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Today's 'feel good' story made me a little teary-eyed, If you can watch the video, it is even more amazing than the written story itself. I tried to embed it here, but it just won't go. So I linked to it instead. Dog lovers, grab a tissue!
The dog left on the doorstep of the Granada Hills pet clinic was sick. The letter left with him was heartbreaking.
"Dear Drs., please forgive me for this horrible transgression. I have no where else to turn so I ask you to mercifully, gently and lovingly please help him sleep. His name is Kaiser and he's 16-and-a half years old. He's been my friend, my teacher, my pupil, my lifelong loving and loyal companion," the letter said.
On the envelope, the author of the letter said that he thought Kaiser had two strokes the night before.
"Be good to him as you would your own child, for he's been mine for a loving lifetime," the envelope read.
Inside, the writer continued to pour his heart out.
"We've been together 24-7 365 days a year since he was 8 months old. He's gentle, smart, and I'll miss him more than I could admit. Saturday evening, without warning or any outside influence, he began rolling on his back on the floor, all four legs extended, rigid and thrusting wildly in all directions. I saw fear and panic in his otherwise unrecognizable eyes. His head was pulled down to his right, and he seemed unable to do otherwise. If I had to render a guess I would say it appeared as though he had a stroke. He can stand, but 85 percent unsteady. He's fearfully reacting to attempts to get him to drink water. He refuses food as though he's totally lost knowledge of what to do with food."
"I'm a homeless disabled vet, and I know when it's time to say goodbye to a friend, and it's time now. He's such a part of my being, I'll once again be alone in my life. I love you Kaiser, thank you for caring, sincerely, Kaiser's Soul Mate."
Debbie Herot, a manager at Pet Medical Center Chatoak in Granada Hills, found the letter and the dog on the clinic doorstep as she came in to work last week.
Though she tries to keep an emotional distance from the pets she sees, in this case, she couldn't do it.
"After you're in this business for so long you learn to look the other way, because we have to euthanize animals. This one i couldn't euthanize," Herot said.
Instead, Herot tried to turn another loss into a gain. Last year, 23-year-old clinic employee Eric Flesher died in a car crash. Herot said he used to hate seeing animals come in that couldn't get treatment because their owners couldn't afford the cost of the care. So after his death, his family set up a fund to help animals like Kaiser.
Herot said it turned out that Kaiser hadn't had a stroke, but a much less serious illness from which he is now almost fully recovered.
With Kaiser doing better and the words of the letter still ringing in their heads, clinic employees set out to find Kaiser's owner.
The story of the homeless vet's letter eventually made it into the Daily News. Bob Mikolasko showed up at the clinic. He had seen the story in the newspaper. After correctly answering some questions about Kaiser that only he would know, Herot became convinced they found Kaiser's "soul mate."
Before he left, Mikolasko thanked the stafff and - summing up his feelings - proved to be just as poignant with the spoken word, as he had been with the written.
"When you leave your house in the morning and go to work and you don't see them until you come back, well, that's one lifestyle. You develop a rapport.
"I spent 11 years in a motor home living on the streets here, 24-7 with him. There was no baby sitter. There's no break. There's no summer vacation. There's no going to work. When I go to work, he goes with me," Mikolasko said.
Jeremy's traveling this week and I thought he might enjoy a little taste of home. I figured I'd open it up for any of you to view, as well. This is what "playtime" looks like at our house. You should ignore all the boxes and other junk around the living room. This was stuff that I moved out of the library in order to paint this weekend.
Yay, Rita! She found me some positive (if not a little ... freaky ...) news to post! Here we go ... A Sept. 13, 2001, file photo of James Symington and his German shepherd, Trakr, searching through rubble at the World Trade Center tower collapse site in New York, on Sept. 13, 2001, days after the terrorist attacks. Trakr , now 15 and disabled, and his master, a retired Canadian police officer who now lives in Los Angeles, were among the first search and rescue teams to arrive at Ground Zero after the attacks. Symington wrote an essay for a contest to find the world's most 'cloneworthy dog' and the dog's selection was announced Monday, June 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A dog that sniffed out survivors from under the rubble of New York's World Trade Center after the 2001 terror strikes is to be cloned, the California-based firm conducting the procedure said.
