Dog Tales

New blog is up

2009-06-02T17:37:00.002-04:00

The blog I helped create at my work, the News & Record in Greensboro, NC, is live! Please visit it at www.news-record.com/blog/thepetshop

It's called The Pet Shop, and four other staffers will join me in talking about our pets and the pets and animals in our community.

I'll continue to blog here when I have time, but that will be my main blog for updates on Cassie and Greta.

Updates

2009-05-20T17:47:00.003-04:00

Not much has changed with Cassie since I last blogged. Her knee continues to pop out on a consistent basis. Her problem is called Luxated Patella. Twice now though, she's worked it out herself by slowly stretching her leg out. It's popping out consistently now when she stretches after waking up. So we're not keeping her and Greta separated at all if she can pop her knee out just as easily stretching as she can while playing.

A blog update for me is soon I'll be creating a pet blog for work. Four co-workers will be working on it with me. We'll blog about our own pets and also about pet issues in the Triad area. Hopefully we'll also start some kind of reader-submitted feature. The blog will be called "The Pet Shop." I'll keep you updated on when it will launch.

Pop

2009-05-11T11:03:00.003-04:00

I haven't blogged in awhile because nothing exciting has been going on in our household. Until now.

Thursday evening Cassie and Greta were playing in the yard, showing off for me like they always do. And all of the sudden, Cassie started screaming. Noises came out of that dog's mouth that scared me to death. Her right back leg was stuck in a weird position, she couldn't bend it to put it down. She was obviously in terrible pain. I layed her down and sort of gently moved her leg back and forth. Then POP. She stopped screaming and hopped up. Only to limp for the rest of the night though.

After a call to our former neighbor who's a vet, he recommended we take her in for some x-rays. He listed several things that could be wrong, from worst case scenarios to something we could deal with.

She paid a visit to the vet on Friday and spent all day there. The vet called me twice to update me. After a physical exam of her leg, he said it was her knee and she was obviously in pain. X-rays showed nothing though. So she came home with some pain meds and a prescription to avoid play for two weeks.

In an effort to follow the rules, the girls stayed inside Friday night to chill out and so we could watch Cassie better. After sleeping through a whole movie, ("Snow Dogs," with a cute border collie named Nana that reminded me of Cassie) Cassie started to stand up but her leg was all messed up again. She only whimpered that time. So I gently moved her leg around some, and then POP. Her knee was back in place.

Saturday I left town to visit my mother for Mother's Day, and decided to take Cassie with me so she and Greta could be separated for a day and avoid play. At 5:30 a.m., I got up to use the bathroom, and Cassie hobbled over to me on three legs. Her knee was popped out again! I did my usual moving it around some, and it popped back in.

Last night, our former neighbors came over, and T.J. the vet, examined Cassie himself. He said it was her kneecap that was popping out of place. He had a technical term for it, but I don't remember. He said it will keep happening and that we needed to have surgery done on it to insert a pin in her knee. T.J. says he can help us out with the surgery, just give him some time to get settled in his internship.

So now we're just on Cassie-knee-watch, waiting for it to happen again. I don't see much point keeping her and Greta separated when the last two times it happened she was sleeping. But we'll do the best we can to keep her from running and jumping on it. Which is pretty much impossible with her. Wish us luck.

Cassie is fat...again

2009-04-01T15:32:00.003-04:00

It's no secret to anyone that Cassie is fat. We even met a couple in PetSmart the other day who had a border collie also and they said theirs looked just like Cassie and was also fat. Maybe it's Cassie's brother or sister.

But she's now gained back the 10 pounds we worked so hard for her to lose this past year. And it's my fault. I cracked a rib in mid-December and was out for the count for months. I just started walking the girls again regularly recently and couldn't even think about running with them until about two weeks ago.

But now I'm back to full speed, and Cassie is trying, poor thing.

