Post Christmas blues....

So Christmas is behind us, everyone has received their presents... and I wonder how many puppies were under the Christmas trees even though all the time the rescue centres and rescue organisations, like Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, or Dogs Trust are warning people that dogs are not presents, dogs are something that you should get for their whole life... they are not disposable, but not many people think like that. I and all those dog rescue organisations might sound like a broken record, with the needle stuck on a scratch and repeating over and over: Dogs are not just for Christmas, they are for life!! Dogs are not presents! You shouldn’t buy them on a whim... you don’t buy them just because your spoiled kid whines and wants one unless you are sure that the kid can actually be responsible and will care for it, otherwise they will just end up in rescue.

At the moment most dogs in rescue are staffs, it is because people buy them as status dogs, then when they can’t deal with them they get rid, or they breed puppies but if they don’t find buyers they just dump them on a rescue organisation to deal with them... but I suspect that this won’t be the case for much longer, because all these designer breeds are in fashion now, people keep crossing all sorts of breeds with each other, most often it is a cross of poodles (poodles are great dogs as they are, I don’t see the need to cross them with anything, but guess some people just do) with something else, and then of course they need to name them. In the past it was just called as it is – a cross breed – or a cross between x and z...... but now, they got to make up these ridiculous names for them, here’s just a few:

Lhasapoo: Lhasa Apso x Poodle

Airedoodle: Poodle x Airedale Terrier

Cadoodle: Poodle x Collie

Cairnoodle: Poodle x Cairn Terrier

Pugglepoo: Beagle x Poodle x Pug

Bassetoodle: Basset hound x Poodle

Pyredoodle: Great Pyrenees x Poodle

Labradoodle: Labrador Retriever x Poodle

Cockerpoo: Cocker spaniel x Poodle

Rattle: Poodle x Rat Terrier

Mal-Shi: Shih Tzu x Maltese

Labrottie: Rottweiler x Labrador Retriever

Havapeke: Havanese x Pekingese

Havanestie: Havanese x West Highland White Terrier

Hava-Apso: Lhasa Apso x Havanese

Havamalt: Maltese x Havanese

Some ridiculous crosses like Bullhuahua: Bull Terrier x Chihuahua

Bullwhip: Whippet x Bulldog

Well that is just the tip of the iceberg, there is hundreds of more, if you are interested, just google for designer cross breeds and you will find the whole list.

And of course, since it is designer, it will cost you too, in the past the crossbreeds were cheaper than pure breeds, but now, you will pay much more for a designer poodle cross than for a “pure” poodle... which is kind of ridiculous.

People don’t realize that all these dogs they are crossing are intelligent animals by their own right, by crossing them they don’t really get something “better”. Since they are so fashionable, there is a shortage, but people don’t like to wait, this is the “I want it now” society and this is the reason why a lot of unscrupulous people started breeding them too on puppy-farms with little regard for their health.

You might be thinking that with a cross you would get a healthier animal, which does not get all those hereditary problems, but you can be unlucky and the pup will actually inherit the hereditary problems of both parents and you get an even sicker animal.

While they are tiny and cute, little fluff balls with a ribbon around their neck in a gift box, they are all loved, but then they grow, they become mischievous, they misbehave, they chew things, they require exercise, feeding and attention, they cost money....... so many people get bored with them quick....

I wonder in the New year how many of these poor little souls will find themselves in shelters, waiting for somebody to come along and adopt them, and give them the love and care they deserve just because their only crime was that they grow, that they do not stay puppies forever.

It’s Christmaaaaaaass !!!!

As we all know by now, the end of the world did not happen as Mayans predicted according to some interpretation of their calendars so the Christmas is here.

It crept right upon us after weeks and weeks of having to listen to cheesy Christmas songs on the radio, having to endure all those cheesy ads in the TV, and decorations all around the place, anywhere you go, it is right in your face with no regards for anyone else’s beliefs. As a matter of fact, the creators of this mayhem have no real beliefs themselves; the only thing they believe in is money.

