Paris Hilton, This is All Your Fault

Since the Tinkerbell days, I've seen more little doggies riding in purses or being tucked under an arm while their owners walk about. This annoys me as I think it fuels the "trend" that small dogs are accessories instead of animals that have been bred over centuries with specific working purposes, ergo they were designed for activity, not as clothing coordinates.

This morning I watched an episode of Judge Joe Brown (it happened to be on, don't judge me!). Two sisters were suing the dog breeder they got their dogs from because...the dogs grew too big and were not considered "teacup" anymore! According to the sisters, they bought two Maltipoo dogs from this breeder and she assured them they were "teacup" dogs. So they paid $2000 for the dogs, and bought all these tiny little outfits for their new puppies. However, the dogs kept growing, and as the sisters laid out all the tiny clothes in front of the judge they angrily cried that the dogs won't fit into them anymore. They claimed the breeder assured them they were getting teacup dogs, and that she ripped them off because instead of being under 5lbs like most teacups are, their full grown dogs ended up being almost twice that weight. They were suing the breeder for their money back.

The breeder contended that she had sold them teacup dogs, and asserted that the term "teacup" can only apply to puppies, as a full grown dog by those standards usually mean an unhealthy dog (Actually, according to the official registry of dog breeds, there is no such thing as a "teacup" dog. This term applies to toy dog breeds of certain sizes, but there is no official category). Judge Joe Brown seemed slightly amused by the whole thing, but brought in a court animal expert to assess the dogs. Her verdict? The dogs were overweight! No doubt because their shallow-minded owners didn't walk them enough and probably fed them table scraps. She also stated that the Maltipoo, as a breed, is a combination of two breeds and therefore size will vary and can't be predicted due to genetics. Judge Joe Brown agreed, calling it an example of buyers remorse, and dismissed the case.


Similar to the Maltipoos the sisters had.

In the context of the case, I thought the whole thing was stupid and a prime example of why people need to do their research when thinking about getting a dog. I also wanted to smack those two girls upside the head for their superficial arguments, especially as those dogs were so cute and friendly, and the breeder stated earlier that they wanted to give up the dogs for their money back. They don't deserve idiot people like that as owners. However, I think they were ripped off by the breeder, not because she told them the dogs were teacup dogs and they weren't or whatever, but because paying $2000 for a pet is way too much, especially as there are so many dogs at shelters that need a good home for less. If they had the intention of getting a purebred and showing it a dog shows, then I could understand the price tag, but since the Maltipoo isn't even a purebred breed, what's the point?

I don't blame the breeder, though, I blame the idiocy of those two dummies.

Adventures in Dogwalking: Pirate

You know that kind of dog I dreaded getting on my first day of dogwalking? Well, that's the kind of dog I got on my weekly Thursday duty at the SPCA. .

His name is Pirate. He's supposedly a Pitt Bull Terrier cross. As soon as he came out of his kennel, he immediately relieved himself to the side, then crazily dashed here and there smelling everything and pulling at his leash. The pulling was interspersed with a lot of stopping abruptly so he could go to the bathroom again and again. He went so often i suspected it was more of a territorial marking thing, but I'm not 100% sure since he would cover his waste with dirt afterwards. Later on, I thought he might've had a problem because he kept stopping and going, but only little dribbles came out. (Good times).

The real trouble started about ten minutes into our walk. At the SPCA, they have you walk on this little trail that goes in one direction so the dogs don't meet face to face, in case they hate each other and fight. Well, as we were plodding along, there was another dog that was walking a little ways behind us. I guess Pirate caught it's scent or something because he suddenly stopped and turned around. Without warning, he started barking at the other dog, and THEN, he turned around and began jumping up on me while growling and barking and trying to bite at my hand! I panicked and dropped the leash, which is not a very good thing to do with shelter dogs as most likely, they will try to run away! And run away Pirate did, except he ran to the other dog and began to sniff him out. Luckily, the lady that was walking that dog managed to grab him as I dashed after him. There was no dog fight, although Pirate started getting really growly before they walked away.

It became apparent that Pirate liked to assert his dominance, as the whiff of another dog was enough to set off the barking/jumping up/biting response. I figured out that he wasn't actually trying to bite me each time, he was trying to bite at the leash. Even with the relief that my hand was not the target, each episode became more and more irritating. I felt like those mothers you see at the mall that either try to scold their shrieking toddlers or comfort them, yet each attempt only results in louder shrieking. I definitely wasn't trying to comfort the dog, but I could hear my sharp commands of "Down! Off! No!" becoming shriller and shriller each time. (This was probably exacerbated by the fact that I was grumpy due to "hormonal fluctuations.")

