Wordless Wednesday November 27 2013

Special Needs Dobermans Senior of the Week: Angel

Angel is an 8 year old Doberman with Distinguished Doberman Rescue, Inc. She was surrendered to rescue after her family had a baby and felt they did not have enough time for her. Poor girl! As a part of the Senior Doberman Project, Special Needs Dobermans has selected her as their senior of the week.

(picture from Ddrinc web site)

Angel is a healthy 8 year old with no special needs other than being, well, 8. She's very attached to her foster dad, likes cuddling on the couch, and loves eating (sound like any dogs you know?). She's all right with other dogs, and less tolerant of puppies. She's fine with kids, though DDRinc suggests 10 and up would probably be best (this is something I've noticed a lot with Doberman rescue, and believe it has to do with their size and chance of boisterousness. Elka steps on us all the time without meaning to). 

You can either donate to help with Angel's care, through SND or Distinguished Doberman Rescue inc, or if you think Angel sounds like a great match for you, she's looking for a forever home! She's currently in Pittsburgh, PA, and information about adopting through Ddr, inc. is here on their web site.

Intersex Aggression in Dobermans

A big huge flag in the Doberman community is when a male puppy is sold to people with another male dog in the household already. Why?

Well, the stories say that Dobermans can be same sex aggressive. Two males, two females, there is a chance that when the second dog reaches sexual maturity (or both dogs, if you're making the equally dubious choice to raise them together), there is a chance that the dogs will become aggressive to members of the same sex and want to fight.

This is problematic, as we do not typically want dogs to fight. Not unless you're a scumbag.

Wordless Wednesday November 20 2013

More Doberman rescue followups: Sandy and Mordecai

In keeping with trying not to just "drive by" the adoptable dogs I've posted about, I'm going back through my older posts and seeing if they're still available for adoption, or if they've found homes. Last week, I had the great news that Jasmine had found a home.

Virginia is no longer listed at the Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, PA. I'm going to assume she's been adopted, so congratulations to Virginia! Blitz, who was with DDR, inc. is also no longer listed. Of course, they still have plenty of adoptable Dobermans. Tommy is no longer at the Lycoming County SPCA and Bankston was "transferred to a breed specific Doberman rescue", and though it doesn't list which one, that's a golden ticket!

This week, I'm sorry to say that little Mordecai is still waiting to be adopted. He's with Doberman Rescue Minnesota and is nine months old now. How quickly they grow up! He still has his adorable "zipper" nose, is crate trained, potty trained, has great manners...what's not to like? It really surprises me that this puppyboy is growing up in rescue, rather than having been adopted already.

Oh yeah, and he loves to swim!

Remember Sandy, the lovely senior girl with Illinois Doberman Rescue? She's still there, and still needs a home. You can visit her IDR page if you're interested in adopting her, or if you'd like to help out by sponsoring her in some way.

So, a lot of question marks, but I'm just going to be optimistic about those dogs. My hat is off to people who work on the front lines of dog rescue, pulling dogs from shelters, doing transport, fostering. I'm just here reporting, and it still hurts my heart sometimes.

Doberman Ornaments fundraiser benefits Doberman Assistance Network

Yeah, yeah. Not Thanksgiving yet. Etc. But, if every store ever can do it, I guess I can do it for the Dobermans.

These here customizable Christmas ornaments (order deadline is December 9, USA orders only) give a portion of each sale to help the Doberman Assistance Network. They have no shortage of cases and Dobermans they're trying to help, and a little bit of holiday cheer goes a long way, n'est-ce pas?

And look! Each ornament you order will not only be totally adorable, but a creation unto itself. So many choices.

So, the nitty gritty of ordering (LOOK AT ALL THE CHOICES!):

• Each ornaments costs $25.00 and is personalized with your Doberman's name on it.
• Shipping for 1st class mail is $4.00 and for each additional ornament add $1.00 for shipping.
• Please submit and submit your order via Paypal - D.A.N.'s email address is for Paypal is helpdobes@dobermanassistance.org.
• You can also mail in a check to the following addressoberman Assistance network C/O Heidi Merriman 3852 La Colina Road, El Sobrante, CA 94803
• We will need your name, e-mail address and shipping address.
• Orders need to be submitted by December 9th, 2013 (sorry USA only).
• Please let us know color of Dobie and bulb and Dobie's name.

Dogster and Dentastix contest

I was super excited to see a photo contest on the Dogster (entries are through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), in conjunction with Dentastix. I'm okay with Dentastix; they might not be the bestest ingredients, but Elka likes them, they seem to work, we can all have junk once in awhile.

