The Tsunami Affects Animals Too
I've been wondering how I can help my canine and other animal friends in far-off Asia where the tsunami struck. My cyber-dog buddy Ditto had a great idea -- donate to the Asian Humane Society! You can
donate directly or Ditto is offering a prized heirloom-quality
2005 calendar featured (naked) photos of himself as a donation incentive! I've used up all of my past, current, and future allowance in buying a Ditto calendar and making additional donations.
Doggies can't speak for themselves (although some of us can write) and while the lucky few such as me live great lives, many do not. Imagine a life
worse that being a street dog...being a street dog after a tsunami hits.
Thanks to Ditto (and his human) for their thoughtfulness for all the unfortunates in this disaster.
Text from the
Humane Society International of Asia website:
Tsunami Kills and Strands Tens of Thousands of Animals The animal related problems in a disaster such as this are enormous. Dead animals litter the streets and beaches and add to the human health problems. Many animals are stranded and in need of food and help. Most of the animals in the affected areas are working and farm animals. Rescuing and caring for these animals not only helps the animals, but also the economic recovery of the region. HSIAsia is now assessing how best to assist those in need.
"Our main problem at present is food. Surviving beach dogs have no food or water. Restaurants which fed them all gone. Doing our best but very difficult. Had a delivery today from Bangkok but only 150kgs. Some volunteers dead or injured. Thanks for any help or support"- John Dalley, Antigaro Project, Phuket, HSIAsia
The New Rugs
There are new throw rugs now. I slip on the wood floor, as does ancient Elsa, so Mom bought some new cheap rugs from Walmart. She's experimenting to see which of the four she bought is the best in terms of not rolling up, not showing the dirt and hair, washing well, and sticking tight to the floor. Elsa and I like the rugs a lot 'cause we get better traction.
Couldn't take much of a walk today because it was, and is, raining dogs and cats. We walked 4 houses then turned back.
The Turkey and Carrot and Onion and Garlic and Celery and Sweet Potato and Ginger Stew
Tonight we doggies got a treat -- dollops of pressure-cooker turkey stew in our dog bowls along with the usual kibble. I think Mom is adding to my diet because of my "health problem", whatever that is. Yummy. I like home-cooked meals even though by human standards, Mom is a lousy cook. But by dog standards, which are the only ones I know, she's a great cook!
Kelly came over and brought some more kibble for me. All of us doggies had to show off in front of Kelly. Despite my problem I danced around the floor like a crazed demon; I even galloped in circles and made little barks of delight. Actually, I was trying to impress Kelly but more importantly I was desperately trying to keep Mom focused on serving us our dinner! It was all prepared but she chit chatted with Kelly way past our dinnertime! According to our inner mealtime clocks, which are extremely accurate, we are supposed to eat at 5pm sharp (sooner is OK) not at 6pm! Elsa and Buffy and Pumpkin and I all tried to remind Mom of our dinner just sitting there but then Kelly would start petting us and we would have to crowd around her saying "me, me, me, ignore them and pet me" in our inner canine voices.
We finally got dinner and it was super delicious. As always.
The Rainy Day
It's raining so I didn't get to go for my walk! Oh boo hoo, whine, sob, little sniffles. But Mom says that Jackie is going to give me a raincoat that is too big for her doggies so that I can be walking in the rain in the future. Yes! Walking in the rain is in my future!
I did get to go for a ride in the car with Mom. We went to the post office to send a letter to her friend Laura who lives in Argentina, then we went to the vitamin store. Mom bought some vitamins to put into my food. Ugh, yuck. Actually, just kiddng. If it is even remotely edible, I'll eat it. Mom put them in my food tonight and I didn't even notice. Right now I am taking Vitamin B complex and a liquid that is fish, borage and flax oil. More vitamins soon but Mom didn't want to add too many at once. She says she is going to start giving me sardines too. Yummy!
The Cyberdog Buddy - Cal the Wonderdog
I've got a new dog buddy, his name is "Cal the Wonderdog". We've never met in dogson or sniffed each others butts, but we are buddies all the same because we have linked our blogs together. I think Cal is a collie, which is fine. Any type of dog is OK with me!
Cal got a lot of presents this Christmas and he is very pleased. I got a bunch too so I'm as happy as a dog can be, which as you probably know, is really super-duper happy!
My cyberdog buddy Cal the Wonderdog.
Read Cal's
blog!