Christmas is so commercialized that the true meaning of it is completely lost, many people don’t even know what the real meaning of these holidays is meant to be. They think that Christmas is all about Santa Claus (or otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Santa, Santy and Kris Kringle) who lives in the north pole and every year delivers presents to kids. Well the grownups know that it is a story, but still aren’t smart enough to work out that the real meaning of Christmas is. Instead they compete in who can put most lights up their house as if the electricity was free, they go out to dumb parties where they eat like pigs and drink so much that they get wasted and behave like fools, and wear silly hats.
They max out their credit cards on presents and good “offers” where they save 10-15% then pay 29% interest on the card – now that’s a real saving eh?

People should finally realize that Christmas is not about what presents you buy and how much money you spend on them, it is a religious holiday. It is meant to be celebrating the birth of Jesus, the “son of G-d”

Now if you are fortunate enough to be in a loving relationship, then you might enjoy this mayhem, you might even really look forward to it every year. Most of the people get some time off at this time of year, so they can spend it with their loved ones...... that is - if you got any.

There are so many people alone. For them, Christmas is the most depressing time of year. Most suicides happen at Christmas time.
Well no wonder! Imagine you are alone, your loved one has died or left you, you are heartbroken and alone, yet everywhere you look your face gets rubbed in it. It emphasises just how alone you are, and how no one really cares.

Yeah there are some charities like Crisis who at least try to do something but even that is a pretentious farce.... I mean, c’mon!
They open these shelters for 2 weeks with: “no one should be sleeping on the street for Christmas” - they feed them, give them a manicure, or a pedicure, do their hair, wash their clothes... and so on... to “make them feel special” but then right after the New Year they boot their asses right back out, to the cold street. Yeah they might provide some guidance which can help many, but still...... it is only about the homeless.

What about all the ones that are not homeless, who do have a home but are alone and lonely, many of them old who often have no one to speak to for days... Why do they all have to endure this silliness for weeks or even months on end and have their faces rubbed in it just because shops want to cash in on it?

How unfair is that?!?

To end this article, I would like to wish Happy Holidays to everyone, especially the ones who actually believe in the true meaning of it, and it means something more to them than wasting a lot of cash for no good reason.

To the rest............ Enjoy! ... (and never mind the ones who are alone, lonely and sad....... right?)

Bugs on the war path...

It’s that time of year again.......... no I don’t mean Christmas, I mean the time for all bugs to crawl out from under the whatever stone they were hiding all summer and start attacking people and ruining their days – or holidays for some.

Yeah I mean the viruses and bacteria and whatnot..... all that crap ... they are very smart, they know that this is the time for them to attack, when the days are short and nights are long, it is cold outside so people tend to sit indoors in front of the telly, eat junk food and don't spend much time being active and getting fit. This is the time when people’s immune system is at the weakest and they know it, and they attack!!

One of the ones on the rise is the vomiting bug – or as the professionals also call it - the Norovirus.
The first sign of Norovirus is usually a sudden sick feeling followed by forceful vomiting and watery diarrhoea.
Some people may also have a raised temperature (over 38^oC), headaches, stomach cramps, and aching limbs. Symptoms usually appear one to two days after you become infected but they can start sooner. Most people make a full recovery within a couple of days.

It is on the rise so much so that hospitals are closing their doors to visitors, and not allowing them to visit their friends and relatives for fear of bringing in the infection.

Another nasty on the rise is a whooping cough – or as the experts would call it - Pertussis. It is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways. The condition usually begins with a persistent dry and irritating cough that progresses to intense bouts of coughing. These are followed by a distinctive 'whooping' noise, which is how the condition gets its name. Quite a few people got infected with this bug. It is specially dangerous for little babies, so much so that if a baby gets it its life is in danger. A few babies died recently (in the past year) from this condition so the NHS has decided to now vaccinate every pregnant woman against whooping cough between the 28th – 38th week of pregnancy.

NHS got quite a lot on their plate these days ... fighting viruses like the two I mentioned above, and some more like swine flu, or MRSA, urinary tract infection.... hard to fight this when they are short of money, so often they fail.. There have been many cases of neglect of care for elderly, for diagnosing several conditions, like ADHD (Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder - which in my opinion is not even a real condition, it is lazy parents not bothering to keep their kids under control and blame it on some crap condition and dope their kids up with pills)

NHS is also failing in their money management...... they do unnecessary procedures, like performing the pre-op checks before the patient even receives the surgery date..... apparently the results are valid for 3 months, now that also makes no sense, they screen you for infections which you can contract at any time, yet the results are valid for 3 months?!? So a couple of weeks after you had the checks are clear of infection you contract it then you go to hospital and infect the others........... no wonder they are failing to fight the infections on boards.

