Rest In Peace, Bradley

While looking through a pit bull community that I post to on Flickr, I found this picture posted by Eldad Hagar and was introduced to little Bradley. Bradley's story really touched me. I advise you get out a tissue and hug your dogs close before reading on...

Bradley is a pup who was dumped a shelter, and was mercifully rescued by the lovely couple behind Hope for Paws animal rescue. Bradley immediately saw a neurologist and was diagnosed with severe hydrocephalus. It was agreed that he should not continue to suffer from this condition and Brady was taken out for a great "last day" at the beach where he enjoyed fried chicken, hamburgers, and lots of love, before returning to the vet where he went to sleep forever.


Hope for Paws is selling a book that will raise money to continue their rescue work. You can buy it or make a donation at their site.

Ohio Reconsiders "Vicious Dog" Label

Currently in the state of Ohio labels all pit bulls (and any dog that looks like it might be a pit bull) as "vicious". Dog owners have to carry expensive insurance policies in order to keep their pit bull (or "pit bull type") dogs. One lawmaker in Ohio is stepping up to try to change that.

You can view the news story here, including a link in the upper left hand corner to a video piece. The video features Lisa, who is the reason that I knew about Measle's Animal Haven (she was a foster parent for them) and as a result, the reason that I adopted my little Probert. :)

Also, check out Lisa's super super cute little foster pup, Broby, in the video! Love his ears!

Ohio residents: send letters of support to Representative Sears! As we know, the breed is not the determining factor of whether a dog is vicious. Responsible ownership is the answer, as well as enforcement and improvement of existing animal welfare laws. A dog shouldn't have to act out before it can be legally removed from a bad situation.

Spring Cleaning

With the onset of spring, I have really started to think about cleaning out the house. I cannot wait until we can open the windows and let some air into the place. In the meantime, we finally decided to upgrade our old vacuum cleaner which was no match for the amout of pet hair that we had to contend with. Enter the Dyson Allergy!

I know that Dyson also makes "The Animal," a vacuum cleaner specifically geared towards pet hair, but our local Costco had the Allergy and Asthma vacuum on sale a few weeks ago, and I snatched one up! The above picture is the hair and whatnot that was picked up on only a 5'x7' living room rug. Um, yeah!

Totally worth the investment if you're sharing your home with furry pets!

Dog Food

Last night I had some broccoli stems left over from dinner, so I cut them up, steamed them, and made a simple vegan gravy to serve them in. The dogs had this mixed in with their usual store-bought circle-shaped food and it was an even bigger hit than the store-bought canned food that I treated them to the night before (or the blueberries from the night before that).

One of my goals for this year is to start cooking more for the dogs. I saw some recipes yesterday in a book at my new chiropractor's office and I'm going to look into this more. I have two slow-cookers and I could easily be cooking for the dogs much more often than I do.

*PHEW*

Well, we had a few hours of spring here last week, which was apparently too much for Miss Maizy who is out of shape from the winter and from the weeks of crate rest to heal her knee. Who knew that running around in the backyard could be SUCH HARD WORK!?

In good news, Maizy will go back to her therapy dog circut in April. I am going to take some time to brush up her manners and get her ready to start back up. I think she will be happy to get out and see people again. She is clearly tired of looking at me.