It's a Dog's World

Beware of Dog

Random find on the web, no way to track it back to the original. But it made me laugh after a long day.

Randomness - Baseball Dogs

Nothing profound here. Just ready for break from World Cup Mania.

Giving the Golden Retrievers Equal Time

A Dachshund Learns to Dive!

Who is the pet in our relatioship?

Born to...

LostMyDoggie.Com

When a pet runs away, it can be an emotional tornado for the family. Is the beloved dog or cat safe? Are they simply with another family? Are they lost? Have they been hit by a car? It is easy to feel powerless, and to wonder exactly what can be done. A new service has been created to assist with the search for lost pets. Provide your address, record a message, and they will call all neighbors within a specified radius of your home, asking for help. Seems much more effective than hanging flyers up around the neighborhood

Of course, I can't help wondering if this might conflict with the ban on robocallers set to go into effect this week. Although, I supposed this notice might be considered to be a "public service" notice.

We all need affirmation from time to time

I needed a dog fix today

If you are stressed out by holiday-related preparation

Puppy-cam to the rescue!

Back to basics

From here.

Biscuit Houdini Chesner: 1995 - 2008

You will be sorely missed. You brought much joy and love to our lives.

Biscuit Update - Home and Sleeping

Well, it has been an eventful and uneventful day, depending on your point of view. The good news - Biscuit is home safe and snoozing next to me (as pictured below). The bad news - they could not do the endoscope because she was too swollen to put in an IV for the anesthesia. This means we still do not know what is wrong with her, but have to treat her on the doctor's best guess. This is probably okay as the doctor has been practicing medicine for 40 years and is renowned for his instincts and intuition. But it may mean that we are treating the wrong thing.

We start on some new meds today and see him again in two Mondays. Please be praying the new meds are efficacious and that she begins to feel better soon. As of now, she is just muddling through life.

Prayer Request: Our Dog Biscuit

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or who have spoken to me in-person the last few weeks are aware that our family has been going thru a minor crisis. Our dog Biscuit has been diagnosed with "significant" heart disease and some kind of gastrointestinal disorder. The heart disease is being treated with medication, but in order to treat her intestinal problem any further, she needs an endoscope. The endoscope, however, is dangerous because anesthesia is required, and anesthesia is always dangerous (potentially fatal) for a dog with heart problems. However, it has become clear she is NOT improving without this, so we have opted to have the vet do the endoscope today.

Please be praying for all of us and for little Biscuit today. Please pray that God guides the doctor's hands (both the vet and the anesthesiologist) so that they do their best to get the info they need without risking her life. Please pray that they can see what is wrong and know if there is a treatment. Please pray that we recieve comfort during this stressful day, and that once the doctor knows what is wrong that we have the required wisdom to know what to do next.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

I am all for domestication

Let sleeping dogs lie

So are cats or humans more cruel?

Cat doesn't let dog eat - Watch more free videos

Happy Independence Day

May we never forget to honor the brave men and women who fought and died for our freedom. May we never forget to honor the wisdom of the visionaries who forged the great compact and wrote the Declaration.

Why do they cut off dog's tails?

This weekend, while walking our dog Biscuit, a black spaniel came up to greet her. It was cute to see the spaniel wagging her tai, but it had been docked (removed) so close to her rear that she was basically wagging her butt. I had wondered before why people dock the tails of some dogs, and the answer I always heard was "Just because." There was no logical reason to be had, no matter how many times I asked. Finally, to day I think I have found the answer and it makes some historical sense.

A number of working gundog breeds have to hunt game through heavy vegetation and thick brambles, where their fast tail action can easily lead to torn and bleeding tails which are painful and extremely difficult to treat. Docking the end of the tail eliminates the risk of injury.

Working terriers are docked for the same reason. In addition, terriers which are bred to hunt below ground for purposes such as fox control, have their tails docked to a length which is more practical when working in a confined space.

Other non-working breeds which have an enthusiastic tail action, are also liable to damage their tails, even in the home.

Since docking was banned in Sweden in 1989, there has been a massive increase in tail injuries amongst previously docked breeds.

I am still not sure it makes complete sense, but at least there is a real reason now.