Trakr, a German shepherd who lives with his owner James Symington in Los Angeles, was picked by BioArts International as the most "clone-worthy" canine in a competition offering an owner a free chance to replicate their pet.
Symington said he and Trakr were among the first search and rescue teams to arrive at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks, and were responsible for locating the last human survivor under about 30 feet (nine meters) of debris.
Now aged 15, the dog no longer has use of his back legs due to a degenerative neurological disorder. According to BioArts, experts believe the condition may be linked to exposure to toxic smoke at the World Trade Center site.
"Trakr means the world to me," Symington said. "To know that part of him is going to live on is just beyond words. It's the greatest gift I've ever received."
In the next month, BioArts said it would transport a sample of Trakr's DNA to the South Korean lab of its partner, the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, and the clone could be ready by the end of this year.
Don't get me wrong .. I think the technology is AWESOME and I can't wait to see how this works out. I just keep thinking, like, could people end up, in the future, having the same pet their entire lives, just cloning them over and over? How weird would that be?! I mean, I love my dogs, but clones of them? I'm just not sure. I'm not sure I'd feel right about it. Because it'd be like looking at your same dog, but without all the love, bonding, training, etc. that you've shared over the years. I dunno. Regardless, I think it's awesome, what they're doing.
Today's feel-good news story seemed appropriate with discussions lately of pets and their quirks. :)
Ewa Beach sixth-grader Megumi Schultz was astounded when her cat-hating dog started breast-feeding feral kittens they found in her garden shed.
"I was quite shocked when she started nursing them," she recalled as she related how her dog morphed into a tender, doting mother.
Megumi was walking Snowie, her 3-year-old white Shiba-Inu, one morning when they heard meowing coming from the garden shed.
Snowie sniffed under the shed door and was scratched, apparently by a feral cat. When the girl returned with her father, Frank Schultz, they opened the shed to find a litter of four kittens. The feral mother cat darted away and hasn't returned.
"Snowie normally hates cats," said Frank Schultz. "She goes nuts. When we go for a walk, she'll chase 'em down the road. One time she chased one four blocks up into a tree and then tried to climb the tree. If she's not on the leash, she'll attack them."
The Schultz family took the kittens home and began feeding them with kitten formula via eyedroppers.
Then, "kidding around," Schultz's wife, Miyuki, placed one of the kittens on Snowie's teat.
"She looked shocked," said Schultz. "She was looking at us as to say, 'Huh?'"
Then the other kittens started suckling her.
"Snowie just laid there and let them nurse," said Megumi. Now she is producing milk and feeding the kittens four to six times a day. She has never been pregnant or nursed before, but it is possible for females to lactate from nipple stimulation alone.
"I think it's a miracle because you don't normally see dogs nursing cats," said Megumi.
A Google search revealed similar cases elsewhere.
"It's not terribly unheard of ... there's tigers that will suckle pigs," said Ken Redman, director of the Honolulu Zoo. "So somewhere along the line maternal instinct kicks in."
Kawehi Yim of the Hawaiian Humane Society said there also have been cases of cats adopting puppies.
Dr. Eric Ako of the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association said such cases are "not infrequent," adding, "There's even wider species variations that have been documented ... a monkey has adopted a puppy."
Megumi, who has named the kittens Tabby, Ginger, Momo and Casey, said the accidental mom seems content with her brood.
"She always licks them and follows them everywhere. She protects them. She's really happy, I think, because she doesn't have any companion. I think the kittens will act like dogs, because they are always following her and doing what she does."
Added Frank Schultz: "Usually, we take a long walk at night with Snowie, but now she drags me home so she can take care of the kittens. "
At night, the kittens snuggle up to sleep with Snowie.
Schultz said he's not sure whether they will keep the cats. Some acquaintances have already asked about adopting them when they get big enough, he said.
See the entire news story here, for photo credits and such. :)
Today's "feel good" story is from a few months ago, but I'd not heard of it, so thought maybe you hadn't either. :) For those who think of these "types" of dogs as vicious, and support the banning of their breed or similar breeds, perhaps this will point out the dangers of a blanket judgment like that.