Ironically, I received my very first marthastewart.com "Pet Happy" newsletter today in my inbox, and one of the articles is about "Fat Pets." The article says it's easy to tell if your dog is overweight:

"It's simple to determine if your pet needs to lose some weight. You should be able to feel the backbone and palpate the ribs in an animal of healthy weight. If you can't feel the ribs without pressing, there's too much fat. Also, you should see a noticeable "waist" between the back of the rib cage and the hips when looking at your pet from above. From the side, there should be a "tuck" in the tummy -- the abdomen should go up from the bottom of the rib cage to inside the thighs."

Well, Martha's reporters pretty much described what we're looking at with Cassie. Can't feel the ribs. No waist, she goes straight from back to hips. I'm not really sure about the "tuck" in the tummy, cause she has so much long hair under her belly, but I would suspect, it's not there.

There are other tips in the article, but it's nothing we didn't know before. We need to be more diligent with her diet dog food, and amp up the exercise. We did it before and she lost 10 pounds. And we'll do it again.

Hey, everyone ... Remember Roxie??

2009-03-19T13:30:00.004-04:00

Roxie

Sure you do. That loveable little dog we fostered for three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas? We found the best family for her and her owner started a blog. Be sure to check it out.

Life Love Roxanne

You can search through the archives to the right in November and December to find lots of posts about our journey with Roxie. Here's my last post about Roxie's new owners.

Adorable pup needs a home

2009-03-13T12:43:00.005-04:00

Mickey

A co-worker passed this info along to me and I had to post it on the blog. This little pup needs a good home.

Mickey was found in the middle of a winding road in Coleridge, NC, on a bitter cold day in January. A truck coming around a sharp curve almost hit Mickey and one of his siblings. The puppies were too young to have walked into the middle of the road on their own, so rescuers surmised they were put there.

Mickey weighed 1.9 pounds when he was taken into foster care. He’s 13 weeks old and has had all of his shots. His third round of shots is scheduled for next week.

Vets believe he has limited vision, and his foster mom says he’s been a bit slow about learning to manuever stairs and to find his food. But he enjoys playing in his outdoor play area, and the vet believes he can have a good quality of life despite his disabilities.

Let me know if you or anyone else might be interested in adopting Mickey.

What happened to the snow?

2009-03-09T17:31:00.003-04:00

You see that pretty snow in that picture below? The snow that makes Cassie so happy? Yeah, it's gone. And it's also hot. In just one week. No, less than one week, the temperature shot up to almost 80 degrees. The snow melted and Greta was the happy dog instead of Cassie.

On Saturday, we took an hour-long walk early in the morning. We hit every cul-de-sac in the neighborhood and even ventured into the newest, undeveloped part of the neighborhood. Greta was loving it. But about 3/4 of the way through the walk, Cassie started to slow down. She started to pull toward the grass. I knew she didn't need a potty break. We'd already passed her one spot. She started wheezing a little bit and and so I stopped for a minute to let her rest. I realized that her winter coat, even in the morning sun, was just too much for her. And maybe my ambitious hour-long walk wasn't a good idea for her. Afterall, she's our fat dog. I think she's packed a few extra pounds on this winter.

I gave her a little pep talk and we moseyed on home. It was a true mosey. We weren't in any hurry at all. When we entered our fence, she about pulled my hand off, she was pulling on the leash so hard to get to a nice, cool dirt spot.

Just another seasonal change as we enter Greta's favorite time of year and leave Cassie's.

Cassie's Birthday

2009-03-04T12:03:00.003-05:00

Sunday was Cassie's third birthday. Or that's when we decided it would be, March 1. We totally forgot it was her birthday though. Usually we give the girls a special treat, or take them on an extra-long walk on their birthdays. But we now know that Cassie got the best birthday present ever. It snowed Sunday night. She woke up Monday morning to 4-5" of snow.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

(Just looking back, here's what I said about Cassie's second birthday.)

