Me and Buttercup went to the Doggie Trade Show Today

Buttercup dressed up in her Sunday finest today 

Me and Buttercup went to check out the Doggie Trade Show today at the PawPlex and see who was selling what - as well as to leave our dehydrated liver treats for Suzanne from Mountain Dog Lodge to sell for us and give out free samples of - it looked like the Greyhound Pets of Atlantic Canada people had a good turnout. The place was packed. Lots of dogs and people. And virtually no snarling.

Here's a picture of Oreo with her new sunglasses - she was supporting her Mom who was at the Dog Legislation of Canada booth...


Oreo in her new Doggles 

Canadians Are Under Attack by Their Own Government

For a long time I've said that BSL (breed specific legislation) is about more than just pit bulls, rottweillers and bully dogs - it's about all dogs - because it's about respect. BSL is about disrespecting dogs - saying that not all dogs are equal and that some are a lot better than others, which is bullshit. It's like saying that British people are better than Americans which I'm sure would not lead to a happy conversation with anybody! But when you're talking about dogs people think it's a valid idea for some reason.

If they successfully ban pit bulls because people see them as being scary and dangerous it's a slippery slope until all companion dogs are banned because any dog is capable of killing a child (which is absolutely true and which is a really strong reason NOT to have breed specific legislation) - so then maybe we just shouldn't allow any dogs over 30 pounds... but the breed standard for pit bulls starts at 30 something pounds - the American pit bull terrier, when properly identified - is actually not a large dog... so what do you do? Ban dogs altogether - even tiny dogs can kill babies, right? So just ban all dogs everywheres, just get them all off the face of the earth - that's the only logical answer. And I think that's actually on the minds of a lot of people. Right now there's carte blanche on dogs in North America - people can be as mean as they want to you if you own a dog - dog haters rule the world. And that's got to change. They are living, sentient beings just like us and deserve to be in our lives if we choose to have them there.

The people who are much smarter than most of us at Goodpooch.com have once again come up with a super article and sent it around that has some absolutely fabulous insights that need to be shared with as many people as possible. So here it is:

Canadians Are Under Attack By Their Own Governments

Completely law-abiding citizens are under attack in Canada! Despite protections entrenched in law as part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canadians are being presumed guilty and having their property seized without due process. According to the Charter, Canadians are protected from discrimination.

15.(1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination...

When two dog owners stand side by side, what legal precedent allows the government to punish one based solely on the appearance of his/her dog?

So, how can this happen?

Well, situations like this happen all the time, all over the world, wherever people stand by and do nothing while governments abuse or break the laws that protect the rights and personal freedoms of private citizens.

Thousands and thousands of completely innocent dog owners in Canada not only stand accused, but are on the verge of being found guilty of atrocities such as dog attacks and irresponsible dog ownership, without trial, without evidence, and without even a shred of scientific support for these charges, if various municipal and provincial governments have their way.

"Presumed guilty with no opportunity to prove one's innocence."

None of the individuals proposing these draconian measures are experts in the area of discussion. Few, if any, of their supporters demonstrate expertise.

True experts have been outspoken. Scientists are unwavering. Public safety groups are unequivocal. Holding innocent people accountable for the acts of a tiny number of negligent people is not only impractical and unenforceable, it is also patently unjust and probably unconstitutional.

Even if the laws are hastily passed, they will eventually be struck down since they are without merit and cannot be enforced. The tragedy is, in the mean time, thousands and thousands of perfectly innocent Canadians and their families will have been seriously harmed, either financially, emotionally, or both. It is also likely that hundreds, if not thousands of completely innocent dogs will be killed for no reason other than human ignorance.

Responsible dog owners should not be held accountable for the acts of others. In fact, no individual should be held accountable for the acts of others.

Canada's great shame is taking place right now. Do you support a policy that would hold the innocent majority responsible for the actions of a tiny few? Do you want to live in a world where innocent animals are abused by way of cruel and unnecessary confinement or through the mandatory use of barbaric muzzles around their heads?

The Canadian Federal Government must protect lawful Canadian citizens from this kind of miscarriage of justice. Just as many American state governments have already done, we call on the Canadian government to make breed-specific bans or restrictions illegal in Canada, at least until such a time as their validity and effectiveness can be scientifically proven.

