Obese Dogs
I just had a conversation with a groomer friend, Linda in Wisconsin who called me up complaining of her aches and pains from her day of grooming. The cause of the aches and pains was a golden retriever client that she hadn’t seen in two years. Back in 2008, this golden retriever tipped the scales at a whopping 260 lbs! She measured his waist and it was a huge 40” around. A 40” waist may not be so bad if you are human but if you are supposed to be a normal sized 60 lb. dog, that’s extreme!
She warned them in 2008 of the health risks associated with their dog’s obesity, and tried to convince them to put him on a diet. Apparently, they didn’t listen. Which leads me to the question, why did she book the dog for grooming again?
Well I can answer that one. It stems from hormones and childbirth. When you want to have a child, there is an overwhelming urge and your biological clock begins ticking. Once you become pregnant, as happy as you are to be pregnant, the morning sickness hits you, and even though you are indeed glad to be pregnant, the side effects can be awful. Along towards the end of your pregnancy journey, the feet and ankle swelling begins, along with the general aches and pains, and restlessness. Sleeping in a bed is no longer comfortable; you opt for the recliner instead. Then labor hits. You may have decided to be a “he-woman” and not take any drugs for the pain. Although this is what your Lamaze coach recommends, all you need for pain is to focus on an object and breathe…once you are actually in labor, you discover that you not only can’t focus on anything except for the pain, but breathing has also become hard to do! What were you thinking?
They say you never forget the pain of childbirth, this is true but then those darned hormones hit and you get that overwhelming urge in a couple of years to have a second child, and it isn’t until you are pregnant again that you remember how bad it was the first time.
That must be what she did. She just forgot how bad it was the first time, or maybe she thought she had actually gotten through to her clients and they took her advice and put their dog on a diet. Well when she opened the door today, she found out that the dog had gained an additional 30 lbs. in the past two years, and his waist size has ballooned to a whopping 53 and a half inches around! A 290 lb. golden retriever! Now that has got to be some kind of a record.
Why is this dog so overweight? Does he have some kind of thyroid imbalance or immune disorder which is making him gain? Well, we just don’t know because the owners never took him to the vet to find out. It seems they live on a farm and he eats the grain that the cows eat along with 4 cups a day of his dog food, and eats the barn cats’ food, and whatever else he can get into. I’m pretty sure a vet would’ve read them the riot act over letting this dog get so heavy.
At his enormous weight, the dog is having difficulty walking; his hocks are breaking down from carrying the immense weight. I know that his heart has to be working on overload, along with his other vital organs. The dog is getting pressure sores on his body from lying down, and of course he was a mess from not being groomed in two years.
I’ve seen clients kill their dogs with kindness by over-feeding them. Just because he’s giving you those “doggy eyes” doesn’t mean you have to give in and feed him more. On every bag of dog food you’ll find a chart on how much to feed a dog that weighs x amount of lbs. Now, you are supposed to feed the amount for what the dog SHOULD weigh, not what he currently weighs. If your dog weighs 50 lbs, and should weigh 30 lbs, then you need to feed him what a 30 lb. dog should eat daily. Measure it with a REAL measuring cup, not the extra large cup your coke came in from McDonalds. There is a difference!
My friend Linda told her clients after she had completed the grooming that unless he lost weight, she would not groom him again. The clients were shocked and confused as to why she would say such a thing. Then she felt bad later. I told her not to feel bad because she had to protect her own body. None of us are getting any younger, and nobody can afford to hurt their back or shoulder etc. She took some pain relievers and hot bath and hopefully with some luck, she will get out of bed tomorrow and face another day of grooming. Unless you’ve been a groomer, or done some of your own dogs’ grooming it’s hard to understand how physical this job is.
I only hope her clients see the light and take some action to get their dog to the vet, and put him on a strict diet and confine him so he can’t get into the other livestock’s feed. It won’t be long until he does collapse and they will not be able to pick him up and take him to the vet. The one who ultimately suffers is the dog.
Don’t kill your dog with kindness, be loving but firm, food and treats don’t equal love and attention.
5/24/10 I have ARRIVED!
I have ARRIVED!
You know you are a creative groomer when photos of your creations stir up people and they feel the need to tell you how you are abusing your dog and being cruel. I’ve seen comments on creative grooming from some very uninformed people who think that coloring and cutting designs in the dog’s hair is the epitome of animal abuse. Nothing could be further from the truth of course, but how can we change the public’s perspective and let them see how very loved and pampered our dogs are?
TLC has made a pilot of a new show called Extreme Poodles that will air June 13th. It features some of the top creative groomers. I am hoping that this show, instead of sensationalizing and dramatizing our art, shows that we do love our dogs and we most certainly are not abusing them. I’m a little skeptical, only because the only run-ins I’ve had with the media have been the opposite. If it’s not exciting enough, they’ll make it exciting. The media likes to cut out the boring truthful messages, and highlight the controversy. I guess that’s what sells and pays the bills.
