Update and PETA tactics

It's been a while since I blogged, and I apologize. While I was vacationing in Mexico late May, I became very ill, and it was only a week and a half ago I was finally diagnosed with a kidney stone that was blocking my ureter. It was extremely painful, and very frustrating to not be able to pin down a diagnosis. After my visit with the urologist, he scheduled an emergency surgery to remove the stone immediately. I am still in a bit of pain, mostly soreness, but I feel a thousand times better than I did pre-op and look forward to posting more in my blog!

I just dewormed all the dogs, they were eating a LOT more grass, and for some reason, dirt, than I was comfortable with, and Blossom has had a hacking cough for months now. She's also started actually wanted FED, if you can believe that. I think she might have switched from anorexia to bulemia. She's a weird dog. They're all dewormed now, and B isn't coughing as much and nobody's eating dirt. That makes me a lot happier. :)

Here's a bit from one of the dog forums I frequent, about the latest monstrosity committed by PETA. It's ludicrous what they'll go through to try to get their point across. Maybe if they weren't so much like terrorists, more people would try to work with them.

Bogus ad placed in Dog Fancy Magazine by Peta:


"Just bought a brand-new purebred puppy? Welcome him or her
into your home with a free gift bag! Call us today at 1-866-834-6061 to
claim your bag and hear about our products,"

Reads a new ad appearing in the July 7 issue of Dog Fancy magazine, which is on newsstands now. But when respondents call the number, they'll learn that the ad was placed by PETA and that the bag offered is really a body bag--for the unlucky dog in an animal shelter who is "sentenced to death" because the respondents bought a purebred pup from a breeder or a pet store.

Dog Fancy rsponse

http://board.dogchannel.com/Topic45646-35-1.aspx

Hello fellow dog lovers,

Lots of comments have been circulating on the Internet this week about the following ad that appeared in the August issue of DOG FANCY:

"ABC PUPPY PRODUCTS -- Just bought a brand-new puppy? Welcome him or her into your home with a free gift bag! Call us today at (xxx) xxx-xxxx to claim your bag and hear about our products."

This ad was placed by a private individual on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

DOG FANCY does not knowingly accept advertising from PETA and does not agree with its extremist views. Unfortunately, the organization resorted to guerilla tactics by placing an ad in DOG FANCY under a pseudonym to deceive readers with a free gift bag offer, opting to use shock tactics to try get its message heard.

DOG FANCY promotes responsible dog ownership, including the responsible breeding and sale of purebred dogs. This is the first time in many, many years that the organization has succeeded in slipping past our screening measures, and we accept responsibility for the failure to catch this ad before going to press. We apologize to all who have been offended by this offensive and misleading stunt, and will continue to refine the systems in place to prevent our readers and advertisers from being exposed to such distasteful hoaxes.

Sincerely,
Susan Chaney, Editor
DOG FANCY

New corals!

I just got back from Phishy Business, where I got two new corals - a Hammer and Frogspawn coral. They're just so cool... it seems to me that the coolest corals are always labeled as "beginner," which makes me feel a bit stupid every time I buy one, but oh well. The salesguy was reasonably impressed when I described my black and orange sun coral tank so that made me feel a bit better. I'll have pics tomorrow, I hope... the lights are off to give everyone a chance to adjust, although the frogspawn already has its sweeper tentacles out looking for tidbits.

I also got a peppermint shrimp for that tank to take care of any little stray aiptasia. Still working on the darkness method in my 7 gallon nano, but I have the feeling I'll be back to injecting with kalkwasser here soon. Sigh!

Pesky Aiptasia and Libby

First things first- I am trying a new method to get rid of all that freaking aiptasia that has multiplied overnight as well as some red bubble algae. I saw one of my sun corals had an aiptasia attached - there's not much I can do about that, as any chemical treatment will likely kill off the coral as well. I can't use a peppermint shrimp because my strawberry dottyback will eat it. I'm not interested in trying to keep berghia alive since the dottyback will probably kill them too.

So, I opted for total darkness. For at least one week, there'll be no lights on in the tank. I'll reevaluate the situation then. None of the corals in there need light to live, the only things that'll suffer will be the aiptasia, algae, and my live rock, unfortunately. I've been battling it for a year and a half, but it has recently gotten waaay out of control.

Libby is my parents' dog, and she's staying with us for a week or so while her parents go on vacation. When I went to get her, I let her out first since it had been about 7 hours since she was last out, and she peeked off the deck... the next door neighbor's five german shepherds all started barking and snarling, and she raced back into the house. Poor dog! She can't even piddle in her own backyard. :( I hate people who take no responsibility for their pets.

Libby has stayed with us before, but for some reason this time my SO's dogs are being pretty unfriendly about it. I know they'll settle down eventually but Libby is very attached to my dad and is stressed enough without them adding to it!

Arkansas solves animal problem

This is a true news story, dated 6-13-08. Apparently, the mayor of Arkansas has decided that instead of taking care of homeless pets, the best thing to do is release them into the wild.

From ArkansasMatters.com
You've heard it before.....Arkansas animal shelters struggling to take care of unwanted dogs and cats. One mayor has decided the best way to fix the problem in his town is to set the animals free.
KARK visited the Helena-West Helena animal shelter back in January. Conditions were dirty and animals were in poor health.
Thursday, KARK learned the town's mayor James Valley has taken the unconventional approach of releasing the animals into the wild.
In a press release, the mayor says "we fed and watered them and took them to the St. Francis National Forest."

We're told about ten dogs, including several pit bulls were set free and that some of the dogs were sick.

Here is Wednesday's news release from Mayor Valley:

Ladies and Gentlemen:
This morning we began the process of dealing with our animal shelter problem. I have met, today, with Ms. Gloria Higginbotham. She is heading up a committee to create a county-wide animal shelter and perhaps with the participation of all governmental units, we can provide the kind of facility that will be deemed appropriate.
In the mean time, we are or have released all but a few our those animals heretofore housed at the sanitation shop. We fed and watered them and took them to the St. Francis National Forest and released them to freedom. We are disassembling the pens or fences and will not any longer house or keep any of these animals. This problem is dogging us and taking away from our ability to focus on the greater good for the community as a whole. One of our animal control officers has been to the hospital three times in as many months. Twice for bites and once for a severally sprain ankle growing out of incidents with these animals.
When Ms. Higginbotham's full plan is revealed, I plan to support it and assist her and the group in caring for our animals.
I just wanted to let you know.
Sincerely,
James F. Valley

Silly Havoc

Today, I had Havoc in the shower with me, which I do at least twice a week. I was soaking my pancake tortoise in the sink at the same time, and she had pooped right away. So after I set Havoc on her shower perch I took care of my tortoise, since showers with Havoc have a tendency to be lengthy.

I told her I'd be right back. After I shut the door so she wouldn't fly out, I hear a tentative "squawk?" I call, I'm coming back, don't worry. SQUAWK?? I'll be right there, hang on! SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUAWK!!!! until I open the door, and she's sitting calmly on her perch. I close the door behind me and she says, "Bad Girl!!"

hehehe What a goofy bird. :)

Agility Equipment at Toys R Us!

The AKC Junior Handler's agility equipment is 40% off right now at Toys R Us. These are great if you want inexpensive equipment to practice on at home. It is a little smaller, though, so if you've got a dog 50# or more it probably won't work. They have a bar jump, weave poles that slant, tunnel with detachable chute, and a "tire" jump. It should be on sale through the end of the week.

My significant other bought us the set, and when we got home after agility class, I demonstrated Popper's newfound mastery of the chute. :)

Herding Clinic This Weekend!

I, for one, was delighted to see there was a Herding Clinic in Ohio this weekend (June 14th and 15th), just outside Cincy. Two of my pooches are booked for Saturday, and I will of course be blogging about it! Hopefully with a few pics.

Here's the info in case anyone else is interested:

There's still space available in the sheep and duck herding clinic June 14 and 15! Please email me if you plan to attend.

Here's all the info:

Sheep and Duck Herding Clinic Schedule for 2008

Mark your calendars! Below is the sheep and duck herding clinic schedule for 2008! All clinics will be taught by Kelly Malone and held at the Stocker farm just outside of Lebanon , OH . Please let me know which dates you’re interested in and send me a check at least 2 weeks before the clinic date to hold your registration.

If you’ve never taken your dog to a herding clinic, give it a try! It’s a lot of fun and most of the other dogs are beginners, too!

Check out Kelly’s website for more herding info and events: http://www.karmaperformance.com

------------------------------------------------------

Attn: Herding Dog Owners

Herding Clinics: Maineville , OH (near Lebanon )

All breeds welcome

Sheep and Duck Herding Clinics ’08 event dates:

June 14 & 15; September 13 & 14; and October 25 & 26.

We are scheduling sheep/duck herding clinics for the above dates in 2008. Charlene and David Stocker have again offered the use of their farm in Maineville (just south of Lebanon ), Ohio ( 896 E. Foster-Maineville Rd. ). Kelly Malone (http://www.karmaperformance.com) will be our instructor and she’s bringing sheep and ducks, too! Most of the dogs will be beginners. Come on out and join the fun! Sign up for one day or 2!