Please take a few moments to write to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada at: webadmin@justice.gc.ca

- or write to -

The Honourable Irwin Cotler
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8

You may also write to the Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin, at:

pm@pm.gc.ca

- or write to -

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

We leave you with some quotations to consider:

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Gandhi

"If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals." - Albert Einstein

"The thinking person must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another... " - Albert Schweitzer

"May all that have life be delivered from suffering." - Buddha

"Any society which does not insist upon respect for all life must necessarily decay." - Albert Einstein

"What we don't know, we fear. What we fear, we hate. What we hate, we destroy." - Chief Dan George

Please join the Dog Legislation Council of Canada and help them fight to protect the rights of all Canadians. http://www.doglegislationcouncilcanada.org

© 2004-2005 GoodPooch.com

My Dogs are Perfect Examples of "Designer Dogs" - and Why They're Useless

Charlie and Leonard

I've been thinking about this whole "designer dogs" debacle and the fact they aren't any different than mixed breed dogs and it occurred to me that Charlie and Leonard actually qualify as designer dogs because both of their parents were purebreed dogs - their mother was a pure yellow lab - what Angela King would've called a "golden lab (!)" and their father was a tri-colour sheltie, that's why they're black and tan. There were 12 puppies in the litter, so thank dog that the Mom was the lab!

But I say that they're the perfect example of designer dogs because they all pretty much look identical - it's unmistakable that they're brothers and sisters - they look unlike anything other than brothers and sisters, but they range in weight from about 55 pounds (Leonard) to 110 pounds (Charlie) - Conrad is about 65 pounds, Solie is about 75 pounds, Philip will probably top out at about 80. All of their body shapes are different.

Solie is bigger than Charlie, but Charlie is much deeper chested so he weighs a ton more than Solie does. Leonard is the only female that I've been able to keep in touch with and she's the smallest of the litter - there may be smaller dogs from the litter that I don't know about.

Behaviourally they have all turned out dependent very much on the environment they were brought up in with the exception that the ALL love to bark - the sheltie in them stayed on through - so the bad part of their genetic heritage stuck through! Charlie is the only one who isn't a big barker but he can still give any dog a run for their money when he's in the mood or he's chasing another dog.

So it shows that if you're crossing any two purebreed dogs you don't know for sure what you're going to get - you could get the best of the 2 breeds, or you could get the worst, or you could get a mixture of good and bad - and if one of the breeds you're mixing from is a non-shedding breed it's not for sure that all the puppies are going to be non-shedding - that's for sure! The coats of all these guys are different, with poor Philip's being the worst. When he was at my house he shedded like you wouldn't believe - but he's also had the worst life of any of these dogs so that might have something to do with it too and now that he's got a normal life it might get better.

Here's some pictures of the other litter mates - the other designer dogs - the lady who bred them said that what she was trying to do was to give people who didn't have a lot of money a chance to give them really nice dogs for cheap. When we got Leonard we didn't know anything about dogs or back yard breeders - we got her out of an ad in the paper on the same day our last dog died - we were in such huge pain from the tragic circumstances of her death that all we could think about was replacing her immediately and since it was 4 days before Christmas no one else would give us a dog. She cost us $120. And when I didn't bond with her (and the husband did) I started going to the SPCA every Saturday looking for a dog of my own - 3 months later I walked into the SPCA and there were 3 Leonards in there and Leonard's mother. They'd been seized by Animal Control for whatever reason and were available for adoption. So that's how Charlie is an SPCA dog and Leonard is not.

But since I knew where Leonard came from Solie's owner and I went back to the house a couple years ago (we have a lot of balls!) and talked to the lady who bred our dogs to see what we could find out about their parents and we did find out some stuff. It was interesting. It's very interesting to be in the living room of a back yard breeder when you're involved in the fight against them! I mean - what do you say?


Solie


Conrad


Philip

"Designer dogs"
Designer dogs

Whoa boy - "oodles of doodles" got me going!

