Why Patrick McDonnel is my all time favourite cartoonist!

These beautiful videos were two of six that were created by Patrick McDonnell for The Shelter Pet Project.  

If all pennies are going to heaven :)

I am a middleaged grandmother ... so pennies have always meant more than creating an illusion of wealth with their weight in the bottom of my purse!   Our language is peppered with idioms attaching real weight to the humble penny. They are offered in exchange for thoughts and optimistically traded for hopes and dreams in wishing wells.
Pennies can be good or bad or lucky .... but in this virtual age they have outlived their usefullness as actual currency ... in Canada at least.   Even those who prefer not to follow political news are aware that the political party that cannot seem to accurately calculate the value of fighter jets has decided the humble penny has outlived its usefullness!
What to do with all those jars and piggy banks full of pennies?   Why not roll them up and donate them to your favourite charity?
This weekend, April Pet Valu is holding its Pet Appreciation and National Adoption weekend.  What does that have to do with pennies?  
 East Coast German Shepherd Rescue is holding a Pennies for Puppers  adoption event at the Pet Valu on Tacoma Drive in Dartmouth.   They will be bringing a few of their lovely adoptables ... so inquiring minds have a chance to get a 'sneak preview' to help them decide whether to apply:)  Even better, this store is sponsoring a pawprint donation program for the month of April, with all proceeds going to ECGSR!
And the fun doesn't stop there.   At the same time, at Pet Valu in Greenwood, CAPS is holding an Adoption Blitz as well.   Now, with well over a hundred cats in care they won't be bringing all their adoptables, but it will be a great chance to meet some of their purrfect pets and talk to the volunteers and fosters.
What time is it?   It is always time to praise both the pet supply businesses that support animal rescue ... and the rescues who recognize the value of taking it to the streets!

A little refresher to a Grandmother's Guide to Living with Coyotes ....

I am a middle aged grandmother and will freely admit to being a bit of a fuddy duddy about my pets.    What does that mean in realspeak? 
It means that I am a big believer in the value of that ounce of prevention!  My cats are indoor only!  Even in the fenced yard, the dogs are always leashed after dark!   Last but not least, it means that I never, ever 'let the dogs out' unaccompanied!
Does that mean that my dogs don't have any fun?  Of course not!   I have been told their life of Riley is actually the envy of many another dog ....  lol!  We go hiking in the woods ... spend of plenty of time putting the play yard to good use ... and this spring I'm going to extend the fencing so we can rummage around the shady upper pond on hot summer afternoons!
This morning started as it always does .... with a quick inspection tour of the play yard.   Our sedate morning routine immediately shifted gears when the dogs spotted a big coyote on the other side of the fence.  The big dogs flew off the step in unison and raced to the fence in full stranger danger mode!   Happily the old geezers sensibly stayed by the step!
The short version of this story is that the coyote immediately melted back into the woods.  The big dogs calmed down and everyone had a turn at watering the fence where the coyote had stood.
One of the other fussy things that I do is to always keep enough spare short leashes in the pocket of whatever funny yard coat the season calls for.  Had the need arose, I would have been able to calm the big dogs down immediately by leashing them!
Would the coyote have been a danger to one unaccompanied dog?  You bet!  Would the big dogs have skittled over the fence without supervision?   Possibly ... but happily we will never know.
This is not the first time I have seen this big coyote.   Odds are it won't be the last!   My desk has a wonderful view and I have often seen him sniffing his way along the play yard fence ... providing the dogs with hours of entertainment long after he has wandered on his merry way.
It has been such a while since I have seen him that I had wondered if a more skittish sort had shot the poor fellow.   Why would we see him now after all of this time?
Yesterday's storm notwithstanding, around here at spring the young and not so young men's hearts turn to thoughts of barbecuing.    Eating outside.    Bringing beer and chips along four wheeling.
In other words .... as a wild animal he is just following the food.
What time is it?  It is always time to remember that common sense will keep more coyotes away than any charged weapon will.    If food sources are not readily available and vulnerable family pets are not tied out like bait ... it is the worst kind of scare tactic to think that one coyote on walkabout is cause for a cull.

Welcoming Winnie!!!

Hi there ... my name is Oscar and as the official house eldercat, I would just like to know if we kitties are going to be getting any extra treats this week!  It is a lot of work breaking in a new dog, eh?  Good grief ..... it takes time to train a dog to be a good cat warmer at night!

At least this new lad already knows the first rule of cat ... that we were here first and we rule!    Maybe it is because we are bigger than he is!   Perhaps in another galaxy far far away he may have even lived with a cat!

We think he is just so darned happy to be here that it wouldn't matter if Mom had a parakeet or a pot bellied pig or even a pony!  

At least we are not starting from scratch here!   The new 'kid' on the block is actually older than me!  That means that he is experienced enough to learn quickly.   Gee whiz .. Mom might even be able to put that new steam mop away sooner than she thinks!

Gosh ... at this rate we should have him trained in no time all!   He might be a little worse for wear.   He might have as sad a story as anyone else here.  He might still need to learn that 'making his mark' is really only a figure of speech!

But we cats have decided that Winnie will be well worth the work ... and the only questions we have left what kind of treats are we getting and when they will be here :)

A pinch in time ....

