With three large dogs and a suburban sized back yard, you can imagine the number of landmines I need to navigate around while mowing the lawn. After a quick search of the internet, I think I may have found the solution to my problem.
Enter the Turd Burglar. The name is a bit misleading in that it’s really not about burglarizing any turds. I got plenty of my own, thank you, and can guarantee you that I harbor no deep desire to steal anyone’s turds.
This unique device attaches to the end of a hockey stick (supplied by you) and is designed to get under the poo so it can be flicked to a collection area in the yard. It could be shot against the fence, sent deep in the back zone of the yard, or maybe even lofted over the fence into the noisy neighbor’s pool or yard.
Use the included game book to set up a Turd Burglar league. Let’s face it, this looks to be a fun way of disposing your pet’s waste. Did I mention it also comes with a practice poopie?
I have to say this sounds much better than my method of cutting the poops in half with my lawn mower. In fact, I just ordered one and will let you know if it’s as much fun as it sounds.
In the meantime, tell me what fun ways you have for cleaning up your yard?
Here’s a letter I received from one of our readers as a cautionary tale for those who like to let their dogs ride along in the back of their pick-up trucks. Please read the entire letter.
I was in traffic on a busy highway in my city behind a bright red pickup truck. There were two cute miniature Schnauzers loose in the bed of the truck. when suddenly the traffic came to a screeching halt. Thankfully I was following at a safe distance so I did not hit the truck. But to my shock something flew out the bed of the truck.
It was one of the darling little dogs. It landed in the opposite lane, its skull was smashed just that quick. A teen jumped out of passenger side of the truck and ran into traffic.Traffic stopped. He was about to pick up the little dog, the sight was too much he started to turn away, but then got courage enough to pick up the little dear, leaving a pool of blood on the pavement. By then his dad the driver had the truck pulled over.
This all happened in a matter of seconds. His Dad took the dog and at that moment it was like the head blew up and blood was everywhere. The dog convulsed violently and that was it. The boy was shaking and crying.
FOLKS, THIS NEVER HAD TO HAPPEN PLEASE NEVER EVER LET YOUR DOGS RIDE UNSECURED IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK , OR LEANING FAR OUT A VEHICLE WINDOW.
If I have reached just one pet owner and helped save just one life then I will know that one little pup did not die in vain and that there was some reason for what I was forced to witness yesterday.
Truly needless and tragic for all involved. Here’s some good advice from the Humane Society.
If you must transport your dog in a pickup truck, put him in the cab with you in a travel crate or other pet carrier. If you have an extended cab, have your pet ride in the back portion of the cab where he will be away from the front windshield. It is not safe for your dog to ride in the bed of a pickup even with a restraint. The HSUS knows of no brand of harness that has been proven safe in this situation. In fact, there have been cases where dogs restrained by leashes or harnesses have been strangled or dragged after being thrown from a truck bed.
I hope people don’t disregard this post, thinking their dog is different. Accidents happen but they don’t have to turn into tragic ones.
Here’s an article on what’s being done to help family pets in the flooding that’s occurring in Iowa.
As the situation deteriorated, flood victims, many staying in hotels, shelters or cars, began dropping off pets at the college. Others, who had been forced to flee without their pets, began calling in with pleas for their animals to be rescued. Within days, what had started as a makeshift shelter had grown into a sprawling operation housing nearly 1,000 animals — dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, lizards, even a red-eared slider turtle — in three buildings.
With the influx of animals came an infusion of aid. Several national chain stores donated supplies. Veterinary technicians came from as far away as California to volunteer, and legions of veterinarians, groomers and even flood victims soon arrived at the shelter wanting to help.
It’s great to see people and organizations aiding those affected in the region. Also nice to see is that we are learning from past disasters.
One of the lessons driven home after Hurricane Katrina — in which an estimated 200,000 animals were displaced — was that some residents risked, and lost, their lives rather than leave a beloved pet behind.
“The biggest thing learned by everyone from Katrina is the importance of animals in people’s lives,” said Diane Webber, disaster preparedness director for the Humane Society of the United States. “They can’t be excluded from disaster planning and response. People aren’t going to function and they’re not going to evacuate if their animals aren’t provided for.”
Still, there’s much pain and sorrow inflicted by the persistent rains. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for many an owner-pet reunion in the near future.
As dog owners we all know our fuzzy pals are smarter than the average bear. Now a golden retriever has upped the ante for all our loved ones by receiving a bachelor’s degree.
Zeeke, a 1-year-old dog, will earn his bachelor’s of science degree in canine companionship. The canine has spent thousands of hours training as a Canine Companion dog as part of a senior’s honors project.
