The Poodle (and Dog) Blog

Gratuitous Halloween Costumes

From Wag Walking -- some of the cleverest contestants

 

Ruth Barker Ginsberg

 

 
Prince

 

Popeye

13-year olds could go to jail for trick-or-treating

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. To me it should be a children's day to be a fairy princess or a super hero. The whole adult preoccupation with wayward eyeballs and eating brains I find a little tiresome.

A growing number of ugly clown lawmakers are banning or restricting kids’ Halloween fun. Childhood is such a few short years and should be a fun time of building great memories. Halloween is a traditional celebration of childhood independence.

But some local governments seem to be trying their hardest to ruin that. 

If you’re a 13-year-old or older who dares to go trick-or-treating in several American cities this Halloween, you could wind up spending up to six months in jail -- where you can  learn how to hotwire cars and where to buy drugs.

Chesapeake, VA and several other cities have officially made it a misdemeanor to trick-or-treat if you’re over the age of twelve. The “offense” is punishable by a $100 fine or up to six months in jail.

 

Don’t they remember the fun of being 13, dressing up in something cool, and walking around the neighborhood with our friends in search of free candy?  This was our rite of passage from babyhood. But we still wanted candy. 

And we didn’t meet any ax murderers or commit any felonies along the way.

 

Wait there’s more: York County demands that all trick-or-treaters must be accompanied by an adult. This sucks all the joy out of being 11 or 12 and at last reaching the freedom of traveling the familiar neighborhood with your friends on that one special night of the year.

 

How are these laws going to be enforced?

Are the local police going to be called out in force to shake down children for breaking an absurd law? Will they haul children off to jail for being too old or too young?

Or is this going to be yet another law that is never enforced and makes prople not respect the law?

Police departments work hard to build and promote good community relations. How is this going to help?

 

Somehow I don’t think our founding fathers envisioned using the law to threaten a 13-year-old with jail for asking a neighbor for candy on Halloween.

I am not making this up...

 

Dog returned to shelter for being too good

There is all kind of behavior that might get a dog returned to the shelter but being too good is not a behavior we think of. However that is what happened to a good 1-year-old dog named Binx at the Arizona Animal Welfare League & SPCA recently.

Within 48 hours, the family returned him saying he was ‘too perfect.” Their note said that he is potty trained, good with kids, fun to play with but just not enough of a challenge.

 

The shelter posted a picture of him and a great sales pitch.

 “I’m Binx, And I am TOO good of a dog. No Seriously! I was adopted and returned within 48 hours, with notes saying I’m potty trained, good with kids, fun to play with, and good with dogs in the home! They decided they wanted more of a challenge, and I think the only challenging part of me is how devastatingly handsome I am - I can’t get anything done here at the shelter because everyone is petting me, telling me what a good boy I am, and taking me for walks. So if you’re ready for a handsome, well-mannered pup, here I am!”

 

No doubt Binx will find a home better than that of these totally ridiculous people who seem to consider a dog a disposable item who must live up to their ridiculous requirements.

Hopefully the shelter will think twice before giving them another dog.

Shootout at the OK Corral—only with dogs

Who knows what lurks in the mind of a dog?

 

Does Laca the Sheepdog in the clip below think the Poodle
is an errant sheep?

Is Laca confused or embarrassed by the weird Poodle haircut?

Is this town not big enough for both of them?

Must she face the dog who hates her or lie a coward in her grave?

 

What do you do when a giant pig invades the neighborhood?

Deputies were called out to a residential neighborhood in San Bernardino County in California when a giant pig the size of a mini horse was running loose.

Fortunately the pig had a giant case of the munchies (don’t they always?) and the deputy was willing to sacrifice part of her lunch.

Deputy Ponce and Deputy Berg, because of the pig’s activities from previous calls, knew where he lived.

They lured him back home by making a trail of Popping Jalapenos Doritos from a deputy’s lunch bag. He followed the trail to his home and they secured the gate.

Crime fighting to matching wits with a pig—the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department does it all.

Colombian drug trafficers put a $70,000 bounty on Sombra, the drug-sniffing dog

 Sombra (Shadow, in English), a 6-year-old German Shepherd, has a bounty of 200 million pesos ($70,000) on her head. Her talent for sniffing out drugs has led to the capture of at least 245 people and the seizure of 9 tons of cocaine from the powerful Urabeños gang in Colombia. 9 tons!

The threat is serious enough for the National Police to take extra precautions for Sombra’s security. Fearing for her safety authorities have moved her to Bogota's El Dorado airport where she will have additional guards.

