This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Woodstream. All opinions are 100% mine.
We have a lot of wild animals around here, just today my owners and I were out on the deck watching a pair of beavers as they seem to be starting to build a den off our property in the lake. It’s interesting to watch, the very first time in 26 years of living here that my owners have seen beavers in our lake.
Then there are the raccoons. They are having their babies now, and are very noisy at night when the babies are being raised. There are also bears around here now, so my owners have to be careful about letting me out at night.
The raccoons like to knock over our garbage cans, so do the bears, and sometimes it’s tempting to want to trap the raccoons, but I think you’d be surprised to hear what animals are giving us the most trouble right now….they are Ferrel cats. There are at least 6 of them hanging around. Our animal control in Town makes us catch them and then they will take them, so we need to use a Havahart Easy Set Large Animal Trap to capture them, if they will go into the trap. The only other animals that are sometimes a problem, especially when we start to hear them chewing on the wood of our house like they are trying to get in, are the squirrels, this is when a Havahart Easy Set Small Animal Trap is a handy thing to have around.
We hope we won’t have to use any traps, but if we need to find information and help in knowing what to do, we can visit Animal Trapping Tips and read their helpful ideas.
We love animals, and don’t want them to be harmed, even if they are a pain sometimes…and I sure do love barking at them, and chasing squirrels whenever I get the chance.
We are not happy to hear about all that the people and animals of Haiti are going through right now, but are happy to hear about how many people and animals are going to Haiti to do their part to help. We found this video about Search and Rescue dogs from New York who will be going to Haiti to help.
We also found the American Rescue Dog Association. They don’t say much about Haiti there yet, but it is the central organization in the US for dogs that do a great work to help people.
Almost everyone who cares about animals knows about Greyhounds and dog racing. It’s sad what many dogs go through, and we’ll talk a bit about that, but there are good people doing good things to help, too, so we’ll also talk about that.
We have people in our Town who adopt rescued Greyhounds. I met a couple of very nice Greyhounds at my last appointment to the vet. I’m just a tiny little dog, and these are bigger than me, very fine featured dogs with very strong hind-quarter muscles which probably is why they are fast, and used for racing. They are so gentle that it’s sad to think that they are used this way. Let’s get the sad video over with, then we can move on to the good things people are doing:
Greyhounds, or dogs that look very much like them have been found as part of the artwork on Egyptian tombs over 2000 BC. They were developed for hunting in more recent history. They make wonderful, gentle, loving house pets.
If you think you’d like to learn more about how to help Greyhounds, or would like to adopt on, there are many websites that help, Adopt a Greyhoud is just one that will lead to other helpful sites.
We’re sure sorry we didn’t get this post to you last week when the Home Again Web Site was supporting the American Humane Association’s Be Kind to Animals Week® by donating $1 for every pet that was registered to the program, but that sure doesn’t mean that bringpetshome.com isn’t a site worth visiting.
There are things that you can do to “be kind to animals”, including your pet not only on a week set aside to focus on the subject, but every day of every week:
Make sure your pets are properly identified with something that will last, that will not get lost, and is easy to read.
With hot months coming to parts of the US where seasons change, PLEASE DO NOT leave your pet out in the car with windows closed. This is a thought that gives my owner and I nightmares!
If you leave your dog out for long periods of time in warm weather, make sure they have a shady spot to rest…and not just an enclosed doghouse, they can get warm inside if they are in direct sun, but if it’s not terribly hot, are better than nothing. If it’s very hot, keep you pet inside where it’s cool…treat them like you’d treat yourself.
Also, if outside provide water to drink during the day.
PLEASE make sure that your pets are protected from fleas and ticks.
You can find many things to help you protect and care for your pet at bringpetshome.com and when you purchase, you are benefiting animals in need, animals that are living in shelters waiting for someone to bring them home and give them love. It doesn’t cost you anything extra with your purchase to provide food and medical care to needy animals.
Did you know that HomeAgain.com has helped recover more than 500,000 lost pets? They provide a pet-recovery service that goes beyond microchipping, which, by the way, is an excellent way to protect your pet from getting lost. For a reasonable yearly fee, you have access to pet-recovery specialists and emergency medical assistance 24/7…the program also includes up to $3,000 (- $50 deductible) in medical insurance for lost pets, and more.
Please do visit my sponsors site for so many more wonderful details!
Today I want to share with you a story about two little dogs that belong(ed) to a friend of mine. She shared it in an email a long while ago, and I just stumbled on it, and thought you’d like it, as it shows how two dogs can learn to get along. After I post it, we’ll track our friend down and have her come read it and update on the latest news about these two little furbabies in a comment…it picks up a bit into the story about her adopted Chihuahua mix, Zeena. Enjoy!
We only know for sure that Zeena’s mom is a Chihuahua. (Dad is from a nice neighborhood.) The vet is convinced that her dad is a dachshund, because of her growing features, but we are not really sure. The vet said we could do DNA testing to find out, but I really don’t care. She’s my fur baby and she’s a doll! When I got her at 3 weeks old, she was less than a pound and looked just like a Chihuahua puppy. As she grew she changed a lot. Now, she is 5.5 lbs., completely healthy and loves everyone she comes into contact with. Very smart and very active!
Bernie, (Bernadette) my toy poodle has been with me for 3 years. She was rescued from an abusive home where apparently the young man or teen living in the home kicked her down a long flight of stairs. That was when they took her away—who knows what kind of stuff happened behind closed doors. Bernie has always shied away from men, but she knew she had me tied around her front paws the minute I held her. She needed a lot of medical care for ear infections, bad teeth and is almost toothless now. I wanted to breed her at first, but the vet said she was too old and had her spayed instead. She is not a very bright dog, but she and I are bonded and I take very good care of her, so no one can ever hurt her again. We think she is around 8 years old, but are not sure. She is very loyal to me.
When I brought Zeena into our family, Bernie wasn’t sure what to do about her. I knew she was jealous of Zeena, because I kept her near me, or carried her around most of the day when she was a baby. She had to be bottle fed every 2-3 hrs. the first week. I think Bernie thought she was a squeaky toy—I didn’t notice any mothering instinct at all! I kept them separated for the first two months, except when I was right there to help Zeena.
Now that Zeena is older, the two of them play all day long and only get mad at each other when I pay more attention to one and not the other. Bernie is not lonely when I have to leave for the day and Zeena is just non-stop fun! Geeze, I could write all day about their antics, but I have to stop for now. I like the idea of Aspen’s blog and was thinking about maybe doing one for my babies—they give me so much enjoyment! (Teri, if you still have your fur-babies, doing a blog about them is a bright spot in the middle of whatever life brings your way…luv, Aspen)
