Sobaka

I'm sure many people have heard about the Sobaka, or dog, problem in Sochi. Thousands of stray dogs have been living around the Olympic construction grounds so the city has hired a company to kill off the dogs. The director general of the company that has been hired told The Associated Press that during a rehearsal for the opening ceremonies a dog walked in on the performers. He said if something like that were to happen during the actual olympics it would be a disgrace to the whole country. Well sire, i'm sorry to tell you but a stray dog seems like the least of the countries worries judging by the pictures i've seen of the hotels, bathrooms, and water in Sochi.

If you ask me, dogs would make the olympics that much better! I'm also a dog freak though. Any situation that didn't previously have dogs that gets dogs thrown into it moves up on my list!

It is the same situation with the culls on reserves in Canada because safety is always an issue. Of course it's not safe if these stray dogs are biting children, but why is this a problem in the first place? And why is it only being dealt with once the olympics are starting? Maybe it has always been a problem but we never knew because Sochi is only newsworthy because of the Olympics. A Russian lawyer also said that the dogs elimination is the quickest way. Well no kidding, but you don't solve problems by performing massive killings!

Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire, is helping a charity and shelter to save the animals. The charity members have been driving around on golf carts on the Olympic grounds and in the surrounding area to get all of the dogs together and take them to a shelter on the outskirts of the city. I'm glad to see that dogs are something we can all feel the same about.

It seems dog and music, and food actually, are three things that are a universal language. And that makes me very happy.

Those stray dogs may look something like this

 after about a year of them being rescued.

Cato the Shoplifting Husky

I found a story on The Huffington Post website that is from December, 2013, but I thought it was so funny that I had to share it. The story comes from Clinton, South Carolina where a Husky, Cato, got off his leash and committed some crimes. The manager of a Dollar General noticed some items missing off the shelves such as beef bones, pig ears, dog food, and dog treats. Later when she checked the cameras to see what happened to the items, she saw Cato crusin' in and out of the store with the goods in his mouth.


She called the cops, i'm not sure why, when she realized the thief was a dog and filed a police report. The cops hunted down Cato and I guess he got arrested? I don't know that's what the story says but i'm still trying to figure out how they would cuff a Husky.


Cato was taking his stolen items and burying them behind the car wash beside the Dollar General. By the time he got busted he had a pretty good stash going, but unfortunately, Cato's owner had to pay for the items and Cato didn't get to keep his treats. Another thing that may humour you, this isn't the first time a dog has stolen something from a Dollar General. Back in February, a dog stole a toy off the shelf at another location, apparently it's a "reoccurring problem". They may call it a problem but to me it seems like free entertainment. Maybe one day a dog will come in to the Sobeys where I work and i'll get to see him steal something.

This is a video of the security camera footage from the Dollar General. You can watch the whole news story on The Huffington Post website. It's so cute.

And of course, I can't forget this lucky dog.

Good Tips

Last Friday I interviewed Lisa Rasmussen, the trainer and owner of The Noble Hound Dog Training and Obedience. In school I’m working with a group of five, including myself, on constructing a dog magazine. Lisa gave me some awesome tips and I learned a lot of interesting stuff about dogs’ behaviour, dog breeds, and how dogs work in general. Lisa seems to really know her stuff and I can’t speak from experience but judging by her dogs behaviours and the tips she gave me to stop Diesel from doing certain things, I would recommend getting training or just advice from her.

Her approach of training is not to use aggression to discipline dogs. She ignores dogs to discipline them rather than yelling or being aggressive with them. She says grabbing a dog by the collar is both dangerous and hurtful. She says there’s too many glands around that area and the area is too close to the brain—it’s just dangerous.

Also, thanks to Lisa, I can bring some great leash handling tips to my blog for anyone who has a difficult time controlling their dog on a leash.

1.     Be Patient – If your dog pulls while on a leash, don’t expect to walk two kilometres, work in the driveway. 20 minutes of good leash walking in the driveway is better than a couple of kilometres of pulling. Quality over quantity!

2.     Tight Leash vs. Loose Leash – Don’t let the dog walk with a tight leash. When the leash is tight stop and let the dog loosen it on it’s own.

3.     Yanking Creates Frustration – Yanking and letting the dog pull makes the dog pull more—it’s an opposition reflex. When it’s around they’re neck they feel like they need to counteract your pulling.

4.     Treats – Use a type of treat that keeps the dog interested in you and fade out the treat as the dog improves on the leash.

Another thing I learned, for anyone who has a puppy, socialize your puppy with other dogs when the dog is four-12 weeks. Socializing at this age will help the puppy to learn how to properly treat other dogs, how to respond to the mother, and to deal with other dogs bullying or playing with them.

Also I have to note that this week was a sad week for the Dufault family. Maggie wasn’t doing so great when I wrote my last post but she had to be put down on Wednesday night. She was a sweetie and everyone will miss her. I’m glad she got to spend that last year or so of her life with a family as loving as the Dufaults.

Table Food

All of us dog owners, or most of us, are guilty of giving into our dogs and feeding them our scraps either from the table, from the counter, or saving the leftovers for a treat for them later. There are tons of myths about what's good and what's bad for your dog, what will cut five years off your dog's life, and what will make your dog's coat healthy. I found a great list online at hartz.com of human foods that are good and bad for your dog; the list may surprise you!

