Educating People to be Responsible Pet Owners

Dear Ollie,
Throughout my life, I’ve helped unwanted pets, mostly dogs. I still don’t understand why people get a puppy or dog and just pen or chain them up outside 24/7. What a miserable existence for such loving animals! Police and animal control do nothing. These dogs don’t get love, attention, socialization, walks, baths, haircuts, brushings, ears cleaned, nails clipped or vet care. They’re lucky if they get clean water in a clean bowl and good food. They live in a small pen or on 3 feet of chain. One pit bull I saw had a very heavy tow chain on his neck. People who force their dogs to exist this way have no heart. They only like the power they have over a helpless animal. Please educate people to be responsible and caring pet owners.
Susie Smith



Dear Susie,
Indeed, I am flattered you believe that I alone can actually do something about these deplorable conditions that you describe because I am just one small dog However, I believe that my tiny voice can make a difference when joined with voices like yours who have the courage to speak out against the mistreatment of animals.

Animals are not accessories to be abandoned when they go out of style. They have spirit and personality and the right to be treasured and treated well by their owners.
Reading your letter reminded me of a book named The Little Prince, written and illustrated by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. Many years ago, this book was translated from French so English speaking children could enjoy its words. My human reads passages to her grand daughter and I curl up by her feet and listen.

The little prince travels within the galaxy and visits planets. On one planet he meets a fox who explains to him what it means to be tamed. To be tamed, the fox explains, is to establish ties with something so that it becomes unique. “To me, you are nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part have no need of me. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me you will be unique in the entire world. …If you tame me it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all others. Yours will call me like music, out of my burrow,” said the fox. “One only understands the things that one tames and men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all made up in the shops but they cannot buy friendship. Then the fox shared a secret with the prince. “What is essential is invisible to the eye; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly.”

Susie, people who are cruel to animals do not understand what the fox has said. Continue working for the animals and I shall too because we understand what it means to see rightly with our hearts.

Remember...Rescuing one pet won't change the world...but the world will change for that one pet.

Some Puppy Breeders should be called "Greeders"

Dear Reader,

There’s a new six week old, two pounds, seven ounce Shih Tzu puppy in our community and I’m very worried. The little guy was bought from a breeder in Wanatah and that’s a real concern for me. Why? Because there are puppy mills operating in that community and those breeders or “greeders” as I call them, want their puppies sold young, small and early. The pups are bred from a bitch that spends her days in small, filthy cage churning out litter after litter of puppies to be sold for profit. Her dull, patchy coat is painfully matted and her ears are full of biting mites. Her nails have grown so long that they curl under and pierce her tender paw pads. She’s surrounded by hundred of other dogs, also caged and in poor health and their chaotic, panicked barking is deafening and relentless. No one ever tells her that she’s a good girl or gives her a treat. No one scratches behind her ears or kisses the top of her head.

My woman human has raised many litters of puppies for the Humane Society of Northwest Indiana and for Lakeshore Paws. She said it’s an old wives tale that a six week old puppy is ready for adoption. She observed that the pups learn important behaviors from their moms and litter mates; interpreting dominance, inhibiting biting behaviors and submission to a dominant dog. He learns what it’s like to play, romp and behave correctly among his pack of siblings and his mom.

A six week old puppy simply hasn’t been in our world long enough to learn the correct behaviors from his mom and siblings, she says. In other words, between five and eight weeks, a pup is learning how to be a dog.

Well, who doesn’t want a darling itty bitty ball of fur? The puppy mill “greeders” bank on the fact that we’re all suckered in by a tiny fur face. With toy breeds, petite and/or “teacup size” sells well.

He’s tiny and irresistible and you’ve heard it said that he’ll bond with your family the younger he is. Oh no, think again. The age you bring your puppy home can make the difference between a well-adjusted pet and one who is neurotic, frightened and having behavior problems for the rest of his life.

Reputable breeders and responsible shelters will not allow their puppies to leave their moms until after eight weeks and will encourage a potential puppy owner to see the pup’s mother and father while visiting every square inch of their facility.

Puppy mills keep you away from their operation and for good reason. Often they’ll bring the pup to you in a neutral location. When shopping for a puppy, don’t support puppy mills by acquiring your fur baby in a puppy store or answering a blind ad. If a puppy looks too young to go home with you, it probably is. An eight or nine week old pup is ideal.


Ollie

Remember...Rescuing one pet can’t change the world…but the world will change for that one pet

Lloyd gets hit by a car. Other pet accidents.

Dear Reader,

Responsible dog owners do their best to plan ahead, think of every possible situation before it happens and endeavor to keep their animals safe. However, to spite the best of circumstances, accidents can happen. Indeed, that’s why these unexplained and usually undesirable events are called accidents.

