The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

Here is an unusual twist on an abandoned puppies story

A man brought in five puppies to a shelter in Duluth, MN. He claimed he was driving along and almost hit a box on the road. When he got out to investigate, he found five puppies.

The plight of these cute German Shepherd-Husky mix puppies was featured on the local newspaper website with pictures in the early afternoon. By the end of the day the shelter had been flooded with calls from people interested in adopting them. In all about 100 people showed an interest in the puppies.

A dozen people showed up on the day the shelter announced that the puppies were ready for adoption and they quickly found new homes, including one puppy with a deformed leg which will need surgery.

A great success story. But wait. There’s more.

It seems the Good Samaritan who brought them in did not find the litter on the road as he claimed, but at his daughter’s house. Since she lived outside the city limits, he was afraid the shelter would not take them.

After the story broke of the abandoned puppies, a man called 911 saying he knew who had dumped the puppies on the road because he had gotten a puppy from that litter. That night deputies paid the woman a visit. She admitted they were her puppies and she had asked her father to turn them in. The father confessed that he made up the story.

So. No law had been broken. The man who brought them in just wanted the best for the puppies. The shelter does take litters from outside the area, and, of course, no one wanted to return their puppy when the truth came out.

But I have to wonder at the fate of the puppies if there had been a non story of a man bringing in a litter of puppies that his daughter couldn’t find homes for.

Since there are obviously many people who want a dog if they know one needs a home, maybe shelters and local media could work together to find creative ways to market dogs when they don’t come in with an exciting story.

Nathan Winograd does the math here.
• 90% of the 6-8 million animals brought to shelters are savable. The numbers are approximate, but eight million is a high end estimate.
• Of the 7 million adoptable ones, 4 million find homes; 3 million are killed.
• 17 million people are looking to bring a new dog or cat into their home and can be influenced to adopt from a shelter.
• 17 million people to 3 million pets

Many shelters have achieved the 90% adoption rate.

They did it virtually overnight when new leadership committed to the No Kill philosophy and passionate about saving lives replaced long standing bureaucrats mired in defeatism and excuse making.

 Winograd believes we should stop blaming the public and demand that shelters do their jobs. More from Nathan Winograd on the myth of pet overpopulation.

California Budget Cuts

After an intensive course at the Police Academy

Little Tudee is ready to take on the Mean Streets

Thanks to King’s Crown at Inspired Resourceful Creative

Tiny Poodle has a big important job

Zoé might look like a pampered purse Poodle, but she is a serious entertainer with a lot of adoring fans. Three year old Zoé performs as a therapy dog at nursing homes in Danville, Illinois.

She has a variety of fashionable outfits like this gingham dress, bow, and sunglasses and her own hair dresser. Oh, like your favorite performer doesn’t.

Zoe is all business when she comes to work. She jumps hurdles and hoops, twirls, bumps balloons with her nose and “gives five” to her owner Sheri Cole. Then Sheri carries her around to meet her adoring admirers who treat her like a rock star.

One time, a woman who hadn’t spoken for 18 months reached out to Zoé and said “Fifi.” Also, there’s a man who thinks Zoé is his poodle, Joe.

A therapy dog in a nursing home brings back memories of the residents’ own pets, and that brightens their days, Cole said.

Zoé is a Canine Good Citizen with ribbons in obedience as big as she is. The story

My new favorite commercial

This one has it all: well produced, great story, adorable stars, sweet song, happy ending, all in about a minute.

Boxer mix ends the Chinese Crested “Ugly” dynasty

Pabst, a dog who looks like he needs some serious orthodontist work, has ended the dynasty of the Chinese Crested in the 21st World’s Ugly Dog Contest, 2009, at the Marin-Sonoma Fair.

For over seven years the Chinese Crested has dominated the contest as the ugliest and the breed represented over half the entries in this year’s contest.

But the underdog Pabst won over the crowd and the judges with his toothy grin and sweet personality.

Pabst, a Boxer mixed with who-knows-what, won a 4 foot tall trophy, $2000 in prize money and a modeling contract with House of Dog in Los Angeles. Miles Egstad, his owner, named the dog after the beer because of his “bitter beer face.”

