Wordless Wednesday -- almost!

Instructions for properly hugging a baby (from a dog's point of view):

 

1. First, uh, find a baby.

2. Second, be sure that the object you found
was indeed a baby, by employing classic sniffing
techniques.

3. Next, you will need to flatten the baby before
actually beginning the hugging process.

4. The 'paw slide' = Simply slide paws around baby

and prepare for possible close-up.

5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute
the difficult and patented 'hug, smile, and lean' so
as to achieve the best photo quality.

Tuesday True Stories -- Therapy Dogs

Image via Wikipedia

 Here is a post I found online at USAtoday.com.  I am reposting it here because I believe that therapy animals do not get enough publicity and they do not get enough credit for what they do.

Dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, etc. can and have been helping humans deal with obstacles and setbacks for eons.  We have finally evolved enough that we are able to recognize all of their myriad contributions to our collective well-being.  I hope you enjoy the article and click over to finish reading the post.  If you do, leave them a comment with your thoughts on the subject, won't you.

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True stories of heroic dogs

By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY

We asked readers in November to tell us about pets that made a difference in 2009, and the response proved there are pet heroes everywhere. We learned about dogs and cats that comfort the sick and struggling, a dog that saved his owner's life, a canine surfer that raises money for the disabled, and many more.

A golden Labrador is a treasure for this child and her family

BETHESDA, Md. — Will Buchanan walks several steps behind his toddler at the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health.

Getting around is challenging for 22-month-old Haley. She has Joubert syndrome, a disease that affects balance and muscle coordination. She uses a tiny walker and wears a harness, which her dad is holding to keep her upright.

PAW PRINT POST: Heartwarming tales of readers' pet heroes

Suddenly they both smile. A big yellow dog lying in the hallway is wagging its tail at Haley. Ever so gently, her dad guides Haley to the floor to sit beside the dog. And ever so gently, Haley reaches out for the dog's muzzle. "Dog," she says. The dog stretches out a paw and touches Haley's leg.

"We have two German shepherds at home (in Dallas, N.C.), so she's really happy to see this dog," says Haley's mother, Laura Buchanan. "This makes it easier for us."

Viola, a golden Labrador, belongs to the Children's Inn, a private, non-profit residence on the NIH campus where families whose chronically ill children are being treated at NIH can stay. Mars Inc. donated Vi to the inn in 2008 after she was retired as a Seeing Eye dog. The kids can spend time alone with Vi and attend special activities with her.

"Having a dog here helps the children relax, feel more at home, and makes their treatments more bearable," says Meredith Carlson Daly, media relations coordinator at the inn. "There have been many studies done showing how beneficial animal therapy can be. We see those benefits here every day."

Tracy Wilcox knows how hard it was for her 9-year-old daughter, Breana, before Vi arrived. Breana has been getting treatments at NIH since she was 2½. She missed nearly 70 days of school last year while dealing with high fevers and chronic pain from an autoimmune inflammatory disorder. Her black Lab, Midnight, comforts her at home, Wilcox says. "He's more in tune with knowing when she's getting sick than I am."

Traveling to NIH from Boston has been stressful, says Wilcox, because Breana has to leave her dog behind. Last June, she got very upset in the airport until her mother surprised her: "I told her the inn had gotten a dog," Wilcox says. "She stopped crying right away.

"After her treatments, she'll go back to the inn, get on the floor with Vi and tell Vi all about what happened with the doctors. And it's rough stuff. When she gets home, she sits on the floor and tells Midnight all about Vi."As a parent, Vi saved us," Wilcox says. "She took away all my daughter's angst. She's gone from hating herself and her disease to looking forward to going back to the inn and getting well."

Spreading good news about Pit Bulls

When Amy Murphy first saw him in May 2008, she cried. His ribs were exposed, his skin was full of cuts and scars and matted with dirt and fleas, his throat had crush injuries and his back left leg was mangled by an infected bite.

SURVEY: Where do people get their pets?

But as much as this pit bull was suffering, he also had love in his eyes, Murphy says.Murphy volunteers for the North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue in Harrisburg, N.C. She got Gunny to a vet after getting him from a shelter several hours away a week before he was set to be euthanized.

She recalls that after the vet examined the dog, she said to Murphy, "Isn't he beautiful? He has scars that will never go away, but he smiles, he wags and he loves us strangers without a second thought. No matter what we did to him, he just loved us. I'm sure he's going to be an ambassador"

Murphy thinks Gunny was a "bait dog" in a dog-fighting ring. Bait dogs are chained and allowed to be attacked by other dogs. He had several surgeries. His back left leg was amputated, yet he is thriving in her home and in the community. Murphy says he taught people about "compassion and perseverance."

