I leave this week to go and visit Karma Dogs OT specialist, Melissa Winkle. I hope to pick her brain for new ways we can help the people of Baltimore and so much more. Melissa is famous (not like Angelina, but in some circles) for coming up with really unique ways to help reach people that were previously not responding to everyday treatments. She has so much to offer and I can’t wait to see what we can come up with!
I often argue with some trainer friends over the merits of the retractable leash. Many argue it is the safe, fun way to go to the park with your pet. They can go several feet away from you and YOU are still in control. If the dog needs to be pulled closer, you can bring them in. Everyone stays safe. Great in theory. However, like most other dog related things, it is the owner I am concerned about.
The next time you are out somewhere people are walking dogs, watch them use one of these leashes. It’s funny, more often dangerous, but still comical from time to time. The dogs go far away from their human. We humans are really bad at paying attention to our dogs at all times. We just assume because they are tethered to us, they are safe and well behaved or we would know. You know what they say about people who assume things…
The dogs on these leashes more often than not have the following happen to them:
1. They get tangled around trees, posts or poles.
2. They run to the end of the leash, only to jerk their necks harder than they imagined.
3. They run after other animals or things suddenly catching you off guard.
4. The run into an unsafe place (like traffic).
Here is what happens to humans:
1. They don’t notice their dog is about to chase a car/bird/plastic bag/shiny object and the dog runs with all of their might to the end of the leash. The person tries to use the “brake” and can’t manage to use it correctly to stop the dog.
2. The dog is heading somewhere dangerous and you can’t reel the dog back in. They you chase after the dog, trying to reel them in manually. This is where it is funny.
3. The leash gets tangled around your fingers/arm/leg/whatever and the dog runs. As the leash grows longer, it can actually remove what is caught between it’s nylon tangle. Yup. That means your body parts can come off. Or get a really bad leash burn. It has happened more than 20 times since 2002. While that doesn’t seem like a lot, that only refers to accidental amputations.
A leash is a simple concept. It shouldn’t come with a WARNING. Please be careful. They seem like a good idea, but they are very dangerous. In fact, just yesterday, I witnessed a Father with two children, one on a bike and one walking a small dog on a retractable leash. The little girl almost fell off of the bike. As the Dad lunged to get her, the boy and dog turned to see what was going on. The dog ran into rush hour traffic on Loch Raven Blvd and was narrowly missed. It happens all of the time. Read the story of my pal John and his dog Ace about their mishap with a retractable leash. Take the danger out of the equation and be safe. (Then check out Ace’s new blog, www.ohmidog.com)
Bruno, the smallest Karma Dog, recently collapsed while walking with his owner. Rushed to the vet, it was determined he had Lymes Disease. Usually transmitted by the Deertick, Lymes is a rapidly advancing disease spread by infected ticks. If it is not treated very quickly, this can be fatal in pets (and sadly, in humans as well).
How can you protect your pet? Use a topical product like Frontline PLUS or Advantix and if you live in a wooded area or spend a lot of time outside, have your dog vaccinated against lymes disease. Bruno was vaccinated and used the topical product, which leads his vet to think that there are some very medicine resistant strains in the area. Luckily, using an antibiotic like tetracycline can usually clear things up.
How can you tell if you dog may have Lymes Disease? If you dog is suddenly limping or unable to walk, usually because of one leg, has swollen lymph nodes or a fever, you should visit the vet right away. Most of the time, this can be treated and the dog can expect to make a full recovery. However, delaying treatment can be fatal. So when in doubt, visit the vet!
Karma Dogs has had a crazy summer so far! In just a few short weeks we have launched new programs and worked with more people that I thought possible! This weekend is the launch of the biggest library program we have ever done. We will have EIGHT dogs! They range in size from really small to my goal weight! And I am 5′10! Stop by and see the chaos. This ain’t your mothers library!
Also new to Karma Dogs is a program targeting children with autism to improve their socialization skills. In an attempt to get them to exercise, we started doing doga. Yoga based exercise that is motivated by dogs. Our form is not quite there yet, but we definitely got some children to move who normally may not!