Or what they do..... the results run out of time and they have to repeat the tests cause it has been more than 3 months and the patient still did not get the surgery..... so it just literally flashing £££ down the drain..... how smart is that?!? No wonder they are short of cash if this is how they waste it.....

Well.......... guess I was going on for long enough, hope I didn’t bore you too much.
Feel free to comment on all this. What do you think? Got any other experiences with any of these issues?

Another school massacre.

Some of you might remember my previous article about the end of the world, where I mentioned that it is not coming on the 21st of December, it is already here. One of the things associated with the end of the world I mentioned was mass shootings, and presto, it happened again! Probably not many are surprised by the fact that it happened in the USA.

On Friday December 14 2012 in Connecticut -Sandy Hook Elementary school- a crazed gunman massacred 20 children from 5 to 10 years old and six adults. The gunman according to a media report carried four weapons and wore a bulletproof vest.

The New York Times reported that the gunman walked into a classroom where his mother was a teacher. He shot his mother and then 20 students, most in the same classroom, before shooting five other adults and killing himself.

This was the second shooting in the United States within a month. On the 21^st of November 2012 a 45-year-old former Mar­ine, walked in­to the Azana Salon and Spa where his wife worked shot/killed her and other two women and injured four others.

I don’t get these shootings, it is quite hard for me to understand.

Why would someone take a gun and just go around mindlessly shooting innocent people who he often doesn’t even know or has never met in his life. And why chose to shoot kids as young as this? What have they ever done to deserve it?

We all know that there are civilian victims at wars, but this is no war.

This brings up the old debate that has surfaced so many times, should they tighten the laws for gun ownership? Or should they even ban them completely?

This is a two sided debate, as so many people who do have guns are responsible and would never hurt anyone. They own it maybe for a hobby or sport or just for protection.

Should we punish all of the responsible ones and stop them from owning a gun because of the action of a few irresponsible or a crazy people?

As we all know, it is not that hard to get a gun illegally on the black market. If someone really wants one, they will find the way to get it. So........ if we ban the legal gun ownership, will it really stop these things from happening?

What do you think?

Dogs are amazing, they can even drive!!

Since the beginning of the earth predators roamed the planet. Many are now extinct, but many are still going strong. Some live in the wild, some are endangered and living in a zoo, and some, like dogs and cats became domesticated.
They worked out that their best chance of survival is to actually live with humans. While cats are independent and view humans as their servants, dogs chose a different path. They chose to become our best friends and helpers.

Dogs can do all sorts of amazing things, they assist police in finding drugs or other illegal substances, they help save soldiers lives by locating explosives, they help to guide the blind assist disabled in their everyday lives... and above all, they are our best friends, always there, ready to listen to us and love us no matter who we are, we can be royals or just homeless, our dogs will love us just the same, they don’t judge, they just love unconditionally.

They would do anything for us; they would die for us (and often do)
And how do we repay them?

We mistreat them, we abuse them, many are starved or tortured, many are used for racing and then discarded when there is no more use for them, many are kept in cages and made to breed over and over so puppies with ill health could be sold to unsuspecting owners who buy them as present for their spoiled kids... If they are not perfect they end up in shelters.

Many people don’t want a dog from a shelter; they think that they are hard to teach old dogs new tricks. The New Zealand SPCA has come up with a novelty idea how to increase the chance of their dogs being re-homed. They decided to show the public just how smart “second hand” dogs can be by teaching them how to drive a car.
They start out indoors learning simple gestures and pushing buttons and move the steering wheel or change gears, once they master these commands they put the actions in sequence and then move on to real cars, specially adjusted for canine drivers.

They are planning to take them out next month and test them on real roads, live on national TV.
Hopefully this will help them in their quest to find new loving homes for all of the dogs they care for in their shelters.

