March 2009 Archives

So what do you think?  

It will cost $20 a year ($15 for the remainder of '09 because it is a short year). Owners must register their dogs, who then wear special tags.  A ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration is planned for Wednesday even though the park has been operating for about a week.

It's not the first "private" dog park. The idea of registering members, in fact, seems to be growing in popularity.

Pet owners must sign a waiver when registering their dog, as well as review the rules for the park, which include no aggressive dogs, picking up after their dogs and not leaving pets unattended.

So here's our question: If you use local dog parks, what do you think about the idea of registering dogs (they get special tags) and having owners pay an annual fee for admittance? Too elitist? Impractical? Too much of a hassle to enforce (it would rely largely on volunteers, I presume)? 

Or would this be a good way to better ensure adherence to park rules? (It's also a way to check whether dogs are up to date on vaccinations and have been spayed or neutered.)

Photo by Tom Fedor/The Gazette 

HT: ohmidog.com

South Bay Paws dog walker Raquel Ramirez has her hands full as she walks a group of her canine clients on The Strand in Hermosa Beach this week.

Photo by Sean Hiller/Daily Breeze

A story posted today on CNN says that 86,000 fall injuries in America each year are caused by pets, with dogs being the biggest culprits.

"Many of them occurred while people were walking their dog or chasing either their dog or cat," said Judy Stevens, an epidemiologist with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "Over half the injuries with dogs were either falls or tripping over the pet or they were pushed or pulled by the pet."

 

This is Tundra.

She's a young Lab who LOVES water. So she was in her glory this morning when someone ran a flood of fresh water for her in the water bowl at the dog park. She kicked her paws in the bowl and buried her face in all the water, splashing to her heart's content. Dogs are so good at enjoying the simple pleasures in life.

I didn't get the shot of her later, however. After she played in the dirt with all that wet fur?

Not pretty.

Who knows.

I had a dog that did that, Pilgrim. He was an Australian shepherd with a tail (they're usually docked at birth) so I always figured he knew it wasn't supposed to be there.

But now one team of veterinarians say there's a link between compulsive tail-chasing in dogs and high cholesterol.

I was online at home this morning shortly after 9 a.m. when this email titled "gray and white border collie loose" came across my inbox:

Barbara is a neighbor of mine from a couple blocks away, she and her husband, Jim, have worked in dog and cat rescue for several years. At first I thought, Nah, Cowboy & Tess have been in the backyard all morning as usual (I'd just seen Tess inside the house briefly a few minutes earlier).

But something told me to double check. When I got out to the backyard, I found the side gate standing wide open and no Cowboy or Tess. The latch must have not caught well last night when I closed it from the outside and perhaps the strong winds were enough to blow it open.

Both Barbara and I went driving through the neighborhood separately. Nothing. You know that sinking feeling, like where could they have gone? I called several people in the neighborhood, asking them to just be on the look out. I stopped others on the street and in a local park, asking if they'd see the dogs. No one had.

But after about 30-45 minutes, I came across them about a block away from my house. They appeared to be having a grand time, but thankfully jumped into my car (Cowboy a little reluctantly and after a couple false passes at the open back door; he was having so much fun out there, after all). Barbara later told me she'd found someone who had seen the dogs and indicated that Tess ("the little one") started to come to them when called but held back because Cowboy wouldn't come. She seemingly didn't want to leave his side.

They both have tags with my phone # and are licensed and microchipped. But still, so much can happen to them when they're out like that.

So a special thanks to Barbara for alerting me. And, of course, to God to whom I regularly pray anyway, but did so especially fervently while looking for Cowboy and Tess! Whew.

We have a winner in the Iditarod Race in Alaska. Lance Mackey of Fairbanks won the competition for the third time in a row. It took him 9 days and 21 hours to complete the 1,131-mile race with his team of sled dogs. "They're superstars," he said of his four-legged team mates.

Check out some more photos at the Baltimore Sun web site.

So here it is -- the list of the 10 smartest dogs, with the border collie coming it at #1. I knew that:

1. Border collie
2. Poodle
3. German shepherd
4. Golden Retriever
5. Doberman Pinscher
6. Shetland Sheepdog
7. Labrador Retriever
8. Papillon
9. Rottweiler
10. Australian Catttle Dog

  Tess was stoked when I told her.

HT: Pets Blog

The picture alone made me want to post this item courtesy of Dogster (who, in turn, got it from Paw Talk).

Most of us have come home to find a piece of furniture or something in our home destroyed by the dog. I can't begin to enumerate the number of times I've walked in and just groaned.

