Dogs AVailable for Adoption

These dogs are available at the North Platte Animal Shelter, 1402 N. Sycamore. Hours: 1-5:30 pm, M-F



This beautiful brindle pit female came to the shelter as a stray. If you've ever heard the expression of the tail wagging the dog, that fits this gal. When her tail wags, get out ot the way because her whole body shakes and wiggles. She took treats very gently when offered some. REMEMBER: The Responsi-BULL spay and neuter program continues through August. She can be spayed for $25 or perhaps less than that.

This Weimaraner/Doberman X is a real beauty. It's scared of the strange noises and smells at the shelter. Look at those eyes - they are pleading for someone to make everything OK.

Doreen is an energetic Black Lab. All she needs is some TLC and a good family to care for her. She's been at the shelter for a while. Please consider Doreen if you are looking for a good dog.

Meet Butterscotch, a female Corgi/heeler X. She's 4-6 months old. She was surrendered on Monday afternoon, so she is available for adoption immediately. She is an outdoor dog and is good with kids.

Tank is an intact male Corgi/heeler X, about a year old. He is an outdoor dog (which means he's not house trained - if you want him as an indoor dog, you'll need to house train him) and he's good with kids. He was surrendered Monday afternoon so he's available immediately for adoption.

Two photos and a rant

Two volunteers outstanding in their field.

OK, dumb joke, but that's what came to mind when I saw these two corn stalks towering over a field of soybeans.

This little fellow lives somewhere around the caboose/tourist information center where I am working this summer. Every afternoon he ventures out to nibble some tender blades of grass. He blends in quite well, doesn't he? He doesn't let me get very close, so thank goodness for a camera that lets me zoom in on him.

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THE RANT: About 7:15 p.m. yesterday I was at the grocery store. According to the thermometer on my car it was 88 degrees outside.

When I came out of the store, there was a van two cars down from me and inside were two dogs. The one may have been a bulldog cross and the other was a beautiful German shepherd puppy, maybe 6 or 7 months old.

The owner had left the driver and passenger windows down about 7 inches or so. Both dogs had their noses out the open windows. Can you imagine how hot it was inside that car?

I sat and watched as people came out of the store with their packages.

Surely it was these two teenagers who had so thoughtlessly put their pets in danger. No, they walked right on by.

A disheveled man with a scruffy beard came out of the store. It had to be his dogs. No, he walked on by, too.

The well-dressed woman didn't look like she would be carrying dogs around in her car and certainly not exposing them to the heat. I was right. She walked on by.

One of my purchases had been a bag of ice cubes, so while I waited and watched, I found a pair of pliers in my car and picked up an ice cube (I wasn't sure if they were friendly or not). I tried to give it to the dog through the window. The boxer took a few licks but didn't offer to take it. The puppy would have taken it but I couldn't reach him in the back seat.

After 20 minutes I decided to drive around the store and keep returning until I could see the dogs were OK. I actually considered calling the police, but I didn't.

As I was driving off, a middle-aged woman came out with her cart full of groceries and began putting them in the back of the van. I wanted to confront her, but I also didn't want to create a scene in a public place.

I do, however, have the name of the ball team her daughter (or granddaughter) plays on and her son's name and what soccer team he is on. I'm not psychic - there were stickers on the back window.

According to an article on thefuntimesguide.com/dogs:

Leaving your dog in the car during the summer (even when it doesn't seem all that hot to you) is similar to putting your dog inside of an oven! Seriously. The temperatures heat up so quickly that your dog becomes completely helpless when trapped inside the car on a hot day.

Believe it or not, leaving the windows partially open is NOT enough. Parking in the shade WON'T keep the car cool enough either.

They sweat differently too. Dogs sweat by panting and by sweating from their paws. However, a dog trapped in a hot car cannot effectively rid its body of enough of the heat by panting and sweating -- simply because there's not enough cool, fresh air to replace the heated, stale air.

