The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

Things that make people happy

As a class project in a writing class I once took we were to agree on a list of visuals that make people happy just to look at. We had to agree as a class on each of twelve items.

(We did have to put one douchebag dickhead class member in the cone of silence when he vetoed everything, so we had to modify to refer to “most people.”)

This was our list: 

• A lighthouse 
• The ocean
• A snowflake 
• A sailboat
• A campfire
• A perfect rose
• A ripe tomato
• A windmill
• Candlelight
• An apple
• A dolphin
• Children/kittens/puppies playing

The video below would make (almost) our whole class happy. Do you have a “visual of happy” that we didn’t list?

Thanks to Denny

Here’s how insane the world is becoming

When the owners of a foreclosed home in Los Angeles moved out, they took everything with them except their dogs. Taz was left in the garage and a puppy was left in the house.

Elisa Woods, a next door neighbor, was concerned and called for help. L.A. Animal Services came with food and water, but they didn’t enter the home.

“Possibility the people could come back and then they could turn this around and sue the city,” explained Animal Services Officer Hoang Dinh.

The city is required to give written warning to the owners before entering the home or removing dogs. But of course the owners are long gone and not to be reached.

Hans Peterson, an animal rights activist, broke into the home and rescued the six-month-old puppy. Moments later the L.A. police department arrived and arrested Peterson. The puppy was taken to an animal shelter and Peterson was taken to jail. The other dog remained in the garage.

But before we get all mad at the police, they are only upholding the law which they are sworn to do. Suing the city of Los Angeles, which doesn’t have enough money to provide needed services to its citizens anyway, has become almost a cottage industry.

As noble as Peterson’s motives are, he broke the law by breaking into a private home and stealing property.

Can a Pink Poodle be a super hero?

Oodles the talking Poodle 

from Rugrats

Krypto the Superdog

Kids love Superman. Kids love dogs. So it was only natural for those who create comics and cartoons to come up with Krypto the Superdog—Dog of Steel.

As a puppy while they were both on the planet Krypton, Krypto belonged to the toddler who would become Superman. Before the young boy was rocketed to Earth from their dying planet, his father wanted to test the rocket by sending Krypto into space.

Krypto, being a typical puppy, managed to wreak havoc with the rocket, mess everything up, and drift through space for a number of years.

Eventually Krypto’s rocket landed on Earth where he belonged for a while to a lonely young boy named Kevin. Eventually the teenage Superboy and Krypto got together to fight crime.

Because of Earth’s lower gravity and yellow sun, both Superboy and Krypto have superpowers. They both have a strong belief in truth, justice and the American way. To fight crime Krypto wears a gold collar, a miniature copy of Superman’s “S” and a dog size version of Superman’s cape.

Like Earth dogs, he has a more acute sense of smell and hearing than Superman does. Krypto has intelligence equal to humans, but in print he  expresses himself only in thought bubbles. In cartoons, however, he gives humans a space communicator so they can understand him.

So, come on. Be a kid again. Watch how Krypto came to Earth.

Miracle koala survives being hit by a car and trapped in the grill

I guess the lesson here is to stop and examine the animal you think you may have hit with your car.

I have previous posts with pictures of a dog, a deer, and a coyote who got trapped in the grill of a car after being hit, and they all survived the experience with barely a scratch.

In Australia (where else?) a driver struck a full grown male koala and was stunned to find he was very alive, wedged in the grill just under the license plate. Only his front paws and head were hanging out the front.

The driver called an after-hours veterinarian service and drove at low speed back into town. The koala had to be cut from the grill with bolt cutters, but veterinarian Lisia Sturm said:

“… he was a big boy and looked really healthy. He didn't have any injuries at all — not even a graze."

He was kept under observation for a while and then released back into his habitat. The story

Bee eating dog wins Hambone award

I’m sure you want to know who won the VIP Hambone award that I wrote about earlier.

Ellie from Santee, California took the honors. The one-year-old Labrador followed exterminators in her yard and consumed a hive of dead bees. And the insecticide that killed them.

As her owners noted, she pooped dead bees, thousands of them, but has made a full recovery.

Ellie doesn’t seem to have a discriminating palette, having previously eaten, among other delicacies, wooden train tracks and laptop computer keys.

Congratulations, Ellie. Here's hoping you don't become a role model.

Dancing Poodle

Could anyone watch this and not want to adopt this little
Ginger Rogers or Fred Astaire?

A Great Dane, a goat, and a three legged retriever walked into a bar…

No, wait. This is a different story.

Judy the Great Dane, Minelli the goat, and Lucky the three legged retriever can stay together, thanks to a little politics and a lot of strong public opinion in the Dallas, Texas area.

It all started when Minelli the goat and Judy the Great Dane were found wandering loose and were taken in by Dr. Karen Fling, owner of a non profit pet orphanage.

"They were just so touching and so sweet from the very beginning," Fling said. "They were an inseparable pair. They slept together and cuddled together and ate together."