The cost is $60 for both days of a clinic (if you can only make it for one day, the charge is $30, please email me a to make sure we can schedule something for you). Please bring cash to the clinic to give to Kelly. There is no need to mail a check ahead of time.

All days will start at 9AM and go until about 4PM. Saturday morning will be instinct testing, and then we proceed to instruction tailored for you in the fenced areas with you and your dog. Sundays proceed the same way if new dogs join. We adjust the day for the attendees and the dogs’ abilities. We all watch and learn from one another as Kelly instructs each dog/owner pair.

If you have more than one dog you’d like to have instinct tested, there will be a $15 charge for each additional dog. However, you can only work with one dog (typically the one with the better instinct). If you also have a non-herding dog, you can bring it so you don’t have to run home to let it out.

Space is limited so please respond as soon as possible. We’ll have the clinics rain or shine – there’s a nice barn we can use in case of rain. There will be water for dogs but please bring crates – depending on the weather, we may not be able to park close to the herding area, and there may be a large number of dogs around. You will also need a crate if you use the restroom, etc. If you cannot bring a crate, please email Charlene Stocker (aussie@aol.com) to see if she may have a crate you can use for the day. You'll also need folding chairs. We’ll send out directions & further instructions to everyone who registers.

Registration is by email should be received at least 2 weeks before the clinic date to hold your registration. Please bring cash to the clinic to give to Kelly.

Any questions, please contact me (Beth) at b_meece@hotmail.com or call Charlene or David Stocker at 513-899-4764 for more information.

Please feel free to give this info to anyone who might be interested.

Maineville is in the northeast suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio

Directions:

Please arrive by 8:45AM to have time to park your car, set up your crate and
get your dog settled in.

Please remember to bring the following:
- Crate for your dog(s) - you will not be able to park your car in the shade
nearby. There is a barn nearby where we can put the dogs in the crates when
they're not herding and a fan to keep them cool. Also, if you have a
non-herding dog feel free to bring him/her with a crate so you don't have to
run home to let him/her out. With possibly a large number of dogs, a crate is recommended. You will need to have your dog crated if you use the restroom, etc. If you cannot bring a crate, please email Charlene Stocker (aussie@aol.com) to see if she may have a crate you can use for the day.

- Water bowls for dogs and a water bottle for you. There's also a pond the
dogs can swim in.

- Lawn chair.

- Sunscreen

- Hiking boots or tennis shoes to wear in the barn and/or pasture.

- Bring your own lunch

The clinic will be held at Charlene and David Stocker's farm, which they
have kindly allowed us to use again.

Charlene's cell number is 513-479-8994 in case you get lost. If you get her
voice mail - leave a message and she'll return your call.

Directions:
(keep in mind Internet maps may be wrong due to construction)

from Dayton :
I-75 S to exit 29 Monroe OH Rte 63 E. Turn left off the exit
ramp. Rte 63 becomes Main St in Lebanon . Stay on Rte 63 ( Main St ) for
about 10 miles and turn right onto 48 S near the BP Station. Stay on 48 S
for about 8 miles until you reach the small town of Mainesville . Turn left
at the only stoplight in Mainesville onto E. Foster-Mainesville Rd. The
place will be on the left in about a mile. The Stockers' address is 896 E.
Foster-Mainesville Rd. When you see the white 3 rail horse fencing, turn in
the next driveway. The driveway has a stone entranceway with coachlights.

from Bellbrook:
Take 42 S to 48 S. Turn left onto 48 S near Wal-Mart.
Stay on 48 S until you reach the small town of Mainesville . Turn left at
the only stoplight in Mainesville onto E. Foster-Mainesville Rd. The place
will be on the left in about a mile. The Stockers' address is 896 E.
Foster-Mainesville Rd. When you see the white 3 rail horse fencing, turn in
the next driveway. The driveway has a stone entranceway with coachlights.

from Beavercreek :
Take I-675 S to the Rte 48 S exit. Go south on 48 for about 20
minutes. When you see the Lebanon City water tower, take the next left,
which is Miller. Stay on Miller and it will become 48 S again. Cross 42
and go under I-71. Stay on 48 S until you reach the small town of
Mainesville . Turn left at the only stoplight in Mainesville onto E.
Foster-Mainesville Rd. The place will be on the left in about a mile. The
Stockers' address is 896 E. Foster-Mainesville Rd. When you see the white 3
rail horse fencing, turn in the next driveway. The driveway has a stone
entranceway with coachlights.

from Springfield :
I-71 South to exit 28 (Rte 48 South Lebanon). Turn right onto 48
south. Go about 5 miles until you reach the small town of Mainesville .
Turn left at the only stoplight in Mainesville onto E. Foster-Mainesville
Rd. The place will be on the left in about a mile. The Stockers' address is
896 E. Foster-Mainesville Rd. When you see the white 3 rail horse fencing,
turn in the next driveway. The driveway has a stone entranceway with
coachlights.

BRAG agility hosts agility trials THIS WEEKEND!

Well, anybody going to BRAG agility's trials this weekend in Powell, Ohio, I'll see ya there! I'm only going one day, and as a spectator (this time), but if you see a shy red and white corgi being walked around by a guy and a woman, well, it's probably me! I'll be taking photos so if your dog is competing let me know what it looks like, I'll go through my photos and see if I took one of your pooch.

Schutzhund suitability

So I was searching for the correct way to spell Schutzhund for a new design I'm creating - and I found quite possibly the best schutzhund page ever!

Directly from their FAQ:

Q. My dog has bitten several people and I think he'd make a great Schutzhund dog.
A. The polite answer is that it depends a lot on the circumstances that induced him to bite. The direct answer is that your dog almost certainly has temperament flaws that make the dog totally unsuitable for Schutzhund. The rude answer is that if your dog bites people and you LIKE that, then YOU have temperament flaws that make YOU unsuitable for Schutzhund.

hahaha it's so rare anymore to hear people tell it like it is. :) If you're interested in the sport of Schutzhund, I suggest you check out Big Sky Schutzhund Club, which is where I found that amusing tidbit.

Ohio wants to ban Pit Bulls

okay, now I'm irritated.

My SO's aunt's maltese was viciously attacked and killed by an off leash Malamute that was roaming her neighborhood. The dog warden, sheriff, etc all told her there was nothing they could do. Now, had that dog been a pit bull, it would have probably been euthanized, and its owners would have been charged with a misdemeanor of failure to control a dog. Sound fair? No, it's not. The owners got off scott-free even though their aggressive animal, which may go on to kill someone else's dog, took someone's loving pet away from them. I mean, at the very least, some kind of fine!

Now the Ohio government thinks it's going to solve some problems by banning pit bulls. An outright ban, not just the "vicious dog law" we currently have. So, if you have a very sweet, loving pit that you are following all the current rules for, guess what? If the bill passes, they will take your dog from you and kill it.

It doesn't matter how nice your pit bull is, if it loves kids, other dogs, or anything else. If you have five acres of 6' privacy fence all the way around, if you have a pit bull that doesn't even have teeth - they'll take the dog and kill it.

I don't even own a pit bull, and I likely never will - AND I AM OUTRAGED! How can anyone allow this to happen? I've met plenty of sweetheart pitties and even more aggressive little chihuahuas and pomeranians who have bit me - are we going to outlaw chihuahuas next? I could bend to the part where anyone wanting to own a powerful breed (including german shepherds, labs, berners, pretty much anything over 60#) should have to have some kind of permit. But to just tell people because their dog had the misfortune of being the wrong breed that they are going to take it away and kill it is just WRONG. Breed specific legislation does not work. (or as I call it, bull shit legislation BSL)


Here's the article from the AKC website:
[Tuesday, May 20, 2008]

Ohio House Bill 568, introduced by Representative Tyrone Yates of Cincinnati, seeks to prohibit the ownership, keeping, or harboring of a dog that "belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog." Furthermore, if this bill is passed and adopted into law, all such dogs will be seized and euthanized. It is imperative that all concerned dog owners in Ohio contact their elected representatives and express their vehement opposition to this draconian legislation.

The American Kennel Club supports reasonable, enforceable, non-discriminatory laws to govern the ownership of dogs. The AKC believes that dog owners should be responsible for their dogs. We support laws that: establish a fair process by which specific dogs are identified as "dangerous" based on stated, measurable actions; impose appropriate penalties on irresponsible owners; and establish a well-defined method for dealing with dogs proven to be dangerous. The American Kennel Club strongly opposes any legislation that determines a dog to be "dangerous" based on specific breeds or phenotypic classes of dogs.

HB 568 unacceptably provides that:

• No person shall own, keep, or harbor a dog that belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.
  
• No later than 90 days after the effective date of this bill, a person who owns, keeps, or harbor a pit bull dog will be forced to surrender the dog to a dog warden.
  
• Within ten days of surrender, the dog warden shall euthanize the dog.
  
• If an officer has probable cause to believe that a dog is a pit bull, the officer may apply for a search warrant. After obtaining a search warrant, an officer shall seize the dog and transfer the dog to the dog warden, who shall euthanize the dog within 10 days.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

All concerned Ohio dog owners should contact their elected representatives and express their strong opposition to HB 568. To find your elected representatives, click here.

For more information, please contact AKC's Government Relations Department at (919) 816-3720, or e-mail doglaw@akc.org.