Last night on "Live at Five" there was a piece on "Golden Doodles" - 1/2 golden retriever and 1/2 poodle puppies being bred up in New Brunswick by this woman who was selling them for $1,000 and she couldn't keep up with the demand so many people wanted them and how wonderful they were and blah blah blah. It was absolutely awful. It was so uninformed, unnecessary and potentially dangerous that I had to write in today. I heard that they got more emails and phone calls about that one story than they've gotten about any other story in the history of "Live at Five". I can understand why. I wrote 2 letters - one after last night's story and one after their follow-up story tonight:

This is my one that I wrote this afternoon:

Dear Mr. Keller, I am an avid watcher of Live at Five - I watch itevery night in fact and know that you are trying to reach the broadest base of audience possible and I have no doubt that you take great pride in the fact that your news cast is the #1 nightly new cast inthe Maritime provinces (and rightly so!)

So it was with dismay - and trepidation - when I saw the teaser for the story last night about "oodles of doodles". I knew the story wasn't going to be good - that it was obviously going to be a fluff piece about those dreadful cross-bred dogs that people are calling "designer dogs" but are none-the-less still dogs of uncertain lineage and doubtful outcome. And most certainly being offered at outrageous prices - can you imagine if a shelter charged $1,000 for a mixed breed pup - which is what these labradoodle and goldendoodle dogs are?

They are just like every other mixed breed dogs I'm sorry to say -they can have the best part of which ever breed they are mixed from - or they can have the worst part of which ever breed they are mixed from. So they can have the delightful playfullness of the poodle and the stalwart friendliness of the retriever or they can have the flighty stupidness of the poodle and the clumsy mouthiness of the retriever - with all the genetic flaws that go with each breed - like all the cancers that are common now.

Designer dogs are no better than any other dog - and at $1,000 a dog think of how many shelter dogs are dying for the cost of one of those dogs. It is absolutely disgraceful. I can think of many more educational and interesting ways for you to fill up your air-time if you're looking for happy dog stories Mr. Keller - go to a REPUTABLE CKC breeder - they'll be more than happy to talk about their dogs and puppies. Go to a shelter and highlight some of the dogs available there. Go to a dog park and have your camera and crew hang out for
shenanigans that you wouldn't believe - a dog park is one of the happiest places on earth.

But don't interview and legitimize back yard breeders who are doing nothing but hurting the world of dogs and putting a further strain on the shelter system. Shelters are full of labradoodles and goldendoodles and shepherd-doodles - I myself am the proud owner of 2 sheltie-labbies, a dobie-weiller and bitchie-oodle - my own version ofthe designer dog craze! All snatched from the hands of death - for much less than a $1,000 each!

Sincerely,
Joan Sinden

*************

And then tonight a more balanced piece was on that included members of the CKC and the head of the Oromocto SPCA which is the SPCA closest to the Goldendoodle woman so I wrote another letter thanking them:

Dear Mr Keller: I'd like to thank-you for your stories tonight on Live at Five following up on the "oodles of doodles" story from last night.

Your representatives that you chose to interview from the dog community were an excellent representation from different segments of the population - purebreed and rescue - and they both gave valuable insights to your audience.

I think Ms King answered a very big question for me when she said that the only people who were important to her were her "customers". That says to me that she views her puppies as commodities - as "livestock"- as items to be sold - not as living, breathing, feeling sentientbeings - which they are - and which ethical breeders like Lee Steeves and Amanda Kelly - view their dogs. They DON'T breed their dogs to make their "customers" happy - they breed their dogs to better their chosen breed. And they certainly don't view their dogs as livestock -it's when you start viewing your companion animals like a factory farmer views cows and pigs that the animal starts finding themself in jeopardy. I fear for Ms. King's animals.

I hope anyone who saw your story last night also saw your stories tonight. What would also be super would be if you talked about pet stores and where the animals sold there come from. Do you know where they come from? 90% of them come from the most horrible, deplorable conditions that you could imagine. Places where the humans DO treat the dogs and cats like livestock and have no care whatsoever for the wellbeing of the animals and when a dog is born with a defect that makes them unsellable but they still live to maturity - they keep them and use them for breeding stock - that's how little they care about the genetics of their breeding stock! And those are the quality of animals you are buying when you buy your lifetime canine companion in a pet store. And then you wonder why they start acting funny 2 weeks after you've bought them.

