My Blog
Pogo's Past Weekend Photo Essay
I had a great weekend! Here’s what I did….
I jumped up on this small folding chair to rest…
I went to Quiet Waters Dog Beach and ran and ran and splashed and…
Then I rested on the small glass table on my deck
Then I moved to the bench on our deck for another watch-the-neighborhood and snooze.
Do you think I had a great weekend???? It was the best this year!
Now home from the Vet's
Todays’ vet tush procedure went very well. We’re hoping it does the job it’s supposed to do. I had a twighlight sedative for the gland flush and pack (both of ‘em). I don’t remember anything except waking up and feeling very, very sleepy. Mom says they gave me a wake up shot and a mild sedative, so it’s like I had a few drinks. When I got home, I slowly walked out onto my deck and just knda stood there looking at all the birds and squirrels trying their best to get me to chase ‘em. Instead, I got very sleepy and wobbly on my feet, like I was in some kind of trance. I couldn’t move at all! So, Mom told me to go to my bed (I think that’s what she said), but when I got into my crate I couldn’t lie down. I just stood there with my eyes closed. So, Mom took me upstairs and let me lie down on her bed. Again, I just stood there in a daze. So she gently pushed me down (I think I heard her say, “Pogo, down!”). Anyway, the last I remember is Mom rubbing my ear gently and now I’m off to dreamland (zzzzz).
Normally I luv going to the Vet, as they are only a few houses away from our house. But, the last few visits weren’t any fun at all! When Mom took me on leash this morning, and right after the door to the Vet closed, I realized where I was and did not want to be here! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! They hurt me. So, I started gagging with the dry heaves at once. No sympathy at all. Then I became a mule and wouldn’t budge to the holding area. (I’m a Drama Queen, remember).They got me there anyway, even though Mom said I can’t have any treats which makes me feel a little better, ‘cause of the anasthetic. Once settled into a very large crate, I managed to sleep until it was my turn, but I do remember my dog pal Greta coming into the hospital with her crazy yelling non-stop screams (lasts for 10+ minutes) and so I did my usual sing song howl reserved just for when Greta behaves this way. She always told me to hate going to the vet. I’m beginning to believe her, but maybe mext time I’ll get some treats for being such a good girl. And, I really was a good girl afterall and it didn’t hurt me a bit!
There's a few things new here....
First of all, Pogo’s been taking agility classes for the past 5 weeks. She’s doing really well and has a great instructor. For those of you that have seen her video, you know she’s a fast-low-to-the-ground controlled runner. Her only drawback is the distractions of the other dogs. Once she sees how to do something and sees the dogs in front of her waiting their turns to show what they know, she starts barking in her loud arf-arf-arf ‘cause she doesn’t want to wait her turn; she knows about the treat at the end of the run. Will she ever make it to competition? Who knows, but it’s Mom that needs the extra training; she’s way too fast for me and we’re having fun strengthening our relationship!
On another note, Pogo’s been having Tush problems, ya know Anal Sacs. They’re impacted and won’t express out after 5, 3-week apart visits to the vet. We’ve even added more roughage to her diet, which did no good at all. They say it is the beagle breed in her genes (they have more issues with their tushes than most other breeds). So, on Friday she’s going there for the day to be put into twilight while they flush and pack the glands. Poor girl! It has been really painful for her up to now and she still loves going there, though. Let’s all hope this works or else out they will come and she won’t have a butt to sniff!
