Month: September 2013

The badge posted above is to help spread the word (and sorry I’m so late in doing so) to help the pets (and people!) in Colorado as they deal with the horrendous flooding situation out there.  I have never been to Colorado but have family and friends who’ve spent time there, and my heart goes out to them.  I hear it is a beautiful state.  One of these days I’ll have to check it out (have seen it from the air!).  Go to Twitter and search #COFlood to find out what you can do to help.  There are plenty of options.  Check out this article on BlogPaws for starters.

Also, I’ve struggled with how to write about another pet-related item in the news. I have a general rule against focusing on extremely negative and graphic animal-related items.   I do NOT like to post, write about, draw attention to, or spend energy on unpleasant animal cruelty cases.  In fact, I have been known to block people on social networking who insist on posting photos of abused animals, writing only negative articles about animal abuse, or worse.  We all know this is going on in the world, we are not stupid.  We do not need to see it in our face in “all its gory”.   I have a very visual mind and even though I’m not a visual artist like my mother was, I carry those images with me for hours and days on end if I see them.  I can’t watch violent TV shows or movies, I can’t play violent video games, I can’t read violent books.  G-rated only, please!

With that said as a somewhat apologetic lead-in for breaking my own rule, I have been incredibly affected by the story of “Puppy Doe” who was found right here in Massachusetts, just south of Boston in the city of Quincy where she was abandoned on the expressway or something.  Apparently whoever was abusing her got sick of her being such a survivor and decided to dump her in Quincy.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they live nowhere around here, and I certainly hope they do not.  We in Massachusetts are mostly liberal, mostly Democrat (not that that matters, I have very little interest in politics), and we pride ourselves on being one of the few states in the U.S. to not have a pet over-population problem.  Massachusetts residents love their pets, we really do.  So, to find out that Puppy Doe, described as the worst case of abuse ever seen by the unfortunate veterinarian who was chosen to try to treat the poor, defenseless creature, may have been treated so despicably inhumanely right here in Massachusetts really bugs me. When I read the story about Puppy Doe yesterday morning (I will not post a link or pictures here, you can find it on Google if you want to), I sat on my bed with my two dogs afterwards and sobbed for almost an hour.  I cannot imagine what evil consumes a person’s soul and brain to be able to do such unspeakable acts to one of God’s creatures.  Puppy Doe had to be euthanized and literally “put out of her misery” by the wonderful veterinarian whose life has probably been shaken forever having to deal with what she encountered.  But I always believe things happen for a reason, she was chosen for a reason, I read that article for a reason (I normally would not because of afore-mentioned hyper-sensitivity issues).  The reason is, we need to catch this poor excuse for a human.

The person or people who did that to this dog (and who knows if there are other creatures undergoing the same fate) must be found, caught, arrested, tried and sent away for a long time.  We need to get the word out.  Someone, somewhere knows something.  They need to feel guilty and disgusted enough to come forward and put this person behind bars.  I wish animal cruelty laws were tougher still, but they aren’t.  I’ve been following a Facebook page someone created for Puppy Doe (again, I won’t post it here, you can find it if you want to just search “Puppy Doe” in the Facebook search bar and it’ll come up… I warn you, graphic photos and words, if you’re sensitive like me, be forewarned and approach accordingly).

Anyone with any information regarding this case, should immediately contact the authorities:

SEND TIPS TO
Animal Rescue League of Boston’s Law Enforcement Department at 617-226-5610 OR 
email them at cruelty@arlboston.org
CALL Quincy Police Det. Thomas Pepdjonovich at 617-745-5774

This is a serious, ongoing, investigation.

Thank you for listening.

Our friends at The Uncommon Dog have done it again.  Cute infographic on how dogs (probably) became our best friends
http://www.theuncommondog.com/Images/infographics/how-dogs-became-our-best-friends.jpg

This is the best I could do, on short notice!!