ROARY the Staffordshire bull terrier turned lifesaver when he saw a deadly brown snake rear to strike three-year-old Ebony Davis.
Roary jumped on the 1.5-metre snake, bit it and swung it clear of Ebony and her father in the backyard of their home.
But the family pet's bravery almost cost its life.
As Roary held on, the snake bit him repeatedly on the flanks and one ear before breaking free and slithering under a shed.
Ebony's father, Tim Davis, 38, said the dog "did a lap of honour around the yard, with his tail on high, and then he went in the house and collapsed".
"As I wiped the venom off his body, his legs gave way and his head came down on the floor," Mr Davis said. "There was no sign of life in him."
Mr Davis put Roary on the front seat of his car and rushed the dog 10km to Kangaroo Flat Veterinary Centre, near his home at Lockwood in central Victoria.
"He was quite still and I kept stopping to breathe some air into his nose, but I was sure he was a goner," Mr Davis said.
"When we got there, the vet told me how expensive the anti-venom was and how slim his chances were with so many bites.
"I said, 'Money doesn't matter; he's saved my little girl's life. Just get on with it'.
"A minute later, needles were hanging out of him everywhere."
But 10-year-old Roary is a fighter and when the Sunday Herald Sun visited him at home two weeks after the attack, he was running in the yard like a puppy.
"I've had him since he was six weeks old," said Tim's partner and Ebony's mother, Christine Martin, 29.
"I don't know what I'd have done if we'd lost him."
The only sign of Roary's ordeal is some muscle wastage around his chest, but he is expected to recover.
"Ebony was feeding the guinea pigs in their enclosure when it happened," Mr Davis said. "We'd lost three in the previous week and never dreamed it was a snake taking them.
"Suddenly the snake darted out from under the bush and reared up at Ebony. I had just grabbed her by the arm when Roary came belting in and latched on to the snake.
"He had it half way down its body, so its head was free and it kept thrashing round and biting him.
"It just slithered off and we haven't seen it since, so I reckon he killed it."
How, you ask? Well, ok. Not really Dante, but his travel bug! Don't know what a travel bug is? It's a little tag that goes on little journeys/adventures via the realm of geocaching. Don't know what geocaching is? It's like treasure hunting for the whole family. :) Seriously. Ok, so, not really so much treasures all the time, but it is relatively cheap entertainment (in that all it costs you is the means by which to travel to where you're going which, given your location, might not be much at all. You might be surprised to know, there are HUNDREDS of "treasures" hidden within a 10 mile radius of your home. No, really!)
It's free to do. All you need is a gps unit and an adventurous spirit. It is fun! Seriously. There's a thrill to actually finding some of these hidden items, ranging in size from oh, a huge travel chest all the way down to an Altoids tin. And they are EVERYWHERE! I could almost guarantee you that you pass by a dozen or so (at least) every day and you don't even know they're there.
Want to know more about it? Two resources for you:
Looking for cheap and fun things to do as a family? Plug in your zip code on the geocaching web site and see how many are hidden right around you!
So, a travel bug can be anything you want it to be. For example, I've seen things where two young boys, brothers, each sent one out, with the goal of "racing around the world" to see whose would come back first! They start them out in a geocache, and then someone else visits the cache, grabs the tag, and then drops it in another cache somewhere else. Some people are really good sports and take travel bugs with them on planes when they travel! Then they go really far! And Jeep has a contest every year where you have to find the little Jeeps, and when you do, you can enter a contest to win a NEW Jeep!
I set up a cache in the park where we used to walk Dante a lot, and put a travel bug in there for him. Want to see what it's about?
You can read the comments people have left as they've picked up his bug and passed it on. I've had people email me for the recipe, and I can hardly wait to get this package back in 2010, and see all the cool pics that are in it of peoples' pets from all over the place!
I guess we really should start one for Brit, too. Hm. Wonder what we should have the goal of her travel bug be? Should I send it out to come visit some of you who geocache? Anyone want a visit from the Britley Travel Bug?
We (the collective "we" of me, Jeremy, Dante & Brit) had an awesome time at the dog park today. :)
The weather was perfect .. mid 70s. A few puffy clouds in the sky.
