I Was Mugged
October 29, 2007 at 4:35 am | In Breeds, cops, dogs, purses | 1 CommentTags: cops, dogs, mugged, purses
Last Thursday night around 8:15 p.m. I was walking into an Albertson’s grocery store when a young Hispanic male appeared behind me.
“Excuse me, excuse me, my mom just had a baby,” he said.
I continued walking faster towards the store. My body was telling me something wasn’t right.
I was about five feet from the door, when the coward ripped my purse off of my arm. My Social Security card, credit card, debit card and license were all in my purse.
Albertson’s video system captured it all on tape, however it could not make out the license plate number.
Apparently the same thing happened to another woman in a Smith’s grocery store parking lot about 30 minutes before my purse was stolen.
So now I officially think the world is full of people who always want to take the easy way out, like robbing people.
Did I mention I only had a whopping $10 on me.
So after I filled out all the necessary reports for the police, I asked the New Jersey born officer what I could do to protect myself from this crime increasing city.
“Flat out the best protection is a dog,” he said in his thick Jersey accent.
Originally uploaded by jallen “To Be” dragonhide
I have always thought dog’s were the best protectors, but actually hearing it from a cop made me even more of a believer.
I usually take my Boxer in the car with me, when the weather is cool enough. Now I plan on leaving my windows rolled down all the way, in case Reese (my Boxer) needs to jump out and be my hero.
So let this serve as a warning to all you ladies, be aware of your surroundings.
And let this also serve as a warning to all you small dog owners. Next time think bigger.
Narcoleptic dogs?
October 25, 2007 at 2:21 am | In Boxers, Breeds, Pet Health, dogs | 1 CommentTags: dogs, Narcolepsy, Stanford Center for Narcolepsy
I’m sure we all look at our dogs and notice that their always laying around. I know I always call my dog “lazy bones,” or say “he sure does have the life getting to lay around all day.”
What if your dog isn’t just lazy, but narcoleptic?
Originally uploaded by klostermann
Narcolepsy is a disorder that is classified as excessive daytime sleeping.
Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, director of the Stanford Center for Narcolepsy, just ended a 30 year investigation involving dogs and this super sleepy disorder.
Mignot’s study led to the discovery that a neurochemical called hypocretin plays a vital role in both human and animal narcolepsy. It also plays a role in normal sleep.
Researchers now understand that narcolepsy is created by a deficiency of the brain cells that make hypocretin.
Mignot is still in search of why hypocretin neurons die in narcoleptic people. The best hypothesis, the immune system attacks the cells. However, there is no evidence to prove this hypothesis.
Mignot has now turned to zebrafish, which possess hypocretin and reproduce rapidly.
So until Mignot finishes his study, your dog may remain sleepy.
Just don’t call it a cat nap.
DeGeneres and Death Threats
October 21, 2007 at 2:41 am | In Breeds, Ellen DeGeneres, dogs | Leave a CommentTags: adoption agency, Brussels Griffon terrier mix, Ellen DeGeneres
Have you ever adopted a dog? Could you imagine what it would be like to own a dog for two weeks and have it ripped from your home? Now imagine your a kid? The attachment is 10 times worse.
Popular talk show host Ellen DeGeneres adopted Iggy, a Brussels Griffon terrier mix, in September, from the rescue organization Mutts and Moms.
DeGeneres gave Iggy to her hairstylist’s family, after the pooch failed to get along with her cats.
Mutts and Moms took Iggy away from the family, as a result of DeGeneres violating the adoption agreement by not informing the organization that she was unable to care for the dog.
DeGeneres pleaded on her show for the dog to be returned to her hairstylist’s children.
After Mutts and Moms failed to comply, the organization began receiving death threats.
DeGeneres once again pleaded on her show for people to stop harassing the organization.
DeGeneres has canceled two tapings of her show due to the overwhelming stress of the dog adoption chaos.
Could this situation taint the public’s view on adoption and rescue organizations?
I think so.
Mutts and Moms could have screened the hairstylist’s family to make sure they were able to give Iggy the proper love and care. After all isn’t finding a good home the main goal of adoption organizations?
A contract is only binding when both parties put it into action.
Mutts and Moms could have bent the rules in the best interest of Iggy.
Iggy was placed with a new family earlier this week.
Death Row Doggies
October 18, 2007 at 3:09 am | In Boxers, Breeds, Pet Health, dogs | Leave a CommentTags: adopting dogs, dog shelters, dogs in danger
You always hear about dogs being euthanized because their time at the animal shelter has expired or the shelter needs more space.
Now you can view the face and read a description of the dogs who prepare to walk down death row.
Dogsindanger.com is a new Web site that sets itself apart from other dog adoption sites because it only displays doggies that are expected to be euthanized.
