File under: My Dog is The Smartest Dog.
Mulder usually carries her yogurt cup over to her bed to lick the sides and polish it clean. Because otherwise, it’s the old trying-to-lick-the-cup-while-it-slides-all-over-the-kitchen-floor thing which is you know, undignified. But tonight she had a new idea: drop it inside her dinner bowl for added stability. I love her.
Posted by YesBiscuit on December 6, 2017
https://yesbiscuit.com/2017/12/06/backinbowl/
Request from a reader: A municipal animal control is researching the issue of tethering. The unit is considering drafting a tethering ordinance and is trying to find relevant studies, as opposed to opinions. Any ordinance they may come up with will be drafted with the following in mind:
Can you help provide links to any information you think might be useful regarding the issue of tethering? Again, they are hoping to find actual studies, not opinion based articles. Do you have a link to a tethering ordinance you believe to be a good model? As a responsible tetherer, I am pleased to see a group researching this issue thoroughly in advance and not simply caving to the Chaining=Torture hysteria too prevalent in the animal welfare world.
Posted by YesBiscuit on June 2, 2014
https://yesbiscuit.com/2014/06/02/input-needed-regarding-tethering-ordinances/
I can’t think of any possible drawbacks. Plus it’s totally needed.
Patent No. 6,206,000
by Dwane L. Folsom
Patented: March 27, 2001
***
Dog dust cover
by S. Kesh
Patented: September 4, 1963
The inventor notes that the doggie dust cover will be useful in keeping flea powder on the dog (and off the living room carpet) post application. And it can do double duty as a drying mechanism after a bath – just attach your blow dryer to the suit and voila!
***
Condoms. For your dog’s feet.
Patent No. US20030164145 A1
by Julie St. John
Patented: January 24, 2003
The inventor indicates that not only is the product easily cleaned to protect your floors from the dirt your dog would otherwise track in, the booties “are applied very speedily so that the dogs’ patience quotient is not exceeded.” No mention of the human’s patience quota in applying 4 condoms to your dog’s 4 paws.
(Thanks Billy for sending me these.)
Posted by YesBiscuit on May 31, 2013
https://yesbiscuit.com/2013/05/31/mental-health-break-doggie-wear-patents/
Reader Lisa in OH contacted me about a new non-profit organization called Hospets which she launched in memory of her father, Larry Stearns. Lisa writes:
Basically the way it works: Hospice or Senior Services will discuss our program with their pet owning patients. If the patient seems interested they are referred to us. At that point, we go to the patient’s home and meet with them, their family and their pets to determine what their needs will be. Do they need helping getting pet food? Does their pet need to be taken to a vet or to a groomer? Do they need helping with basics (walking a dog, cleaning a litterbox etc) During this meeting we will also determine if they have a plan for the care of their pet in the case of an emergency hospitalization, and what is the plan for the pet when the patient is no longer with us. We will get photos, a full bio on the pet, medical and vet info and emergency contact information.
If the patient opts to use us for emergency care or for placement services, they will sign releases allowing us to get vet records and also to allow us to take possession of the pet when needed. We are on call 24/7 and can come pick up a pet as soon as we are notified by Hospice. This will keep the pet from having to enter the shelter system. Usually when an elderly person is rushed to the hospital and there is no one left in the home to care for pets, animal control is called and the pets are seized. Because of the situation, pets don’t even have to be held for the stray time! While the patient is hospitalized, Hospet foster homes will provide respite care for the pet. If the pet owner is requesting that we place the pet in a new home, we will screen potential adopters while the pet remains with the patient. The goal is to keep the patient and their pet together as long as possible.
This sounds like a great service. I haven’t come across an organization like this before and wondered if any of you have. Please share in the comments.
Posted by YesBiscuit on February 8, 2012
https://yesbiscuit.com/2012/02/08/keeping-hospice-patients-and-their-pets-together-in-oh/
I’m not a fan of catchpoles – mainly because they seem to be misused so often – but I love that the Pinellas Co sheriff’s office in FL sent their staff for training in how to properly use the tool and then issued a press release about their first successful use!
