Home Zookeeper

Michael Vick has been reinstated into the NFL. There’s a debate running over on Facebook about whether the Seattle Seahawks should sign Michael Vick to the team.

It seems to me (and my unscientific observation) that many of the guys responding are all for it but many of the women are not. My little cousin is all for it, as is my former boss. Both love dogs. But they also love football.

Should Michael Vick, after having served his time, be forgiven? My gut reaction is no.

Yes, he served his time but he showed an complete and utter lack of respect for the law and for the basic suffering of life in his actions. I’m not sure two years in jail has ‘fixed’ his views. Has he truly shown remorse? What is he doing to become a better citizen and show others the error of his ways?

“As you can imagine, the last two years have given me time to re-evaluate my life, mature as an individual and fully understand the terrible mistakes I have made in the past and what type of life I must lead moving forward…”

Has he spoken out against dog fighting? Has he started any sort of organization to rehabilitate or rescue dogs? Kids look up to football players and sports people. I would never want my son to wear a Vick jersey…ever.

…Vick finally pleaded guilty after his three co-defendants had already done so. They told of how Vick participated in the killing of dogs that didn’t perform well in test fights by shooting, hanging, drowning or slamming them to the ground….He plans to work with HSUS in a program designed to steer inner city youth away from dogfighting.

Well, until he takes some drastic steps - speaking out STRONGLY against dog fighting and the brutality he put upon those poor dogs I can’t stomach his return to the NFL. I’m not opposed to forgiveness. And I do think people can change. But I’m really unsure in this situation. Is he really such a great football player that his past should be completely overlooked and forgotten (or forgiven)? Apparently some fans think so.

Seriously though…is he the ONLY player who is good enough to save the Seahawks? I kind of doubt it. The PR issues alone seem to trump his skills on the field.

What do you think? Would you support a football team that signed Vick? (Not that I watch a lot of football…it’s not exactly my favorite sport.)

How about a couple of fingers? If your pet was in the jaws of a gator?

Without a thought for his own safety, Grounds ran through the brush to the water’s edge, where the gator had what it thought was breakfast clamped between its crushing jaws. “I just grabbed the lower jaw with this hand and the upper jaw with this hand,” he said, indicating his bandaged right hand and his left.

That is just so scary. I can’t imagine seeing one of my babies snatched by a predator. It wouldn’t be a gator in our area…but if we move to a more isolated area I can definitely see me worrying about bears, cougars, and coyotes. I think Trooper and Timber could handle a coyote but you never know.

Keep your babies safe!

Two days in a row…TWO DAYS in a row…I’ve locked my sweet baby girl outside.

I’ve been sick and came home from work early yesterday. I let the doggies out and thought they’d all come back inside so I shut the door. I laid down on the couch and took a brief nap for less than an hour when hubby got home. I looked out the back door and Quinn was outside!

It’s not exactly cool in our part of the world right now. I felt so bad - she was very thirsty. Of course, she loves the heat but an hour for a girl her age in 80+ temps isn’t the healthiest.

Today I take a break from work and let the doggies outside and I would have sworn on a bible that she’d come back inside. About 30 minutes later I’m at the computer and look outside and there she is! What the heck is wrong with me!?!?

She’s inside now, in the bedroom with the air conditioner on. My poor little girl. Mommy is losing her mind.

It’s supposed to get up to over 100 degrees this weekend…Even her heat loving self shouldn’t be out too long in that weather.

I’m not sure what we’re going to do on Sunday because hubby and I have a ‘baby’ class at the hospital that lasts all day. Even though their kennel is in the shade, it will still be too hot to leave them outside from 9 to 5. That’s just cruel. But leaving them inside the house alone, all four of them, for that long. *gulp* Makes me VERY nervous. I’m going to see if my sister in law can come by and give them a break for an hour or so.

We are not a heat friendly family. We prefer snow!

It’s been an insane couple of weeks. In addition to my mother in law being diagnosed with Leukemia, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. Then a week later I was told that I have a tumor on my placenta.

Good times.

So I had to head to the big docs in Seattle and we got good news. And not great news … the baby is too big - most likely due to the diabetes - so I’ll probably have to go on insulin.

All this stress has had a negative effect on hubby and I…as well as the doggies.

While all this was going on Hubby went back to work and this last weekend was hardly home at all. When he was home he was sleeping. So Timber was a wreck. It was almost cute…whenever papa was home Timber was glued to his side. The minute papa started getting ready for work Timber would slink to the front door and mope. I felt so bad for him…he so missed his papa.

