Hey, remember me? I can't believe this month has gone by so fast and I haven't had a chance to get to the computer. It was so hot this month, I spent a lot of time just laying around trying to get cool, so I haven't felt much like typing. :-) There really hasn't been too much going on either. Just eating, sleeping, and spending a little time outside. I've been feeling really, really tired lately too, so I've been sleeping a lot.
Life is about as good as it gets I think. Every night when mom has to go to work I go downstairs with dad and watch TV. He spends a lot of time with just me, petting me and putting lotion on my back. What else could a guy ask for? My back was getting pretty sore earlier this month so mom talked to Dr. Jesske and got some MORE pills for me to take. I really don't care though, if I'm really lucky dad gives them to me in a hot dog. If I'm not so lucky he gives them to me in a little chunk of my regular food, but either way I get to eat more, right? I also got a prescription for prednisone, so mom gets to take her medicine back. She doesn't really care though because her doctor said she doesnt have to take it for very much longer. Mom thinks maybe she'll lose weight if she doesn't take it anymore. I hope I don't lose any weight when I quit taking it, otherwise I'd blow away in a strong wind! A kite that pees mom says and then she laughs. Hmph. I don't think it's very funny.
My sister Buttercup is pretty sick tonight. Her neck is hurting her really bad. Mom was crying about it earlier, but dad says not to worry until they go to the vet tomorrow. I guess mom and dad had another fur baby, Schnapps, and he went to the Rainbow Bridge when his back started hurting him, so mom is really worried. I didn't know what to do to make her happy tonight. I peed in the hallway. That's didn't make her happy, but at least it took her mind off of Buttercup for a minute or two. Hey, give me some credit for trying! When mom was trying to get Buttercup to drink some water she took this thing called a heating pad off of Buttercup's back and put it on the floor, so, being the curious guy that I am I decided to lay down on it. Wowser! It was nice and warm! I wish I could have one of those things in my bed. Mom made me get off of it though so she could put it back on Buttercup. I hope she gets me one!
Next week is going to be special for me. I've been living with mom and dad for a whole year! Isn't that great? I can't believe it's been a whole year since Grandma Judy took me in and put me on Petfinder so mom and dad could find me. I've been so lucky! I can't decide what the best part is though, my own bed, ALL the toys, having good friends like Lucy in New York and her human Melissa; Sasha, Roxie and Cosmo in Minnesota and their human Kate; Grandma Judy; all my great friends in Missouri; my own toys; all the cool dogs on Lovedachs; my sisters and brother; my human sister and brother; good dog food; all the toys, my own blanket; applesauce; bananas; my furry cousins, Medusa and Shorty; all my toys; grandma and grandpa Sieborg; grandpa Art; all my toys; going outside and just laying in the sun; chasing the neighbor kids; Mr. Tucker my cat cousin... And did I mention ALL THE TOYS? I wonder if mom will bake me another cake? Ooooooo with ice cream. I love ice cream too...
Well, I think mom is up to check on Buttercup so I better sneak back to my OWN blanket and go back to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzz
Love ya! Chuck
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Hey, I'm Back
Well, really I didn't go anywhere, but I've been so busy (sleeping) that I haven't gotten around to using the computer. The weather here has been really, really hot. I don't want to go outside, but I don't want to get scolded for going potty on the carpet either, what's a dog to do? I spend most of the day laying on mom's lap while she watches TV or reads, which is fine with me, but the other guys get, you know, jealous or something. Heee hee.
My human brother Matt came over yesterday and I let him give me some banana. He doesn't live here with us and when I first met him he scared me a little. He's really, really tall, even when he stands by mom he's really, really tall, so he makes me feel very, very small. I wasn't sure I liked him for a while. Every time he would come over I wouldn't let him get close to mom, I would growl and show all of my teeth, but he would just laugh. He never hurt me so and today he gave me a whole banana (well, little pieces at a time) so I guess he's okay. I let him pet me today for a long time, but when he tried to pick me up I screamed for mom! I don't want to be that high in the air!
I haven't been to the vet in a long time! When mom told grandma that today she said, "Knock on wood". I'm not sure what that means, but maybe you better knock on some wood, just in case. A few weeks ago mom went to get me some food, but they didn't have the good soft stuff in the can, so she bought some of that dry stuff. Yuck. I wouldn't eat it. How can mom and dad expect me to eat the old dry stuff when I'm used to the good soft stuff. It smells so much better and the taste... Yum! After a couple days of me not eating very much (except for bananas and applesauce) mom and dad finally got the idea and went back to the vet and got me some REAL food. I guess they aren't trained as well as I thought, since it took them 2 whole days. I better work on that some more.
I have a couple more sores on my back, but dad is putting medicine on them every night. I don't like the stuff, it doesn't taste very good. The sores don't really hurt a lot, except when dad touches them so I cry and stuff and then he feels sorry for me. Sometimes I try to lick them when I think mom and dad aren't looking, but they always catch me. How do they do that? Mom always says, "Charlie stop licking yourself like that?" Well, geez, how am I supposed to lick myself anyway? I heard mom tell dad today that they were looking better and I haven't been licking, so maybe she knows what she's talking about...
All the other guys got their nails cut tonight. Haha! I only have 2 nails and they're short most of the time. Sometimes Dr. Jesske cuts them for me. It doesn't hurt, but you wouldn't know that the way the other dogs carry on. Mom has to hold them while dad cuts their nails and Ruger runs and hides as soon as they get done. Even I'm not that big of a baby. Mom said one time Heidi had her nails cut at Dr. Jesske's office and she cried and screamed so loud they had to come get mom to hold her. What a BABY! I guess that's a girl for you.
Well, I think maybe it's going to rain because it started to thunder a little while ago. I hope it rains, we haven't had any good mud or stinky things to roll in for awhile and rain always helps that. Maybe it won't be so hot outside either. I can't even lay down outside by mom's chair because it's too hot. I don't like it when it's like this. It burns my feet on the cement.
Well, I better go. Thank you to all my friends who read my blog. I didn't forget about you, I've just been a lazy dog. I love you!
Chuck
My human brother Matt came over yesterday and I let him give me some banana. He doesn't live here with us and when I first met him he scared me a little. He's really, really tall, even when he stands by mom he's really, really tall, so he makes me feel very, very small. I wasn't sure I liked him for a while. Every time he would come over I wouldn't let him get close to mom, I would growl and show all of my teeth, but he would just laugh. He never hurt me so and today he gave me a whole banana (well, little pieces at a time) so I guess he's okay. I let him pet me today for a long time, but when he tried to pick me up I screamed for mom! I don't want to be that high in the air!