After these episodes, I found myself bitterly wishing for a fuzzy German Shepard to coddle. On the other hand, once Pirate was away from the other dogs he was actually quite nice. He had the softest, silkiest coat, and seemed to be happiest being petted and getting a lot of attention from people (which he did). I had him out for a long time, so towards the end he was a lot calmer, having got all that pent up energy out of him. Plus whenever you told him to stop, he usually did and would look up at you as if waiting for your next command (Except during the "episodes," grrr!).

After today, my desire to own a dog waned slightly...but then it popped up again. Yay for dogs!

Doggie Craving Update: Bat

A few weeks ago, I posted a mini-blurb about a dog I saw on Petfinder. His name is Bat, and he is soooo cute! I wanted to see if someone had stepped up to adopt him, but his listing is still there, so I guess not :( If I could, I would totally adopt that dog!

Photo from Dhana Metta Rescue Society (http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12534031)

I swear, one of my stuffed animals looks just like him. Awww...

Adventures in Dogwalking: ?

I arrived at the SPCA this morning around 9:50am, only to find that there were no more dogs left to walk! Note to self: arrive at 9:30 next time!

On a sad note, all the volunteers found out that Betty, the sweet old dog I walked last week, was put down yesterday. The vet discovered she was full of cancer and that it had spread all over her body. :(

R.I.P Betty.

Adventures in Dogwalking: Betty

I got to the SPCA shelter at 9:50am, hoping to walk my new favorite pick of dogs, Bowe (another cute, fuzzy German Shepard). Despite my early arrival, it seems there were others that arrived even earlier than I as Bowe was already out on his walk. I was a little dismayed, but there will be other walks!
So I got Betty. Betty was in stark contrast to Ruby, the dog I walked last time. She was some kind of pittbull-mastiff mix, and was clearly a very, very oooollld dog. There was some speculation that she might've been raised and kept in a puppy mill, as her teats protruded and sagged beneath her belly as if she had too many puppies in her lifetime. She also had scabbing around her elbows.
Perhaps it was due to her age, or perhaps she had some foot injuries, but Betty was very slow and seemed to not want to walk too much. She would take a few steps, and then suddenly stop and not want to move. My gentle tugs and calls of "Let's go, Betty!" would eventually elicit a response and she would slowly trod beside me, but then she would stop once more. I admit I was somewhat disappointed; I expected a brisk walk around the forest like last time. Plus, I was worried that because she wasn't walking, I was wasting her precious time outside of her kennel.
From other volunteers, it appears Betty has been at the SPCA for a while now. A gentleman told me that his wife walks Betty, and often she doesn't want to walk and just sits there. That was reassuring, so instead of trying to make her walk all the way around the trail, I settled for walking her back and forth in a little "U" shaped trail around the front of the fenced in area (Also the area where the treats were kept. Coincidence? I think not!) She seemed more comfortable in this area, as it was easier to encourage her to walk this route.
Regardless of her hinderances, Betty was a very sweet, laid back dog. When the other dogs would come nearby, she would either sit back on her haunches and wait patiently for them to pass, or she would want to go and meet them and sniff them. Due to her breed, she also drooled alot. And when I say drool, I don't mean drool like a baby drools. Betty's drool was comparable to a long, thick, slimy booger that you might get when you have the worst flu ever and can't stop your nose from running. There was an incident where Betty and a new friend were nuzzling each other, and the other dog literally got covered in drool (they had to towel him off afterwards).
Because she wasn't so much of a walker, I got to just massaging and petting her during those long minutes of sitting around. I was probably enabling her aversion to walking (although it's probably not so much an aversion as to she just has trouble doing it) but she seemed to really enjoy it. After I would massage her for a bit and take my hand away, she would immediately look up at me with her big brown eyes as if to say, "Why are you stopping?" During the last ten minutes of her time out, I let her off her leash and gave her a brushing. As soon as I started massaging her again, she slowly lay down on her side and just stayed that way until it was time to go back. When I got the leash again and said, "Time to go back!" she didn't even need spurring, she immediately raised herself up and let me clip on the leash and trotted back with me.
Even though I had initially wanted a big bouncy, energetic dog to walk today, there's something to be said about spending a quiet morning out in the sunshine, massaging a big gentle Grandma who just wants to lay at your feet. Kudos to Betty!

P.S-to all the single girls out there, there was a really cute, buff volunteer heaving all the giant bags of dog food into storage. He seemed friendly, said "Hi" to me when Betty was sniffing around the bags, and we had a laugh together at a joke I made (Wahahahaha!). Come voluteer at the SPCA!