One change in this year’s contest is that to be eligible the dogs had to be screened by a veterinarian to make sure they were healthy. Last year’s winner, Gus, had one eye, three legs, and skin cancer.

Fair Board Member Brian Sobel says, “We were looking for dogs who were naturally ugly.”

But Egstad, who adopted Pabst from a shelter three years ago, said of his loyal companion, “I don’t think he’s that ugly!”

More on Chinese Crested

Second statue for Bamse, hero dog of World War II

I first wrote about Bamse in April, 2006 when the people of Montrose, Scotland had raised the money to commission a statue following the 60th anniversary of his death. People from both Scotland and Norway contributed to the memorial statue.

Now Bamse has a second statue in his homeland of Norway. The life size statue shows him looking out to sea toward Scotland where the mirror image of this statue stands looking toward Norway. Besides honoring Bamse, Norwegian officials thought the twin statue would reinforce the strong links between Norway and Scotland.

Bamse the St. Bernard served aboard the Norwegian minesweeper Thorodd during World War II. Wearing a Norwegian sailor’s cap, he used to stand at the gun tower of the boat throughout the hostilities. Bamse became a symbol of freedom against Nazis for troops all over the world.

Like many dogs, he seemed to have an almost human intelligence.

When the Thorodd was based in the Scottish seaport of Montrose during the war, Bamse became a local hero. He was issued his own bus permit, which hung around his neck. He would travel through the city and gather up any drunken crew members from the local pubs and return them to duty.

When he died in 1944 he was given a hero’s funeral.

In which I correspond with a missionary from Cameroon (or is it Nigeria?) who has a free Bulldog (or is it Yorkie?) puppy

People are still falling for the Nigerian puppy scam:

From today’s Bismarck Tribune: Toni Miller, 23, now is out about $850 after trying to get two Yorkshire terrier puppies shipped to her from someone posing as a missionary in Nigeria.

I have corresponded with these scammers several times. This is the funniest one because he loses track of what scam he is running through the days this went on. It all started with a comment on one of my posts where he thought he was putting in a classified ad:

A new comment from "johnson" was received on the post "Real classified ads from real papers" of the weblog "The Poodle (and Dog) Blog".

Comment: -------- GET THESE VERY HEALTHY English bulldog PUPPIES AT YOUR HOMES FOR FREE.THEY ARE VERY HEALTHY AND CURRENT ON THEIR MOST RECENT SHOTS AND COME ALONGSIDE ALL THEIR HEALTH PAPERS.THEY ARE ALSO VERY FAMILIAR WITH OTHER ANImALS AND ARE WELL HOME TRAINED SO PLEASE CONTACT ME IF INTERESTED IN MAKING THEM PART OF YOUR FAMILY. THANKS

Johnson, I am interested in buying a Bulldog. Please send details about the puppies. jan

Hello Jan My puppies are very healthy.They have all their health papers,are A.K.C,and C.K.C registered.They are also D.N.A tested and are also micro chipped.They are well home band potty trained and are very familiar with other animals.They also do understand many languages for i travel with them to any countries.Right now for example i am with the in Africa on research basis and they will get used to most of the African languages. They are all 4weeks old and are very playful too.If there be any other infos, please let e know in your next ail. Thanks Johnson

 Johnson, I'm just curious about the price and do you have any pictures of them? jan

Jan I a not that kind of person who sells animals because they are all Beings and Gods creation like us so i feel like selling a human if selling an animal.I am giving the out absolutely for free because my job provides me with very limited time to spend with them thus i cannot take very good care of them.So all i am after is someone who can provide ore time to spend with them and a good home as well.all you have to do is pay for their transportation cost to you and nothing else.So can you do that for them? Just give me soe time to get their photos to you.Waiting Johnson

Johnson, My son really wants a Bulldog puppy. Transportation from where? Where are the puppies? Jan

JAN, I AM PRESENTLY IN WEST AFRICA, IN VICTORIA ISLAND,SOUTHERN CAMEROON. AND THAT IS WHERE THE PUPPY WILL BE SHIPPED FROM. And cost if $400. Thanks Johnson

Johnson, $400? That sounds really expensive.