Snow Day video

2009-02-06T18:07:00.006-05:00

I'm just now getting around to posting this video that I took of Greta and Cassie the morning we woke up to snow a couple weeks ago. We are literally walking out the door just after waking up and eating breakfast. Forgive them for taking a pee break toward the beginning of the video. But I think you can get an idea how much Cassie loves the snow as you watch her bound through it.

Bath time

2009-02-03T12:39:00.006-05:00

Sunday was bath day at our house. The last several baths have fallen on my husband, so this time I was given the task of bathing Greta and Cassie.

Greta is scared to death of the bathtub. We don't know why. Is it the tub, or the water? Who knows. But once she knows we want her in the bathroom, she does everything possible to stay away from us. I decided to get all "Dog Whisperer" on her and try not to force her into the bathroom or tub this time. So I got a pocketful of treats. And Greta is highly motivated by food, so I figured this would work. I would offer up a treat, she would come and get it. But we were starting in the living room, not anywhere close to the bathroom. Eventually I would move closer to the bathroom with the treats. Treat, after treat, we moved closer to the bathroom. Eventually, she was in the bathroom. Score 1 for the team. But that was just a small hurdle.

Once in the bathroom, she huddled up in the corner furthest from the tub. I placed two treats in the soap dish on the opposite side of the tub, hoping that would be some motivation for her to get in the tub. No go. And they were my last two treats. I really didn't know what else to do. So I went back to Plan A, shove her in the tub. Which isn't easy, she's 60 lbs. of muscle. But once in the tub, she ate her two treats.

Greta freezes in the tub, her legs so stiff she won't move. I bathed her pretty quickly. When the water started to drain, I grabbed a towel and started drying her off in the tub. Then she slipped and fell. There she was ... wet, defeated and shamed. Greta wouldn't even try to get up. She just sat there on her butt in the corner of the tub, with a towel around her. It was the most vulnerable I've ever seen her. She wouldn't even look at me. I quietly dried her a little more, then nudged her to stand up. She quickly jumped up and out of the tub and shook off a little. Then it was outside to dry off in the sun.

Cassie is completely different at bath time. She isn't scared of the tub, just isn't sure about it. Once we rounded her up (which is always the hardest part), she decided to play like Greta and huddle up in the corner furthest away from the tub. But then she started wandering around the bathroom, sniffing and carrying on. I knew she wasn't scared, so I didn't want to force her in the tub. I wanted her to go in there herself, if possible. I hopped in the tub at one point and tried coaxing her in there. No go.

So I hopped out and tried shoving her a little, but she dug her feet in the ground. Then a lightbulb went off. The tub is like a hurdle, one of the hurdles she used to jump in her flyball classes. The command to jump over the hurdles is "over!" So I decided to give it a try. I tapped on the side of tub and said "Cassie, over! over!" And what'dya know, she hopped right into the tub! I gave her lots of loving to let her know she did so well. I wished I'd had some of Greta's treats then.

Bathing Cassie is never easy. She has so much hair, and she never stops moving. She's always looking for an escape route. I have to hold her in the tub with my legs and one arm most of the time. I worked up a sweat by the end of her bath.

But for now, we have clean dogs.

Freeway' has new home, name

2009-01-29T13:43:00.002-05:00

Our paper and other local papers have been following this dog's story. He apparently was a stray who ran along the interstate in Mebane. I never saw him though. People in Mebane named him Freeway because of that.

Thursday, January 29

( updated 1:14 pm)

By The Times-News of Burlington

Credit: File photo / News & Record

He spent five months living near the interstate, four weeks in the animal shelter and about a month in rehabilitation, but the dog known by many as Freeway is no longer a stray. Freeway has a permanent home and a new name.

A retired Mebane couple with an older beagle and an energetic poodle adopted Freeway last week.

''They had seen Freeway when he was on the interstate and were following his story and wondering what happened to him," said Amber Alsobrooks, a volunteer with the Orange County animal rescue group, Paws4Ever, who provided training and foster care to Freeway.

