Here is an update on our friend, Mr. Capone, the English Bulldog. He is our hu-Mom’s friend Nicole’s dog. Boy is he a sweetie. And boy is he funny. We just love Capone (and English Bulldogs for that matter. They are just a comical dog breed we think.) It’s been awhile since we last heard from Capone.

Capone the English Bulldog

The past few months have been a little crazy to say the least. In a short matter of time, Capone was not only fixed, but he also had his hernia repaired, and had a “nose job.” (Like most celebs, let’s just say it was due to a deviated septum.) *wink, wink!*

Yes, that’s an awful lot, but let me explain why we had all of these procedures done. (After all, we’d do anything for our little guy!)

To Fix or Not to Fix

We really had no intentions of breeding him. While my husband and I would love a little friend for Capone, we realize we’re not breeders and would have absolutely no idea what we were doing. Plus, it’s very expensive!

According to our vet, Bulldogs, who have a short life expectancy as is, are expected to live a little longer once this procedure is done. Besides, had we not had him fixed, he’d be able to smell a female dog in heat almost 5 miles away, and you better believe he’d try to find her!

Hernia Repair

When Mr. Capone was just a pup, we noticed he had what looked like a protruding belly button. Well, upon examination, the vet informed us that when he was born, the vet who delivered the pups cut the umbilical chord too close, thus preventing it from completely healing. (Hence, the hernia. )

We knew right away that when we were going to get him fixed, we’d have that taken care of in order to avoid any complications later in life.

A Nose Job?
The vet had noticed over the course of a few months that Mr. Capone’s nostrils were unusually narrow. (Before any assumptions are made, let me just say that my husband and I LOVE Mr. Capone’s snoring and grunting like a pig!)

I was afraid to get the procedure done for a few reasons. First, the vet mentioned the snoring might completely go away. (Thank goodness it didn’t!) Secondly, he might get a “piggy” nose. Fortunately, that didn’t happen either! (Either way, we’d love him just the same!)

Anyways, we had his nostrils enlarged, thus enabling him to breathe more easily. This, too, will hopefully enable him to live a longer life than the average bulldog.

Looking back, I’m amazed at just how well he recovered.

As I picked him up from the vet, I broke down. He was on so many medications, had so many stitches and it looked like he either didn’t remember me, or he was so upset with me for taking him to get all of this done, he didn’t want to know me. I swear, I thought it would take months to get my lil’ Capone back in tip-top shape.

Well, it took about 6 weeks until he was completely healed. Let me tell you that Mr. Capone definitely is back to normal, and boy is he full of energy! He’s taken up a new sport, softball and even has a new lil’ lady in his life, Maggie May. (Friends of ours got her just a few months ago.)

It was a tough decision to have all of these things done, and it was a bit pricy, but the well-being of our Capone has made it all worthwhile. The fact that he can breathe more easily, and run for longer amounts of time definitely allowed us to see that we had made the right decision.

Mr. Capone’s giving me his puppy dog eyes right now. It looks to me like he’s ready to “Play ball!”

Here’s a picture of him and his new girlfriend:

Capone Getting a Kiss!

Wags,
Benson and Gibson

On September 20th, animal welfare advocates, volunteers, animal-lovers and pet charities alike are supporting organizers from the state of Ohio who are partaking in a very important national event: Puppy Mill Awareness Day.

Puppy Mill Awareness Day makes it easy and fun to help raise awareness with downloadable flyers, lawn signs, sample letters to newspaper editors, t-shirts, buttons and more! On PMAD, you can meet up with event organizers and volunteers to hand out flyers and information to people who need to know the truth about puppy mills and the pet trade. You’ll give out information about pet adoption options (so people don’t go to the pet store!) and basic information about puppy mills. (All the materials are positive and educational.)

The PMAD website also recommends the following activities leading up to Puppy Mill Awareness Day:

- Join a meetup group in your area (or start one). Meet and join others who want to educate the community about puppy mills by handing out flyers, tabling at PetSmart, PetCo and other animal-friendly businesses that don’t sell puppies. If you live in Ohio and want to join the campaign, click here. Visit the PMAD website for a list of currently participating cities.

- Send a Letter to the Editor at your local newspaper about Puppy Mill Awareness Day. You can download a guide and sample letter, as I said above, on the PMAD website.

- Hang a flyer at work, the grocery store, the dog park, veterinarian’s office, groomer etc. There are flyers available for download on the PMAD website.

- Organize a pet store protest in your area. Click here to learn how.

For all kinds of other information and more details, visit the Puppy Mill Awareness Day website.

This is how we dogs spent our weekend…

Benson the Golden Retriever

Gibson the White Golden Retriever

It was the dog day afternoons of summer this past weekend for us Golden Retrievers. Too hot to even go squirrel and bunny chasing on a walk, and too hot to even laze around outside on the deck…

We know what our friend Rusty did over the weekend; he started this awesome Squirrel Patrol club. Anydog is invited to join so you should go and visit Chasing Squirrels with Rusty to find out how. We signed up already! It may have been too hot to chase those pests this past weekend but we are always on high-alert, even inside!

Tell us what you did this weekend. Or tell us what you plan to do for Labor Day weekend. I think we are going to get to go down to Lake Erie for a walk/swim at the beach! Hooray! Plus Labor Day = barbeque which means we’ll be sneaking some delicious table scraps from unsuspecting family members! Hooray again!

I found the funniest pet screensaver today from AmericanGreetings.com. They actually have a whole host of pet screensavers and pet wallpapers but this dog screensaver in particular caught my eye because it’s so funny - and so TRUE!

