- Image by seng1011 via Flickr
Got six minutes? You can make some of the easiest, cheapest, wholesome dog treats with a can of tuna, some flour and an egg! Take a look at Karen Friesecke‘s post at Doggie Stylish. Then go and check out her wonderful handmade custom dog collars and leashes and you’ll see why I recently dubbed her Queen of the Etsy crowd. There’s a great DIY tutorial section that teaches you how to make your own leashes, has free patterns, and other fun things!
Just yesterday I was excited to read about how music really does soothe a dog’s savage breast and there’s science to prove it. Bridget K. Smith and her dog Wrigley guest posted at Edie Jarolim‘s Will My Dog Hate Me?, sharing the fact that music and science teamed up to design music to calm and enhance the health of dogs in their Through A Dogs Ear books and CDs. Fearful, shy, anxious dogs should experience great benefits, but you and your dog now have another avenue to share quality time de-stressing=:)
Blogger’s in the pet sector are busy working on various projects to help shelters help animals. One of these projects, headed up by Maggie Marton of Oh My Dog, is focusing on Denver, Colorado and their notorious decades-long Breed Specific Legislation that bans pit bulls from that city.
Marton is attempting to both advocate for the citizens who have been harmed by this law and educate those who believe the myths of pit bulls and what passes for conventional wisdom in Denver about the merits of BSL. If I sound a little testy, it’s because officials can’t(or far more likely refuse to) provide numbers indicating this law has had its intended effect of lowering bite incidents. Lack of accountability and transparency is simply unacceptable. Doing something positive to influence change is important.
This campaign to end BSL will send a mile’s worth of 4 x 6 postcards to the Mayor, that’s 10,560 postcards. She has created a postcard template that you can download, she has suggestions and information on how to design them, where to get pictures if you don’t have any, so you can make your own statement and then send it back to her. She will handle the printing (which could use donations at the Paypal page). Each card will cost $.0235 and any overage will go to a Colorado Bully Breed rescue, and Marton is taking suggestions.
Most of these dogs never had a record of wrongdoing. To compound matters, Animal Control have grabbed dogs that were boxers, claiming they were pit bulls. (Remember to steer clear of the cities that have breed bans in your summer travels with your dog.) Estimates of pit bulls and pit bull-like dogs killed range from 2000 to 3000. If you’d like to join in this worthy effort read more here.
Kim Campbell Thornton over at Pet Connection had a great post, with an assist from dog trainer Liz Palika, on how to break up a dog fight safely. Thornton had long ago grabbed a dog by his collar and twisted, recalling how lucky she had been that he just didn’t reach around and nail her. Palika has a solution and some useful tips to head off trouble before it starts.
And I’ll leave you with a fun video of a dog with remarkable obedience training that most of us will never get to see up close - have a good one!
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What Maggie is doing to combat BSL is wonderful. I've been watching her struggle with her feelings about the BlogPaws convention being held in Denver, a BSL city. She went from considering a boycott stance to a pro-active one in the matter of a day and has turned this into incredibly positive work. It's never quick or easy facing poor systemic policy but, to her credit, she has found a way to leverage this conference as a tool for the betterment of the lives of certain breeds. Huge kudos to her and I am most definitely taking part!
Thanks for sharing all these tasty news and treat bits, Mary! (I just saw Karen's recipe before coming here too and I can't wait to try.)
First off, I cannot believe that video!! I cracked me up when the owner was tossing out every number EXCEPT for "3" for the dog to grab the ball! Kelpies are super smart dogs and maybe the smartest breed.
And thanks for the shout out on the recipe! It's super easy AND super quick to make. Jersey loved hers. As the the "Queen of the Etsy Crowd", well I'm blushing, you are too kind
Ha, thanks Karen, I thought the Kelpie was amazing too – and when I heard the trainer/owner's voice I thought he was the guy who had appeared on Oprah some time, maybe a couple of years, ago…man, that dog would have to be well occupied all day, the little brainiac! Tashi loooves you, I told him Karen sent the tuna cookies:)) Nothing like quick, inexpensive, AND easy to make everyone happy!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I sincerely appreciate you writing about the campaign to end BSL. And you're absolutely right: The lack of accountability and transparency is wholly unacceptable. Thank you for covering the campaign, and I can't wait to see the postcards that come in from your readers! Cheers!