Hats Off to the ASPCA!

I've been a member of the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and love their work. Who doesn't love watching the rescues they perform on Animal Planet?

Well, here is a recent one. And I'm SOOOO grateful to their dedication and love!

Please watch the video via this link.

Doggy Tales -- Update on PAC

Update on PAC

Carol Huff was so touched by Cheryl Pierson's sharing of PAC's story that she was good enough to send this update. Thanks to all who opened their heart to this special guy! Read below:

Miss Mae...thank you so very much for your contribution and for sharing my love for this beautiful dog. He never deserved death row because he's such a love-bug...he has a tail wag for everyone and is as gentle as a lamb. Just a precious baby! I am attaching some pictures so you can at least see him outside that dreaded cage they had him stuffed in at the kill shelter.

He's my first pittie, and I am in love with this breed already. He's a gentle giant with a heart of gold. We have some vet bills coming up with him because he came to me with a touch of mange and a kennel cough. But he's worth every bit of it.

Enjoy the pictures (and don't worry about that choke chain you see in the pictures - it only stayed on him for a very short time because he's an extremely strong dog and was about to pull me down!) And thank goodness for Cheryl Pierson - she's responsible for me knowing about this baby.

Take care, and thanks again,
Carol Huff

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

REMEMBER: Doggy Tales is Reader Contributed. If you have, or have had, a finned, feathered, or furry friend you were fortunate enough to share your life with, we want to hear about it! Leave a comment here with an addy where I can contact you, or click the FaceBook link on the right hand side and PM me. Your article will be featured in a future Monday segment.

A Dog Named PAC

Thanks to Cheryl Pierson who contributed this story.

Can I tell you a very very happy story? There was a dog named "PAC" who was surrendered to a dog pound in Georgia. They said as his owners dumped him there and walked away, he cried for them to come back so forlornly it was like a child crying for their parent. The owners left anyhow. Because PAC is a pit bull mix, there was not much hope for him to be adopted. He's not a cute puppy any longer. And a lot of people are leery of adopting pit bulls.  But here's his picture at the pound, and I can't imagine that any animal that would cry for a human who cared nothing more for them than to dump them like a piece of trash and walk away could be a BAD DOG. Pac was more human than the owners were! He was scared and  awaiting certain death.

Thank GOD for Facebook. One of my friends shared his picture on her page. There were over 4,000 shares of this picture. I shared the picture when I saw it, and guess what? A miracle happened! A woman I know who has several rescue animals happened to see my share! She lived 4 hours from the shelter, and cared enough to make arrangements to get him home to her house. He came home with her yesterday, and look at what a difference ONE DAY makes, with love in his life! She said he had a terrible case of fleas, and what is either the beginning of mange or where he has scratched himself so hard where the fleas were that he's scratched out some of his hair. This morning, she cooked him a mixture of chicken, vegetables and some rice. She said he looked at her as if he wasn't sure he should eat it, with such a look of pure love on his face, and thankfulness...

I just wanted to share this story of a happy ending for this sweet boy, and to say that there are angels who walk among us---I know one personally! 

NOTE FROM CHERYL: Carol and I met through writing stories for Chicken Soup. She runs a private small shelter out of her home, which was the ONLY reason she was allowed to adopt sweet PAC! I don't know all the rules and regulations, but for some reason, he was adoptable for one day only and it had to be by a shelter. The pound where he was was 4 hours from her house, and she had out of town guests staying with her. She PAID someone $150 to bring him to her so she could get him out of there! When he got to her place, she said he was really in bad shape, with a bad cough that can mean heartworms, or maybe kennel cough--she will have to take him to the vet on Monday, but for now is keeping him quarantined from the other dogs she takes care of. The adoptions papers, transport, and shots at the pound, etc. has already cost her close to $500, and she still has the vet to see on Monday about the cough.

If anyone wishes to contribute to PAC's vet visits/medications, it is deeply appreciated! You can send via PayPal at this email addy: herbiemakow@hotmail.com 

Carol also rescues horses/donkeys/mules, and has several cats there, too, at her place. She is just an all around good person! This past week two of my friends have really gone the extra mile to rescue animals whose pictures I re-shared on Facebook!

If you have any questions about Carol and her shelter, etc. please do not hesitate to ask. Leave a comment here at Doggy Tales, and I will answer. I know people want to help sometimes and don't know where or how--this is a perfect way to do it. 

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

REMEMBER: Doggy Tales is Reader Contributed. If you have, or have had, a finned, feathered, or furry friend you were fortunate enough to share your life with, we want to hear about it! Leave a comment here with an addy where I can contact you, or click the FaceBook link on the right hand side and PM me. Your article will be featured in a future Monday segment.

Doggy Tales -- A Teddy Tale

 

I have a dog. Well, a dog has me. Maybe I’d best start with how I came in possession of my talking dog. Yes, I said talking dog. Don’t think dogs can talk? Well, hang on and I’ll explain.