I haven't been to the vet in a long time! When mom told grandma that today she said, "Knock on wood". I'm not sure what that means, but maybe you better knock on some wood, just in case. A few weeks ago mom went to get me some food, but they didn't have the good soft stuff in the can, so she bought some of that dry stuff. Yuck. I wouldn't eat it. How can mom and dad expect me to eat the old dry stuff when I'm used to the good soft stuff. It smells so much better and the taste... Yum! After a couple days of me not eating very much (except for bananas and applesauce) mom and dad finally got the idea and went back to the vet and got me some REAL food. I guess they aren't trained as well as I thought, since it took them 2 whole days. I better work on that some more.
I have a couple more sores on my back, but dad is putting medicine on them every night. I don't like the stuff, it doesn't taste very good. The sores don't really hurt a lot, except when dad touches them so I cry and stuff and then he feels sorry for me. Sometimes I try to lick them when I think mom and dad aren't looking, but they always catch me. How do they do that? Mom always says, "Charlie stop licking yourself like that?" Well, geez, how am I supposed to lick myself anyway? I heard mom tell dad today that they were looking better and I haven't been licking, so maybe she knows what she's talking about...
All the other guys got their nails cut tonight. Haha! I only have 2 nails and they're short most of the time. Sometimes Dr. Jesske cuts them for me. It doesn't hurt, but you wouldn't know that the way the other dogs carry on. Mom has to hold them while dad cuts their nails and Ruger runs and hides as soon as they get done. Even I'm not that big of a baby. Mom said one time Heidi had her nails cut at Dr. Jesske's office and she cried and screamed so loud they had to come get mom to hold her. What a BABY! I guess that's a girl for you.
Well, I think maybe it's going to rain because it started to thunder a little while ago. I hope it rains, we haven't had any good mud or stinky things to roll in for awhile and rain always helps that. Maybe it won't be so hot outside either. I can't even lay down outside by mom's chair because it's too hot. I don't like it when it's like this. It burns my feet on the cement.
Well, I better go. Thank you to all my friends who read my blog. I didn't forget about you, I've just been a lazy dog. I love you!
Chuck
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
My pictures
I put some new pictures up from my birthday. I really had a lot of fun. I found a new good thing - strawberry ice cream! Wow! Where have they been hiding that all my life? Mom didn't let me have very much, but it was the best thing I ever ate. She won't let me have any more though, even though it didn't make me itch or anything. Oh well. Grandma and Grandpa came over again and all the people got to eat cake with their ice cream. Doesn't seem fair to me that I didn't even get a piece of my own cake. Does that seem fair to you? Humph. Mom baked a cake especially for me. I put a picture of it down below. Mom thought it didn't look very good, but I thought it was great - it was my very own doghouse! I liked it. Mom is taking a cake decorating class, so I think we're probably going to have lots of cake around the house. I bet I won't get any either. I think mom was going to e-mail our friend Kate in Minnesota to get some good recipes for dog treats. Maybe she'll have something that I can eat too. I remember at Christmas she made some very good peanut butter things, but I don't think I can eat them now.
It's been really nice here, mom had the windows open and I was outside a lot. Then it rained and I didn't like that so much. Now it's hot again and the windows aren't open. I don't like that as much, there's nothing to smell but old inside smells. You don't know how boring it is to be a dog and live inside the house! Mom's glad when I don't like to go out very much, she doesn't want to have to take a bird away from me. All the baby birds are gone now, so mostly I just bark at the ones that come to eat the food that dad puts out for them. Silly things. Dad puts all the bird food in a nice place for them to eat it and they sit in it and flap their wings and get it all over the deck. It doesn't even taste that good. I like to try and eat the corn that mom puts out for the squirrels, but it's hard and I can't chew it. Mom says I'm not supposed to eat it anyway and always takes it away from me.
I still have a sore on my back. You can see it in the picture of dad and me. It just won't go away. Dad puts some medicine on it every night and mom keeps putting lotion on my back, but it's still kind of dry and itchy. I love it when people rub my back - it feels so good! I like the lotion too 'cept it makes me smell like mom! Maybe she can find some lotion that smells like dad. I'm no sissy.
Well, enjoy my pictures. I'll be back with more adventures when I can.
Love,
Charlie
It's been really nice here, mom had the windows open and I was outside a lot. Then it rained and I didn't like that so much. Now it's hot again and the windows aren't open. I don't like that as much, there's nothing to smell but old inside smells. You don't know how boring it is to be a dog and live inside the house! Mom's glad when I don't like to go out very much, she doesn't want to have to take a bird away from me. All the baby birds are gone now, so mostly I just bark at the ones that come to eat the food that dad puts out for them. Silly things. Dad puts all the bird food in a nice place for them to eat it and they sit in it and flap their wings and get it all over the deck. It doesn't even taste that good. I like to try and eat the corn that mom puts out for the squirrels, but it's hard and I can't chew it. Mom says I'm not supposed to eat it anyway and always takes it away from me.
I still have a sore on my back. You can see it in the picture of dad and me. It just won't go away. Dad puts some medicine on it every night and mom keeps putting lotion on my back, but it's still kind of dry and itchy. I love it when people rub my back - it feels so good! I like the lotion too 'cept it makes me smell like mom! Maybe she can find some lotion that smells like dad. I'm no sissy.
Well, enjoy my pictures. I'll be back with more adventures when I can.
Love,
Charlie
Friday, July 07, 2006
I'm having a birthday party
I'm so excited! My mom is baking a cake and everything! I don't think I get any of the cake, but I bet I get some kind of other treat! Maybe a whole baked potato. Maybe some more of my rabbit and potato! WOW! I'm so excited.
My real birthday was July 5, but mom had a cake decorating class that night, so we had to wait until tonight, but my grandma and grandpa Sieborg came over and gave me presents anyway. I got a whole bag of potatoes (yum) and a squeaky monkey. I love my monkey. Heidi tried to take it away from me, but I growled really loud at her and she ran away and let me have it. Smart girl, that sister of mine! I'm sure mom will have some more pictures of me tomorrow, so I'll be sure and put them here on my blog.