So then I toddled over to read the contest rules and found this gem:

License to Use Entries: By submitting an Entry, each entrant agrees and hereby grants to Sponsor and its successors, licensees and assigns an unlimited, perpetual, irrevocable, assignable, royalty-free, fully paid-up license to reproduce, distribute, perform, create derivative works of, edit, alter, display, exhibit, combine with other materials, exploit and otherwise use the Entry, and all elements embodied therein, in any manner and in any and all media now known or hereafter devised throughout the universe for any purpose whatsoever, without compensation or notification to, or permission from, entrant or any third party and hereby waives any moral rights in the Entry.

My picture is my picture. My dog is my dog. Why should I release rights in perpetuity for something I've created of something I love a great deal to somebody to do what they want with it?  I understand that, in general, rights like these are so they can make those creepy "dog with human teeth" advertisements. But seriously, even if you don't win, even if you just enter, you are giving these rights to Dentastix (and Pedigree, by extension, it would seem) and its successors royalty free and across the universe however they want for ever and ever amen. And they're not responsible for third-party usage of submitted entries. And you're not allowed to watermark them, because identifying information, yadda yadda. 

In my Why I Watermark my Pictures post, "protection against misrepresentation" was one of the reasons I gave. I would be just sick if a contest entry of mine, given in good faith, became a stock image for Dentastix/Pedigree/whoever to trot out any time they wanted a vicious or dangerous dog picture, or even to just advertise a product I dislike and wouldn't support. Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe I'm thinking too much about it, whatever. 

Wordless Wednesday November 13 2013

Some Tuesday Tails Doberman rescue followups

Remember Jasmine? Well, after the bad news with Remmy and Sweetheart, I thought I'd go back through my Tuesday Tails posts and see what the news was on everybody. Jasmine is listed as Adopted on the Illinois Doberman Rescue site now! Congrats to Jasmine! I hope she and her new family spend many happy years together.

Tarot Hound

Browsing on Etsy, as one does, I found Laika the Psychic Dog, who does one card Tarot readings (via Rare & Pretty). Or did do them; by the time of this posting, she has evidently given up prognosticating. Given that one of the Trick Dog tricks is 'picking a card', I'm sort of kicking myself for having not come up with this before. Doberman Tarot Card Reader would have been a pretty cool thing, but i don't want to step on anybody's toes. One also needs an actual Fortunteteller's License to prognosticate in my town, an interesting detail which involves a test of some form that the city clerk would be required to provide. Depending on how much that cost, it might be worth it, just for a lark. Maybe not. But Elka wouldn't be able to take the test (though it would be hard to prove a Clever Hans style fallacy in this situation as well. Part of the point of pulling cards blind is, well, you're blind.)

Help dogs in Detroit get a Thanksgiving Dinner!

Until December 24, the "likes" The Da Vinci Foundation gets on this Facebook post equal an Iams Woof Delights dinner for a homeless dog in Detroit.

I'm actually a little unclear whether you have to "like" the bulldog picture specifically, or just liking The DaVinci Foundation's Facebook page will do it. I liked both, to be on the safe side. Two clicks, a small thing.

I had not heard of The DaVinci Foundation before, but if they're operating in Detroit, their mission to find homes for the homeless is a tall order. In August, the estimate was that there were 50,000 stray dogs in Detroit, and that's a lot of lives to be saved. Detroit has been making headway with its number of abandoned buildings, however, with many having been demolished or auctioned to new owner who will now hopefully make use of them, and this may help shrink the stray dogs problem. There are also plans to have a tremendous urban farm in Detroit, an idea that intrigues and sort of delights me. It's possible that the people who are making such strides in repurposing abandoned urban space will also be able to help make strides with the stray and abandoned dog population.

We can hope, right?

Post by The DaVinci Foundation For Animals.

NaNoWriMo update

I know some of you are fellow writers, even if you aren't fellow "WriMos".

As of today, I'm at 15,005 words. My first three days went like gangbusters, with me reaching 10k by Sunday night. I'd had the foresight to take a couple of days off of work in a row...revolutionary, I know. One of my coworkers, when I reported my wordcount, even asked me if I started early.

No dogs in this story, which has happened in the past couple. The Last Song involved no dogs (which is far better for the dogs, I assure you). My current NaNoWriMo project is untitled. Literally, the file on my computer is Asbury Park 1979 (which is three years before I was born, for those of you who only Internet know me, but it was a date that ended up appealing for the "mood" I was going for.