I am friends with many of the creative groomers that I compete with and one lady in particular, Sandy Hartness whose creations are probably more well known has received death threats by some over zealous animal rights enthusiasts who think what she does is wrong. My question is which is worse, a dog neglected, tied out on a chain that gets no attention or a pampered poodle who happily enjoys grooming and showing off?
The people who are sending the hate messages seem to think that we don’t allow our dogs to be dogs. All they see are the photos. They have no idea how or where this animal lives, or how it spends the rest of its non-creative life back at home. Somehow I think their minds may change if they would only listen. But you can’t make people listen.
Sandy Hartness tells me that it’s official, I am now a member of “the club” since I received my hate mail. “Yes! I’ve arrived!” I told her, because she tells me you have to be good to get people to do this. One of the “greats” in creative grooming thinks I’m “good”. Wow, that is the biggest compliment I can receive!
Due to the new TLC show about creative grooming, of course there are others who are airing their take on it. For instance, at the Knoxville show I just attended, ABC’s “Nightline” was there filming our competition. I’m anxious to see how they view it, or if their story will only stir up more controversy. If you see a couple of cute dogs who look like Clydesdales pulling a “Pupweiser” cart on “Nightline”, that would be us. We took second place in our division. The “Today” show will also have a couple of competitors on their show in the near future.
The funny thing is, creative grooming has been around since 1900 when a groomer first started carving designs into the hair of the dogs he groomed. It may go back earlier than that. I have seen photos of his work and considering no electric clippers back then? AMAZING! I’m actually proud to be part of this elite club of artists, so I’ll take my hate mail as a compliment, and smile knowing that my dogs don’t hate me, and because of what I do, they are living a good life, anyone who knows me can testify to that.
5/6/10 Green Hair!
“Green” Hair?
I found out something interesting that is being done to help with oil spills in the Gulf. There is a group that makes oil absorbing mats and booms out of human and pet hair!
The idea is that hair absorbs oil, and they weave all the hair into mats or stuff it into nylon hosiery and float it on the water, and it actually does work! Now that’s a way to be “green” that I never thought of! You can go to this website, www.MatterofTrust.org to sign up, and they will take donations of hair, hosiery, pet hair or sheep’s wool and you’ll be matched up by state and told where to send your donation. I’m presently awaiting an e-mail to tell me where to send my pet hair. Meanwhile, I will be bagging it up and putting it aside. Who knew there was another use for cut hair? This is great for all beauticians and pet groomers, sheep farmers, as well as anyone who wants to bag up and save any amount of hair. Think of the space we’ll save in the landfills, now that’s some creative recycling!
The entire operation of how they make the hair mats and booms is on that site, and it’s fascinating! They accept donations all year round, not just for major disasters that we hear about on the news. From the website:
DID YOU KNOW?
Every year, an estimated 706 million gallons of oil enter our planet's oceans:
By far the greatest source of spilled oil is households. We can make a difference, according to the Smithsonian Institution and the Environment Protection Agency:
Used Motor Oil - accounts for 363 million gallons in our oceans!
50% of Americans change their own motor oil, but only 1/3 of that oil is collected and recycled.
2/3 are dumped down drains or spilled on driveways and onto streets. One typical 5 quart oil change improperly dumped can contaminate millions of gallons of freshwater.
Routine ship maintenance and washing containers - account for 137 million gallons of oil in our oceans.
From air pollution - 92 million gallons
Natural seepage of oil bubbling up from the sea bottom - 62 million gallons
Large Spill Accidents - 37 million gallons
Offshore drilling - 15 million gallons
Wow, those are scary statistics! It’s nice to know someone is out there doing something about it and we can all help in some way. This group is hopeful that they can bring the textile industry back to the United States, since China has the lion’s share of it. Wouldn’t THAT be nice! Just think, it all started with a haircut, or a pet groom. Who would’ve thought hair could save the world? I’ve seen some pretty interesting things done with hair, heck I do some of them, but I do love minds that think outside the box.
All of this is making me feel very guilty about the way I deal with garbage, and recycling. I’m not exactly a “tree-hugger”. I think there’s still hope for me though.
So now every time you brush your pet, get your own hair cut, get your pet’s hair cut, or sweep up hair dust bunnies you can think, wow, this could save a fish, or seal or bird or some kind of wildlife, and of course, it can save us. The great circle of life ends with us and “green” hair.
I found out something interesting that is being done to help with oil spills in the Gulf. There is a group that makes oil absorbing mats and booms out of human and pet hair!
The idea is that hair absorbs oil, and they weave all the hair into mats or stuff it into nylon hosiery and float it on the water, and it actually does work! Now that’s a way to be “green” that I never thought of! You can go to this website, www.MatterofTrust.org to sign up, and they will take donations of hair, hosiery, pet hair or sheep’s wool and you’ll be matched up by state and told where to send your donation. I’m presently awaiting an e-mail to tell me where to send my pet hair. Meanwhile, I will be bagging it up and putting it aside. Who knew there was another use for cut hair? This is great for all beauticians and pet groomers, sheep farmers, as well as anyone who wants to bag up and save any amount of hair. Think of the space we’ll save in the landfills, now that’s some creative recycling!
The entire operation of how they make the hair mats and booms is on that site, and it’s fascinating! They accept donations all year round, not just for major disasters that we hear about on the news. From the website:
DID YOU KNOW?
Every year, an estimated 706 million gallons of oil enter our planet's oceans:
By far the greatest source of spilled oil is households. We can make a difference, according to the Smithsonian Institution and the Environment Protection Agency:
Used Motor Oil - accounts for 363 million gallons in our oceans!
50% of Americans change their own motor oil, but only 1/3 of that oil is collected and recycled.
2/3 are dumped down drains or spilled on driveways and onto streets. One typical 5 quart oil change improperly dumped can contaminate millions of gallons of freshwater.
Routine ship maintenance and washing containers - account for 137 million gallons of oil in our oceans.
From air pollution - 92 million gallons
Natural seepage of oil bubbling up from the sea bottom - 62 million gallons
Large Spill Accidents - 37 million gallons
Offshore drilling - 15 million gallons
Wow, those are scary statistics! It’s nice to know someone is out there doing something about it and we can all help in some way. This group is hopeful that they can bring the textile industry back to the United States, since China has the lion’s share of it. Wouldn’t THAT be nice! Just think, it all started with a haircut, or a pet groom. Who would’ve thought hair could save the world? I’ve seen some pretty interesting things done with hair, heck I do some of them, but I do love minds that think outside the box.
All of this is making me feel very guilty about the way I deal with garbage, and recycling. I’m not exactly a “tree-hugger”. I think there’s still hope for me though.
So now every time you brush your pet, get your own hair cut, get your pet’s hair cut, or sweep up hair dust bunnies you can think, wow, this could save a fish, or seal or bird or some kind of wildlife, and of course, it can save us. The great circle of life ends with us and “green” hair.
4/23/10 Politics, religion and dog food.
Politics, Religion and Dog Food
Recently on my online groomers group, we had a discussion about pet foods and which brands are better than others, which companies are “safe” and so on. Of course it started a heated debate, much like discussions about religion or politics. There were those of us with personal stories of what we have seen and experienced, vs. those who are staunch proponents of their brand of xyz dog food, with only information given to them by the maker, not necessarily the truth. No matter how hard we tried to convince them to look further into the brand and see exactly where their ingredients came from and what the ingredients mean and include, they wouldn’t listen, they only defended their brand and lumped the rest of us into a “new age tree hugger group”. I find that happens with many people and vets that have been educated by companies about products but don’t have a clue what the ingredients mean.
Face it, when it comes to OUR food, most of us don’t read labels and have no clue what all the ingredients are, especially when you add preservatives we can’t pronounce let alone define. So I’m not surprised when people think they are feeding great food to their pets with all the commercials that say how wonderful and happy your dog will be if they eat xyz brand dog food, or that the food is veterinarian recommended, which would be great if it the vet wasn’t only educated by the company itself, with little to no education on what each ingredient was or where it came from. That’s one-sided and biased. I have a problem with that.
I’ll admit it, I’m a grudge holder. I may forgive but I will never forget. I have a tough time putting faith in any of the companies that were involved in the recall, even thought they claim they have better testing now in place. Just when I think oh that company has come out with a healthier formula, something else happens and kills that trust.
When we had the great pet food recall of 2007, I personally know 3 dogs that died from the tainted food. At the time, they didn’t link it to the food; they died shortly before the recall. But after seeing their brand was in the recall, their pet was already buried and had the same symptoms as the pets that ate tainted food; it was pretty clear what had happened. There were thousands of pets that died, but so many died before the recall, that nobody suspected the food, and now it’s too late.
I recently found on truthaboutpetfood.com something they call “vindication” which is a permanent memorial to the pets that died or remain ill due to the contaminated food that was recalled. While it won’t bring them back, and it’s not a lawsuit and no compensation is made to those owners, it will be a reminder that those pets mattered to us. If you lost a pet to the recall, please get online and put in your pets name so a permanent memorial can be made and your pet can also be included in “vindication”. See below for details.
If a pet food has ever sickened or killed a Pet of yours, a friends,
or a family members… please read and share with others.
Losing your dog or cat because a pet food was contaminated is one of the worst experiences a Pet Owner can endure. You feel guilty. You feel taken advantage of. You feel alone. Saying good-bye to your dear friend, BECAUSE OF A PET FOOD, is the worst emotional roller coaster ride imaginable.
From the 2007 melamine pet food recall alone, some estimates are as high as 300,000 U.S. and Canadian Pets became sick, died, or are still fighting kidney disease. Countless thousands more pets have become sick from recalls or silent recalls of tainted pet food since.
They all mattered to someone;
They all matter in Vindication.
Vindication will Never Forget Them;
Nor why They Died.
Vindication is five acres of land at Keystone Lake, Tulsa, OK donated to Pet Owners.
Vindication will provide a permanent memorial to Pets that have died or remains ill due to a poisoned/contaminated pet food. Vindication is being groomed into gardens with cascading pathways lined with handmade stones; each stone bears the name of a Pet that has died or remains ill due to a pet food. For the first time in history, there will be a visual count of the deadly effects of tainted pet foods. The land, the garden, the handmade stones are provided by an anonymous Pet Family whose lives where shattered by a poisoned pet food. The five acres of Vindication will remain in trust to Pets and Pet Owners.