I tried to take him on a walk, but the pain in my back and abdomen makes it very difficult for me to control him. It still takes some strength to correct him when he tries to pull too hard. He was okay until the neighbor dogs started barking at him and then he started hopping and pulling. We made it for about 20 minutes but that’s all I could handle.

Thankfully Trooper is a bit easier for me, though I still get pain even just walking with no dog.

Timber gets to go to daycare this Friday and I know it will be super good for him. I’m going to continue to try to walk Trooper twice a week if I can. I’m also going to talk to the daycare staff to see if any of them would be willing to stop by our house three times a week to walk at least Timber while I’m huge.

Sorry for not updating more often. I keep thinking of great things to write about but just haven’t been able to log in and update as much as I want. It’ll probably continue that way for a bit longer. I’m swamped at work and have four days of jewelry classes coming up starting Thursday.

Darn life…It certainly likes to throw kinks into my plans.

As I waited for my 3D ultrasound appointment yesterday I listened to a local talk show … something I haven’t done in months. The host was talking about a horrendous attack on two women in SeaTac, WA (an hour or so from where I live).

This wasn’t an ordinary attack or mugging. This attack involved children ages 11, 12, 13, and 15. And a pit bull.

No, the kids weren’t attacked. The children DID the attacking. Calling them children is misleading I think…they should be called monsters.

This story makes me so angry I can’t even describe it. These monsters should be in juvie. The dog is obviously going to be put down and I think the kids and the parents should be charged with animal cruelty. THEY allowed this dog to get a taste for violence. They ABUSED this dog.

The King County sheriff’s office said four kids used a pit bull to attack two women in SeaTac.

Deputies arrested the 15-year-old girl and three boys — 11, 12 and 13 years old.

The first woman saw the kids kicking the dog, Snaps, Sunday evening and stopped her car because she thought they needed help. The sheriff’s office said the 15-year-old girl punched the woman with her fists while a boy brought the dog.

So first, the kids were kicking and abusing the dog. THEN they decided to use the dog as a weapon against two women.

“One of the boys brought the pit bull over on a leash and the dog was encouraged to join in the fight, which the dog did, and bit this 63-year-old woman on the hand and on the thigh,” said Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Of course the dog joined in … pit bulls want to please their masters and will do as they’re told with gusto. If they are trained in violence they will do so without abandon. The dog wasn’t “defending” the girl as the owner claims (the owner is the 15 year old’s brother)…he was ENCOURAGED to attack.

SICK! Just sick and completely twisted. Where were their parents? Who taught them it was okay to disrespect human, and animal, life in this way.

People like this are the problem. Pit bulls are NOT the problem.

I’m sickened. I hope that all four kids are put in some sort of detention, but I am guessing the dog is the one who will pay the ultimate price.

God bless the woman who stopped because the little monsters were kicking their dog. And pray that both women heal quickly.

I think the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are the biggest bunch of hypocritical jerks ever. I’m sure I’ve written about my dislike of them in the past. They claim to want to work for the fair treatment of animals but they do more to undercut their cause than they do to benefit animals.

Their latest gag involves a fly and the President. Of course, you probably know he’s not my favorite person, but for pity’s sake it takes skill to swat and kill a fly with just your hand so I give him props. But of course, PETA has to throw a fit and make a stink about killing a FLY.

He didn’t shoot a dog or run over a kitten. He didn’t even eat frog legs. He killed a FLY. I’m sure that they would grumble if he swatted and killed a mosquito too.

Their priorities are sorely misplaced and their goals seem more oriented around controversy and raising money for themselves than actual protection of animals.

Did you know that PETA run shelters have an astronomical kill rate? Only 0.32% adoption rate in 2008!

PETA rakes in nearly $30 million each year in income, much of it raised from pet owners who think their donations actually help animals.

Imagine how much good that money could actually do for animals in need? Say, working to show the horrors of puppy mills. Imagine how much in the way of advertising and marketing that money could buy.

(Not that I love the sad commercials put on by the Humane Society…they make me cry!)

PETA equates the eating of cows to the Holocaust and thinks that humans owning animals as pets is cruel. Yet killing adoptable animals is just fine. They are nuts and it’s horrifying to me that they are able to raise so much money…money that could go to actual animal causes.

It’s been a busy and somewhat rough couple of weeks. My mother in law was diagnosed with Leukemia. The most aggressive kind (AML) and is in the hospital having in patient chemo. She’s too week to take outpatient. So that’s been quite a stress.

