SCOOP ON POOP

I recently took a walk around my neighborhood and was appalled at how many homeowners in our community use their front lawns to toilet their dogs and do not clean them on a regular basis. We also have several large open areas surrounding our homes that are also used by many people as drop spots for dog feces. I live in an upscale area in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where home values have skyrocketed my neighbors have spent thousands of dollars landscaping and think nothing of letting dog turds pile up on their front lawns. Incredible!


It never ceases to amaze me how inconsiderate people are not picking up after their dogs it is against the law and unhygienic. I am sure the general population is not aware of how easily the soil can be contaminated with parasites such as roundworms and hookworms, which can cause infections to both dogs and humans especially children.

A female roundworm can lay up to 200,000 eggs in a day; these eggs are resilient to most chemicals, thus surviving in the soil for several years. Like dogs, humans can acquire roundworms through ingestion, and can contact hookworm infection through the skin. Small children often have a habit of eating dirt or sand, which presents an even greater danger.

When I attended a community meeting recently there was much discussion about this problem and I told the group it was not just happening where we lived that I had stopped going to our two local parks several years ago because they were filthy and was concerned my dogs would become ill. Carrying a plastic bag to remove dog droppings seems so simple and yet so few people bother to even a make an effort. The entire situation probably upsets me more than the average pet owner because I am one of the few multiple dog families in our neighborhood and of course more apt to be blamed for any dog-related problems.

Bentley...always the clown, always in my heart

Our female Golden Retriever, Butterscotch, had just celebrated her first birthday when I received a telephone call from my friend, Barbara, inviting me to her home to see a litter of puppies. My son, Joe, who was going on fourteen at the time eagerly, joined me and off we went not knowing our dog family would soon grow to two. When we arrived at Barbara's home, we were quickly escorted into her temporary puppy room. The litter was beautiful, and they were scheduled to leave for their new homes at the end of the week.
As we turned to leave the room Barbara's husband Chuck was standing in the doorway with the most beautiful puppy snuggled against his chest. I immediately asked, "Who is that?" and Chuck responded, "This is Bentley." Chuck gently placed Bentley on the floor he raced over to me and of course, it was love. I scooped him up and it seemed like I received a million puppy kisses.

Barbara informed me he was the only puppy without a home. Now I knew why we had been invited over, very clever. The word sucker must have been imprinted on my far head. They then proceeded to show me Bentley's birth defect. His tail had a broken vertebrae and went straight down. Barbara told me her veterinarian had suggested removing the tail at birth, but she had decided against it. I heard myself telling Barbara that I was interested in Bentley and heard Joe say, "What are you crazy? Two dogs!! Dad will never go for it." I knew that once Frank saw Bentley it would be a no brainer that Bentley would go home with us, and that is exactly how it turned out when we came back the following Saturday.

Bentley's tail eventually went up and it appeared perfectly normal. The only time you knew there had been anything wrong is when you ran your hand down his tail and felt a small kink where the original break had been. As Bentley grew older, he grew better looking. His handsome appearance always drew attention wherever we went, including outside the conformation ring, a place he would never be able to go. Bentley's tail was not his only blemish. His testicles never came down and had to be surgically removed thus canceling any opportunity of ever being shown in conformation.

Bentley's first Christmas in 1986 will always be remembered. It was the year the tree came tumbling down. After he had watched me decorating for hours, he disappeared into the living room and started pulling on one of the branches. Within seconds, the tree was on top of him. When Frank and I returned to the room, he had several Christmas balls and ornaments draped across his head and looked as if he was having the time of
his life.

Right after Bentley celebrated his first birthday he started having seizures. Our veterinarian diagnosed his condition as epilepsy, so he received a daily dose of Phenobarbital the rest of his life. Although the drug gave him relief from the disease, in the end, I believe the drug's effect on his liver is what shortened his life. Bentley definitely did not run with a complete package of brain cells. Perhaps taking all that Phenobarbital had taken its' toll on him mentally.