I'm sorry this email has been so long - I'm sure you've gotten tons of very long emails today - dogs are like children to 1000's of people here in the Maritimes just like everywhere. We in the rescue community and the purebreed/show community see SO MUCH sufferingcaused by puppy mills and back yard breeders that when we see a major news organization doing a fluff piece on what we believe to be a known puppy mill/back yard breeder - we have to do something about it. Perhaps you didn't know that Ms. King has a website called petseller.ca - she is well known, at least within the rescue communityas being of a rather unsavoury character. I would think that anyone who had a website called "petseller" would bring up red flags for a person doing research on whether a person is a good and ethical breeder - since no ethical breeder is in the business of "selling dogs" - they are only in the business of "breeding dogs". Just an fyi for future stories!

Thank-you for taking the time to follow-up today!

Sincerely,

Joan Sinden

"Designer dogs"

Our First On-Leash Walk in Months

Tonight we went for our first on-leash walk in months. With 5 dogs that was just too many dogs to do it. And Daisy lunges at everything that passes by so having a 5th dog just made too much forward momentum when I had that happening. But with only 4 dogs I can handle it - well almost. It all depends on whether we encounter something really tasty at the beginning of the walk or at the end of the walk and how energetic the rest of the dogs are at that particular moment. I'm sure all you other dog owners can feel what I'm saying.

Although it is a challenge to walk 4 dogs, carry a couple bags of poop, have them constantly circling around me so I've got the leashes circling around me and Leonard and Charlie are on one leash - and I've got a cigarette going! And then I'm also trying to take pictures - no wonder Charlie and Buttercup were trying to pretend they didn't know me - and it was piss pouring at the time. That's why I decided to go for the walk - Seaview is currently a sea of dog shit with all the slush - it's a mess...

Our first on-leash walk in a while...

Buttercup and Charlie waiting around, or maybe trying get away from the camera - there is no respite

A SUPER Dog Park Website in Ontario

I found a website from Ontario that has a page that says just about all the stuff that I've been saying about dog parks for the last couple years about how dogs should relate to each other - and how our fair city's dog owners are stuck so far up their own ass-holes that their dogs aren't allowed to even look at each other anymore. I found the site absolutely refreshing and emailed the president of the group to say so. She emailed me back to say thank-you. I love it when I find confirmation of what I think and believe - because I know that my dogs aren't bad dogs - and my #1 concern is safety for everyone and my #2 concern is for them to have fun. It seems that everyone else's concern for fun for their dogs is about #500. But I may be saying that because I've been in a generally bad mood. But anyway - the website is for a dog park in Waterloo Ontario and the page is specifically at http://www.dogerloo.com/guidelines.htm

Here's the text of the page. It's brilliant:

In order to improve your enjoyment of the Leash Free Park (LFP) we have put together the following guidelines.

COMMON BEHAVIOURS YOU MIGHT SEE (MIGHT NOT LIKE), BUT ARE NATURAL, AND NOT NECESSARILY AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR:
It is up to park users to negotiate amongst themselves their comfort level of their dogs' interactions within the LFP.

We all love our dogs and that is why we take the time to go the LFP. Some people appear to be more protective of their dog than others and this is usually the result of conflict between dog owners. Apparently, the conflict amongst dog owners is HIGHER than the conflict amongst the dogs. Some dog owners may or may not have a sound level of understanding dog behavior. Therefore, it is up to the individuals to decide what they are comfortable with when it comes to their dog's interaction with others in the park.

We acknowledge that at the extreme end of the continuum, some of these behaviours will be considered unacceptable by dog owners as they may lead to injury or spark defensive/offensive behaviour in other dogs. However, we stress that this is up to the owners to negotiate the level at which they are comfortable with these behaviours, because most of the time, such behaviours are normal, and sometimes necessary.

Charging - Dog or dogs quickly race up to single dog. If your dog is charging, you should do your best to call him back. If your dog is charged by another, don't panic-it will take some time for the dogs to establish their new place in the hierarchy, given the newcomer.

Mass greetings - No, we are not talking about taking your dog to church although some dogs are angelic and others seem devilish. New dog enters the park and two or more dogs approach to greet. Many dogs are uncomfortable with this type of welcome. Some will receive it in a submissive manner, choosing to roll over, lower their head, submissively urinate etc. Others will just stand and tolerate it. Some will try to run away resulting in a chase and unfortunately a few will behave defensively, which could result in the new dog snarling, snapping, growling or even biting. As a courtesy, it is recommended that you recall your dog and temporarily distract him from the new dog.

