Nicholas Ulsch Buys Puppies From Craigslist & Abuses Them

Informati – 19 days ago – news-journalonline.com

A witness told police the puppy is Ulsch’s fourth dog in two months and that two of the dogs mysteriously disappeared while a third ran away because Ulsch beat the dogs, the report states.

An Ormond Beach man bought a puppy over the Internet and then beat and slammed it against a wall because the animal soiled his living room floor, police said.

It’s not the first dog Nicholas Ulsch has abused, Ormond Beach police said.
Ulsch, 41, of Oak Brook Drive was arrested Saturday and charged with intentional animal cruelty for abusing the mixed brown Labrador puppy he bought on the Web site Craigslist, a police report states.
According to the report, Ulsch said he spanked the dog hard on Friday because the dog angered him by defecating in the living room. Ulsch picked up the dog by the collar and repeatedly slammed it against the wall, police said. The dog suffered eye and leg injuries.
A witness told police the puppy is Ulsch’s fourth dog in two months and that two of the dogs mysteriously disappeared while a third ran away because Ulsch beat the dogs, the report states.
The puppy was taken to Halifax Humane Society for medical attention by an animal control officer, police said.

Ulsch said he did not mean to hurt the dog that bit him and scratched his carpet and couch.

“I feel guilty for what I did,” Ulsch said.
Ulsch was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on Saturday after posting $1,000 bail.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST01102009.htm
October 20, 2009
Ormond man charged in puppy’s abuse
By PATRICIO G. BALONA – Staff writer

Comments:

1. This idiot need to b beaten like he did to those poor puppies!!! there should b some type of list that should prevent them from ever adopting or buy an animal ever again!!!!!

2. The list is called do to them what they do to these poor defenseless animals and then treat the crimes like they were against a person and sentence accordingly. There is a direct correlation between animal and domestic violence. It is also one of signs of sociopaths… who are not curable. We, as a country, need to stop being bleeding hearts for all the crazies: pedophiles, rapists, animal abusers, child abusers, wife beaters, murderers… they all come from the same pathetic pot and we need to close the lid on them!

3. I can’t beleive they just let him go. His picture should be plastered all over the area he lives. By the way he is from ORMOND BEACH FLORIDA JUST NORTH OF DAYTONA BEACH NICE TO KNOW SUCH A NUTJOB IS OUT THERE …WHATS NEXT ON HIS LIST, LITTLE OLD LADIES,SMALL CHILDREN. WHAT WILL THE AUTHORITIES DO NEXT IF THE NEXT VICTIM IS A YOUNG CHILD. WE ARE LIVING IN A CRAZY,INSANE WORLD AND THE VALUE OF LIFE SEEMS TO BE DISSAPEARING. ….this is a very dangerous person ,keep your eyes open. BY THE WAY I NOTICE HE IS WEARING WHAT THE KIDS CALL A WIFE BEATER T-SHIRT.

Posted:  Just One More Pet

‘Nubs the Dog: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle’

Major Brian Dennis and Nubs the Dog today.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

When Major Brian Dennis of the United States Marine Corps met a wild stray dog with shorn ears while serving in Iraq, he had no idea of the bond they would form, leading to seismic changes in both their lives. “The general theme of the story of Nubs is that if you’re kind to someone, they’ll never forget you — whether it be person or animal,” Dennis tells Paw Nation.

In October 2007, Dennis and his team of 11 men were in Iraq patrolling the Syrian border. One day, as his team arrived at a border fort, they encountered a pack of stray dogs — not uncommon in the barren, rocky desert that was home to wolves and wild dogs.

“We all got out of the Humvee and I started working when this dog came running up,” recalls Dennis. “I said, ‘Hey buddy’ and bent down to pet him.” Dennis noticed the dog’s ears had been cut. “I said, ‘You got little nubs for ears.’” The name stuck. The dog whose ears had been shorn off as a puppy by an Iraqi soldier (to make the dog “look tougher,” Dennis says) became known as Nubs.

Dennis fed Nubs scraps from his field rations, including bits of ham and frosted strawberry Pop Tarts. “I didn’t think he’d eat the Pop Tart, but he did,” says Dennis.

At night, Nubs accompanied the men on night patrols. “I’d get up in the middle of the night to walk the perimeter with my weapon and Nubs would get up and walk next to me like he was doing guard duty,” says Dennis.