Hubby has taken some time off and so the dogs haven’t had to be in the kennel nearly as much as in the previous few weeks. I even managed to take Trooper on a walk the other day. Hubby walked Timber and we managed to all stay together (a lot of times I end up going one way and hubby the other because both dogs want to be leader). And it didn’t kill my back.

I started taking Aqua Arobics and am hoping it gives me more stamina and more energy to walk the pups. I had my second class this morning and I was wiped out. Amazingly, from the first class on Tuesday to today’s class I think I felt a difference in my flexibility. I couldn’t touch my heels in one of the exercises on Tuesday but could today. So here’s to more flexibility!

So life goes on despite the myriad of difficulties and obstacles. We’re hoping my MIL pulls through … her kitties need her. And so does her unborn grandchild.

I’m making some special jewelry to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I’ll be posting it here as well as my other blogs. I hope no one will take offense, since this is not my jewelry blog. It’s all I know to do at the moment.

The reason I still belong to Entrecard is because there are still tons of great blogs out there to discover. One such blog recently “dropped” their card here on Home Zookeeper and I was tickled to discover her blog…Marges Pets.

It’s a new blog but so far she’s doing great. I was very interested in the first few entries that I read…they caught my attention and were well written. Her goal is to raise funds to help her take care of animals. Which sounds like something I will do when I get older too. I’ve always told hubby that I want to have a barn renovated for rescuing dogs.

So head on over and take a look when you have a moment. I love her BB story.

Phew…it’s been awhile. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say…I just don’t have enough time in my days. Work has finally gotten busier, which is nice … and not. At least I’m no longer bored.

We’ve been having some major challenges to getting the dogs walked and exercised. The first is that it’s been super hot (okay, my definition of super hot is mid 70s… but I’m pregnant and our dogs have long hair) and the dogs pant inside with the air conditioner on.

And second, my body is rebelling. I did the dishes today and my back was killing me. I go get groceries and my back kills me. We had a garage sale the other weekend and I was in pain for several days afterward. Pregnancy is not so much fun.

So my poor babies are suffering because of the heat and from lack of exercise.

Then on Tuesday there was a major bad accident on the freeway and it took me over two hours to get home (normally takes 40 minutes). On top of that hubby had a DUI rollover accident near the end of his shift and he was an hour late getting home. Poor babies were stuck in their kennel for 11 hours!!! Talk about hyper. They were nuts that night.

Last night hubby and I dragged our butts outside with Timber and Trooper and forced ourselves to go for a walk. It was quite a challenge. I think they both have forgotten all their training for walking on the leash. Trooper was a maniac. He was worse than Timber! But by the end of the walk they’d both settled down.

Exercise is SO important and I feel so absolutely horrible about not being able to provide it. But last night I could hardly move after the walk.

I’m not sure what the answer is. If I had someone near us who I trusted I’d pay them to walk the dogs. But I don’t know or trust anyone locally. My Sister in law lives too far away … I trust her.

Hubby keeps saying that he’ll walk the boys, but he always ends up saying how tired he is. Which is true. He works 10 hour shifts, but does get three days off a week (although last week he also had an overtime shift last week). It’s when he’s working days during the week that the dogs have the hardest time. Right now his schedule is Tuesday through Friday, at the same time I’m at work during the day. So it’s the kennel for them.

If we weren’t having a baby I’d be taking (at least) Timber to daycare more often. As it is, he gets to go once or twice a month. He LOVES it. Maybe if I get a few more jewelry sales I’ll use the money to buy a few more days for him.

I know Quinn and Kodiak are fine. Quinn can barely make it around the block even one time. And Kodiak starts limping if we go around twice. So it’s really just Timber and Trooper that make me feel horrible.

If I feel this guilty about neglecting my K-9 babies, imagine how horrible I’m going to feel when I have to go back to work after maternity leave!

What a wonderful Saturday we had this weekend. And I am a very bad mama for not having pictures to share!

After great debate, hubby and I took Timber and Kodiak with us down to my grandfather’s house. We left Quinn and Trooper home, which made me sad but realistically I can’t handle four dogs right now. It would have been an utter zoo. Quinn doesn’t really enjoying being out, except for small walks around the neighborhood. Trooper would have loved it, but it really was achingly hot out and he would not have been comfortable.

