Terrier Christmas

I love this!
h/t One Bark at a Time
via h/t Borderjack

Watching for Santa

Someone is waiting very patiently for a certain fat man, dressed in a red suit, with a white beard, to arrive.

This season brings joy, peace, getting together with family and friends, and lots of extra doggie treats. Chocolates and goodies for the people and all kinds of special treats for the four legged family.

Justice (pictured above) wants to wish you all a Merry Christmas and wishes for much health, happiness and prosperity in the coming year.

Malcolm Gladwell has a new book called "What the Dog Saw"

In May 2006, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an interesting article called "What the Dog Saw" about Ceasar Milan.

His new book What the Dog Saw is now available. I can't wait to read it! I am a Gladwell fan for sure. I have read all of his books and many of his articles. To read the press release for his new book click here.

The first time I heard his name was when I discovered the article Troublemakers which I LOVED. Of course anyone who truly understands the correlation between "pitbulls" and profiling or discrimination is my kinda guy!

I hope you will check out Malcolm's new book. If it is as good as his others, I am sure I am going to like it.  I hope you do too.

Please consider donating spare items to animals at THS

There is a donation drive happening for the animals at Toronto Humane Society. The animals left behind in this whole mess are in need of supplies. Please consider giving anything you can spare to the helpless animals. 

From a blog called Save The Toronto Humane Society

Between the hours of 7am and 7pm on Saturday December 12^th and Sunday December 13^th please drop off donations at the Toronto Humane Society. The address is 11 River Street, which is at the corner of Queen Street East and River St.

Here is a list of supplies that the animals in the shelter desperately need.

For the Dogs

Used and new blankets. Please avoid down filled comforters as some of the dogs like to destroy their blankets. Feathers make a huge mess.

Dog beds of all sizes.

Good quality leashes and collars of all sizes. Please make sure they are strong.

We wouldn’t want any dogs to break away from their collars while on a walk.

Plastic basket muzzles of all sizes. Pit Bulls need to wear them on their walks.

Plastic bags for the dog walkers.

Strong dog toys of various sizes. Kongs, and squeaky toys for the cages, frisbees and large rubber balls for the dog parks.

Grooming supplies. Hair clippers, nail clippers, brushes, shampoo,

 For the Cats

Plastic cat toys.  Plastic ones are better than fabric ones as the plastic ones can be disinfected properly. The cats and kittens have been living in small cages with almost no stimulation. Some of these cats have been at the shelter for years and would appreciate a toy.

Towels and small cat beds for their cages.

Powdered KMR (Kitten Meal Replacement).

Large plastic litter boxes with no hood.

Cat treats.

Grooming supplies like nail clippers and brushes.

Metal Bowls (no plastic please)

For the little guys in the small domestics department

Hideaways and Houses

Hammocks

Tunnels

Toys

Food

Exercise wheels

Water bottles that clip to the cage

Cages of all sizes

Bedding and Litter

Anything else you think that a rabbit, rat, mouse, guinea pig, hamster, gerbil, or chinchilla would enjoy.

One Bark at a Time posted an article stating that adopting animals from from the THS's Victoria Park centre could alleviate some of the problems of severe overcrowding at the 11 River Street location.

The animal care staff at THS wants to assure the public that the animals at the Victoria Park adoption centre are highly adoptable and ready to be taken into the care of pet lovers.

My holiday recommendation

Last Christmas a good friend gave me a wonderful gift. The gift was a subscription to Whole Dog Journal.

I so look forward to my copy in the mail each month. WDJ is a great little publication that includes excellent education on healthy choices for our dogs. There are great articles on canine conditions and disease, food and nutrition, training and canine well being.

This year I plan on passing along the favor and giving WDJ subscription as a gift to several of my friends.

I highly recommend treating yourself or someone you know who loves their dog/s as much as we do.

Check out Whole Dog Journal website!

Are you ready for Christmas yet?

 
I love love love this!

Dear Grim Reaper

Dear Grim Reaper, 

 

So far this year you have taken away my favorite dancer Michael Jackson, my favorite actor Patrick Swayze and my favorite singer Stephen Gately and my favorite actress Farah Fawcett. Just so you know, my favorite politician is Dalton McGuinty. 

 

Regards,

Ontario Dog Owner

 

(Too funny not to share)

h/t Fran!

Bandit's fate up in the air

Bandit, a cross bred dog Tim Trow fought for in 2003 and early 2004, is now in the custody of the OSPCA.