It's sure been noisy around here! Mom said it was the 4th of July, all I know about that is it's the day before my birthday. Maybe they were making all that noise for ME. If they were, I hope mom tells them I didn't like it, so they don't do it again. I stayed in the basement with dad and watched movies, it was scary going outside. Heidi didn't like the noise either, she hid under a blanket by mom, but silly Buttercup would bark and bark at the noise. Every time there was a big BOOM Buttercup would start barking. Mom said she didn't know which was worse. I don't know if Ruger was scared or not, he was under the sofa like he always is. I don't think he's scared all the time. Well, I don't know, he's kind of a chicken, maybe he is... It doesn't matter I'm brave enough for both of us.
Well, I better go stand around the kitchen while mom frosts my cake. You never know when she's going to drop something good.
My real birthday was July 5, but mom had a cake decorating class that night, so we had to wait until tonight, but my grandma and grandpa Sieborg came over and gave me presents anyway. I got a whole bag of potatoes (yum) and a squeaky monkey. I love my monkey. Heidi tried to take it away from me, but I growled really loud at her and she ran away and let me have it. Smart girl, that sister of mine! I'm sure mom will have some more pictures of me tomorrow, so I'll be sure and put them here on my blog.
It's sure been noisy around here! Mom said it was the 4th of July, all I know about that is it's the day before my birthday. Maybe they were making all that noise for ME. If they were, I hope mom tells them I didn't like it, so they don't do it again. I stayed in the basement with dad and watched movies, it was scary going outside. Heidi didn't like the noise either, she hid under a blanket by mom, but silly Buttercup would bark and bark at the noise. Every time there was a big BOOM Buttercup would start barking. Mom said she didn't know which was worse. I don't know if Ruger was scared or not, he was under the sofa like he always is. I don't think he's scared all the time. Well, I don't know, he's kind of a chicken, maybe he is... It doesn't matter I'm brave enough for both of us.
Well, I better go stand around the kitchen while mom frosts my cake. You never know when she's going to drop something good.
Monday, June 26, 2006
THE BEST NEWS EVER!!!
I'm adopted! I'm not a foster dog anymore! I know mom and dad are really excited too! I'll miss being part of Grandma Judy's foster family, but I really belong to someone now. For the first time EVER I belong to someone who loves me! Mom and dad are really excited too! Woo hoo! Mom and dad are going to get some pictures of all of us together so we can put a brand new picture up - and send one to Grandma Judy of course, 'cuz she'll always be my special grandma! Mom gets paid today so she says we're going to PetSmart, just the 2 of us, and I get a new squeaky toy! That's good 'cuz I've broken all the squeakers on all the other toys. Even Ruger has been hiding his favorite duck from me, it has one squeaker left - I know 'cuz he squeaks it sometimes when he has it in bed with him and I can't get to it!
Isn't that the best news? I'm so happy I'm doing the doxie happy dance!
Isn't that the best news? I'm so happy I'm doing the doxie happy dance!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Please read this...
This is pretty much the story of my life until someone saved me from the puppy mill and then grandma got me, and from there I came to live with mom and dad. Please rememeber there are a lot more dogs just like me in places like these. These are evil, wicked places where dogs have no fun and we're always afraid.
Born In A Missouri Puppy MillBy Brenda Shoss 6/14/06
ht tp://www.KinshipCircle.orgShe waddles over, a puffy "hair-do" perched upon stubby legs. The four-pound pup nestles against my chest and gives me the goofy sideways glance. I'm a goner. I'll call her Mandy.
I first laid eyes upon this irresistible Lhasa Apso at Flawdogs Adoption, a rescue dedicated to "little puppy mill leftovers" about 45 minutes southwest of St. Louis in Morse Mill, Missouri.
There are no kennels or cages at Flawdogs. A tree-lined bridge leads to a canine Shangri-La where Silky Terriers, Corgis, Chihuahuas and Yorkies frolic amid pools and sunbathing decks in outdoor runs across eight yards. Inside, Shih Tzus, Poodles, Bichon Frises, and Dachshunds tumble over toys and each other. It's Camp Cute, with an army of wide-eyed fluffballs auditioning to steal your heart.
But Mandy's doubtful peer recalls another setting. During her first week home, direct eye contact threatens her. Reaching han ds remind her of harsh hands that once threw her from cage to cage. She pauses before open doors, remembering other dogs smashed in gates when they tried to flee. She freezes on a leash. My gentle tug reminds her of a yank by the head or neck.
Love and a loose leash soon erase Mandy's memories of birth inside a Missouri puppy mill. Yet though Flawdogs had tested and vaccinated her for ailments commonly spread inside breeding mills, Mandy grows anorexic and lethargic. She is treated for coccidia and giardia parasites. Her back legs cave in as she walks. An x-ray reveals the head of femur bone is missing in her left leg. The same bone in her right leg is porous, ragged and dying.
Still, Mandy is one lucky dog. Flawdogs founder Sally Ives, former director of Open Door Animal Sanctuary in House Springs, MO, talks about wire hair terriers salvaged from a puppy mill in northern Missouri. One dog's entire nasal channel was exposed where his face had been torn away in a fight. A Dachshund came with third degree heating pad burns over 60% of her tiny body.
"It's a miracle that dog lived," Ives says. "Those are the heartwarming cases -- the ones who are supposed to die, but insist on living instead."
Puppy mills are profit-driven enterprises that typically fail to provide adequate veterinary care, diet, exercise or shelter. Large sites house up to 1,000 dogs in rusted chicken wire cages heaped three or four tiers high. Urine and feces seep into lower cages. Dogs at the top swelter in the summer and freeze in the winter. Smaller facilities may board 50 or more dogs in squalid kennel runs.
The mass breeder's bottom line is low overhead and high return. So bulk food purchases are often comprised of sweepings from the food manufacturer's floor. Dogs are so nutrition deprived, their teeth rot as young as one or two years of age. Sometimes their jaws di ssolve. Others lose their front teeth from gnawing on the metal bars that contain them.
There are approximately 5,000 mill-style outfits nationwide. Cruelty investigators have uncovered parasite-infested dogs with oozing eyes, ear infections, and fur so matted it forms a cocoon over sores. Mange can transform a puppy's skin into a blanket of red scabs. Dogs in congested quarters easily spread worms, upper respiratory infections, coccidia, giardia, and deadly parvovirus and distemper.
Dogs are found with gangrenous skin where collars became embedded in flesh. Others are balding, blind, emaciated. Some long-term mill dogs have been debarked by shoving a steel rod down their throats to mutilate vocal cords.
Breeding factories function primarily in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. Missouri leads the way, with an estimated $40 million per year in puppy mill profits.
Ives' relationship with mill managers, mostly women, is unique. On 24-hour call, she awaits their invitation to collect the rejects slated for euthanasia. "They see themselves as professional breeders. I must appear positive and flattering. The few times I've leaked a look of horror, I've never been invited back. My commitment is to any dog I can get out.
"Federally licensed Class A breeders form contractual agreements with brokers, or Class B dealers, who purchase mill pups for resale to some 3,500 U.S. pet outlets. Brokers seek flawless 8-week-old puppies to pile into crates for shipment by truck or plane. According to the Companion Animal Protection Society, a half-million puppies pass from mill to broker to pet shop in the U.S. and Canada every year.
A dog who misses a broker's weekly pickup from the mill may be deemed "too old" by the next collection day and consequently killed. If a broker reaches his sales quota in a region, he has nowhere else to market puppies. In most cases, these leftovers are healthy young animals.A broker's criterion is based on what the public will pay for. "We've saved a lot of Bichon and Maltese pups who have biscuit-colored ears. They won't accept biscuit on a white dog, or any color considered inconsistent, even an odd-colored eye," Ives explains.
Ives rescues any animal a mill will release: Too small. Too large. Undescended testicles. Umbilical hernias. A sparse coat. A short tail.
"How do you pick which ones to save and which ones to pass a death sentence on?" she asks. "They ride quietly in our crowded van. We hold as many in our laps as we can to start the socialization."Mandy was a disposable mill dog. Her twisted back legs were likely injured in a cage jam-packed with puppies. Dogs suffer abscessed feet, hyperflexion, loss of limbs or bones, and deformed or broken legs from trauma inside overcrowded wire encl osures.Mills usually cull puppies with leg defects. Ives acquires many Italian Greyhounds dismissed for luxating patellas. In fact, their wobbly kneecaps arise from insufficient muscle growth. After days of open space and nutritious food, they "run around like lunatics," she says. The "flaw" in older dogs is their inability to produce a viable litter of six or more pups. Mills breed females from six months of age to every heat cycle thereafter. When too worn to turn a profit, dogs as young as two to five years are shot or clubbed in the head. Other throwaways are sold to research laboratories or simply discarded.
Brandylyn, a 17-year-old "chocolate" poodle, was five pounds and pregnant when Ives retrieved her from a mill. Three baths later, Brandylyn emerged as a white dog. "She had been sold, auctioned, and traded so many times, they lost track of her color," Ives says. "Her babies were stillborn."One overbred Yorkshire Terrier arrived with 12 mammary tumors. Ives compares their insides to "cole slaw, filled with adhesions, cysts, and scar tissue. Some are boiling with pyometra (an infection of the female organs) that can fatally rupture.
"While breeders and brokers retain consulting veterinarians, they rarely call upon them. "Their idea of medical intervention is to stick a sick dog in a garage, basement, or barn," Ives claims.Shoddy breeding methods predispose dogs to chronic infirmities such as hip dysplasia, dislocating kneecaps, seizures, eye lesions, liver and heart disease, and autoimmune disorders.
In California, a state financed study revealed almost half of pet store pups were sick or harboring diseases.The Animal, Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) arm of the USDA regulates animal industries. This financially strapped agency employs a relative handful of inspectors to monitor thousands of Class A licensees (breeders), Class B licensees (brokers), Class C licensees (exhibitors), handlers, and biomedical researchers.
Present law categorizes high volume breeders who sell directly to the public as "pet stores, and exempts them from U.S. Animal Welfare Act guidelines. Thus, a breeder who sells animals via a middleman broker, the internet or newspaper ads functions with minimal oversight. Kittens, puppies and other companion animals easily cross state borders with no information about the decrepit surroundings in which they were raised. This loophole undermines a key intent of the AWA and deceives consumers, who are conned into spending huge fees on animals with health complications. When I ask Ives about her role in a system clogged with lax laws, she pauses and then quietly clarifies her mission: "I am their caretaker. I get to touch their lives for a little while and send them bouncing into people's arms. I am upstairs right now, looking over my little dogs in their playhouses, just hanging out the windows. This is grand. I am way too happy.
"Somehow, Ives finds homes for even the most traumatized animals. One family traveled 300 miles to adopt Trina, a blind dog with detached retinas. Mufasa's family adores him, despite undernourishment that left him permanently hairless over most of his body. Tick, an underweight Dachshund who couldn't sustain his own body temperature, is photographed weeks later amid a swirl of shredded paper towels. Once they can wreak puppy havoc, Ives knows they are okay.
In closing I mention to Ives that although I currently have two cats and two dogs, I really want to rescue a beagle. "If I can talk my husband into more animals... Do you get beagles?""Funny you should ask," she drawls. Ives knows I'm already hooked, but offers this advice: "You need to break your husband in gradually."Honey , how do you feel about beagle pups?"
Flawed Dogs
a poem by Berkley Breathed
So in this world of the simple and odd,
the bent and the pain,
the unbalanced body,
the imperfect people and differently pawed,
some live without love...
THAT'S how they're flawed.
WHAT YOU CAN DO1. Boycott pet stores that buy and sell companion animals. Without pet store sales, mass pet producers would be squeezed out of business. Meet and fall in love with your own puppy mill rescue at Flawdogs! Out-of-state adoptions welcome. View animals online and visit Flawdogs (by appointment): Flawdogs Adoption ph: 636-274-2511; email: gnsives@aol.com web: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/flawdogs.html
http://community.webshots.com/user/flawdogs
P.O. Box 99
Morse Mill, MO 63066
In Missouri, Flawdogs is at the Arnold Petco every Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They are also there on the second and fourth Saturday, each month.
Born In A Missouri Puppy MillBy Brenda Shoss 6/14/06
ht tp://www.KinshipCircle.orgShe waddles over, a puffy "hair-do" perched upon stubby legs. The four-pound pup nestles against my chest and gives me the goofy sideways glance. I'm a goner. I'll call her Mandy.
I first laid eyes upon this irresistible Lhasa Apso at Flawdogs Adoption, a rescue dedicated to "little puppy mill leftovers" about 45 minutes southwest of St. Louis in Morse Mill, Missouri.
There are no kennels or cages at Flawdogs. A tree-lined bridge leads to a canine Shangri-La where Silky Terriers, Corgis, Chihuahuas and Yorkies frolic amid pools and sunbathing decks in outdoor runs across eight yards. Inside, Shih Tzus, Poodles, Bichon Frises, and Dachshunds tumble over toys and each other. It's Camp Cute, with an army of wide-eyed fluffballs auditioning to steal your heart.