So off we went, Kodiak and Timber in the truck cab with us. Timber continues to amaze and entertain me. None of the other dogs like to have their head out the window when we’re on the freeway - it’s just too much for them. So typically once we get on the freeway on ramp the windows go up. But Timber kept poking the window with his nose (which cracks me up to no end) like he wanted them open. So daddy obliged.

And talk about a cutie. He was just in such heaven, and our day had only begun.

When we arrived down at the farm, Timber was a tornado of energy. My grandpa hates misbehaving dogs. Seriously. Hates them. So I told him he was free to discipline Timber if he tried to jump up. His discipline is really just a knee up, but that’s kind of hard for an 82 year old to do so I told him he was free to use his foot. I’d rather he kick our dog than fall down and break sometime.

But hubby managed to keep hold of Timber, for the most part…my uncle did have to lift his knee to keep Timber off him. He was just SO excited.

Before getting ready for the rest of the visit we decided to go for a quick walk to get some of his energy out. It didn’t really help a ton, but as the day went on he got more and more calm. By the time we were ready to leave grandpa was telling him what a good boy he was. =)

And Timber got to SWIM, really swim, for the first time EVER! He’s a natural!!! I was so excited to see him frolicking and playing in the river. It was wonderful!!! Daddy threw sticks in and Timber would dive in and chase them as they floated down.

Of course, he was on leash the whole time. I don’t trust him further than I could throw him. But it was a nice long leash that allowed him to go all the way in the river to where his feet no longer touched. At one point he got stuck on a big rock out in the center of the river. It was so cute.

Kodiak on the other hand got to go off leash for the very first time ever. Being a husky he doesn’t always have the best hearing or sense of direction but he did really great. A couple of times I had to walk after him and call him back rather sternly…but even reluctantly he came back every time. And we put him back on leash when we walked past the horses…we didn’t trust him *that* much. But he went in the water higher than he’s ever done before.

Of course, he didn’t ever swim … he never has. I think it’s a Husky thing. Quinn has never swam with us either. And Trooper hates getting too high in the water. Timber is our swimmer.

So it was a wonderful day. Except for my sunburn.

I read on another blog, I think it was That Mutt but I could be wrong, that you shouldn’t try to avoid situations that your dog has issues with but should try to confront those situations and work through them. I’m paraphrasing obviously.

I sometimes don’t like walking Trooper because when we encounter other dogs he gets rowdy. Timber is the same way. But I realize that the more I walk Trooper and encounter dogs in various states of excitement the better he gets in his reactions.

If a dog is lunging (excited or aggressive) Trooper still wants to react toward that dog but with the choke chain and the sharp command “leave it” or “No” he isn’t trying to pull me off my feet anymore. Of course, an aggressive dog makes him get protective but he’s getting better at that too.

Timber, meanwhile, is also making gains in walking properly with his mama. I took him to daycare on Friday and for about 20 minutes went back and forth from my car to the door trying to get him to not pull on me. Finally the owner took pity on me and in 2 minutes had that dog healing and looking up at her in total submission.

I was very jealous. What was I doing wrong? I was being too nice!!! =) Which is funny since I’m the “mean” one of the family (mean as in strict). But I wasn’t being mean enough.

So more practice is necessary. My goal is to be able to someday walk both boys together. Without being pulled over. In the meantime I’ll be happy walking them separately without having a shoulder dislocated.

So I’m browsing around and come across this article, via Instapundit, about some yahoo who wrote another article dissing dogs and dog owners for believing that their dogs love them.

Eric Zorn, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, recently mocked a local woman, Jess Craigie, who dove into near-freezing waters to save her dog from drowning. Zorn wrote, “Note to Jess Craigie: Your dog still doesn’t love you.”

Uh huh.

I wrote a post a while ago about dogs and souls. It’s a more complicated and mysterious than any of us can truly understand or explain in our lifetime. Perhaps after we die we will find out the true answer.

For now I refuse to believe that my dogs don’t recognize and love me in their own doggy way.

It may not be love the way I understand love and express it as a person. But it is their own way of showing us their affection for us. When I come home from work and hubby has the door cracked open just enough so that their happy doggy noses are sticking out, tongues out, and tails wagging. You can just sense their excitement.

When I walk in the door I’m sniffed and rubbed up against…of course this is partially conditioning. I give them luvins when I come home and they expect it.

But you can’t tell me that Trooper isn’t fond of me. Perhaps he only sees me as alpha and his “affection” and attention is merely his way of relating to alpha. Maybe.

If that’s all it is, I’ll still take it and accept it as his way of loving his mommy.