People who shouldn't own pets

It has long been said that owning a bird is not like owning any other type of animal. Because of their sensitive and highly advanced respiratory system, they are extremely susceptible to all kinds of breathing problems, and you shouldn't burn candles, have oil warmers, or any other kind of fragrance enhancer in your home. They need a very special diet, because the majority of these birds eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, and certain grains in the wild, which are NOT recreated in any pelleted food or seed mix. ANY. The closest I've found is bird-e-licious, which costs an arm and a leg.
What really gets me is when I log onto a bird forum, and all these owners who are supposed to know better, post that their bird drinks tea or plays with the dog. Number one here, tea can kill a bird pretty easily. That's a LOT of caffeine for a little tiny animal. Birds do perfectly fine with water. Filtered water is best. That's all they need. Maybe some 100% fruit juice if you want to add variety. But that's IT! Number two, playing with the dog is extremely dangerous... you can say all you want your dog would never hurt a fly. That's fascinating and all, until you remember dogs are carnivores, and even if his prey drive isn't particularly high (most dogs WILL go after a flapping bird), he could still step on the bird or bat at it playfully, causing serious injury. It's just STUPID to allow your dog to interact with your bird at all.
Am I saying that you're a horrible owner that shouldn't have a bird if you let it drink tea and play with the dog? That's precisely what I'm saying.

Justice for Gage!

Gage's Story

March 12, 2008 was a cool morning (45 degrees) as I drank my coffee on the way to work. Peaceful and calm, with what should have been a great day. The phone rang and my world exploded. My wife was babbling and screaming incoherently into the phone "Gage is dead". "Gage has been shot”.

Shortly after I left for work, my wife had let our Yorkies and Gage out for a quick "potty" break. My wife was at the back of the house when she heard a loud noise come from the back yard. She immediately ran to the back door but Gage was not there. The Yorkies were standing at the door frantically trying to get inside. You could see the awful look of fear in their eyes. She opened the door and yelled for Gage, but for the first time in his life he did not obey. He could not...for he was dying. (Keep in mind, our backyard is over an acre-fenced in)

Where to start? Gage came into our life seven years ago. Newly married and having almost grown children from previous marriages we found the house was getting quite (despite our loving Yorkies) so we talked and decided that we wanted to add another dog to our family. We were deploying overseas and I work nights mostly and I wanted my wife to feel safe. So precious little Gage came into our lives. Gage was not just a "dog" or just a "pitbull" to us. He loved everyone; cats, puppies, bunnies and kids. He made friends easy. He would endure great pain from a small child "as long as he was the center of attention" he was happy.

Gage was about two months old when we moved to the Azore Islands in Portugal. We worked so hard at teaching him proper social skills. We made sure that he knew what "NO" meant and we always had him in large groups so that he would be used to being around people. A stranger was never a stranger as long as he knew we approved. He was taught what his boundaries were, where he could and could not go. The house in Portugal had a three foot high wall and Gage never left the yard unless he was told he could and then he was on a leash. He never showed any interest in trying to escape the safety of “his” backyard. By the time he was six months old I knew my family was safe while I was at the base.

Gage traveled the world with us. He loved everywhere he went. Gage was an adopted brother to my troops and companion to my friends when they were lonely. The cable guy even loved him. He was loved by everyone who knew him except one person, my neighbor.

Ray Stanfill, the neighbor who had a tree cut across my fence and did not fix it. Ray Stanfill, the neighbor who asked for permission to keep his boat on my property because he did not have access to the lake. Ray Stanfill, the neighbor who asked for permission to build a small fishing pier on my land which I had no problem letting him. It was later that I learned that Ray Stanfill, overheard by my brother in-law, taunted Gage on many occasions telling him (Gage) that he was going to shoot him if he did not stop barking.

Mr. Stanfill's story for the day he murdered Gage was that he had seen a snake on his property and went to get his shotgun to shoot it. Keep in mind it was 45 degrees and snakes are cold blooded. On the way to shoot the snake he say's that Gage jumped the fence into his yard and then jumped back into our yard. He said that he was "scared" that Gage was going to jump back into his yard so he shot him. "Sorry I had to shoot your dog." was all he said to us "after" he came back outside when he saw me home. Gage had never attempted to jump our fence. In the seven years Gage was on this earth he never bit anyone, never even tried.

Looking at the crime scene, Gage was dead on our side of the fence, shot through the neck, collar blown off and blood was everywhere. He did not die instantly, for my wife was holding him, trying to stop the bleeding as he breathed his last breath. He was shot at close quarters; the shotgun wadding did not separate from the shot before it entered Gage. Gage was burned from the blast. The fence was not hit from the blast. The only angle the wounds could have been made were for Gage to be standing, all four paws on the ground and Mr. Stanfill kneeling at the fence sticking the barrel of his shotgun through the fence and firing into my yard, into Gage. There were suspicious marks on the back side of his collar that led me to believe either before or after Mr. Stanfill shot him he tried to pull Gage over the fence to his yard to try to prove his story that Gage had jumped the fence. No one gets that close to an animal that they are "scared" of. They would shoot from a distance. The Sheriff's Office issued Mr. Stanfill a summons for Animal Cruelty and told him to get his boat and pier off my property.

The rest off the 12th was a blur spent building a coffin, digging a grave, and laying Gage to rest. We answered over one hundred phone calls as the word spread to former troops and friend in far off places. Everyone wanted to know what happened to the lovable goofball that was always the center of attention. There was a lot of anger and tears all over the world. A lot for a dog, especially a pitbull, but Gage was no ordinary dog to us. He did not have a mean bone in his body.

To add insult to injury, Mr. Stanfill now claims he owns the land and will not move the boat or pier from my property. The sheriff is unable to do anything about the property dispute because they cannot decide the lines without a court order. The legal deed shows none of his property comes close to the lake. If I remove the items from my property I could be at fault. He is going to tie this up in legal fees that I can not afford.

I have warned the neighbors on the other side of Mr. Stanfill to be careful. He has complained about their dogs as well. They said they have had numerous run-ins with him about their dogs.

I want him to pay for what he has done to Gage and my family. Don't take that the wrong way. I don't want money. We only want to see the right thing done. My kids can't sleep and my wife is a mess. My children want to move and I may have to get them counseling. What was a home is now a scary nightmare. If he will do this to an animal what would stop him from doing it to a human or child he does not like.

This morning I watched my wife let the little ones (Yorkies) out and saw her cry at Gage's grave. I stood there watching the scene from the backdoor not sure if they were safe to be out there. Worried about what might happen. No one should have to live this way. No one should have to die the way Gage did.

Please sign the petition to bring this murderer to justice!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/justice-4-gage

It's time for frisbee!

Okay, technically, it's not supposed to be called frisbee - it's "flying disc." Frisbee is a trademark held by Wham-O corporation. Silly, isn't it? I was under the impression that when something became a common use name like that the trademark disappeared. But what do I know?
Anyhow, Roofus is already a "flying disc" dog. He's caught frisbees for as long as I can recall. He's pretty good, too, especially if he's shaved and can see where the darned thing is. I've been teaching Popper, though not with the kind of dedication I did with Roofus, and I'm working on Merlin, too. Once I had them consistently catching from a stand-still with the heavy nylabone frisbee (which falls too fast for learning), I got out the cheapy plastic one and low and behold - frisbee dogs! I can throw it about fifteen feet away from me, they'll scurry after it and snatch it out of the air. We're going to practice that for a while, then go for more distance. After that, it's weaning onto the nylabone frisbee. The bad thing about the more durable flying discs is that they fly faster and fall quicker, being heavier. But the good thing is, you buy one $15 frisbee, and it'll last at least a year. I left Roofus's outside all winter, and we're still using it. it's got a slit in it, and it's pretty gross, but it still flies as well as it did new. Can't say that for $1 plastic ones! Those last me about a day. Unless Roo gets ahold of it. Then they last about 30 seconds.

Renaming Popper "Pooper"

At noon yesterday, I went into the backyard to play with the dogs, when I noticed Popper was behaving pretty strangely... He'd go out to poop, and then as he pooped, he'd suddenly jump up, tuck his tail between his legs, and run to the door, and sit down looking scared. I saw that his poop was liquid and black. Where he sat on the deck, there was more. And it trailed off as he ran off the deck. He would not retrieve his ball at all (a SURE sign something's wrong!!).

I looked black diarrhea up on the internet - and made an emergency appointment at the vet. (not our regular vet, nor our backup - BOTH were unavailable!) Turns out, Popper has colotis, which is inflammation of the colon, probably from eating something (he eats everything). He's on two different meds and a special bland diet. I'm very upset with the brand of the prescription diet, it is something I swore I would NEVER allow into my house, it's so crappy. I would have been happier feeding him some California Natural canned, at least it doesn't have corn or soy in it (and never used BHT in its food either).

Popper was enjoying all the attention his illness got him, and last night he produced a semi-firm poo. YAY!

Another example of owning a bird...

This morning I got my Severe Macaw, Havoc, out for a little TLC before we had our shower together. I had been rubbing her belly through the cage (tickle tickle tickle!) and rubbing her head (at her request, I might add), so I got her out and told her what a pretty girl she is (she tries to anticipate what I'm going to say - but usually goes with "Pretty Boy" instead). As I was withdrawing her from the cage, she suddenly lunged upwards and grabbed my bottom lip.