The site includes a countdown clock that estimates when the pooch will be put to sleep.
Web viewers can select their city and state and see the dogs that are available for adoption in the nick of time.
DogsInDanger.com believes in the power of compassion, and that Americans would do more to help and adopt shelter dogs, if only they knew how many dogs shelters were forced to euthanize. We also believe that shelters don’t really want to euthanize dogs, if they had any other option. Simply put, we have chosen a path of technology as a means of connecting these scared, abandoned shelter dogs with the loving homes they deserve. As a nonprofit organization, we seek no other gain except for the happiness we see in the face of a dog as he faithfully walks out through the shelter doors, in perfect step with his loving new family.
Dogsindanger.com was started three weeks ago.
The site includes around 400 dogs from 140 shelters nationwide.
About 50 dogs have found new homes.
So remember save a life. Adopt.
The Rainbow Bridge and How Do We Get There
October 15, 2007 at 3:18 am | In Breeds, Pet Health, death, dogs | Leave a CommentTags: dog death, heaven, rainbows
Originally uploaded by MKBrock
My dad has always warned me that those who mistreat dogs will have a lifetime full of bad karma.
“Dog spelled backwards is God,” he says.
Could that be the reason why dogs, who are utterly filled with love, despite the cruel treatment of some owners, end up walking along the “Rainbow Bridge.”
My Pit Bull died over a year ago, and after his cremation I received a poem from the cremation service.
It goes like this….
There is a bridge connecting Heaven and earth. It is called the Rainbow Bridge because of the many colors. Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge there is a land of meadows, hills and valleys with lush green grass.
When a beloved pet dies, the pet goes to this place. There is always food and water and warm spring weather. The old and frail pets are made young again. Those who are maimed are made whole again and they play all day.
There is only one thing missing. They are not with their special person who loved them on earth. So each day they run and play until the day comes when one suddenly looks up. The nose twitches. The ears are up. The eyes are staring. And this one suddenly runs from the group.
You have been seen and when you and your special friend meet, you take them in your arms and embrace. Your face is kissed again and again, and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting friend.
You cross the Rainbow Bridge together never again to be separated.
Could there be such a place?
A place of such purity?
I believe so.
Hyper Dogs or OCD Dogs?
October 15, 2007 at 2:46 am | In Breeds, Pet Health, death, dogs | Leave a CommentTags: anxiety, OCD, Prozac, Tufts University Veterinary School
Originally uploaded by vrgrrl
As an individual who drives around my neighborhood multiple times to make sure I closed the garage door, folding my clothes a certain way, and checking the coffee pot and door knobs an abnormal amount of times, I would like to diagnose myself with a small case of OCD.
On WebMD.com they explain:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a type of anxiety disorder, is a potentially disabling illness that traps people in endless cycles of repetitive thoughts and behaviors. People with OCD are plagued by recurring and distressing thoughts, fears or images (obsessions) that they cannot control. The anxiety (nervousness) produced by these thoughts leads to an urgent need to perform certain rituals or routines (compulsions). The compulsive rituals are performed in an attempt to prevent the obsessive thoughts or make them go away.
With the word OCD, the thought of dogs chasing their own tails and biting their own ears, doesn’t come to mind for dog owners.
However, Dr. Nicholas Dodman of Tufts University Veterinary School in Boston, believes that our four-legged friends with such tendencies can be diagnosed with the fretful disorder.
Dodman, an animal behaviorist, begins with training and if that doesn’t help he moves on to Prozac.
Yes, the same medication prescribed to treat humans.
Dodman is working closely with neurologists and medical researchers to find out why OCD occurs in some pooches and not in others.
They are looking for specific genes in humans and dogs to discover the cause of OCD.
Dobman anticipates the answer to the question, why does my dog bite his/her tail and ears incessantly?
Dobman says the results are tentatively planned to be determined by later this year.
Much More Than a Mutt
October 8, 2007 at 2:52 am | In Boxers, Breeds, Pet Health, dogs | Leave a CommentTags: blood tests, Boxers, genetics, mutts
My best friend owns a dog that a man gave to her at a local gas station.
He was unable to care for the pooch.
The only thing we really know about the dog is that she’s a female, and that’s because her anatomy suggests so. The man told my friend that “Nikki” was a Pit Bull. As a puppy, she looked liked one, but now at age two, Nikki looks like a Pit Bull and has the markings of a Boxer.
So what breed is Nikki? 
A new DNA test unveiled late last month can help give us the answer.
The new test created by the Virginia-based Mars Veterinary uses DNA samples to identify the make-up of mysterious mixed breeds.
Scientists have been working for years, collecting DNA samples from thousands of dog breeds.