And lots of dogs. Looooots and lots of dogs.
As you can see, Dante ran a LOT.
Brit ran, too, but she came back "to check on us" a fair amount, too. But then, she got a little bullied by a couple pit bulls, too.
Toward the end of our time there, I actually found myself yelling at one of them who bit at her face and then rolled her.
Some guy laughed. He's lucky I was on the way to make sure Brit was ok or I'd have rolled HIM.
Dante had his own little showdown with one, as well.
Brit was fine, and eventually they got tired of both her and Dante.
Now, here's the reason for the title of this blog.
Down near the water there was what was presumably a family. They were "playing" with their dog in a manner that I found ... well ... reprehensible.
Before I post the pictures, let me tell you that every time this little dog got out of the water he ran ... RAN ... past this guy and to the girl sitting in a beach chair. This guy would walk over, again and again, dig the dog out, and well .. let me just show you the pictures. You go right ahead and tell me what YOU think.
If this dog had even ONCE gone back to this guy, I'd probably feel differently. I could see some dogs enjoying something like this. But the fact that the dog ran past him and he kept going to retrieve it, over and over? No way. Wrong. But by then a crowd had started to gather and people were laughing and clapping and thinking this was just wonderful and cute and ... well, Jeremy and I were disgusted. That's when we decided to leave.
I figure, looking at this arc, that he was chucking this little dog to about 5x its height on its hind legs. I really REALLY wished I could perform magic, pluck this guy up off the beach, toss him up about 30' in the air, and see how HE liked it when he ran out of the water and I found him and did it over .. and over again.
So, what's the verdict .. am I being oversensitive?
This was the relaxing end to a busy weekend. :) I think the lesson here is, so long as you've got a duck, a tennis ball and a yard to play in (and people to love you), life is good.
Hope yours was great and that the upcoming week's a good one.
I spent this morning with my friend Andi, hanging out with her and all her blissfully happy animals. These are, collectively, some of the most happy, loving animals I've ever encountered! From cats to dogs to horses, they are all ultra-friendly and love to be loved.
Remember Roy? This will give you an idea of how big he is. I'd say Andi is probably about 5'7" or so. This picture, if you assume him to be a normal-sized horse, makes her look like a Liliputian!
I went over to help Andi test out some equipment. You wouldn't know it by her photos, but she's relatively new to the world of photography, so I brought over some lenses for her to play around with. I'm fairly sure there is a macro lens in her near future. :) While she was shooting and playing around with lenses, I took a few shots, myself.
And really, what animal WOULDN'T be happy living this life, right?
This ranch had everything ... including the stereotypical lab on the front porch.
I couldn't get photos of all the animals, but this is a small representation, anyway.
And one last photo montage to show you one happy cat! He probably did this a dozen times while we were out there shooting.
(if interested, you can view it larger here) It was a very good morning.
Seriously, I watched this about 10x in a row and laughed every time! If you've ever had or known a dog that loved water, this one's gonna get you. haha.
I stayed home today because of this stupid ear infection. I'd gotten about 4 hours' sleep Sunday and Monday night combined, and the days were just plain painful. So I'm now on antibiotics and things are getting better quickly.
As I was sitting here, Dante came in and jumped up next to me.
Haha. It really makes me laugh.
He jumped in the pool and then rolled around in the dirt. Then came in to share it with me. It's true love, I tell ya.
Maybe now you'll be able to see why I'm going to be SO glad to have a landscaped back yard that has grass! And why there's no way in heck we're opening up that dirt lot to the dogs. I can't wait to be able to sit on the couch without worrying about whether it's muddy or not.
I know this might gross some people out, but hey, it's just a couch. And so long as he's happy, that's what matters to me. Once the mud dries, it brushes right off – we have a very resilient couch.
Once Dante jumped down, Brit jumped up.
She is a super-snuggly dog, almost all the time. This was the view I had, while trying to type. :) Every time I put my right hand down, she'd start to lick it, which also makes it impossible to type.
The way I look at it, she's probably just so happy to live here, in the house, with people who love her, that she wants to be close to us whenever she can.