Long story short, she pierced both my inside lip and the outside of my chin. It bled pretty good for a while, and now I have a fat lip. I had been expecting a serious bite for some time (though this still isn't what I'd consider serious, since many bird owners get sent to the hospital if their bird feels like it). A lot of avian behaviorists will tell you that it's the owner's fault for not correctly interpreting the bird's body language and other tells. Having now experienced the bite myself (and I've been bit other times, just not on the face), I can tell you that's USUALLY true. But keep in mind that animals are capable of deceit. There are plenty of books on ethology that will give many examples of animals lying, most noticeably, of course, in primates. Owning as many pets as I do, I can assure you that lying, cheating, and scheming occurs in nearly all animals.

I do not let Havoc near my face, ever, and she knows it. She is NOT a shoulder bird (though she tries to sneak up there) and she wasn't what I considered close to my face as I removed her from the cage. She purposefully leapt up at my face with the intention to do SOMETHING. Perhaps it wasn't ill-will, I don't know. Maybe she just wanted to grab my juicy looking lip. Maybe she wanted me to shut up. Maybe she just was so overcome with wanted to do something she lashed out. And it doesn't particularly matter to me - I do not harbor any bad feelings towards her. Granted, I did not take my shower with her today - but I think that's understandable. I was a little worried about stemming the blood flow at the time. She is a bird, and birds bite.

I think that's a HUGE part of bird ownership that most people don't understand. There are NO domesticated parrots, no matter what the pet store tells you. Some of the larger birds are only a few generations removed from the wild. You can't expect them to act like a dog or a cat, not only because they are NOT a dog or a cat (and are many times smarter), but because they retain pretty much all of their instincts and behaviors. Parrots allow us to live with them - but every day is a challenge. Body language is a big thing, learning to interpret it correctly can help you tremendously in bonding more closely with your bird, as well as avoiding a lot of bites. But one day, when you're not expecting it, your bird will bite you. It will hurt. You may be bit again. You might have had your pet for years, and you're saying, "This chick's crazy, Baby would NEVER bite me." Toots, you're wrong. It might not have happened yet - but it will. The trick is to minimize the damage by keeping your bird away from your face at all times. And, as I said in my story, even that may not protect you. But it was better for my lip to get bitten than, say, my eye.

You cannot effectively punish a bird for this behavior, though it is conceivable the bird may feel "regret" (I apologize for my anthropomorphizing). Birds are pretty emphatic, and pick up on your emotions fairly easily. Yelling at the bird is also pointless, and may encourage further acts of "aggression." I put quotes around aggression because while we may interpret it as aggression, as I stated early, there are any number of reasons why Havoc might have bitten me. Frustration, rough play, just being Havoc....

My point is, always be cautious when playing with your bird. Do not intentionally allow it around your face and head. Remember that your bird may injure you at any time, it simple chooses not to. This doesn't mean your parrot is a jerk, or aggressive. It means it is a PARROT!

Dogster's GOFA Contest Over

We sponsored the prize for 8th place in the Annual Go Orange For Animals photo contest on Dogster! We are pleased to present our prize to Luckee who won 8th place with a really groovy photo. Congratulations Luckee.

Flyball at Home

We've stopped going to flyball classes for several reasons, and now we are doing this great dog sport only at home. It's going VERY well! The dogs will completely do it all on their own - including triggering the box. At classes, they wouldn't even do a dead retrieve, which they do marvelously at home. Merlin, because he was terrified of everything, Popper, because he is a bit ADD and was constantly worried about where Merlin was. We tried having Merlin and Mickey both leaving the room, but then Popper ran over to the door and would not focus on anything.

So we've been doing it at home, with just three jumps because of the room issue, and they love it. If it can stay dry for more than a day at a time we will move all the jumps outside and do it there. Our backyard is a big mud pit when it rains (and sometimes a pond!) so I CURSE THIS BAD WEATHER!

Happy Adoption Day!

Which just happens to also be April Fool's Day. :) Six years ago I brought Blossom home from the Capital Area Humane Society. She had been waiting for someone for two months, passed over for younger dogs (she was seven at the time) and many were wary of her dalmatian side. I, however, enjoy the company of older dogs, have no problem handling bad doggie behaviors, and brought her home with me.
She's now 13, almost totally deaf, but still as active and spry as she was those years ago. I found her on PetFinder.com, so if you are looking for a dog, purebred or not, look there first! They even have puppies. One might be waiting there for you!
So Happy Adoption Day Blossom! She has a bully spring waiting for her to celebrate. :D

Flyball Box Training

Well, thanks to the good folks over at Dogster.com, I've gotten a few ideas on how to get my dogs to use the box. They were doing great, and then we set the trigger so that they'd actually get the ball sprung if they stepped on it right (which they do). The noise scared them senseless and they didn't want to have anything to do with it again.

Essentially, we're desensitizing them to the noise. We've been working on it in short spurts and it's been great so far. It helps to have three other dogs that aren't bothered by it at all. A person with a lot of treats slowly moves closer and closer to the box, which the other person triggers repeatedly. Treats are constantly given, and no human reacts to the box noise or to the dog's reaction. We've managed to work to within a couple feet with no reaction at all!

We're also putting duck jerky and treats like that all over the box so the dogs get back into the "flyball box is goooood" mode. One has no problem with that at all - the other is still iffish. Our class instructor told us to just not use the box - how silly is that? Can't get used to using something that you never use!

The progress is pretty amazing considering the corgi is a HUGE wimp. Any little noise sets him scurrying away. He has adapted the best to the sound of the trigger mechanism, and yet he's the same one that won't touch the box anymore. Oh well, we're working on it. It's only been two days!

Yay for Squidoo!

I just started using Squidoo, and here is my very first lens: http://www.squidoo.com/flyingsheepdogs

it's all about Old English Sheepdog disc dogs. For all I know, Roofus is the only one, but I figured in case any one else was interested, there you go. I also have an OES Disc Dog design in my online store, which I also wear all the time.

Annual Go Orange For Animals Photo Contest (GOFA)

Menagerie Mayhem is proud to sponsor one of the prizes in the third annual GOFA photo contest. You may submit up to two photos PER DOG, and they must have the dog, you, and orange somewhere in it. You can photoshop them or not. For more details, head over to Dogster.com and sign up your dog for an account. Check out the forums under "Other Barks and Woofs" for a complete list of prizes. Add your dog's pictures to his account using the tag GOFA 08 to be entered. You must submit your photo(s) by April 8th, prizes will be announced April 10th.

Matchbox dog tees and Flyball Updates

In my travels I found a website that takes old matchbox covers and turns them into t-shirts - a very novel idea! I have one on the way for myself, called "The Dog" matchbox label. If you're looking for a cool retro tee you might want to have a look. There are other animals available too, a giraffe, panda, tiger, seal, elephant... basically a bunch of neat stuff. Check it out, the place is called Dream Dogs Art.

In flyball news, Mickey's been working on a flyball box so we can run flyball properly. To buy one online costs between $300-600, which is just obscene since we do this sport for fun, not competition. Right now we use a bucket with a notch and just set the ball on top of the bucket (which we have to weight at the bottom so it doesn't go flying). The dogs run down, grab the ball, and run back. I just introduced my old english sheepdog to it yesterday and he did it correctly on the very first run! Well, he had trouble finding the ball... I need to cut his bangs again. And he's not the brightest animal either. If you're interested in the box plans, we found them at Chakotay's Flyball Equipment Page. We did make a few modifications but it's a good starting point. I don't advise using PVC pipe jumps... there are plans out there for the real wooden ones and they aren't hard to make.

School Defies Agency Order to Admit Service Dog

I'm curious to know how a service animal poses a safety risk to students. I could see where the dog's paws might get stepped on during a class change, but considering service animals have been used in public for decades, I think these school officials are just on a power trip - and it's going to come back to bite them in the butt.

Read on:

BY CARL MACGOWAN |carl.macgowan@newsday.com

March 12, 2008

Defying a state agency's order to comply with New York's human rights laws, a Westbury principal yesterday refused to allow a deaf student to bring his service dog to school.

Principal Timothy Voels stood outside the main entrance of W. Tresper Clarke High School yesterday morning when John Cave, 15, of Westbury, arrived with his hearing dog, Simba. Voels and a sign language translator spoke to the teenager, his mother, Nancy Cave, and family attorney Paul Margiotta as reporters watched from a distance.

John Cave left and did not attend classes yesterday. The minute-long confrontation was the latest salvo in the yearlong battle between Cave and East Meadow school district officials, who have said the Labrador retriever, trained to alert Cave to noises and oncoming vehicles, poses a safety threat to students.

The school's refusal to let Simba attend classes with Cave sets up a possible showdown with the state Division of Human Rights, which on Monday told the district to change its policy on service animals.

"I don't think they know what they're doing," John Cave said of district officials. "I think they're going to be in big trouble with the state."

The human rights agency yesterday did not immediately seek a court order forcing the district to allow the dog into school. "At this point, we are not ready to comment on what, if anything, we may do," spokesman Thomas Shanahan said. Generally, the agency's orders are carried out without having to resort to a court order, state Human Rights Commissioner Kumiki Gibson has said.

