This just in from Oakland Animal Services:
Free Fur All Adoptathon!
Adopt an animal for free on June 12 or 13 and make $500 for the shelter
Join us for a real “Free Fur All” when Oakland Animal Services hosts the Maddie’s Fund event “Maddie’s Matchmaker Adoptathon” on Saturday, June 12, and Sunday, June 13. That weekend, Maddie’s Fund will cover all adoption costs for both dogs and cats. Better yet, for each successful OAS adoption at the event, Maddie’s Fund will donate $500 to OAS!
Special extended hours for the “Free Fur All” will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 12, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 13.
“We’re preparing a large group of staff and volunteers for the two days to help as many people as possible find a dog or cat companion,” OAS Director Megan Webb explained. There will be a wide variety of cats and dogs available to adopt, including kittens, puppies, and small dogs.
“This is such an exciting opportunity—people not only get a wonderful animal companion for free but also make it possible for OAS to get $500 when they adopt,” Webb stated. “And then we’ll use these donations to improve the quality of life of animals at the shelter.”
Webb pointed out that the regular OAS adoption guidelines will apply that weekend. And, although animals cannot be adopted free in advance of the event—and no animals can be put on “hold”—OAS encourages potential adopters to visit the shelter beforehand for prescreening, to ensure they qualify for an adoption.
“Maddie’s Matchmaker Adoptathon” is the inspiration of Maddie’s Fund, a foundation funded by Workday and PeopleSoft, founder, Dave Duffield, and his wife, Cheryl. As stated on the website, the goal of the foundation, named in memory of the Duffield family’s miniature Schnauzer, Maddie, is to create a “no-kill nation where all healthy and treatable shelter dogs and cats are guaranteed loving homes.” With the weekend’s event, Maddie’s Fund also hopes to spotlight the many groups whose efforts save countless dogs and cats each year.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Paging Dr. 90210
Walking a puppy around the neighborhood means that a lot of people stop us to chat or pet Barksdale. The thing that surprises me is a lot of people ask us what type of dog Barksdale is.
Before we got Barksdale, we had spoken to a volunteer at Oakland Animal Services who was fostering Moxie, a blue pitbull like Barksdale. She told us of several encounters she had while walking Moxie, one in particular where someone actually said "Nice murder weapon." So when we got Barksdale, I was ready for all the judgmental and snarky comments. However, they never came.
I came to realize that this is because people don't see Barksdale as a pitbull, which is why so many people ask what type of dog Barksdale is. To me, she looks like a pitbull, but the most common guess from strangers regarding her breed is Weinheimer. This brings up a larger question - what are pitbulls supposed to look like?
Pitbulls come in all different forms, they vary in color, size, and shape. But I do know that there are certain features that people have come to associate with pitbulls - cropped ears and docked tales. These two things have become the "identifying" features of pitbulls, even though they are not natural pitbull features. To me, this demonstrates a big disconnect between what a pitbull really is versus what people think they are.
To me, cropped ears and docked tails purely for cosmetics are what I would consider unnecessary surgery. I am not against it, but my personal belief is, if it ain't broke, why fix it? The biggest problem is with dog owners who don't realize the amount of money and time it entails to achieve this look.
Moxie was a victim of a crop job gone bad. Someone had taken a pair of scissors to her ears and just snipped them off. Her ears got infected and as a result of the infection, she became deaf. She is only one example of the casualties of the pitbull stereotype.
Before we got Barksdale, we had spoken to a volunteer at Oakland Animal Services who was fostering Moxie, a blue pitbull like Barksdale. She told us of several encounters she had while walking Moxie, one in particular where someone actually said "Nice murder weapon." So when we got Barksdale, I was ready for all the judgmental and snarky comments. However, they never came.
I came to realize that this is because people don't see Barksdale as a pitbull, which is why so many people ask what type of dog Barksdale is. To me, she looks like a pitbull, but the most common guess from strangers regarding her breed is Weinheimer. This brings up a larger question - what are pitbulls supposed to look like?
Are they supposed to look like this?
Or this?
What if they look like this?
Pitbulls come in all different forms, they vary in color, size, and shape. But I do know that there are certain features that people have come to associate with pitbulls - cropped ears and docked tales. These two things have become the "identifying" features of pitbulls, even though they are not natural pitbull features. To me, this demonstrates a big disconnect between what a pitbull really is versus what people think they are.
To me, cropped ears and docked tails purely for cosmetics are what I would consider unnecessary surgery. I am not against it, but my personal belief is, if it ain't broke, why fix it? The biggest problem is with dog owners who don't realize the amount of money and time it entails to achieve this look.
Moxie was a victim of a crop job gone bad. Someone had taken a pair of scissors to her ears and just snipped them off. Her ears got infected and as a result of the infection, she became deaf. She is only one example of the casualties of the pitbull stereotype.
Moxie, the nice "Murder Weapon"
Friday, June 4, 2010
Pee Monster Strikes Again
11:00pm. Regularly scheduled pee time. Waiting by the elevator to go downstairs. Barksdale pees in hallway. There's only one word that can sum up this situation - Arg.
When your dog is being an A-hole
Below is a list of pee incidents that just make me shake my head as to this day I still don't believe in the absurdity of it all.