I would advise anyone to re-home a dog from a rescue centre; it is rewarding to know that you gave an animal a second chance of happiness, and give him all the love and care that they rightfully deserve.

Why train your dog...?

Imagine you got yourself a puppy, a sweet little furry bundle of cuteness with its dark eyes staring at you lovingly... you just want to cuddle it and spoil it...
Well of course, it doesn’t take long until the cute little fur-ball grows into an adolescent pup with loads of energy.
 
It gets bored easy so it chews, and destroys your shoes or anything else you forget to hide away.
Taking him for a walk is no longer a joy, it is a chore, he pulls your arm of every time, jumps all over the place, barks uncontrollably every time he sees another dog...
You meet other dog walkers, whose dogs are well behaved, they do not pull, come back when called – you wish your dog could be like that.
 
But this doesn’t just happen overnight, it is not some kind of a miracle that you can just wish for; dog’s (just like us) are not born already knowing what to do.
 
We have to teach them.
 
From the moment you bring your little furry bundle of joy home, you got to start training him/her how to behave and what to do. You need to show them what is right and what is wrong.
You need to start of right from the start as you wish to go on. For example, if you don’t want your adult dog sleeping in your bed or climbing up on our furniture, you got to make sure that you don’t let your puppy do it either, otherwise you just confuse him.
 
Training should be fun for both, you and your dog. Dogs –just like children- can best learn when they are relaxed and happy, learn with play and positive reinforcement. Reward the behaviour you want them to repeat and ignore the one you don’t want them to do.
 
There is loads of help out there for people who are first time dog owners, and don’t know how to train their dog.
Sometimes too much information can be confusing, so be sure you think about what you are advised. You need to use common sense, don’t ever let anyone to talk you into harsh training or punishing your dog. That will do more harm than good, and will damage your relationship with your best friend, damage his trust in you Just be loving and kind and all will work out.
There is a great dog training guide on the market called “The Dog Training System”. Be sure to check it out if you need help.
 
A trained dog is a happy dog. Dogs are great creatures, they are loyal and they like to please, but unless they don’t know what is expected of them, they have no chance to succeed.

The X-factor results.

Another X factor final is behind us with somewhat disappointing results – well – for me anyway.

The X factor started its search for the next big pop sensation 9 years ago and during that time certainly a few of those were found..... Some went on to dominate the charts and have had great success all over the world, others .... not so much.

After some great winners from the previous years like Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Matt Cardle it was quite disappointing to see who won this year.

There were many great singers in the final 12 but unfortunately all of them got voted off. The two singers who made it to the final, Jahmene Douglas and James Arthur were certainly not the best of the bunch but even between them, the worst one with the least talent and the crappiest voice won... you guessed it - James Arthur!

Nearly makes me wonder if the results are actually a fix, It is not possible that so many people would have thought that he was the best, he cannot sing, he cannot dance, he is boring to look at and to listen to, his voice is not much, he sounds like a bad bar karaoke... there is something seriously wrong here!

But then again, the judges were not the greatest either, I think Simon Cowell’s absence from the UK X-factor is significantly obvious, the standards are falling. Louis Walsh is the biggest joke of all, I think he should retire. He seriously gets on my nerves every time he opens his mouth and starts praising some one’s mediocre performance.

The best news of all....... lucky it is behind us and we don’t have to hear about it for another year. Hopefully next year, some one with actual talent will win.

Pets

Everyone knows that pets are great, no matter what pet it is, when you give one to a child it will teach him or her how to be more responsible, how they got to take care of it even if they don’t feel like it or would like to do other things perhaps.
Pets are great for older people too, to keep them company, and make them feel less lonely.
It is medically proven that cats and dogs are also beneficial for health. Taking a dog for a walk keeps people fit and stroking a dog or cat’s soft fur will keep your blood pressure down. Children growing up with pets suffer from less allergies.
 
I had many pets when I was little and got a dog right now.
 
The easiest to take care of are the fish.
Fish are pretty to look at, and there is not much you have to do around them. You got to feed them maybe once a day, and clean their tank maybe every couple of weeks or once a month.
You can’t form a bond with them, they won’t communicate with you, they are just decoration.
 