The next day, Dennis said goodbye to Nubs, but he didn’t forget about the dog. He began mentioning Nubs in emails he wrote to friends and family back home. “I found a dog in the desert,” Dennis wrote in an email in October 2007. “I call him Nubs. We clicked right away. He flips on his back and makes me rub his stomach.”

“Every couple of weeks, we’d go back to the border fort and I’d see Nubs every time,” says Dennis. “Each time, he followed us around a little more.” And every time the men rumbled away in their Humvees, Nubs would run after them. “We’re going forty miles an hour and he’d be right next to the Humvee,” says Dennis. “He’s a crazy fast dog. Eventually, he’d wear out, fall behind and disappear in the dust.”

On one trip to the border fort in December 2007, Dennis found Nubs was badly wounded in his left side where he’d been stabbed with a screwdriver. “The wound was infected and full of pus,” Dennis recalls. “We pulled out our battle kits and poured antiseptic on his wound and force fed him some antibiotics wrapped in peanut butter.” That night, Nubs was in so much pain that he refused food and water and slept standing up because he couldn’t lay down. The next morning, Nubs seemed better. Dennis and his team left again, but he thought about Nubs the entire time, hoping the dog was still alive.

Excerpt, “Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle,”
Little, Brown for Young Readers

Two weeks later, when Dennis and his team returned, he found Nubs alive and well. “I had patched him up and that seemed to be a turning point in how he viewed me,” says Dennis. This time, when Dennis and his team left the fort, Nubs followed. Though the dog lost sight of the Humvees, he never gave up. For two days, Nubs endured freezing temperatures and packs of wild dogs and wolves, eventually finding his way to Dennis at a camp an incredible 70 miles south near the Jordanian border.

“There he was, all beaten and chewed up,” says Dennis. “I knew immediately that Nubs had crossed through several dog territories and fought and ran, and fought and ran,” says Dennis. The dog jumped on Dennis, licking his face.

Most of the 80 men at the camp welcomed Nubs, even building him a doghouse. But a couple of soldiers complained, leading Dennis’ superiors to order him to get rid of the dog. With his hand forced, Dennis decided that the only thing to do was bring Nubs to America. He began coordinating Nubs’ rescue effort. Friends and family in the States helped, raising the $5,000 it would cost to transport Nubs overseas.

Finally, it was all arranged. Nubs was handed over to volunteers in Jordan, who looked after the dog and sent him onto to Chicago, then San Diego, where Dennis’ friends waited to pick him up. Nubs lived with Dennis’ friends and began getting trained by local dog trainer Graham Bloem of the Snug Pet Resort. “I focused on basic obedience and socializing him with dogs, people and the environment,” says Bloem.

A month later, Dennis finished his deployment in Iraq and returned home to San Diego, where he immediately boarded a bus to Camp Pendleton to be reunited with Nubs. “I was worried he wouldn’t remember me,” says Dennis. But he needn’t have worried. “Nubs went crazy,” recalls Dennis. “He was jumping up on me, licking my head.”

Dennis’ experience with Nubs led to a children’s picture book, called “Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle,” published by Little, Brown for Young Readers. They have appeared on the Today Show and will be appearing on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien on Monday.

Was it destiny that Dennis met Nubs and brought him to America? “I don’t know about that,” says Dennis. “It’s been a strange phenomenon. It’s been a blessing. I get drawings mailed to me that children have drawn of Nubs with his ears cut off. It makes me laugh.”

by Helena Sung – PawNation Nov 3rd 2009 @ 6:00PM

Nubbs:  The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, and a Miracle

Great Gift for Any Child, Veteran and Animal Lover!!

Order Today: Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle

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Tails of Love – Book

Checkout:  Dogwise, All Things Dog! – 2000+ Books and Doggie Goodies

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Veterinarian, Dr. Karen Becker, dispels the long-held myth that “table food” is bad for your pets.

Animals Like People Benefit From Live Foods

Veterinarian, Dr. Karen Becker, dispels the long-held myth that “table food” is bad for your pets.

Human, edible foods can be very healthy for your pets. Throw away the concept of “cat” food and “dog” food, and just think “food” — food that grows in the ground or comes from animal products.

A whole generation of pet owners is afraid to feed anything but over processed rendered food to their pets. But there’s no way you can create abundant health in an animal by providing only the minimum nutrients it needs for survival. Dogs and cats have a living food requirement, just like you do.