This is most often likely to occur at the gate. Dogs do not like enclosed places. As such, the park itself, and the gate in particular, will promote territoriality. Please do not encourage your dogs to greet others at the gate, and please do not stand by the gate-KEEP MOVING, DO NOT STAND IN ONE PLACE.

Humping - For some dogs, humping is part of their play and mutually acceptable to owners. Some owners however are offended by this, more so than the dogs. If it is not mutually acceptable, do your best to separate the dogs. If the dogs return to each other to continue play, this may indicate they are both happy in their play.

Dogs hump for the following reasons; to mock behavior seen in other dogs, because it feels good, to gain higher ranking, due to hormonal responses and/or because it is self-rewarding or has been inadvertently rewarded by their owners. Some dogs may have hip problems and cannot cope with the added weight, therefore they react in an unpleasant manner. Regardless of the reason, humping can trigger unwanted behavior and again, as a courtesy, you should interrupt your dog's humping actions. You will notice that some dogs continue to hump (the air) even after they have been pulled off the other dog. This is because humping is involuntary, just as your heart beats.

Posturing - Some dogs will stand tall over another dog always trying to keep their head over the other's body. Hackles or guard hairs may rise up between the shoulders and may even extend down their back. The tail may be stiff or may be wagging in short but fast left/right movement(jerky kind of movement or no movement at all, just straight and stiff). (wagging tails do not always mean happy tails!) The ears may be forward (confident) or may be back (fearful). Do NOT interfere with this communication. More often than not, human interference will result in the two dogs engaging in a fight that likely would not have happened otherwise. Stand back and happily call your dog away if you are uncomfortable with it. If you don't permit your dog the opportunity to establish himself and communicate with other dogs, you will leave him in a state of conflict whereas he will not know where he stands. If you interfere with this behaviour, you ris placing your dogs in conflict, and dogs in conflict are the most likely to fight. 'Alpha type' dogs NEVER have to fight. Lower ranking, submissive dogs will not fight and often, but not always, not even try defend themselves. Overall, most dogs really do not want to fight and the majority of conflicts rarely result in injury.

Smaller dogs being carried by their owners- Simply put, it is like dangling bait. This usually results in dogs wanting to nip at the dog being carried. It is not recommended that you carry your dog.

Play biting - This is a common form of play and is necessary. It helps puppies to establish a soft mouth. Adult dogs engage in play biting as well and most of our domestic socialized dogs will have a soft mouth and not result in any harm. If you are not comfortable with your dog engaged in acceptable play biting with another dog, that is unfortunate (for your dog) but it is your right to cease your dog's interaction and leave the park. Humans use their hands to touch, grab, feel etc. Dogs use their mouths.

Rejecting other dogs - Barking, snarling, snapping, body movements, growling, raising lips etc are all forms of communication that dogs use to relay messages to others. A dog that is barking, snapping (the air but towards another dog) and or growling is communicating his demand that the other dog leave him alone. There is nothing wrong with communication. If you reprimand the dog for 'communicating' you are essentially teaching them to skip the talk and just engage physically(shoot first ask questions later). If your dog is being rejected or 'told off' by another dog, it should be your responsibility to call your dog away if YOU are uncomfortable with it. Your dog needs to learn to respect other dog's space and learn its boundaries. o

Finally, please continue to move in the park. Dogs standing still, with the owners will begin to feel more territorial about their area.

*** THE WORD AGGRESSION SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY ***
It is one of the most often misunderstood and incorrectly used words in the K9 vernacular. There are over a dozen types of aggression and this label is best left to experts in Canine Behavior to assess. If your dog endures an injury, as the result of an altercation with another dog, and it requires medical attention, it is your choice if you choose to report the incident to the City of Waterloo. THIS IS A "USE AT YOUR OWN RISK" PARK-IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE RISKS OF DOG INTERACTION, PLEASE RECONSIDER YOUR USE OF THE PARK.

****************

Isn't all that brilliant? I bloody love it!

Animal activists protest N.S. trapping laws

Okay - I feel sick about the following statement from the below article:

"But Sabean said before pet owners demonize hunters, they should look closely
at the regulations governing dog ownership, adding it's illegal to allow a
dog to run free in a wildlife habitat."Trappers are taking the heat for this at this point in time but there's some reason for the dog owners to take some responsibility as well.''"