I also had a hamster when I was little.
Hamsters are pretty easy to take care of, you got to feed them once or twice a day, change their water daily, and clean their cage at least every other day otherwise they will stink the place out, but they are cute. However, you have to handle them gently or they might bite.
 
Cats and dogs are something else, they can be much more fun to keep, and they are playful and smart. You can form a bond with them, you can potty train them so they don’t need to be kept in cages.
Cats are slightly easier since you don’t have to walk them, but they are also not as loyal as dogs, they are more independent, and they think about you as their servants, you are there to take care of them and serve THEM!
 
Dogs are harder work, they are more social, they require your company, they need you to give them both mental and physical stimulation. You got to take them for a walk at least once a day if you have a garden where you can let them out to toilet, if you don't have a garden, you need to walk them at least 3-4 times a day, no matter what the weather is like. You need to train them, if you want them to know how to behave.
 
After having both, dogs and cats over the years, I think that having a dog is much more rewarding than having a cat.
The dog is your best friend, it will love you no matter what you look like or what you do, they will be loyal to you and follow you everywhere. You can teach them tricks, and then show of to your friends about how smart they are..... and I could go on.
 
All in all, it doesn’t matter what pets you chose, just take good care of them and enjoy them! They are all great and they depend on you.

Happy Hanukkah

Image courtesy of pamsclipart.com

Christmas is fast approaching, TV is full of Christmas ads and Christmas movies, radios are playing nothing but Christmas songs, shops are all decorated and trying get people to spend money buying as much junk as possible ..... it is easy to forget that there are other cultures living amongst us, other religions with their own holidays.
 
One of those is the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, which is starting tomorrow.
 
Hanukkah (or Chanukah) is the Festival of Lights. I am not going to go to great detail about the history of this holiday, I am sure you can find that out by googling it, but basically at this time Jewish people commemorate and celebrate the miracle that happened over 2500 years ago when Antiochus, a Syrian king, took over the Jewish temple and tried to make the Jewish people worship Greek gods and tried to forced them eat pork.
The Jews refused and rebelled. They recaptured Jerusalem but their Temple was nearly destroyed.
They had to repair it and clean it, when they were done they wanted to purify the Temple by burning ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days, but to their horror they discovered that they only had enough oil for only one day. They decided to light it anyway and to their surprise, the tiny bit of oil they had kept on burning for the whole eight days.
 
The miracle of the Hanukkah oil is celebrated every year, but Hanukkah doesn’t happen every year at the same time since the Jewish calendar is lunar based. It begins on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar which usually falls between late November to late December.
 
Many different customs are observed during these holidays, every community has it’s own traditions, but there are some that most follow like lighting a special menorah known as a hanukkiyah for eight days. One candle is lit on the first night of Hanukkah, two on the second, and so on, until the eight day when all eight candles are lit.
Playing the popular Hanukkah game spinning the dreidel, or eating fried foods.
Because our society is predominantly Christian, and Hanukkah falls so close to Christmas, many parents are trying to make the holiday more special for their kids so they don’t feel left out of all the Christmas celebrations going on all around them, so they give their children presents. Usually Jewish children receive one present every day over the eight nights of the holiday.
 
Hope my article gave you at least some idea about Hanukkah, there is so much more to learn, but my aim was not to teach you, only to remind you.
 
So let me wish Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends and to everyone else!
 

The End of the World...??

Once again there is a rumour going around about the end of the world. Apparently, some claim that according to interpretations of the Mayan calendar it will happen on the 21st of December 2012…. Well…. Haven’t we heard this one before?
 
There were many similar scares in the past like the Y2K bug for example…
 
For some reason people seem to think that the end of the world will happen suddenly, one big bang, a planet crushing into the Earth, a blackout, solar flares, radiation or some other divine intervention and poof….. we are no more!
 
Well I think they are all wrong. I think the end of the world is actually already here, it has already started!
 
It is much more subtle and it is happening right now.
 
Take global warming, and thinning of the ozone layer, melting of the ice in Arctic, natural disasters like the tsunami, earthquakes, tornadoes, erupting volcanoes, superstorms and I could go on…
 
Then there is the Global economy, or the collapse of it, recession, hunger, poverty...
 