Email Maryland's Leaders Re: Animal Control Legislation
My previous blog entry contains an article in our local newspaper regarding the issue of animal control facilities, including shelters, Humane Societies, ASPCA’s, etc, where in Maryland they cannot use the reliable narcotics that are needed to assists in euthanasia. If you haven’t read it, please do. Here are the 2 email addresses of the legislative leaders of the house and senate if you’d like to encourage them to pass this bill correcting the problem ASAP. Thanks in advance. Michael.Busch@house.state.md.us Thomas.V.Mike.Miller@senate.state.md.us
Rectifying animal control crisis
From the Capital Newspaper, Annapolis, MD, 2/16/08…...... Watching animals writhe and seize as euthanasia drugs take hold may only be a short-lived nightmare for Maryland’s animal control workers.Yesterday, state lawmakers introduced a bill that would restore animal control shelters’ access to hefty narcotics. With the narcotics, they will again be able to humanely sedate and euthanize animals. An oversight in Maryland lawmaking led the federal government to yank sedative permits for animal control operations across the state about six months ago. Since then, the less-potent alternatives have left some dogs, cats and other animals convulsing and seemingly conscious as they die. A Feb. 3 report in The Capital exposed the issue, and animal advocates say it launched a grassroots campaign to hasten a solution. "It was just a highly emotionally charged issue," said U.S. Sen. Jon S. Cardin, D-Baltimore County, one of the three sponsors of the bill. "I had people calling me, hysterical, saying, ‘How are we allowing this to happen?’" The bill, also co-sponsored by Del. Virginia Clagett, D-West River, and Del. Pam Beidle, D-Linthicum, would reconfigure some permitting and licensing of animal shelters in Maryland. It would grant express permission for animal control organizations to buy, store and administer all the drugs necessary to humanely sedate and euthanize animals. "This is the best. I mean this is the best possible solution we could have hoped for," said Carolyn "Nicky" Ratliff, executive director of the Humane Society of Carroll County and president of the statewide Professional Animal Workers organization. "This is the animal control industry’s huge sigh of relief – huge, collective sigh of relief," said Ms. Ratliff, who has been lobbying state agencies to help institute a change since October. Without the narcotics, ineffectively sedated animals lash out at workers. In the field, workers who are now unable to reliably sedate frightened or injured animals resort to physically constraining them. Animal Control of Anne Arundel County euthanizes about 10 dogs or cats a day, including strays and some ailing pets brought in by owners. The unpredictable seizures caused by weaker sedatives led officials to quit letting owners sit with their pets while the animals were put to sleep. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration will not register animal control operations to buy any regulated narcotics unless Maryland passes a new law. The state’s Department of Agriculture, and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which respectively oversee animal control operations and controlled substances, had independently been working on a solution. After a slew of phone calls to the governor’s office last week, officials from the departments met on Monday. to find a fix. "It became imperative to fix the problem – to find out exactly what the problem was and fix it as soon as possible," said Sue DuPont, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. The problem stems from a tangle of complex state and federal regulations, partly aimed at controlling the distribution of the sedative ketamine. It’s the sedative of choice for most veterinarians but is also used illegally as a street drug called "special k." Mr. Cardin said his bill would retain the tight regulatory controls already in place to ensure the drugs needed by animal control shelters do not fall into the wrong hands. "We certainly want to make sure that doesn’t happen," Mr. Cardin said. Mr. Cardin, Ms. Beidle and Ms. Clagett all said they first became aware of the issue when constituents called them, and e-mails began coming last week. "I had people saying, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’" Ms. Clagett said. "It’s terrible that this has fallen through the cracks." E. Joseph Lamp of Arnold was one of the grassroots leaders who has been encouraging fellow animal lovers to lobby state officials to fix the problem. Dr. Lamp, a professor at Anne Arundel Community College, and a member of the state’s Wildlife Advisory Commission, sent out a "plea-mail" to more than 80 people in his network, urging them to call Gov. Martin O’Malley’s office. "It really was an incredible deal," Dr. Lamp said. "We had people calling from everywhere, New York, California … One lady was on vacation in Disney World, and she was so upset she called the governor from Disney World."
How's My New Yard working out?
It’s been a while now that I’ve been playing and sniffing around in my new yard. I love it. No more towel wipes when I come in and no more dirt all in my nails and everywhere. My doggie neighbors come over to play alot and lots of kids in the neighborhood, too. Sometimes we have as many as 5 doggies playing together, wrestling and running and playing "catch me". People say my mommy’s running a neighborhood dog park. It sometimes seems to be that way. I don’t like going to Quiet Waters dog park anymore. I love my yard much better!
Oops! I forgot....
BTW. My mom made sure to have only dog friendly plants/shrubs planted. Lots of shade plants are on the NO list for dogs.It took her a long time to check all the sites with lists that are known to be unfriendly to us dogs.
My new backyard is done!
Well doggies, my new dog-friendly yard is now finished and I love it! I can run around everything but the new plants. Even the back of the deck was removed so now I can see what’s going on off- property and I luv to run the stairs and jump the stone wall and even lie down on it (the steps, too). My buddies love it too. Click here "http://woodwind.home.pipeline.com" to see it.
Pogo's Getting Her "Dog friendly" Back Yard
I hope my Mom’s doing this right. A new backyard where I can run, play, wrestle, sniff and rest—that’s super, I think. I will have small pea gravel runs/paths amid safe-for-dogs shade plants so i can chase the squirrels where I normally run and play with my doggie friends like Raven, Greta, Morgan and Shelby. There’s even a place for me to wrestle with Raven! I’ll be able to still run the fence lines when I think an intruder might be entering my domain. Mom says she’ll show pictures of it when it’s done, in about 10 days. I hope I’ll like peeing and pooping on the pea (pee) gravel. I know that’s what she expects me to do. I know Mom’s tired of all the sand and mud in our shady backyard and having to put up with a filthy dog when I come in the house. I guess my paws won’t get wiped by a towel all the time. How cool is that?
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