But this article from Paw Talk by Lisa Woody, titled "Home Alone," has several good suggestions.

Among them:

• Take your dog on a morning walk
• Give your dog something constructive to do (like a hard plastic treat-dispensing toy, Kong Toys or bones filled with peanut butter or spray cheese. I'd forgotten about spray cheese, but that was a staple in my house for a long time (great for getting dogs to swallow pills) until Pilgrim, my Australian shepherd who died nearly 2 years ago, developed diabetes and couldn't have anything beyond his strict diet.
• Re-introduce the crate. A couple of my dogs have been crate trained. Very handy.
• Restrict access to the house.

What's worked for you? Or not?

Sad news about one of Oprah Winfrey's recently adopted puppies.

The cocker spaniel puppy named Ivan has died after becoming ill with the parvovirus. Winfrey's other puppy, Sadie, a litter mate of Ivan's, also has been found to have the disease but has been responding to treatment, according to a spokeswoman.

Puppies are very susceptible to the parvovirus since their immune systems aren't fully developed. The survival rate is nearly 80 percent with proper treatment.

There is a vaccine for the disease. Ivan apparently contracted the disease after receiving one parvo vaccination but before having a crucial booster shot. 

My former dog, Pilgrim, an Australian shepherd, had the parvovirus before I adopted him from a rescue group. The group had gotten him out of a local shelter near Perris after a family had turned him in. He was about a year old and the rescue group figured he'd never had a vaccination for the disease. Pilgrim became ill just about a week after the group took him in and spent about 10 days in a vet hospital, finally pulling through. Once a dog survives the disease, dogs are immune.

So today is St. Patrick's Day and PetPlace.com has an article on Irish dog breeds. Do you know what they are? (Hint: The dog at the left isn't really one of them, but how cute is he?)

There are quite a few, actually: Irish Terrier, Irish Setter, Irish Wolfhound, Kerry Blue Terrier.

Check out the article for the rest of the dog breeds that hail from the Emerald Isle.

  You've got to love city government.

After pushing the importance of spaying and neutering your pets for years now -- going so far as to even make it the law -- the city of L.A. goes and cancels the voucher program that allows low-income cat and dog owners to help pay for the surgeries. In a year in which the muncipal government is financially strapped, it seems there may be no more money to continue the program.

But two L.A. City Councilmen, Dennis Zine and Eric Garcetti, are already pushing for restoration of the program.

"In the long run, the cost of pet overpopulation will significantly outweigh that of the spay-neuter coupons," Chris Olsen, an aide to Zine, wrote in a letter to the city's Spay and Neuter Advisory Committee.

"(Zine) will introduce a motion that directs Animal Services to reinstate the program immediately," Olsen wrote.

.....Officials said they cut the program as part of a plan to save about $150,000.

Read the rest of Rick Orlov's story in the Daily Breeze.

San Pedro's Harbor Animal Shelter is celebrating St. Patrick's Day a wee bit early with its St. Patrick's Weekend Adopt-a-thon. There probably won't be too many green pets, but there will be a huge variety of great dogs and cats to choose from.

And, to make the adoption event even more appealing, those who adopt a dog that weighs 35 pounds or more will get a free luxury dog bed (while supplies last) for their new friend to sleep in. There will also be a $10 discount off adoption fees for the first five dogs over 35 pounds adopted throughout the weekend; and a coupon for a free dog wash at Tidy Dog Grooming for every dog adopted.
Adoption hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at 957 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro.
Call 213-485-8755 for more details.

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Don't forget about the special St. Patrick's Day pet adoption event this weekend at the Harbor Animal Shelter, 957 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro; 213-485-8755.

Special give-aways, discounts, lots of great dogs and cats available and in need of a new home.

From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (3/14) and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday (3/15).

See our earlier post for all the details. 

For anyone who's had a dog in a "cone" -- one of those plastic collars to keep them from bothering a wound -- this card from Sincerely Fido will hit home:

And the inside message:

Looks like the company has lots of other pet cards for various occasions as well.

HT: Barkability

Sad news, especially since I'd posted just a couple days ago a link to some spectacular photos from the storied sled dog race that is now underway in Alaska.

But it's also a reminder of how truly gruelling this competition is. Some, including PETA, are opposed to the event altogether, saying it amounts to animal cruelty.  Others argue that this is what these dogs are bred to do and that they love the competition. The race usually sees one or two dogs die unexpectedly. This is the first in 2009.

It's not clear what happened to the sled dog in the team of North Pole musher Jeff Holt, a 48-year-old former teacher. The dog, 6 years old and named Victor, died between two checkpoints, according to officials, who will investigate the cause.