But Mandy's doubtful peer recalls another setting. During her first week home, direct eye contact threatens her. Reaching han ds remind her of harsh hands that once threw her from cage to cage. She pauses before open doors, remembering other dogs smashed in gates when they tried to flee. She freezes on a leash. My gentle tug reminds her of a yank by the head or neck.
Love and a loose leash soon erase Mandy's memories of birth inside a Missouri puppy mill. Yet though Flawdogs had tested and vaccinated her for ailments commonly spread inside breeding mills, Mandy grows anorexic and lethargic. She is treated for coccidia and giardia parasites. Her back legs cave in as she walks. An x-ray reveals the head of femur bone is missing in her left leg. The same bone in her right leg is porous, ragged and dying.
Still, Mandy is one lucky dog. Flawdogs founder Sally Ives, former director of Open Door Animal Sanctuary in House Springs, MO, talks about wire hair terriers salvaged from a puppy mill in northern Missouri. One dog's entire nasal channel was exposed where his face had been torn away in a fight. A Dachshund came with third degree heating pad burns over 60% of her tiny body.
"It's a miracle that dog lived," Ives says. "Those are the heartwarming cases -- the ones who are supposed to die, but insist on living instead."
Puppy mills are profit-driven enterprises that typically fail to provide adequate veterinary care, diet, exercise or shelter. Large sites house up to 1,000 dogs in rusted chicken wire cages heaped three or four tiers high. Urine and feces seep into lower cages. Dogs at the top swelter in the summer and freeze in the winter. Smaller facilities may board 50 or more dogs in squalid kennel runs.
The mass breeder's bottom line is low overhead and high return. So bulk food purchases are often comprised of sweepings from the food manufacturer's floor. Dogs are so nutrition deprived, their teeth rot as young as one or two years of age. Sometimes their jaws di ssolve. Others lose their front teeth from gnawing on the metal bars that contain them.
There are approximately 5,000 mill-style outfits nationwide. Cruelty investigators have uncovered parasite-infested dogs with oozing eyes, ear infections, and fur so matted it forms a cocoon over sores. Mange can transform a puppy's skin into a blanket of red scabs. Dogs in congested quarters easily spread worms, upper respiratory infections, coccidia, giardia, and deadly parvovirus and distemper.
Dogs are found with gangrenous skin where collars became embedded in flesh. Others are balding, blind, emaciated. Some long-term mill dogs have been debarked by shoving a steel rod down their throats to mutilate vocal cords.
Breeding factories function primarily in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. Missouri leads the way, with an estimated $40 million per year in puppy mill profits.
Ives' relationship with mill managers, mostly women, is unique. On 24-hour call, she awaits their invitation to collect the rejects slated for euthanasia. "They see themselves as professional breeders. I must appear positive and flattering. The few times I've leaked a look of horror, I've never been invited back. My commitment is to any dog I can get out.
"Federally licensed Class A breeders form contractual agreements with brokers, or Class B dealers, who purchase mill pups for resale to some 3,500 U.S. pet outlets. Brokers seek flawless 8-week-old puppies to pile into crates for shipment by truck or plane. According to the Companion Animal Protection Society, a half-million puppies pass from mill to broker to pet shop in the U.S. and Canada every year.
A dog who misses a broker's weekly pickup from the mill may be deemed "too old" by the next collection day and consequently killed. If a broker reaches his sales quota in a region, he has nowhere else to market puppies. In most cases, these leftovers are healthy young animals.A broker's criterion is based on what the public will pay for. "We've saved a lot of Bichon and Maltese pups who have biscuit-colored ears. They won't accept biscuit on a white dog, or any color considered inconsistent, even an odd-colored eye," Ives explains.
Ives rescues any animal a mill will release: Too small. Too large. Undescended testicles. Umbilical hernias. A sparse coat. A short tail.
"How do you pick which ones to save and which ones to pass a death sentence on?" she asks. "They ride quietly in our crowded van. We hold as many in our laps as we can to start the socialization."Mandy was a disposable mill dog. Her twisted back legs were likely injured in a cage jam-packed with puppies. Dogs suffer abscessed feet, hyperflexion, loss of limbs or bones, and deformed or broken legs from trauma inside overcrowded wire encl osures.Mills usually cull puppies with leg defects. Ives acquires many Italian Greyhounds dismissed for luxating patellas. In fact, their wobbly kneecaps arise from insufficient muscle growth. After days of open space and nutritious food, they "run around like lunatics," she says. The "flaw" in older dogs is their inability to produce a viable litter of six or more pups. Mills breed females from six months of age to every heat cycle thereafter. When too worn to turn a profit, dogs as young as two to five years are shot or clubbed in the head. Other throwaways are sold to research laboratories or simply discarded.
Brandylyn, a 17-year-old "chocolate" poodle, was five pounds and pregnant when Ives retrieved her from a mill. Three baths later, Brandylyn emerged as a white dog. "She had been sold, auctioned, and traded so many times, they lost track of her color," Ives says. "Her babies were stillborn."One overbred Yorkshire Terrier arrived with 12 mammary tumors. Ives compares their insides to "cole slaw, filled with adhesions, cysts, and scar tissue. Some are boiling with pyometra (an infection of the female organs) that can fatally rupture.
"While breeders and brokers retain consulting veterinarians, they rarely call upon them. "Their idea of medical intervention is to stick a sick dog in a garage, basement, or barn," Ives claims.Shoddy breeding methods predispose dogs to chronic infirmities such as hip dysplasia, dislocating kneecaps, seizures, eye lesions, liver and heart disease, and autoimmune disorders.
In California, a state financed study revealed almost half of pet store pups were sick or harboring diseases.The Animal, Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) arm of the USDA regulates animal industries. This financially strapped agency employs a relative handful of inspectors to monitor thousands of Class A licensees (breeders), Class B licensees (brokers), Class C licensees (exhibitors), handlers, and biomedical researchers.
Present law categorizes high volume breeders who sell directly to the public as "pet stores, and exempts them from U.S. Animal Welfare Act guidelines. Thus, a breeder who sells animals via a middleman broker, the internet or newspaper ads functions with minimal oversight. Kittens, puppies and other companion animals easily cross state borders with no information about the decrepit surroundings in which they were raised. This loophole undermines a key intent of the AWA and deceives consumers, who are conned into spending huge fees on animals with health complications. When I ask Ives about her role in a system clogged with lax laws, she pauses and then quietly clarifies her mission: "I am their caretaker. I get to touch their lives for a little while and send them bouncing into people's arms. I am upstairs right now, looking over my little dogs in their playhouses, just hanging out the windows. This is grand. I am way too happy.