When word spread about his vet bills, the community helped raise money. Grade school students would send Murphy several dollars, promising to send more money. He became the official mascot in the Charlotte area for an educational program sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States designed to teach children and young adults that pit bulls are not fighting dogs. "Celebrate your Pit Bull" trains 13- to 22-year-olds to teach dogs obedience, agility and other positive behaviors.

Gunny's resilience stole hearts. Guyla Vardell, principal at Lebanon Road Elementary School in Charlotte, says the 800 students at her school love Gunny. He has appeared at "character assemblies" at the school. "He has captured the imaginations of our students, staff, families and friends," says Vardell. "He is one in a million."

Saved from a shelter, so he gives of himself

Brown Bear's days were numbered. He was in a high-kill shelter until Lucky Dog Animal Rescue of Washington, D.C., relocated and placed the large mixed-breed dog with a big family. His extended family totals 168 residents at the Brooke Grove Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Sandy Grove, Md. He's been there for two months, joining another dog, two cats and several birds.

"Bear is a doll," says Sue Goldstone, Brooke Grove's quality assurance coordinator. "He intuitively knew how to behave around our residents, some of whom are fragile."

Bear is a big help to people with dementia, she says: "They can often get agitated, but putting them with Bear calms them down."

Goldstone says she's grateful Lucky Dog granted his adoption to them. "We feel very fortunate to have him. The residents have company every minute of every day. Life is enhanced by the ability to walk through a building and to be able to pet a dog's muzzle or snuggle a cat."

And what better place for a dog, she adds, considering the center is on 220 acres. "Dogs that live and work here have the full run of the place. They learn how to use the elevators and get around like anyone else."

Saves his owner's life

The way Thelma Portocales tells it, she thought her husband, George, was sleeping beside her at home in bed. But that's not what Oscar, their dachshund-schnauzer, was telling her.

Thelma had taken her hearing aid out for the night and didn't hear Oscar barking at first. But bark Oscar did. Bark, and bark, and bark.

"I still thought George was right beside me in bed when Oscar came up right alongside me and barked until I got up," she says. "He led me towards the bathroom, so I went into it and turned the light on. I said, 'Look, there's nothing wrong.' But Oscar walked farther into the bathroom and stood beside George."

Her husband of 30 years had passed out. She called 911. Medics revived him and rushed him to the hospital. Later they told her Oscar probably saved George's life. He suffered no permanent damage from the cardiac episode and was released from the hospital after four days.

"If it hadn't been for Oscar, he probably wouldn't have made it," Thelma says. "Oscar is precious. George gives him special treatment every day. He just can't get enough of him."

He's a first dog for the Millsboro, Del., couple. Great timing: They adopted Oscar from the Delaware SPCA on Aug. 8. George collapsed Sept. 4.

To read the rest of the stories please click here.

Monday's Mood -- Pensive

My little Man!

Today, I sit and look at my little man and I have to realize that he is not quite as spry as he once was.  He no longer can jump up on the bed at night, so I carefully pick him up and tuck him under the covers.  He has trouble getting up in the recliner with me when I watch TV, so I have to lower the foot rest part way down and he uses it like a ramp to get up in my lap.  I am starting to believe that his sight is going and I frequently see "floaters" in his eyes when he looks up at me.



More and more, his mood is irritable and cranky, so I have to believe that he is hurting with his joints.  I give him Ultram from the vet when he appears extremely irritable, but I think he may need the medication more often now.  He does not have the energy he once had and he seems to frighten easily.  I worry about him.  He is my little man and I don't want to lose him.

KT on the stoop

On another note, the cats outside are doing well.  I still never could catch the female, Ditto. She is now having her second set of babies.  She had them on Saturday, I think because she was really big in the morning when I left for work and that evening she was very thin.  I am making sure she is getting plenty of food and water so she and her brood can be healthy.  The male, KT, is quite happy since his trip to the vet.  He lazes on the front stoop and goes for walks with me and the dogs.  He has even come in the house to visit for brief periods and now has his own box to sleep in by the front door, complete with blankets and towels for comfort and warmth.



I will again try to capture Ditto when I am sure she is finished nursing.  I really want her to get shots and be spayed so we have no more babies.

Friday Movie Day -- Here's 3 videos about the animals of Katrina

Thursday's issues -- Dog Poop

Image by ATIS547 via Flickr

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 (AP)
Dog poop has bright side: Powering Mass. park lamp
By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer


   (09-22) 02:43 PDT Cambridge, Mass. (AP) --
   It stinks and it's a hazard to walkers everywhere, but
it turns out dog poop has a bright side.

   Dog poop is lighting a lantern at a Cambridge dog park
as part of a months long project that its creator, artist
Matthew Mazzotta, hopes will get people thinking about not
wasting waste.

