The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

They also serve who only stand and wash

 With apologies to John Milton

I've posted some bizarre stories from the state of Florida this month, but good stories come out of Florida too.

This is one.

Tony Wright, a volunteer at the Hillsborough County Animal Services, washed his 1000th dog recently.

Wright, who is retired from the Air Force and a veteran of the Gulf War, says he enjoys making the dogs look good for someone who might want to adopt them.

He started volunteering about a year ago and arrives every day at 6:30 am to give the animals a bath.

Do you talk in complete sentences to your dogs?

Or does that just sound weird to you?

When I read Pukka’s Promise by Ted Kerasote, I might not have agreed with all his conclusions, but I felt an immediate connection. First, he capitalized all dog breeds, not just people or place named dogs, but Poodle, Beagle and the rest. More important, he also talked to his dogs in complete sentences and they answered him back in complete sentences.

It seemed normal to me, but I seldom hear about it.

I got my first dog, Mickey, when I was three, the age when we are learning to talk and enjoying having someone to talk to. She answered back. It all started then and has become part of my interaction with dogs from that time.

It is most effective when we don’t have the distraction of other people around. Sometimes a human will look at me strangely -- as maybe some of you are right now.

Or I get, “Mom, you are trying to use logic on a dog.”

But babies or dogs, how else are they going to learn language if you talk to them only in monosyllables? If a child enters kindergarten and has heard only “sit,” “down,” “no,” “good boy,” “good girl,” they are not going to have good verbal skills.

I don’t know how many words my dogs understand, a lot of nouns I’m sure and no doubt some verbs and adjectives. I would guess that they don’t have a mastery of prepositions and conjunctions but those are incidental to important communication anyway.

Since they live only in the moment and can’t grasp the concept of abstract words, a sentence like:

I’m going to cook some hamburger tomorrow.

They would hear:

I’m going blah cook blah hamburger blah.

And they would do a happy dance, looking at the stove.

We know that dogs are far better at reading body language than humans. They may not grasp all the nuances of the spoken language, but they certainly get the tone of voice. I am sure they get the message I am conveying. They just lack the physiology to produce words themselves.

 

This all makes me think of a strangely beautiful short story that became part of our family lore years ago, Desertion by Clifford D. Simak.

It is about an old man at a base station on Jupiter whose job it is to send young people to explore the unknown atmosphere of the planet. Five have gone out and none has returned.

All of the data has shown that human life could be sustained on the planet. Still none returned. The old man fears they have all died.

Finally not wanting to risk another young life, he decides to disobey orders and explore the planet himself. Rather than leaving his old dog, Towser, behind, he takes him along.

As the two step from the base station to explore the planet, something strange and unexpected happens. Instead of death in the atmosphere of Jupiter, they discover that they are on a higher plain of existence.

Suddenly feeling much younger and stronger, the old man and the old dog are experiencing life as they have ever known it on earth even when they were young.

“You’re talking to me,” the man says.

“I’ve always talked to you,” Towser replies, “but you couldn’t hear me.”

Jupiter, they find, is a place of incredible magnificence and a higher level of understanding and existence. Now they know why no one returned.

“I can’t go back,” the man says.

“Nor I,” agrees Towser. “They would turn me back into a dog.”

“And me into a man.”

Pukka's Promise--A book review

Pukka’s Promise by Ted Kerasote, The Quest for Longer Lived Dogs

One of the perks of writing a blog is that I get complimentary copies of books to review. Even better is to get an advance copy. Pukka’s Promise is available on pre-order to be released February 5.

When Kerasotes’ heart dog, Merle, died, he set about on a quest to eventually find a new dog and explore ways to allow our companions to live longer lives.

Although Merle, a stray dog, lived to be 14, longer than expected for his size, the question many of us ask is why do our dogs die so soon? Parrots and tortoises can live on for many decades, and whales can sail happily through waters for over a century. Why do our best friends have a life span of 7 to 15 years, depending on the size and breed?

Pukka’s Promise is a combination of delightful anecdotes and thorough research. The difference between Kerasotes’ research and the research that you and I do is that he has the resources to fly all over the world to seek out and interview experts in the various fields that might affect the health and longevity of dogs.

His approach in the book is not to start with a conclusion and then cherry pick studies and data to support his conclusion, as many writers do. Rather he presents all sides and then leads to his own resolution.

He has respect enough for his readers to acknowledge that each reader has a different situation and different experiences. What is best for Pukka may not be the best plan for all dogs.

Although what he does in raising his own dog is not possible for most dog owners, we can learn from his experiences and research.

 

Heredity is important for long life. Over breeding and inbreeding have brought about a lot of health problems in modern dogs. After a long search for a dog to follow Merle, he chooses Pukka from a litter where he has met both parents who have been screened for known genetic problems. Although Merle was a stray puppy when they found each other, Kerasote outlines his reasons for choosing Pukka.

