MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Planning to Travel...

Josie knows mom is planning a trip and she wonders why she cannot come along. Josie says will behave, not take up too much space, and informs her mom she won't even notice she is there.

Good, then then Josie might as well stay home.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Are chicken bones bad for dogs?

Just in case you didn’t know cooked chicken bones are not good for dogs. Raw chicken bones on the other hand are fine and make great treats for dogs, including my Havanese and Bololgnese. I give a raw chicken neck or chicken wing to my doggies once in a while and they love it. If I make a turkey, well, I need to cut the neck in half since it would be a lot for one dog and more than enough for two or three little dogs. Chicken necks are more cartilage than meet compared to the rest of a chicken carcass that has both meat and marrow. Eating a small chicken or a similar small animal is a natural thing they would each in the wild. Commercial dog food didn’t always exist.

Cooked chicken bones are brittle and can splinter easily into sharp shards which my tear or get-stuck in their mouth, esophagus, or in their intestines. It can be life threatening for dogs.

Now onto my story, the other day I purchased a package of chicken wings on my way home to include for dinner. I was by myself that evening and didn’t want to spend too much time cooking. Since I was by myself I ate in front of the TV. I can’t remember why I got up but I did. I put my plate with left over cooked chicken bones on top of several high boxes. I had thought there was no way my dogs, Caillee or Josie, could reach up and get at my plate.

I came back to the sofa and continued to watch TV for a couple of hours more. I happened to glance over at my plate on top of several high boxes. I should point here were really wasn’t anything around these boxes to help small dogs get up to be able to reach this plate. I kept staring this plate and thinking something wasn’t right. Then it dawned on me; the plate was empty. I think blood rusted from my face as panic set in.

I looked over to Caillee, the most like most likely suspect, and then I looked over to Josie. Both my doggie girls looked fine. I know neither of them had touched the plate while I had came back to sit at the sofa. Therefore, it had been at least a couple of hours since the event of the crime.

I watched them for several days. I had watched for any signs of a temperament or personality change; do they continue to act themselves or do they act moody, tired, or just plain not themselves? So far they continue to act as normal as can be. I am not seeing any signs of listlessness, a major sign I should be rushing them to the veterinarian.

I watched for any blood in their stool or if they had made a big effort to do “#2”.

Should this happen to you, I suggest a phone call to your vet for suggestions or advise would be a wise course of action. In addition, doing a google search wouldn’t hurt either. I did one with the following keywords: cooked chicken bones + dogs + symptoms or in my case I did a similar search in a handy book I have about dogs and home care.

It has been almost a week since this event happened and during that time, I think I was on pins and needles observing them and hoping for the best.

My lessons learnt, those boxes weren’t high enough, not even for a minute which is how long I think I was gone. Put food away as if they were big dogs because I am finding my dogs can be very crafty and ingenuous.

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs

Charges Laid Against Five Senior Toronto Humane Society

I don’t know if the charges laid against the five senior Toronto Humane Society is just or not. The Ontario SPCA raided their facilities last week Thursday; and they are being charged with cruelty to animals. The word out around various areas on the internet is THS purposely do not put down very sick animals to keep their euthanasia statistics down for the main purpose of playing to the hearts of their donors and their pockets. I have no idea if this really true; or just the rumours going around.

The THS was raid only five months previously by the Ontario SPCA, back in June 2009, and the Ontario SPCA suspended THS’s membership.

I would hate to think any of this is true since I don’t understand how any person or organization could be cruel to animals. I will be watching how the events unfold.

What I believe is that there would be less of need or strain to local humane societies of pets (dogs and cats) if breeders would be accountable to the puppies and kittens they sell. Reputable breeders are accountable to the puppies and kittens they sell.

Here are some good links to consider reading about what makes a reputable breeder:

Good Breeder? Bad Breeder? – How to tell the Difference

List of Questions to Ask a Breeder

What is so wrong with buying a puppy at a pet store?

Secret Lives of Pretty In Pink Dogs