Nearly had to call Lost Dog Network just as the sun was going down tonight — Charlie jumped the back fence going after a creature, he ran around in the brush by the lighthouse while I repeatedly called his name, grabbed a leash and some old cheese I had cut up earlier for doggie treats (funny how I had never done that before, hmmmm).  He finally smashed through the brush by the driveway and looked like he was going to just keep on running… so I opened the back of the car and yelled “LET’S GO FOR A RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!” and he hopped right in.  The thought of losing a dog down here with all this wide-open space just freaks me out; my worst nightmare.  I tossed Cooper into the car and we all went for a drive.

“Dogs don’t eat rice!”, exclaimed my veterinarian as our very uncomfortable yellow dog, Hobie, stood trembling and panting in the cramped, sterile exam room, his skin flaming red showing through the patches where there once was fur that he had licked away.  I sat across the room, a dumb smile on my face, summarily relieved but simultaneously feeling like an inadequate pet parent of this middle-aged dog.  Thus, my introduction to grain-free dog food.  

When the vet asked what brand of food I fed poor Hobie, I proudly told him about the recently-launched lamb and rice formula I was giving my dogs, thinking it was such a good choice (nothing against that brand, I had fed its standard blend to my Timba for her entire life, with nary a problem).   As the vet told me about dogs in the wild, and how they don’t eat rice, wheat, corn or other grains, as a general wild-dog rule; and then proceeded to instruct me to start feeding grain-free, I couldn’t help but wonder what has changed since the 1990s when Timba did so well on regular ol’ dog food as to live to the ripe, old age of 18 (unheard of for a black lab)!  Why, exactly, ARE we hearing so much these days about dogs (and humans) being gluten-sensitive, and grain-sensitive?  Has something changed in the way these foods are being made, in the type of grain being used, growth hormones, GMOs? What?

The challenge for me, living in a remote area of Massachusetts with the nearest large pet store being 20 miles away, and overnight delivery of products ordered online being all but sketchy, was finding grain-free dog food in a convenient location at all, let alone at an affordable price.  I initially chose one brand mentioned by the vet because they carried it at the local tractor store, even though it was incredibly expensive.  About a year or two into using that brand, that company had a recall. I brought my un-finished bag of dog food back to the store and was given a refund.  I had to buy something to feed the dogs, so I tried another, even more expensive brand of grain free dog food, and have been using that up until recently when I noticed Cooper was having “gas” problems, and we decided to try switching food again.  I now have the two younger dogs on a completely different brand of grain-free food, at a lower price than the previous ones, and Hobie is on a “senior” food (which does include rice).

Grain free dog foods are said to be formulated to provide more concentrated energy, with higher levels of fat and protein, which enables you to feed your dog smaller quantities. This saves money and also provides your canine pal with loads of healthy energy.

So, how DOES one find affordable grain free dog food for their canine family member?  The choices are numerous if you have the ability to spend a lot. But if you’re looking to stay on a reasonable budget, Diamond Naturals has developed a grain-free product that claims to be a high-quality product without the high price. 

According to Diamond Naturals, their foods make quality nutrition affordable because they are made from high-quality ingredients which provide everything dogs need for good health and at a price that won’t hurt your pocketbook.  It’s the same quality product as Diamond Naturals’ regular food, minus the grains.  It comes in great flavors including beef, chicken or fish, each mixed with sweet potato. 

For more money-savings tips for your healthy, happy hound, check out this article  from dogtipper.com about putting your canine pal on a budget!





This post is sponsored by Diamond Naturals. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Diamond Naturals Grain Free dog food, but k2k9/K.S. Mueller/Millennium Dog Productions only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Diamond Naturals is not responsible for the content of this article.

Three-part yowlony was the order of the day this morning as all three cats went on a ride and received their booster shots!

Look left!  Three Dog Night got nothin’ on us

Whazzat?  (cars whizzing by on Route 9)

Wazzat? Close-up Tux

Cali (Houdini) escaped from this contraption TWICE before we left home

Newman drew the short straw (small crate) and was not amused