I don't mind ... again, it just makes me happy to see her happy. Especially knowing how timid and shy she was when she first got here. She would run any time Jeremy came in the room, and if we would bend down to pet her, she'd often duck or wince, especially if we had something in our hands. She is a different dog now, and the love around here flows freely!
I say it a lot, but here it is again ... life is good!
As we're getting closer and closer to the point of moving (hopefully .. appraisals and inspections this week), I find myself getting a bit nostalgic about where I've lived since 2001. There have been some cute stories and pictures of kids of people on my friends list here, and it's got me remembering one very specific story. I share this one for those of you who've playfully given me a hard time about my religious beliefs (or lack thereof) in the past.
In 2001 I moved next door to three of my best friends (Christi, Nathan, and their son Cameron). This picture had to have been taken around early-mid 2004, I think. They had chickens and Cameron would go out to collect the eggs (thus the basket). He had some favorite chickens, as most were very friendly.
One day I was inside and all of a sudden heard Cameron just screaming bloody murder. Well, I'm not a mom to any 2-legged creatures, but it made my whole body go cold. I ran over and saw that one of the younger chickens had poked its head through the chicken wire and their dog, Floyd (the most loving dog in the whole world, unless you're another dog), who figured he'd just been presented with the best of fortunes – bit its head off!
Unfortunately, Cam was there to witness it, and to see the chicken, in the aftermath, laying on the ground, flopping around, flapping its wings. Those of you who've never been around chickens when they lose their heads, this is common, and sometimes they will actually still run, even with their heads missing. It's gross, I know. For a young kid of 4 or so, it's downright traumatic! I flashed back to how I felt seeing things like that for the first time when I was young and instantly – really, before I even knew what I was saying – launched into an explanation for Cam.
My beloved great dane, Lucaya, had just died the year prior, and Cam had known him pretty well. So I told Cam it was ok, this was just the chicken flapping her wings so she could get up to Heaven faster to play with Lucaya. He gave me one of those sidelong looks, in between heaving sobs, you know those looks kids give like "I'm not sure about whether or not you're bullshitting me, but I really want to believe you", through squinty eyes? So I continued on to ask him if he remembered how Luc loved all other animals and how he was so gentle. Then told him how when the hen got there, she'd get to play with Lucaya and that's why she was flapping so hard, cuz she was excited about getting up there to play.
It seemed to work, at least for the time being.
Anyway, I guess this isn't so much "religious" .. but I'm not 100% sure I believe in a "Heaven" per se. It's a really nice thought, and I like it in that it serves the purpose of soothing some people. I'm just not sure about it myself. I just surprised myself by coming up with a Heaven-related story on the spot like that. I guess 11 years of Catechism have to take SOME toll. ;)
In 1995 I packed my life up in an 8x10 U-Haul trailer and drove from Michigan to Nevada. I knew one person, and that was about it. Shortly thereafter, I went on a Bahamas vacation with my best friend (college roommate) Sherryl, and we visite Port Lucaya. I fell in love with it and, upon returning, was given a great dane puppy whom I promptly named, "Lucaya."
I always knew I loved big dogs, but I'd never known one quite THIS big. He quickly became my best friend and went through several moves with me as I tried to get settled here in Nevada. He went through my rehab after my motorcycle accident, and the time we got kicked out of where we were living and had to sleep in my car, and never once did he ever complain. Well, I mean, he never even SEEMED to complain. He was an excellent dog, and my best friend for pretty much his entire life. We were the closest of pals and, in 2003 when we discovered that he had been hit by an aggressive form of bone cancer, making the decision for him, just 2 weeks later, to put him out of misery, was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. He was unable to get up on the bed anymore, so I'd taken the frame away and just put the mattress on the floor, but he couldn't control his bladder because of the medicines he was on for pain, and you could tell he was embarrassed about it. He was having trouble getting up into the car, and going for rides was what he lived for. So, on a Saturday, when I came out into the living room and found him laying in a puddle of urine, I made the decision. I gave him his last bath and took him for a big long ride around the valley. I nearly changed my mind a dozen times, but every time I thought of the pain he must have been in – the pain I didn't even realize existed for so long, I knew I had to let him go with his pride and dignity, doing the things he loved to do. I didn't want him to get to the point where he could no longer do them and was sad. So that day I sat on the vet's floor, holding his head in my lap while he went to sleep. I sobbed the entire time then. I'm sobbing now.
He licked my hand as he got more and more sleepy and his eyelids got heavy, and I like to think he was telling me it was ok and that I'd made the right decision.
This is the first time since 2003 that I've been able to bring myself to scan in some of these old photos. It just hurt a little too much before. But, thanks to Em and her PP post for this week ('Around the World' and her post about the great dane being the Pennsylvania state dog) and thanks to Tint for coming up with such an awesome theme, and for knowing full well how much one can fall in love with the danes, I'm finally able to do it. Not dry-eyed, but do it nonetheless. :)
Too cute for words, so I had to give you pictures, instead! These are wolf-dog mixed pups that a friend of ours is currently selling. There are still 2 left, if you fall in love. :)
There is almost no smell in the world better than puppy breath, no matter what kind of puppy they are. But puppy breath mixed with these loving little balls of fur ... amazing. They came out hesitant and unsure, but within moments they were wagging those tiny little tails, rolling over on their backs to have their bellies scratched, and then when they would growl their tiny little growls, trying to sound so ferocious, followed by little tiny howls ... believe me, it was impossible not to want to smuggle some out in our coats.
(oh, and don't worry, I don't have any extra comments on any of the individual shots, so you don't have to bother looking at any larger if you're looking for more info/comments). Enjoy!
Description: Y'know, I never could make gravy worth a darn. I used to cook turkey about 5-6 times a year, and I thought that was an awful waste of good turkey drippings, so I was happy to find this recipe for dog treats on the internet. Now that Jeremy's in the picture, I have to sometimes fight him for the drippings (he loves to make gravy), but once I give him "the eyes" and tell him it's for the dogs, he's a fairly big pushover. These treats have become a standard favorite amongst my friends, so I try to make them rather often.
Directions: In a large bowl, pour the hot meat juices over the margarine and mix well. Next add the milk, salt and egg, and again stir well. Add the flour a cup at a time, otherwise you'll never be able to stir it. When you get to about the 5th cup, you'll have to start kneading the dough by hand, as it'll be too stiff to mix with a spoon or fork. Roll the dough to about 1/4" thick to make about 10 dozen biscuits. If you're more interested in better (but fewer) treats, roll your dough to 1/2". Our dogs never much care. You can get cookie cutters shaped like dog bones at any craft store. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350º for about 45-50 minutes. Let dry until hard (if you put them into a container prior to being 100% cool, they will become soft.)
Total Prep Time: About 20 minutes. Total Cook Time: 50 mins. per batch.
Variations: You can use any meat juices, or even store-bought meat stock in a pinch. You can also throw in things like uncooked oatmeal and corn meal for some different tastes and textures.
Today I woke up to the snow I so badly wanted (photo taken from inside our living room this morning). I know it's not a lot, but when you live in the high desert, you take what you can get.
Here's the better part – we still can't see the mountains! That means they are getting a LOT of snow! And that means my photo shoot up there tomorrow morning is SO gonna rock!
And here's the BEST part of all – the rottweiler from last night is fine!! I called at 9:55 and the dog's owner answered. He said they took him to a friend who's a vet last night and there are no broken bones. I would have felt much better had they actually gotten the dog x-rayed and scanned to make sure nothing internal was broken or busted up, but the guy told me that by this morning the dog had stopped limping altogether and was jumping and running in the snow, so I at least feel fairly confident that the dog really is ok.
I of course started crying right away again, but I'm sure that's just stress and the relief (and release) of such. I'm good now .. and getting excited for heading up into the mountains tomorrow morning. This weekend I'll be buying one of those big, messy bones, wrapping it with a ribbon and sending it, with a note, to the dog, via the shop. Anonymously, of course. I feel it's the least I can do for one night of fear, pain and suffering.
