A sad state of affairs.

   See this wretched looking pooch here?  This was taken at the dog pound about a year or two ago.  The tech out there thought this dog was about 2 1/2 years old, female, Llaso Apso/Shitzu, and had just had puppies.  She was very matted and her hair was falling out.  Sad little species.  I brought her home and named her Elvira, Mistress of the night.

See this little wretch here?  This is her prison picture.  Probably should have named this one Bandit, but we named her Daisy.  Daisy is probably about six now and is the old lady of the bunch.  Elvira is about 4.  I always get my dogs at the pound because I know they need homes and I have a home.  Cool, huh?

              

 Now this is Lyn.  I did not get her at the pound.  She is my friend.  She is also the one who just gave little Elvira her bath and trimmed her hair.  Doesn't she look pretty?  I actually meant Elvira, but that goes for Lyn also.  Course Daisy wanted held also.  It is hard to imagine those two healthy looking pooches were once on their way to the execution chamber.  But now they are mine!

Now, you know there is going to be a point to this, don't you?  And here it comes.  I had to run into town to have lunch with a friend today.  Would rather have stayed home, but you know how it is some times.  So I zipped up South Road, which I have got to quit doing as the boy got a ticket for speeding and I don't want one.  But I then turned on Aspen headed for town.  In the middle of the road was a big black Lab.  Probably not full blooded Lab, but a big dog.

Oh, he was alright, but he was on a mission.  He was smack in the middle of the road and he was plodding his way toward town.  He did not have a collar.  He did not look happy at all.  He looked like what we see all to often out here in the county.  He looked like some one had driven him out and dumped him because they were, for what ever reason, no longer wanting to care for him.  So some one loaded him up and dropped him out in the middle of nowhere hoping what would happen?

Was it you?  Did you think he would just drop in some farmhouse and live happily ever after?  Most farms out here already have  dog or 2.  Maybe a cat.  These animals see the new dog as an interloper and chase it away.  Or, gee, maybe it could find some where to sleep and catch  mice or something to eat during the day.  It is a trained hunter?  I think not.  The dog I saw walking up Aspen was not a happy dog.  He looked like he was looking for you.  You are all he knew and you left him, quite by accident, I am sure, and he was just wanting to get home to you.  You may not have been the best master, but you were his and he remembers that. Probably a moot point as he was only about a mile from the highway.  You know, the one where cars drive 50 miles an hour through Blende and never think to watch for dogs looking for their masters.

We have a new dog pound.  Why didn't you just drop him off there?  At least that way he could have something to eat.  He could have some where to sleep where he felt safe.  He would have at least had a chance at being adopted.  And if he did not get a new home the worst that could happen is he would be euthanized.  At least that is a lot quicker then being hit by a car or starving out on the prairie.

I wish there were some way to make you people understand that the cute little puppy you bring home is dependent on you.  Even when it grows up and isn't so cute, it is your responsibility.  You picked, you played with it, and it is yours until one of you dies.  When I see a dog dumped like this I wonder what kind of people we are dealing with now days.  What kind of Father will you make?  What kind of mother?  The fields and the prairies are for the animals of the night, you know, coyotes, foxes, skunks, snakes, spiders.  That sort of stuff, not domesticated dogs.  Dogs we have bred and trained to be docile little creatures. 

I had a short lunch and when I came home I looked for the black dog.  Don't know what I had planned if I found it, but I did not see it.  I am sure I will be thinking about it tonight when I should be sleeping.  And I hope you are thinking about it also.  I hope you realize what a stupid thing this was and I hope you at least regret your decision.  It is my fervent hope that you spend a lot of sleepless night and then one day, look up out of what ever gutter you are in and see your beautiful black dog ride by in the back of a mini van with a little girl hanging on his neck, with his tongue hanging out and a big smile on his face!

Always remember "When you dance, you got to pay the fiddler. " or "What goes around, comes around."

Oh, Gino, I can hear your house from here!

I have a new pseudo friend on this side of the Niagara Falls! Now pseudo may not be the correct word here, but I can not find the one I want.  Pseudo means pretend, or spurious and I guess he falls it that category.  I have never met the man, but have exchanged several emails.  I know his political affiliations and know he likes fine wine.  I in turn shared with him my venture into the wine tasting arena and the 5 day bout of dry heaves that followed.  So I guess this qualifies us as friends.