I feel sick about that because I consider my dogs to be members of my family - well socialized members of my family who respond to me when I ask them to come to me or ask me to follow me in a certain direction or to leave anything they come upon. Just like - or actually much better - than any child that you'd take into the woods with you. So why would I treat me dog any differently than I would a child and tether him to me whenever I take my dog out for a hike? It doesn't make sense. I pay taxes just like trappers and hunters do - I should be able to enjoy the beauty of Nova Scotia just like anyone else - and so should all my chosen family members - I've chosen to adopt 4 footed family members while others have chosen to adopt 2 footed members - why should I be treated differently?

For links to other trapping information on my website go to the main page of my website at http://www.geocities.com/charlieloveshalifax/ - there is really awful stuff going on right now...

************************

Animal activists protest N.S. trapping laws

Susan Aitken

Canadian Press

Sunday, February 13, 2005

HALIFAX (CP) -- If you own land in Nova Scotia, you could have animal traps
on your property and not even know it.

The laws governing trapping in the province are coming under fire from
animal rights groups who are demanding changes to guidelines that currently
allow hunters to set traps designed to kill, even on private property.

About two dozen protesters paraded outside a Halifax fur store Saturday as
part of the 16th National Anti-Fur Day in an effort to end what they call an
"archaic'' and "barbaric'' practice.

Among them was Janice Peters, whose pet husky dog, Storm, recently survived
a night caught in a trap only a few hundred metres from her home which backs
onto the Lower LaHave Commonlands near Bridgewater.

"She went out for a run and didn't come back,'' said Peters, clutching a
photo of the fluffy pooch. "All I could hear was her screaming ... and her
snout was caught in one of these traps.''

Peters managed to save Storm but said she was appalled that there were no
signs indicating that traps were in the area.

Nor, according to the provincial Wildlife Act, did there have to be one.
The province's fur harvesting regulations state only that traps cannot be
placed within 180 metres of "a dwelling, school, playground, athletic field
or place of business.''

Outside that limit, all cultivated land, even private property is fair game
for trappers who don't need the owner's permission to set their snares.

"The only way that you are protected is if you post signs on your private
property saying that there is no hunting and/or trapping allowed,'' said
Marni Janet of the Nova Scotia Humane Society.

"If you do not have those signs on your property, anybody can set any kind
of trap on your private property.''

Barry Sabean, director of wildlife for the province's Department of Natural
Resources, confirmed that a sign reading 'private property' or `no
trespassing' does not prohibit trappers from hunting on private property.

Without the right signage, even a land owner who finds a trap on his
property outside the 180-metre limit does not have the right to tamper with
it or remove it, Sabean said.

When it comes to public roadways, anyone can place a trap anywhere along a
public roadway, something Dale Stone discovered in a tragic accident earlier
this month.

The horseback riding instructor was riding with a student and her
three-year-old dog, Bear, along a public highway in Cape Breton on Feb. 4,
when something caught the dog's attention.

Within seconds, Stone says she heard a snap, and turned to see her German
shepherd-border collie mix caught in a large trap just 10 metres from the
road.

"I couldn't get to him fast enough to save him,'' said Stone, from her home
in Big Baddeck.

The dog struggled, but was dead by the time Stone jumped from her horse and
reached the trap, which had been baited with a deer carcass.

Stone said she has started a petition to get the regulations changed to keep
traps well away from residential area, something that just might happen
according to the natural resources official.

The department has set up a committee of trappers, trail experts and dog
lovers to examine trapping guidelines.

"We're looking at the whole issue of boundaries of highways, private
property, dog-proof boxes, those sorts of things.''

But Sabean said before pet owners demonize hunters, they should look closely
at the regulations governing dog ownership, adding it's illegal to allow a
dog to run free in a wildlife habitat.

"Trappers are taking the heat for this at this point in time but there's
some reason for the dog owners to take some responsibility as well.''

Sabean said he expects to have some recommendations from the committee in
about a month, and is confident there will be some changes to the
regulations before next season.

Stone said those changes can't come soon enough.

"I am afraid now,'' she said. "I went around the area the next day and I
found at least 25 traps right around this loop that I take my horses and
dogs on.''

"The place is like a minefield out here,'' she said.
© Canadian Press 2005

New Dead Seal at Conrad's Today

Much to the dogs' delight there's a new dead seal at Conrad's beach so everyone except for me got to come home from the beach completely stinky and feeling very satisfied with themselves. It was a perfect day - hardly anyone was there and the tide was low.