You can read the complete article here:

http://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2010/06/dog_hot_car.php

If you are going to be getting out of your vehicle for even a few minutes in the heat of summer, please, please leave your dogs at home.

Worth Reading

What, you might ask, do those who write blogs read? Other blogs, of course.

Here are four I read fairly regularly, or as often as they post.

http://notanaffliction.blogspot.com/2010/06/good-bad-and-hopeful.html

Meredith writes The Ryan Files. Meredith's son has autism and she blogs about the small triumphs and joys in Ryan's life, but she also blogs about the frustrations of everyday life with Ryan. I do not know anyone with autism or whose child has autism, so I can understand only superficially. Meredith writes beautifully and honestly. I always come away from reading her blog having learned something new, and to celebrate tiny successes and achievements, no matter what the potential level.

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http://thrivingafter40.blogspot.com - J.R. Davis

What happens once you enter that stage of life known as "middle age"? Sometimes a person drops into a deep depression, or goes the other direction and lives as if there is no tomorrow. Others may get back into the work force now that their children are grown and out on their own, or they may throw themselves into volunteer work. J.R. Davis tries to blog through all that, and more. It's a new blog, and easy reading.

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http://www.outbacknebraska.com/2010/06/buffalo-bill-rodeo.html
Muriel, who works at the North Platte Convention and Vistors Bureau, writes beautifully about the southwest/western part of Nebraska. Of course, much of what she writes has to do with events that are taking place at the time. The link above takes you to the Buffalo Bill rodeo and gives you a photo tour of a top-notch rodeo during NEBRASKAland Days. Tomorrow she may be blogging about wild flowers or making homemade bread. It's always a surprise, but it's also always interesting.

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http://jos-dogblog.blogspot.com/
Jo is a newbie to blogging, but she does it so well I hope she continues. Jo is a member of PAWS-itive Partners Humane Society in North Platte and is one who doesn't just talk, but also puts her heart into action. Jo's speciality seems to be taking in abandoned, pregnant female dogs and helping them get through the birth of their puppies right up to the time the pups are old enough to be sent to their new fur-ever homes. Jo's love and compassion for abandoned and abused dogs shines throughout her blogging and you can't help but smile at some of her stories.

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I hope you'll take a look at these blogs. I think they are worthwhile reading.

What is Home to Me?

What is Home to Me?

by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley

We have been traveling for two weeks. We had a pleasant drive across this beautiful country of ours.

It was so much fun to surprise Eric Dodge for his CD release party. The name of his new CD is "Home To Me!" I think this is so important to all of us.

What is home to you? Just before we left on our trip, Robert came home from playing chess with a pitiful look on his face. He had seen this sad, abandoned dog living in a pile of trash. He had tried to coax the dog to get into the car with him. He asked if I would go back with him the next day. We had plenty of daylight left so away we went to rescue this poor skin-and-bones pup. We took with us some dog food, a harness and a leash.

The poor dog was starving, yet he would not get into the truck. Robert got down on the ground with him and he was not scared. I joined in the acceptance game and he let me pick him up. He hardly weighed 20 pounds. Every rib was showing. He was as skinny as Shadow was when we found her. When we got home our other dogs went nuts. All three of them got out the front door and started sniffing around. Then all at once they took off. The only dog on a leash was the new rescue dog.

We put the rescued dog in our two-acre fenced-in back yard. He was terrified of the back stairs. Our dogs have gotten out before and are usually home by morning. Shadow showed up but the other two were wild mountain dogs following every scent they smelled.

By the time we were ready to leave on for Utah on Saturday, our other dogs were still not home. Michele along with Nikki and Demos were going to look after our critters. They found that we had a new dog in the family. We joked that Michele was going to quit if we got another critter.

Michele fell in love with our new addition. He looked just like her dachshund, Oscar, in the face. After the first night on our back deck, we woke up to find a pile of assorted things the dog had gathered up. He had built himself a home! God has a weird sense of humor; either he had sent us a dog who was a hoarder, one that was environmentally conscious or one that was going to teach me a lesson by showing me my outdoor hotspots!

