Get this Soldier’s Dog Home

I’ve seen several stories like this–a dog befriended by a soldier. This dog is name Delilah and this soldier is from Houston and part of the Texas National Guard. They’re so lose to their goal of just $4200 to get Delilah to Houston. Five bucks. It’ll make a difference. Let’s bring them home!

Proof that Shelter Dogs Rule

Here I am, sitting in front of my computer researching. Researching any possible opportunity for my shelter foster dog, Raleigh. She’s a wonderful house dog and fun companion—that is until you introduce a cat, go on a walk or see a squirrel. Then she becomes a tornadic terror. Yeah, she has an issue or two. But one on one—what a great dog.

So I’m belaboring this problem and the possible solutions and I came across this wonderful story about shelter dogs and people dedicated to them. I think I’ll stop bitching about Raleigh for a while.

Milk Replacement, Bottles Needed at BARC

I just received an email from a fellow BARC volunteer. BARC’s volunteers and fosters need dog and cat milk replacement and bottles for some of the shelter’s bottle babies. Here are the details from her email:

BARC needs a supply of cat milk and dog milk replacement and appropriate bottles for feeding kittens and puppies.  BARC employees and some non-employee, new fosters have been stepping up to foster bottle feeder puppies and kittens for a few days (sometimes much longer) to give the rest of us a little time to try to find them a longer-term foster situation.  We need to be able to hand the caretaker a few cans or cartons of ready-to-use (not powdered) milk replacement, a bottle, and nipples to get them started.

So, here is what is needed:

1.  Cartons or cans of ready-to-use cat milk replacement for kittens with expiration dates as far out as possible.  Please, no powdered milk replacement because much of it is wasted when the foster is only fostering one or two animals.  Also, no Whiskas brand since that is advertised as a treat for cats, not as a nutritional substitute for mom’s milk. 

2.  Small, plastic bottles like those sold at Petco, Petsmarts, feed stores, etc. specifically for feeding small animals such as kittens.  Please do not bring used bottles/nipples.

3.  Cartons or cans of ready-to-use dog milk replacement for puppies with expiration dates as far out as possible.  Please, no powdered milk replacement because much of it is wasted when the foster is only fostering one or two animals.

4.  Plastic baby bottles and nipples to use with puppies.  Experienced puppy fosters tell me that human baby bottles are better than those marketed specifically as bottles for puppies.  Please do not bring used bottles/nipples.

BARC is also in need of hand and bath towels, dog shampoo and litter trays for cats (cardboard box bottoms–like what cat food comes in).

Can you help? If so, please take these items to BARC at 3200 Carr St., Houston, TX 77026. Public hours are Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday noon-4:00 p.m.

Save 2 Bucks on Nylabones

Just found this coupon for $2 off Nylabone. My dogs love the “Souper” size–they chew then down to a small nub with a sharp point. I always wonder if they’re trying to make weapons…

Taking Responsibility

I’m used to people asking me for help about what to do with a stray animal. I do what I can to provide resources and options.

But WTF is up with this? A woman I work with came to me “because I like dogs” to ask what her son should do with his pit bull he doesn’t want anymore. (BTW–her son is a college educated kid and she’s a professional.) Apparently the dog is chewing everything up and is about to go into heat and they can’t take it. But she added that the dog is really nice and not vicious. I told her they could take the the dog to the shelter, but she’ll likely be euthanized, if they’re OK with that. She said “You know, it’s funny, last night I took her out beyond our neighborhood and dumped her. But this morning, there she was in the driveway. Can you believe that?” Uh, yeah, I can.

I’m so mad I think I could throw up. I can’t even look at her but feel inclined to email her the definition of responsibility.

Fuck, people! Does no one have the balls to deal with the problems they create?! If you don’t provide the proper care and attention to your pets, there’s no one to blame for their behavior other than you. So that means it’s your responsibility to deal with it. And if that means you have to turn them over to a shelter, then grow a pair and do it. There are consequences for every action. Take responsibility.

The Hairless Dog

Do dogs just seek me out? I was fixing my fence that had been tagged over the weekend when a dog walked up and stared at me. He has less than half his hair, isn’t neutered, has several sores and is underweight. Dammit.

I’d seen him in the neighborhood over a week ago—but at that time he wanted nothing to do with me. Well, not yesterday. Yesterday, I was his best friend. He gladly let me put a leash on him, feed and water him, and put him in the garage.

After about an hour, I went out to check on him and he’d busted out of the garage (if you saw my crappy-ass garage, you’d see just how easy that would be). I walked down the street and found him and he happily followed me back home. I put him in a crate in the garage, gave him more food, a treat and a Benedryl and went to bed—thinking about what I’d do in the morning.