"Somehow, Ives finds homes for even the most traumatized animals. One family traveled 300 miles to adopt Trina, a blind dog with detached retinas. Mufasa's family adores him, despite undernourishment that left him permanently hairless over most of his body. Tick, an underweight Dachshund who couldn't sustain his own body temperature, is photographed weeks later amid a swirl of shredded paper towels. Once they can wreak puppy havoc, Ives knows they are okay.
In closing I mention to Ives that although I currently have two cats and two dogs, I really want to rescue a beagle. "If I can talk my husband into more animals... Do you get beagles?""Funny you should ask," she drawls. Ives knows I'm already hooked, but offers this advice: "You need to break your husband in gradually."Honey , how do you feel about beagle pups?"
Flawed Dogs
a poem by Berkley Breathed
So in this world of the simple and odd,
the bent and the pain,
the unbalanced body,
the imperfect people and differently pawed,
some live without love...
THAT'S how they're flawed.
WHAT YOU CAN DO1. Boycott pet stores that buy and sell companion animals. Without pet store sales, mass pet producers would be squeezed out of business. Meet and fall in love with your own puppy mill rescue at Flawdogs! Out-of-state adoptions welcome. View animals online and visit Flawdogs (by appointment): Flawdogs Adoption ph: 636-274-2511; email: gnsives@aol.com web: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/flawdogs.html
http://community.webshots.com/user/flawdogs
P.O. Box 99
Morse Mill, MO 63066
In Missouri, Flawdogs is at the Arnold Petco every Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They are also there on the second and fourth Saturday, each month.
Well, maybe I'm not the mighty hunter after all...
I woke up the other night and there was something in my bed. I didn't like it, so I barked and barked for mom or dad to get up and help me. First dad got up and thought I wanted to go outside, since I was standing by the gate. I went outside to make him happy, but that really wasn't the problem. Then I came back inside and dad put me back in my room and left me alone with that thing in my bed again. I barked and barked again. This time dad thought I wanted some applesauce, so he got up and gave me some. (I must rememeber that if I bark in the middle of the night I might get applesauce...) Anyway, after I ate he left me alone again. I barked and barked. I think dad was trying to ignore me because I had to bark a LONG time before he finally came back. Mom told him to make sure there wasn't a bug in my bed. Well, it wasn't a bug, it was a big old poop!
Dad took it out of my bed, and flushed it down the big water bowl and then I went right back to sleep. Man, what you go through to get people to understand you!
Dad took it out of my bed, and flushed it down the big water bowl and then I went right back to sleep. Man, what you go through to get people to understand you!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
The Mighty Hunter Returns
Finally, mom got off the computer so I could write! She's sick today. I'm sorry she's sick, but she's such a HOG with the computer... What's a guy to do?
I killed another bird today. YES! I even got to eat most of it before dad found out. Mom is totally grossed out and won't let me near her, but that's okay, she'll forget in a little while and then I'll be back on the bed with her. Our weather has been really hot, but I like it. I sit outside for hours. Mom always has to come look for me, and call me, and she isn't satisfied until I come out of my hiding places (under the hostas) so she knows I haven't gotten out of the gate again. I won't do that again. I got scared kind of bad the first time I did that.
Mom was gone taking care of grandma and grandpa's cat this week. How's that for dog neglect? Leaving me home while she takes care of a stupid CAT! And Mr. Tucker doesn't even like dogs. I wanted to go to grandma's but mom said Mr. Tucker would eat ME! Bet he wouldn't. Silly old cat couldn't hurt a mighty hunter like me! (Note from mom - he took out after my brother in law's Irish Setter, so mighty hunter or not, Charlie stays home when we go to grandma's.) Some bad people got into grandma's and grandpa's house while they were gone, so mom had to take care of Mr. Tucker because my human cousin was afraid to stay there. Maybe if she had a guard DOG instead of a cat that wouldn't have happened. I'm only sayin'.....
I found a new treat this week - bananas! Yum! They're even better than applesauce, but mom doesn't share them as much. She says I can't have a whole one, so I can only have some when she has one. The other kids don't like them much. Good, all the more for me.
My back was all healed up, but then it itched me again, so I chewed it open. I don't think it's too bad. Mom thinks it is, so I had to go to the vet - again. I think I should just live there and mom and dad can come visit me. Geez. Dr. Jesske said I look "great". Woo hoo! My mouth is a little worse, I guess I have a fistula, kind of a hole in the bone of my jaw, but they can't fix it. Dr. Jesske said they could, but maybe if I go to sleep I won't wake up again. That wouldn't be too good, so mom said no. Whew! He said they could go to another vet where they have someone watch me when I'm asleep, something like a seezeologist, (note from mom - anesthesiologist) but that would cost a lot of money and even then I might not wake up. I'm not liking that idea too much, so I'm glad mom says no. I'm happy with my soft food and any birds I can find. So I don't think my mouth needs to be fixed - even though the other kids won't drink out of the water bowl after me 'cause there's icky stuff in it. More water for me, the way I see it. Besides, mom fills it up all the time with clean water. They're such BABIES!
Mom is really excited because Dr. Jesske gave her some prednisone for Heidi because she's itching - guess she's 'lergic to something, anyways the prednisone fixed her nose right up. No more scab. She's a pretty good lookin' dog, of course she's my sister though, so I have to say that.
Well, I just heard mom get up so I'm going to go lay in the corner and pretend like I haven't been on the computer. Thanks to all my friends who read this! I love everybody!
I killed another bird today. YES! I even got to eat most of it before dad found out. Mom is totally grossed out and won't let me near her, but that's okay, she'll forget in a little while and then I'll be back on the bed with her. Our weather has been really hot, but I like it. I sit outside for hours. Mom always has to come look for me, and call me, and she isn't satisfied until I come out of my hiding places (under the hostas) so she knows I haven't gotten out of the gate again. I won't do that again. I got scared kind of bad the first time I did that.