The couple, who have chosen not to release their name, took in Freeway, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, last week. The couple contacted the Rhodesian Ridgeback rescue group, which was handling the adoption, and then Alsobrooks was called.

''We set up a visit for them to bring their dogs to my house," Alsobrooks said.

She wanted to make sure Freeway got along with the beagle and the poodle, and then Freeway went for a home visit.

''It's a great setup for him," Alsobrooks said. "They are home a lot. They have a ton of experience with rescues. Their house is set up great, from a fenced-in yard to blankets on the sofa. They also have a lot of patience."

While Freeway earned the moniker because of the time he spent on the road, his new owners have decided to change it.

''His new name is Sonny," Alsobrooks said and indicated the couple have taken a little heat from friends because they changed the dog's name.

''To them he's a different dog than he was when he spent so much time outside," she said. "They wanted to give him a name to mark a new beginning. They felt like Freeway represented a time that wasn't necessarily good for him."

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/01/29/article/freeway_has_new_home_name

Puppy thrown out 2nd-story window; woman charged

2009-01-26T10:12:00.002-05:00

Monday, January 26

( updated 7:02 am)

Staff Reports

GREENSBORO - A local woman was charged with animal cruelty Sunday, according to magistrate records.

A witness told Greensboro police that Emily Wiggins, of West Meadowview Road in Greensboro, threw a 3-month-old black lab puppy out a second-story window Sunday afternoon, according to arrest records.

The puppy may have broken a leg, according to police reports.

Wiggins was charged with cruelty to animals and possession of marijuana.

She made her $5,000 bail and was released from Guilford County jail Sunday.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/01/26/article/puppy_thrown_out_2nd_story_window_woman_charged

Snow Days

2009-01-21T14:18:00.009-05:00

Greta takes in the sunny day.

Cassie loves the snow more than just about anything.

Sorry Cassie, I won't make you sit here for too much longer.

They look so peaceful, don't they?

Cassie runs circles around the yard Tuesday morning.

Cassie and Greta play.

Howling at the moon

2009-01-12T17:55:00.004-05:00

We have a visitor in the neighborhood. A large, gorgeous creature who loves to lay in the grass all day. He's staying with a family across the street and just a few doors down. We see him regularly.

He visited last January also, with his Alaskan family.

Upon first glance, this creature is a husky, beautiful and majestic. He's friendly and social. Last year, he and his doggie brother or sister came up to Greta and Cassie on our walk just to say hello. A few sniffs all around and we were all on our way.

But this January, my husband learned through the neighborhood grapevine that our visitor wasn't a husky at all. But a wolf.

Rescued by the Alaskan family as a pup, abandoned by his pack, and raised with their other dogs. We thought back to the encounters Greta and Cassie have had with the wolf last year and this year: all friendly. He's only come over to say hello.

I do recall on one occasion last year though when Cassie growled at him from across the street. Maybe she sensed something wasn't quite right with our new friend.

I looked at our wolf friend a little differently when I drove past him lounging in the grass this morning. He's definitely gorgeous, no doubt about it. And by all accounts he's perfectly friendly and domesticated.

But there's a wolf living in the neighborhood.

Frantic owner wants Ollie back

2009-01-08T10:47:00.002-05:00

From www.news-record.com:

Thursday, January 8

( updated 5:28 am)

By Ryan Seals
Staff Writer

Ollie is a full-blooded black labrador.

Ollie, a full-blooded black Labrador retriever, wouldn’t give up on Kathy Walton in her darkest time of need.

Now, three years later, she’s returning the favor and is determined to bring Ollie back home.

The Jamestown woman is on a mission to find her lost dog. A dog that’s not just a friend and loyal companion, but a hero. She credits him with saving her life.

Ollie was barely a month old when Walton collapsed in her home Jan. 26, 2006. It was about 10 p.m., and Walton was home alone at her residence on Morris Farm Drive off West Wendover Avenue.