1. Ender wanders over to the couch. Looks at me. Lifts his leg and starts peeing ON THE COUCH.
2. Ender goes into the bedroom. Gets invited onto the bed. Looks at the boyfriend. Starts peeing ON THE BED.
3. Ender sleeping in the bedroom. Wakes up in the middle of the night. Proceeds to pee while RUNNING AROUND THE BEDROOM.
4. Barksdale being carried outside. Stop to lock the front door. Starts peeing DOWN MY LEG.
5. Repeat of number 4.
6. Barksdale playing in the living room. Pees on dog bed number 1. Half hour later, pees on dog bed number 2.
And for the ultimate random pee incident, I give you number 7:
7. Standing in dog park. Random dog runs up behind boyfriend. Lifts leg. Starts peeing ON THE BOYFRIEND.
1. Ender wanders over to the couch. Looks at me. Lifts his leg and starts peeing ON THE COUCH.
2. Ender goes into the bedroom. Gets invited onto the bed. Looks at the boyfriend. Starts peeing ON THE BED.
3. Ender sleeping in the bedroom. Wakes up in the middle of the night. Proceeds to pee while RUNNING AROUND THE BEDROOM.
4. Barksdale being carried outside. Stop to lock the front door. Starts peeing DOWN MY LEG.
5. Repeat of number 4.
6. Barksdale playing in the living room. Pees on dog bed number 1. Half hour later, pees on dog bed number 2.
And for the ultimate random pee incident, I give you number 7:
7. Standing in dog park. Random dog runs up behind boyfriend. Lifts leg. Starts peeing ON THE BOYFRIEND.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
House Training
House training is what I refer to as the worst part of owning a pet. Many of you may have lucked out by adopting a dog that is slightly older or have already been house trained. We, on the other hand, adopted puppies and therefore doomed ourselves to be knee deep in pee and poo for the better half of a year.
The advantages of having a big dog is having a dog with a big bladder. Ender, who was forty pounds at four months, had a bladder the size of Texas. The down side of having a dog with a bladder the size of Texas is that when there's an accident, it's like Niagara Falls.
With Ender, we had absolutely no plan. We picked up a few pee pads, laid them near the doors and just kind of left it at that. The pee pads turned out to be good for only one thing - cleaning up after he's peed in the corner somewhere.
After reading up on this, I believe we were using a combination of the "constant supervision" and "crate training" method to help house train him. We had him on a strict pee schedule and crated him when we weren't supervising him. We absolutely lucked out with Ender as he only had a handful of accidents during training, even when we left him crated all day when we went to work.
Barksdale, on the other hand, literally leaves me dumbfounded. When people say having a puppy is "hard work", THIS is the part they are referring too. She literally had to pee every three hours. And she would pee inside her crate, ALL the time. Hence the dumbfoundedness. And this is everyday for about two months. Although she is better at holding it, we still have to wake up at 6:30am to take her out to potty. And I have lost count of accidents she's had inside the house.
Going through house training, there were times when I lost the will to live because I didn't want to clean up more pee and poo, there were times when I considered giving her back to the shelter, there were times when I considered just letting her sit in her own pee because I didn't want to get out of bed, and there were times that I cursed the heavens above for being responsible for this beast. My advice? Just accept what may come your way because when they gotta go, they just gotta go.
Next up - When your dog is peeing just to be an A-hole.
The advantages of having a big dog is having a dog with a big bladder. Ender, who was forty pounds at four months, had a bladder the size of Texas. The down side of having a dog with a bladder the size of Texas is that when there's an accident, it's like Niagara Falls.
With Ender, we had absolutely no plan. We picked up a few pee pads, laid them near the doors and just kind of left it at that. The pee pads turned out to be good for only one thing - cleaning up after he's peed in the corner somewhere.
After reading up on this, I believe we were using a combination of the "constant supervision" and "crate training" method to help house train him. We had him on a strict pee schedule and crated him when we weren't supervising him. We absolutely lucked out with Ender as he only had a handful of accidents during training, even when we left him crated all day when we went to work.
Barksdale, on the other hand, literally leaves me dumbfounded. When people say having a puppy is "hard work", THIS is the part they are referring too. She literally had to pee every three hours. And she would pee inside her crate, ALL the time. Hence the dumbfoundedness. And this is everyday for about two months. Although she is better at holding it, we still have to wake up at 6:30am to take her out to potty. And I have lost count of accidents she's had inside the house.
Going through house training, there were times when I lost the will to live because I didn't want to clean up more pee and poo, there were times when I considered giving her back to the shelter, there were times when I considered just letting her sit in her own pee because I didn't want to get out of bed, and there were times that I cursed the heavens above for being responsible for this beast. My advice? Just accept what may come your way because when they gotta go, they just gotta go.
Next up - When your dog is peeing just to be an A-hole.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Toy Review: Dura Chrew Bone by Nylabone
One of the biggest problems we have encountered as pit owners is finding toys that will last longer than 5 minutes. Hundreds of dollars later, we have a few winners (and losers) that have withstood the test. One of the longest lasting toys we have is the chicken flavored Dura Chew Bone by Nylabone. Basically we have two of these laying around the house and the doggies gnaw on it whenever they feel like. In addition, the messiness factor is limited as the byproduct is doggy drool and little pieces of bone that are gnawed off.
Picture Source: Nylabone
Picture Source: Nylabone
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