The food you feed your pet should be biologically suited to meet your dog’s or cat’s needs. Dog and cat chow may be nutritionally “complete,” but it is akin to your drinking a meal replacement shake three times a day for the rest of your life … or giving them to your kids in lieu of fresh foods.

Yet, many veterinarians will often recommend you feed your pets kibble or canned food for the rest of their lives. Some will go so far as to say that feeding your pet anything that doesn’t come from a bag or can will be harming your pet!

This is a paradigm problem, and one that can be very confusing for pet owners.

In reality, there’s no way you can give your pet the food it needs to thrive if you do not feed it a biologically appropriate diet that includes a variety of fresh foods.

In fact, a growing number of holistic-minded veterinarians state that processed pet food (kibbled and canned food) is the number one cause of illness and premature death in modern dogs and cats.

So how did conventional veterinary nutrition positions get so skewed?

Well, major dog and cat food manufacturers provide much of the veterinary nutrition information to veterinary students. It becomes engrained in many new vets’ minds that it’s wrong to feed pets “living” fresh foods.

This is a myth!

Your Pets Need Living Foods

Veterinarians tell you to never offer living foods to your pet. But your pets need living foods on a consistent basis to achieve optimal health.

So, yes, you can and should offer your pets some of the very same foods that you enjoy. And since those foods are at a much higher grade nutritionally than typical dog or cat foods, they may be the healthiest foods your pets have ever consumed.

As you know, I recommend you feed your dogs and cats an all raw, nutritionally balanced living food diet. In my opinion, the only viable excuse to not to feed your pets a species appropriate diet is cost. Feeding raw food cost more than dry food .However, raw fed animals have fewer health problems, which mean lower vet bills over a lifetime. If you cannot afford to feed your pet an all raw diet, don’t deny your pet’s access to living foods throughout the day, in the form of treats. Remember, treats (even really healthy treats) should not constitute more than 15 percent of your pet’s daily food intake.

Berries are one of the best treats you can offer. Bite size and packed with antioxidants. Many cats enjoy zucchini and cantaloupe. . My favorite training treats for dogs include peas, raw nuts (remember, the only nuts you should never feed your pets are macadamia nuts).

A salad without dressing, but with plenty of dark green leafy vegetables, is also good for your cats — your pets are chewing on your houseplants for a reason, after all.

Avoid giving your carnivorous companions biologically inappropriate foods, including grains, such as oats, soy, millet, , wheat, or rice. Dogs and cats do not have a carbohydrate requirement and feeding your pets these pro-inflammatory foods creates unnecessary metabolic roadblocks to health.

Furthermore, there are certainly some foods that are toxic to feed to dogs and cats such as grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts and onions. Never feed your pets these foods.

The Optimal Choice to Feed Your Pets

I highly recommend you give your dog or cat an opportunity to experience living raw foods like fruits and veggies as treats, and feed them a biologically appropriate, balanced raw diet the rest of the time.

Remember, your pet is resilient and can eat a variety of suboptimal, metabolically stressful foods on occasion and be fine, but because it’s my goal to provide a diet that most closely fits your companion’s biological requirements, I don’t recommend a lifetime of kibble or other “dead” over-processed food.

The goal is to provide a diet that mimics your pet’s biological nutritional requirements as closely as possible … in this case it means rethinking the “lifetime of dry food” or “canned food” theory.

If you are unable or unwilling to feed your pet a species-appropriate, nutritionally balanced, raw food diet, then I strongly recommend you compromise with the next best choice: USDA-approved canned foods (and supplement with raw)

My last choice would be a dry food (kibble), made from human-grade ingredients with little to no grains, and LOTS OF WATER.

But no matter which option you choose, remember that you can treat your dog and cat to berries, leafy greens, raw nuts and many other fresh fruits, veggies and meats on a regular basis.

I hope this insight will help you feel more confident offering foods and treats to your pets that are unadulterated and fresh. They deserve the same benefit of living foods that you get, and there’s no better way to start than by sharing some of these raw healthy foods with your dog or cat today.