Yesterday, Cynthia Steingas’s dog, Lloyd, was hit by a car. Cynthia was walking him on Cumberland Crossing in Valparaiso, a walking trail on the north side of town surrounded by artwork. Lloyd was leashed and wearing a harness. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a very attractive female terrier strolling with her owner and enjoying the sounds and sights of Cumberland Drive. He bolted, and in the process, tore his red harness in two. He sped across the street and was hit by a car that was not speeding. Luckily, Lloyd rolled under the car and, at the end of the day, was able to walk away from this accident. Lucy, the cute terrier dog, is owned by Kim Juhlin, DVM from Vale Park Animal Hospital. Lloyd was admitted there for observations and X-rays.
There’s a new West Highland terrier puppy in town named Sampson. His owner, Don McAuliffe, has been very careful with Sammy but to spite this caution, Sammy has wiggled out of his owner’s arms, somersaulted to the ground, jumped out of the truck and hung by his leash, fallen off the dock into the lake and was pinned by another dog when double crated in a car. 

Michele Czarnecki, owner of Czarcrest, a Schererville breeder of West highland terriers, tells this sad story. One of her little white pups found a loving home with responsible pet parents until a day when the pup was sitting under a computer desk, chewed an electrical cord, and was immediately electrocuted.  
Baby gates, also known as safety gates, and are commonly used to confine puppies to “safe” areas in the home. A breeder of German shepherds in Winwood, Arizona shares a recent horrific experience. One of her nine week old pups got his head lodged in the opening of the gate and was strangled.

Just last week Pom-Tini, a cocky black and white animated extroverted rescue dog, had a very bad experience when I was writing my “Ollie” column. He stuck his nose where it clearly didn’t belong by curling up on the printer table. Then I hit the “print” button, and his tail fur got caught in the mechanism under the printer where the copies come out. It was horrible.  

Lloyd is fine and walked away from the car accident with nothing more than a torn back paw nail. Sammy is still bopping around but has learned the lake is not a place he ever wants to be again. The Pom-Tini still posts himself on the table with the printer but when the printer makes a sound, he jumps off the table and finds another spot to sit.
I leave you with this thought. Bad things will happen to good pet parents and their pets, accidents are just part of life.

 

 





Remember: Rescuing one pet can’t change the world…but the world will change for that one pet



 

 

Continuing Independence Day Celebration

 

My Favorite Girlfriend Stevie Nix
 

Ollie-Dog looking very handsome

Stevie Nix and Ollie-Dog Rockin' their Independence Day Bandanas
 

Happy Independence Day!

I'm staying indoors today. You know, that fear of fireworks makes me want to curl up in the closet and shake until the celebration is all over.

The big news for me is I will be making a, wait for it, PUBLIC APPEARANCE in two days...

Here's the poop:

Meet me at Westfield Southlake Mall on Saturday, July 6th from 12:00pm to 3:00pm for advice, questions, and, if you are very good, a pawtograph...just sayin'!

For tickets to this FREE (yes, FREE) event, visit http://askollie-dog.eventbrite.com/.

Smell ya later! And you better be there or my fur feelings will be hurt.

Sunny Has Pet Carrier. Will Travel.

Dear Ollie,

I love summer travel with my family. For many years, we have taken trips all over the country. Some motels and hotels that we stay in are pet friendly and some are not. I’m small and get smuggled on to non-pet friendly properties where I’m cautioned not to bark. Some of the pet friendly hotels and motels are very nice and some are not. This year, we are going on a “Staycation” which I believe means that we are staying put within the geographic parameters set by one tank of fuel. We might stay at a local hotel just for fun or, if the fuel prices come down some more, we may do some traveling by car to Michigan or Wisconsin . My owners’ wonder which hotels and motels are pet friendly and what that really means. 

Sunny, the Jack Russell Terrier

 

Dear Sunny,

It’s that time of year again when Fido or Fidette (I mean Bella or Bob) gets packed into the family car with all the luggage and picnic baskets. For a traveling pet, you are living at the right time in history. All across the nation, a large percentage of hotel and motel industry marketing money is being used to develop ads directed at attracting the four legged traveler and pet parents.  More often than not, traveling baby boomers with an empty nest have filled that nest and their vehicles with one or more four legged companions. Hotel and motel owners realize that a well-groomed and very well behaved animal is a good guest. Dogs and cats never steal towels or bibles, or take pictures off the walls. They don’t get drunk or disorderly and they never run out on paying the bill. Some hotels, like the Hotel Monaco in Chicago reward the furry guest by giving each a gift basket filled with canine goodies.

You can search the internet at pet hotels.com for hotels and motels that welcome dogs and have reviews. We like to go to La Quinta properties because they are everywhere and accept dogs with no questions asked. The Chicago Wyndham, some Hampton Inns and Marriott’s welcome pets, a select group of Hilton properties are pet friendly, and all of the Kimpton Hotels like the Chicago Allegro. If you’re traveling in Chicago, check out Hotel 71, the Avenue, Renaissance and Hotel Intercontinental.

While randomly surfing the internet, I caution you to be careful. First, a percentage of hotels or motels charge a big, fat service fee or pet damage deposit that you may never in your lifetime see again.  Secondly, the quality of some hotels and motels is so awful that, in desperation to attract business, the owner throws a sign up outside in the yard advertising that pets are welcome. Sure they are, the rooms are unkempt, door handles fall off, mirrors are smeared (not by poltergeists) and the toilet seat is lying against the bathroom wall.  Beware of that sign, like the Bates Hotel, made famous by the film Psycho, no human or pet would ever choose to spend the night there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember: Rescuing one pet will not change the world...but the world will change for that one pet.