 

Lifestyle is important to a long life. Obesity and boredom lead to shortened lives. Pukka lives an idyllic doggie lifestyle in a village just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming with a view of the Tetons. The dogs in Pukka’s world are free to roam the neighborhood, even going into each other’s houses to find companionship and playmates.

Part of Pukka’s diet is elk from the surrounding wilderness. Felling an elk and field dressing it for the doggie’s dining pleasure is not something most of us can experience. He has a thoughtful chapter on the morality of killing one animal to feed another. However, eating vegetarian is not a cruelty free answer since thousands of small animals and birds are destroyed in the process of growing and harvesting vegetables.

 

One of the main considerations for long life is diet. The information on nutrition is quite thorough. He outlines the history and realities of pet food companies today where marketing is often more important than producing a good product.

Dog is the descendent of the wolf and the wolf does not eat corn. Does that mean that all dogs should live on a diet of raw meat and avoid kibbles? Not really. It is the process and ingredients in the kibble that is more important.

There has never been a definitive, long range study contrasting the diets of dogs to reach any hard conclusion. What there has been, he cites, is a study of Labradors from the same litter over a long period of time. Half of the dogs were allowed to eat all they wanted. The other half were given 75% of that amount. Genetics and exercise were the same, but the dogs who ate what they wanted grew fat, had more health problems and died younger. Which seems to indicate that how much a dog eats is more important than what.

If you are paranoid as I tend to be, you might want to skip or skim rapidly over the chapter in which he outlines all of the pollutants and toxins in food, water, packaging, processing, containers, etc. that seem to be part of modern living. It’s amazing that we even got into the 21st century.

 

And finally, he is at his best in the book when he questions some of the traditional ideas of veterinary medicine.

 

What about yearly vaccinations? What dogs should get heartworm treatments and shots for Lyme Disease? For some time I have felt guilty that I may have over vaccinated my dogs in the past. It never seemed logical that dogs needed yearly vaccinations, but we were convinced that good pet owners did that. This section is quite valuable for pet owners and answered many of the questions I had.

 

His ideas on spaying and neutering might cause alarm to the dog world. Pukka will not be neutered.

As almost all dogs today are sterilized, are we doing a disservice to the health of the dogs by taking away sex hormones from their bodies? A female dog can breed only twice a year. Is it too much to expect owners to keep them cloistered for a short amount of time?

Tubal ligations and vasectomies are less invasive and time consuming to perform and could be a healthier means of birth control in the future.

Although the book is long, almost 400 pages, I was sorry to reach the end. It is followed by 51 pages of notes and an index which I am sure I will use for further reference in the future.

Why are wolves forever wild?

Even though dogs are genetically similar to their ancestor the wolf, wolves are difficult to train and never quite lose the streak of wildness even when born and raised in captivity.

Biologist Kathryn Lord and her team at the University of Massachusetts may have discovered the reason for the difference between dogs and wolves, according to Discovery News.

It starts with the way they enter the world.

Wolf pups begin walking around and exploring their environment at two weeks old while they are still blind and deaf. They rely mostly on scent. When they start to hear, they are frightened by the sounds. When they start to see, they are frightened by the sights.

At the age of two weeks, puppies are just blobs. They don’t walk and start to explore the world until they have hearing and sight, around the fourth week. Since they don’t experience the sensory shock that wolf cubs do, they love exploring and seeking new stimuli with no fear.

Through thousands of years of being protected by humans, dogs get a more gentle start in life without danger of predators and other threats.

Through those same thousands of years, wolf cubs have experienced fear from their own developing sight and sound.

This may explain why dogs are easily socialized at a very young age while a wolf never gets over those early fears.

Happy update on Twinkie the pet pig

When last we wrote of Twinkie the Grinches who enforce laws in Coral Springs, Florida called Twinkie “livestock” and said that a pig couldn’t be kept as a pet by Kason Ray, a boy who was born with Down Syndrome. The family was facing $500 a day fines for keeping livestock in their home.

Now they have changed their minds. Twinkie can officially stay.

In case you are visualizing a huge barnyard animal, Twinkie weighs six pounds and is totally housebroken, using kitty litter. The Rays couldn’t get a dog or cat for Kason because his dad has severe allergies. Twinkie, however, is hairless and hypoallergenic.

According to Kason’s mother, Heather:

She calms him down when he's very agitated. He does get very agitated easily. She helps as a calming effect to him. She gives him the acceptance that not all special needs people really get in our society unfortunately….I think that's the most important thing for me as a mother to see him get that unconditional love and acceptance. Source

Sometimes even city officials have common sense and compassion.

ASPCA -- putting animals in the arms of angels (of death)

Does this sad little puppy look at you from your computer monitor? Are you moved to tears by the TV commercials with Sarah McLachlan singing “In the Arms of an Angel”?

If you're tempted to write a check for $18 every month to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals so that this sad faced little pup can run free in the clover with a loving family, there are things you should know about ASPCA.

