Dogs-N-Ties Fundraiser for SFSPCA

I know some of you must be fashion forward. Or male, and require a tie. Or just like scarves; I can never get the hang of them myself. There's a point to this, obviously.

Bows-N-Ties is a company which makes scarves and (I know you guessed already) ties. Every year, they do a fundraiser for a charitable organization, and this year they're benefiting the San Francisco SPCA with a Dogs-N-Ties fundraiser. Their goal is to raise $38,400, which will aid 1200 dogs and cats in finding homes. That's a lot of money, and a lot of homes!

Dachshund scarf picture from Dogs-N-Ties website.

The designs are cute. They've got beagles, bulldogs, french bulldogs, poodles, chihuahua, and wiener dogs in silk scarf or silk ties. No Doberman, but that's the way it goes. It's like having an unusual name and looking for that personalized license plate. My understanding is California has quite the surfeit of Chihuahuas in their shelters, so it's a good idea to have selected that breed for a pattern.

Chihuahua tie picture from Dogs-N-Ties website.

So, if your work wardrobe is in the need of some sprucing up (barking up? I can't think of a good corollary here), check out the Dogs-N-Ties  web site. It might also be cute, if you're planning a wedding, to have the groomsmen all have matching dog themed ties, wouldn't it? I think so.

Why I don't like Twitter so much anymore

Note: this mostly applies to my "dog" Twitter. My writing Twitter is what I find I've been spending a lot more time on, and interacting with people on.

I don't spend a lot of time on my @TheElkaAlmanac Twitter anymore. I'll share peoples' blog posts, and look at specific peoples' accounts to interact with, retweet, whatever, but looking at my feed in general? Not as much anymore. It just kind of depresses and frustrates me.

I've done it to myself, in a way. One's Twitter feed is full of who you've opted to follow, or follow back (I do tend to follow back, my numbers permitting. It's only polite, after all). But with my interest in supporting dog rescue and boosting the signal for people and things like that, I've gotten a lot of follows and such whose tweets I don't want to read. I also don't want to go and unfollow hundreds of people. It's my choice, and I could do it, but it doesn't seem fair. But.

Blog the Change October 15 2013

Today, for Blog the Change, I want to talk about the Doberman Assistance Network.

DAN was founded in 2007 and went into business in 2008, "when people from the Doberman community realized the need and came together to assist this intelligent, affectionate, and often misunderstood breed" (from the DAN site). I didn't realize it was such a young organization, actually. They try to accept owner surrenders. They work with breed specific rescues, and they work to pull Dobermans from shelters and organize transport to get the dogs to safety.

I love the Doberman breed, and I feel like this is "my" breed. In a way, even as a writer, it's hard to articulate how important this kind of work is. There are so many dogs who need help. There are so many breeds who need champions, big and small. The way people treat dogs, casually, like puppy factories or toys or garbage. And then the people who care about the breed pick up the pieces.

Most recently, I posted about Sweetheart (the picture of her is graphic and very sad, be warned), a dog who was taken in as a stray in Charlotte, NC. The update on her is that she is Heartworm negative, and accepting food. Maybe she just needs love and groceries, and DAN can provide that, until she's well enough to go to a home.

But that's just the most recent DAN case I've blogged about. There are any number of them who aren't quite so touch and go, who don't necessarily make it onto Facebook. There are dogs pulled from kill shelters with time running out. There were dogs who had nowhere else to go, when their breeder who passed away. I hear people say "It's just a dog" when they hear impassioned please for help, and when they hear outrage at the treatment of dogs. And yes, they are "just" dogs. Which means it's up to us, as humans, to watch out for them. To be responsible for them, and help them, and make sure they aren't cold and afraid and hungry.

If you're interested in sponsoring a dog (Nola and her litter are still listed on their site), you can visit the DAN site. They don't currently have anything in eBay (and remember the lovely collar my aunt won the bidding for?) but they do have a lovely 2014 Doberman rescue calendar. They also have an Amazon wishlist and a store with DAN merchandise.

Juke Box, 5 year old female Doberman in Atlantic City, NJ

(I've never used the "embed post" feature from Facebook before, so bear with me.)

The Humane Society of Atlantic County is in Atlantic City, NJ. If you think you might be interested in adopting "Juke Box" (not a bad name for a Jersey Girl, I guess!), the dog pre adoption application is here. There is also some information here about their adoption fees, and the fact that you need to bring state ID and paperwork pertaining to your residence (i.e., if you rent, you must bring your permission to have a pet).

To contact the Humane Society of Atlantic County, their phone number is 609-347-2487 and their email address is info AT hsacpet DOT org.

Post by The Humane Society of Atlantic County.

Things to do if you've found a lost dog

I'm sure it's happened to many of us at least once. We find a dog we don't recognize, with no tags. Friendly, but no humans apparent.