Well, morning came and I decided to take him to my vet. If mange was his only issue (and likely heartworms) and he was young, I’d treat him and try to find him a home. If he was an old dog and had a long list of ailments, I decided I’d put him down and end what must be pure agony.

Well, other than being extremely unattractive, he’s a nice boy and young and in pretty OK shape. He has demodectic mange, which I’ve read about but don’t really have experience with. So the vet is treating his mange and hanging on to him for now.

He looks like he’s probably mostly black with white feet. He’s tall and maybe a lab/pit mix, but even the vet couldn’t tell. Because of the hair loss, he just looks like a really wrinkly, old fart dog. We’ll see how he progresses.

Pixie and Ivy

This is Pixie

I’m taking a foster break. That’s what I have to tell myself every time I walk through BARC and see all of those sad eyes looking at me. Fostering is a tough job and sometimes you need a break to restore your sanity, your household, your bank account…

Apparently I fell off the wagon because a few weeks ago, I pulled a sweet mom and her pup from BARC. In addition to being on an alleged break, I also said I wasn’t going to foster any more puppies. Guess I messed that one up, too. And they’re small dogs. While I don’t have a thing against smaller dogs, I’m really more of a big dog gal.

Little Pup, Ivy

Pixie, the mom, is by farthe easiest foster I’ve ever had. She’s house trained, quiet, well behaved, HEALTHY, cute, sweet–and she has an adopter! She’s going to her forever home with a very nice, caring couple next week.

Luckily, I have a great friend who not only comes up with excellent pet names (Pixie and Ivy), but is also fostering Ivy until Pixie gets adopted. Ivy is cute–seriously, damn cute. And she’s smart. An excellent combination of beauty and brains!

Any guesses on the breed mix for either of these two? I think dogs like this are the reason someone invented doggy DNA testing. I think Pixie (about 18 months old and 16 lbs.)  is spaniel/sheltie and Ivy (about 10 weeks old and 8 lbs.) is spaniel/Australian shepherd. Who really knows? And does it really matter? Not to me. Mutts rule.

 

Meet this Gorgeous Purebred Lab, Elliot

Take a look at Elliot. This gorgeous purebred Labrador retriever arrived at BARC on New Years Day. His characteristics scream lab—friendly, active, loves to fetch, silly. I spent about 30 minutes with him Sunday taking photos and getting to know him so he could be marketed in this week’s BARC Starz email that features highly adoptable dogs. Lab rescue was also working to try to spring him from the shelter. Options—a lot more options than some shelter dogs have.

Isn’t he great? Don’t you think there’s a family out there who would just adore such a smart, attractive boy?

Oh, I failed to mention. He’s dead. That’s right. Twenty-four hours after receiving confirmation from Dr. O, the head vet at BARC, that Elliot would be ready and available to be featured in BARC Starz, she euthanized him due to “illness.” I spent half an hour with this dog two days ago. Firm stool, no coughing or sneezing, no injuries. In addition, this dog was fully vaccinated on intake and heartworm negative. So why, exactly, did Elliot have to die, Dr. O? Unfortunately, she has yet to provide a response.

Houston Pound’s Head Vet Was Suspended in NJ

One more bit of proof that Houston’s City Pound, BARC, is truly a disaster.

BARC’s head vet, “Dr.” Eunice Ohashiegbula-Iwunze (Eunice Ohashiegbula-Ozuzu), had her vet license suspended in New Jersey after she provided poor care that lead to the death of three dogs in 2003-2004. Oh, and she failed to mention it on her employment app with BARC. Apparently, a couple of years before, she also received a fine associated with poor care and poor record keeping.

Houston, the fourth largest City in the country, and this is the best we can do? How many times have I asked myself that very question when thinking about BARC?! Yeah, it’s a lousy job. But it’s also a job where you have a chance to make a difference and bring an ailing and backward program into the current century. It’s an opportunity to be a hero, a leader, a forward thinker. But the City of Houston hires an incompetent butcher and two-time loser? Houston animals and Houston tax payers deserve better.

A Bayou by any Other Name

After first moving to southeast Texas, it took me a while to realize a bayou is kind of a fancy word for a drainage ditch.

How pretty could a drainage ditch possibly be? Lately, I’ve spent more time walking the paths along the bayou with one of my dogs and I’ve come to realize and appreciate the beauty of a bayou. 

The bayou in my neighborhood is a channelized (paved) one, but there’s still an amazing amount of animal life around it. Seeing egrets are herons are an everyday occurrence. Once I saw what I thought was a stray dog, but it turned out to be a coyote. Turtles the size of toilet seats sun themselves on the concrete embankment. Last weekend, I saw a hawk on the sidewalk looking under my fence. At night, opossum cut through my yard and bats fly overhead. All of this under the shadow of downtown Houston. It’s really quite amazing.