On Monday, Gibson said the district's refusal to allow Cave to bring Simba to school constitutes discrimination. East Meadow Superintendent Leon Campo said the district would appeal.

Campo said yesterday the district would allow the dog inside the school if a court orders it to do so. "Whatever the state courts decide, how they rule on this matter, we will abide by," Campo said. "We'll continue to make the arguments that we're not only acting in the best interest of John Cave ... but all the 8,000 students that we are responsible for."

Cave, a sophomore, has hearing implants but doesn't always wear them because he says they are uncomfortable. During the long-running conflict, he has been attending school without Simba, though his family believes separating the two during school hours will cause the retriever to forget his training.

"This has been a terrible, stressful year-and-a-half for our family," Nancy Cave said. "I'm tired of people discriminating against my son."

With Simba lying at his feet, John Cave told reporters he was nervous before school yesterday. "I didn't get enough sleep last night, so I'm going to go home and rest," he said.

New Website Up!

It's not quite done, but I want to get it crawled by google ASAP so it's mostly up. :) It's called Corgi Chaos. It's essentially the same store I have on Cafepress, but I found a lot of other peoples' designs i wanted to offer as well. I didn't get the domain name I wanted, which technically I COULD get since I've had a store called corgi chaos for years... but I'll just wait for this guy's domain to expire and then buy it as it's not worth the trouble at this point.

Fun week!

February 10th (Sunday) we had a gas leak... the gas company came out and turned our gas off. It was about 4 degrees outside. After a quick trip to wal-mart and lots of towels around all the aquariums, we managed okay. It never got below 62 in the house. I took the cold sensitive dogs to my parents' house. Roofus, the sheepdog, was in sheer bliss. He loves cold. I had to move all the birds into the kitchen near a big space heater.

The next day when I got an emergency plumber to fix the problem, the gas company said they wouldn't turn it back on until the following day. Mickey called them back and they were out ninety minutes later. :) You don't appreciate things like heat and hot water until you've been without them! My hot shower that night was absolute heaven.

My Cladiella coral (aka colt or blushing coral) came out fully two days ago. I was pretty happy about that. I haven't seen it fully expanded in what seems like a couple weeks, at least. My duncan coral, though, has taken to not being fully extended. That just started yesterday, not sure what it's deal is. I want to take a photo of it for a photo contest, and I'd rather he was out completely. I've been fiddling with macro mode and I got a few neat shots.

Popper starts flyball tonight! I'm excited. We have jumps and stuff at home, but we don't have the room to put all four out at the same time, and it's too cold to do it outside. He's really wimpy about cold weather (he has dingo fur after all, very thin) so I worry about him at the place... it's not heated at all.

Here's a cool photo of Merlin I got last week. Isn't he cute? I wish he would bring the ball back. He's a very nervous dog, I'm not sure how successful we'll be, but at lessons the woman doesn't even try to get him to get the ball. He's already a pro at coming and going over the jumps, so really it's kind of a waste of our time if we're not going to introduce the ball. He gets the ball every time at home, so he needs to be exposed to it in class as well.

I've been adding flyball designs like crazy, some breed specific. Go look! Buy stuff. :) Keep my pooches in flyball class!

Moving Corals Around

Aside from being harassed by five stir-crazy dogs all day (it's been POURING rain for several days now), I moved a lot of my photosynthetic corals from my seven gallon nano to my ten gallon nano. I recently got an awesome Current USA Orbit fixture with lunar lights that blows away my piddly lighting on the bowfront. I left the pulsing xenia in the seven for now; I want to see how the other corals react to a 4x more wattage light. Normal tanks have 4-5 watts per gallon - my tank has 8! They're chilling on the bottom right now, I'll see how the are tomorrow.

I can't wait till flyball friday... Mickey is going to run Merlin so he gets used to be handled by him, and I'm going to take some photos and videos. If I get some good ones I'll post them. I am a fairly decent photographer so I think we can assume I will get some nice shots. ;) Popper starts flyball the following friday. I feel bad for Roofus but he's a giant breed dog, in addition to being clumsy, and I just see flyball as being very bad for him! I definitely need to walk him a lot that day so he isn't so depressed when the other boys leave.

I bought two Honeywell air filters after my last bird filter bit the dust. It wasn't working well anyway - with all my critters, I could dust, and two days later, it would look like I hadn't dusted in a week. How obnoxious! God knows what was going on in our lungs. After I plugged them in it took about fifteen minutes and I felt WONDERFUL. If anyone is interested, they are the Silent Comfort, model 18155 I believe.

I've been working on the store a lot. Sometimes it feels like it's an uphill battle. :(

New year, new stuff!

I hope everybody had a great holiday season! We added a bunch new designs and many new dog breeds, like the finnish lapphund, catahoula leopard dog, carolina dog (american dingo), estrela mountain dog, and a couple others. We also have a new cartoon dog design that you can find an example of in the catahoula breed section. It's absolutely adorable, if I do say so myself.

We also opened a new store just for bird lovers, Feathered Frenzy! It's got even more designs and more species than our Menagerie Mayhem store.

Our corgi is taking flyball lessons right now at Dogwood Agility. It's a blast! We weren't really wanting to do agility, and he is absolutely obsessed with tennis balls so we figured it was a good alternative. Unfortunately, hardly anyone in Columbus does flyball unless you take hundreds of dollars of THEIR obedience classes! Merlin is already fairly obedient so I don't see the need in wasting my time and money doing that. He is enjoying flyball (though he was really scared at first, being a timid dog) and next session we're going to take Popper too! It's a great way to exercise your dog and bond even closer, and I highly recommend it. Yes, you can probably expect some new designs for flyball! I want to post some photos of merlin doing flyball, but I have to ask the instructor if we are allowed to take pictures first.

Crazy couple of days!

It's been a little nuts around here the past few days... one of my eyes had a corneal abrasion, which i think was from me scratching it all the time (I have really bad eye allergies), and then i had a funky lens which tore the crap outta my eye. So I had to be one-eyed for a couple of days, which set me back on the store and other tasks, because i'm pretty much blind without my contacts.

I had my Christmas present delivered yesterday, Mickey bought me a Story and Clark piano. I thought I had gotten really terrible, but now that I can see again I am pretty good :) I LOVE my new piano.

And my Pandora, (whiteface lutino cockatiel) has yet ANOTHER feather cyst! It's getting obnoxious and expensive to have these things surgically removed every time. Sigh. But that's the price of having pets!

Almost holiday time!!

Well gang, I quit my job at the pet store and now I am an online employee FULL TIME with my own business. Scary? You bet. I compared it to going skiing, riding up the ski lift, and then having to glide off on your own. You might fall and make an ass of yourself as you get off, you might go a little while and then crash, or you might have the time of your life skiing down the mountain.

I've been super busy getting the site ready for Christmas. For me, Christmas prep starts in July. Right now, it's crunch time trying to get everything up. I added some more stuff to the rarer breeds, like the Ibizan Hound. Lots more anime designs since those are just so friggen cute!! Hope you enjoy. If you have a specific breed request, just email me, it's not a problem at all... a lot of the stuff on there is because someone asked for it. :)

Don't forget as you get ready for thanksgiving to keep an eye on those pooches! With lots of people and food around, it's easy for the little guys AND the big ones to get into trouble! Some considerations: getting stepped on, helping themselves to food off the counter (HUGE no-no!), licking the hot oven (yes mine have done that before), escaping out the front door with so many comings and goings.... the best thing you could do is put the dog(s) in a secure room (baby gates are great!) with a nice doggie bone or other chew treat.

It's been a while!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted in here! I've been so busy with the store, I haven't had much time for typing. Well, I've definitely gotten a lot of things accomplished. Right now I'm getting ready for Christmas on the store -yes, you heard me right! I'm adding lots more ornaments and greeting cards. Now we offer single pack cards - so you don't have to get ten of something you might only need one of!

I just wanted to take a second to tell you about a new pricing structure that our printer has thrust upon us... from now on, double sided t-shirt prints will cost more. That sucks. We are trying to delete all double sided shirts from our website, but it's quite likely we will miss a few. Please let me know if you come across any so we can take care of it. It's entirely possible we may decide to keep a couple up - but these are going to be few and far between!

A Sad Day

I had a woman come in today that was in a month or two ago with this situation... She said her canary was very sick, sitting on the bottom of the cage with its feathers ruffled. I said, get it to the avian vet asap. Then I had to hear a line about how last time it cost her $90, he treated the bird for something it didn't have, when it wasn't really sick, it was just lonely, yadda yadda. Whatever. I've heard it all before. She said she could actually take the bird out, snuggle him, and put him back. This is a canary we're talking about. I told her to stop talking to me and get the bird to the avian vet now, if it was that bad it was in dire need. She told me it couldn't be that bad because he had been like that for THREE WEEKS!

Needless to say, she elected to try a store bought remedy. I explained to her that it would not help her pet, that instead, it would make it more difficult to treat the bird when she finally did wise up and get it to the vet. Nobody listens to me. They all know better. And now a poor defenseless little bird is dead because she was too cheap to get it to the avian vet.
Sadly, this woman has other birds. She says she doesn't want any more, and I hope to God she never does get any more. Because they will all die slow, miserable deaths. I don't understand how someone can proclaim to love something dearly and then not provide a basic need, to watch it slowly suffer in agony, which could be prevented, but still professing that they love the animal.

