"Something there that wasn't there before..."

Yes, I listen to a lot of Disney music so it makes sense that I randomly title things with lyrics. (Beauty and the Beast's "Something There," if you prefer not to Google it.)

Anyway, you may have noticed something new to the right. Even above my profile is a link to the website of Victoria Stilwell, host of It's Me or the Dog. This woman is amazing. Her methods of dog training are entirely positive and are very effective. Some people swear by the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan, but the whole "alpha dog" idea is outdated. You won't see Victoria use the alpha hold or use shock collars, electric fences, and so forth. Those are quick fixes that don't really address why the dog is acting a certain way. Her methods are extraordinarily effective. We're starting to use some of them with the dogs and she's also inspired me to work with the dogs on different skills like agility and search/rescue in order to stimulate their natural skills.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have some sort of issue with their dogs, whether it be door dashing, barking, hyperactivity, separation anxiety, going potty in the house, chewing, etc., which is why I posted this link. Check it out, watch the show, and learn something about dogs. She can help establish a really positive relationship with your dog and if you follow her suggestions, greatly improve the quality of life for dogs. 

Channeling Bob Barker

You may have noticed the banner above my posts. I just added it this morning. I know a lot of people are already aware of these websites--you click daily and 0.6 bowls of food are donated to shelter animals. There are a lot of sister sites you can access when you click that have similar buttons/donations set up. It's free and takes all of 3 seconds.

Just last night, the Hubs and I were talking and he mentioned how when he went outside to bring in our trash can one night, a cat sitting on the hood of his car nearly scared him to death. Our neighborhood has an increasing stray cat population and they're planning to set traps to take them to shelters. Then this morning as I was driving out of our subdivision, I noticed two cats. One was sitting in a yard, the other was standing in the divider of the entrance. It was a little odd because they were just staring in the same direction. Then I saw what they were looking at as I turned into the subdivision driveway--another cat had just been hit by a car. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I'm really sensitive about animals. I wanted to burst into tears.

So. I'm going to step on my soap box and vent.

--There are millions of animals in shelters needing homes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these animals. We adopted Budaj from animal control and he is the best dog ever. (Aside from his obsession with Kleenex.)
--I know it's not the fault of valid breeders, but there is a severe epidemic when it comes to homeless animals and there are people who breed dogs to get money. They're not knowledgeable about the breed so they end up getting bad genetic combinations that either lead to abnormalities or "undesirable" traits. As a result, the puppies who don't sell get abandoned or turned into the pound.
--People don't choose to spay or neuter their pets. As a result, their pet breeds and the unwanted puppies and kittens are abandoned or turned into shelters. They're also, more than likely, not spayed or neutered either and the cycle repeats.
--People let their cats wander even if they're not spayed or neutered.

I simply don't understand why someone feels they should have a pet, but then they don't want to spend the money to spay or neuter them. There are low-cost facilities that will do this. If someone says they can't afford to spay or neuter their pets, they shouldn't have a pet. These are the people who would skip out on a vet pill if their pet got sick or injured and would abandon them if their living situation changed. (We think Budaj was abandoned when someone moved or their house went into foreclosure.)

All of this makes me so sick to my stomach. The fact that these animals can just be discarded and that people can dismiss them as being "just a dog" or "just a cat" without feelings is unacceptable. A pet is a member of the family and I can assure you that they feel emotions. I can look in Budaj's big brown eyes and see how thankful he is for everything he has. I can see that he knows we rescued him, that his future looked grim before we came along. (They had misplaced his paperwork and wouldn't let anyone see him even though he was an "adoptable" dog so who knows how long he would have been trapped in his cage had we not pushed for them to look into it.) He waits for whichever of us feeds him to put his bowl down, he looks at his bowl, then looks up at us and insists on giving us a kiss as though to say "thank you" before he'll even touch his food.

The love animals have for their people is unconditional and it makes me so sad that they're treated so badly.

-To channel Bob Barker, "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered."
-Also, please consider adopting a rescue animal from a shelter or the pound.

...and the absolute easiest thing you can do is bookmark this blog or theanimalrescuesite.com and click daily to donate food to shelter animals.

:steps down from soap box: