Real or Fake?

I admit...fur coats intrigue me. Especially older ones from a time gone by. I love the feel of fur pelts from hunters as well and always have to touch them when I see them at the fair.

However... I'm not into any and all fur. Nor am I in support of horrifying conditions that many Chinese farms inflict on animals ... including, apparently, dogs. (And yes, I realize there are horrible conditions in some farms here...but that's not the point of this post today...we don't have DOG farms!)

Dog fur may be sold in the United States as "faux" fur ... which truly makes me sick.

The article from Dogster has a link to another article with a video that I refuse to watch because I know it would upset me too much. Someone in the comments said that their "favorite" and most highly prized dog coat was German Shepherd.

China, as a society and government, has little regard for human life so it doesn't surprise me that they would farm dogs (and probably other animals) with such blatant cruelty. It's the same country that forces women to abort female babies (leading to their shortage of females for marriage now!).

I'm not a fan of government laws and regulations but I would not be opposed to stronger labeling regulations for faux fur. The Dogster article has another link to help explain how to recognize fake versus real fur.

R.I.P. Mischief

When my Mother in Law called today and didn't immediately say anything I knew it was bad news.

Mischief had been acting strange lately and had lost a lot of weight. We took him to the emergency vet on Saturday where they did some blood work. The levels associated with his liver were super high and he was extremely jaundiced, something we hadn't noticed at home but was obvious in the office lights.

The vet told my MIL that they might be able to extend his life for a month and might be able to figure out what is wrong with him if they did a Sonogram and a needle Biopsy.

My MIL is on a fixed income and while we would have helped her pay for it she did not want to put Mischief through that. He had stopped eating all together. :( The vet was not hopeful.

So around 3:30 p.m. my sweet little Mischief crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to heaven. He was the sweetest and most cuddly kitty who still remembered me when I visited. He loved to rub up against my leg (and still ran away from hubby LOL). He kept my MIL company as she fought her Leukemia.

It's very sad ... he was only 11 years old. =(

A previous post with some sweet pictures.

Breaking My Heart

How can people be so cruel? The title of this post is so true...Neglect IS abuse! I don't know how anyone could just ignore an animal to this point.

I feel bad if I don't greet my dogs. The other day I went to bed and realized that I had not petted Trooper ONCE the whole evening and I felt horrible. Granted, he'll be ignored quite a bit when papa starts working nights, but never to the point of endangering his life. And I do plan to try to take him for walks with the boy on the weekends - not to mention the attention he will get from daddy on his days off.

But even the lack of attention for my dogs makes me sad. ... And really they aren't truly ignored or neglected.

Humans always have the amazing capacity to shock and outrage me with their cruelty. We are such an imperfect species. At the same time there are such amazing people who take the cruelty head on and try to make it right. God bless those folks!

Animal Photography

Browsing my Entrecards today I came across a post on Cat on My Head (love that title!) and she has a photo that just made me stop and stare. It's very powerful.

Isn't that awesome??? I wish the photos of my animals turned out so wonderfully.

Although I do like this photo of Timber I took the other day. Daddy was putting together the human puppy's Jeep walker and Timber wanted to help.

He's not much of a worker though. :)

What is YOUR Dog Doing?

One of my favorite blogs is Two Nervous Dogs. She's got a great sense of humor and snark, which I love. And her dog is spoiled like a princess, which I also love.

I hadn't visited in awhile so I don't know what kind of trouble the doggy was getting into, but apparently a doggy cam was implemented to see what she was up to. It's brilliant!

If I thought a camera would survive at all on one of our dogs I'd totally do this. :)

O.M.G. Cutest Thing Ever

Knowing huskies the way I do, this video just melts my heart. Of course, my huskies would never be this nice to a kitty...but it's nice to know that the species can co-exist at times.

Sixth Sense or Just Super Sensitive?

You decide...is this dog displaying a sixth sense and realizing that there's an earthquake coming before it happens? Or is he just super sensitive and feels the rumbling before the humans could tell what was happening.



Whichever it is, the video is still eerie.

My dogs don't seem that sensitive. Every earthquake they've gone through, they've done nothing. No super senses or warnings to us. No extra barking. Although we didn't have Timber through an earthquake yet...so maybe he'll be more sensitive. He does bark more and seems to sense when people or dogs are "threatening" his territory.

Very Bad Dog

I was ready to put Quinn down last night (I'm only joking...but I was ticked).

Hubby called and told me that he found her chewing on my COACH wallet!!!!!! The little brat. It wasn't on the floor or easily accessible. She had to pull it off my desk. And it's completely ruined. No salvaging it.

It's not like I paid full price for it but it's over $150 wallet (No, I did not pay that, or anywhere near it...thank you Outlet store!). Hubby says he'll buy me a new one. But it still ticks me off.

I wouldn't be mad at her if I thought it was my fault...like if it were on the floor or something. She's just being a pill.

In her younger and thinner years (this is her adoption picture).

She probably is bored, but she doesn't have enough strength or stamina to go on walks. She gets bones every once in awhile but her teeth are pretty delicate. And she can't really "play" because she can hardly walk. So what are we supposed to do? She obviously has enough stamina to get into trouble and 'eat' things she's not supposed to. Maybe just walking her a few hundred feet is enough to tire her out enough.

All I know is she was *this* close to sleeping outside in the rain (again, not really...my bark is worse than my bite).

Voting Continues

Just a reminder, that voting is still going on over at Art by Karie-Ann Cooper. I'd appreciate any vote for my Trooper Bear boy...either Entry One or Entry Two. I'm partial to the second one, but they're both pretty good.

Here's another pic of him with my little cousin. He outweighs her! LOL When she and her sister spent a few days with us before Christmas I was a little nervous about the dogs but they did GREAT with them and it gives me hope for out baby boy when he's older. =)

Back to Bed

My little boy slept in his own room last night for the very first time. :( It was very sad for me. But a very happy occasion for the dogs and hubby.

Of course, I didn't sleep well because I was worried about Marshal...but Timber didn't help me any as he went right back to his old habit of sleeping on my legs. Why not daddy's legs? Why mine?!?

It was pretty cute this morning when I got up ... Timber was curled up at daddy's head and sleeping like a baby. Of all the dogs, he is the most cuddly and sensitive - and extremely attached to hubby.

I still want my baby boy in my room...but I guess I have to start letting go already. :( *sniff*

Vote for Trooper

I had totally forgotten, but last summer I entered two photos of Trooper in a contest with an artist named Karie Ann-Cooper...the prize is one of her incredibly beautiful pieces of artwork - made from the winning photo.

Voting started on the 1st and Trooper has two photos (Entry One and Entry Two) you can vote for. I'd be so honored if you would vote for Trooper Bear, who has had a very rough few months. :)

All you need to do is leave a comment in the particular photo with the word "vote". I'll post reminders periodically.