No laws have changed, no lawsuits have been settled, none responsible have been jailed. No one has told us how many died or remains sick; no one tells us how many continue to become sick and/or die from new recalls. Countless thousands of Pet Owners have felt they had no ground to stand on, they have been abandoned by the pet food manufacturer and the FDA, alone with the memory of their beloved friend…until now.
Vindication will be an emotional visual display of how deadly pet food has been. The demand for safe pet food will not be denied with these thousands of Pets as our foundation.
If your Pet has become sick or died due to a pet food, please include them at Vindication.
Go to www.TruthaboutPetFood.com click on the Vindication banner on the right.
There is no charge to any Pet Owner to include their Pet in Vindication.
Each Pet that has died or remains ill because of a pet food deeply mattered to someone…Each Pet matters in Vindication.
Recently on my online groomers group, we had a discussion about pet foods and which brands are better than others, which companies are “safe” and so on. Of course it started a heated debate, much like discussions about religion or politics. There were those of us with personal stories of what we have seen and experienced, vs. those who are staunch proponents of their brand of xyz dog food, with only information given to them by the maker, not necessarily the truth. No matter how hard we tried to convince them to look further into the brand and see exactly where their ingredients came from and what the ingredients mean and include, they wouldn’t listen, they only defended their brand and lumped the rest of us into a “new age tree hugger group”. I find that happens with many people and vets that have been educated by companies about products but don’t have a clue what the ingredients mean.
Face it, when it comes to OUR food, most of us don’t read labels and have no clue what all the ingredients are, especially when you add preservatives we can’t pronounce let alone define. So I’m not surprised when people think they are feeding great food to their pets with all the commercials that say how wonderful and happy your dog will be if they eat xyz brand dog food, or that the food is veterinarian recommended, which would be great if it the vet wasn’t only educated by the company itself, with little to no education on what each ingredient was or where it came from. That’s one-sided and biased. I have a problem with that.
I’ll admit it, I’m a grudge holder. I may forgive but I will never forget. I have a tough time putting faith in any of the companies that were involved in the recall, even thought they claim they have better testing now in place. Just when I think oh that company has come out with a healthier formula, something else happens and kills that trust.
When we had the great pet food recall of 2007, I personally know 3 dogs that died from the tainted food. At the time, they didn’t link it to the food; they died shortly before the recall. But after seeing their brand was in the recall, their pet was already buried and had the same symptoms as the pets that ate tainted food; it was pretty clear what had happened. There were thousands of pets that died, but so many died before the recall, that nobody suspected the food, and now it’s too late.
I recently found on truthaboutpetfood.com something they call “vindication” which is a permanent memorial to the pets that died or remain ill due to the contaminated food that was recalled. While it won’t bring them back, and it’s not a lawsuit and no compensation is made to those owners, it will be a reminder that those pets mattered to us. If you lost a pet to the recall, please get online and put in your pets name so a permanent memorial can be made and your pet can also be included in “vindication”. See below for details.
If a pet food has ever sickened or killed a Pet of yours, a friends,
or a family members… please read and share with others.
Losing your dog or cat because a pet food was contaminated is one of the worst experiences a Pet Owner can endure. You feel guilty. You feel taken advantage of. You feel alone. Saying good-bye to your dear friend, BECAUSE OF A PET FOOD, is the worst emotional roller coaster ride imaginable.
From the 2007 melamine pet food recall alone, some estimates are as high as 300,000 U.S. and Canadian Pets became sick, died, or are still fighting kidney disease. Countless thousands more pets have become sick from recalls or silent recalls of tainted pet food since.
They all mattered to someone;
They all matter in Vindication.
Vindication will Never Forget Them;
Nor why They Died.
Vindication is five acres of land at Keystone Lake, Tulsa, OK donated to Pet Owners.
Vindication will provide a permanent memorial to Pets that have died or remains ill due to a poisoned/contaminated pet food. Vindication is being groomed into gardens with cascading pathways lined with handmade stones; each stone bears the name of a Pet that has died or remains ill due to a pet food. For the first time in history, there will be a visual count of the deadly effects of tainted pet foods. The land, the garden, the handmade stones are provided by an anonymous Pet Family whose lives where shattered by a poisoned pet food. The five acres of Vindication will remain in trust to Pets and Pet Owners.
No laws have changed, no lawsuits have been settled, none responsible have been jailed. No one has told us how many died or remains sick; no one tells us how many continue to become sick and/or die from new recalls. Countless thousands of Pet Owners have felt they had no ground to stand on, they have been abandoned by the pet food manufacturer and the FDA, alone with the memory of their beloved friend…until now.
Vindication will be an emotional visual display of how deadly pet food has been. The demand for safe pet food will not be denied with these thousands of Pets as our foundation.
If your Pet has become sick or died due to a pet food, please include them at Vindication.
Go to www.TruthaboutPetFood.com click on the Vindication banner on the right.