Thank you everyone, for all the supportive comments, here and elsewhere. This really was traumatic. For me it was like hitting a child. Of course, as my friend Rita says (she's a dog person, too .. some of you might remember a 360 blog about Britley getting a "welcome to your new home" package earlier this year .. that would be from Rita's dogs ;) ), hitting a dog is worse ... some kids you WANT to run over! Ha. What would I do without my friends and their comic relief?? And Rita, you can't feel that way anymore, now that you're a mommy to a kid with TWO legs. ;)
Anyway .. thank you. So much, everyone. A happy ending for today. :)
All day today it rained here in the valley and, I think, snowed in the mountains (couldn't tell because they were shrouded in clouds). I was so excited, looking forward to our first good winter snow, as I heard a rumor that we are supposed to get a couple inches here on the valley floor tomorrow, too!
After work I went to Pilates, then to the grocery store, and then headed towards Wasabi's to pick up dinner for Jeremy and me. U.S. 395 runs through our town, so it's a national highway, but of course the speed limit is lower due to it running through two concurrent towns. As I drove through town, excited for snow, but not enjoying driving at night in the rain (my astigmatism really wreaks havoc with me when driving at night, especially in wet conditions), my night got quintessentially worse when I came around a corner to find a rottweiler standing right in the middle of the road. There was no way I could stop in time. I stomped on the brakes but I heard the thud I so hoped wouldn't happen.
I slammed the car into park and threw the 4-way flashers on (yes, right there in the middle of my lane - there's construction right there, so no shoulder) and jumped out to look for the dog - my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. He had walked down an alley about halfway along a building and was crying. A guy came out of the back of the building, where he'd obviously been working late at a garage.
He scooped up his dog and I followed him, crying and shaking, to the garage to see if the dog was ok. He (I think it was a he) seemed ok all except for one hind leg whenever the guy tried to touch it. There was another guy there, and I kept apologizing. Well, at least that's all I remember. I was so upset. Those of you who know me know how much I love dogs - this about broke my heart. I offered to give them my phone number so I could help cover costs or something .. anything. They said no, that it wasn't my fault. Of course they, like so many people, blamed the dog by saying it shouldn't have been out in the road (later, upon retrospect, I think THEY should have made sure it wasn't in the road. The dog was just doing what dogs do .. checking out the surroundings). I was just so upset and helpless, after a minute I left. I didn't know what else to do.
I sobbed the entire way home. I went to Wasabi's to pick up dinner and almost called them from the parking lot to ask if they could bring the food out to me, but thought that's silly, I can suck it up long enough to get the food. I was wrong. By the time the bill came for me to sign, I was sobbing again. We order from there fairly often so they were really nice about it ... the lady said she definitely WOULD have come out to the parking lot! I love small towns.
Poor Jeremy, I walked in the door sobbing and holding our takeout.
I'll call the garage first thing in the morning to find out how the dog is doing, and hopefully be able to provide a happy update. I so hope that they took him to a vet right away. I can't imagine not doing that, but Jeremy says that some people, if they think the dog isn't really that hurt, won't take it in. I guess I'm really a worrywart, because if that happened to either of my dogs, they wouldn't even make it in the house before they were in the car on on their way – absolutely no question.
We talked about my thought of offering them some money. He doesn't seem to think it's a great idea, and I think that, after contemplating it, he's probably right. But he did say that if they decided it was too much trouble or expense to get the dog taken care of, we will pay for it. So basically, like the awesome boyfriend that he is, he's leaving it 100% up to me.
If you're one of those who talks to me via IM or in person, and you read this blog, hopefully you'll understand if I'm just a little "off" tomorrow. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed until I talk to them on the phone in the morning.
Remember the blog titled, "Did I Say 'Ok' To Animal Cruelty?" If not, click on that title and it'll take you to the blog, if you care to read it.
The gist is that I photographed my friend Barb, training her sled dogs using her ATV. After posting a photo on Shutterpoint, within 7 hours I received 10 emails from a Margery Glickman, informing me that I was, basically, supporting animal cruelty.