***UPDATE: A necropsy has turned up no obvious cause of death according to this 3/12/09 report in the Anchorage Daily News.

Perfect for the office dog and dog owner:

We posted before about dog bone-shaped paper clips.

Now a company is selling bone-shaped push pins.

Yeah, I know we're in a recession and all.

But they're awfully cute. And just $6.50 a package. Go ahead. Stimulate the economy.

HT: Barkability.com

  An early heads up for this weekend's special St. Patrick's "Weekend" adoptathon at the Harbor Animal Shelter, 957 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro. The holiday isn't until next Tuesday, but the shelter will be in full celebration on March 14 and 15 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday).

Among the special perks:

• A free luxury dog bed goes home with every dog over 35 pounds that is adopted (while supplies last)
• A $10 discount off adoption fees for the first five dogs over 35 pounds adopted each day (Saturday and Sunday)
• A coupon for a free self-serve dog wash at Tidydog Grooming for every dog adopted on 3/14 and 3/15.

Questions? Call 213-485-8755 or visit www.laanimalservices.com. 

Boogie dogs -- and cats and bears and birds. A sample:

I just received word that Rudy, the missing dog has been found and returned to his owners.

He turned up at the Palos Verdes Estates City Hall of all places.

I just spoke with a woman who lost her dog last night in Rolling Hills Estates.

I lost a dog once and it was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. If anybody has any information, please call her immediately.

Her dog, Rudy, is 14 years old. He's sweet but scared. And he needs to take medication for pain. He was last seen on Masongate Drive on Wednesday night.

Rudy is a black sheltie-lab mix with brown feet and a white chest.

Call 310-291-6023.

Complicating matters is the fact that the family has only been in California a short time and the dog doesn't know his way around. And his tags are from Washington State. The phone number on the tags doesn't work anymore.

And please let this serve as a reminder for all of us how vital it is to keep your pets' information up to date!

Here's the link to a picture and the contact information. Lostdog.pdf

When the Obama dog finally arrives, he or she will need a place to stay.

So how about this specially designed White (dog) House?

Wow.

The Obama Dog Home comes from Sustainable Pet Design and is formally called Summa Canum (that's Latin for "Top Dog"). Los Angeles landscape designer Stephanie Rubin, owner of the company and inventor of something called the Greenrrroof Animal home, already has arranged delivery of the gift.

Sustainable Pet Design is pleased to introduce Summa Canum, The Obama Dog Home ... created not only to provide an appropriately sustainable and stylish home for the new leader of the free canine world, but to introduce eco-friendly pracitces and materials to the American people.

Modeled on Greek Revival architecture (looks sort of like the Banning Mansion, doesn't it?), the dog house is constructed from the wood of Tennessee Aromatic Cedar trees that President Andrew Jackson planted along the driveway of his estate.

I could go on.

But it's all pretty much left me speechless and in awe.

 

HT: Ohmidog! 

  

You may remember our earlier posts -- back in July and September -- about Bruce Megowan's efforts to get an off-leash dog park established on the peninsula.

The bad news is there seems to be no real progress.

The good news? Megowan hasn't given up.

He told me he's still building a data base of supporters who might be willing to speak at city

So if you're interested and can lend him a hand -- or better yet, your voice -- email him at: bmegowan@cox.net.

I'm always amazed at how hard it is to get a simple dog park in a community. I realize that some things can be harder than they look, but after more than a decade of effort, San Pedro still has just a temporary site -- and now that's been downsized from the original to less than an acre for both large and small dogs. Way too small, just visit the park some weekend afternoon when there are more than 20-30 dogs jammed into the space.

Don't get me wrong. Dog owners have been extremely grateful for the piece of land the Port of Los Angeles agreed to lend temporarily. It's much appreciated and obviously well used. And it's not really the port's responsibility, after all, to provide the community with a dog park (and under state restrictions on port property, they're not even legally allowed to, at least on a permanent basis).

But there's just two more years to go under the port's temporary agreement. And still no real commitment from the city for a permanent (larger) dog park area elsewhere. 

A decade. Go figure.

Your government at work. Or not.

I mean really, how hard can this stuff be?

Sorry. I'm feeling rather cranky today.   

Everybody wants to get  into the act. The latest attention grabber is Claire Webb, our newest addition to the business desk.

Ok, I lied. I've been begging Claire for weeks to send me pics of her two dogs. YOU try to find something to write about every day!

Meet Shirley and Miles, a pair of weinder dogs that are about the cutest thing ever. I especially like daschunds because they provide me the opportunity to use the joke about always wanting to get a long little doggie.