Called “A Dog’s Life,” the dog screensaver takes you through just that, a day in the life of a dog. Including such activities as “wet nose the master,” and “pee on the world,” it couldn’t be more true to life. I downloaded it for free(!) and am now able to enjoy it anytime. Check out this funny dog screensaver for a good laugh if you are a dog-lover like me. Oh yeah - all screensavers and wallpapers from AmericanGreetings.com are AdWare and SpyWare free there!

Here is a look back at some of my favorite dog pictures from the last few months (of my own family’s dogs of course):

Henry the Bassett Hound

Gibson the White Golden Retriever

Benson the Amazing Froggy Doggy

Golden Dishwashers

Dog Blog Award

Look what we got from Chasing Squirrels With Rusty…. a blog award! Hooray! Thanks so much Rusty.

We want to share this award, too. We are giving it to the following blogs:

Daisy the Curly Cat: Daisy is friends with our kitty-counterparts Sasha and Theodore and she has such a neat blog. There’s always something fun over there and Daisy is an expert picture-taker.

Dogs’ Aye View: We love this dog blog so much. Gomer and Opie always have some type of silly antics going on. They are pure comedy.

Wimsey’s Blog: Wimsey is a fancy-pants NYC dog who gets to romp around Central Park all the time. He is so stubborn - it’s hilarious. We love reading his blog every Friday to see what kind of trouble he’s in or what he’s put his humans through that week.

I just read the cutest children’s book: it’s called Crash!

Written by Mayra Calvani, Crash! tells the story of a young boy who receives a Golden Retriever puppy for his 5th birthday. After living with the puppy for several days, the little boy still can’t figure out what to name his new best friend. He eventually figures it out after observing the puppy’s antics and silly behavior…

Crash! is a great read and a fun children’s book for any kid who loves dogs and puppies. It’s worth adding to the children’s book collection!

For all of you dog-lovers out there who humanize your dog, this is the book for you.

I know most of us have “voices” for our dogs, and we’ve all given them little personality traits and thoughts from time to time. (For example, at our house we frequently discuss with our Golden Retriever, Benson whatever happens to be worrying him that day; he is a little worry-wart dog as made evident by the look in his eyes and his little cone-head look. Oftentimes we have conversations with him about what is worrying him - with one of us obviously being the dog’s voice. I know, we’re totally nuts).

Anyways, back to the book. Dog Park Diary: the Social Round of Goody Beagle is all about Goody’s life at the dog park. It’s a diary he kept of one of his more rousing weeks at his favorite place: the dog park.

I must say, this book is HILARIOUS. I was laughing out loud on the second page. It so poignantly brings to life what we all think and say and do for our dogs every day. We humanize them.

Goody teaches us all about proper dog park etiquette, namely about “sniff-butt,” every dog’s favorite activity. He tells us stories about the other dogs, some his friends, some not his friends. He teaches us all about Beagles, too.

There are so many things we humans don’t know our dogs are thinking: Goody will tell you all of them.

So if you’re looking for a FUN read and a belly laugh, pick up a copy of Dog Park Diary: the Social Round of Goody Beagle. It has some GREAT photography to accompany the story as well.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 20 is National Take Your Dog to Work Day! Hooray! Can’t wait to participate in this one.

I’m bringing along Henry (aka Peanut) the sassy Bassett Hound I have referred to in previous posts. Hopefully he will refrain from his vocal antics for the day. He loves to moan, whine, bay and howl at things - especially other dogs. We’ll see how it goes…

For those of you taking part in the festivities (or not I guess), send this cute pet eCard to other revelers:

The ASPCA recently put up some helpful information on their site. Click to read Top 10 Office Etiquette Tips for Dogs.

Here is a picture of Henry - I entered him in a pet photo contest for my work so I hope he wins! All day tomorrow Henry will see what its like to be a professional Interactive Copywriter for the day!

It is so sad.

The shelter I volunteer at locally has seen a HUGE increase (over 30%) in surrenders this year (over last year at this time). Be it foreclosure, vet bills, or whatever… people just don’t have the money to pay for their pets’ care anymore because the economy is so bad.

I can see right through people’s usual excuses when they drop off their lifelong pet for adoption. Most are just too lazy to care for them or think they aren’t as cute anymore once their adults (and not “cute” puppies and kittens).

But people lately have legitimate, bona fide reasons for surrendering their cats and dogs.

Let’s see… fix Fido’s hips or fill up the gas tank so I can get to work. Essentially: fix Fido or get fired.

Hmmmn.

It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

I just found this story on MSNBC.com talking about other areas hard hit by foreclosures and the economy and the effect that it’s having on pet owners. Have a look…

FRANKLIN, Mass. - Diana Bardsley wiped tears from her eyes as she recalled taking food off her plate to feed her beloved spaniel Hunter and two Siamese cats.

Her greatest fear: that she could be forced to surrender the animals as she struggled to stretch her food stamps and Social Security income to meet the escalating cost of living.

Some hope was restored after she visited a local food pantry, which has started offering free pet food to help owners keep their animals out of shelters.

“I know a lot of people will probably say, ‘Well, if you don’t have enough money to be able to feed your animals, that you shouldn’t have pets,”’ said Bardsley, 53, of Franklin, as Hunter played in the living room with three of her grandchildren.

But, “Just because financially you may go downhill a little or a lot, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up the part of your family that you love,” she said.

For some pet owners, though, there is little choice.”

Check out the rest of the article here.  ** WARNING: You will probably need Kleenex.**