Fishing season started on the first of April!  No fooling!  It would be impossible to drive down my road and be unaware of that.  At any given time of day one will see cars parked by either of the little country bridges on the way home from the village.
How does this affect dog owners?   Not at all, if they are strictly 'street people'.  However, anyone heading over hill and dale in this province will never have to hike far before they find a little river or stream.
Now experienced fishermen ... and women ....  know that the season begins well before the decent fishing actually starts.   This early in the game, the water is too high and too fast to make for truly good fishing.
In realspeak that means that most of the fishermen out right now are rookies.  Lines will be tangled and left in the stream.   Hooks can be carelessly discarded where paws and little fingers can come to grief. 
In other words, this is a very good time to tuck a little pair of pliers in one's pocket before heading out.    They are very useful for cutting that 100 pound test line that rookies in search of two pound trout somehow think they will need.  If worse comes to worse, they can snip off the barbed end of a hook (although anyone needing to do this unassisted would be well advised to make an improvised muzzle with the end of the leash.)
Its just frosting on the cake that pliers are pretty darned handy for picking up pieces of broken beer bottles and picking up rusted old beaver traps.
Here in Nova Scotia, fishermen are allowed along any riverbank.  In real speak that means that even on private land, one can easily wind up being glad the pliers are in the pocket!
What time is it?   Until the more experienced / more courteous fisherman are out and about, it is always simpler and easier to be a little prepared :)

The choice between truth and repose

I love the convenience of email.  It is immediate and direct.  There is no waiting for someone to answer the phone or wondering if voice messages have been heard.
Even better, with my gmail I can search the archives by subject or sender.
Best of all of course is that my gmail is all up in the cloud .. keeping it safe and snug and impervious to any hard drive woes.
This morning, I noticed that there is (finally) a 'new' provincial board meeting available online on the society's site.   It has been quite some time since the last one was posted and I was beginning to wonder all that newfound transparency was starting to circle the drain.
In the midst of all the interesting tidbits ... such as the need to stop thinking of the branches as independent units ... there is a very interesting bit in the governance section!   A request has been made by the ED to form a committee to address "lessons learned from the Cape Breton matter"
Well then!    When I was a young private at my first unit, workplace wisdom wasn't hampered by the need to be politically correct.   I have never forgotten a rude little story that my shift supervisor told me:
Once upon a time there was a little bird who flew through an ice storm so severe that his wings froze and he fell to the earth, landing in a barnyard.  As he was going through his last throes, a cow came by an dropped a patty on the little bird ... warming it up and bringing it back to life.    When the bird started chirping, a cat came by ... tenderly washed the little bird off .. and ate him.
The moral of the story of course is that not everyone who sh**s on you is your enemy ... and not everyone who seems to be helping you is your friend.
There is a lesson in there for the society.    If I was to rummage through my gmail archives, I could readily find numerous examples of times when I have been "there, there'd" and "dear, dear'd".  Am I the only one who has sent in complaints on a variety of subjects?  Who has been handed a pat, glib line?  Of course not!
Prior to the events leading to the "Cape Breton matter", the society received numerous complaints about the Cape Breton Branch!   If they were to search their own archives there would be so many that it would be needful to sort them by subject.  From the gas chamber ... to puppies crawling of garbage cans .. to dogs who died within days of being adopted  ... to substandard animal care ... and beyond.
Straight, sweet and simple .. there were no shortage of complaints.  If the society is sincere in its desire to avoid future 'matters',  recognition that not every complainant is an 'enemy' would be a wonderful first step.
It may be easier to listen to the ones who wash your face.  It may seem to be cleaner at the time.
But at the end of the day, your real friends are the ones who tell it like it is.
God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please - you can never have both.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

There really is gold in those grey muzzles ......

I love shopping at Frenchies!   What's not to love?   From mothers trying to fit out fifteen year olds in affordable fashion to stylin' working gals right through to middle aged grandmothers choosing NOT to dress like teenagers ... there really is something for everyone! 
All that affordability combined with the thrill of the hunt!   It really is just frosting on the cake that Frenchies offers such a good business model for the benefits of recycling and reusing!
Pretty much exactly like pet adoption, eh?   The adult amstaf mix that somebody else tossed away because he will never, ever be a fighter is the absolute apple of my eye.  
Even better, when I adopted him, he was already vet checked and vaccinated and neutered.    After all these years of sharing space with dogs, I knew that Henry's modest adoption fee actually represented only a fraction of the 'street value' of this care!
Best of all of course was that the shared journey of helping Henry become all that he could be has done double duty by building a beautiful relationship!
Does that mean that every adoptable dog is going to be quite so much work?  Of course not!   For every Good Dog in Training, there are many other lovely well behaved family pets who ... through no fault of their own .. are in need of new digs.
Sometimes it can be even sweeter than that!  When Rascal came here,  it took him exactly twenty four hours to get the lay of the land.     Within a week, first time visitors would have been unable to tell that Rascal had lived a different life in a galaxy far, far away from this house.
What made the difference?   Age of course!   It is a myth that one cannot teach old dogs new tricks!  The truth is that senior pets really are older and wiser!  That seniors are settled enough to focus and learn!
Even the Mighty Quinn ... who was such a stranger to domestic bliss .... was able to learn all the sundry bits necessary to become somebody's best boy!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting the puppy.  There is no denying the appeal of puppy breath and adorable big paws!  When I was younger, I made that sweet sentimental journey a couple of times myself:)
After years of shift work, one of the best bits about being retired is being able to get a good nights sleep.   Even better ... I have discovered that it really is true .... and cannot imagine when I ever had time to work!   Best of all of course is that I am now at liberty to spend time in the woods with my good dogs every morning!
What time is it?  To paraphrase the old adage ... it is time to remember that no kind act of adopting an adult or mature pet goes unrewarded ... and that adopters really do get to embrace the love without the sleepless nights!