Here's how Claire describes them:

Shirley and Miles were brought into the house for one specific purpose--to cure my mother's empty nest syndrome after her three daughters left for college. Now they outrank the children in terms of parental affection.

 Shirley is the alpha female commanding everyone in the household, while Miles chooses to remain a low-key follower. These little weiner dogs have definitely turned a big-dog loving household into a dashund one.

**3/8/09 Update: Indian has been adopted.

Indian is a chow mix, about a year old, and was found at a busy intersection in Los Angeles.

From the email I received:

He is good with dogs, cats, and children. He weighs about 30 pounds. Indian was following very close to a woman that was not his owner (this was the woman who found him). He is neutered, vaccinated, dewormed, fecal test done, 'frontlined,' and microchipped.

Can you help? Contact Terrell at 323-385-8993 or tc2806@hotmail.com.

Here are a couple of pictures (2nd one can be seen on the jump):

HT: Sanpedrodogs 

My sister, the crazy dog lady of Torrance, had quite a scare the other day.

Actually, I tease her, but she dotes on her dogs more than anybody I know. Her pets are always well fed, groomed, loved, vaccinated and tended to by vets when necessary.

So what happened to her could happen to anybody. It involved her 12-year-old Samoyed named Cosmo. After 12 years, you kinda let your guard down with a dog, but Cosmo got into my sister's purse last week and the results were terrifying.

Here's what happened in her own words:

Very early Monday morning, Cosmo opened my purse and got a small container of Advil. He ate the Advil (10 maybe more). He has been at the emergency hospital at night and at his regular vet during the day.

They were able to have him throw up some of the pills, fed him charcoal and have been keeping him hydrated.  We think we got him to the hospital early enough and so far he seems to be doing well.

This morning when I picked him up from the Emergency vet, he was woo wooing.   And at his regular vet, he was begging for cookies.  We will know later this week if his kidney's have been affected by the Advil.

Cosmo is doing better. He's acting fine and the vet is optimistic about his prognosis. Final blood test results are coming tomorrow. Cosmo is due to come home in the next day or two.

How scary is this? My sister will do anything for her pets, but I'm sure she would rather have spent the money on something else, not to mention the emotional turmoil she went through.

Anyway, this story stands as a great reminder that no matter how well you think you know your pets, they're animals and they can get into trouble. It's important to always try to pay attention.

Hope you're back to your old self soon, Cosmo!

And here's a picture of him in healthier days.

I guess this isn't funny at all. Then why am I laughing so hard milk is coming out of my nose?

I can't make this any better than the original story from D.C. Examiner. So here it is...

McGruff the Crime Dog, the stern but beloved police mascot who teaches kids how to stop crime before it happens, became a victim himself this weekend when a Metro bus driver punched him in the face as a stunned group of children watched, authorities said.

And then there's this, which may be the best sentence I've ever read:

McGruff staggered, children screamed and the crime dog's attacker jumped back into the bus and drove off, police said.

Here he is posing with his sidekick, the sideways-baseball-cap wearing dog with attitude.

I received an email this week asking about volunteer opportunities with dogs that would be open to a 12-year-old girl in the South Bay.

The email was sent by her mom who said her daughter loves animals and is looking for a place or a group that would offer her some volunteer opportunities. This also would be used for service hours at her school in Manhattan Beach. They'd checked with the ASPCA, but that group needed a yearlong commitment and minimum hours each week, which the mom says is tough due to juggling homework, sports and other extra-curricular activities.

She has already been volunteering with the Peter Zippi Foundation at Coast VCA Hospital working with cats, but now is looking for something that would provide some work with dogs as well.

I suggested the various animal shelters and rescue groups listed among the resources on this blog.

But what ideas do you have to which she could devote an hour or two a week? Therapy dog programs? Rescue dog groups? Shelters? Special school programs?

Any leads out there for this girl and her mom?

That would be the annual Take Your Dog to Work Day.

This event is BIG. Unfortunately, Josh & I now work in a very new clean building so no dogs surely will be allowed where we are.

But you, that may be a different story.

That's Bumper at the left, receptionist and front desk doggie.

We like Take Your Dog to Work Day here at South Bay Pets. We think it's a fine idea.

It all happens on June 26.

Dogs rule.

But check with your boss first.

We heard about DogPawFile last week, which is a new site set up where "dogs do the talking."

You can register your dog and join in on all kinds of discussion forums (topics include "chat," a flea market, dog jokes, working & service dogs, prayers for sick friends, and links to other dog-related sites).