Can anyone truly quantify the love or affection of a dog (or cat for that matter)?

This is Max. Sorry for the small pic, but it should give you some idea of the cutie.

Max’s mommy has been affected by this lousy economy and instead of being miserable she is taking action. She’ll be going to a school that is away from home and doesn’t allow her precious boy to tag along.

It’s going to be at least 6 months and her boy needs a temporary loving home to watch after him until mommy is ready with her new found skills.

Are you in the St Paul, MN area or know someone there who is? Could you take in a sweet boy who gets along with people and other dogs (no cats please)?

Max is an excited boy who loves attention and will tell you when he sees something fun (like kids and other dogs). As soon as you interact he calms right back down. Max’s mommy says: “He loves to play fetch, tug of war and any toy that squeaks. He’s definitely into bellyrubs and any petting and love you have to share.”

This is a healthy boy who doesn’t have any special medical needs or medications and is up to date on all his shots. Any vet bills will be paid by the owner…who will also pay for food. Although with this tiny guy I can’t imagine he eats much…then again I compare him to my big dogs.

If you know someone please forward this blog post on and have them leave a comment here or e-mail me through the blog. And if you have any suggestions for Max’s mom please let me know and I’ll pass them on.

PLEASE CROSS POST.

No one should have to give up their baby in order to make a better life for themselves and their family!

Okay, there’s more than just Ridgebacks, but they are SOOO freaking cute.

Saving Shelter Pets has several litters of adorable puppies who need funds in order to be rescued.

If Rachel Lucas were in the states I’d send her this link but it might make her depressed since she had to leave her pup in the States when she moved to England.

Is that not an adorable photo?!?

All of these dogs and more need our help. SSP is raising funds in order to spay and neuter the pups and find them good homes. And there are adult dogs who also need funding and rescue.

Please check out SSP’s blog post about their latest set of doggies in need.

Yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and take Timber and Trooper for a walk. Separately. I keep telling hubby that he needs to work with Timber more often but the laziness factor seems to keep that from happening.

Don’t get me wrong, hubby LOVES his dogs and plays with them a lot (wrestling, ball, tug of war) but walks seem to elude his vocabulary.

And I’m tired of Timber practically pulling me down when I take him to daycare. He needs to NOT pull.

So around the neighborhood I went with Timber not sure exactly why mommy was with him instead of papa. But he did very good. Several times I had to use the choke chain and jerk in the opposite direction to make him stop pulling hard but that should decrease the more we work.

One of my neighbors was walking out to get his mail and I asked him if we could train a bit with him. I made Timber sit and stay and the neighbor walked towards us. Timber freaked out and got all excited and started jumping up and waging his tail and barking. So the neighbor stopped (he knew what he was doing) while I calmed pup down and made him sit again.

It took a little over 5 minutes for the guy to actually be able to get close enough to us with Timber being calm before I’d let Timber approach the man. He tried jumping up once but I was ready for it and the guy was too. It’s good to have neighbors who know how to handle dogs. Plus he’s a total dog lover.

We only went around the neighborhood once but that was enough for Timber, who seemed wiped out…with all the switching directions we probably actually walked the equivalent of two times around.

Trooper is a breeze after wild man. But I was a little more strict with him last night because I want to take him with me in public to an outdoor craft show on Saturday. So for the most part I kept him right by my side, something I don’t always do on regular walks. And I only let him leave my side if I said “OK” and gave him extra leash so he could sniff and mark. He did really well. When I stopped to chat to someone he just sat down nicely. He’s such a good boy.

Daddy doesn’t want me to take Trooper out in public. He’s worried about liability, which I can totally understand after the incident. But he’ll be on leash, on a choke chain actually, and with me the whole time. At no point will he be off leash or out of my sight. If I see a small dog (and my eyes will be peeled) I will tighten up my hold and be extremely careful.

If I don’t ever take him out he’ll never learn how to behave. One of these days I’d like hubby and I to be able to take Trooper and Timber with us for long walks in public places but right now that isn’t realistic.

Anyway…both Trooper and Timber were very happy and tired last night.

What about Quinn and Kodiak? Well, their walk times have diminished drastically since Kodiak’s last surgery. Quinn can only make it once around the neighborhood and that’s pushing it. Kodiak loves to walk but ends up very sore afterward so we don’t walk him that often…maybe once a week. They’re both old enough that they like to sleep most of the day.

It’s the two young boys who keep us on our toes.