Pet Unfriendly Frustration

I am going to have a little rant here on the blog today, maybe this rant will help lead to a solution!

It is our intention to attend the Blogville Awesome Retreat (BAR) in June. One of my dream items (which is not shared by the Man, he is totally humouring me here) is to travel across North America in an RV. This dream comes from my childhood when we traveled in a van. I thought, given it is about 16 hour drive and with all of Hailey's issues and Phod's car issues, that an RV would be the perfect way to go to BAR. Man agreed. .

Now the frustrating part. None of the RV rentals in our area are pet friendly. In fact one clearly says you will be out $2000 if you put a dog in their RV. This just frustrates me. Perhaps because I already live in a world where I am discriminated against because I don't have children. Now I am being discriminated against because I love my dogs and want to travel with them.  There, I am done my rant!

The Man (and I helped too) found a not bad deal in Syracuse New York. That is like 4 or 5 hour drive from our place. We think that is what we will go with.  They were actually recommended by a place in Toronto we found that was pet friendly. We are just happy to have found something, although it does mean we have to be all squishy crossing the boarder! Let's hope this works out!

A letter to someone at the dog park

Dear Lady at the dog park,

It is not play if my dog is laying in the fetal position too scared to move as your dog drags her around by her neck.

It is not play if you have to physically pry your dog off mine several times.

It is not play if my dog can't get away because yours won't let go of her collar.

It is not play if my dog is trying to hid from yours.

This is bullying, it is not ok. If your dog is like this, please keep it on a leash.

Thank you,

Hailey's Lady

A Thursday Rant

Since I have the general belief that no good ever comes from a Thursday and usual spend my Thursday grumpy, I thought it was the perfect moment to rant!

I was having a leisurely Saturday morning, reading the Ottawa Citizen and I came across this article about an ad placed by someone advertising dogs for sale. The ad apparently said if the dogs did not have a home by September 1, they would have them euthanized.  They did not want to keep the dog or give it to a rescue type agency. They only wanted to sell it. The ad has been removed, but apparently this type of advertising happens several times a year in Ottawa.

My first thoughts were: You sick bastards, why would you even say that?
It left me sort of speechless really.

I have had 2 dogs  euthanized, 2 dogs who were dying and there was nothing else we could do to save them. Keeping them alive was just "prolonging dying and not extending life" as my wise Grandmother would say. And while, the process was peaceful, it was a horrible thing to do. Those who read this blog regularly will know, that while I have moments I would like to "strangle" Miss Bug, I would never really do so, or threaten to do so.

I think this ad just brought up in me negative feelings toward some dog owners. The things people think are ok to do to dogs. All the people who get dogs and then don't want them. I am not judging people who have true changes in circumstances such as illness that were unforeseen that make dog ownership impossible at this time. I am talking about the people who I am going to call lazy. (Dogs are a lot of work, let me tell you). The least this type of dog owner could do is find the dog a suitable home and not threaten to kill it. Sigh!

Ok, that is my rant. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised about how people are toward their animals, look at how we are toward each other.

On a total aside: While I was reading about this and being all angry, Lee's lifesaver toy went under the coffee table. She was scratching the table to get it out. I don't like when she does this so I got up to move the table to get it out from her. In the process I managed to spill my full cup of tea. Lee was a big help. She licked the tea off the side of the table!

My house will never truly be clean

As I was cleaning the house yesterday I realized, my house is never going to be truly clean while I have pets. I pictured all those beautiful homes I have been in, the ones without pet prints and fur covering everything, the carpets that have never been peed on or received a hairball present, and for a moment I was envious.

But while I was trying to get all the pet hair off the floor (I have yet to find one product that gets 100% of it), and I was scrubbing the latest hairball spot, I asked myself "Would you really give up all the joy of having the 3 black beasts in your house, to have a perfectly clean house?" The answer was no I would not. So in spite the fact that it is an endless battle to keep the place acceptable (although it makes a great excuse when it is not), I wouldn't trade the pet fur and bodily fluids for anything. Let's just try and keep them all on the hardwood though, they are killer to get out of the carpet!

The foot print from a hug Lee gave me when she returned from digging in the yard

Rant: Pick up your dog's goddamn poop!

I have tried to make this blog more about the funny and sometimes tragic stories of dog ownership, but  today I have to rant.

Yesterday at the dog park we watched a dog poop about 50 feet from her owner. My husband commented to the owner about her poop style (as she sort of ran while pooping and it was amusing). The owner said something like "she always does that" and did nothing to pick it up. It was in the middle of the field where someone could step in it. I wanted to scream at him "Pick up the f**king sh@t you lazy b*stard" but instead said nothing, and didn't even pick it up myself (I will often do that while out). I have noticed an increasing amount of poop around the neighbourhood and at the park, and clearly it is urking me off!

I just can't understand why a dog owner wouldn't pick it up. Do what you want in your backyard, but at a public shared space show some goddamn respect! It is not like I get up in the morning and say "great today I am going to get to pick up poop and probably scoop cat litter, how exciting" but I know doing it is a part of responsible pet ownership.  It is not like it is a particularly challenging thing to do either.

I will admit that if my dog(s) have gone in the bush or the like I may be guilting of not picking it up, but when they go in plain sight or clearly in a public space I will pick it up for sure (even if no one is watching).

Here is a funny story (instead of my rant). Many years ago when we still had our little Loki we were out on a walk. I can't remember the exact circumstances (if he had already gone or if we had forgotten a bag or what), but he pooped and we were without a bag. We didn't want to leave it on the boulevard, so we were brainstorming something to do. Near the poop was a discarded Timmie's cup and somehow we got the poop in the cup. Really we were doing a service to the community picking up both our poop and someone else's litter.