It's new, so there aren't a lot of comments yet. But check it out, tell us what you think. Some of the pages look a little "busy" to me, making it sometimes hard to read. But It could be a fun place to hang out. You post your dog's profile (all pics must have a dog in them) and then go from there.

A quick check the other day revealed these online users: Bella, Goliath, Jake, Therapy Three, Peka, Fouryorkies, San Pedro Dogs, Twinkle and Else.

I received this today from our friends at SanPedroDogs who got it from a contact of hers:

There is absolutely no real point to this post. Except that Cowboy is SO hard to photograph that I'm thrilled everytime I manage to capture him. Usually he hears the light buzz of a camera or cell phone about to go off and he turns tail and runs.

This was taken from a distance at the dog park a couple days ago & then cropped online to make him look closer (I love technology). Now I have to figure out a way to crop out the trash can.

 Tess is a little more willing to be photographed.

There are all kinds of ways to remember a special pet. One of the best and most meaningful -- and one that does a lot of good for other animals -- is making an SPCA-LA donation, which is what some friends did for my dog Ellie when she died just about a year ago at the age of (almost) 14. (The memorial donations aren't just for pets, either -- a group of us at the dog park also purchased one of the donations in honor of Judy McDonald, a dog park regular who died late last year after a short illness.)

But personal momentos and keepsakes of our pets also are so important for many of us as owners. Keeping a pet's ashes or ordering one of those garden stones that look like grave markers just aren't my style.

I do have all the old license and name tags from dogs I've lost through the years. One of my favorite tokens, though, are a couple of pet paw print plaques I had done for Ellie (shortly after I'd adopted her from the Long Beach shelter) and Fritz, the remaining terrier I'd "inherited" after my mom's unexpected death in 1990.

A couple who lived in Long Beach, I think, had their own home business making the plaques and conducted sessions at the Doggie in the Window pet shop in Long Beach back in the mid 1990s. Owners would bring their dogs, they'd take the paw prints in wet clay (there were a couple different plaque designs available you could choose from), then they'd fire them in their kiln at home and you'd pick them up at the store when they were done.

I tried finding the couple later when I had different dogs -- my idea was to get the prints for all of the dogs I had -- but I guess by then they were out of business as I coulnd't find them and the store had no recent contact with the company.

I still treasure the plaques with Ellie and Fritz's prints on them, I think especially because they were made during such a happy time, when both dogs were healthy and we had years ahead of us together.  

A company I found online called Precious Paws and Claws makes the prints, but it's a crematorium -- so the prints are made from your pet's body when you or your vet turn it over to them, I guess. Kinda creepy.  

It's better to make what will be future keepsakes when the animals are young & healthy, I think. Seeing them on my kitchen wall makes me smile, not feel sad, because I remember how fun it was to try to cajole the dogs into putting their paws into the wet clay (not easy). It was a day of happy memories, not something I received after they'd died and I was still grieving the loss. And they've been on my wall for years, going back to when both dogs were still very much alive.  

The prints should be fairly easy to do on your own at one of the many ceramic shops, however. I've also seen kits for something similar that you can buy at places like Joann's and Michael's.

I found a Web site called Pawprints Jewelry makes pendants out of your pet's pawprint, which would be a different way to go.

(Slightly off-topic, but here's the Sandy's Paw Prints web site, operated by someone who takes imprints of animal tracks found around their property and makes all kinds of things out of them, from spoon rests to refrigerator magnets.)

So what are some other special ways you've found to remember your pets?  What are your favorite keepsakes? So often it's the simple, even mundane things -- like their old tags or special collars.

Anyone know of a good pawprint kit or instructions online? I've missed getting prints on three of my dogs already -- Muffin, Mercy & Pilgrim -- but I would love to resume the tradition again and make  pawprints for Cowboy & Tess.

Ouch!

You walk your dog anyway, so why not do it and raise some money to support cancer patients? you do walk your dog, don't you?

Join the fun at the the Fido and Friends Walk, which will be at Veterans Park in Redondo Beach on Sunday, March 8. It will benefit the Wellness Communtiy South Bay Cities, which offers suport and education for people with cancer and their families.

Late registration is at 9 a.m. The walk starts at 10 a.m.

To quote from the brochure:

Bring your dog or just yourself! Bring your family, your friends and walk in honor of someone you know who has or had cancer. Carry their name on a sign if you wish or just in your heart.

There's a minimum of $50 in pledges to pre-register. Day of event entry is $55 in pledges. Each walker will receive a T-shirt, a doggie bandana and other goodies.

To findto fill out a registration form, visit their Web site.