Mentally, Jersey Shore summers of that "era" evoke a kind of golden haze for me, which might be why I lean towards that style when editing my pictures for blogging purposes. I guess it's how a lot of the photographs I've seen end up looking, whether they looked that way at the time or not. In the course of writing this, and trying to fill in the spots on my mental map, I've found wacky things like a Flickr stream in which the author seems to have taken more than 5000 pictures of grocery, drug, and convenience stores in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware area. And labelled what the stores were when they were built, when they changed, that kind of thing (when they knew the info).

But I can't cast aspersions on niche interests, obviously. I'm writing this on a dog blog. And people with niche interests like that fill in the tiny blanks that would otherwise drive me nuts. Sometimes, just knowing one detail is wrong can derail me for the time it takes me to go down the Internet rabbit hole and find something close enough.

Wordless Wednesday November 6 2013

Treat Review: Orijen Freeze-Dried Food

Courtesy of Chewy.com, we have sampled Orijen's new(ish) freeze-dried food offering and would like to tell you about it!

First of all, for a dog of Elka's size, the amount of Orijen's freeze-dried food would not be feasible to feed her regularly. She would need 6 or 7 (I think) of the little "food pucks", and there are only so many per bag. As a travel food, or something to keep in an emergency "go bag", it would be a great solution. However, since I wasn't planning to get Princess accustomed to food gravy of this quality, I confess I just broke it up and used it for treats.

Peach is the Senior of the Week

Illinois Doberman Rescue picked this Peach in Georgia. She was on a euthanasia list because she was too old, but this 10 year old (estimate) girl still has life and love in her! Special Needs Dobermans has selected her as their senior of the week.

(photo from IDR page)

Life has been full of changes for Peach lately. First of all, she ended up in the shelter (owner surrender? Stray?). Then, she had a road trip from Georgia to Illinois (this isn't how the song goes at all). She was apparently a dream in the car, and is now settling in.

Peach is up for adoption, but you can also donate to her care through either the Special Needs Dobermans site (there's a PayPal link at the bottom of the page, where it says Sponsor this Senior!) or through the Illinois Doberman Rescue site (where they have a variety of things listed, from heartworm meds to boarding to food).

(picture from IDR page)

Peach is listed as "no cats", and they aren't sure yet how she is with kids. She was good in the car, and is interested in toys, especially an antler that she's been given.

I'm glad IDR pulled this girl, so she can live the rest of her days with people, and not in the shelter environment. If you can help Peach out, or know somebody who would love to have a Senior in their lives, follow the links for more info. You can also email OrphanDobe AT Ameritech DOT net

Sad updates on Sweetheart and Remmy

So many calls for help, or donations, or adoption seem to be one-offs. I've done it myself, I know, and I hope to remedy that (and when I do, I sincerely hope that it'll be with happy endings)

Sweetheart  is no longer with us. A couple of days ago, she stopped wanting to eat, and it was very difficult to entice her. They tested her for Addison's Disease, and that came back negative. Whatever the cause, Sweetheart was in "complete and irreversible renal failure", and her foster folks were not going to make her suffer anymore. I'm glad she was loved, and not alone, and had that life for however short a time.

And on to Remmy.

(Picture from DOBER,inc Facebook page)

I didn't mean to be prophetic on Monday when I posted about "It's All in How You Raise Them" and how not all dogs can be saved. Definitely a time I would love to be wrong, in fact. But, earlier in the week, and out of the blue, Remmy lashed out and injured his foster mom. Dreaming of Better Endings Rescue, inc. and a very experienced trainer put their heads together, and decided that with unknown triggers and unstable reactions like that (especially in contrast with his usual sweet, brilliant, and biddable personality), Remmy could not safely be adopted out. It was a very, very hard decision, but Remmy has been euthanized. Best wishes to his foster mom and her swift recovery (I don't know details on her injury, nor would I feel right posting them here).

Also from their Facebook page (a direct quote):

We do understand that for a number of reasons, most rescues do not make these types of announcements to the public, but we feel very strongly that NO dog deserves to disappear quietly as if he never existed. Every life is precious and we want to honor that. Honesty is something that we have always felt was so important because you, our supporters, deserve it. For these reasons, we felt it only fair to let all of you know what happened.

And I respect this decision, which is one reason I'm updating here as well. Sad as it is, "What happened to Remmy?" is a question that, on the face of it at least, I know the answer to. 

So hold your loved ones close, and remember these dogs who have passed. They knew love and life without fear for the time they had in good hands.