Mom was gone taking care of grandma and grandpa's cat this week. How's that for dog neglect? Leaving me home while she takes care of a stupid CAT! And Mr. Tucker doesn't even like dogs. I wanted to go to grandma's but mom said Mr. Tucker would eat ME! Bet he wouldn't. Silly old cat couldn't hurt a mighty hunter like me! (Note from mom - he took out after my brother in law's Irish Setter, so mighty hunter or not, Charlie stays home when we go to grandma's.) Some bad people got into grandma's and grandpa's house while they were gone, so mom had to take care of Mr. Tucker because my human cousin was afraid to stay there. Maybe if she had a guard DOG instead of a cat that wouldn't have happened. I'm only sayin'.....
I found a new treat this week - bananas! Yum! They're even better than applesauce, but mom doesn't share them as much. She says I can't have a whole one, so I can only have some when she has one. The other kids don't like them much. Good, all the more for me.
My back was all healed up, but then it itched me again, so I chewed it open. I don't think it's too bad. Mom thinks it is, so I had to go to the vet - again. I think I should just live there and mom and dad can come visit me. Geez. Dr. Jesske said I look "great". Woo hoo! My mouth is a little worse, I guess I have a fistula, kind of a hole in the bone of my jaw, but they can't fix it. Dr. Jesske said they could, but maybe if I go to sleep I won't wake up again. That wouldn't be too good, so mom said no. Whew! He said they could go to another vet where they have someone watch me when I'm asleep, something like a seezeologist, (note from mom - anesthesiologist) but that would cost a lot of money and even then I might not wake up. I'm not liking that idea too much, so I'm glad mom says no. I'm happy with my soft food and any birds I can find. So I don't think my mouth needs to be fixed - even though the other kids won't drink out of the water bowl after me 'cause there's icky stuff in it. More water for me, the way I see it. Besides, mom fills it up all the time with clean water. They're such BABIES!
Mom is really excited because Dr. Jesske gave her some prednisone for Heidi because she's itching - guess she's 'lergic to something, anyways the prednisone fixed her nose right up. No more scab. She's a pretty good lookin' dog, of course she's my sister though, so I have to say that.
Well, I just heard mom get up so I'm going to go lay in the corner and pretend like I haven't been on the computer. Thanks to all my friends who read this! I love everybody!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Summer, finally summer!
So, I see my mom's been posting on my blog, huh? Well! She has one of her own, she should leave mine alone! She's right though, I've been having so much fun that I just don't even think about getting on the 'puter and updating this blog. It's so nice out! When I go outside I don't want to come back in, our yard is so big, I just walk and walk and walk, and sometimes I take naps by a tree or in the garden. Mom says the plants are hostas. I don't care what they're called, it's nice and cool under their leaves. A guy could lay out there forever!
We haven't had too much excitement around here. Mom and dad are talking about getting a wood floor in the living room. Mom said she's tired of the way the living room smells. Something about an outhouse? Are all houses outside? I don't get it. But I have a feeling it won't be as much fun to make a mess if there's no carpet! Dad won't have to get that big noisy machine out of the garage either, you know, the one that makes the carpet all wet and icky to lay on. It takes all the good doggie smells away too... Maybe that's what they want!? That's kind of funny.
I've been spending evenings laying in the big bed in Mom and Dad's room. It's very comfortable and I sleep really good there. I wish they would let me sleep there all night, but dad says nothin' doing! I guess I peed in their bed a long time ago and he's not going to give me the chance to do that again. It was so long ago I hardly remember, I think it was right after I came to live here. Geez, I wish they'd give me some credit. I have learned SOMETHING since I've been here. Gosh.
Meghan (my human sister) has been hanging around a lot. I guess she's living back in Nebraska now. She did live in some place called Iowa. I think maybe I was there once in the car, but I'm not sure. Meghan had a thing called a graduation a few weeks ago. She was all done with one college and now she's going to another one. Sounds like a lot of work if you ask me. I guess she doesn't know that if you just look really really cute people will want to take you home and feed you and give you a soft bed. Humans can be so dense at times.
I hear mom, better get off the computer! Later friends!
Chuck
We haven't had too much excitement around here. Mom and dad are talking about getting a wood floor in the living room. Mom said she's tired of the way the living room smells. Something about an outhouse? Are all houses outside? I don't get it. But I have a feeling it won't be as much fun to make a mess if there's no carpet! Dad won't have to get that big noisy machine out of the garage either, you know, the one that makes the carpet all wet and icky to lay on. It takes all the good doggie smells away too... Maybe that's what they want!? That's kind of funny.
I've been spending evenings laying in the big bed in Mom and Dad's room. It's very comfortable and I sleep really good there. I wish they would let me sleep there all night, but dad says nothin' doing! I guess I peed in their bed a long time ago and he's not going to give me the chance to do that again. It was so long ago I hardly remember, I think it was right after I came to live here. Geez, I wish they'd give me some credit. I have learned SOMETHING since I've been here. Gosh.
Meghan (my human sister) has been hanging around a lot. I guess she's living back in Nebraska now. She did live in some place called Iowa. I think maybe I was there once in the car, but I'm not sure. Meghan had a thing called a graduation a few weeks ago. She was all done with one college and now she's going to another one. Sounds like a lot of work if you ask me. I guess she doesn't know that if you just look really really cute people will want to take you home and feed you and give you a soft bed. Humans can be so dense at times.
I hear mom, better get off the computer! Later friends!
Chuck
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
A Note from Charlie's Mom
Don't worry! Everything is fine, I'm not posting because Charlie can't get to the computer! LOL Anyway, I just wanted to tell everyone what a great spring Charlie is having - aside from being scared to death by the baby gate.
He's been outside a LOT and he's loving every minute of it! I could cry when I think that up until Grandma got him last year in August (?) that he probably had spent very little time, if at all, out of his cell. Yesterday he was in the backyard for about 3 hours! I kept going out to check on him and he was just wandering around the yard and occasionally napping under the tree. I'll have to get some pictures later today if I have time.
On Friday last week he made his first kill! Granted it was a baby bird, but he hunted it down. While I'm not an advocate of killing baby birds, I have to think that this was the first time he's ever done anything remotely like this - he's really turning into a mighty hunter!
As for his everyday life, his ears are looking great! The sore above his leg on his back is getting better and he seems to have a lot more energy and is more playful than he ever has been. Guess he has spring fever too! He still loves his applesauce and his meals 4 times a day of rabbit and potato with a little extra baked potato thrown in for good measure. No hair is growing back anywhere, but we love him more every day - little half-naked doxie man!
He's been outside a LOT and he's loving every minute of it! I could cry when I think that up until Grandma got him last year in August (?) that he probably had spent very little time, if at all, out of his cell. Yesterday he was in the backyard for about 3 hours! I kept going out to check on him and he was just wandering around the yard and occasionally napping under the tree. I'll have to get some pictures later today if I have time.