This is one reason why I hate working at a pet store. If you can't afford the pet - give it to someone that can. If your pet is sick and you don't "feel like" taking it to the vet or have "other things to do," do us all a favor and jump off a cliff.

Not the merriest time of year

Everyone can yak on about how this is a time of sharing, giving, brotherly love, yadda yadda yadda... all I can say is, you must not work, nor have ever worked, in retail. Christmas is possibly the nastiest season of them all. People are hurried, rushed, and it's your fault. They tend to be snappier, ruder, more impatient, and it's all your fault. I get more grinches this time of year than all the other months combined. Sometimes people insult you personally, sometimes people act like you have personally wronged them. But I can assure you that customers can be HUGE jerks... and when you're dealing with hundreds of people a day, it really starts to wear you down.

Parrots DO argue with each other

Havoc, my severe macaw, is just learning to talk, and lives in my great room. Pickle, my quaker, lives in the bird room, which is adjacent to the great room. If no birds are out for fly-time, I leave the bird room door open. The coversation between Havoc and Pickle went like this:

Pickle: "Pickle, Pickle, Pickle!"
Havoc: "TICK-LE. TIIIICK-LE."
Pickle: "PICKLE PICKLE PICKLE!!!"
Havoc: "What? TICKLE."

Proof that birds do argue. I hope she didn't convice Pickle his name is Tickle.

The answer to the age-old question....

.... do birds burp?

Yes, they do. And it smells like rancid seed.

OSU Stomps Michigan

Ok, really, it was a very close game. OSU gets kinda weird sometimes when it plays Michigan, the whole psychological thing and all.... But Tressel was hired for one thing and one thing only - BEAT MICHIGAN!!

I took the day off work because 1) I'm an alumni and I shouldn't have to ever miss a televised game 2) uhh it's MICHIGAN 3) no way was I driving to work on campus during a home Michigan game 4) it's MICHIGAN.

Personally, I think all the stores around campus should close the day of the Michigan game. Really, they aren't even justifying staying open with the piddly amount of business they do. Hopefully I'll never work a Michigan game again... think it's too early to put in for a personal day for next year?

dumb and dumbererererer

This seems to be a blog where I complain a lot about retail customers... but really, they're the most fascinating people! You've got to wonder how people like this have existed for so long on their own.

#1
For some *odd* reason, my employees felt this guy needed a fish expert and sought me out. Well, they were wrong. What he needed was a heater for his aquarium. He had a three gallon (yup, 3 gallons!) aquarium HALF full of water (yup, 1.5 gallons!), and wondered why his fish kept dying. He had a couple of mollies! Well, I informed him of the fact that his winter-cold apartment and inky dinky tank were too small for anything, but he could try goldfish. His response was he thought mollies were goldfish. I just KNOW i'm going to end up putting "these are tropical fish that require heaters" on every single tank.

#2
A woman waited on me to finish with above guy. Said she had purchased a relatively expensive automatic litter box a few months ago and it was already broken. She assumed the motor had burnt out (good lord maybe her kitty needs to see a vet!!). She complained about having to buy another kind of litterbox in the mean time (cheapos are like $4). She didn't have the receipt, which pretty much ended it for me as I can't do anything without some kind of proof she got it at my store (and you wouldn't believe how often people try to cheat us!). I recommended she call the company and see what they could do for her in terms of replacement or troubleshooting. Without batting an eye, she informed me that I would call the company for her, and she would try whatever they said, then call me back later to update me... Uhhh ok... Now, if it hadn't been for the fact that we had just went through a really boring seminar on customer service, I would have told her no. And, in fact, I will do that from now on, as I do have certain tasks I have to get done every day and help customers that need help I can provide.

So I call up their 800 number and explain to the guy that this chick is apparently phone shy and that I will have to be the go-between. He asks model number. I don't know! Woman points to her model, I have someone bring it to me, read it off. Operator is annoyed I don't have it in hand. Ohhh, buddy, don't start a pissing contest with me, I guarantee I'll win! So he goes through this reboot procedure, expecting me to do it along with him, which I will NOT do because I am not taking that enormous litter box out and then finding all the little parts I lose and sticking it all back in the box. I write down all the information, along with their number, and hand it to the woman who is just standing there waiting for me. Well, now, she doesn't believe that'll work. Ok, well, I don't care, try it anyway. She wants to know if she has to send it back to them if she has to pay for the shipping. I point out the number I just gave her AGAIN and tell her that they can answer those questions as I haven't the faintest idea.

I am FASCINATED by the people that come into the store. Some treat us like slaves, some like heros, and still others don't even acknowledge our existence. I think I could just sit up in the office and watch people all day long. Retail really sours you on people, though. You get about one bad egg a day, it could be someone trying to cheat the store, somebody using you as a scapegoat, or just some jerk that gets a kick out of tormenting people. I know I'm certainly sick of people. I am definitely a homebody, and sometimes I think if I never saw another person again it might be too soon!

Havoc learns cute new things

I've done really well not making this a blog soley about the cute antics of Havoc, my severe macaw... who sadly is STILL on layaway as I had a few unexpected expenses. However, today, she learned a few new things...

She now flips over on her back so I can rock her like a baby. She doesn't wait to make sure my hands are there to support her - she hangs from my chest and just drops. Thankfully I am pretty watchful!

The other cute thing is I left the office today, with her happily chewing on a pen cap, to do something very quickly and come back... just after i hit the door, i hear her cry, "HAVOC!!!" and poke my head back in to see her running towards the door.

Awww! She didn't want mommy to leave!

On a not so amusing note, I found that Biff, my female plumheaded parakeet, has learned to EXACTLY make the same annoying quaker scream that my quaker parakeet, Pickle, makes. Joy. Now there's two of that god awful sound.

Flea Market Birds??

You may or may not know, but I am getting out of the bird breeding game... since becoming a manager at the pet store and my online store becoming successful, I just don't have the time to devote to the little babies anymore without my own pets losing out. So, I'm selling off all non-pets.

Among other birds, I'm trying to sell a few of the more rare kinds... specifically, a very expensive, very rare cockatiel (I nearly had to have one shipped from Hawaii, they are so hard to find!!), and a pair of fischer's lovebirds, one lutino, one split to lutino. It is almost impossible to find anything even SPLIT to lutino around Ohio. I know, I've looked. I had both of these birds flown in from a special breeding facility in California who is well known in the serious breeder community to raise *the* *best* *lovebirds.* I had each flown in at different times. Between vet checks, shipping, etc, I have about $600 invested into this pair of birds. I'm asking $225 with their cage, toys, and nestbox. (a normal fischer's runs about $75, split $100, lutino $125-150, whereas you can get a peachfaced lovebird for about $40).

Sounds reasonable, right? Problem is, a lot of idiots raise lovebirds. These kinds of people are found in every type of pet - dog, cat, reptile... the ones that are just breeding to breed, to make money, and the animals may or may not be kept in great conditions, are probably overbred, and live short, miserable lives. Kind of like people that sell animals at flea markets. That's disgusting. You'll burn in hell (should such a place exist).

These cheapo type people think that good quality birds are overpriced. All lovebirds should be $50 or less. Indeed, you can find a pair of lovebirds for probably $80. However, my birds are fischer's lovebirds, not peachfaced, which are not as common. These are a particular mutation that is hard to come by in this area. These are from the best breeders in the United States.

I am TIRED of reading e-mails from interested parties that want me to cut my "unreasonable" price down. If you can find anybody selling what I'm offering for less, TAKE IT with my blessing!! You won't. I know of one other breeder in Ohio that raises fischer's, and they have only split lutinos, not full. In asking a reasonable price for my animals, I am ensuring they go to a loving home with people who are getting what they pay for, probably know what they are doing, and most definitely do not sell them at flea markets. One person today wanted me to breed my birds for her to buy the babies out of the nest. GROSS! That's just terrible to do that to the babies. When I raise an animal, I love it start to finish. I am responsible for that soul and I want to entrust it to somebody who feels the same. Shame on you people for wanting me to lower myself and treat these animals like meat.

If you want crappy birds that are unhealthy and genetically weak, then go buy somewhere else. I have standards.

Retail Store Etiquette

This kind of crap happens to me all the time. I'm pretty sure the jerks don't realize how rude they are (but then again, they probably do) so I'm going to point it all out so you can hopefully avoid this stuff. Remember: I may be smiling and acting polite on the outside, but you have no idea what I'm really thinking!!

1) Don't stab me with your credit card. A lot of people just THRUST out their card and poke me in the soft part of my hand. Don't do that. Gently hold it out please. I will get it. I won't drop it. I promise.
2) Don't put your money on the counter if I am holding out my hand for it. That really makes me want to throw the change at your face.
3) Don't move your hand away if I'm giving you your change or receipt in an order that you don't want to receive it in. God forbid you take an extra second to move your change to where you want it. I didn't like playing hot hands as a child, and I don't like playing it now. Take it how I give it to you and move on, I've got a line.
4) Don't ask me if a different store has a certain product. Do I look like I work at that store? Why would I help out a competing store? Do a little research yourself.
5) Don't buy $20 worth of pet stuff and then tell me how spoiled your pets are. I drop more than $20 a DAY. My favorite are the people that buy shitty pet food and then tell me their pets are spoiled. They're not spoiled, they are malnutritioned. Huge difference.
6) Don't bitch about prices to me. I don't set them. I don't care.
7) Don't bitch about us not having a certain item that you want. I don't order them. I don't care.
8) Don't tell me long drawn out stories about how happy your betta is to wiggle around when he sees you coming. That's stupid. And I don't care. I will initiate conversation with you if I feel it necessary.
9) Don't complain to me about the size of the animal's cages - that kind of stuff needs to be taken up with the owner or corporate or somebody waaaay more important. I can't do anything about it and it just makes me feel like I'm a big lump of crap. Go to the top of the food chain.
10) Don't try to return things you bought at other stores. We're actually aware of what products we sell, and what we don't.
11) Don't call the store to get prices on a million items. Come in and shop like normal people. No pet store has a staff just to go around and check prices for people who call. Usually it's the cashier, who usually has a line of people to ring up.
12) Don't assume you know more than the salesperson. I agree, pet store people are notoriously stupid. However, I have not met anybody who has known more about birds than I, except my professors at college, of course. I had to lecture somebody the other day who started to complain about the size of a bird's cage - even though it's bigger than the minimum size AND she gets out ALL the time! Also, I would say I am an expert on fish, turtles, and dogs. So if you're coming to me with a cat question, you've got me. But don't just assume that pet store people don't know what they're talking about.
13) Don't infer that I am lucky to have the job I have. I am terribly overqualified for my current position, and every single time I walk in the front door it is a reminder of how horrible it is to work in this economy with a house payment, car payment, bills, and some fuzzy dependents. And you trying to make me feel like I'm lucky really makes me want to chop my head off.
14) Don't ask to see the manager just to hand her an application. She hates that, it wastes her time. I hate that, it brings her close to my register so she can find something to complain about. Plus, my hands work perfectly well at grabbing and filing an application.
15) Don't ask for the manager if you have a pet question. Ask for whoever is an expert in that area. I don't know how many managers our company has that don't even OWN pets. It's a lot though. We've got one at our store, one at a nearby store..

Ok, I am really tired now. So I'll stop. I'm sure I've got a lot more though. Can you tell I really hate customer service? That's gotta be some of the hardest money ever earned. Well, have a nice night all!

Greenies are not evil.

Wow, a post with nothing in it about the store! :)

So, I'm sure a lot of the dog lovers have heard about the recent Greenies accusations. That said, let me tell you all this. I have worked in pet retail for years. Every time they have a slow newsday, they run that story. It's true. And for the next few weeks, we get a lot of Greenies returned, and after a few months, Greenies sales go back to normal. Every time I tell a customer that this story gets run a lot, they look at me like I'm stupid. WHO WOULD KNOW? You, or the person who sells them? I get absolutely nothing out of selling you Greenies, why would I make something like that up? They also run the story about dogs that need adopted, about puppy mills, and about "designer" (in other words, mutts) dogs. They rotate them pretty regularly, but you hear all four stories in a year, every year.

Now, back to Greenies. I feed my dogs Greenies. I am not stupid, uneducated, or foolhardy. In fact, I find that most of the people that refuse to feed Greenies after watching the news have not researched it farther than that. Let me be the first to tell you that there is no such thing as an unbiased media source. I don't watch the news if I can help it - they make everything out to be ten times worse or ten times better than it actually is. It drives me nuts. They can take something like a person tripping over a tree root into this long, horrible story. So, number one, don't trust the news. You have to sift through many, MANY different sources, from both sides, to find out what you think. That means you've gotta use your noggin. You may not arrive at the same conclusion I did, but well, this is my blog and only my opinion is going to be represented. So nyah.

Again, keep in mind that I have a degree in Zoology, and years of experience in pet retail, dog kennels, dog training, and at a vet's office.

Greenies are not evil. Greenies help prevent tooth and gum diseases that could otherwise cause your dog illnesses and even death. According to the Greenies people, the recent case is the first one they've been contacted about. So if there are all these problems with Greenies, why are they just getting official complaints NOW? I'm not saying Greenies are perfect. If anything, we've learned there is no perfect dog treat. Greenies are not 100% digestible. Duh. Nothing is. If it were 100% digestible, then your dog wouldn't poop. And dog food companies would make food like that. Can you imagine how great it would be for a dog not to poop because it has absorbed everything in its food?? Yeah, it's not going to happen people.

If your dog swallows a big chunk of anything, you're going to have problems. That's why you've got to supervise your dog when you give it treats and chews. They're like little kids, always getting into trouble! Case in point? My sheepdog, Roofus, at about four months, got a lamb bone (from the pet store, $1.29) for a chew. The next day, he had an intestinal blockage. $620 later, he was ok, but sheesh. Did I sue the bone people? Did I rant and rave about unsafe bones? No. My other dogs did, and continue to, do fine with those bones. Now I know not to give Roofus any of that kind. He does well on Greenies, which he only gets occasionally as they are really expensive and have a very high protein level.

Nothing is safe, watch your dog.

Yes, I've seen the photos of dogs getting Greenies removed surgically. I've also seen the photos of dogs getting pieces of the sofa removed, keys, pennies, remote controls, carpeting, etc removed. SUPERVISE YOUR DOG. If he can't chew that stuff, don't give it to him or give him the Lil Bits they've got. If he likes to chew your sofa while you're away, lock him in a crate until you get home or restrict him with a baby gate. Pet owners are not helpless, you need to use common sense and do what's best for your pet without bashing everybody around you.

The whole Greenies thing actually reminds me very strongly of McDonald's and the coffee thing - the person suing them because the coffee was too hot and they got burned (loser). Yeah, coffee is hot. Now McD's has signs up all over saying how hot the coffee is. Trouble is, Greenies has always put "Supervise your pet while chewing" on every single bag of greenies. I guess you could beat people over the head with a jumbo greenie, but I somehow think they still won't get the point.

I'm just tired of people harassing me about Greenies when they don't know what they're talking about. After the tenth customer of the day it gets pretty old. I'm sorry you don't like Greenies, I really doubt I'll change your mind. But it doesn't make me stupid or uninformed, quite the opposite. Some people at the pet store actually DO know what's going on. Too bad the customers don't.

New Dog Scuba Diving Designs

I have recently started making dog scuba designs. Of COURSE I started with corgi... don't ask why. There's just something about those nubby little legs!! I love to scuba dive and I didn't see any reason why doggies shouldn't be able to do it too - on shirts, of course! So far I have the dalmatian and the corgi. Hopefully I'll get a beagle and sheepdog up soon, perhaps the border collie. How do I decide which breeds to do? Well, I usually start with the breeds I own, and then if one catches my fancy or if I sell a lot of a particular breed, I'll do that one next. These are some cute designs, I've got powder blue tangs (Dory from Finding Nemo), a boxfish, a red crab, some great looking coral... Check em out at http://www.cafepress.com/menageriemayhem/1236846

I also added a few new doggie tees! A "Property of Obedience School" shirt, "Obedience School Dropout," and "It's my party and i'll bark if i want to!" t-shirt. I'm always looking for cute or catchy sayings for these shirts so keep checking back for more. :)

St. Patrick's Day Design!!

Nobody gets sicker of St Paddy's Day than I do. Suddenly everybody's Irish, and it's beer, beer, beer. So, I decided to make a St. Patrick's Day design that actually FEATURED something irish - an irish wolfhound! I personally love these guys, because they are big and hairy with their outta control hair! My new design shows him inside a circle, holding a beer mug, and around the outside it reads "Famous Seamus Lager." I want to feature this product on more irish breeds, but right now I am concentrating on the bird section. The Mid American Exotic Bird Society (http://www.maebs.com) has their big Columbus bird expo in two days!! I'm donating a few of my "Be" line t-shirts, so I am trying to get as much done as possible before the show. I'll be at the expo, cya there!

Dog breed silhouettes

I've been working on a lot of dog breed silhouette merchandise for the past few days. These products are only found in the "by breed" sections, and I'm doing them in no particular order. So far I have about twenty four breeds done, including the yorkie, porcelaine, harrier, borzoi, otterhound, and many others. The products these designs are currently available on are the white t-shirt and bumper sticker. Right now the design is an "i", then a heart, and then the dog breed silhouette.

Here's a humorous story for you about my real life pet store job -
It's been VERY cold at work... we come in each morning, and it's 64 degrees. Obviously, we're cold. The animals are cold. Finally corporate decided to do something about it, and sent an HVAC guy. The guy pokes around, and we find something very interesting... we don't have a gas meter! We haven't had one probably since we've opened; our gas bill is always the minimum. So that's why it is so cold - we live on solar energy and from the store next door. I really have to wonder why nobody at corporate wondered about these $12 gas bills in the middle of January. At the same time, I wonder if someone DID notice, and decided since we weren't actively complaining, to just ignore it. I bet on the latter.

