Probably one of the best things you can do for your dog this Halloween is to keep him confined indoors. The festivities of the evening historically have included pranks. It would be sad if your dog was the victim of one of them. If you will be answering the door for those cute, costumed kids collecting sweets, confine your dog to a bedroom or crate so he can’t slip out the door. We wouldn’t want Buster to think that fuzzy, bunny rabbit toddler was a giant squeak toy!

 

Where will you find your next ideal dog? Why not try your local animal shelter?

 

 

 

 

I like being in a small town after spending the winters in the city. The lack of traffic, stoplights and Starbucks is a daily reminder that one doesn’t need all that java juice to keep up with their fast cars. Besides, the locals all drive trucks and the maximum speed limit within the whole town is 30 mph, and oftentimes only 20. Fast food means wait 30 minutes for your food then eat it real fast.

 

The purse dogs and status dogs are missing here. Dust-covered cattle dogs and retrievers are transported in the back of pickups or flatbeds with no restraint system. They are left for hours in vehicles while their owners share ranch stories over cold beer at the local bar at day’s end. Behind dirty, nose-smudged windows, they occasionally bark at passersby. After herding sheep and cattle all day they still find enough energy to stay alert and protect their owner’s property.

 

My city dogs wouldn’t know what to do without their three hour mid-day nap. If they so much as step wrong on a rock or have a burr stuck to their belly, they await my rescue. If I leave them in the car for a quick stop to the grocery store they would use the opportunity for an additional nap. Afterall, the alarm system will protect the car.

 

Just what makes our city dogs and our small town dogs happy? Would that small town border collie like to sleep on my couch, get a weekly bath, and ride seat-belted on leather seats in an air-conditioned car with windows rolled up? Would my tender-footed, thick-bodied Labs enjoy hours of running under the hot sun, over rocky soil and through prickly sagebrush dodging angry bovine hooves?

 

I always enjoy seeing the different lifestyles that dogs have and how, through their adaptive abilities and selective breed-types, they enrich the lives of their owners. It’s easy to assume that a dog might not be getting enough exercise, lives in a house that is too small, or isn’t receiving enough training. When I observe the bond between a dog and owner, living by any large or small town standards, eating bargain bag dog food or filet mignon, sporting an unkempt coat or fresh coiffure, I see what they are providing for each other – a respectful friendship with life-enhancing qualities beyond our physical existence. Janine Allen

Kids out of school with nothing to do? Here’s a list of some things that will encourage compassion for animals and enrich others in your community.

• Feed and walk the neighbor’s dogs while they are on vacation. Your child might even get a little bit of spending money as a bonus.
• If you have a friend or neighbor whose dog never gets walked, offer to do it for them.
• Enroll your dog in an obedience class. Go to the class with your child so you all can have some quality bonding time.
• Bring your obedience-trained dog to visit neighbors and/or seniors who live alone.
• Using non-toxic face paint, put your dog’s paw prints on homemade cards and take to the senior center.
• Visit the local animal shelter and take pictures of adoptable dogs. Make flyers and hand them out at ball games, BBQs, and birthday parties.
• Buy fabric paint at a crafts store and paint t-shirts with paw prints or dog faces. Write the words ‘Adopt A Dog’ in big letters. Give them away to friends.
• Decorate a can or jar with cute dog drawings or pictures. Ask friends and neighbors to drop in spare change. Donate the money to your local animal shelter.
• Make dog biscuits and take them to your neighbors dogs and to the animal shelter.
• Help a friend find a new best friend by going with them to adopt a dog from a shelter.

Were you thinking of the recent fad of breeding designer dogs? Actually, this term was coined by Rescue Me Dog’s founder, Cheryl O’Leary, out of respect for all the lovely mixed-breed dogs that can be found in local shelters. As a parent of both purebred and pure-cross dogs, she wanted others to know that a dog of any mixed ancestry can provide the same amount of enjoyment and purpose as its purebred cousins. I can’t think of a better word to celebrate the status of our adopted and adoptable mixed-breed dogs.
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