Wars, terrorists attacks..... or senseless crimes, like people taking a gun and going to a shooting spree- entering schools or churches and shooting anyone who comes in their way. There were quite a few of them in the past few years all over the world….. most of them in the USA, a couple in Finland, Denmark, and the most shocking - the Norway massacre, where Anders Breivik killed 77 youngsters.
 
Then there’s the celebrities killing their partners for whatever reason.... like just recently the NFL player Jovan Belcher shooting his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins...
 
And the list can go on and on....
 
The end of the world is here, this is it and we are the ones doing it!!
 
But we could stop it too!! If finally the human race realized that we all are the same, and we should all work together.

Animals shelters’ Christmas nightmare.

 
A year has passed and it is December again, nearly Christmas – many mistakenly believe that the main point of Christmas is giving each other presents, time for parents to spoil their precious kids again, by indulging them over the top getting them everything that their little hearts desire.
 
Many were probably moaning for months that they want a pet, a cute little fluffy puppy……. so what better time to get one for them than Christmas right? Seeing their kids’ faces light up when they open that box and a small fur-ball with big inquisitive eyes pokes out its little wet nose.... would melt your heart.......
 
WRONG!!
 
For most people the novelty will soon wear off.
 
Puppies grow, they don’t stay tiny and cute forever, they are mischievous, they play, they chew, they pee, they poo...... they need to be potty trained, they need walking every day no matter what the weather is like, they need training so they know what to do and how to behave.... they are hard work!!
 
The reality starts setting in, children get bored with the responsibility and soon after that the parents too. So what do they do? They are off to the nearest animal shelter to get rid.... to discard it as if it was just another toy.....
 
This is a major headache for all the animal shelters, every year they brace themselves for the new arrivals that fill their kennels..... poor unwanted, abandoned souls in need of an adoption, in need of finding someone to love them and care for them.
 
Most shelters do not get state funding, they rely on donations from the public. So please, if you are reading this article, consider giving a few pounds/dollars, or whatever your currency is, to your nearest animal shelter... just google for it, most even allow an online donation.
 
At this stage I got to borrow the slogan of one of the biggest dog rescue organisation in UK the Dogs Trust:
 

A Dog is for Life, not just for Christmas!

 
Dogs are not meant to be given as presents, they are breathing, living things! You got to really want them, you need to properly research the breed you’re know what you’re getting yourself into, so you know how much care they will require and how much they will cost. They are hard work and they can be expensive but they are worth it!
 
Dogs are the most amazing creatures, they will love you no matter what, they will be faithful and loyal to you, they will defend you with their lives, they will stand by you when no one else does ....
 
They deserve so much more than to be abandoned when they are no longer tiny and cute!!!
 
Let me just finish my rant with a couple of poems I found on the internet, when I read them, they brought tears into my eyes because they are so sad and so fitting of this time of year.
 
 

Christmas Puppy

 

It was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With no thought of the dog filling their head.

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Knew he was cold, but didn't care about that.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Figuring the dog was free and into the trash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of midday to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But Santa Claus - his eyes full of tears.

He unchained the dog, once so lively and quick,
Last years Christmas present, now thin and sick.
More rapid than eagles he called the dog's name.
And the dog ran to him, despite all his pain;
" Now, DASHER! Now, DANCER! Now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! On CUPID! On, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Let's find this dog a home where he'll be loved by all"

I knew in an instant there would be no gifts this year,
For Santa Claus had made one thing quite clear,
The gift of a dog is not just for the season,
We had gotten the pup for all the wrong reasons.

In our haste to think of giving the kids a gift
There was one important thing that we missed.
A dog should be family, and cared for the same!
You don't give a gift, then put it on a chain.
And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight," You weren't given a gift -- You were given a life!"

~Author Unknown~

A Shelter Dog's Christmas Poem.