Now it's off to a nice aromatic nap.

Everyone's stinky, tired - and happy right now

I should say that everyone's happy - except for the seal - he's dead!

Super news for Philip!

Thanks to my good friend Lori and her beautiful dog Sasha Philip has found his perfect forever home! We went up last Sunday to Berwick to meet them and everything seems to be working out wonderfully. It is so good to hear - Philip's new family can't know how happy they've made me by giving him a great place to live. It was slowly killing me watching him getting more and more stressed living here with us - I was even starting to question whether or not I should have saved his life he was becoming so unhappy living here. He had lived so long tied out in back yard by himself with no other dogs around him, to suddenly be thrust into a household full of dogs who liked to be in his face the whole time was really hard on him and he has SUCH a gentle soul that was sinking deeper and deeper into into his barking facade that I was really worrying about him. So to hear that he's gone to a home where they're really happy with him and he's not hardly barking and they can't believe how smart he is has just blown me away.

They're very lucky to have him, he's very lucky to have them and I'm very lucky to have found them too! I hope it continues to work for all of us! The pictures below are a couple that I took last Sunday when I dropped him off - when we were driving up a couple times I almost asked Lori to turn the car around and go home because I love Philip so much - but I know that my house is absolutely not the right environment for him and I'm SO glad I didn't do it!


Philip with his new Mom and sister Raegan! 


Philip going in for his first hug with his new Dad 


Philip's new brothers and sisters saying hello 


This is something that Philip doesn't have to put up with anymore - and look at the look on his face! Buttercup butting into his opportunity for good lovin' - he was going in for a hug and Buttercup ran over and jumped right in ahead of him - now he's got all the love to himself! 

The Best Quote I've Heard in a Long Time

If one person is unkind to an animal, it is considered to be cruelty, but
where a lot of people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce,
the cruelty is condoned and, once sums of money are at stake, will be
defended to the last, by otherwise intelligent people".
- Ruth Harrison

That is an awesome quote - I'm going to write more about it later but I just had to put it here so that I don't forget it. It's an almost perfect sentence. It's so true. If you hurt one animal it's considered animal cruelty - but if you commit unspeakable acts of cruelty to large herds of animals and call them livestock and make money from it then you're protected by the full extent of the law and allowed to treat those animals who are as alive as you and me and have the same capacity to feel pain, deprivation and terror - as horribly as you want - just as long as it saves you 2 cents on the dollar. Think about it.

Wrestling doesn't only happen at the dog park!

Wrestling doesn't only happen at the dog park!

This is Charlie and Daisy in the middle of the living room having a go at some wrestling. It's mostly mouth action when it's inside the house - thank dog. I don't think the lamps could handle too much more than that. It's mostly a call to action for me - it's a large scale - WE WANT TO PLAY - GET SOME TOYS SO WE CAN PLAY! And I usually relent and we start to play.

Each dog gets a toy and I play tug of war with each dog. Have you ever played tug of war with 4 dogs at once? There's an art to it, let me tell you.

You'd think that in a multi-dog household that they'd be able to entertain each other - but what happens is that you just have multiple eyes staring at you looking at you to entertain THEM. Maybe I did something wrong at some point but that's how it is in my house. But I suppose you get what you ask for. Live would be pretty boring without them. I can't imagine how people can live with only 1 dog - how do they do it? I need way too much love for that.

Crystal Crescent was brilliant - and icy today

It was such a beautiful day today that I took a couple hours vacation and loading everyone in the car and went to the beach. I didn't think about the fact though that the section of beach that I go to no one else goes to so the section that we hike on the snow wasn't packed down - so poor little Buttercup couldn't walk on the snow - it was about thigh deep for me and she was falling through so we couldn't go for a hike unfortunately and had to stay on the beach for our fun. The light was weird today too - really sharp, bright and jagged. Maybe it was because I had a migaine a couple hours earlier - but I think the picture of Leonard below shows it a little bit - the picture just doesn't look quite right somehow. I got a couple nice pieces of wood though and I think everyone had a good time none-the-less.


I don't know why I can't keep my tongue in my mouth some days... 


Leonard tip-toeing thru the tulips of the seaweed