We have always cooked for our pets, so always find it amazing, if not horrifying, that there really are pets who never get live food and who are doomed to eat the same dry food every day and that there really are pet owners who think that would be okay!!  This myth created by the pet food industry and perpetuated by pet stores who just want to sell animals, regardless of whether the potential purchasers should be pet parents and then accepted by the “ME” generation, is another one of those practices like keeping your pets in a crate all day or all night, or shock collars, electric fences and collars with spikes etc that defy all common sense and really fall into a category of pet abuse or neglect, perhaps pet abuse light… but unacceptable pet parenting to be sure!!

Would you want to eat the same packaged food everyday?  Would you want to be locked in a cage all day or all night?  Would you want to have to wait to go to the bathroom all night or most of the day, until some lets you out and says it is okay?  Would you want to receive an electric shock when you tried to talk or walk across a boundary area… or have spikes dig into you?  Would you do these things to your kids?

When making decisions for your fur-babies, you should ask yourself, “Would I want to be treated this way?  And would I make these choices for my human children?”, and then act accordingly!!  As Dr. Laura would say… Use common sense and compassion and “then go do the right thing!”.

Posted:  Just One More Pet

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Dogs In Danger – CA – Kathy is Almost out of Time…

Kathy – A0973693

Breed: Pointer
Age: Young adult
Gender: Female
Size: Large,

Shelter Information:

LA City Animal Services – East Valley
14409 Vanowen St
Van Nuys , CA

Shelter dog ID: A0973693
Contacts:

Phone: None
Name: ADOPTION STAFF
email: PLEASE COME TO THE SHELTER!

About Kathy – A0973693: ESTIMATED EUTHANASIA DATE. VISIT THE SHELTER ASAP – BRING DOG’S ID#. KATHY – ID#A0973693 My name is Kathy and I am an unaltered female, tricolor Pointer. The shelter thinks I am about 1 year and 6 months old. I have been at the shelter since Oct 07, 2009. Adoption fees include spay/neuter surgery, all animals will be sterilized prior to release.

If you know you or someone you know is looking for a pet please come to the shelter today.

Don’t adopt just because you feel sorry for Kathy – A0973693!
Adoption Should Be A Well Thought Out Decision, It’s A Lifetime Commitment.

email Kathy – A0973693 to a friend

If there is room in your heart… there is always room for must one more pet or a way to find them a home!!

Thanks to Dog in Danger for the Warning!!

Hank Hough and his Dog Prophet

Hank Hough (HH) is the founder of Kingdom Dog Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the positive message of Jesus Christ through the unique use of Labrador retrievers. Using dogs as a visual illustration, Hank blends humor with simple and timeless biblical truths to show how one can live an abundant life through Jesus Christ. Today, Hank demonstrates with his dog Prophet.

SSC: We’ve had many, many wonderful guests here at the Crystal Cathedral, some powerful, powerful preachers. And today, you’re going to get a chance to see and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way you’ve probably never seen or heard it before.

Our guest today is Hank Hough and his amazing dog, we call him the Prophet. Hank has done this demonstration and given this message to thousands and thousands of people and is making a difference for the world through his Kingdom Dog Ministries. Please welcome Hank Hough and Prophet.

HH: Thank you. Thank you.

Well as she said I am Hank Hough and this dog is a black Labrador retriever. He’s four years old and he’s called the Prophet. His actual registered name is Joshua 24:15, “Choose you today whom you will serve.”

Can I tell you something about this dog? I called him by his name before he was ever born. I held him in the hands of my heart before he ever walked upon this earth. I knew that his job would be a missionary. Go find that which is fallen and bring it back to the master. And I had hoped that his purpose would be to show you the value of me, the master trainer. I wanted him to go and tell every puppy that ever existed in their language, do you not know who he is? Do you not understand the power he has to change your life to set you free? Isn’t that what Jesus Christ came and did for us? Jesus is real, and God is real and we’ve got to put Him in that place.

Let me tell you why I call him my missionary dog. Here Prophet. What’s his job? Here Prophet. Come on buddy. I want to warn you, I’m going to blow this whistle in couple of minutes. I blew it in a church the other day and 12 men stood up. Three of them said “play ball” and three said “don’t shoot” and the rest of us just said “honey I’ll be right there,” so I kind of want to let you all know what’s getting ready to happen here.

Why did I give this dog a name? I gave him a name so I could hold him accountable for what I ask him to do. That’s almost a new concept in America, isn’t it? I didn’t give him a name so he could make himself famous. I didn’t give him a name so he could put it on his t-shirt or make the Hollywood billboard. I gave him a name so I could hold him accountable for what I ask him to do. And why did I do that? Because the word of God says that each and every man, woman and child in this room will be held accountable before the Lord for the life you live. That day’s coming. That day is coming.