 

'Tis the night before Christmas
and all through the town,
every shelter is full -
we are lost but not found,
Our numbers are hung
on our kennels so bare,
we hope every minute
that someone will care,
They'll come to adopt us
and give us the call,
" Come here, Max and Sparkie -
come fetch your new ball!!
But now we sit here
and think of the days..
We were treated so fondly -
we had cute, baby ways,
Once we were little,
then we grew and we grew -
now we're no longer young
and we're no longer new.
So out the back door
we were thrown like the trash,
they reacted so quickly -
why were they so rash?
We "jump on the children:,
"don't come when they call",
we "bark when they leave us",
climb over the wall.
We should have been neutered,
we should have been spayed,
now we suffer the consequence
of the errors THEY made.
If only they'd trained us,
if only we knew...
we'd have done what they asked us
and worshiped them, too.
We were left in the backyard,
or worse -let to roam-
now we're tired and lonely
and out of a home.
They dropped us off here
and they kissed us good-bye...
" Maybe someone else
will give you a try."
So now here we are,
all confused and alone...
in a shelter with others,
who long for a home.
The kind workers come through
with a meal and a pat,
with so many to care for,
they can't stay to chat,
They move to the next kennel,
giving each of us cheer...
we know that they wonder
how long we'll be here.
We lay down to sleep
and sweet dreams fill our heads..
of a home filled with love
and our own cozy beds.
Then we wake to see sad eyes,
brimming with tears --
our friends filled with emptiness,
worry, and fear.
If you can't adopt us
and there's no room at the Inn --
could you help with the bills
and fill our food bin?
We count on your kindness
each day of the year --
can you give more than hope
to everyone here?
Please make a donation
to pay for the heat...
and help get us something
special to eat.
The shelter that cares for us
wants us to live,
and more of us will,
if more people will give.

~Author Unknown~

Dog whistle

Whistles are a great dog training tool. They are especially popular in training gun dogs and sheep dogs. Historically the reason why the whistle became the main distance control tool was that there is nothing scarier to a wild animal than the sound of a human voice.

Being able to communicate with your dog with a whistle is a great thing and not hard to teach your dog at all. You can replace practically any command with a whistling sound.
You can chose to whistle by mouth, if you know how, that is practical especially because you will never forget to take it with you.... I got my dog trained to both, my word commands and to specific sounds I can whistle by my lips, which is useful, when I am out and about and don't want to scream at him.... I just whistle. I got a different sound for when I want him to come back, different when I want him to just stop and wait for me so I can catch up with him.. and so on....
My dog is nearly 15 years old. Sometimes he can’t hear me shouting after him when I want him to slow down or stop to wait for me, but he always hears me when I whistle....

There is a reason for that. Dog’s ears are better equipped for hearing higher pitched sounds, so they can hear the whistle better than the human voice. It is thought that dogs can hear higher sounds better, because their wild ancestors evolved this higher hearing range in order to hear high frequency sounds made by small rodents they were hunting for.

But obviously, not everyone can lip whistle and in addition, is not as loud so using a whistle so many would prefer to do that. Now all you got to do is chose which dog whistle to buy.

There are many types of whistles used for loads of different purposes, the best known are the referees whistles that are used in sports (like football or hockey) but you don’t want to use those for dog training, they are too loud.
For dog training purposes, the use of ultrasound whistles are more common, they are quieter to human ears so they won’t disturb our fellow humans when out and about in the park with your dog.
You can buy dog whistles on line or in pet shops. They come in many different shapes and sizes, made either from metal or plastic some can even be made of wood or stag horn.
Dog handlers will often have their own dog whistle preference, often using the flat plastic ones, because they lighter and more comfortable to keep in your mouth and leaving your hands free. Many handlers will prefer to have a dog whistle that can emit several different frequencies, which can be useful when you want to handle more than one dog at the same time - each of them can be trained to only respond to their own sound so you can give different commands to different dogs... Others will prefer to use different whistles for different dogs.

Whatever your preference is, it is great fun to teach your dog to respond to it and then show off to your friends how smart he is.

Kate Middleton pregnant

A huge news erupted last night in the UK..... Kate Middleton is pregnant!!!!

Well we all knew that it is gonna happen sooner or later, but it is still very exciting for everyone who cares about the royals. In a few months another little prince or princess will enter this world.

The happy news is shaded a little by the fact that the expectant mother has to stay in the hospital for a few days, but hopefully it is nothing too serious and she will be home with her family in time to celebrate Christmas. We all wish her the best. News reports say that she is already getting better.

Now the reaction of the public all around the world is the interesting thing. While the Brits just take it as nothing too special, the Americans are super excited about it. Everything British and everything royal fascinates them greatly. Probably because they don’t have their own royals, they don’t have this history that we in Europe have and I think secretly they are envious. The former British colonies are also all excited about the news... not entirely sure why...

Another interesting thing I got to laugh about is all of these celebrities (Like Snooki) are popping out now giving Kate pregnancy advice... Suddenly everyone is clever.

The politicians are also mobilized, well we are in the 21^st century and the law still favours the boy child over the girl for being next in line for the throne – meaning that if the first baby is a girl and the second is a boy, the boy would be the king and the girl would be pushed aside..... That frankly is unacceptable in this day and age of political correctness, that needs to be changed and it needs to be changed fast!! They got to do it before the baby is born, so now all of them are on fire, forgetting all of the other, important issues they got, like saving the economy...
This actually got me thinking, I’m no lawyer and have never researched the law, so I don’t know the answer, and I don’t actually know how it all is, but..... what if the kid is not “healthy”? What if the first born, and now next in the line for throne regardless of gender, what if it has some learning difficulties or even down syndrome....... what happens then? Surely in this age of political correctness they are not allowed to be discriminated right..... ? But does UK really want a retarded queen or king?
Does anyone know the answer to this? Where does the law stand? I would really be interested, so if you know the answer please do post a comment and enlighten me.

Anyway, lets just hope that this doesn’t happen and all goes well for our lovely royal couple and their baby and the little prince or princess will arrive into this world strong and healthy!

Why staffs get the bad rep...

I love dogs, all dogs, they are great, loyal, give you unconditional love, always want to please you.... There is one breed though that when out and about with my dog, I am not too keen on meeting. Yeah you guessed it right, it is the staff.

It’s not that I don’t like them, as I said, I love them all, but I had several bad experiences with this particular breed. My dog has been attacked on number of occasions by this breed in a very short space of time and he is not alone, many other attacks were reported in my area. A very sweet and friendly Westie has actually died as a direct result of being attacked repeatedly.

I don’t blame the dogs though, it is not their fault, they just don’t know any better, it is the owners who are to blame. All of the owners who’s dogs attack got something in common, they are arrogant and rude, and use these dogs as status dog, they rarely socialize them well, they don’t train them well, or if they do, they actually train them to attack other unsuspecting well behaved dogs.

One other thing the dogs that attacked my dog had in common, the owners were almost always black.

See black people they fall into two categories, they are either “scared” of the dog but are happy to wind him up and tease from the distance, yet when the dog barks or launches at them (as a direct result of their teasing) they label him aggressive... or they chose to own one of those status dogs and make them aggressive, and out of control. They are probably seeing these dogs as a cure of their inferiority complex.

So back to the attacks.....well one of them...... these two staffs charged from the other side of the park at my dog who was on the lead, perfectly calm, sniffing something under a bush ... he only noticed them once they were about 2 feet away from him and ready to pounce, naturally my dog barked at them for being startled and then they went for him. Now lucky for him, for being a small dog, I picked him up quick and held him above my head, these two stuffs jumping up at me barking aggressively trying to get my dog from me, a few minutes later the owner arrives.... a black guy... now guess what he did..... If you guessed that he called off his dogs you guessed wrong. He actually “joined in” the attack (now what message that gives out to the dog?), started yelling at me and insulting me and calling me all names under the sun while BLAMING MY DOG for being attacked. You know what his reasoning was? Why my dog deserved to be attacked? Wait for this..... BECAUSE HE BARKED!?!?! That’s right!! He barked so he was responsible for being attacked! Never mind that he was on the lead and not even seen them while they were off the lead out of control charging at him from the other side of the park!!!

Then he had the cheek to tell me that his dogs are well trained because he paid £500 for the training classes. So I say, well call them off then so I can f***ing leave and stop yelling at me!

Well of course he could not! They would not listen to him. At the end he actually had to kick his own dogs to stop them from jumping up and barking so I can leave.

To be fair to staffs, they can be great dogs, I have met many nice and friendly ones, perfectly well mannered and sweet...... but I will still cross the road when I am out with my own dog and I see one approaching, just in case. I have been burned too many times to trust them and their owners, especially if they are black.