A tenacious and determined 2 year old Airedale Terrier named Max was lost following a car accident in Sterling, Connecticut. Max ran away when Bill Clark, his owner, was driving his convertible and was struck by another car.

“The dog jumped out the back through the trunk and ran into the woods,” Mr. Clark said. He then began a three-week search for his beloved terrier.

There were many sightings, but no luck. That was until Tuesday, when Mr. Clark said he came home and found Max sitting in the back yard. Somehow, he found his way back to Coventry, Rhode Island, by walking along highways and back roads all the way home — all 45 miles! His owner couldn’t be more thrilled to have him back. It took him three weeks and three days, but he did it.

Even the experts can’t explain it. “We don’t really know how they do that. We do know that dogs’ memories are very detailed, very sense-oriented,” said Jim Barry, a dog behavior consultant.

Max lost 11 pounds during his solo journey, while his owner back home worrying about him lost seven, but neither are worse for the wear. They’re just both very happy to be reunited!

Personally speaking, I submit that dogs are MUCH smarter than most humans give them credit for. They’re also capable of great compassion, emotion and bravery, not to mention their completely selfless loyalty to those they love. In short, DOGS RULE!

Technorati Tags: dogs, Max the Airedale Terrier

Hi everyone. My daughter and I returned safely home last night around 8:00PM. We had a really great time and managed to work in more than a few things over two days’ time. Unfortunately, it left dear old mom exhausted. I was pretty spent all day today.

I want to thank all of you who left comments wishing us a good time and a safe trip. You are all simply the best!

Tonight while I was trying to catch up on the news over the last 3 days, I saw a very cool story over on 9News.com about “Dogapalooza”. What’s that, you ask?

Well, Dogapalooza is the last day of the swimming season for outdoor pools in Denver, and a day on which anyone who wants to bring their dog to the pool for a splashing good time can do so! Isn’t that awesome? Dogs can go swimming for as long as they want! Their humans are allowed to jump in and play with them, as well. Some people did just that, but others were reluctant to jump into hairy water where dogs were having uh … shall we say, “accidents”? I just think it’s a great idea and would take advantage of it in a heartbeat if they had such a thing here where I live.

While reading the comments people left on that story (which I always love to do. it’s amazing to see what people will argue about, and how cynical and insulting they can be), I saw where someone had linked to their own site called Canine Rehabilitation and Conditioning Group, or CRCG. This is a place where you can not only take your dog for rehab and conditioning, but also to swim! They have an above ground, heated, indoor pool with a special filtration system in place so that it is not only physically safe for your dog, but also completely sanitary and hygienically sound. Is that cool or what? This is when I really wish my town was bigger and had stuff like that. I would take my dogs there all the time! Well, maybe someday. I hope! I guess first we should start with a dog park, eh? Yeah, that’s right, we don’t even have a dog park here. I know, it’s amazing, isn’t it? Who doesn’t have a dog park these days? Geez! Anyway, I just wanted to kind of give those guys a little “free advertising”, because I think what they do is really terrific. Do you have anything like that where you live?

Oh, and P.S., I took some pics on our trip — mainly because we worked in a quick trip to the mountains. We drove up into Poudre Canyon. Those of you who know me well know how much I adore the Rocky Mountains! They bring peace to my soul, they really do. Like I told Callie yesterday, it’s as close to God as one can get here on earth. Anyway, I’ll download them from my camera soon and post them for your viewing pleasure

Technorati Tags: dogs, dog swimming, Rocky Mountains, trips, vacations

I’m starting to feel a little dejected, as not ONE person since the woman yesterday, nor one organization or newspaper who was emailed Cheyenne’s story and plea for help has contacted me. No one. My Legal Eagle called last night and we had a really good conversation, during which she assured me she wasn’t the least bit worried about how this is going to turn out, and I shouldn’t be, either. I told her this is a very small town full of small minds, to which she replied that they may very well have small minds but they’ll find themselves with a very LARGE lawsuit if they don’t see the light!

Something that did make me feel better today is that I made reservations at a hotel in Ft. Collins for my daughter’s birthday celebration. We’re going on Friday, returning Saturday night. Her Sweet 16 is next Friday, the 22nd, but my perfectly perfect grandson’s 4th birthday is the following Monday, the 25th, so I’m sure my son and daughter-in-law will be having his party that weekend, which is why we’re doing Callie’s a week early. She wanted to go out of town with a couple of her friends and shop and swim and go see the open-air sculpture exhibit at one of our favorite art galleries — oh, and order room service. I’m very excited, but she is almost over the moon! She can hardly wait for Friday to get here! I’m acutally in disbelief that my baby is turning SIXTEEN! But I’m looking forward to the trip.

Speaking of Ft. Collins, I read a great article today about a blood donation program for dogs at Colorado State University Veterinary Medical Center. All of the dogs who participate are Greyhounds. They are the breed of choice because of their calm disposition, their high red blood cell count and because most of them carry a universal blood type. There are some people who travel from as far away as Denver and Wyoming to volunteer! Isn’t that cool? From the article:

“Universal blood is important in emergencies when you don’t have time to find a blood type,” said Maura Green, head nurse of small animal medicine at the hospital.