But I also gave him a name so that I could praise him for what he does right. You know what the ultimate praise is going to be for your name? It’ll be the day that you stand trembling before Jesus Christ, eyes down, and when Satan comes to claim those that are his, Jesus Christ may very well call you by name and say “he is Mine.” He will call your name out as one of His. That’s why you’ve got a name. That’s why we name our children. That’s why God named everything in the garden.

So what does that look like? You know who you are. I need to know if Prophet knows who he is because he’s going to go out into the world and the world’s going to try to lure him away. Billy, George, Bobby, Robert, Dr. Schuller. Just checking. President, King, Prophet dog. All right!

You aren’t holding on to what God gives you, are you? What’s more important than Prophet knowing who he is? Knowing who I am. Now why would it be more important for him to know who I am? What is the greatest of all the commandments? Love your children, right ladies? No. Love your mate? No. Love your business? No. It says “love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul.” It goes on to say “seek ye first the kingdom of God,” “you shall have no other gods before Me,” “be still and know that I am.” Why is it saying all that? Because think about it. How simple is this? He cannot love what he does not know. And you can’t either. You can tell me you don’t know if God’s real and I love you but you’re not spending much time in His word, are you.

Let me give you a good example. I can send this dog down that aisle and out that door. We can cross that parking lot. In Houston Texas, I can send him three and four hundred yards away from me. When I blow this whistle that dog will stop and look at me.

Now you won’t believe this or maybe you will, but invariably there are some free thinking dogs, some independent thinker that comes up to my dog and you know what he says? What are you doing? You’re 400 yards from him. He is not your master. You don’t have to do what he tells you to do. You don’t have to play by the rules. You don’t have to do your homework. Do you know why it doesn’t surprise me that that dog doesn’t know my commands? He’s not my dog.

The word of God says something that scared me to death. It said “those that are not of God cannot hear His word.” That should scare almost all of us to death. You see, I spent time in the word of God and didn’t understand it. I thumbed through the book, but my heart wasn’t in it, nor had I asked the spirit of God to come within me to interpret it for me because the good news is what? The good news is “My sheep will know My voice, and I will know them and they will follow Me.”

So let’s do this. You are all going to have to help me here now. I’m going to throw this pretty orange bumper right over there. I’m going to tell my dog not to get it. I want you to try to steal him from me. Say or do anything you want to do, you just can’t put it in his mouth. Okay? Don’t get this, son. It’ll ruin your life and all those you love. Disease, problems, pride, greed, self serving; got a lot of ugly stuff on it but everybody wants the orange bumper, don’t they? Heel back with me. Sit. All right, steal my dog. Come on help me out. Steal him. Make him go.

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hey you’re not helping me at all and I’m going to tell you something, those kids that you’re trying to protect back at the house, you can’t protect your child and you can’t protect your dog. You don’t keep him from temptation, you teach him what to do when it comes because without temptation he doesn’t have choice and without choice he can’t tell you what? How much he loves me.

I want you to really try to steal my dog. You see, somebody else is going to run up to your kid and they’re going to say you coward, you sissy dog, you teacher’s pet, everybody’s getting orange bumpers. You’re the only one that’s not getting them. Try it one time, I won’t tell somebody. They’ll never know. Kind of ugly, isn’t it? A lot of truth to that, isn’t there?

You best put a foundation in your child, in your dog and in your own life. You see, we need to quit praying for God to make our children, ourselves and our country comfortable and safe. And we need to start praying that God will open up our hearts that we can hear the word of God because that’s what separates dogs from dogs and men from men and nations from nations.

I’m going to count to five, that’s all you’ve got. His name is what? See if you can steal this dog from me because the word of God says you cannot pluck, steal, take one of Mine from My hands. Go. Five, come on, three, two, one, zero. All right! You think there’s a trick to it? You think I stomped my foot, raised my hand or do you think he truly knows the sound of my voice. Prophet. Put it down.