I know one of Diesel's favourite snack is cheese and I think most dog's love it as well. The truth about cheese is it's actually hard for dog's to digest because they don't produce large amounts of lactase, which helps break down dairy.

Peanut butter is a great snack for dogs unless they're allergic to it. Also, peanut butter is high in fat and calories so like humans, it's good but only as a snack.

Another good snack food for dogs is eggs. Raw is not good for humans or dogs, but eggs and the yolk in them helps the dog have a healthy looking coat.

Some foods to avoid giving your dog are uncooked bread dough, yeast, and raw-meat; all these things can cause stomach problems. Also, anything with caffeine is bad, as well as macadamia nuts.

As far as raw-meat goes, i give it to Diesel all the time because he was eating it while he lived on the reserve. Every dog is different so some foods will react differently with different dogs. If you haven't given your dog something like nuts or peanut butter, it might be best to get your dog tested for allergies before trying it out.

An update on Maggie, the newfie dog I wrote about a few months back, she is still living but she is doing rough. She recently went blind and her lymph nodes are swollen all over her body. She was said to be gone by Christmas, but she's still here. Poor girl, I hope she goes peacefully and doesn't suffer.

And of course, the weekly dose of Diesel...

Woof Woof Brrrr !

Well, the holidays were fantastic and Diesel's first Christmas with a family was super exciting for him. He got loaded up with treats and clothes and of course, an insane amount of attention.

We were at the cabin over the break and we took Diesel ice fishing. it was a cold day, about -35 with the windchill. As we got to our finishing spot Diesel instantly started whining and lifting his paws. We figured he'd be able to tough it out but he started to shake and whine so much that we got worried. He was already wearing a jacket but he was insanely cold. I put socks on him, held his paws, wrapped him in a towel and held him on my lap as someone drove us back to the cabin.

As we drove back to the cabin through the blowing snow and absolutely freezing wind, I couldn't help but think—wow, there are so many dogs living in these conditions with no one to warm them up, no food, and no where to go. Diesel was in that position less than a year ago and to see how cold he was just from being out for about fifteen minutes, I can't imagine how all the stray dogs feel.

There are about two semi-wild dogs per household on Manitoba reserves. That's a big number of shivering doggies. Rather than ranting and raving i'm going to be doing my part by volunteering with some organizations in 2014.

Next time we complain about how cold it is outside, we should think of my Diesel and all other dogs shivering out there. Maybe we'll think twice about complaining as we're wrapped up in a warm coat and mittens.

Maybe we should all rescue twenty dogs each and call it a day. That would be the best; if only if only!

Santa Dog!

Snow!

Alright! In celebration of this fantastic snow-fall we received in Winnipeg, i figured why not blog about dogs in the snow? I don't think it's only my dog, but Diesel was so excited about the snow. He likes to put his nose in it and blow air through his nose then lick it off his nose. Pretty weir but whatever makes him happy!

Something about the snow makes dogs want to run through it and rub their face all up in it. I think the icy ground feels good on their skin. That's all I can think of..

So for those of you who aren't very excited about the snow and don't have a doggy, maybe the dog will help you cheer up about the snow. I know every winter I get a smile on my face watching dogs in the snow. It's fantastic.

So to all of you who find humour in the animals in the snow, i posted a compilation i found on youtube of a bunch of different animals having fun in the snow. Also, I put a little bit of Diesel in there too. It's cuuuuute so get ready!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Woof.

Therapy Dogs and Ziploc Bags

To start off with something happy, this week was fantastic in the sense of dog. I bought a nail clipper for Diesel and he was happy as a cam to have his nails cut. I usually go to Petsmart but Petcetera was the closest thing around. It definitely wasn't as busy as my usual pet store but they had plenty of the same stuff and the girl was super helpful. I haven't cut Diesel's nails since we got him so I was new to the whole clipping scene. I was worried of hurting him but he was relaxing. I got a heavy duty clipper for only $15 and i guess that's good. Wooohoo!

Another awesome dog thing that happened was therapy dogs coming to my school for a couple of hours. One of the students put on something called MindIt at all of the campuses for mental health awareness. The dogs were cute, friendly, relaxed and well, they were dogs so obviously it was awesome. The dogs help people mentally but there is also a program called See Spot Read. These dogs help children to read by changing the environment. Rather than kids concentrating on learning to read, they are more concentrated on spending time with the dogs and reading to them. Very Cool.
 Dogs at school = Best day ever.

A little less positive, today my friend Cella showed me the most ridiculous story I have ever heard. A woman and her son put a puppy in a Ziploc bag in New Mexico. The puppy is ok but the mother and son were both arrested and charged with animal cruelty charges. They were trying to show how small the puppy is by having it in the bag. UHM HELLO, IT'S A PUPPY, OF COURSE IT'S SMALL!  I guess they thought it was fine to post on Facebook but someone forwarded it to local police and thats the last time they will get to see their puppy. I think this is similar to putting an infant in a grocery bag, they're not able to move their head for more oxygen so these people are dumb to think that this was not cruel. People blow my mind.

And back to the positive, good on ya whoever reported that image to police and right on for therapy dogs and their owners. It's great that people recognize that their doggies have that certain personality and use it to help others. I am going to look into getting Diesel into it because when I saw those dogs at school, they reminded me of how he acts.

Mr. Diesel's strange way of lying down/standing.

 These are a few of the fantastic therapy dogs.