There is no charge to any Pet Owner to include their Pet in Vindication.
Each Pet that has died or remains ill because of a pet food deeply mattered to someone…Each Pet matters in Vindication.
March 29, 2010 Hello Dolly
Hello Dolly!
We have a new family member home now. Dolly the standard poodle has been living with us for a couple of weeks now. She fits in great! She gets along with the other dogs and cats and all humans and is as sweet as pie! I don’t think I’ve ever had a dog that has cost me so much money right off the bat. Her adoption fee was only $135.00 which is relatively cheap. After all she came with all shots, freshly spayed, and you can’t get that done for $135.00. Gasoline to go get her in Detroit was about $120.00. She had contracted kennel cough from the kennel cough vaccine. What is wrong with this picture? I’ve now heard from several other rescues and individuals who tell me that most of their dogs that get the kennel cough vaccine come down with it within the week it’s given. Um, call me crazy but then WHY do they continue to give the vaccine? Don’t you think that would be a big red flag? Guess I’ll have to find out who makes the vaccine and ask them what the deal is. From what I understand, it’s sort of like a flu vaccine. Some people get the flu from the vaccine. When I had a flu shot many years ago, I didn’t get the flu but I caught every bug under the sun that year. I won’t get a flu shot again.
So before she even got to come home she spent three weeks at the vet in isolation recovering from kennel cough. I had to make sure she was no longer contagious before I brought her home. I don’t want to give my clients dogs kennel cough. Vet bill for that was $300.00.
The next problem was that the eye goo she had running from her eyes wasn’t just from having kennel cough, it seems she also had entropion, which is when the eyelashes roll inwards and rub on the eye irritating them. Surgery is the best way to fix that. Well as long as she was under anesthesia, may as well have those dew claws removed too. Normally in poodles, they are removed shortly after birth and it’s not a big deal. But wait much longer and you have a major surgery. So I asked the vet to take those off. In long haired dogs, dew claws get in the way and can accidentally be cut when you are grooming them. I figured it was better to lose them now. After surgeries, medicines and etc. another $450.00.
If that wasn’t bad enough, after a week of healing from the dew claw removal, the stitches began to itch. I had a soft e-collar on her to prevent her from chewing on her legs, but no such luck. She has long legs and a long neck and she managed to tear off her bandages and unravel her stitches. I called the vet, and it didn’t look that bad, so over the phone she advised me what to do. I rewrapped her legs, and even put some nasty tasting stuff all over the bandages to discourage her from chewing on them. I thought it was working until the next morning when I woke up and saw that she had the bandages off, and a big hole in her leg where she had opened up her stitches! Off to the vet we went again this time for staples, more stitches and more bandages. This time we bought a cone type e-collar. Like in the movie “UP”, we call it the cone of shame. She does a great impression of a lamp now. But at least with this cone, she can’t chew out the stitches again. Luckily the vet felt sorry for me and I only had to pay for the antibiotics this time and not the re-suturing. Whew!
Dolly has become a very expensive dog. I’m used to vet bills, just not so much before I’ve even had the dog a week. Yikes! I’m thinking we should call her Gucci or Versace since she’s so expensive. Too bad she knows her name so well already or I’d be tempted to change it.
The goal of course, is that I can do some creative grooming with her and Jasmine and win back a little of the money I’ve spent on her so far. I have a great idea for the next show, and Jasmine’s hair is already carved in, problem is I need Dolly to match her and she came to me rather naked. She was matted when they got her in Detroit so she had a very short buzz. It’s growing in but not as fast as I’d like. I think I’m really going to have to get creative with her. Guess I’m going to have to learn how to do a weave.
The best part is that Dolly does fit her name, she is a doll! She is as wonderful and sweet as Jasmine but also reminds me of my dearly departed Katy. She has traits of both and she is wonderful!
March 19, 2010 Things that make you go GRRRR!!!
Things that make you go GRRRRR!!!!
I am not a member of any animal rights groups, but after lobbying last year at the statehouse, I have gotten to know some members of the Humane Society of The United States, and Anne Sterling, the Indiana director of HSUS. Mainly what the HSUS does is they lobby to change laws to protect animals. It is nothing that is too over the top in my eyes. Most of it is common sense, but if you know anything about government, you realize common sense is rarely seen…
Here is part of the email I received from Anne this past week:
House Bill 1258, the animal fighting and pet store bill, cleared the House of Representatives the week of February 1st with a strong bipartisan vote of 71-26.
Introduced by Rep. Linda Lawson, the bill would make it a felony to be a spectator at an animal fight, would add animal fighting to the list of crimes in the state RICO statute, would require pet stores to provide consumers with information on the origin of their puppies prior to purchase, and would require people who own horses to provide them with shelter that is free of standing water.
Nothing too outrageous about that seems pretty sensible to me. Later in the week, I received another email from Anne, which read:
Hello! I hope this email finds everyone well!
I’m very sorry to report that our bill, or language, technically, died Wednesday night when the Senator Brent Steele refused to allow his caucus to sign the conference committee report.