A few days ago I received an e-mail with a subject line of, "Sled Dog Post." I was afraid to open it! I wondered who was going to yell at me next. Much to my surprise, this what what was in the email:
Hello Kippy, I just happened upon your blog entry responding to Margery Glickman's sled dog cruelty allegations and was really impressed! Your post was very fair and objective (something I unfortunately do not see very often on this topic!) I am a dog musher myself and have been putting out a quarterly mushing newsletter called Dog & Sled for several years now and know that there are a lot of misconceptions about the Iditarod and dogsledding in general. I have had dealings with Margery Glickman too. About two weeks ago I emailed her asking if she would be interested in letting me interview her for Dog & Sled (even though I strongly disagree with her position I felt it would be fair to let her have her say). As of now, I have received no response. I was wondering if it would be okay for me to post the text from your sled dog blog entry on my "Wolf Moon Doglsedding" blog. I would give you full credit and include a link to your blog. If you don't want me to, that is okay - I'll just include the link. Thanks so much for your time and keep up the good work! Alice White Dog & Sled Magazine - http://www.dx4solutions.com/dogandsled/ Wolf Moon Dogsledding - http://sleddoggin.com/blogs/wolfmoonsleddog/
*whew* Thank goodness! This was a great e-mail to get. I'd welcome anyone who wants more information on dogsled racing or the Iditarod to visit her web sites! She has some really interesting information that is really well written.
You know, when people present themselves as "activists", I find it very difficult to give credence to their cause when they continually ignore invitations and opportunities to participate in discussions regarding the subject about which they claim to be so passionate. For Margery to ignore Alice's request (not even to grace her with so much as a "no thank you") is not only rude, but seems like she is turning down a golden opportunity! In talking to Barb since all of this happened, she's told me now a couple of times that Glickman has been invited to the Iditarod numerous times, so that she can witness firsthand what goes on there. To date, she has responded the same - she has not gone. So it seems to me, she continues to rally her cause around hearsay and second-hand propaganda. The more I learn, the more I realize that I was wise to research the issues myself before jumping on any bandwagons.
I feel that if you are passionate about something, you should be willing to discuss it, confront it, get right into the down-n-dirty details if you have to. It's just not fair to point fingers and and lay blame when you are not willing to confront those issues head-on.
He was definitely "my" dog. He was the first dog to come into my life when I graduated college, and he went through a lot with me, including my motorcycle accident, moving 7 times in 4 years, sleeping in my car when the whacko I was renting a room from evicted us with no warning and though I have no proof, I "know" he was being abused by that same whacko when I was at work. But Lucaya had a true heart of gold and took a lot, I think, before I realized what was going on. For a big dog, he could curl himself up into a pretty small ball, and he loved to emulate people as much as he could. He was by far the most mellow dog I have ever known, unless he sensed I was in any kind of danger, at which point I would not have wanted to be on his bad side.
A good friend from the industry custom-made him that collar and he looooved it. I didn't usually keep it on him when we were at home, because I have wood floors and it would really scratch them up. But any time we went out somewhere, you could just see him get all puffed up when he got his "skull" collar (they had little red stones in the eyes). Thank you, Scott, if you ever come across this blog. I think I'll have that little Mother's Custom Cycles memento forever. It was really a great thing you did. :)
I'm sure this video won't really mean a lot to anyone else but me, but it makes me feel good to have it online where I can always access it. Maybe Tint, you will relate, because I know how you felt for your danes, too. There's something magical about their huge, gentle spirits. If you haven't experienced it, I really can't do it justice. Luc always knew how big he was, and so he was very gentle with other animals and children.
He was truly my very best friend during that time, and I can't tell you how many times I spent laying on my couch with him ... he was like one of those big body pillows, except he gave kisses, too.
Even though he's been gone over 4 years now, I'm just now getting to the point where I can talk and think about him without crying. Although if I'm honest, I have to admit I didn't make it through writing this with dry eyes. :)
So anyway, sorry for all of you who were expecting another "funny" video .. this one's kinda just for me. Thought I would leave it public, though, for any other great-dane-lovers who might be able to relate.
Oh, and for those of you wondering ... that is a queen-sized bed he's sleeping on at the end. He weighed 195 pounds when he was diagnosed with a very aggressive bone cancer.
Dante has traveled 2,884 miles since July, 2006.
Today I woke up to the snow I so badly wanted (photo taken from inside our living room this morning). I know it's not a lot, but when you live in the high desert, you take what you can get. 
Remember the blog titled, 