This makes me wonder how my three treat seeking machines would fare in higher education. Let’s take Bo, my chow-retriever mix, first. He’s stubborn, aloof and likes to do things his way. With his attitude my guess is that he wouldn’t make it out of high school, most likely kicked out in 10th grade for smoking in the boys room.
Copper, my ridgeless Rhodesian ridgeback rescue, is sweet as could be. She follows the rules and is of above average intelligence. As long as she didn’t fall in with the wrong crowd, for she’s easily influenced, I could see her getting an associates degree in animal husbandry.
Logan, our Bernese Mountain Dog rescue, is a wild card. He’s cute and brilliant but scared of the world. If he can learn to trust humans, a bachelor’s degree and, dare I say it, world peace may well be within reach.
That’s my humble analysis of the dogs that run my house.
Let me hear about your loved ones and how far you think they can go in the world of higher education.
Here’s a heartwarming video by the Humane Society on their recent efforts to save hundreds of puppies from a mill in Tennessee.
The rescue operation cost $105,000, and they desperately need help to pay for this work and prepare for the next time animals need our help. If you have the means, please visit their site and think about donating to this worthy cause.
As those of us in America celebrate our country’s independence today, we need to be cognizant of the effect fireworks have on our beloved pets. The newspaper Deseret has a good article on the subject. Here’s an interesting tidbit on the effect of the loud booms and bangs that I never considered.
In most normal five-day stretches during the summer last year, his shelter would pick up about 66 stray cats and 70 stray dogs. But he said that in the five days surrounding July 4, it picked up 90 cats and 95 dogs - or 36 percent more than normal. “We always see big increases around July Fourth, and the same thing happens again around the 24th,” he said, adding that other cities in the county and state report the same.
It makes sense that dogs and cats would try to get away from all that noise. Fortunately the article also give advice on how to minimize their anxiety.
Doug Poindexter, president of the World Wide Pet Industry Association, said, “There are number of tips we have to try and help minimize stress by pets. First, bring your pets inside. Keep them in a room that is as sound resistant as possible” and then play music or the television there to drown out noise from fireworks.
Read the full article to find out all the tips they give and make this the calmest 4th for your pet ever.
Security. It’s all the rage in this internet age and can be a thorn in one’s side.
Take for instance the verification code that you have to enter to gain access to a lot of sites, just to prove you aren’t a robot. You know the codes I’m talking about. They’re the ones that are all warped and wavy making it difficult to discern a 0 with an o or an I with a 1.
Asirra stands for Animal Species Image Recognition for Restricting Access. Basically it’s an HIP [verification process] that requires you to differentiate photos of cats and dogs, a task that is nearly impossible for even the most sophisticated bots.
The cool thing about this technology isn’t really the technology but the fact that Microsoft Research has partnered with Petfinder.com to serve up pictures of the more than three million photos of cats and dogs available for adoption. A user is required to select all the pictures that are dogs (or cats) in order to gain access to the site. What’s really great is that each picture has a link to the animal’s petfinder.com adoption page. So now you can get verified and help place a pet at the same time!
There is amazing news coming out about the intentions in Leona Helmsley’s (the NY hotel baroness) will and how it will be executed.
On June 16th Manhattan Surrogate Judge Renee Roth reduced Leona’s $12 million bequeath to her Maltese, Trouble, to only $2 million (and assigned the $10 million to grandchildren who had been entirely shut out). It was also reported that will executors are spent $100 thousand in the last year on security detail for Trouble who had received death threats.
Now that all the named and direct beneficiaries of the will have been sorted out, there is the matter of the $5 to $8 billion (BILLION!) in unassigned assets that were dedicated in a two page “mission statement” attached to the will for the health and welfare of dogs. William Josephson, a lawyer who was the chief of the Charities Bureau in the New York State attorney general’s office from 1999 to 2004 stated “The statement is an expression of her wishes that is not necessarily legally binding.” However legal precedence consistently decides upon fulfilling the expressed wishes of the deceased over any other interpretation. So it’s very likely that billions in assets ($2.3 billion of which was liquid at the time of her death) must be spent for the health and care of dogs.
Once I was able to wrap my head about this, this is amazingly wonderful news. It definitely verges on the ridiculous considering the NY Times determined that “$5 billion would equal 10 times as much money spent as all 7,381 animal-related nonprofit groups reporting to the Internal Revenue Service in 2005.” Another way to look at it is that if there are 70 million dogs in the U.S. each could be given $71 towards health care. But it’s seems likely likely that huge amounts of money are going to have to be spent on dog health and welfare.
Reading about this makes me think that while Leona thought of her dog’s welfare, most people make no plans for their pets if their pets outlive them.
After doing some research I found The New York Blogger Mike Nizza picked up on just this same issue and informed me of a non-profits called 2nd Chance 4 Pets. Their mission is to keep pets out of shelters and keep them with families.