To recap: the bill, HB 1258, would have required people to provide their horses with shelter, required pet store disclosure & would have made it a felony to attend an animal fight. The bill itself officially died several weeks ago, when the chair of the Senate Committee (again, Senator Steele) to which it was assigned, failed to schedule it for a hearing. The deadline for a hearing came & went & the bill was officially dead.
However, because the language passed one chamber (the House of Representatives, with a vote of 71-26) it was eligible to be amended into another bill, so we still had some options. The legislature is scheduled to end this week & we had already tried amending another bill, to no avail. In a final attempt, we tried to amend just the animal fighting language into a bill yesterday & 3 of the 4 conferees from the conference committee were ready to sign the committee report, to allow it to move forward, when Senator Steele objected & refused to allow the Republican Senator assigned to the committee to sign the report. If all 4 conferees do not sign the conference committee report, the bill is dead.
It’s obviously incredibly unfortunate that not even the animal fighting language made it through this year, due to the objections of essentially one legislator. This is particularly frustrating in light of the August 2009 dog fighting raid in Orange County, Indiana, in which 109 dogs were seized from deplorable & inhumane conditions.
As always, Representative Linda Lawson, the sponsor of the bill, was a true advocate for the animals in Indiana and did absolutely everything she could to try and get this through. Please take a moment to contact her and thank her for her tireless efforts to protect the animals Indiana. She can be reached via email at: h1@in.gov or via phone at: 1-800-382-9842.
If you would like, you can also take a moment to call or email Senator Steele’s Office & voice your displeasure with him for killing, for the 5th time, a provision that would have made it a felony to attend an animal fight in Indiana. With his refusal to support this common-sense legislation, he is consistent in his support of those who participate in the blood sport of animal fighting, and has secured yet another win for the dogfighters in Indiana. Senator Steele can be reached via email at: s44@in.gov or via phone at: (317) 232-9814.
On a happier note, Representative Lawson also introduced a resolution to declare October 1st ‘Adopt a Shelter Pet Day’ in Indiana. Thankfully, this resolution passed overwhelmingly.
The last paragraph was what really irked me, our state senators will not protect dogs from dog fighting and make it a felony to attend these illegal fights, but they will make another “Hallmark” holiday? What is wrong with this picture? Big deal, so we have a day that says it’s adopt a shelter pet day, do you honestly think that means more people will go out and adopt a shelter pet? I mean, its not as if we get another paid holiday off or anything, it’s just a nice way of saying, we like animals enough to add them to our calendar.
Frankly I’m floored at the stupidity of our government. I know others feel the same way for other reasons. We have a whole lot of reasons frankly to not like our government. I guess being the blue collar person that I am, I don’t “get” people in offices of power who fail to understand common sense! I’m sure that’s part of the problem of government in general, they don’t seem to understand the real world. We elect them to represent “us” the people, the real working people of the world who help make their lives cushier, and they spend their time, instead of working on real problems, they unanimously vote to make a cutesy holiday that will do NOTHING to help the problems. (Slams head into wall)
Who is this senator Brent Steele anyway? Is he a personal friend of Michael Vick? Does he put down some big bucks on dog fighting? So it’s ok to attend a dog fight, and we all know if you are watching, you are betting….yet betting on the Super bowl, which doesn’t hurt animals and is done EVERYWHERE…is a huge problem. Hmmmm…..
Does anyone besides me see the irony of this? It’s no wonder they need secret service and bodyguards for political figures.
I am not a member of any animal rights groups, but after lobbying last year at the statehouse, I have gotten to know some members of the Humane Society of The United States, and Anne Sterling, the Indiana director of HSUS. Mainly what the HSUS does is they lobby to change laws to protect animals. It is nothing that is too over the top in my eyes. Most of it is common sense, but if you know anything about government, you realize common sense is rarely seen…
Here is part of the email I received from Anne this past week:
House Bill 1258, the animal fighting and pet store bill, cleared the House of Representatives the week of February 1st with a strong bipartisan vote of 71-26.
Introduced by Rep. Linda Lawson, the bill would make it a felony to be a spectator at an animal fight, would add animal fighting to the list of crimes in the state RICO statute, would require pet stores to provide consumers with information on the origin of their puppies prior to purchase, and would require people who own horses to provide them with shelter that is free of standing water.
Nothing too outrageous about that seems pretty sensible to me. Later in the week, I received another email from Anne, which read:
Hello! I hope this email finds everyone well!
I’m very sorry to report that our bill, or language, technically, died Wednesday night when the Senator Brent Steele refused to allow his caucus to sign the conference committee report.
To recap: the bill, HB 1258, would have required people to provide their horses with shelter, required pet store disclosure & would have made it a felony to attend an animal fight. The bill itself officially died several weeks ago, when the chair of the Senate Committee (again, Senator Steele) to which it was assigned, failed to schedule it for a hearing. The deadline for a hearing came & went & the bill was officially dead.