We’d lost our German shorthair, Molly in September, after thirteen wonderful years and we were devastated by the loss. My wife arranged with a friend who’d rescued an abandoned pregnant dog to take one of her pups for my birthday. I fell in love with this little roly-poly fur-ball at first sight and called him Teddy because he reminded me of a real live teddy bear. At the time he was nine weeks old and weighed just thirteen pounds. The vet took one look at him and told me that Teddy had dinner plate paws. I didn't know what he meant, but I soon learned. Two months later, he was already up to thirty-five pounds, and growing fast, though his appetite was never excessive. Our other dog, a shepherd mix named Bear, got along well with the pup, but was annoyed when the 'little' dog started herding him around the yard. Little did Bear know what would happen over the next six months when Teddy grew to equal Bear's ninety pounds and beyond.

 

Then Teddy began to talk to us. Only one problem; his tongue wouldn’t let him annunciate properly. That didn’t deter him as he issued his guttural commentary any time he needed some attention. Not a growl or a bark, just an ongoing series of hilarious sounds, accompanied by hysterical expressions of his eyes and brows. This dog can make you understand what he wants with his face and his voice.

 Now a whopping one hundred seventy pounds, Teddy is still growing, though he’s nearly mature at two and a half years. When Teddy barks, the walls shake and folks quake. The behemoth sounds ferocious, but in truth he’s afraid of his shadow. It is clear that he still thinks of himself as that little thirteen pound fur-ball that stole our hearts.

Back to Teddy’s talking prowess. He loves to engage in dialogue with the missus and me. We begin a discussion and Teddy interjects his guttural commentary in ten to twenty second bursts. He hates being interrupted and gives us a ferocious glare if we try to talk over him. Usually ends with us laughing and wiping tears from our eyes from his sincere intensity. Because he doesn’t speak English and we don’t speak Dog, we have to guess at what he’s telling us, but it is always fun to try.

Now I’m engaged in writing a romance, with Teddy as protagonist and narrator. He tells the tale of a woman who casts off hubbies like last year’s fashions, trying to find one who can get along with her big dog (Teddy, of course). There is a man in the story that gets along with Teddy, but Andrea has overlooked him. Do you see the catalyst for a good romance here? Yep, complete with the dreaded black moment and, naturally, a happy ending for man, woman, and dog.

That’s my Teddy. Oh, if you’ve been wondering his breed? He’s an Alaskan Malamute/ Great Pyrenees mix, with a soft downy undercoat that makes him soft to the touch, warm to winter breezes, and a mess to clean up after. We once had a Malamute, Sebastian, who weighed in at one hundred pounds and was a handful in his own right. I expected Teddy to be about that size, but I got more than I’d bargained for. Truth told, I’m so in love with this dog, it doesn’t matter his size, or the extent of his shedding.

We are grateful that he is such a positive, happy dog, though. If Teddy were a grouch, or God forbid, mean, I don’t think we could keep up with him. Darn, that dog is fast when he bolts. We have four foot fences and he could easily clear them if he only knew it. He doesn’t, and we want to keep it that way. His bark is enough to keep ne’er-do-wells away from our home, and where we live, those types are always nearby.

Talk about a gentle giant! Luckily, we have an old Caravan with the middle seat removed. Well beyond two hundred thousand miles under its belt, it is now our canine cab. Bear and Teddy live for the weekends, when we take them for drives to one of the nearby Missouri state parks.

With the physical problems in my legs now, I have to wait with the van while Patricia takes them for a long walk. One at a time. She’s taken them together a few times but at ninety and one seventy pounds, they’re almost too much for her. Especially when they roust out a deer or, on one occasion, a mountain lion that was lurking in the edge of the adjoining woods. So much for the myth of no mountain lions in Missouri.

And so much for leading either dog into those woods any more. Now we stick to the mown part of the park. Life has enough drama without teasing wild animals with our domesticated pair. Patricia had enough of a challenge the day a rabbit spooked Teddy and he lurched, pulling her off balance in into a painful face-plant. Bent her glasses, bloodied her lip, blackened one eye, and destroyed her buoyant personality in one fell swoop. Or was it one swell foop? Lol

Suffice it to say, she did not return to the van smiling that day. The good news? He never bolted, even though she dropped the leash when she hit the ground. Like a good pal, he stood over her, looking around to see that she was safe until she could get her glasses bent back enough to see which way to go. And from the look on his face, he was very sorry for his boo-boo.

And that’s Teddy’s Tale from Missouri with Pat Dale.

Visit Pat at his website.

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

REMEMBER:  Doggy Tales is reader contributed. If you have, or have had, a furry, finned, or feathered friend you were fortunate enough to share your life with, we want to hear about it! Leave a comment here at an addy where I can contact you. Your article will be featured in a future Monday segment. :)