All his life he was always the household clown. Once when Frank's parents came for a visit he drove my mother-in-law crazy moving her shoes to different parts of our house, taking her pocketbook, then finally the ultimate antic. He climbed up on our kitchen table and positioned himself right in the middle of our Sunday breakfast. I guess I was partially to blame because of how I trained Bentley to stand on the grooming table. He just never got it that not all tables are the same. Till this day I can remember my mother-in-law saying over and over again, "Bentley down." In fact, for the rest of his life, that is what she called him, always with the deepest affection.

When Bentley left us, he was nine years old. Certainly not enough time, it never is. As he drew his last breath, I could only smile because right up to the last moment he was a very happy, carefree spirit. Butterscotch outlived Bentley by several years and after his departure, I do not think she ever missed him. I believe they are together in Golden Heaven and she probably still only tolerates his clownish ways.

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Here are some pictures of Bentley.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It Was The Best Of Times

In 1990 after working as a systems analyst for fifteen years, I found myself unemployed and burned out with the desire to make a career change, but had no idea of what I wanted to do. You know what they say one door closes another opens. That is exactly what happened to me one of my friends had a friend who was looking for someone to manage her new pet shop and I applied for the job. I had never worked in retail before and it was a challenge for me ordering inventory, stocking shelves, waiting on customers. It was a completely new experience for me the salary was not close to what I had earned in the past, but the
benefits were terrific.

The store was located in New Hope an upscale community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with a high percentage of the population having multiple pets that spent extraordinary amounts of money on their animals making the store's sales soar. Customers brought their dogs into visit on a regular basis. I even had a group of Maine Coon cats that frequented the store what was supposed to be work quickly became a joy.

The greatest benefit of the job was I could take one of my Goldens to work with me every day. My youngest Golden, Carly, soon became my constant companion and store mascot with absolutely no encouragement from me. Every morning as I was getting dressed for work she would disappear when I came downstairs there was Carly sitting at the back door blocking my way off we went to work together. Carly's fabulous gentle personality was a real asset to the store. She was quite a sales clerk each day she would model a hat, scarf, or fancy coat, I am sure she increased sales. She would greet everyone at the door and quickly roll over for belly scratches. Yes, Carly was the perfect employee! Well almost perfect, she did eat some of the profits whenever I got busy in the store, Carly would help herself to some cookies or a pig's ear. She always looked back at me to see if I was watching and of course, I never let on that I saw her. I think it made it more fun for her that she was getting away with her cookie snatching.

I used Carly's picture in the store's advertisements that appeared in the local newspapers and coupon mailers. People began recognizing her whenever we walked around the shopping center Carly was a celebrity. With Carly, being in the store every day it did not take long before she had her own group of humans and dog friends that stopped by to visit. It was the best of times for both us. What I found most interesting is that none of my other dogs ever showed any interest in going with me to work and were never jealous of Carly being with me every day in the store.

Carly and I managed the store for over a year and when we left, it was quite an adjustment for me returning to a normal job in an office environment without her. It broke my heart I missed her so much. When I lost Carly this past May, I was sad for a long time then one day I started to remember the best of times we had together it made me smile. Memories are wonderful and they only improve with age!
Please visit my web site My Kids Have 4 Legs 

Here are some photos of Carly starting with puppy shots.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN FATE?