However, because the language passed one chamber (the House of Representatives, with a vote of 71-26) it was eligible to be amended into another bill, so we still had some options. The legislature is scheduled to end this week & we had already tried amending another bill, to no avail. In a final attempt, we tried to amend just the animal fighting language into a bill yesterday & 3 of the 4 conferees from the conference committee were ready to sign the committee report, to allow it to move forward, when Senator Steele objected & refused to allow the Republican Senator assigned to the committee to sign the report. If all 4 conferees do not sign the conference committee report, the bill is dead.
It’s obviously incredibly unfortunate that not even the animal fighting language made it through this year, due to the objections of essentially one legislator. This is particularly frustrating in light of the August 2009 dog fighting raid in Orange County, Indiana, in which 109 dogs were seized from deplorable & inhumane conditions.
As always, Representative Linda Lawson, the sponsor of the bill, was a true advocate for the animals in Indiana and did absolutely everything she could to try and get this through. Please take a moment to contact her and thank her for her tireless efforts to protect the animals Indiana. She can be reached via email at: h1@in.gov or via phone at: 1-800-382-9842.
If you would like, you can also take a moment to call or email Senator Steele’s Office & voice your displeasure with him for killing, for the 5th time, a provision that would have made it a felony to attend an animal fight in Indiana. With his refusal to support this common-sense legislation, he is consistent in his support of those who participate in the blood sport of animal fighting, and has secured yet another win for the dogfighters in Indiana. Senator Steele can be reached via email at: s44@in.gov or via phone at: (317) 232-9814.
On a happier note, Representative Lawson also introduced a resolution to declare October 1st ‘Adopt a Shelter Pet Day’ in Indiana. Thankfully, this resolution passed overwhelmingly.
The last paragraph was what really irked me, our state senators will not protect dogs from dog fighting and make it a felony to attend these illegal fights, but they will make another “Hallmark” holiday? What is wrong with this picture? Big deal, so we have a day that says it’s adopt a shelter pet day, do you honestly think that means more people will go out and adopt a shelter pet? I mean, its not as if we get another paid holiday off or anything, it’s just a nice way of saying, we like animals enough to add them to our calendar.
Frankly I’m floored at the stupidity of our government. I know others feel the same way for other reasons. We have a whole lot of reasons frankly to not like our government. I guess being the blue collar person that I am, I don’t “get” people in offices of power who fail to understand common sense! I’m sure that’s part of the problem of government in general, they don’t seem to understand the real world. We elect them to represent “us” the people, the real working people of the world who help make their lives cushier, and they spend their time, instead of working on real problems, they unanimously vote to make a cutesy holiday that will do NOTHING to help the problems. (Slams head into wall)
Who is this senator Brent Steele anyway? Is he a personal friend of Michael Vick? Does he put down some big bucks on dog fighting? So it’s ok to attend a dog fight, and we all know if you are watching, you are betting….yet betting on the Super bowl, which doesn’t hurt animals and is done EVERYWHERE…is a huge problem. Hmmmm…..
Does anyone besides me see the irony of this? It’s no wonder they need secret service and bodyguards for political figures.
3-1-10 Establishing the Pecking Order
Establishing the Pecking Order
Fans of “The Dog Whisper” will be saddened to learn that Daddy the pit-bull has passed away at the ripe old age of 16 years. Daddy was a constant companion of Cesar Millan and helped him to rehabilitate hundreds of dogs over the years with his calm demeanor.
That’s the wonderful thing about calm, older dogs; they are great teachers to younger dogs. I know that my older dogs have taught each of my younger dogs I’ve brought home, or that are clients proper behavior.
Some people may think that an older dog that growls at a younger one is bad, but really it isn’t. Older dogs have established the pecking order and younger ones tend to test that line that we humans may not understand.
It is “human” of us, to bring home a new dog and shower it with attention and unknowingly ignore the other members of the pack. That can backfire and cause a real problem. We may perceive the other dogs behavior as jealousy, but really what we did by accident is mess up the pecking order. Your dog, who may growl or press you for more attention when the newbie arrives is just telling the newbie “This is my place, I was here first, and I outrank you, so listen to me and don’t get pushy with me or we are going to tangle”. You shouldn’t interfere unless it gets ugly.
When you bring a new dog home, remember to keep the pecking order as it was, feed the older pack members first. Give them attention first, (only if they are behaving, don’t reward bad behavior by giving attention) and let the dogs work it out in dog speak.
For instance, when I had Katy and brought Jasmine home, a client came in and Jasmine being young and exuberant jumped up on the lady. Katy leapt into action, growled at her, pinned her to the ground and had one paw on her neck looking her into the eyes and growled. She was telling her, “Jumping on people is a dominant behavior, I am the top dog and I don’t do that, neither will you.” Jasmine gave a little “yip!” and that was it. She never jumped on people again. I didn’t interfere. I knew what Katy was doing, and all my animals know that “I” am the top dog period. Now, how they figure out pecking order below me is up to them to work out normally. I don’t interfere unless I have to change a bad behavior.
Pecking order in EVERY household should always be humans first, then animals. Not because we don’t love them like our children because we do, but because when you put an animal in a pack leader position, ahead of the humans, you will create an animal with behavior problems, anxieties, and possibly aggression. You must set boundaries and rules with your pets just like your kids. If you let your kids do whatever they want and give them whatever they want, you will create a “brat”. Nobody likes bratty kids anymore than they like bratty dogs.