Jan, Just give me a few minutes to call and find out how much it costs i am not sure it is that expensive. Well i have found out from the air port that it will cost 170dollars. Johnson

Johnson, That price sounds reasonable. Where will you be shipping her from and where can I pick her up? How soon can you send the puppy? Jan

Jan, Well i will be shipping her from Douala international Airport Cameroon Victoria and i will prefer the pup to be delivered right at your doorsteps following the address you will give us. I can post the puppy in the next available flight if you are ready for her already because all her papers are intact as you will see them.

Johnson, That sounds great. Would you prefer MasterCard or Visa for payment?

Hello Jan Cameroon has a very poor banking system especially when dealing internationally so the best and most flexible method of payment will be through the use of the WESTERN UNION and immediately the you send the money i will pick it up and pay for the puppy's flight immediately.Here are my payment details
NAMES...................GEBVALA HENRY DINGA
COUNTRY..............CAMEROON
ZIPCODE................0237
AMOUNT................$400.00
TEST QUESTION................WHO
ANSWER...........................JAN

So as soon as you wire the money let me know and send to me the MTCN control reference number so that i will get the money and pay for the flight. Thanks and have a great day. Johnson

Johnson, You said the shipping cost will be $170. Why is it now $400? And you never did send pictures. And who is Gebvala Henry Dinga? I thought they were your puppies. Jan

Jan, I am a good Christian busy with missionary work .I am giving the out absolutely for free because my job provides me with very limited time to spend with them. Dinga is family member who help me.The cost of shipping is $170 Here is picture of the puppy

Uh, Johnson, I don’t believe that is a Bulldog puppy. I am only interested in Bulldog
 puppies. Are you all out of Bulldog puppies? Jan

Jan, Here is picture of adorable bulldog puppies.All you have to do is pay for their transportation cost to you and nothing else. Tell me how many do you want of the puppies. Transportation is $170 I can post the puppy in the next available flight if you are ready for her.  

Johnson, I'm sure you wouldn't mind faxing copies of her AKC, CKC papers and the results of the DNA testing which you said she had so that I can verify them? Jan

Amazingly, I never heard from Johnson again.

Ambulance Service introduces Trained Dogs to cut costs....

Criticizing cloned cuteness is like kicking puppies

When the dog cloners bring out their cute puppies at press conferences for the world to see, the problems, failure rate, ethical concerns and all the suffering animals that are part of the cloning process take a back seat.

No one wants to rain on someone’s parade when they are glowing with the happiness that only a warm puppy (or five) can bring.

But there are realities apart from cute puppies and heartwarming stories that should not be forgotten by those of us who love dogs.

• From the start 99 percent of the cloning attempts have failed.
• Hundreds of dogs are needed to produce each clone.
• The egg donors and surrogate mothers must undergo invasive and painful surgery to harvest the eggs, to implant the fertilized embryo, and to undergo caesarian births.
• These dogs are kept in cages and treated like objects of an experiment, which, of course, they are.
• No one will reveal the number of dogs that have died as a result of cloning attempts.
• Few clones are born live and of those, most die within a short time.
• No one knows what the long range health problems will be for cloned dogs. The first clone (Snuppy) was born in 2005.
• Although the clone has the same DNA as the original, it is not the same dog any more than identical twins are the same person. (Remember Jan’s evil twin Skippy)
• The code of ethics of the cloning companies is suspect at best.
• The cloning team is led by a man who has admitted to charges of falsifying data, embezzling and fraud.
• A company officer previously failed in his business to clone pet cats, resulting in broken contracts and refunds.
• In the United States, the pet cloning industry laboratories are not regulated like other facilities that do animal research. No one is quite sure what goes on in South Korean laboratories.
• This is a use (or misuse) of science for the sole purpose of making money for the owners while preying on grief.

I know the puppy clones are really cute. Are they worth it?
More information

Surfer dogs hang 16 in California competition

Around 60 surfer dogs brought their dudes, dudettes and assorted groupies to compete this weekend in the 4th annual Loews Dog Surfing Competition held in San Diego. Over $10,000 was raised for charity.

You can see all the action here. The dogs may look bored, but really they were just laid back and cool.