   The "Park Spark" poop converter is actually two steel,
500-gallon oil tanks painted a golden yellow, connected by
diagonal black piping and attached to an old gaslight-style
street lantern at the Pacific Street Park.

   After the dogs do their business, signs on the tanks
instruct owners to use biodegradable bags supplied on
site to pick up the poop and deposit it into the left tank.
People then turn a wheel to stir its insides, which
contain waste and water. Microbes in the waste give off
methane, an odorless gas that is fed through the tanks to
the lamp and burned off. The park is small but has proven
busy enough to ensure a steady supply of fuel.

   Dog owner Lindsey Leason, a 29-year-old Harvard student,
said she was all for seeing poop in a new light as she watched
her two dogs play at the park.

   "Since I have to pick up dog poop a lot, I think I'd rather have it be
useful," Leason said.

   The project was funded by a $4,000 grant from Council of
the Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where
Mazzotta earned a master's degree in visual studies last year.

   The 33-year-old Mazzotta, who is not a dog owner, got the
idea after he visited the park with a friend in 2009. Mazzotta
had recently traveled to India and saw people there using poop
in so-called "methane digesters" to cook food. As he watched
the park's trash can fill with bags of poop, he remarked to his friend,
"In other countries, they use that."

   A similar idea to use dog poop for power was floated in
San Francisco about four years ago. But that idea fizzled
in the city's bureaucracy and over concerns about safety,
said environmental scientist Will Brinton, who worked with
Mazzotta on Park Spark and was consulted in the San Francisco
project.

   Cambridge Fire Chief Gerry Reardon had his own questions
about "Park Spark," including whether vandalism or poor design
could cause the tank's insides to spill out and how the methane
would be safely contained and vented. But Park Spark's sturdy
build and safety features persuaded the fire department to give
its approval, he said.     "We try to stay progressive here," Reardon
said.

   Mazzotta's project brings welcome visual distraction to the park,
which is bordered by a rutted street, a weed-filled lot and the
beaten-down backsides of a couple of buildings. Dog owner
Louisa Solano, 68, said she loves Park Spark, though she thought
it was "just a wonderful piece of sculpture, you know, modern art"
when she first saw it.

   The dog-poop converter's colors, symmetry and clean lines
are intentional, but Mazzotta said his greater artistic purpose
is to get people thinking differently about what's around them,
including seeing waste as a resource and how to best use the
free power it produces.

   The practical benefits of the exhibit aren't lost on Mazzotta.

   Burning the methane, which is 30 times more potent as a
greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, helps the environment,
he said. And with dogs dropping tons of poop in cities everywhere,
he thinks the idea of using its untapped power has broad appeal.

   Brinton, president of Woods End Laboratories in Maine, which
specializes in biogas energy development, said biogas from
waste is a potentially major and accessible energy source,
and a novel project like Mazzotta's can highlight that.

   Mazzotta said right now he's not planning to start a
dog poop energy business but is instead focusing on the
ideas behind Park Spark, which will be dismantled at month's
end. To him, the dog poop device helps fill a need for clean
energy and better waste disposal, and all people need to
do to fuel it is look around.

   And be careful where they step.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday True Stories -- Michael Vick's dogs

 Remember these dogs?  Whatever  became of them after all the hubbub died down?  There is a new book out called The Lost Dogs that I just purchased to read.  This started me wondering about the dogs I had watched on television being rescued--so pitiful and scared.  I decided to search and see what I could find out.  Below is just some of the sites I found.
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Happy ending for most of Vick’s dogs

 By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports Sep 21, 12:21 pm ED
The resurrection of Michael Vick(notes) took another swift step forward Sunday when he led the Philadelphia Eagles to victory in his first start in more than three NFL seasons. Now he’s in the middle of a debate about who should be the team’s regular starter. It’s a welcomed type of argument for a man who spent 21 months in federal prison, lost a $100 million contract and became a national pariah for his role in a vicious interstate dogfighting ring.
Jim Gorant was less concerned about Vick’s future than that of Vick’s victims – the 51 dogs authorities recovered on Vick’s property in rural Virginia, 22 of which went to Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah. If Vick paid his debt to society (as he did, even becoming a Humane Society lecturer), he’d no doubt get a second chance (as he should).