Past tests have allowed the pooch to be tested to in-fact tell if they were the offspring of the parents that breeders claimed they were. However, the new test allows DNA markers that help tell breeds apart, to be checked against the thousands of DNA samples collected. This allows the ancestry of the pooch to be revealed.
The cost of a cheek swab test is $65 and the cost of the DNA test can be between $100 and $200. DNA samples from the mutt are sent to a laboratory in Lincoln, Neb.
The test can check 134 of the 157 breeds acknowledged by the American Kennel Club.
However, with every great creation comes limitation. A pooch’s great-grandparents are the oldest relatives that can be mixed breeds themselves in order for an accurate answer for the mutt in question.
Nikki’s owner doesn’t mind that she is a mixed breed, so Nikki will remain a mystery mutt. But remember, there is always an answer for those who are willing to pay to solve the mystery.
Pit Bull Fact or Fiction?
October 3, 2007 at 4:14 am | In Breeds, Pet Health, dogfighting, dogs, pit bulls | 1 CommentTags: dogfighting, Golden Retriever, pit bulls
Last semester, I was driving to school, in a rush as usual, when I spotted a dog running head on into traffic. As I approached the dog, I noticed right away it was a Pit Bull. As I pulled my car over and got closer to the dog, its copper coat and red nose caught my eye. I also noticed the small build and short legs, which implied it was a female. Female Pit Bulls tend to be smaller and stockier than males.
As I was trying to lure the dog into the back seat of my car, a couple walking their Golden Retriever appeared from around the corner. The Pit Bull took off running after the dog, I warned the couple to watch out. I was prepared for a dogfight, but at that exact moment I jumped in my car and raced over and pulled in between the dogs separating them.
The dogs never fought. If the Pit Bull wanted a confrontation, she could have ran around the car and sacked the Golden Retriever.
So what is the reason that this dog didn’t attack?
Could it be that people are too quick to judge a breed without sufficient reasoning? Could it be people are too quick to condemn a breed they fear?
Bullie Buddies of Las Vegas reports that in a series of dog temperament tests conducted by the American Temperament Test Society, Pit Bulls had a passing rate of 95 percent.
These tests put different dog breeds through various situations. Some tests involved the participation of strangers. Any sign of aggression and stress from the dog resulted in a failure of the test.
Golden Retrievers scored an 83 percent and Beagles scored a 78 percent.
The American Kennel Club believes Pit Bulls are the ideal family pet and recommended the breed as an especially good dog for children.
Famous icons such as Theodore Roosevelt and Helen Keller owned Pit Bulls.
So how can this breed that has such a good and bad reputation at the same time, survive in a world that can also be good and bad?
Easy. We save them.
After the confrontation with the Pit Bull and Golden Retriever, I put the Pit Bull in my car with the intention of taking her home. However, with luck on my side, a UPS driver recognized the dog and directed me to where she lived.
I took her home.
Your Pooch’s Pearly Whites
October 1, 2007 at 4:36 am | In Breeds, Pet Health, dogs | Leave a CommentTags: bacon toothpaste, brushing teeth, Dog teeth, pet teeth
I am one of the many individuals that enjoy giving my pooch smooches. However, I am not one of the people, if there are any, who enjoy the “dog breath.” I have tried doggie breath mints, but that just works for about two minutes, and back comes the smelly breath.
“Dog breath” can be a result of a periodontal disease. Dental care of dogs is one of the most overlooked areas of pet health.
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) reports that two-thirds of pet owners do not provide the proper dental care for their dogs.
The American Veterinary Dental Society reports that 80 percent of dogs show signs of oral disease by age three.
Dental disease doesn’t just affect the mouth. It can also lead to serious health issues such as heart, lung and kidney disease.
This overlooked disease starts out by plaque attaching to the teeth. When the bacteria that form plaque die, it can be calcified by calcium in the saliva. This forms a hard and rigid substance called tartar, which allows more plaque to accumulate. If the plaque and tartar continue to build up, the root of the tooth can become infected. In the last stage, which is very painful for your pooch, the socket holding the tooth erodes and the tooth becomes loose.
Plaque and tartar build up can be prevented by brushing your dog’s teeth, chewing hard food and even certain toys can break down plaque and tartar.
According to veterinary dentists, small dog breeds are more likely to develop periodontal disease versus large breeds. That is because the teeth of small breeds are often too large for their mouths.
Proper dental care including regular visits to the vet for dental exams and at home upkeep can prolong your pooch’s life for up to five years.
I am no angel when it comes to maintenance of my dog’s pearly whites, but I could only imagine what his teeth feel like not being brushed. I don’t like the feeling of fuzzy slippers on my teeth.
Try the bacon flavored toothpaste, my pooch thinks its paw-licking good.
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