We created a monster
Oh, did you miss the memo?
Well, let me just spell it out for you.
Eggs for breakfast AND dinner? Only if they’re over easy.
Buttermilk-soaked kibbles? Just the buttermilk, please.
Canned dog food? If I must — but don’t try to feed me the same brand two days in a row.
Blue Buffalo banana and yogurt Mini Blue Bars? Break them up into crumb-size pieces.
A bit of brisket? I’ll take my own slice, thanks.
A few weeks ago, Scooby, a typically voracious dog known around our house as a blaccum — a little black kitchen vaccum — turned into a snob.
His disinterest in dry food coincided with a change from EVO to Innova Prime, a stay at Resort de Mom and a prescription for antibiotics to treat a urinary tract infection.
Also, this 10,000-year-old dog doesn’t have many teeth to begin with and is due for a dental.
So maybe the demands for softer food are warranted.
But now he seems to have us trained — tasty meats or a hunger strike!
The vet is aware of the situation, and we are headed back to see her in a couple days.
In the meantime, tell me how you get your finicky eaters to clean their bowls.
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Catfish the Boston Terrier
They call me Catfish.
Usually I prefer the driver’s seat.
I’m a middle-aged bully breed dog. I’m a Boston Terrier.
My snub-nosed breed is known for being friendly and gentle. We make great family pets.
In fact, this bug-eyed dog has spent a lot of days in the company of schoolchildren under the supervision of my bus drivin’ human (aka Crystal’s aunt Sandy).
I love kids almost as much as I love gemstone-studded collars.
It’s hard to believe that anyone could have a problem with Boston Terriers. But as relatives of other bulldogs, including our much maligned cousins the pit bulls, we do face occasional discrimination.
A few years ago, the New York City Housing Authority tried to ban Boston Terriers.
And until late last year, the Central Missouri Humane Society had a 20-year-old policy against adopting out bully breed dogs, including my kind.
Ain’t that just crazy?
Do you have a Boston Terrier story? If so, share it in the comments below.
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Minnie finds a forever home
Guess who’s been grazing greener pastures?
Mmm, grass!
That’s right. Minnie, the enchanting husky mix with heterogenous eyes and the sweetest smile you’ve ever seen, has gone and found herself a new home.
We are so happy for her!
Considering what a catch Minnie is — housebroken, good with kids and other animals, leash-trained, obedient and so stinkin’ cute — maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that we received immediate interest about her as soon as I re-ignited the campaign to get her adopted.
Two parties stepped up, and Minnie spent a weekend with both of them.
She wowed everybody, but the ideal match turned out to be my good friend Holly.
That’s the spot!
The bonus about Minnie being adopted by someone I already know and like to hang out with: I’ll still get to see the old girl.
In fact, Minnie recently stayed a few days with our pack while Holly was out of town on business.
Knowing that Holly, who used to volunteer at a shelter in California, would be an awesome dog mom, I actually suggested months ago that she consider adopting Minnie.
She wasn’t ready for a dog then, but I’m so glad she is now. These two gals make a pretty pair.
Best friends
As Holly’s only dog, Minnie gets to bask in so much more attention than she received at the Wayward House. She also now lives right across the street from a park, where she’ll no doubt get to play with some of the children she so enjoys.
I’m so happy with this arrangement that I didn’t even cry when Minnie moved out!
Thanks to everyone for supporting us on our journey with Minnie. Please keep passing the good vibes in Holly’s direction!
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Tara the neighborhood elderbull
Sometimes, helping a wayward dog get home isn’t that big of a deal.
If you’re a fan of Wayward Dogs on Facebook, you may have caught a recent status update about me stopping to help a neighborhood dog before work.
That dog was Tara.
Tara the elderbull
She’s a tough tank of an elderbull who lives around the corner. She belongs to a retired couple who take her for a walk along the Trolley Track Trail every afternoon.
This pit bull type dog was found wandering a dangerous street in Kansas City in her younger days. She landed with a rescue group and eventually with my neighbors’ daughter. They took over Tara’s care when their daughter was deployed in the military.