Determined to finish one last task before going to bed, she went into her daughter’s bedroom to put knobs back on a freshly painted dresser when she collapsed.

She was lying unconscious — half in her daughter’s bedroom and half in a hall — when the small black puppy climbed on top of her. He started licking and licking.

“He continued to lick me in the face until I was woke up completely and was able to get up,” Walton said.

A short time later, she mustered the power to get back to her feet and dial 911.

She had suffered a brain aneurysm, and she credits Ollie with saving her life.

“All I remember is being passed out,” Walton said. “He literally saved my life. The doctor told me I would have died if I hadn’t gotten to the hospital when I did.”

Since that day, the duo have been inseparable. Wherever Walton goes, Ollie has always been by her side.

“If I go to the bathroom — he’s there. If I take a shower — he’s there. He will literally get in the bathtub and wait for me until I get out of the shower,” Walton said.

When she had gall bladder surgery last May, Ollie was at her side while she recovered at home.

The bond appeared unbreakable, until Ollie bolted from her home just after midnight New Year’s Day in fear of loud fireworks nearby.

“He had gotten up behind the pillows on my bed and was scared, but OK,” Walton said. “He got up and I thought he was going to get a drink of water, but he bolted.”

Unknown to her, a Christmas wreath had prevented her front door from closing all the way. Ollie managed to nudge the door open and hasn’t been seen since.

A three-hour search well into the morning was unsuccessful. So were fliers posted in Walton’s neighborhood and an online classified ad.

She’s called police, fire, animal control and made daily searches at the animal shelter. Still no Ollie.

“I’ve even put socks on the corners of the lot of my house, hoping he could smell the scent of me,” Walton said. “My poor dachshund (Sammie) is so depressed that Monday was the first day he’s eaten. He just wants to lay around and sleep and every once in a while, he’ll cry.”

She checked with the city sanitation department and no dead animals have been picked up matching Ollie’s description. That’s what Walton says gives her hope.

“You don’t think about a dog being so much a part of your life — but he’s my buddy,” Walton said. “I think that somebody has him, and I hope he’s not hurt. That would kill me.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com

I wanna rock and roll all night...

2009-01-07T14:02:00.004-05:00

Greta and Cassie have partied enough on New Year's Eve.

So Cassie is feeling much better after her New Year's Day Night bout with diarrhea. She was pitiful all weekend. Very weak and sad. But by Sunday afternoon she had bounced back and was her normal self.

On New Year's Eve, we hosted a party at our house, and the girls were invited to the party. It's the first time they've been around a lot of people. It was a big experiment in their social skills, and we were very proud of them.

When the first guests arrived, Greta and Cassie were over-excited, jumping, sniffing, just what we expected. But the first guests were our neighbors. So they knew the girls, and vice versa. And they told the girls "no" when it was too much. But they really calmed down quickly. And when more people arrived, Greta and Cassie just wandered around some. And eventually settled down on their pillows for the evening until bed time. It was great. We were very proud of them.

The first post of the year

2009-01-02T13:41:00.002-05:00

The first post of 2009 starts off with smelly, runny bang. Cassie has diarrhea. The poor thing was up all night with it. We have no idea what might be wrong with her, but her stomach is definitely upset. My husband's taking her to the vet in a little bit.

We spent most of the night up and down with her, cleaning both crates and our carpet. Then our bathroom floor this morning. We've thrown away blankets and pillows.

This morning we fed her some rice, which she ate a little bit of. And she's just so pitiful, it's obvious she doesn't feel well, poor baby.

We pray that she's just eaten something she shouldn't have and that this isn't the symptom of something more serious.

Reindeer love

2008-12-24T11:15:00.006-05:00

Greta and Cassie's Christmas came a little early with fun gifts from a good friend of mine, awesome plush reindeer squeeky toys. They both love to tear them to bits. But Greta especially loved her reindeer. Within 20 minutes this reindeer was totally torn to pieces.