The dog bit his former owners grandson, to the tune of 200 stitches and was turned over to Toronto Humane Society where he has remained since.  The city pound refused to take Bandit so police took him to THS. A battle erupted between Toronto Animal Services and Toronto Humane Society. Tim Trow was fighting for Bandit's life and TAS were trying to end it. Apparently TAS claims there was a mis-communication between police and TAS, otherwise they would have taken custody of the dog initially.

This week when OSPCA officials raided THS, Bandit allegedly lunged and was pepper sprayed.

To read more about Bandit click here.

Toronto Humane Society officials charged with cruelty

Police have arrested the Toronto Humane Society's president, chief veterinarian and three other senior staff members and charged them with animal cruelty, six months after a Globe and Mail investigation revealed widespread troubles at the shelter.

Read the rest. 

Banning of cropping and docking heats up

From Lee Steeves, CKC Director Zone 1

As you all know, there has been on-going discussion among provincial Veterinary Associations surrounding the procedures of cropping ears and docking tails. In New Brunswick, a ban on these procedures was effected by the NBVMA and has come into effect this year. In Newfoundland, cropping ears has been legislated out of existence ten years ago. PEI and Nova Scotia as well as Saskatchewan have considered provincial bans and I was advised at a meeting with CVMA on Sunday that PEI did put into effect a ban on cropping and docking at their November meeting.

In October, I was alerted that the discussion of cropping and docking would be on the annual meeting agenda of the NSVMA. Immediately, I contacted the President to request the opportunity to speak to the assembly and to present the CKC position. That request was refused by the NSVMA executive stating that this is a closed meeting and that presentations are not accepted. I did write a letter to the NSVMA and requested that it be read at the AGM, outlining the CKC position, the work we are doing with breed clubs and the progress being made by CKC on many initiatives aimed at making Canada one of the most progressive countries in the world in which to own a dog. Again, unfortunately this letter was not read. As in New Brunswick, there were spirited discussions at the AGM. No decision was taken immediately and the Executive Council determined that further dialogue needed to take place with more of the membership - most of whom were not in attendance (the AGM is held on a Saturday afternoon in Halifax so attendance is not a possibility for many veterinarians in the province). After the meeting, understanding that the CKC position had not been put forward, I sent a letter to every Veterinarian in the province of Nova Scotia outlining the points made in the letter sent to NSVMA and asking for their consideration of our position in responding to the Executive Council's request for their input. I have also met with as many practices as possible to personally put forward our position and to hear the views of the vets.

On Sunday, I flew to Ottawa and with the CEO of the CKC presented the CKC

position to the CVMA. In attendance were the CVMA representatives from NS, PEI, NB, Quebec, Ontario and the President from Saskatchewan as well as CVMA staff members. To say we were met with less than a welcoming audience is to understate the day. It was a challenging couple of hours, with no movement on the part of the vets who advised that anything we do short of a full rewrite of our standards to immediately take away cropping and docking is

too little too late. There was some softening of that position from Ontario, a comment that this is not yet on the radar in Quebec as yet and input that Nova Scotia is considering legislating these procedures out of existence.

We all have work to do. These vets are not only speaking of cropping and docking. Several, led by New Brunswick, are openly critical of the CKC's breed standards, feel that breeders are poorly educated with respect to health, genetics and breeding practices to support an animal's welfare and are censorious of breeders - in particular those breeders who breed conformation dogs for show. They are criticizing our standards for individual breeds and are of the opinion that we are not supporting the puppy purchasers with healthy dogs.

I would urge each one of you to have a conversation with your veterinarian as soon as possible. Ask his/her views on purebred dogs and dog breeding, on your own breeding practices from his/her perspective and develop an understanding of where your veterinarian is positioned with respect to your hobby of dog breeding. It is important to all of us that we understand where our vets are positioned with respect to our breeding of dogs, of our particular breeds and our future in dogs.

Many of you know me personally and know that I am not an alarmist nor am I a

believer in escalating an issue. At this time, I am deeply concerned for our relationship with the veterinary community. There are changes that we will need to make and we at the Board table are aware of that. Nothing stays constant in any part of our lives. We will over the next year be offering opportunities for breeder education and accreditation through a program that we have been working on at the Board table for a decade. We will be offering a medical registry and have already provided to you an outreach program that you and your kennel club are able to present in your community. We will support responsible dog ownership week and will continue to work at forming partnerships with those organizations with similar views, values and positions. But it is now important that you as a breeder, owner or pet enthusiast move forward as well, taking advantage of these tools we are providing and developing a better sense of those that we are working with - the dog owning public, puppy purchasers and our vets.

I look forward to hearing from many of you letting me know how these conversations go, which vets are supportive of you as a breeder and where you think we might go form here.

Lee Steeves

CKC Director Zone 1