The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

Why Poodles don't need Halloween costumes

Why there are so many Chihuahua mix puppies

Oodles and Oodles of Poodles—Animal Hoarding

Thirty-three Poodles were sharing a two-bedroom house with an elderly couple in Queens, New York, according to the New York Post. Animal rescuers reported that Poodles were “literally everywhere, scurrying under sofas, under beds, peeking out at us.”

The Poodles were not being walked, did not go outside, so the conditions inside the home were as you might imagine.

A social worker visiting the owners reported the conditions to the ASPCA. Officials are certain they can find homes for the Poodles, who are small dogs, under twenty pounds.

The elderly couple will not face criminal charges. Although it seems like animal cruelty (and it is), animal hoarding is a mental disorder. The people need treatment, not prosecution.

Animal hoarding typically begins as an effort to provide a loving home for a reasonable number of pets, but then it gets out of control and the owners feel overwhelmed. They are reluctant to seek help, fearing that the animals will be euthanized. Often they don’t see the real conditions under which they are living. They believe that their animals give them unquestioning and uncritical love and they give it back.

According to Gini Barett, director of an animal rescue group:

Collectors exist in almost every community, large or small, rural or urban. They are in a state of denial that prevents them from seeing the filth or understanding their animals are sick, dying or dead. They need help. Psychiatric Times

Over 600 animals were found in the home of a Los Angeles woman, who insisted the animals were well-cared for in spite of the filthy conditions of her home.

Collectors are often elderly and more frequently female, but recently a 47-year-old South Carolina man was found living in “very filthy conditions with a 3-year-old boy, 45 cats, 3 dogs and a pet squirrel.”

There is a difference between animal collecting and animal hoarding. Collecting is a hobby. Hoarding is pathological. Here are the criteria of animal hoarding, according to the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium

1. More than the typical number of companion animals  
2. Inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and   veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in starvation, illness, and death
3. Denial of the inability to provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the animals, the household, and human occupants of the dwelling

Wordless Wednesday

 

And the winner is…

My grandson Damon picked slips with the names of two people (actually one person and two dogs) to win Chicken Soup for the Soul, Loving our Dogs. The person is the lovely Rosemary who has an attic in Idaho and the dogs are Gordie and Georgia from Washington. The books will soon be in the mail.

I have to blog this. Damon got email this weekend for a Cub Scout project. His first message to me was:

YO

Being a, you know, English major, I replied:

YO BACK

Keep in mind we are emailing from adjoining rooms. When he finished an email, he would come in and tell me I had mail and then watch it open. After several emails, he discovered that he could change “Fronts” so he picked a fancy script one, all caps, of course.

 

Doggie Day Care Murder—Book Review

Fans of Laurien Berenson will probably want to read the latest Melanie Travis mystery, Doggie Day Care Murder. But it isn’t one I recommend.

To me the last couple of books have been somewhat disappointing. After 15 books she may be running out of doggie ideas. The Poodles barely make an appearance, and the doggie-world gossip has dried up.

Melanie had her baby following the tiresome pregnancy in her last book and now the blended family of husband Sam, her son Davey, their baby son and five champion Poodles have moved into new digs. But they all live their lives at home while Melanie goes about asking annoying questions of unpleasant people to solve the murder of a doggie day care owner.

Worst of all she has to subject us to the sort of situation we are very tired of. You know the one we see ad infinitum in movies and books where our heroine puts herself in a dangerously stupid place when we all know the killer is going to show up.

 Don’t stay there alone, Melanie. Leave now. Get out. Go home.

Oh, crap, now it’s too late.

Aunt Peg has decided that Davey should enter dog shows as a junior competitor. So hopefully the author can resurrect interest with the next generation in her next book.

 Doggie Day Care Murder available at Amazon

Tiny poodle shuts down airport

Choochy, a tiny white toy Poodle, broke free after her plane landed at Logan International Airport in Boston at 7:15 pm Saturday and for the next 17 hours eluded state police, fire fighters, and airport employees.

OK, she didn’t really shut down the airport, (Hey, I can write misleading headlines just like some professional journalists do) but she did delay eight flights for up to 30 minutes while she frolicked on the tarmac.

Apparently Choochy escaped from her kennel while the plane was being unloaded after her flight from Detroit and was lost in the darkness.

The passengers seemed more amused than annoyed. One passenger reported sitting on the runway for 25 minutes as five airport vans drove in circles trying to corral Choochy. One passenger reported that the Poodle "seemed to be having a good time. They looked like they were running cattle."

“About 15 state police, firefighters, operations personnel and even electricians” converged at the airport to capture Choochy. Finally at about 12:40 pm after 17 hours of being born free, Choochy was lured with dog food to surrender.

 A “safe but tired” Choochy was returned to her family who for obvious reasons do not want to be identified.The story

Dog saves newborn kittens from house fire

And where was the mother cat during all this? She was probably all,
“Cough, cough,
OK, I’m outa here. I can always squeeze out more of these. See ya.”

Leo an 11-month-old Terrier refused to leave the burning building in spite of thick smoke as he was guarding newborn kittens, according to firefighters in Melbourne, Australia. The heroics nearly cost Leo his life.

He was revived with oxygen and heart massage after the ordeal. A cover over the kittens kept them from suffering smoke inhalation and they all survived.

Firefighters will nominate Leo for a bravery medal. The mother cat will not be nominated for Mother of the Year.

Here is a very short video of firefighters resuscitating Leo
 and Leo licking the tiny kittens.

Thanks, Steve

Cairn Terrier fished out of the ocean a mile from land

Two fishermen fishing in the North Sea off the coast of England about a mile from shore thought they saw an otter in the water. When they realized it was a dog, they pulled him into their boat and contacted the Coast Guard since they were headed out to sea.

What had happened was Freddie, a 14-year-old Cairn Terrier, was walking along the shore with his owner, 73-year-old Jean Brigstock. When the fog rolled in, Freddie got disoriented and separated from his owner.  

Instead of heading for the dunes as she thought the water-hating dog would do, he headed for the water. A boat was dispatched to pick up Freddie from the fishing boat and he was reunited with Ms. Brigstock.

She said,” I looked for him for hours and others helped. Freddie’s so important to me. It didn’t enter my head he would swim. He rarely goes through a puddle and has an aversion to baths.” Source

Dancing with the Stars