Finally, thanks to Karma Dog’s newest pal, Heather, from a great company called The She Space. Heather makes my other favorite thing in the world-makeup. And it is really nice makeup! Not only does she create amazing colors at a fraction of the price other companies charge, she gives back. When a child with cystic fibrosis made an impact on Heather, she came up with a beautiful eyeshadow duo to help donate money towards helping this special boy. After a successful fundraiser, Heather decided to continue to sell the duo with a portion of the proceeds going to CF indefinitely. Karma Dogs has their fingers crossed that we can do something special together in the fall! In the meantime, check out her website, www.theshespace.com.
So why is it a bad thing to continue to use the phrase No-Kill and Kill Shelter? It fairly describes how the shelter operates, right? Is being honest wrong?
Neither model, Open or Closed Admission is a great system. Great dogs are often euthanized at O.A. (kill) shelters. Dogs who often are not adoptable will spend their lives in a crate, going crazy at some C.A. (no-kill) shelters. Have you ever seen a dog spinning in a cage at a shelter? Wonder why? It is because they have likely been there so long, it is all they can do to calm themselves, while they literally go mental. Would you want to live your life in a cage, with some human contact, but no one to call your own? Nothing to look forward to and nowhere to go? Sure, some places, like Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, offer a wonderful life full of training, treats and companionship for animals who will never be adopted. But most places don’t. In some C.A. (no-kill) shelters, unadoptable dogs often end up kenneled forever. And sometimes forgotten. What kind of quality of life is that? Going kennel crazy, anxious and truly unloved? Again, many shelters have sanctuaries who care for these dogs for the rest of their life. But most don’t. So then it is up to you to decide: Is it better for a dog to be unhappy and live or not to live at all? Unhappy people live all of the time. They get by. Dogs, however, are not people. They don’t understand their circumstances or know how to improve them. This is where humans need to be the smart ones and make the hard decisions.
So what do I hope you take away from all of this? Know that both types of shelters are a must until we solve the pet overpopulation problem. Don’t look down upon or use the words “Kill Shelter” with anger or disgust. And don’t judge the people who work there. They do what the rest of us can’t. They do their best. And they clean up the mess the rest of us make, everyday.
Please do your part and spay and neuter each and every one of your pets.
Also on Oprah’s recent expose’ was the repeated phrase, “NO-KILL SHELTER”. Obviously, a no kill shelter is the answer to the dog overpopulation problem, right? No one wants to kill dogs and some states, like Utah, have become no-kill states. So what is wrong with that, you may ask? Who wants to kill dogs?
The term no-kill shelter is used to describe shelters that have whats known as a CLOSED ADMISSION POLICY. This means that the shelter only takes animals it deems adoptable and that it has room for. They may turn away animals who are sick, old, aggressive or even who just have fleas or a cold. The shelter only has so many beds and when they are full (which they almost always are), the dogs are turned away.
What is a KILL SHELTER and who on earth would want to work there? Natural born dog killers, perhaps? No. Kill shelters are also called OPEN ADMISSION POLICY shelters. These shelters are usually forced (by government agencies) to take in all unwanted animals. Strays, owner surrenders and animals picked up by animal control may end up here. When the shelter is full, then they have to make room for the inevitable influx of dogs and cats that will make their way to the shelter that day. It is nothing more than a numbers game. It is terribly sad. And it is your fault.
Ok, maybe it is not actually YOUR fault. But it is our fault as society as a whole. Dogs end up in shelters because they are no longer wanted and there is no where else for them to go. Still, you ask, why is that our fault? Because we, as a society, don’t take pet ownership seriously. It is a lifelong commitment to an animals to care and provide for all of it’s needs. This means not moving somewhere you can’t own pets, working with them through troubled times and providing for them when they are sick. If you can’t make that commitment, then don’t get a dog. And for the love of dog, please spay and neuter your pets. I realize that you are perfect and that your unfixed dog will never get out and accidentally cause a litter. You are responsible and not likely to fail. Statistically speaking however, you will. And one dog that goes altered, if they have puppies that go unaltered, who have puppies and so on and so on can lead to SIXTY-SEVEN THOUSAND DOGS in that one dogs’ reproductive lifetime. FROM ONE DOG! (HSUS) You can see how the numbers add up. Until we are responsible as a society, open admission (kill) shelters are necessary. If you can’t live with that, then do your part. Spay and neuter. Convince your friends to do the same. Consider adoption the only option for getting a pet. Help fund low cost spay and neuter programs.