On December 20, 1991, my friend Linda Borquist had a litter of Golden puppies and from the very first time, I saw the puppies only one male caught my eye it was love at first sight. My original plan for this litter was to buy a female not a male, but due to a career change and financial reverses, I felt getting a new puppy was not a good idea. However, I did go every week to visit the litter and my feelings towards Bud grew stronger he was a sweetie. Linda had decided to keep two puppies, Kelly and Bud I continued to visit on a regular basis because I just could not get Bud out of my heart. When Bud was three months old, he made the decision of where he wanted to live as I was leaving one afternoon, he positioned himself in front of the door and would not move, leaving me no choice but to scoop him up in my arms and take him home.Right from the beginning, there was something very special between Bud and me whenever I was sad he would always sense my mood by draping himself over me positioning his face directly in front of my face. As the months passed Bud's devotion to me grew stronger, but unfortunately, when he was nine months old he started to have an aggression problem with one of my other males our Welsh Springer Spaniel, Beau. Before Bud's arrival all of my dogs were together without any problems, the aggression between Bud and Beau escalated leaving me no choice, but to kennel Bud for part of the time. To me this was not the solution and I immediately began thinking about finding him a new home I discussed the situation with the Linda and she agreed, but just thinking about it broke my heart, however I had no other choice.One Sunday afternoon while working in the pet shop a young woman came into the store when she brought her purchases up to the register, I could not help noticing how sad she looked my female Golden Retriever, Carly, must have sensed it too because she came from behind the counter and immediately started nuzzling the young woman. She told me her name was Denise as she got down on the floor to scratch Carly's belly there were tears in her eyes and I asked her what was wrong she told me she recently lost her sixteen year old male Labrador, Hickory, and was having a difficult time getting over the loss. My gut feeling told me Denise was a special person I began telling her all about Bud how wonderful he was as she listened her face lit up she told me she was interested in meeting him the rest is history Bud got an extraordinary home and I found a very dear friend. Through the years that followed, I visited Denise and Bud often our families became closer as time passed. In March 1999 a few months after Bud's seventh birthday, I received a phone call from Denise she informed me that Bud had been diagnosed with Cancer and that the prognosis was not good at best he had only a couple of months we both started crying.In June Denise, had to go on a business trip combined with a family vacation and she asked me if Bud could stay at my house for ten days I told her of course he could. When I picked up Bud at Denise's house; he hopped right into my car curled up on the front seat and rested his head on my lap I truly believe he knew he was going home for the last time. When he entered my house, all the other dogs welcomed him as if, he had never left even Beau the male that he had the aggression problem in fact, the two of them slept together every night. Bud's Cancer was throughout his entire body and both Denise and I knew when she returned he would have to be put to sleep. I had to hand feed him because he had very little interest in eating it was a very sad time, but my unhappiest moments were yet to come.On Father's Day my husband Frank and I were going to the supermarket when he casually informed me he was having a heart attack. When I came home, from thehospital that night, all of my dogs greeted me, but Bud would not leave my side I collapsed on the sofa from sheer emotional exhaustion and Bud quickly drapedhimself over me positioning his face directly in front of my face just as he had always done as a puppy. The days that followed were not easy, but having Bud by my side was a big boost to my mental being. When Frank came home from the hospital Bud was there for him too it was ironic that this was the worst time of my life and Bud was with me again. When Denise came home and heard about Frank's heart attack she became upset that she had burdened me with Bud during this stressful time I assured her that Bud had been nothing but a comfort to me. Denise told me that she had decided to put Bud to sleep since he was having a difficult time breathing and not eating at all. She had arranged for the veterinarian to come to her house the following Saturday morning as I drove to her home so many different memories of Bud came to mind he had always been a good boy. I remembered his first Halloween with Denise when she had dressed him up as Batman and brought him up to the store to be in our Halloween parade no one could get over Bud wearing that costume you could tell he really enjoyed making everyone laugh now the end had come on June 27, 1999.Several months have now passed since Bud left us, but not a day goes by that I do not think about this wonderful dog my bond with Bud was unique. What I never understood is although he adored Denise, I remained his master until the day he died. When Denise asked Bud to lay down for the veterinarian he would not move, then I asked him he went down immediately breaking my heart as I felt his last breath on my hand. Our Goldens are devoted and loving we should never take them for granted sure it is great to win in the ring and obtain titles, but in the end their love for you is really what it is all about.

So many memories rush back through the years.
I see a puppy filled with promise and joy,
A most remarkable looking Golden boy.
Around the house or out in the ring,
Looking at Bud always made my heart sing.
Here at your grave I feel your last breath, then the end.
Sweet dreams my little man, my best pal, my dear friend
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MY KIDS HAVE LEGS
Here are some photos of Bud.

Bud all dressed up for Halloween.

Bud resting on an Autumn Day.

Bud with his pal Buster.

Bud looking handsome.

Bud loved riding in the car.