Cassie wasn't digging hers too much though. I think she was jealous that Greta had a toy to play with also. You see, usually Cassie is the only dog in our house who gets a toy. Not because she's more special than Greta, but because she needs something to occupy her time, she's too busy. Greta will curl up on her pillow and go to sleep, but Cassie will wander around the house and find something to get herself into trouble, so we have to give her a toy to keep her busy.

So when I gave the reindeer toys to both of them, Cassie wouldn't play with hers. She just watched Greta chew on hers. I eventually had to give Cassie one of her usual chew toys. We'll hold onto the reindeer for Cassie for a later date.

A Permanent Home

2008-12-13T14:20:00.004-05:00

If it doesn't work out this time, well, ... it will work out this time. We're sure of it. Roxie has a new home, with a fabulous family. They're "dog people." And you can't beat dog people.

The husband is a co-worker of my husband's and his daughter is a senior in high school. He and his wife have three other children grown and out of the house. The daughter will be attending community college for two years, so will be sticking around. Roxie will be her dog, but the parents are just as excited as she is. They have one dog named Ed. He's the most-spoiled dog I've ever met. He has his own couch.

The family came over to our house last night to meet Roxie and they loved her. She was a little unsure and shy. We agreed to visit their house this afternoon with Roxie.

It was an awesome house on a great chunk of land. They have an invisible fence and a carport so the dogs can get under shelter if they need to. We were informed Roxie would be sleeping in their daughter's bedroom. That was a sign to us of how much they wanted Roxie and how much she would be loved.

I'm not sad that Roxie's gone, unlike last time. She's exactly where she needs to be.

A return policy

2008-12-11T09:31:00.002-05:00

You know that new owner I talked about yesterday? She's returning Roxie this afternoon. She called me this morning at 8 a.m. just before I left for a doctor's appointment. She lives with her grandmother (I'm not sure we knew that), who just finished chemo, and she can't have a dog running around the house. So she would like to bring Roxie back to us.

I think there was dead silence on the phone for about 10 seconds. I was in complete shock. I didn't expect this at all. She said she didn't want to keep Roxie caged up all day. I told her of course we'd take Roxie back.

I'd just accepted the fact that Roxie was gone, after a night of complete denial, some tears, and lots of baking to get my mind off the fact that she was gone.

Greta and Cassie had just enjoyed a very peaceful night and morning, they were being very snuggly and loving. But this afternoon, Roxie will be back.

And once again, we'll be searching for a new home for her. And this time, we hope the prospective owners will be a little more thoughtful about whether or not their current living conditions are appropriate for a dog.

Roxie has a new home

2008-12-10T16:47:00.002-05:00

We found Roxie a new owner. She's already adjusting to her new digs as I type. I didn't get to say goodbye. I'm getting a little teary just thinking about it, it happened while I'm still at work. My husband has been working on setting this up all week with a colleague and today it finally came through.

I'll miss the little girl. But I won't miss the turmoil our routine was put into. The new owner promises to keep us informed of Roxie's progress, and to also bring her back to us if things don't work out.

I'll hug Greta and Cassie and little tighter when I get home tonight.

Roxie still needs a home

2008-12-08T15:06:00.002-05:00

Roxie has an underbite.

So Roxie is still with us. We've been fostering her for two weeks now. Obviously, she's adorbale. There's no denying that. But she doesn't work in our household. She makes Greta very nervous, and Greta is very nervous to start with. That nervousness only makes her more dominant. Roxie and Cassie get along great though, and play really well together. They run around and romp in the yard all the time. But the Greta factor is enough for it to not work. We have to look out for our own dogs first.

Roxie had a vet visit on Saturday and she had a clean bill of health and is now up-to-date on all her shots. She still needs to be spayed though.

The vet says she's a Pekingese mix. The vet tech thinks maybe she has some Jack Russell terrier in her.