Another story...
Took the boys to the park today. It's a park that has offleash hours for your dogs. I was walking along to the back where the rest of the dog owners were (they meet in a different section of the park each day to avoid disturbing other activities), when this dad playing t-ball with about a dozen kids over to the side started yelling at me to "leash those dogs!!" I had several good responses that I yelled back, including "why don't you leash your kids?" Unfortunately, Roofus chose that moment to run over and poop by them. Sigh. So I march over to clean it up. Unfortunately, the boys all ran over with me, and of course, puppies and kids, well, the dogs were overrunning the kids so I just turned away and the dogs followed me. I never did get to clean up the dog poo. Oh well. I tried. I still don't know why you would go to the park during offleash hours and yell for people to leash their dogs. That's kind of... stupid.

woohoo!

Well guys, I started out my little store at the end of October, shortly after I discovered I was going to need gallbladder surgery - and I don't have insurance! (needless to say, the store has paid for my surgery many times over!) Since the launch of Menagerie Mayhem, though, my Google pagerank has been a big fat ZERO. I started marketing the snot out of it - links, paid ads, classifieds... if i could find a way to sneak my name in there, i did.

And, well, today, three months and some later, it paid off. Today my Google pagerank went from squat to FIVE! A big FIVE!! Yay! Thanks to everybody for making this happen, because it would not have without you! I look forward to bringing you a wide variety of pet merchandise for years to come.

Tons new designs!!

I created many more designs today! Also, all the breeds (minus irish wolfhound and soft coated wheaten) have "is my furry kid!" bumper stickers now. :)

New designs:
Born to Run! Celebrating Greyhounds and their athleticism.
Race to the Foodbowl This is available in either brown or gray. It's a cute design I just thought up today for greyhounds. It reads, "The only thing my greyhound races to now is the foodbowl!"
Chow Chow A new fuzzy design! Of COURSE I couldn't forget the chow! They're one of the fluffiest breeds!
I added a new Miscellaneous section, including t-shirts that aren't breed specific. I'm going to try to get a lot of dog humor in there. :) There are a few new designs, "Some people have kids, I have dogs!" and a really cute "peace, love, pawprint" design.
Fat Dog Products! This is just hilarious! A big fat mutt dog has just sat on his human kids!

Another new corgi design!!

I know, I just can't stay away from those darned little corgis... but come on, they're so darned cute! Imagine what I have planned for my FAVORITE dog breed, hehehe!!

This design is for the dirtbike riders out there... it is a freestyle motocross design. Merlin the corgi throws a sick trick on his red dirtbike. He does a can-can, a trick where the rider has to swoop one leg over to the other side and then back again before he lands. So this design is called the Corgi Can-Can!

New breeds, new corgi design!

I know, I said no new breeds... but I did forget a few retrievers so I HAD to add them!! :) I added the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Flat-coated Retriever, and Curly-Coated Retriever. Enjoy!!

Also, I have an AWESOME new design... I was putting on my bluejackets jersey, and I realized, hey, merlin would look GREAT as a hockey player! Thus the Columbus Corgis was born! I plan on creating a few more merlin designs too, so if you love pembroke welsh corgis, be sure and check it out! The link to my Columbus Corgis design is http://www.cafepress.com/menageriemayhem/1203071 . I want to get one of him as a motocross rider up soon. :) Hopefully get a few other breeds in there too!

Terriers... Shepherds.. Hounds... oh My!

Added some great new designs today! I have this one design on my store I call "Parrots." I know, very unique, right? Well, I took the same concept for dogs! I take a certain type of dogs, we'll say, Shepherds. I put SHEPHERDS on a t-shirt, distress the words a bit. In front of THAT, I put a type of shepherds in a pretty blue font that is NOT distressed. Say, Australian. This is the result: http://www.cafepress.com/menageriemayhem.47402178 . View a larger image to really get an idea of the design. I have them designed right now for all the shepherds, hounds, and terriers available on my site. Quite a few!!

Oh, and a shout out to 4 Crazy Dogs for affiliate linking me, I've been getting some hits off there. She's got some nice stuff, be sure and stop by!

Late night...

Working on making more "My is my furry kid!" bumper stickers. They will be available for all the dog breeds I carry... eventually. They are quick to make but take a long time to post up and categorize.

Here's an interesting story about my real life job today.. I work at a pet store. This woman comes in, to the pet store, the PET store, to buy some food for her puppies. I had out a quaker parakeet, trying to get her used to people (she's VERY shy, and shy birds don't sell), because we were slow and well, that's my job. This woman heard the bird call and immediately jumped back about ten feet. She asked where the bird was, and a nearby employee informed her that I (the cashier) had a bird on my shoulder. The woman was terrified. I thought she was going to cry. I had the employee come get the bird so he could put her away for the woman, and as soon as he had the bird she ran into an aisle and hid. She called out that she was scared of every kind of animal and to keep them away from her. I guess she was petting some dogs the owner said was really nice and she was bitten three times (which tells me she doesn't know how to read dogs at ALL).

Eventually she got brave enough to come check out, even though we had already put the bird away. I am still fascinated by the fact that the woman was close to losing it at the very thought of being near another animal, and yet she came into a PET STORE. I mean duh. If you are that terrified of animals, don't go into a store that sells them. I can't keep the parrots caged all day long, that's cruel (and it will eventually make them mean). Seek medication. Have your boyfriend pick up the food. Something. I am claustrophobic. I don't go to places that have small spaces. If you're afraid of animals, don't go somewhere that may have them. We do get a lot of arachnaphobes in our store, and that's ok, they just take a wide berth around the tarantulas. They don't have panic attacks.

I also had a man that insisted that his plecostomus was going to die because it had eaten all the algae in his aquarium and now had nothing to eat. I informed him that algae was always growing in his tank whether he could see it or not, but he insisted on seeing the algae wafers, because a "professional" (and he surely did emphasize that word) told him that he HAD to feed it those. Now, it is completely unnecessary and even harmful to feed your single pleco an algae wafer everyday. Not only is your pleco now going to grow like mad, he won't eat the entire wafer (until he is bigger anyway), so there is a whole lot of waste in your tank. So I was annoyed on two different levels, one, that what I said meant nothing, and two, that I wanted to throw my degree in his face (I have an emphasis in icthyology), but I would also be pretty embarassed that I only work at a pet store. So. I guess the moral is, don't spend money on things that you don't need, and don't assume the person working at the store is stupid until that is proven.

More store updates tomorrow......

Getting so much done today it's crazy..

I spend my days off from my day job working on my online store. I know, I'm pathetic. But it is enjoyable, and the more time I spend on it, the better it gets, and the more sales I get! Plus, look at all the new species I added today:
Black-Capped Conure
Blue-Throated Macaw
Dusky Conure
Golden-Capped Conure
Grand Eclectus
Green Cheeked Amazon
Green-Cheeked Conure
Half-Moon conure
Lilac Crowned Conure
Maximillian Pionus
Mealy Amazon
Military Macaw
Noble Macaw
Patagonian Conure
Peach-Front Conure
Plum-headed Parakeet
Red-Sided Eclectus
Solomon Island Eclectus
Senegal Parrot
Vosmaeri Eclectus
White-Fronted Amazon
Yellow Headed Amazon

That's quite a list! All categorized by species and everything. I'd like to get little drawings done for everybody too, but it looks like that's going to take years. My desktop is literally covered in post-its for ideas and plans I have for this store. At the moment, I have no plans to add any other species to the store UNLESS specifically requested to. I am carrying quite a few rare bird species, so I don't expect to see a lot of sales from them, but I don't want to clutter up the store any more than it already is unless there are some people out there that would like their species on a t-shirt.

A word on custom work... it doesn't cost you squat, unless you don't want it available for anyone else. Then it depends on what it is, etc. I'm not going to spend a couple hours on one design to get four bucks from it, ya know? That's $2 an hour!

Also, dealer inquiries are welcome! Purchase 15 or more of one type of item (t-shirts, stickers, etc), get a big discount! Purchase 50 or more, get an even BIGGER discount! These things sell like hotcakes at bird fairs and other bird shows. Contact me at susan@menageriemayhem.com if you're interested.

I might be getting a yellow-collared macaw here in a week or so... I prefer a female, and the DNA is going on now, plus I haven't gotten a final cost yet, so there are a lot of things hinging on that. So if I get the bird (which I have already named Havoc in my head), you're going to see a LOT more mini macaw products showing up! I've already got plans for a few. I'm hoping to get out a lot more Christmas ornaments this year too.

Danger Parrots!

I discovered that I had apparently made a LOT of DANGER: This Vehicle Protected by a (whatever), bumper stickers! So today I posted them all. There were a couple new species though that I have not yet given their own sections... I hope to have the four species of eclectus up tomorrow, as well as the new birds. Hurray hurray, the birds have all been arranged alphabetically by species for easy navigation! What could be simpler than that? Just select your species and see everything that is available for that particular bird!

Rainbow Lorikeet Mayhem!

I started adding a lot of Rainbow Lorikeet designs today... I did a cute "Rainbow Lorikeet On Board" sticker for your car, available in bumper, oval, or rectangle, a "Danger" sticker, a tropical lightswitch cover, a Christmas ornament, a "Four Birds" design (which is REALLY colorful!)... I also plan on adding the Rainbow Lorikeet to the "Be" section as BE SPECTACULAR or BE BRILLIANT. More to come, of course!