I make seed catchers and sell them on eBay and Gino breeds and sells Canaries, so this is a match made in heaven.  He needs my seed catchers to keep is house tidy and I need his money to keep my house period.  I just want you to take a look at some of his canaries.  I remember way back when mother had a canary.  She kept it in a cage that hung from a stand, much like the grandmother  on Tweety and Sylvester did.  I do not remember momma having that little bun in her hair, but I can go with that!

What I do remember is that momma also had a cat!  Oh, you can see where this is going can't you?  Now the only thing I recall is momma coming home and a pile of yellow feathers and no cat.  Now, I am sure I would not have gotten the licking I did if someone were not pretty sure that little Louella figured in somewhere in the equation of open bird cage, pile of feathers and cat nowhere to be seen.  I am just as sure, that I did not do it, whatever it was.  I am also very sorry that had I did that it was the wrong thing to do.  The sad part is, mother never did get another bird!  Do not know where the cage went either.

Now, if my dear mother, rest her soul, were alive today, I would be for getting her one of these birds.  Let me go look. Oh, I would take either #4 or #6.  Did you see those?  It is this first link.  Highlight it and then click and click again.  Least that is how it works on mine. You will figure it out. But those two have messy hair and look like ornery little boys.  Gino tell me these little fellows are singers to the max.  I really like that early in the morning!  So does he, hence the covers to block out the light!  LOL

http://buffalo.ebayclassifieds.com/birds/niagara-falls/canary-red-bronze-red-varigated-yellows-yellow-varigated/?ad=6629253

Now if the birds were not enough, look at these little bulldogs.  They are so cute!  I did not even know there were such things as French Bulldogs until he told me.  I love these puppy pictures!  They have the shortest little legs.  I am sure Gino can give you way more info than I can.  See, my job is to see something that I think is unusual, cute, interesting, moving or evil and report it back to you, so you know about it also.  I know this man works very hard taking care of his birds and dogs so they are very healthy, unlike the puppy mills you see on 20/20.
http://www.napoleonesfrenchbulldogs.com/

Ok, that is it for today.  Just check out these 2 websites for my friend Gino.  They are free and may make you want to get some kind of new pet.   Gino is far away, but check out the local pound.  Oh, oh!  That is not politically correct!  Check out you local animal shelter!  That is better.

Have a good one!

The killer cat and the feathers I get to clean up!

See that cat there?  That is Icarus, my calico.  She is peering under the treadmill in hopes that the bird she brought inside might accidentally be under there!  See all those little things on the floor?  Those are feathers the bird neglected to take with it when it escaped the clutches of this evil feline!

More feathers in the hall way!  The bird is probably getting cold and scared long about now!

Here we are in the kitchen/dining room.  By this time I am getting a little tired of taking pictures and am in search of the vacuum cleaner.  I have already taken the dove outside and put it up high.  I know there is virtually no chance of survival due to the cat fever aspect of the ordeal it has just endured, but hope none the less springs eternal in the human breast!

Ok, now the mess is cleaned up and the cat is looking at me funny.  I know that cat's bring us treasures like mice, birds, snakes and centipedes because they love us and they think we are stupid and can not catch our own food, but come on guys!  I let my cat watch me eat and at no point has Icarus ever seen me devour any of that stuff. Now if she could go out and bring me home a side of beef we might be talking here, but she does not.  It is all this stuff that I have to clean up and dispose of properly.  (Yeah, like there is a way to dispose of dead wild life in the kitchen properly!

But as long as I have a doggie door and  a cat, I am sure I will have this little problem from time to time.  I have talked to her and she just flips her tail, looks over her shoulder and walks off with a little swish.  This is the same cat that will wake me up in the middle of the night while perching on my shoulder and giving me tiny little licks on the cheek.  God only knows what she had dropped in my bed, but I do jump up and look, just in case she thinks I need a midnight snack!

It takes special people to love cats and I guess I am one of those people.  She rules the two dogs with a disdainful glance and they just watch her walk away.  So for the next 14-15 years I know I have a companion and I also know I do not have to worry about eating!  Lonely?  The local animal shelter is full of these furry little creatures.  Just call my friends at the Pueblo Animal Shelter and I am sure someone will help you find a special one!