Roxie has made great strides in the house-breaking department and works very hard to "sit" when we tell her to. She's also getting the hang of going in her crate on command. She's made a lot of progress in the two weeks we've had her, but she's still scared of new people when they come along, and she doesn't like to be left alone, both results of her previous living conditions.

In her new home and owners, she really needs unconditional love and attention. Maybe she needs to be the only dog, or another small playmate. But a dominant dog already in the house would not be a good mix with her.

If anyone is interested in adopting her, or knows someone who might be, let me know.

Pink eye and Roxie update

2008-12-02T13:52:00.002-05:00

I had pink eye last week and was told by my sister to be careful around the dogs because I could pass it on to them. She said her husky got pink eye from her youngest son once.

Well, she didn't tell me that until after I'd already spent all day with the dogs, petting them and so forth. So we've been watching their eyes all week. And up until last night, we thought we were in the clear.

When I got home from work, my husband said he thought Cassie had pink eye in her left eye. I checked it out and it was very red and irritated. She also had lots of gunk coming out of it. He had asked our neighbor, who is in vet school, to take a look at Cassie's eye when he got a chance.

Our neighborhood vet determined that it wasn't pink eye, but she had a scratch that was causing her eye to swell and hurt her. Whew, what a relief that was.

We figure Roxie scratched Cassie's eye, because she likes to jump up on Cassie's face with her from two paws. Cassie got some baby aspirin to help her with the pain and it should heal on its own.

And speaking of Roxie, we've had her a week now. Life has changed quite a bit at our house, I'm hoping we can find a family to take her. She's very sweet and well-behaved, but our routines have been all screwed up. Here's what's transpired in the past week with Roxie:

- She has eaten several magnets off our fridge.
- She unzipped the covering on a pillow we gave her, ate the zipper, and then ate some of the pillow's stuffing.
- She and the girls get along for the most part now. They don't spend too much time together unsupervised. She and Cassie play pretty well together, but she's definitely annoying Cassie.
- She's learning how to "sit."
- She's making strides in the potty-training department, but we don't trust her and her bladder enough to run free in the house just yet.
- She threw up in her crate Sunday night. We suspect that zipper was causing problems in her stomach.
- Our walks for the most part aren't too challenging, but this morning was a nightmare. Cassie and Greta caught the scent of something and wouldn't stop pulling me. This is usually just an annoyance, but with Roxie along with us, it got very difficult to juggle all three dogs.

Roxie

2008-11-25T19:10:00.002-05:00

Boy do I have a dog tale today. We are now fostering this adorable dog, Roxie. She was our neighbor's dog. I've written about her before here.

I don't want to go into the details of why or how we have her with us, but we do, at least for now. We have decided to see how she gets along with Cassie and Greta and if that doesn't work out, we'll find another home for her.

So far, Cassie doesn't like her at all. She's growling, barking and herding Roxie. Greta is excited though and wants to play.

Roxie is very scared though, so she might be putting off bad vibes to Cassie. But she's warmed up to us. In fact, she's sitting in my lap while I type this.

If anyone is interested in more information about Roxie, let me know. She needs a good home, even if it's not ours.

Chapel Hill official seeks ban on tethering dogs

2008-11-25T15:10:00.000-05:00

From The News & Observer's web site:

By Jesse DeConto, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL - Now that Orange County won't let residents tie up their dogs for more than three hours a day, Chapel Hill Town Council member Bill Strom wants to ban tethering completely within the town limits.

"I don't think it's a way to care for a domestic animal, a companion animal," Strom said Monday night.

Orange County enacted its limitations last week, but they do not apply to Chapel Hill and Carrboro, which have their own rules. Currently, Chapel Hill allows tethers no shorter than 10 feet, with a swivel or run-line to prevent choking.

Strom suggested following Durham County's lead and banning tethers altogether.

"I think we should align with Orange County quickly, or we should surpass it," Strom said.