On Friday last week he made his first kill! Granted it was a baby bird, but he hunted it down. While I'm not an advocate of killing baby birds, I have to think that this was the first time he's ever done anything remotely like this - he's really turning into a mighty hunter!
As for his everyday life, his ears are looking great! The sore above his leg on his back is getting better and he seems to have a lot more energy and is more playful than he ever has been. Guess he has spring fever too! He still loves his applesauce and his meals 4 times a day of rabbit and potato with a little extra baked potato thrown in for good measure. No hair is growing back anywhere, but we love him more every day - little half-naked doxie man!
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Fright!
Wow, I got the crap scared out of me tonight. Mom was working and dad aws in bed, it was dark outside and I needed to go out. Dad put down some paper for me in my room, but heck, who wants to go on the paper? I found a towel in the corner of the room and decided to go there. Much nicer - for me anyway. Well, I bumped the gate that's in the doorway and it fell over with a CRASH! It scared me so bad I'm glad I just went to the bathroom or I'm sure I would have had to go again. I scurried right down the hall tothe bedroom 'cause mom's office door was shut. I wanted dad to pick me up, but he was sleeping! What's a scared guy to do!? Luckily mom heard the gate fall, so she came looking for me. I was shaking like crazy. I haven't been this scared since I came to live here.
Mom found me in the bedroom and decided that as long as I was up I better go outside... Ha ha! Beat you to THAT mom! Snicker... Anyway when I came back in, I sure wasn't going anywhere near that gate again, huh uh! NO way! I hid behind the ottoman in the living room. Mom went all over the house looking for me - tee hee, I was hiding good. Finally dad got up and came looking for me too. He found me though. I was too scared to even eat my applesauce in the kitchen, I kept going back behind the ottoman, so dad finally put me in my room. Dad put the gate up again, before he went to bed. I think I'll either stay in bed from now on during the night or else be sure to use my papers if I really have to go. I don't need to be that scared again!
I got to go see Dr. Jesske again on Sunday. The infection in my leg isn't getting any better. It hurts and I lick and lick it until mom got worried again. (Gosh, doesn't she have anything else to do besides take me to the vet? It would be fine with me if we could skip going there for a little while!) Dr. Jesske was pretty nice, but he squeezed my back again and it still hurts. Mom learned that when she tried to put some medicine on it the other night and I snapped at her. I think she's still amazed! I wouldn't have really bit her, but it made her jump! I'm still giggling over that. Anyway, I got another prescription. Mom said something about spending as much on my prescriptions as on hers. Wow, I didn't know she took as much medicine as me. Anyway, I hope it feels better pretty soon. It's kind of hot and itchy sometimes, and I don't like the hot washcloth mom puts on it. It makes me crabby and want to run and hide. What a guy has to go through, let me tell you!
Mom found me in the bedroom and decided that as long as I was up I better go outside... Ha ha! Beat you to THAT mom! Snicker... Anyway when I came back in, I sure wasn't going anywhere near that gate again, huh uh! NO way! I hid behind the ottoman in the living room. Mom went all over the house looking for me - tee hee, I was hiding good. Finally dad got up and came looking for me too. He found me though. I was too scared to even eat my applesauce in the kitchen, I kept going back behind the ottoman, so dad finally put me in my room. Dad put the gate up again, before he went to bed. I think I'll either stay in bed from now on during the night or else be sure to use my papers if I really have to go. I don't need to be that scared again!
I got to go see Dr. Jesske again on Sunday. The infection in my leg isn't getting any better. It hurts and I lick and lick it until mom got worried again. (Gosh, doesn't she have anything else to do besides take me to the vet? It would be fine with me if we could skip going there for a little while!) Dr. Jesske was pretty nice, but he squeezed my back again and it still hurts. Mom learned that when she tried to put some medicine on it the other night and I snapped at her. I think she's still amazed! I wouldn't have really bit her, but it made her jump! I'm still giggling over that. Anyway, I got another prescription. Mom said something about spending as much on my prescriptions as on hers. Wow, I didn't know she took as much medicine as me. Anyway, I hope it feels better pretty soon. It's kind of hot and itchy sometimes, and I don't like the hot washcloth mom puts on it. It makes me crabby and want to run and hide. What a guy has to go through, let me tell you!
Monday, May 08, 2006
If it's not one end, it's the other.
I had to go to the vet on Saturday and Dr. Jesske wasn't there! It was traumatic, let me tell you! I have a sore on my back, kind of at the top of my back leg. It's been hurting for awhile, but I guess mom thought I had arthritis or something like that. I didn't know what it was, all I knew was that it hurt whenever anybody touched me there. Last week I got a sore there and then the sore got bigger and pretty soon there was another one. Mom freaked out. Told dad maybe I had a "staff" infection or something, so she had to take me to the vet "right away" - like she couldn't wait for Dr. Jesske to work again? Geez.
Anyway, Dr. Matt was nice, but he squeezed my let where it hurt and that hurt really bad, but he said some stuff called pus came out of it, so I have an infection. Again. So now I'm taking medicine for that. Again. Mom says she spends as much money on me as she did Meg and Matt (her human kids). Really, I think she's exaggerating... I have to say it doesn't hurt quite as bad anymore. Mom and dad have been putting ointment on it too, so that helps. I don't feel like biting it anymore, so it must be getting better. I sure do love mom and dad. They had something called an anniversary yesterday, they've been living together and married (what's the difference to a dog?) for 18 years! That's a long, long time. I can't even imagine how long that is. I wish I would have known about this anniversary thing, I would have gotten them a card. Nobody tells you anything when you're a dog! Sheesh!
Anyway, Dr. Matt was nice, but he squeezed my let where it hurt and that hurt really bad, but he said some stuff called pus came out of it, so I have an infection. Again. So now I'm taking medicine for that. Again. Mom says she spends as much money on me as she did Meg and Matt (her human kids). Really, I think she's exaggerating... I have to say it doesn't hurt quite as bad anymore. Mom and dad have been putting ointment on it too, so that helps. I don't feel like biting it anymore, so it must be getting better. I sure do love mom and dad. They had something called an anniversary yesterday, they've been living together and married (what's the difference to a dog?) for 18 years! That's a long, long time. I can't even imagine how long that is. I wish I would have known about this anniversary thing, I would have gotten them a card. Nobody tells you anything when you're a dog! Sheesh!
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