’s Jack Rat Terrier got spooked by gunshots a few years ago, he traveled over ten miles!

It’s not just dogs either. Plenty of cats get spooked, and I have know idea how wild animals deal with it.

Of course, there’s the human factor too. Many Veterans, especially those that have served in a combat zone suffer from PTSD. The loud noises from fireworks can flash them back to combat.

My nephew served a year in Afghanistan. After he came home, we were at my grandson’s birthday, and the staff moved a table and it made a very loud noise. My nephew almost hit the deck.

When you consider the statistics…

According to Veterans PTSD Statistics, of the 2.7 million veterans of the Iraq/Afghanastan wars

  • 20% have PTSD. That’s over half a million people, yo.
  • 50% of veterans with PTSD don’t seek treatment
  • 19% have Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI’s)
  • 7% have PTSD AND a TBI
  • Sadly every day 22 veterans take their own lives. Every. Single. Day.

In my opinion, that’s 22 per day too many.

If you’re one of those people who like to shoot off fireworks, I get it, but I think it’s nice to give some thought to others who share space with you in this world.

I happen to be one of those people who think you can always find a compromise. My suggestion is, if you are one of those folks who likes to light off fireworks, have a quick chat with your neighbors to let the know what you have planned.  I’d suggest letting them know the approximate times you’ll be lighting fireworks off, and how long it will last.

This gives them the opportunity to get out of the neighborhood if they so choose, or to make a safe area in their home.

Some quick tips:

  • Keep your cats inside
  • Take your dogs out early, and give them lots of exercise, so they’ll be tired
  • If you have to take your dogs out during the fireworks,  take them out on a leash
  • Make a safe area in your home where your veterans and pets can hunker down.
  • Make sure you have fans, TV, and air conditioners to help mask the noise.
  • There are also supplements that aid in calming/stress, both for humans and animals. For humans you can try some L-Theanine, or Valerian Root. For pets we use Valerian Root and a calming chew made by Vetriscience called Composure.

Above all, have a safe and Happy 4th!

#Selfies With Delilah

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When I was at BlogPaws in Myrtle Beach back in May, the big thing was taking selfies with Leroy from My Brown Newfies. (#SelfieswithLeroy on the Instagram). Taking selfies with Leroy is pretty simple, 1) apparently Leroy doesn’t mind having his picture taken and 2) Leroy doesn’t move around a lot.

Unlike a certain brown dog at my house, who apparently didn’t get the memo regarding Labradors and their love of having their photos taken.

#SelfieswithDelilah take 1

I like my hair in this photo….and I’d like it better if Delilah would look at the camera!

#SelfieswithDelilah take 2

The hair is okay in the this one, but Delilah still will not look at the camera.

#SelfieswithDelilah take 3

I don’t like my hair and the damn dog still will not look at the camera!

At this point, I gave up. Of course, I laughed and laughed, because she just won’t let me get a good photo!

 

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