You don’t have to be a control freak, but you do have to do things in language that your dog understands. Body language is what dogs read. Quit talking, and show your dog in your body language that you are serious. Stand firmly, feet apart, hands on hips to show your position. Look your dog in the eyes and stand firm when you are trying to stop a bad behavior. You’ll be surprised how fast your dog catches on.
If you are trying to stop a dog from darting out the door every time you open it, first you have to claim the space around the door. Have someone come to the door and knock on it or ring the bell, your dog will go to the door. Before you open it, first get in between the dog and the door, turn and look at your dog and take a step towards him, your dog will take a step backwards. Do this until your dog is several feet away from the door, then open it. If your dog starts towards the door, close the door and repeat the process until your dog is several feet away and has calmed down and stays put. Do this consistently and you will no longer have a door darter.
Remember, you pay the mortgage or rent at your house, your dog does not own your house. He’s just a guest and should act like a guest. Never let your dog go out the door before you do, not even just to let him out to potty! Put your dog on a leash, or do the door darter exercise, and make your dog sit several feet away from the door. Open the door, and YOU take the first step out, turn around, look at your dog and say “Okay” and then allow your dog out. Do the same thing going back inside. You go in the door first, make your dog wait a few seconds then tell him “Okay” and let him in.
Little actions like these will make you the pack leader in your dog’s eyes and will greatly improve his behavior.
Fans of “The Dog Whisper” will be saddened to learn that Daddy the pit-bull has passed away at the ripe old age of 16 years. Daddy was a constant companion of Cesar Millan and helped him to rehabilitate hundreds of dogs over the years with his calm demeanor.
That’s the wonderful thing about calm, older dogs; they are great teachers to younger dogs. I know that my older dogs have taught each of my younger dogs I’ve brought home, or that are clients proper behavior.
Some people may think that an older dog that growls at a younger one is bad, but really it isn’t. Older dogs have established the pecking order and younger ones tend to test that line that we humans may not understand.
It is “human” of us, to bring home a new dog and shower it with attention and unknowingly ignore the other members of the pack. That can backfire and cause a real problem. We may perceive the other dogs behavior as jealousy, but really what we did by accident is mess up the pecking order. Your dog, who may growl or press you for more attention when the newbie arrives is just telling the newbie “This is my place, I was here first, and I outrank you, so listen to me and don’t get pushy with me or we are going to tangle”. You shouldn’t interfere unless it gets ugly.
When you bring a new dog home, remember to keep the pecking order as it was, feed the older pack members first. Give them attention first, (only if they are behaving, don’t reward bad behavior by giving attention) and let the dogs work it out in dog speak.
For instance, when I had Katy and brought Jasmine home, a client came in and Jasmine being young and exuberant jumped up on the lady. Katy leapt into action, growled at her, pinned her to the ground and had one paw on her neck looking her into the eyes and growled. She was telling her, “Jumping on people is a dominant behavior, I am the top dog and I don’t do that, neither will you.” Jasmine gave a little “yip!” and that was it. She never jumped on people again. I didn’t interfere. I knew what Katy was doing, and all my animals know that “I” am the top dog period. Now, how they figure out pecking order below me is up to them to work out normally. I don’t interfere unless I have to change a bad behavior.
Pecking order in EVERY household should always be humans first, then animals. Not because we don’t love them like our children because we do, but because when you put an animal in a pack leader position, ahead of the humans, you will create an animal with behavior problems, anxieties, and possibly aggression. You must set boundaries and rules with your pets just like your kids. If you let your kids do whatever they want and give them whatever they want, you will create a “brat”. Nobody likes bratty kids anymore than they like bratty dogs.
You don’t have to be a control freak, but you do have to do things in language that your dog understands. Body language is what dogs read. Quit talking, and show your dog in your body language that you are serious. Stand firmly, feet apart, hands on hips to show your position. Look your dog in the eyes and stand firm when you are trying to stop a bad behavior. You’ll be surprised how fast your dog catches on.
If you are trying to stop a dog from darting out the door every time you open it, first you have to claim the space around the door. Have someone come to the door and knock on it or ring the bell, your dog will go to the door. Before you open it, first get in between the dog and the door, turn and look at your dog and take a step towards him, your dog will take a step backwards. Do this until your dog is several feet away from the door, then open it. If your dog starts towards the door, close the door and repeat the process until your dog is several feet away and has calmed down and stays put. Do this consistently and you will no longer have a door darter.
Remember, you pay the mortgage or rent at your house, your dog does not own your house. He’s just a guest and should act like a guest. Never let your dog go out the door before you do, not even just to let him out to potty! Put your dog on a leash, or do the door darter exercise, and make your dog sit several feet away from the door. Open the door, and YOU take the first step out, turn around, look at your dog and say “Okay” and then allow your dog out. Do the same thing going back inside. You go in the door first, make your dog wait a few seconds then tell him “Okay” and let him in.
Little actions like these will make you the pack leader in your dog’s eyes and will greatly improve his behavior.
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