Additional successes on November 14, 2011 included the use of the catch pole by a deputy to contain a dog and return it to its owner; help free a raccoon that had a small plastic jar stuck on its head in the Eastlake area; and remove a three foot alligator that had made its way into a residential area of Palm Harbor.
It’s a nice change of pace to read about law enforcement receiving proper animal handling training and then putting it to use instead of the usual “police shoot [fill in the animal]” headlines. Good for the Pinellas Co sheriff’s department!
Posted by YesBiscuit on December 2, 2011
https://yesbiscuit.com/2011/12/02/how-cute-is-this/
Dr. Cate Mcmanus snuggling with Possum, the blind FeLV+ cat she is adopting from the case.
In June, approximately 550 cats were taken from an owner in Florida. They were cared for and vetted and are now available for adoption. This massive undertaking is being coordinated by a number of animal welfare groups including Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program, HSUS, Alachua Co Animal Services and PetSmart Charities. Let’s help get eyeballs on this mass adoption event in Gainesville, FL because this is what we want to happen for rescued pets – to be cared for and adopted out to the public. More like this, please.
Operation Catnip’s executive director Shaye Olmstead volunteered during the veterinary triage examinations when the cats were first seized.
Thirty University of FL vet students and veterinarians teamed up to spay and neuter more than 300 of the rescued cats last week.
When: Friday through Sunday, August 25 – 27, 10am – 6pm
Where: Alachua Co Humane Society (with transportation provided to offsite adoption location)
Who: Any and all cat lovers who can get there
Bring: ID, cash, cat carrier
How much: $5 adoption fee per cat, 2 cats per household
What you get for your $5:
Cat for adoption.
Photos and captions provided by Dr. Julie Levy, who has been helping to care for these cats all summer.
Posted by YesBiscuit on August 22, 2011
https://yesbiscuit.com/2011/08/22/mass-cat-adoption-event-in-north-central-florida-starts-friday/
Which is the better way to market pets for adoption in Memphis?
Or
The HS of Memphis and Shelby Co did the latter. Thank you to the volunteer dogwalkers there for being true friends to pets in need. You are The Awesome.
You know what else would make a pretty cool flashmob? 200 shelter Pitbulls trained to do anything. Just sayin’.
Gauntlet. Thrown.
Posted by YesBiscuit on April 20, 2011
https://yesbiscuit.com/2011/04/20/thats-what-friends-are-for/
Well, this should result in something great:
Things have been scary on a neighborhood list serv this week. There was a report of a large dog — one post says it’s a puppy, about 70 pounds — that was attacked in Elysian Park by a loose pit bull and badly hurt. The pit bull was described as a brindle, its owner as looking a bit like Danny Devito. According to the puppy’s owner, the pit bull’s owner basically fled the scene, walking away quickly and leaving the injured puppy without asking questions or giving his own contact information. The puppy’s owner has asked for help in identifying the pit bull and its owner.
The attack quickly led to an extended song of fear on the list serv: Dog owners who fear for their safety and the safety of their dogs. One woman says she has a .22 and is considering bringing it with her to the park so that she can shoot a dangerous dog if it tries to attack one of her four dogs. Another woman says she already carries a stun wand. Someone asked where to get one. At least two maybe three say they pack pepper spray, but one person says it’s hard to use.
I feel sorry for anyone at that dog park with a brindle dog of any breed or who looks remotely like Danny Devito. In the dark. At a distance. With a hat and sunglasses on. Or anyone who has a dog that looks like a Pitbull. Which you may have to judge as the dog runs past and you’re fumbling in your purse for your gun.
Yep, something good is going to come of this. It always does.
Posted by YesBiscuit on February 22, 2010
https://yesbiscuit.com/2010/02/22/trapped-in-the-closet-dog-park-edition/
Randi, age 11