One of the rescued dogs hides in its shelter at Best Friends animal sanctuary, north of Kanab, Utah.
(Douglas C. Pizac/AP Photo)

But what of Michael Vick’s dogs? It turns out there’s a redemption story there as well, one that Gorant, a writer for Sports Illustrated, details in the just-released book “The Lost Dogs”.
It starts with the decision by authorities to raid Vick’s property in April 2007 and carries through the rescue of the animals, the Vick legal proceedings, the groundbreaking decision to not destroy the mostly pit bulls and eventually a series of success stories for many of the dogs.
It’s a book that’s equal parts horrifying and hopeful. And while every person and dog involved would’ve been better served if Bad Newz Kennels never existed, there are plenty of positives coming out of a story that at first seemed to contain only misery.
Forty-seven of the 51 dogs survived. While not all have fully rehabbed, a good number of them live with families. Their new owners view the dogs’ scarred bodies as loveable and marvel at the ability to put years of aggressive training and systematic torture behind them. Four even work in therapy roles – including one in California which is so gentle and peaceful he’s used as a “listener” for self-conscious children trying to work on their reading skills.
Perhaps most remarkably, if it wasn’t for the high-profile nature of the Vick case and the quarterback’s ability to pay for their postrescue care (Vick reportedly spent a court-mandated $1 million on it), each of the dogs would’ve been destroyed. Dogs which came from fighting busts had previously been considered so far gone that trying to retrain them would take a disproportionate amount of already limited resources.
“Ninety percent of the time, they would’ve been put down,” Gorant said. “Even PETA and the Humane Society recommended it. [The theory was] there are already good dogs out there who need care. Why invest time, effort and money to save these few when so many dogs are out there that need help?”
The public outcry over the Vick dogs helped change that. An attempt was made to retrain them, and the success rate was so high that “the Humane Society changed its official policy,” Gorant said.
The major change, according to Gorant, is to evaluate each dog as an individual case rather than make a sweeping ruling on all animals which come from a fighting ring.
“It’s definitely a positive,” he said.
There’s more. The Vick case drew so much public outrage that police across the country have reportedly stepped up efforts to break fighting rings. Where the crime was considered a lower priority in the past, now resources are offered – if only because it often leads to the discovery of other criminal behavior. It’s not cub scouts who operate these things.
“Law enforcement realized that this is something worth their time,” Gorant said.
The book also delves deeply into a look at the pit bull breed, making the case that it is inherently a calm, friendly dog. It was originally bred as a family farm dog. It’s the fighting rings which have ruined the pit bulls’ rep – something that surprised even Gorant.
“All I knew about pit bulls was from the headlines,” he said.

Vick missed all of the ‘2007 and ’08 NFL seasons.
(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The book has its greatest impact in going past the headlines and detailing the recovery process of the individual dogs. The odds for success remained long, but the dogs took to the training at various levels. Seventeen have been deemed adequately adjusted. Seventeen are still in training facilities. The rest are in various spots in between.
The success stories will prove a winner for any dog lover. Consider Hector, a big, brown pit bull whose scarred chest and legs told of a veteran (and thereby successful and vicious) fighter. If there was ever a dog that at first glance would be considered too far gone to save, he was it.
Instead, the shelter found a pleasant demeanor and even a mischievous side (he loves hide-and-seek and is a klutz). He quickly passed his Canine Good Citizen tests and wound up in the Minnesota home of Roo Yori, who is known for training police dogs and flying-disc champions.
Hector now visits schools and nursing homes, offering comfort and entertainment and using his celebrity status as one of “Michael Vick’s dogs” to pound home an anti-fighting message.
Hector didn’t score any touchdowns Sunday. Yet, like Michael Vick, his life has moved forward in ways which few could’ve envisioned three and a half-year ago. Vick is back to being a football player, Hector a normal dog.

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Badrap.org

Never has a group of pit bulls received as much media attention as the dogs from former NFL player Michael Vick's yard. While it's certain nobody would've known about these victimized dogs had they not been part of a fallen sports figure's dog fighting venture, they earned celebrity in their own right by surviving two certain deaths, thanks to a large scale rescue effort led, in part, by the federal government - a first of its kind.
Public opinion fell strongly in favor of helping the dogs. In this landmark animal welfare case, federal prosecuting attorneys, federal agents, the USDA, six Virginia animal shelters, a court appointed animal law expert and several rescue organizations including BAD RAP all teamed together to reach the goal of evaluating 49 fight bust victims and then sending them to new and better lives with rescue organizations around the country.
In the past, shelters have been encouraged to put all fight bust dogs to their deaths because it was assumed that they were each going to be dangerous, uncontrollable animals. They’ve been called ‘Kennel Trash’ and accused of taking up space normally reserved for other dogs. Evaluating them as individuals revealed new information about dogs from fight busts and helped shatter old myths previously used to condemn them.



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If you visit this link http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/dogtown/3684/Overview#tab-Overview,  , you can view videos from DogTown that show all the work that went into saving these horribly abused dogs.

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• Rescue Groups Rehabilitate Michael Vick's Pit Bulls (huffingtonpost.com)
• The Lost Dogs Finds Redemption for Michael Vick's Pit Bulls (animals.change.org)