The Golden Poodle award for October goes to Sami Stoner from Ohio and her running partner Chloe. Sami lost her eyesight in junior high school, but at 16 she is now running competitive cross country with her guide dog.
We have a three-way tie for the Lizard Brain award:
The first award goes to Virginia and Christine Cornell from Virginia who tied up the court system with a jury trial about dog poop.
Next is the first ever dog to win the award: Keej, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois police dog, jumped over a ledge off a five story parking facility. Fortunately he landed on the roof of a Kia and got only minor injuries.
The last few weeks I have had to call various customer services and tech supports. The calls have been answered by “Kevin,” “Mike,” or “Steve,” and sometimes “Sarah,” all of whom have strong foreign accents.
Now I have taught a lot of college foreign students, I live in an area with a lot of non-native English speakers and I have no problems understanding them.
But over a phone connection halfway around the world when I am stressed anyway, talking with “Kevin,” “Mike,” or “Steve,” and sometimes “Sarah,” can be beyond frustrating. I keep saying “I don’t understand,” “please say that again,” “can you spell that?”
I try to be polite. That's how I am. Usually.
My stress level rises. And they always call me “Han.”
They are trained to be patient and polite, but on occasion I have been “accidentally” disconnected. I once asked to speak to a native English speaking person when my head was exploding. After about fifteen minutes on hold, the phone went dead. When I called back, I had to start all over with “Kevin,” “Mike,” or “Steve,” and sometimes “Sarah.”
I purposely chose one company because their tech support was in Las Vegas. My problems were quickly solved. They are no longer there. Now I get “Kevin,” “Mike,” or “Steve,” and sometimes “Sarah.” I miss my friends in Las Vegas. I wonder if they were able to find new jobs.
“The Ugly American” is used to refer to obnoxious Americans who travel abroad and become angry when they can't communicate.
Is it me? Or am I just dealing with the wrong companies?
In what has to be one of the strangest, most bizarre, and funniest trials in the history of the criminal justice system, a Virginia woman was exonerated for the crime of not picking up after the dog she was walking.
Baxter, the little white Westie-Bichon Frise, whose poops were in contention, did not make a court appearance.
Two sisters, Virginia and Christine Cornell, had accused their next door neighbor, Kimberly Zakrzewski, of violating the county’s pooper scooper law by not picking up after Baxter on the grounds of their condominium.
They all admitted that there was a long history of neighborhood feuding, often involving the police.
The Cornell sisters testified that on three straight days they stalked Zakrzewski and Baxter on walks and not once did she pick up Baxter’s deposits. They even hid behind a tree and snapped pictures of Baxter’s alleged poops. They said they heard her telling a neighbor that she did it just to annoy them.
Zakrzewski testified that she carried a supply of plastic bags and always cleaned up after Baxter.
But the dramatic testimony came from Michelle Berman, Baxter’s owner, which involved some discussion of Baxter’s diet.
Zakrzewski’s attorney, Koso So, presented a photograph of Baxter’s alleged poops and asked: “Is that consistent with the stool Baxter creates?”
Berman glanced over and answered definitively: “I’ve never seen something that big come out of my little dog.”
Berman said she had brought a sample of Baxter’s poops for comparison purposes, although she left it in the car.
To which Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush said, ” I don’t think you would have gotten it through security.”
After a day long trial, the jury deliberated just 20 minutes before deciding that this was more of a neighborhood feud gone silly than anything concerning Baxter and his droppings.
Although there were no witnesses, it was obvious that the yellow Lab puppy had been thrown off the bridge onto a busy interstate in Colorado last May.
During the next few months if she wasn't Superdog, she was very lucky dog.
Miraculously she wasn’t hit when five cars came screeching to a halt. One of the drivers took her to the nearest animal hospital where it was found that she would need thousands of dollars and several months of surgery and rehabilitation.
The staff at Aurora Animal Shelter had a difficult decision since the procedures would have to be funded from donations to the shelter. And the trauma of her fall might have damaged forever her ability to interact with people.
However her temperament and sweetness made the decision fairly simple.
According to Cheryl Conway, spokesperson for the shelter:
At the end of the holding period, she was evaluated and determined to be a lovable dog who had a very good prognosis after knee surgery. With such a good prognosis, it was decided to go ahead and OK the surgery. This was a pup with a wonderful, pleasing attitude ... there were no long-term repercussions.
After months of surgeries and recuperation, Bonny Kelani, a very lucky Labrador puppy, has a forever home with Conway, her husband and 13-year-old son.
She’s very easy to get attached to; she is a sweetheart. After all she’s gone through, she still wants to be around people all the time. She’s constantly putting her head in your lap, and she lays right at your feet. She’s got those big, brown puppy dog eyes.
It takes only one Neanderthal to toss a dog off a bridge. It takes many beautiful people to put the dog together again.
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship (and quite possibly the cutest cover ever)by Tom Ryan
The author is a sedentary, overweight, middle aged publisher of a local muckraking newspaper in Massachusetts. He is afraid of heights, sees demons in the dark and has a bout with Lyme disease…not someone you might expect to climb mountains.
All that changes when Atticus M. Finch, a miniature Schnauzer, comes into his life.
[I found it interesting that two books published recently both had the main dogs named after characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel over 50 years old: Scout (The Puppy Diaries) and Atticus Finch (Following Atticus)]
During a hike with his brothers into the mountains of New Hampshire, Tom discovers that Atticus is a natural mountain climber. At the peak he sits like a “little Buddha” gazing at the stunning view.
Following Atticus Tom returns to the mountains on a regular basis during that summer. When a friend dies of cancer, Tom decides that they will raise money for charity by climbing all forty-eight of the four thousand peaks, not once but twice, during the winter.
The two unlikely climbers become famous throughout the area as Atticus proves to be more adept than some of the climbers outfitted with the most expensive gear.
Atticus is a well mannered, social little dog who takes his fame in stride.
In one laugh out loud sequence Atticus is outfitted with muttluks and a little body suit to keep him warm. Convinced he cannot move in such an outfit, Atticus does his best imitation of a taxidermy dog. Only later when he is tricked into actually moving does he give in to wearing it.
Inspired by Atticus, Tom continues to challenge himself, always with one eye to the weather and the limitations of his little climbing partner in the snow.
Most dog books are concerned with training a dog (or putting up with the antics of an untrained dog.) Tom is not concerned with who is the alpha. Atticus is his friend. He doesn’t want to “train the Atticus out of Atticus.” What makes Atticus happy makes Tom happy.
Tom follows Atticus into challenges, achievements, and rewards in his life that he would never experience without the little Schnauzer.
There are some disquieting dog and human health sequences. But their mountain adventures are fun to follow for those of us who get altitude sickness on a stepladder and don’t like to venture out when the temperatures dip below 50 degrees.
Six-year-old Lily lost her eyes at just 18 months old. Maddison, also a Great Dane, has been her constant companion for the last five years.
When their owners could no longer cope with the dogs, they were left at the Dogs Trust Shrewsbury in Roden in July. But so far the special person hasn’t shown up to adopt them.
Louise Campbell, manager of Dogs Trust Shrewsbury, said: “It’s very sad as members of the public walk straight by their kennel, often put off by the idea of having two large dogs and of course one without eyes can be a bit shocking.
“I’m appealing to anyone with a big heart and a big home to adopt this loveable and inseparable pair. They will need lots of space and lots of exercise, but considering Lily’s disability they lead a very happy and healthy life together."
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