While we were gone, Michele discovered his name. He grabbed her Harley Davidson purse and took off with it. He has the need to have fabric and leather around him. Maybe he is just an interior decorator at heart. So from this, she named him Harley. It is like having a two year old in the house. Clyde Brooks said the dog was about eighteen months old.

After a week, our two runaways had not returned home. I put in a call into the animal shelter. Later that morning, Michele got a call from someone who had rescued our runaways.

The sad part is Gypsy, who always followed her nose and the creek, was hurt. Several wonderful people had tried to save her. Ginger would not leave her side. Kelly Toms and her father had to stop traffic on a Hwy 276, which is a long way from our home. Nita Hunt from Pure Pets and her daughter Ella took Gypsy to the Western Carolina Regional Emergency Animal Hospital in Flat Rock. Our precious Gypsy died on the way but I am told that she was being loved the whole time by these teenage girls, Ella and Kelly.

We now think her heart just gave out from her wild adventure since she was not bleeding. Michele went to retrieve Ginger from Annie Probisch at Tail Waggers in Penrose. Ginger is now home teaching Harley a few manners, like don't chase the cats, no jumping on the furniture and don't take the birds' food.

I would like to thank all the good Samaritans who tried to help Gypsy and Ginger: Kelly Toms and her father, Nita and Ella Hunt, Annie Probisch, Artie Wilson and Chuck Byrd from the Transylvania County Animal Shelter, Western Carolina Regional Animal Hospital and our Vet Clyde Brooks.

I am thankful there are good people in the world who will go out of their way to help a happy living thing!

What I have discovered is that home is the place you come back to after you have gone on an adventure. "Home to Me" is about being surrounded by the unconditional love of your pets.

Home is also the place you make for yourself. You take what you have been given and turn it into a home. Despite the fact that Harley likes to pile things up and follow his nose all over the place, I believe he has found his home, too. The more secure he feels knowing where his next meal is coming from and that he is loved, the less he will need to gather up things. Now if I could just teach him to focus instead of getting sidetracked following his nose from one thing to another. This is a lesson we all could learn. There is no place like home!

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out her website and join her free mentoring group at http://www.flylady.net/ or her book, Sink Reflections published by Bantam and her New York Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission in this publication.

Doggone it! Spay and neuter your pets

I've been involved in a couple sad situations today and it makes me a mixture of mad and sad.

Two families are having to give up ownership of their cats. Not because they want to, but because they have to do so.

The one family had two cats that were indoor/outdoor cats. Then they moved and the cats had to become indoor cats because of the high traffic around their house. Then a baby came into the home. All of this had to be very stressful to these cats. When it's a matter of your child's allergies or your cats, then of course the cats have to go. I've been there, done that.

The other family has four cats and is moving into an apartment that does not allow pets. Sami, the gray cat, is 15 years old. He should be at the place in his life where he can live out the rest of his years with loved ones and being loved and pampered.

The sisters are Cuddles, the dark gray and orange cat, and Coco, whose picture wouldn't save for some reason. It would be nice if they could be kept together.

Chester is the 'fat cat.' Isn't he a docile and beautiful cat?

I'm not upset with these two families. They have been responsible pet owners and had their pets spayed and neutered. They have given them love and good care.

The problem is, I'm trying to help them find new homes for their beloved pets and the shelters and humane societies are filled to the brim with small kittens.

We can't do anything about the cats and dogs already in this world, but we can make sure the overpopulation stops with what is already here.

There are programs that will help you spay or neuter your pet if you can't afford it. Please stop the suffering right here, right now. Help us take care of the pets that are already here.

A year ago maybe you didn't know better. Maybe you didn't know there were programs to help you spay or neuter your cats and dogs. But today you do know and you have the power to stop the problem.

If you need financial help, please ask your veterinarian to refer you today to a group that can help you do the right thing.