A couple of cute short videos

Here's a little slideshow of Bubby and Sidney playing tonight -

And a little video from yesterday of Bubby and Ollie playing -

Zues's last update

Many, many people who read this blog know Zues. He was one of the public faces of the Celtic Pets debacle of a few years ago.

He was one of the dogs who had a happy ending though after having lived many years of hell under the abusive, torturous hands of the abusers MacIsaac Zonda and her mother Alice.

It was almost 4 years ago to the day - in July, 2008 when he as adopted by his current Dad, and he actually got the life he so deserved - living a beautiful life - and since then we've all gotten to enjoy regular updates about him.

I got an update tonight - one that inevitable I suppose, but one that we never want to hear.

In the last months Zues has inexorably aged - and only has days left to enjoy the life he so much has loved since July of 2008.

His Dad sent us all a short video of snippets taken of Zues from the last few months for us to enjoy.

Zues has been a dog that belonged to everyone - and now we will all feel the agony that comes when they pass - even when it's from something wonderful like the gift of old age.

Zues, please say hello to all the other Celtic Pets dogs who have gone before you - like Scupper, Jackie and Sasha, and the Celtic Pets six - they are all waiting for you.

Here's the video sent by Zeus's Dad -

Lenses make all the difference

I have been using a "portrait lens" to take pictures of the dogs the last couple of days - and its making a difference in the pictures of them - Bubby especially is looking very beautiful - he looks amazing anyway - but with a little fuzz around the edges - he is looking unbelievable. All the dogs are going to the beauty parlour on Friday - so after that they won't be quite so nice looking for awhile - so hopefully I'll get some good shots before then...

Some pretty pictures

Some pictures on a sunny Sunday afternoon...

"Before" Pictures of Sassy

These are the unbelievable "before" pictures of Sassy - the little dog I adopted this week through Atlantic Small Dog Rescue

Can you imagine that someone would allow a dog to get to this state?

She was originally rescued by a groomer in New Glasgow who transformed her into the beautiful little bichone frise that she is today. Sassy was so lucky to have found, her - that's for sure. You can tell from the above pictures that her eyes were completely covered by fur.

It was only this morning that I first saw these photos.

I had been wondering why Sassy's eyes seemed so sensitive to light - and now I know why. She's not used to being able to see clearly. Poor Sassy.

She is continuing to settle in, and becoming more comfortable each day.

She is finding Bubby to be a great friend and they are actually playing together - she is initiating play with him and vice versa, so that's nice to see - and she is a very hungry dog, so when it's meal or treat time she's starting to get a little look in her eyes and her feet are moving a bit faster then.

So far she hasn't wanted to get up on the bed at night - if she ever wants to do that - that will be a huge milestone. I hope for my sake it doesn't take too long!

Introducing Sassy!!!!

This is Sassy! She is the newest member of the Dogkisser family - I got her today!

I got her from the fabulous local rescue "Atlantic Small Dog Rescue" - this is my 3rd dog from them. She is (at least) 10 years old and she's a bichon frise like Bubby and Sidney - so I am staying on my groove of small white dogs - I've begun to say that I am "building my small white dog army"! haha!

She has come from a pretty sad back ground, but we`re now going to let that get her down - she was rescued in New Glasgow by an amazing lady named Amy who is a groomer there - the people who owned her said they didn`t want her anymore because she smelled and they couldn`t afford to have her groomed. When Amy groomed her her coat was so matted and gross it came off in one piece. She was full of matts and fleas and ticks - poor Sassy must have been so uncomfortable - she has also had to have all her teeth removed except for her 4 canines - so thank you very much to ASDR for doing that for her! Her foster family have reported that she seems to be fairly deaf which will probably work out pretty good in my house - because Bubby and Sidney love to bark - so at least someone in the house won`t be bothered by it!

So far I haven`t gotten any photos where she seems really, the least bit happy - when I took her from her foster home she was shaking like a leaf - I think she was really beginning to enjoy herself there - so she must be feeling really horrible here at my house tonight.

I wrote a post a long time ago called "You can tell by the light in their eyes" about the change that comes over a dog once they have settled into a home where they are safe and forever - so I know I will cherish these photos I took tonight when I compare them to photos that I take six months from now - and the light in Sassy's eyes has transformed and she's blossomed into the dog she was meant to be.

I can hardly wait.

Let the Blight of BSL die as loudly and violently as Lennox

Dog lovers, advocates, and mainstream media today came together to acknowledge that the Belfast City Council in Northern Ireland killed a dog who had done nothing other than be born with a wide forehead, stubby nose and wide smile.

His name was Lennox and for 5 years he lived unremarkably with his owners until one day he was seized by the city of Belfast because of the way he looked. In the next two years lots of reasons were concocted as to why he neeed to be killed other than the original reason why he was seized - but they are all just subterfuge. He was killed simply because he was labelled as a pit bull type dog.

And that is wrong. Hundred's of thousand's of people around the world heard his story and declared from the roof tops that it was wrong.

Famous people - Victoria Stillwell - even Cesar Millan - offered to take Lennox off of Belfast City Council's hand if only they'd free him.

But they refused - and today they killed him, despite hundreds of thousands of people around the world watching them.

Millions of hours have been spent trying to save this one dog - Lennox - and meanwhile, every day - literally thousands of dogs are dying because of breed specific legislation that exists around the world.

Here in Canada the whole province of Ontario strictly enforces exactly the same legislation - and routinely kills all pit bull type dogs that they encounter.

Canada is equally as bad as the Belfast City Council - here in Nova Scotia - we have several areas where breed specific legislation exists. Did you know that you cannot legally take a pit bull type dog into Cape Breton without passing over an area where they are completely banned?

In order to get a pit bull type dog into Cape Breton - you MUST BREAK THE LAW!

Do you want to live in a world where bureaucrats and elected officials can cause so much suffering by enacting legislation that is absolutely heinous and wrong.

I don't want to live in that kind of a world.

I think the time has come to speak up - and for normal everyday dog owners to contact their elected officials and tell them that, as tax payers - archaic dog legislation has to be ended.

Better legislation exists - but government has refused to acknowledge it - legislation that targets dogs who are dangerous, rather than dogs who simply look a certain way (ie specific breeds) - is the only rational laws that should be enacted. These are laws who's time has come.

Janet Young over at "Reigning Cats and Dogs" posted an awesome blog post today called "10 reasons why every dog owner should care about bsl" - you should go read it, it's very pithy.

Today - every dog is Lennox - and it's not just pit bull type dogs who are Lennox - dogs like Buttercup and Bubby are also Lennox - maybe even more so, because they are dogs who should be the target of dog legislation - but they are lucky, because they have an owner who keeps then safe - and therefore keeps everybody around them safe.

Some days it seems like the world is really going to hell in a hand basket.