The Christmas Presents
Wow, today is a special day. We doggies don't really know why but we are getting all kinds of delicious treats, bones, and toys! I can't blog much today because I'm busy playing with my presents and making sure the other dogs don't steal them.
The Walk to the Bagel Shop
Mom and I walked to the bagel shop today! It was really fun. We usually drive there (Mom told me
not to tell
anyone this since it makes her sound lazy but since I am telling
everyone that's different right?). Mom says I have to get more exercise because of my medical problem. Well I don't even know what a "medical problem" is but I do know that walks are
fun! And, even better, Mom says I get to go swimming! She is looking for a pool for "
canine swim therapy". I think she found a couple that are nearby. I don't think I've ever been swimming although my life before being rescued is very, very hazy. I do know that I love water. I blogged about the
garden hose during the summer.
The Instructions on Dog Blogrolling!
If you would like to join the Dog Blogroll or copy the Dog Blogroll to your blog here's the instructions.
To add your blog to the Dog Blogroll
You must be a
DOG.
CATS are
NOT allowed under any circumstances. This is a
DOG-only Blogroll. Woof!
Send an email to me:
sammy@typaldos.com, and give me the link to your blog. I will add it in my spare time between naps.
Cats are NOT welcome as members of the Dog Blogroll!
To add the Dog Blogroll to your blog:
Anyone can do this. You do not have to be a dog. Even cats are welcome to have the dog blogroll on their feline blog.
Go to "view source" of my blog and search for "Dog Blogs". Find the instance that is on the same line as "sidebar-title". Copy the line below which starts with the word "script" and ends with the word "script". You can copy this into either a post entry or your template.
The Medical Diagnosis
I went to the vet today. Saw
Dr. Dave Roos, the founder of
Adobe Animal Hospital. Dr. Roos checked me out (no fun, he and Kelly pinned me to the floor while Mom and Pumpkin watched and wimpered). I screamed bloody murder but Dr. Roos and Kelly said that I was just a big baby and nothing they were doing actually hurt me. Well, that's what
they say! Dr. Roos has a diagnosis for why my back legs are wobbly and the left one is dragging. He said I have
degenerative myelopathy. I'm just a dog so I don't know or care what this means. Mom and Kelly looked miserable but they are humans and frankly I think they should live more for the present and not worry so much about the future.
Dr. Roos (right) with another patient.
After I got back in the car Mom took Pumpkin and Buffy in to have their nails trimmed. Yikes, talk about complainers. They yapped about what a terrible experience they had all the way home. Only Elsa got to stay in the car the whole time. Mom lets Elsa get away with everything just cause she's so old.
None of this vet stuff had any effect on our appetites. We all gobbled down our meals as fast as possible, like usual.
The Weak Left Leg
Mom and Linda and Kelly are worried about my left leg. I'm kind of dragging it. At the Showcase event on Saturday they huddled and discussed what to do. Keith also gave advice. Looks like I will be going to the vet on Wednesday.
I don't let these little annoyances get me down however. When we came home from the Showcase I ran around the backyard like a banshee.
The Opportunity to Meet Me in Redwood City!
I'll be in Redwood City from noon till 2pm tomorrow. Hope to meet some of you then. I'm easy to spot...big, all black (except for a teeny bit a gray on my muzzle), and the handsomest German Shepherd in town. Say hi to Mom too. Location information in the right hand column.
The Tummy Rub
I got a tummy rub tonight! What, you are thinking...a dog gets a tummy rub? This is supposed to be news? Well, it's news for me because this is the first time I let Mom rub my tummy. I was lying on my side in the hallway watching Mom work on the computer (she loves that computer even more than me!). Mom came over and sat down next to me on the floor. Then she started rubbing my head, then my tummy, and I loved it so much I rolled over on my back, which I never, ever did before, and waved my legs in the air! I've been afraid to expose my tummy before. Mom kept rubbing my tummy and it felt so good I let out an enormous sneeze! For those of you who are not familar with GSD behavior, or at least the behavior of Elsa and Spot (Mom's previous GSD/Husky mix) and me...for some unknown reason tummy rubs mean happiness and joy causes us to sneeze. Mom thinks it's pretty weird but it feels great.
OK, OK, this isn't really Mom and me. It's some guy and his pony. But the point is that tummy rubs feel great!
The Stay Command
I'm learning the "stay" command. Not easy for an eager doggy like me. Mom has two main teaching situations. The first one involves ice cubes. She makes me sit, then stay, while she downloads an ice cube from the refrigerator. Then she sets in on the floor in front of me but I can't take it until she say "OK". I figured this one out really quickly and have it almost perfected.