Can you imagine what would happen if everyone did their part?
Like the movie Crash, which exposed racism in modern society, Oprah recently focused her attention on the puppymill disgrace that puts puppies in pet stores across the country. I am a bit surprised that Oprah wasn’t aware of this problem previously. Lots of organizations work really hard on exposing them. Puppymills have been the focus of a few documentaries, including one that played often on HBO about two years ago. I am also a little surprised that Lisa Ling didn’t uncover more than she did. A journalist who normally goes very deep to cover a topic, barely scratched the surface. However, if applications for pets are up over the weekend at local shelters everywhere, than I think it is a wonderful result of the show. However, Oprah and Lisa just looked under the rug for a moment….there is so much more to see.
Why do people go to puppymills- or really, shop at pet stores who sell dogs? Is it because everyone wants something they deem perfect, new, shiny, and at a high cost immediately? As a society, we don’t seem to be willing to put the work into anything that is worth having. We want things NOW. Dogs are no different. People often want a new puppy today, with no questions asked. Sure, some rescues make it difficult to adopt from them, but that is only because they are so invested with giving that dog a perfect life. I hope such difficult adoption policies don’t turn people off from owning a dog. I wish people would really consider what type of dog they are getting and not just pick a cute puppy because it is fuzzy. I wish people were more willing to learn about a basic minimum standard of dog care and would abide by it.
But it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Hopefully, enough people were moved by what Oprah recently discovered and will put their time, money and energy into forcing more strictly enforced legislation towards these mills and their practices. For more information on what you can do to help stop puppymills, please visit www.prisonofgreed.org
and
www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/get_the_facts_on_puppy_mills/
Every day, Karma Dogs faces a variety of situations. Some happy, some sad, some really, really complicated. We hope that our programs help different people in different ways. We hope that by having positive experiences with dogs, kids and adults will remember that and think of dogs differently in the future. It is one of the things that we at Karma Dogs are trying to change, one person at a time. We know there are tons of wonderful dog owners and every now and then, we meet someone who blows our mind. It doesn’t happen often, but it did earlier this week.
A colleague contacted me on Monday asking for help for her daschund. Her dog had suffered from a serious, degenerative spinal condition. He had dealt with a bout of paralysis last year and was forced to use a cart to support his back legs. While surgery is available, it is expensive and there is no promise of success. The family decided to use the cart and hope his back legs would heal and over time, he did very well. He was in the cart for several months and his spine healed and he was back to normal. The family was delighted.
However, over the weekend, he re-injured his spine. He was paralyzed from the mid-section down and lost control of his bladder. He could not move on his own and was in terrible pain. It seemed like euthanasia was a very strong possibility and would be the kind thing to do. Until a co-worker of mine mentioned a woman she had heard of in Baltimore County who has a soft spot in her heart for daschunds. These particular dogs are prone to spinal injuries and she had perfected the way to care for them.
On the first floor of her home, she has installed a highly polished marble floor, which is impermeable to stains. Injured dogs can slide around on the floor, their hindquarters in a soft bag. The dogs are able to move around easily- even play together. Many of the dogs have no control over their bladders and need to be expressed regularly. The owner of the home has arranged for round the clock care of these dogs and even built a special area that is led up by a ramp where the dogs can be expressed (cause their bladders to empty) manually. The dogs are spared no medical expense and treated to all of the treats, toys and care a dog could wish for.
The injured pooch went for an MRI yesterday and it was determined that he needs surgery. It is scheduled for sometime in the very near future. He is likely to go on to lead a happy life, wheelchair bound or not, with all of his new doggie friends, who are just like him.
What are the chances a person would revamp their home so it was paralyzed dog friendly? Then offer to take in and care for injured dogs? Hire a staff to see to the care of the dogs and spare no expense? It’s not very likely and I don’t even know her name to thank her properly. But from the bottom of my heart, I thank you. If more people were as thoughtful with their time and income as you, the world would be such a better place.