It's a dog owner's nightmare, really. Their dog gets loose, gets stolen, wanders. It happened just last week, with the dog my coworker found. Apparently she was a very very old dog, and had been through medical treatments lately. So, not mistreated. Just old and ill and with doggie dementia, and wandered off as her family cleaned the cellar of a Sunday. They were very grateful and happy to have her back, though I don't know what her real name is; I don't think the vet told my coworker when she called.

It's one reason I have all the tags I do on Elka's collar, on two separate rings. If one dangling rings gets lost, maybe the other will still be there. Plus her microchip. Some breeders tattoo their dogs (under anesthesia, I believe), inside the ear, or inside the inner thigh. That's a visible identifier that cannot be lost. It's why, on our car trip, Elka was on a harness attached to her leash, and with the dogIDs collar on separately, with its name plate.

Rescued Doberman sticks with Lost Owner

Duchess the red Doberman (called "brown" in news sources, but I forgive them), is a rescue. She's been with her family for 3 years, after having been adopted from the local shelter.

(not Duchess; photo from Wikimedia commons)

Virginia, Pretty Dobergirl in Chester Springs, PA

At the Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, PA, they don't know how old she is. They estimate that her birthday is May 11, 2011. And that's literally all the information there is on pretty Virginia. No history, no indication as to whether she was a stray, or an owner surrender. I do hope she finds a home soon! This is their adoption information and requirements, should you be interested in bringing Virginia into your family.

Doberman Assistance Network case: Demi (warning: picture is pretty bad)

Demi is a female Doberman afflicted with mange, pulled from a shelter in California. If you'd like to donate for Demi's care specifically, or see who else needs sponsorships, you can visit the Doberman Assistance Network's sponsorship page and click on the handy Paypal buttons.

Also, the Flower Power Fundraiser is still on until April 26. The goal is to raise $1000; the current total is $88.

(DAN logo linked from DAN Facebook page)

Picture of Demi is behind the cut, poor little girl.

Book Review: A Dog Named Leaf, by Allen and Linda Anderson

Okay, I confess. A very awesome thing about dog blogging (dlogging, as my fiancé likes to call it) is that people want me to read their books. Me! And I freaking love reading books. Especially dog books. Said fiancé has remarked that he didn't even know this many dog books exist, and yet I keep bringing them home. Or getting them in the mail.

Obviously, when Allen Anderson (of the Angel Animals Network, I later learned) emailed me to see if I wanted to read and review A Dog Named Leaf, I said yes.

Doberman Assistance Network: video of 2012 dogs

I can't toot the Doberman Assistance Network's horn enough. They deserve it. They work tirelessly for this breed.

Below is their video from Youtube, reviewing the rescue dogs of 2012. Tearjerker alert: it is to the song "I will remember you".





Of course, they're also well on their way to helping lots of Dobermans in 2013.

Doberman on Death Row in Manhattan

This is Pancho. See what a handsome boy he is?

He's in a kill shelter in Manhattan. I'm not sure how many days he's supposed to have. Or how many days he has left. 

PANCHO - A0951039
I am an unaltered male, black and brown Doberman Pinscher mix.
The shelter staff think I am about 1 year old.
I weigh 79 pounds.
I was found in NY 10030.
I have been at the shelter since Nov 14, 2012

Know anybody in Manhattan who could use a beautiful, fit, Doberman? Or pull him and help him get a great home? Maybe his owners will see one of these posts online, and be able to reclaim him in time.

There are links here and here about him on Facebook. I dearly hope that my post is redundant, and his rescue angel is already on his or her way. I don't know his history at all, only that he is intact.

But look at his face. I've never seen a picture of a dog in a shelter look like that. He looks happy, and confident, and cared for. I wonder if he was displaced by Sandy? Maybe he wasn't microchipped, or the chip moved. I guess he wasn't tattooed either. Also from Facebook:

For more information on adopting please read the following:
https://www.facebook.com/Urgentdeathrowdogs/app_137541772984354
DO NOT call the shelter and say you are adopting unless you truly intend on physically going to the shelter to adopt the dog. It ties up phones lines and is a waste of the staff's time to explain the adoption procedure over the phone for someone who is purposely not going to show up. They need every free second of their time to answer calls, assist actual adopters, process intakes, and care for the animals. More importantly, they will note the dog’s file that an adopter is en route which will prevent an actual adopter from saving the dog. This is considered a "fake adoption" hold and that is how dogs fall through the cracks and end up being killed.
For more information on a particular dog, email adoption@nycacc.org but ONLY if serious about adopting, and ONLY if you are able to GO TO the shelter in-person. Please do not email for status updates... the only thing you will accomplish is spamming their in boxes and causing REAL adopter emails to go un-noticed. Contact the NYC ACC at (212) 788-4000 for further automated instructions.

Edited to correct: His "out date" is November 17, according to the second Facebook page.