The other lesson is harder. Mom tells me to sit and stay in the family room while she prepared our doggy meals. I'm good at the beginning but when I hear and see the kibble pouring into the bowls I can't stay still. I get up and jog over to Mom. But she says "no Sam" and back I go into my position on the rug by the door. I sit, I stay... and then I get up and the whole cycle starts again. But I'm improving rapidly and today at dinnertime I actually lay down and just waited for Mom to bring me my bowl! Of course that was after about 15 corrections. I'm learning though and I'll have this figured out in no time. Mom says she was tired of having me jump circles around her when she was preparing the food. She wants me to stay calm and collected!
The Continuation of Cat Desensitization
I had my second session today. Mom put me in my crate and let Misty out. She ran right past my crate. Yowl, whine. I got quite excited.
Then Fred and Mom replaced the screen doors to the cat room with the glass doors. Mom was afraid I would punch thru the screen and eat or harass Misty and Charli. Fred did a great job putting on the doors while Mom supervised. She's supposed to be learning home repair from Fred but it doesn't seem to me that she is learning very fast.
The Cat Desensitization Session
Kelly came over today to hold my first "cat desensitization" session. Mom didn't feel she had enough experience to do this herself although frankly it was pretty easy for them. Mom sat on the floor with Misty the cat, and Kelly stood a short distance away with me. Kelly put that metal collar on me and made me behave! When I behaved Kelly gave me a delicious treat. All I had to do to get the treat was stay down and not whine or bark. I was pretty stubborn though and it took me about 15 minutes to get there. I must say that Misty has no fear or even interest in me at all, despite my high level of interest in her.
Mom and Kelly seemed pleased. They speculate that I may just want to play with the kitties given how playful I am in general.
The Afternoon at Petco
Mom and I spent the early afternoon at Petco as part of the organization's "Showcase Day". As always, lots of the other foster dogs were there and we all had a chance to sniff each other's butts. In case you don't know, that's what doggies do to say hello. I was happy to see Tara again, and meet for the first time the other Sam (Sam I Am) and his foster sibling Carlyle. Sam I am is only 3 years old so he was more popular than I was with the adoring public. I felt a little sad that just because I'm an older doggy that people aren't as interested in me. Mom told me people treat each other the same way which was supposed to make me feel better but actually made me even sadder. But then Mom fed me a bunch of baby carrots and all sadness was forgotten!
The Indoor Cats
Mom's cats are indoor now, inside the former laundry room. There is a screen door between them and me, but I've punched that screen off the door a few times. Mom is more than a little nervous about my high level of interest in the cats. While it's true I have never done anything to them, I've never really had a chance either.
So Mom is planning to put the glass doors back on the laundry room to replace the screen doors. She needs help from Fred though and he is busy for a few days. Mom also wants to ask Kelly to help explore my true level of interest in cats. Do I want to eat them? Do I just want to sniff them? Or what? I must say those cats have absolutely no interest in me. They meow with their cute little bodies right up at the screen door when I have my big nose pressing up against them! They act as if I don't exist! Mom isn't sure if that is because they have no fear of dogs because they are used to Elsa, Pumpkin and Buffy, or because they just aren't smart enough to know I'm a different kind of dog when it comes to cats. Or maybe I'm not a different kind of dog with cats. That's the $64,000 question. Or maybe those cats are senile. Misty is 17 and Charli is 19. They sure have a lot of lives.
Don't forget that you can meet me tomorrow in Sunnyvale! Details in the right-hand column.
The Life of a Dog
I love to blog, but it's harder and harder to come up with something new to bark about.
The reality is that a dog only does a few things over and over again. Yes, we do these things extremely well, but how many times can you, the dear reader, endure another anecdote about food? For example, today I ate my breakfast with great enthusiasm. Breakfast consisted of 1 1/3 cups of dried dog food (California Natural for seniors), 1/3 cup of non-fat cottage cheese, and a dab of canned vegetarian dog food. Yummy. But I eat the exact same thing for breakfast every single day! And I also eat it for dinner! I eat each meal as if it were brand new and exciting cuisine...and my first meal of the decade...but still, it's the same food again and again and again. Maybe that's the news though. A dog never tires of the same thing. Unfortunately, this also applies to barking at the neighbor's white cat. That cat sits on the fence and tortures all of us doggies. We bark our heads off. The cat smirks. That's it. Day after day after day.
There you have it. A dog's life.