2nd Chance 4 Pets is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization staffed by volunteers and located in Los Gatos, California. We work throughout the state and across the nation to provide pet owners with comprehensive information about lifetime care solutions to ensure that their pets will always be cared for.
So, on this note, I’m off to start a $5 billion foundation dedicated to dog health and welfare, but first I’m going to make sure Moxie is taken care of … always.
Our new Daily Dog and Cat Tip writer, the author of the amazing books The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible, wanted to make sure we knew about the amazing 2,400 mile walk of Luke Robinson and his dogs Hudson and Murphy, known as 2 Dogs, 2,000 Miles. Luke is true salt of the earth, a real person simply and passionately dedicating years of his life to our canine companions. He’s not doing it for fame, notoriety or something to do. Heck, I dare you to find Luke’s first and last name in the same place on the site. It’s not about him at all. He’s doing it for dogs, and all of humanity.
After losing his beloved Malcom to canine cancer in 2004, Luke Robinson decided it’s time we stop trying simply to cure canine cancers, but to learn why they are happening.
There are many cancer foundations which work towards finding a cure, and while we applaud their efforts, we want to know what’s causing it. The funds raised from the walk will finance the first ever nationwide epidemiological canine cancer study.
They are currently in Little Rock, AR on their walk from Austin, TX to Boston, MA. On their blog you can follow along on the whole trip, which is much much more than a solitary walk. They are stopping at every pet, shelter and rescue event along the way to help raise awareness and both for canine cancer and the local organizations. And every step of the way they are sharing the stories of loss with other pet owners. Finally, after each day Luke and the dogs are sleeping under the roofs of starngers who every day come forward to help the pack in their great journey.
Thanks to the Dogster member who sent in this plea for support. If you live in Pennsylvania, please act now. If you don’t but know people who do, please alert them.
House Bill 2525 is now out of Committee and is on its way to the House floor for vote. This is the puppy mill law, and it is CRITICAL that you call your PA state Representative (not federal). Calling carries more weight than email.
If you don’t know your representative, go to this site and (top right corner) enter your 5-digit zip code plus the 4-digit extension. Ask them to support HB 2525.
This is the bill we’ve been waiting for to help reduce the number of dogs in puppy mills and end suffering.
Photo Courtesy of The HSUS
Additionally, ask your Representative to support HB 2532 (the de-barking and birthing bill). The puppy millers stick steel pipes down dogs’ throats to destroy their vocal cords so they don’t have to hear the dogs barking, and it keeps them quiet so the public isn’t aware of where these mills are located. This bill “should” end this action. I say “should” only because we should expect that some will continue this horrible practice. Currently puppy millers are also cutting open the stomachs of dogs during birthing without anesthesia.
From The Humane Society:
The HSUS Commends the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee for Passing Important Anti-Cruelty Legislation
HARRISBURG, Pa. (June 24, 2008)
The Humane Society of the United States commends the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee for approving a bill addressing some of the cruelest practices employed by puppy mills today.
The legislation now advances to the full House of Representatives. Introduced by Rep. Thomas Caltagirone (D-Berks), HB 2532 seeks to outlaw abusive practices employed by breeders in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills, including debarking, performing surgery on pregnant dogs to remove the puppies, and tail docking.
Under current law, it is completely legal for commercial breeders in Pennsylvania to perform surgical births by slicing open the stomachs of pregnant dogs, removing the puppies, and sewing the dogs back up. There is not any requirement that the breeders have any veterinary training, use anesthesia, or conduct the operations in sterile conditions. Breeders may also perform painful debarking by ramming a metal pipe or other object down a dog’s throat to rupture the vocal cords and render the dog mute, again without anesthesia and while the dog is fully conscious.
The provisions of HB 2532 are common sense to anyone. Only licensed veterinarians should be authorized to perform surgery on these dogs, says Sarah Speed, The HSUS’ Pennsylvania state director. “For too long, commercial breeders have abused the laxity in the law to maximize profit at the expense of the well-being of the dogs and the unwitting consumer.”
HB 2532 will also close a loophole in the law that allows commercial breeders to escape prosecution for animal cruelty. Under the current law, only a Humane Society Police Officer has the ability to cite a breeder for animal cruelty. In counties where there is no such officer, a breeder may escape citation. Currently there are three counties in Pennsylvania that do not have a Humane Society Police Officer. HB 2532 will close this loophole by allowing Dog Law Wardens in the counties without officers to issue citations for animal cruelty within the limited scope of performance of their inspection duties.
The Humane Society of the United States is working in conjunction with The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network to pursue this important legislative effort in Pennsylvania.
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With three large dogs and a suburban sized back yard, you can imagine the number of landmines I need to navigate around while mowing the lawn. After a quick search of the internet, I think I may have found the solution to my problem.