Getting the blood, which can cost $200 to $350 per unit, through donations is a financial lifesaver for the hospital, according to Green.

Of course, it’s a real lifesaver as well.

“A lot of these advanced surgeries couldn’t take place if these dogs didn’t hop up on the table and give blood,” Green said.

Each dog gives one unit of blood each trip.

According to Green, the vet medical center only uses dogs from stable families and they never use homeless dogs.

It takes roughly 15 minutes for a dog to donate and afterwards, just like humans, they get a treat.

Also, for each donation, the owner gets a free bag of food.

“I think it’s a win-win situation,” Schwartz said.

I think it’s a wonderful situation! And a fantastic program!

I guess that’s all that’s on my little mind tonight. Hope you guys had a good day and are having an even better evening. Keep your fingers crossed that someone picks up Cheyenne’s story and runs with it! Thanks!

Technorati Tags: Cheyenne, Fort Collins, birthdays, Greyhounds

We had a visit from the Humane Society today. They said some people down the street reported our black Lab, Cheyenne, as having attacked and killed their cat, and bit the owner when she tried to pull the cat away. People, I swear on my children that it was NOT Cheyenne. She is NEVER out of the house or the back yard; she was ABSOLUTELY, BEYOND ANY DOUBT in my bedroom sleeping with ME at 5:00 freaking A.M.!!

I don’t know what to do. They took her away! They took my precious girl away, and all because that person said yeah, that’s the dog. NO! IT ISN’T! I told the Humane Society lady that ALL black labs look alike, especially during something as frantic and scary as trying to pull an attacking dog off of your cat! And besides that, when they finally scared this dog away, it ran the opposite way from our house!!! IT WASN’T MY DOG! Again, she was ASLEEP in my room!!

So PLEASE, Anyone who knows how one can prove a negative; how one proves an I.D. is completely and utterly false, tell me! I have no idea how I can prove she’s innocent, and in the meantime she’s sitting in a cage at the Humane Society for the next week!

My heart is breaking and I can’t stop crying and I don’t know what to do. I guess all I can do is take it to court and fight it and hope and pray the judge sees there is no real proof and that the lady’s ID is erroneous, as she was traumatized herself and let’s face it, all black labs basically look alike, especially during the heat of the moment like that. I know, I’m repeating myself. I just don’t see how one person can say your dog did something and they can take it away from you with no real proof. I told the Humane Society lady to go get my neighbor’s dog then, because it came over and bit my Yorkie (which it didn’t). But I told her if that’s all you have to do, then she should go get that dog. She just stared at me. She said this is the first case she’s ever had where both parties are so adamant that they are right. She said everyone usually says “well yeah, it probably was my dog, it does get out sometimes”. I told her I would admit it, too, if it was TRUE, but it ISN’T! I promised her on my mother’s grave, and I have NEVER done that before for ANY reason, and never would if what I was saying wasn’t absolutely, 100% true.

If any of you know what I can do, please, please tell me. And thank you very much.

Leigh

If you look down on my sidebar you’ll see a list of my beloved dogs. They are so special to me. One of them is Daisy May, an amazingly smart, sweet, obedient and loving Golden Retriever. Unfortunately, we lost her when she was only 2 years old. One day last November she went outside with the other dogs to go potty and play for a while, but never came back in. My daughter found her in her favorite spot under one of our bushes, dead. We don’t know what happened for sure. She had no injuries whatsoever. We’re pretty sure she died from a heart condition common to Golden Retrievers. Anyway, it was a horrible shock and we still miss her so much. I can’t bear to think about taking her off of my Dogster list. She will always be there with the rest of them.

If you look down at the bottom of that list you’ll see little Pippin. I’ll never forget how Daisy reacted when we brought her home. She immediately went to her, sniffed her, and then began “protecting” her from the other dogs. From the first moment she was Pippin’s surrogate mother and protector. They became best friends as Pippin grew. It was really very touching to watch. That’s why I wasn’t the least bit surprised when I read the following story out of Caney, Kansas (originally seen at Holy Cuteness):

A dog at a southeast Kansas zoo has adopted three tiger cubs abandoned by their mother. Safari Zoological Park owner Tom Harvey said the tiger cubs were born Sunday, but the mother had problems with them.

A day later, the mother stopped caring for them. Harvey said the cubs were wandering around, trying to find their birth mother, who wouldn’t pay attention to them. That’s when the cubs were put in the care of a golden retriever, Harvey said.

Harvey said it’s unusual for dogs to care for tiger cubs, but it does happen. He said he has seen reports of pigs nursing cubs in China, and he actually got the golden retriever after his wife saw television accounts of dogs caring for tiger cubs.

Puppies take about the same amount of time as tiger cubs to develop, and Harvey said the adoptive mother just recently weaned her own puppies.

“The timing couldn’t have been any better,” he said.

The mother doesn’t know the difference, Harvey said. He said the adopted mother licks, cleans and feeds the cubs.

That is totally something Daisy would have done. I don’t know if it’s a Golden trait to be so nurturing and maternal, or if it’s just because dogs in general are so amazing. What I do know is that my life wouldn’t be nearly as full or happy without my dogs!

Technorati Tags: dogs, Daisy, Golden Retrievers