Before long pictures of the two appeared in the local media. And that’s when the trouble started.

The Sheriff’s department heard about the animals. It turns out that it is illegal in Texas to take in stray livestock, even a runaway baby goat.

Although she had spent years as a veterinarian, Dr. Fling was not aware that she could be charged with goat rustling.

So poor forlorn Minelli was taken away and locked up with other runaway goats. If no one claimed her she would be shipped off and sold at auction to become someone’s dinner entrée.

After another round of media coverage, a  county commissioner, John Wiley Price, possibly thinking ahead to the next election, held a press conference.

“It's not going to be auctioned off," Price said before assembled television cameras. "I'll guarantee that."

That's when Minelli's owners came forward to give up custody of their pet goat so that he could rejoin Judy. They also dropped off a three-legged retriever, Lucky, saying they couldn't afford the vet bills.

"Apparently the retriever was miserable at home, pining away because his two friends, the Great Dane and the goat, were gone," Fling said. "So the family brought us the retriever so they could all be together."

They will soon be healthy enough for a new home. Some days as many as 300 people ask about taking in the trio which must be adopted together. From the Dallas Morning News.

Paralyzed dog climbs Mt. Washington

Lucy, a 4-year-old mixed breed, was paralyzed  as a puppy in a car accident, but that hasn’t kept her from being an active, happy dog.

On August 18 she climbed the 2290 foot peak to the top of Mt. Washington, becoming the first paralyzed dog to make the climb.

Nothing stops Lucy. She goes up and down steps, goes for walks and runs using a Walkin’ Wheels wheelchair developed by Handicapped Pets of Nashua, New Hampshire.

"I think many people underestimate handicapped pets and don't realize just how much they can do given proper care and training," explained owner Courtney Dunning of Peterborough, New Hampshire. The story

Rigel, Hero Dog of the Titanic. Truth, Legend or…something else?

We are not sure how many dogs were on the Titanic, because obviously they weren’t listed on the manifest.

We do know there were at least twelve, probably more companion animals to passengers who had paid more than today's equivalent of $50,000 for a single human passage.

We do know that the kennel facilities were quite lavish and a dog show was planned for the following Monday evening.

Two small dogs, a Pomeranian and a Pekinese, were taken aboard lifeboats and rescued with their owners.

However for many years a story of a courageous dog aboard the ill fated ship has persisted, even though it could not possibly have happened.

On April 21, 1912 just a few days after the Carpathia docked with survivors from the Titanic, the following story ran in the New York Herald. It told how a heroic black Newfoundland named Rigel saved the lives of the people in the fourth lifeboat.

Survivor's Cries Weak, Dog's Bark Causes Rescue of Boatload

Rigel, whose master sank with the Titanic, Guides the Carpathia's Captain to Suffering Passengers Hidden Under Rescue Ship's Bow.

Not the least among the heros of the Titanic was Rigel, a big black Newfoundland dog, belonging to the first officer, who went down with his ship. But for Rigel, the fourth boat picked up might have been run down by the Carpathia. For three hours he swam in the water where the Titanic went down, evidently looking for his master, and was instrumental in guiding the boatload of survivors to the gangway of the Carpathia.

Jonas Briggs, a seaman aboard the Carpathia, now has Rigel and told the story of the dog's heroism. The Carpathia was moving slowing about, looking for boats, rafts or anything which might be afloat. Exhausted with their efforts, weak from lack of food and exposure to the cutting wind, and terror stricken, the men and woman in the fourth boat drifted under the Carpathia's starboard bow. They were dangerously close to the steamship, too weak to shout a warning loud enough to reach the bridge.

The boat might not have been seen were it not for the sharp barking of Rigel, who was swimming ahead of the craft and valiantly announcing his position. The barks attracted the attention of Captain Rostron and he went to the starboard end of the bridge to see where they came from and saw the boat. He immediately ordered the engines stopped and the boat came alongside the starboard gangway.

Care was taken to take Rigel aboard, but he appeared little affected by his long trip through the ice cold water. He stood by the rail and barked until Captain Rostron called Briggs and had him take the dog below.

The story appeared in an account published later that year, but then the story disappeared.

As much as the world would like to believe a story of an amazing hero dog, nothing played out. No passengers or crew members confirmed the story; there is no evidence that the first officer, William Murdoch of the Titanic, even had a dog on board; and there was no listing of a Jonas Briggs being a crew member of the Carpathia.

So how did the story come about?

Newspapers of the day were offering money for Titanic stories. Or possibly the reporter wrote the story himself and went on to write fiction which he much preferred doing anyway.

Newfoundland lovers swear that their dogs could swim for three hours in the freezing temperatures of the North Atlantic and still have enough strength to alert the Carpathia of their presence and continue to make a nuisance of themselves after they were taken on board.

As long as people believe this, the legend of Rigel will live.