Listen to me. I not only need you to know who you are, I not only need you to know who I am but I need you not to covet the orange bumper. I need you, listen to me, I need you to deny yourself and go in faith. No matter what the world tells you, I don’t care how pretty it is, you got to go in faith. Go to the cross! Go to the cross, my boy. What does Prophet dog have? (Prophet comes back with a large bone.) What are you trying to tell them? The real truth, isn’t he? God didn’t come to condemn us about the orange bumpers. He came to give us a more abundant life. Something you can chew on for an eternity. Thank you so much. Thank you.

SSC: Thank you Hank. Thank you. What a wonderful, wonderful presentation of God and His love for us. And I just wanted to say that Hank is just a duck hunter and I’m just a mother but God can use anybody, right? So thank you Hank.

HH: Thank you.

SSC: Thank you Prophet. God bless you.

HH: Thank you all. Thank you all.

This interview was conducted by Robert H. Schuller from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power October 25, 2009. – Hour of Power 2009

Related:

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God and Dog

‘Dogs Have The Intelligence of a Human Toddler’

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Pets may be susceptible to swine flu virus

Thousands of Americans have been infected with the H1N1 flu virus, but that’s just counting people. This week it was announced a domestic cat in Iowa also was stricken with the virus — most likely transmitted by sick owners — as well as two ferrets in Nebraska and Oregon.

This sudden infection may have pet owners wanting to put their furry friends in line for an H1N1 flu shot, but state veterinarian experts say not to worry. (H1N1 or any type flu vaccines are a bad idea!!  We are over vaccinating our pets, just like we are over vaccinating ourselves and our children.)

“Theoretically, you could pass it on to pets, but the chances are extremely low,” said Dr. Bob Ehlenfeldt, a state veterinarian in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.

The reversal of pets transmitting the virus to humans is even less likely, he said.

The chances are so low, according to Ehlenfeldt, because the H1N1 novel 2009 flu virus is a human disease being transmitted and maintained in humans. It’s unusual for species other than humans to become infected because viruses tend to adapt to certain species, he said.

For example, the bird flu from a few years ago was highly adaptable to infecting birds, whereas this strain of the H1N1 flu is adept at people-to-people transmission, he said.

Besides the cat and the ferrets, the only other non-human species known to have been infected with the virus are about a dozen swine herds worldwide, and recently some turkeys in Chile, according to Ehlenfeldt and Dr. Jim Kazmierczak, a state veterinarian in the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.

The infection of the ferrets, however, didn’t surprise Kazmierczak because the lanky rodents are thought to be susceptible since they are used as laboratory animals and are sensitive to human strains of influenza, he said.

Also, since turkeys were infected, Kazmierczak said it could be possible for other types of birds to get the virus. So far, however, no incidents have been reported.

“The safe thing to do is to assume that while we know cats and ferrets are susceptible, we should assume dogs and pet birds are also susceptible,” Kazmierczak said.

Thus, owners infected with the H1N1 flu should still be careful around their pets and maintain distance from them as you would with other family members.  It really is a matter of common sense!!!

For example, Kazmierczak said to relocate a bird cage if it is positioned in the room in which an infected person may be recuperating.
Also, wash your hands before handling or feeding the pet, he advised

By Hilary Dickinson – Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009 12:57 AM CST
hdickinson@beloitdailynews.com

Posted:  Just One More Pet – Cross Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

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Finnegan the Squirrel

The moral of this story is the best part!!!

Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan, the young squirrel, back into the wild,
bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house.

When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an
unlikely nurse’s aide: her pregnant Papillion, Mademoiselle Giselle.

Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies.
Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel’s cage twice to her own bedside before she gave birth.
Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow  the squirrel out and the inter-species bonding began.

Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, eventually
working his way beneath his new litter mates.

Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a
videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.  Now, Finnegan
mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his ’siblings’ in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their
bodies, and sinking in deeply for a nap.

Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.

Finnegan naps after feeding.

Finnegan makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.
Send this along to brighten someone’s day!
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all get along
like Finnegan and the gang?

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Keep loving everyone, even the squirrelly ones!

(Ask Marion will admit it is something after years of doing just that, that she has a hard time doing these days!!)

What a great story though!!  And these puppies remind us so much of one of our own dogs’ pups, Goji

24 Hours Old

72-Hours Old

28 Days Old

Our little guys were Chiweenies, though: Half Chihuahuas – Half Weiner Dogs instead of Papillion pups

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Gone to the dogs: LA church starts pet service – ‘Canines at Covenant’

LOS ANGELES — When the Rev. Tom Eggebeen took over as interim pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church three years ago, he looked around and knew it needed a jump start.