Sombra’s accomplishments have made her the furry face of Colombia’s anti-drug effort. Her success has turned the dog into a folk hero in a country consumed by  bloodshed and drug violence.

Unlike many law enforcement dogs, Sombra is a very friendly and playful. She has no problem with adults and children approaching her and she loves to pose for selfies. She has been the subject of several TV stories and has won two awards for bravery.

Her heroics have gotten the attention of  "Otoniel,” one of the country's most wanted men and the head of one of Colombia's most powerful criminal groups.

 “The fact they want to hurt Sombra and offer such a high reward for her capture or death shows the impact she’s had on their profits,” a police spokesperson said.

A Brief History of the Flea

 

 

Adam

Had 'em.

Stray dog joins the soccer game

Like most Americans I put the excitement level of professional soccer on a plane with watching paint dry or leaves turn colors.

Growing up in Indiana to us soccer was a little girls’ game. We started playing in fifth grade and played through college. It never occurred to us to watch grown men play soccer and get paid for it.

So it is easy for me to identify with the little stray dog who saw the players having so much fun in a recent soccer match between Georgia (the country not the state) teams Dila Gori and Torpedo Kutaisi.

It was the second half and since neither team had scored a point, the crowd needed some excitement.

The little dog decided to join in the fun. She had the time of her life running around the field and even scoring some tummy scratches during her time in the spotlight before she lost interest -- to the disappointment of the crowd.

It was an ordinary Monday morning

 Deputy Mark Stasyuk, 27, kissed his wife of 5 months goodbye and went off for another day of working a job he loved.

 Mark had been with the Sacramento Sheriff’s department for four and a half years.

According to those who knew him, he loved being a deputy. Everyone agreed that he was a man full of integrity. He went to the academy and worked full-time while earning his degree in criminal justice.

On this fateful day he and his partner, 28-year-old Julie Robertson, responded to a routine call for service around 1:44 p.m. from employees at the Pep Boys auto shop. They were having trouble with a customer that had escalated to the point where they thought it wise to call in law enforcement.

There was no indication to anyone that the customer was armed. When they arrived, he shot at the deputies. Julie Robertson was shot in the arm. Mark Stasyuk was shot in the chest.

He died at the hospital.

In the shoot out that followed, a bystander and the suspect were shot. Both are expected to make a recovery. The suspect, Anton Lemon Moore, is well known to the police.

For the second time in a little over a year an officer in the Sheriff’s department was killed in the line of duty.

It's hard to imagine sending a loved one off to work every day, not knowing if you would see ever see them alive.  

     

Golden Retrievers win top national honors

 

Known for their outgoing personalities and sweet dispositions, two Golden Retrievers have recently distinguished themselves as Top Dogs in national competitions.

 

 Penny

Penny, a 4-year-old one-eyed Golden Retriever from Sliver Spring, Maryland, beat out over 10,000 other deserving dogs to win People’s World’s Cutest Rescue Dog Contest presented by Pedigree.

Penny’s prize includes a one-year supply of Pedigree dog food, a $1,000 donation to Kyra's Rescue  — the organization that saved Penny — and an appearance on the Today show.

Penny and her family are most excited about getting the opportunity to talk about the joys of animal rescue and the great work done by Kyra’s Rescue.

Before arriving in Sliver Spring, Penny was living as a stray on the streets of Turkey where she had her eye cruelly poked out with a rod. She had this terrible thing happen to her, but she is still joyful, according to her owners.

“I have found it enormously rewarding to have a rescue dog” says Anne Noel Occhialino, who contacted Kyra’s Rescue because her family wanted a rescue Golden Retriever, a breed which the nonprofit is known to save. Kyra’s, started in 2015, pulls dogs from the streets and shelters of Turkey and flies them to forever homes in the United States.

 

Chi Chi

The American Humane Society has named Chi Chi, a 4-year-old quadruple amputee Golden Retriever from Arizona, as its 2018 American Hero Dog award recipient.

The American Humane Hero Dog Awards is an annual campaign that recognizes both human and canine heroes. The seven lucky finalists and their human companions will be flown to Hollywood for an awards gala which will be broadcast nationwide on Hallmark Channel this fall.

Chi Chi lives her life as a therapy dog, helping amputees. She was chosen over nearly 300 other brave dogs. More than a million people voted in the competition.

In her past life, she was terribly abused. She was thrown into a trash bag with her legs bound and left for dead in South Korea. After she was rescued she made a miraculous recovery, even beating cancer.

Chi Chi, who lives with her family in Phoenix, walks on four prosthetic legs.  She constantly  inspires people with her determination.

 

Congratulations to Penny, Chi Chi, their families and the wonderful people who rescued these amazing dogs.