Dog gets stuck in Doggie Door

Dear Ollie,

Today, I found myself inside out. Yesterday, I was outside in. I am a 22 inch high pure white Samoyed dog.  I love to play and what I have in my owner’s laundry room is a doggy door installed on an outside wall that goes right into a fenced patio. The door was installed when I was just a pup so I could go in and out of it all day when my owners were gone to work.

Recently, I got stuck going in the door and stuck going out, I looked ridiculous.  My back yard space is concrete. I just love to dig in dirt and used to drag in the house all kinds of stuff. So now I am sunning myself on concrete.  I hate it. I am the happiest when I am rolling in something that smells awful to my human but wonderful to me. I love chasing squirrels up the trees and howling at the full moon. I look forward to a walk on my leash, playing with toys and chewing stuff. I am having a lot of trouble. My owners are talking about giving me up. Help me Ollie.

Sam, the Samoyed

 

Dear Sam,

Having a doggy door in your laundry room can be a great idea. Most owners invest in fencing for a run or a yard for their dogs, but few build a concrete patio with a doggie door access.

After all, you are a dog and that’s O.K. I always say that a dog is a dog and all the things you speak about loving to do are things that dogs love to do. Your human needed to understand that you would grow big someday, the doggy door would be too small, a concrete patio wouldn’t cut it and you would most certainly grow up and end up acting like a dog.  Humans go in and out of relationships all the time.  But when a relationship between a dog between a dog and their owner goes bad, the dog has no control over his destiny.

Acquiring a puppy and then believing the pup won’t grow up and not fit in a doggie door is really ridiculous. Because the human does not understand their dog, many good dogs end up abandoned on the streets or in shelters or dog rescue groups. Sure, nobody can guarantee that every dog and owner relationship will work out but the same can be said of most things.  Clearly, your owner had no idea how big you would grow. He or she may be trying hard to be responsible but is missing the obvious. First, you are a dog and second, the doggie door is too small because you grew. Many of the local pet stores like Brandt’s in Michigan City or PetsMart in Merrillville sell doggie doors in all sizes and materials such as plastic or metal.  PetsMart even has dog trainers who can help people train their dogs to use these doors. I’m hoping that your owner gets the idea that concrete is silly and your dog door needs to be bigger before you get so stuck that you can’t move or get hurt. This situation really worries me.

 

 

Remember, rescuing one pet can’t change the world…but the world will change for that one pet

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.