Most of his worshippers, though devoted, were in their 60s, attendance had bottomed out and the once-vibrant church was fading as a community touchstone in its bustling neighborhood.

So Eggebeen came up with a hair-raising idea: He would turn God’s house into a doghouse by offering a 30-minute service complete with individual doggie beds, canine prayers and an offering of dog treats. He hopes it will reinvigorate the church’s connection with the community, provide solace to elderly members and, possibly, attract new worshippers who are as crazy about God as they are about their four-legged friends.

Bob Hedges, right, sits with his dog Chester, during Sunday services at at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles Nov. 1, 2009. The 30-minute worship, complete with individual doggie beds, canine prayers and a tray of dog treats for the offering, is intended to reinvigorate the church’s community outreach while attracting new members who are as crazy about God as they are about their four-legged friends.

- Richard Vogel /AP Photo – CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS – LA Church Putting Pets In Pews Video

Before the first Canines at Covenant service last Sunday, Eggebeen said many Christians love their pets as much as human family members and grieve just as deeply when they suffer – but churches have been slow to recognize that love as the work of God.

“The Bible says of God only two things in terms of an ‘is’: That God is light and God is love. And wherever there’s love, there’s God in some fashion,” said Eggebeen, himself a dog lover. “And when we love a dog and a dog loves us, that’s a part of God and God is a part of that. So we honor that.”

The weekly dog service at Covenant Presbyterian is part of a growing trend among churches nationwide to address the spirituality of pets and the deeply felt bonds that owners form with their animals.

Traditionally, conventional Christians believe that only humans have redeemable souls, said Laura Hobgood-Oster, a religion professor at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

But a growing number of congregations from Massachusetts to Texas to California are challenging that assertion with regular pet blessings and, increasingly, pet-centric services, said Hobgood-Oster, who studies the role of animals in Christian tradition.

She recently did a survey that found more than 500 blessings for animals at churches nationwide and has heard of a half-dozen congregations holding worship services like Eggebeen’s, including one in a Boston suburb called Woof ‘n Worship.

“It’s the changing family structure, where pets are really central and religious communities are starting to recognize that people need various kinds of rituals that include their pets,” she said. “More and more people in mainline Christianity are considering them to have some kind of soul.”

The pooches who showed up at Covenant Presbyterian on Sunday didn’t seem very interested in dogma.

Animals big and small, from pit bulls to miniature Dachshunds to bichon frises, piled into the church’s chapel to worship in an area specially outfitted for canine comfort with doggie beds, water bowls and a pile of irresistible biscuits in an offering bowl. There were a lot of humans too – about 30 – and three-quarters of them were new faces.

The service started amid a riot of tail-sniffing, barking, whining and playful roughhousing.

But as Eggebeen stepped to the front and the piano struck up the hymn “GoD and DoG,” one by one the pooches lay down, chins on paws, and listened. Eggebeen took prayer requests for Mr. Boobie (healing of the knees) and Hunter (had a stroke) and then called out the names of beloved pets past and present (Quiche, Tiger, Timmy, Baby Angel and Spunky) before launching into the Lord’s Prayer.

At the offering, ushers stepped over tangled leashes and yawning canines to collect donations and hand out doggie treats shaped like miniature bones in a rainbow of colors.

Donna Lee Merz, a Presbyterian pastor at another Southern California church, stopped in with Gracie, her 14-month-old long-haired miniature Dachshund. The puppy with ears soft as silk was overcome by the other dogs and wriggled across the floor on her belly, quivering with excitement. She finally calmed down when Merz held her in her lap.

“She knew it was a safe place and a good place to be, a place to be loved,” Merz said, gently petting Gracie after the service. “I’ll be back.”

Emma Sczesniak came to Covenant for the first time, lured by the promise that she could worship with her black Lab, Midnight, and her wire-haired Dachshund-terrier mix, Marley.

Marley sat on her lap during the service, while Midnight checked out the other big dogs and sat patiently waiting for his biscuit. Sczesniak said the dog-friendly service came at the perfect time for her: she’s been thinking about getting back to church, but wasn’t sure how or where to go.

“I don’t have any kids, so my pets have always been my children, so it does mean a lot,” she said of the dog-inclusive service. “I haven’t been to church in a long time and this may push me into it. I’m getting older and I’ve been thinking about those things again.”