When I saw Tara trotting down the street without her people I knew something wasn’t right, so I pulled over.
When I knelt down and solicited her, she just cocked her head and turned in the other direction — toward home.
I followed her in the car, arriving in front of her house about the same time that her owner screamed around the corner in his truck. His face was stricken.
“Have you seen Tara?”
“Yes!” I said and pointed to where she was just emerging, nose in the grass, from behind a neighbor’s house.
He leapt out of his truck and ran to her.
Although Tara probably would have made it home on her own — and if not, she is licensed, wears an ID tag and is microchipped — I was glad I stuck around to make sure she got back with her people.
Have you ever helped a neighbor dog get home?
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Gardenspiration
It’s totally cliche, but my family spent Mother’s Day at a botanical garden.
Stepdad and Mom by some big bunnies.
Flora abounds at Powell Gardens, a green thumb’s paradise located about half an hour east of Kansas City.
All sorts of amazing things grow on 970 acres of land.
The property is divided into several different types of gardens. There’s a perennial garden, a woodland garden, a water garden and even a living wall.
The wall is alive.
We saw plenty of fauna, too.
Which is prettier?
The common Powell Garden snake.
My favorite area of Powell Gardens is the Heartland Harvest Garden.
This garden is designed to demonstrate the variety achievable in a locally grown diet. The Harvest Garden also shows that edible landscaping can be a beautiful thing.
Aerial view from the silo that overlooks the Harvest garden.
Guests are discouraged from picking anything, including the plentiful strawberries, which are served in the Powell Gardens restaurant.
But I did pick up some inspiration while wandering the rows of fruit trees, grape vines, potatoes, lettuces and other edibles.
‘Nuf said.
The deep purples, arresting greens and ruffled leaves of lettuce and cabbage show up in beds throughout Powell Gardens. In the Harvest garden, various types were planted together to create a colorful salad bed.
Lettuce, cabbage and kale, oh my!
Did you know you can grow kiwis in the Midwest? Powell Gardens has several types.
Baby kiwis!
Although I don’t kid myself about ever being able to grow as big, diverse and manicured garden as the Harvest Garden, it was neat to see how the professionals get things growing.
I’d now love to try growing kiwis and add a paw paw tree to our mini orchard.
Also: My whole family and especially my mom had a real nice time.
Thanks, Powell Gardens!
Where do you go for gardenspiration?
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River dog
It’s not always easy to emulate this guy:
Between work, home ownership, gardening, dogs and trying to be an all-around awesome individual to all of the people I care about, there are days when I don’t feel very much like River Dog at all.
In fact, some days I don’t even want to be in the river.
I wonder how River Dog does it — keeps his chin up even when the current is rough and the water is cold.
Obviously, feeling overwhelmed by life is not unique to me. In fact, I bet a lot of you reading this right now feel at times incredibly weighed down by the responsibilities of your life.
River Dog takes nothing but himself into the water.
Is there anything you can let go of?
Or can you at least decide to politely decline the next time someone comes wagging another possible commitment in your face?
I know that’s a tough order for us people pleasers, but our sanity may depend on it.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed? How did you overcome that feeling?
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The other Scooby
My neighbor is one of those unusual people who went to the shelter with the intention of bringing home an old dog.
He found Scooby.
Obviously, we’re not talking about my ancient miniature pinscher and star of a post about why people should adopt elderdogs.
Neighbor Scooby is a 9-year-old chow mix (note the purplish splotches on his tongue) with the softest black fur and gray speckles across his kind face.
After being seized from a Kansas City area home where he lived with 12 other dogs, Neighbor Scooby bounced from shelter to shelter. He picked up a microchip and got neutered along the way.
Clearly, the rescue community could see the potential in this good-natured boy. But it took someone special — someone who wouldn’t mind the flecks of gray and the slower pace of a dog in his twilight years — to provide Scooby’s second chance.