Last year, ASPCA had total revenues of almost $150 million dollars in donations, inheritances and interest. They reported receiving $122 million in donations. That makes it the richest SPCA in the country. Yet, it adopts out fewer animals than some small rescue groups and shelters. Its president makes over a half million dollars in salary plus many benefits.

 

Now I am not against success. I love success. Anyone who produces a product or service that people want to pay for deserves the rewards. But an organization that solicits money from the public to protect dogs and cats and then is responsible for exploiting, neglecting, or killing them does not deserve to be rewarded.

A large percent of the money people donate goes to pay for further tear-jerking advertising to solicit even more donations. TV time and computer space are expensive and multi-million dollar organizations don't get free PSA's.

In spite of the name "American," ASPCA is headquartered in New York City where it does most of its work. Each SPCA across the country is a separate nonprofit organization.

The public is misled into believing that ASPCA is a national organization.

The California SPCA has complained that only three-tenths of a percent of their millions collected went to California. While they may give a few dollars outside of New York, if you live in Texas, or Ohio, or Wyoming or California, the chance of your local shelter getting any money from them is pretty much squat.

It isn't unusual for ASPCA and HSUS to raid puppy mills or dog fighting operations, get a lot of publicity, and overwhelm local shelters by dumping the dogs there.

   

 

And how are they doing in New York City?

In spite of their milllions and their influence, they have consistently opposed no kill shelters and laws that would protect the lives of pets.

Which is only logical.

Without those pathetic little animals behind bars with a death sentence hanging over them, what would they use to raise their millions from a generous public?

A New York News station has recently uncovered evidence that the ASPCA law enforcement division is allowing abused animals to die all over New York City.

And there was the sad case of Oreo, the badly abused dog who was nursed back to health by ASPCA. They blatently used her story to raise a lot of money. But when Oreo was finally whole again and of no further use to them, they killed her in spite of public outcry and various rescues who begged to take her.

Then they managed to use their considerable clout to stop the passing of Oreo's Law, which would require any animal scheduled for death to be released to any 501c3 rescue organization that requested possession. California and Illinois have versions of Oreo's law.

 

In December ASPCA paid Feld Entertainment (Ringling Brothers Circus) $9.3 million to settle charges against them of litigation abuse and racketeering.

In a lawsuit that went on for over ten years it was ruled in 2009 that ASPCA, HSUS  and several other animal rights groups were paying the plaintiff and chief witness, Tom Rider, at least $190,000 to give untruthful testimony playing the part of an injured plaintiff. ASPCA et al lost their appeal in 2011.

Based on the ruling

Feld Entertainment brought suit [in federal court] against ASPCA, HSUS and other animal rights activists and their lawyers alleging violations of the RICO statute and Virginia Conspiracy Act, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process. Source

ASPCA wisely paid to settle, but the suit against the other AR organizations goes on. 

 

So the next time you see one of those sad little kitten ads for a donation to ASPCA, before you get out your credit card, you might want to read this story about how a multi-million dollar organization that is supposed to protect him used their resources to kill him.

Of course they probably took his picture first.

 

 MORE ANIMALS ARE HELPED BY LOCAL SHELTERS AND RESCUES.

Dad tells kids they can get a puppy if their picture goes viral

 The Cordell children wanted a puppy and their father, Northeastern University professor, Ryan Cordell, told them they could get one if they could get one million likes on Facebook.

This is the picture they posted. Notice the message at the bottom right.

 

And…

They received one million likes within seven hours of the picture being uploaded to Facebook on Jan. 15.

 “Mom and dad are officially stunned,” Ryan wrote on the Facebook page later that evening. “We will have five ecstatic kids in the morning.”

Meet Millie, the new puppy:

 Story and video

What are the most beautiful words in the English language?

I got into a discussion the other day with some people about what the most beautiful words in the English language were. We are all parents of grown children and dog owners.

Some of the nominees were:

• I love you.
• I’m sorry, I was wrong.
• It’s benign.
• You got the promotion.
• You have the best dog ever.
• You’ve completed the requirements.
• You’ll be getting a refund.
• All the tests were negative.

But I won.

I won with “You know Mom, you were right about….” It doesn’t even matter what comes after that.

For those of you who haven’t raised teenagers, early in their rebellious teen years (a normal and healthy phase of life), the parental brain is sucked out through the nostrils.

But through their late teens and early twenties, your brain does grow back and we get smarter every year.

And we hear those golden words:”You were right about…”

The thing about dogs, we agreed, is that to dogs we are always right.

We are gods.

 

As Dave Barry wrote:

You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, "My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!"

 

GOING TO THE DANCE

San Francisco 49ers - 28

Atlanta Falcons - 24

 

NFC Champions
2013

Puppy learns to go downstairs from a very patient teacher

When you are just a little guy, a flight of stairs can look like the Grand Canyon. It's good to have instruction from someone who has been around the block a few times.

And the teacher didn't even have to student teach or write goals to achieve success.