I was watching the news tonight when they covered a new company that is renting dogs to people who are not ready to commit to full-on dog ownership. Supporters of this type of “time share” of dogs say it is a great way to get over the loss of a pet and spend some quality time with a furry friend. An associate of the ASPCA says that “they know how rental cars are treated. Why we would subject a dog to that?” In a society where no one can commit to anything – a marriage, a cell phone contract, a hair color or even plans with friends- it makes sense that this would be a popular idea. I am not a dog behaviorist, but can’t imagine it is good for a dog to bounce from home to home, all while living in what is essentially a kennel. Having worked for a dog rescue, I know it is hard for dogs to leave one foster home for another when a foster can not continue to care for a dog. I can’t imagine how hard it would be for a dog to go from home to home, owner to owner every day. How easy would it be to ignore a dog’s health problem if it was not yours? How would a dog learn how to socialize or behave if the rules change every day? They can’t.
This is one more example of people trying to figure out how to live in a world where they are too selfish to realize they can’t have everything they want. While dogs are not children and it is not wise to anthropomorphize them, people have to realize that living a nomadic lifestyle without the ability to understand why is cruel. Sure, the dogs live in a brightly colored “day care” center. They will have medical attention and will probably spend quality time with people who will treat them well, even it is more of a chattel-like relationship. It does make it a little more palatable that they are often taken from a shelter, but what about the art of making a commitment? What is wrong with getting to know a dog, remembering their likes and dislikes, their favorite toy and giving them a place to call their own? Isn’t there something to be said for committing to something and sticking with it? If now is not the right time to get a pet, hey, then just don’t get one. Research what kind of dog you would like to get when the time is right. If you need help with that, Karma Dogs has a questionnaire that can make the decision easier. We will even go to the pound with you to find the right dog. For free. If you really need to get your dog walking fix, go to your neighborhood pound and ask to become a volunteer. Their dogs always need attention and exercise. You might even feel better about yourself for doing something selfless. If you want to keep a dog for a short period of time, offer to foster a dog for a local rescue.
The bottom line is this: You get back what you put in to life. If everything is disposable and you treat it as such, then before you know it, you are too.
I used to joke often that the only solution for Ernie, my blind newfie-mix, to get him to stop chewing on all of my shoes, was to have him de-toothed. See, I love Ernie. He is cute and fluffy and cocks his head and smiles at you. He has no clue that my nightshirt or brand new shoes are not meant for him to chew on. I figured my shoes smelled like me and he wanted to, well, I guess chew on me. He has eaten so many pairs of shoes that my husband started buying identical shoes and saving the “leftover” on the off chance that Ernie would eat the opposite shoe and leave him with a working pair. And it even actually happened. He has easily destroyed more than 10 pairs of shoes and slippers. I have even discovered him eating my shoes, leisurely, one day when I arrived home from work. I was on the phone with a good friend, a friend who would not hurt a fly, when I started screaming horrible things about my dog. I am sure I threatened him with terrible punishments. My friend was most likely scared by my sudden change in personality, but knows me well enough to know I was not seriously considering selling Ernie for spare parts. However, I did tell people on several occasions that the only solution to make him stop chewing was to have him de-toothed. Never, ever, in my wildest dreams, did I ever suspect that PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO THIS TO PIT BULLS TO STOP THEM FROM TRYING TO BITE WHILE BEING FORCED TO BREED. One of the most horrifying parts of that thought is that no reputable dentist would do this. Thanks goes to my Father-In-Law who brought this article to my attention. Just when I think people have sunk as low as they can go, where dogs are concerned, I am proven wrong. But what can I, a nobody, do to help stop dog fighting? In Maryland, dog fighting is a felony, punishable by three years in jail. If you see anything suspect, call Animal Control or 311. Animal Control officers can not make arrests, so if you suspect a dog fight in progress, call 911. And don’t think it does not happen where you live. Last year, Animal Control broke up a dog fight in Severna Park. I have heard dogs fighting (years ago) in an apartment in White Marsh. It happens everywhere. And where dog fighting happens, other illegal activity is going on. If you see or hear anything suspect, call 311 or 911. Information leading to an arrest will get you a $4000 reward, which is double what the normal Crime Stoppers reward will get you. The dogs don’t deserve it and the people should be punished. What goes around comes around- make it happen a little faster if you can.
For more information on dog fighting in Baltimore and how to stop it, check out this article from Baltimore Dog magazine.
(photo courtesy of The NY Times)