A few weeks ago, Scooby’s saving grace arrived in the form of my neighbor Jeff, who had recently lost an elderdog and wanted another mature companion for daily walks on the Trolley Track Trail.
That’s where my pack ran into Jeff and his Scooby, who was delighted at the opportunity to interact with other dogs.
Jeff expressed an interest in socializing Scooby further — getting him over the habit of jumping on people when he meets them and helping him feel less threatened around bigger male dogs.
So, I invited the pair to join the KC Pittie Pack, which is all about improving the social skills of all kinds of dogs at all points in their lives.
KC Pittie Pack at Loose Park
Neighbor Scooby is now one of the newest members of our pack, which was mentioned this week in my favorite local newspaper The Pitch. (Check out Our Waldo Bungie’s coverage of the coverage.)
If you live in Kansas City and would like to join the KC Pittie Pack, just head to our Meetup page for more information about our next walk!
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Cygnets
I had to look up the word for baby swan. It’s cygnet.
What a beautiful word.
A mama swan is a pen. A daddy swan is a cobbe.
Five cygnets and a pen.
These fuzzy little cygnets are the latest additions to the animal farm my dad helps manage.
They look so peaceful I wish I could be there right now.
What are your favorite baby animals?
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Nellie the beagle has a new name and needs a new owner
Remember Nellie the beagle who went wayward for five months before the Lost Dog Registry helped reunite her with her family?
Nellie — at the KCMO Animal Shelter, 1/19/12
Well, the happy ending didn’t last long. Four days later, Nellie escaped again. Fortunately, she found her way into kind hands at North Oak Animal Hospital, where Susan Johnson is the practice manager.
Nellie showed up in our parking lot in January and ran up to one of our staff as they were taking the trash out. She was immediately brought inside and put in our isolation ward and given a good dinner. She was thin and looked older than we thought at the time. We let her rest a few days, then vaccinated her and ran all the other tests.
Because her original owners have not claimed her, Nellie, now known as Abigail, is available for adoption to a new family.
Can you help Abigail find a new family?
The North Oak staff has grown attached to sweet Abigail, who is estimated to be 6 or 7 years old and is friendly with all people and dogs and doesn’t bark much.
Mrs. Johnson says although the clinic is not equipped to handle strays consistently, Abigail will remain there until someone agrees to foster her in their home or adopt her forever.
She seems content to lay on her quilt in her run pen but quick to get up when we walk back to the kennel area. She is current with all vaccinations which is: Rabies, DHPP, ITT. She had a fecal done twice plus a negative HW check and is on Heartgard monthly. She is bathed as needed and loves her baths.
Abigail’s adoption fee will be the cost of her vaccinations. The clinic will provide six months of free heartworm preventative.
If you or someone you know is interested in meeting Abigail, contact North Oak Animal Hospital at 816-436-4400.
Also check out Abigail’s profile on this blog’s Adoptable page.
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Show “Pittieful Love” by Fighting BSL
As most readers know by now, I’m a huge fan of Magnet Lady Kathleen Henn‘s original doggy art.
After learning about the premature loss of Knox, beloved dog and a dog star of the Baltimore-based blog Pittieful Love, I knew I wanted to help them commemorate his life with a custom magnet.
Although the Magnet Lady finished the project in short order, it took a while for me to get the gift in the mail. It was received around the same time that the Maryland Court of Appeals dealt a blow to all dogs like Knox — pit bulls and pit bull type dogs — by deeming them ”dangerous.”
This is another in a frustratingly long list of cities and states adopting Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) that hurts pit bulls (and often other dogs like rottweilers) by making it unlawful or legally difficult to adopt or own them.
For more information about why BSL doesn’t work, check out this post by Peace, Love & Fostering.
For more perspectives on the situation in Maryland, check out pit bull lovin’ blog Running with Squirrels and, of course, Pittieful Love.
If you live in Maryland or know people who do, urge them to join the fight against Court of Appeals’ anti-pit bull ruling.