But Midnight, Marley, Gracie and the other pups probably had something more important on their minds as Eggebeen intoned his benediction and the service drew to a close: Just where could they find more of those delicious treats?

For Eggebeen, the night was a spiritual success – and the rest is out of his hands.

“It’s important for a church like us just to do good things. The results, we’ll just have to see,” he said. “Ultimately, that belongs to God.”

By GILLIAN FLACCUS – Associated Press Writer

AP VIDEO: Gone to the dogs: LA church starts pet service

Posted:  Just One More Pet

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Adopt Just One More Pet and Save a Life!! – Sharing a Great Pet Adoption Pet Story!!

Sharing a Great Pet Adoption Pet Story!!

Our friends, Al and Andrea, in Corpus Christi moved there with 3 cats.  Over the past five years, one… Maggie, has passed on and gone to kitty heaven.  But during that time, they have  rescued a black pug that had some health issues, a Black Ker (maybe) out of a litter of abandoned puppies and an orphaned Chihuahua.  This was quite a feat for my friend, Andrea, who was basically afraid ‘or at least leery’ of dogs  before they adopted their first one, Buddy, at Al’s urging. Then ‘she’ adopted the next two, Beau and Princess.

Then about 10-days ago they ran across, almost over, a kitten.  The Calico kitty who looks like one of their older cats, Peaches, was running across the highway when they found her.   They did more than their due diligence to find the kitten’s owners but she is now one of the family and has been named Kit Kat… along with Peaches and Bart makes three.

3 kitties and 3 doggies… a nice family now that the kids are grown!

If you are an animal lover 4 to 6 pets, throw in a bird, fish or pocket pet, perhaps making even 7 or 8 are a fun and manageable number for a couple or a responsible family teaching their kids the values and joy of taking care of another living creature and overall responsibility (under supervision). If you aren’t, it probably seems like a nightmare… but then you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog.

Adopt Just One More Pet and Save a Life!!

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Ditch your family pet to save the planet – I Think NOT!!

TAKE out the recycling. Check. Save water. Check. Cycle to work. Check. Turn down the thermostat. Check. Get rid of the pet …

A new book has highlighted that a medium-sized dog has the same ecological footprint as driving 6,000 miles a year in a large 4×4 car.

Hailed as the real guide to sustainable living, the book says that owning a dog or a cat is not environmentally friendly and that they should not be kept.

Other options would be not to have a pet, to share one with other families, or to choose an animal with a small carbon footprint – such as a goldfish – the authors say.

The average cat has as much impact on the planet as a Volkswagen Golf, according to writers Robert and Brenda Vale.

And next time a parent considers keeping a child happy by buying a hamster, they should remember that two of the animals are as bad for the planet as running a plasma television.

In Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, the New Zealand-based pair estimate the ecological footprint of pets from dogs to budgies based on the amount of land needed to grow their food.

Meat-eating swells the eco-footprint of dogs, and cats are not much better, the Vales found.

They say a collie eats 164kg of meat and 95kg of cereals a year, giving it a high impact on the planet.

However, rabbits or chickens can make good pets and also provide meat for the owners, they say. A pair of rabbits can produce 36 young annually, which would provide 72kg of meat – thereby decreasing the owner’s carbon footprint.

In the book, the authors say: “For years, animals have been given a good life and their company enjoyed, and then they have been eaten.

“Children are well able to cope with this situation if they know what is going on, and the process links them into the natural cycles of life and death.

“However, even with this background, there are going to be some people who will never cope with the idea of eating their pets.”

A large dog such as an Alsatian has an ecological footprint of about 0.36 hectares, according to their calculations.

This compares to six hectares for the average human in the developed world.

Mr Vale, an architect, said: “There are no recipes in the book. We’re not actually saying it is time to eat the dog.

“We’re just saying that we need to think about and know the (ecological] impact of some of the things we do and that we take for granted.”

He added that sustainability issues will “require us to make choices which are as difficult as eating your dog”.

“It’s not just about changing your lightbulbs or taking a cloth bag to the supermarket,” he added.

“Once you see where cats and dogs fit in your overall balance of things, you might decide to have the cat but not also to have the two cars and the three bathrooms and be a meat-eater yourself.”

By Jenny Fyall

Source:  http://news.scotsman.com/uk

Posted:  Just One More Pet