I lost my Honey girl February of 2016

I still can't think about it without crying. I actually had no idea how sad it would make me. I think I'm taking in an old boyfriend of hers - a pit something mix - because his owner has no time for him anymore. Honey would have been so happy to have the company - he loves his old owner and is probably only going to be around another year but I'll make him happy. Anyway....lots and lots of good dogs need homes so maybe down the road...

It's been a long time

And many years down the road with Honey. We went through two TPLOs, the second one about five years after the first one I chronicled. We adopted in another dog we loved who also needed two TPLOs and then ended up with nose cancer. He almost bankrupted us and we lost him way too soon.
We've seen things get drastically better for pit bulls - people's attitudes seem to be so much more positive. I think it started with the Vick pits and it's really wonderful. That said, we tried to find a home or a rescue for a neighbor's pit and all of the rescues are packed to the gills with pits. DO NOT BUY A PIT FROM SOME IRRESPONSIBLE "BREEDER"! There are puppies, young pits, senior pits - all kinds and colors available at wonderful rescues everywhere.

I swear - half of the human race is constantly cleaning up after the other half - in this case the greedy backyard breeders of pits who are in it for the money and should not be supported. Pits have large litters and shelters are still overrun with them (Chihuahuas, too).  What do you think happens to the puppies these neighborhood people think they will breed for money? The answer is, you don't want to know. Sorry, Yes, it is better for pits but there still is a LONG way to go. If pits were more difficult to find, people wouldn't treat them like garbage.

But, I am not starting to write to get up on a soapbox. I wanted to write because Honey is now going through a lot and I don't know how much longer I will have her and she is dealing with some things I can't find enough information on.

She gets mast cyst tumors, she leaks urine so is inclined toward bladder infections and now, the latest, and the hardest on her: she has serious arthritis. The worst is her right hip which is so misshapen, it doesn't sit in the socket anymore. (I'm going to try and put up her x-rays here - I'll have to get them). Her back disks are also bad and she has arthritis in her elbows and I'm starting to wonder about her wrists.

She is always such a stoic girl, I didn't take her minor aches and pains seriously but, she woke up two weeks ago around 3 in the morning moaning and it broke my heart. I took her in to emergency and they thought it was her stomach. I took her to my local vet and she was going to xray her stomach but...I just knew, so I took her back to her ortho-surgeon, Dr. Schulman. He took xrays showing her stomach was fine but....he ran through the list of degenerative skeletal issues I mentioned above.

So.......here we are and I'm trying to figure out the right things to do for her. I thought I would blog about her again and what I'm trying and what hopefully works. Honey turned "11" (since she's a found dog, it's a little shaky but seems to be about right) in April. I want her to enjoy her golden years.

Here is a picture of Honey from the middle of this month. She went on beach field trips every other month (it used to be weekly) but, I believe those trips are over.  I have the feeling this trip is what set off her most recent pain. :( She's a really good girl and trusts me to do right by her and that's what I'm going to try and do.

I'm kind of bad at this now

You get out of the habit, and it's very hard to get back. And then, you see something you want to share....

I do want to share this encounter with a polar bear and a husky. It's kind of great.

The pictures are by a photographer - Norbert Rosing and his photos are just beautiful.

Jessica

Funny how some people have no idea how to treat dogs (see post about Michael Vick) and then there's others who show how wonderful a bond between mankind and the animal kingdom can be...

Now, these are my peeps :)

Jessica, the Hippo

Dog Breeds

It's interesting how people get attached to different breeds of dogs. I suppose there are many reasons for it - some of them good, solid reasons (the right temperament for the owner, kid friendly), some of them - not so much (wanting the same dog as Paris Hilton, comes to mind).

I have a friend who loves Irish Wolfhounds - in fact, I have two friends who love Irish Wolfhounds but, right now I'm talking about MC who just got a puppy. A puppy that is 105 pounds at a little over six months old.This is a picture of Hudson at four months when he only weighed 53 pounds.



Because they are a rarer breed (unlike some, ahem, other dogs we could name if they weren't sitting next to us), MC drove a round trip total of 1200 miles - solo - to pick up a male pup. The breeder put the four male pups of the litter into an enclosed area and asked MC "If you were able to pick from these four, which one would it be?" She said they were all so cute...running around, playing with sticks, an old carpet, jumping on each other, chasing each other and then one stopped, turned around, looked her right in the eyes and she fell in love...and named him Hudson.

Michael Vick

I haven't written in so long - working full time, moved, non-profit work, writing a book, etc., but - Michael Vick has made me feel like I have to do what little I can to stand up for pits.

The best I can do right now is point you to some of the pit bull sites Honey and I like and see how they have been responding:

Smilin' Pit Bull Rescue (www.spbr.org) has a page where they link to the Humane Society of the United States's petition against Vick, some very nice T-shirts and great photos throughout the site, as always (like the photo below).



Jigga and Venus (very cute pups!) mention some Cafe Press stuff you can buy to show your anti-Vick stance.

The Poodle and dog blog have a good Michael Vick cartoon (and lots of other weird, funny, unusual, interesting dog news.)

And, then, of course, this has also meant discovering a new site. KC Dog Blog has a great round-up of articles.

A lot going on but no time to blog

Right now so - some animal things people have sent me lately:

a cat with a bus route

a hamster eating broccoli

Pit Bulls being trained as Narcotic Search Dogs
I never thought about how the Police force imports dogs from Germany (at a lot of expense) to be drug search dogs and Law Dogs USA encourages them to use rescued pit bulls instead - very hopeful!


A couple of dog jokes that make me think I know what Honey's up to when I'm not around:


And finally, one of the latest PIN (pets in need) dogs on OSLF - the Orthodogs Silver Lining Foundation where I try to volunteer as often as possible.
This is the cutest Shar-Pei named Shiloh who had to have a leg amputated because of owner neglect. Sad but he was rescued and things are now looking bright for the sweet little pup and tripod dogs get around really well. This picture was sent after Shiloh receiving a boxful of dog goodies from the OSLF founders. Gotta love that face!