A Good Language Discussion

ThatMutt.com has a nice post and discussion on the issue of "guardian" versus "owner".

I have different opinions than Lindsay does, and I offer them in the comment section. It is good to make informed decisions, and I think both sides are represented in the post and comments.

I also like this paper which delves into this very issue: http://sjalp.stanford.edu/pdfs/Hankin.pdf.

Share your thoughts here or over at Lindsay's article. Play nice and respectful-like. :)

Celeste is Running

Celeste running is so fun to watch. She is gracefully powerful. Mina is not as pretty. She is a bowling ball of muscle. Where Celeste can stop on a dime, Mina sails fifteen feet past. Mina gave up on trying to catch Celeste. She just waits for Celeste to come barreling past and makes a valiant attempt at catching her. It rarely works, Celeste is so fast.

Little Western Bluebird

In a Far Off Land

There lives the Germingo. A rare Mexican Dingo bred with an all too common German Shepherd and birthed the almighty Germingo. Blue eyes optional.

Putz Didn't Sit on Command, Obviously Needed to be Killed

Last year, a woman was spit on and her dog kicked by her ex-husband. When the ex-husband went to punch the woman, the dog grabbed the man's wrist. He did not puncture the skin. He grabbed, nipped, and let go of the man's wrist.

The dog, Putz, was taken by Minneapolis Animal Care and Control, and was evaluated after three months of confinement. He was neutered, at the expense of his guardian. She paid for his kenneling costs as well.

And then they went and killed him.

"Minneapolis Animal Care and Control provided the following observations as justification for PUtz's euthanization:
•    That Putz was territorial and guarded his cage.
•    That he didn’t sit on command.
•    That he didn't respond to the vet’s touch. Ignored her patting."

I was unaware that being untrained constituted a reason to kill a dog. Or being a territorial, social animal. Or not responding to a strange person's touch in a strange environment. Who knew? I mean, shit, Mina doesn't always sit on command, I should probably just kill her. And Celeste? Like when she needs to poop, she has zero recall skills - BLUE JUICE FOR YOU!

""large, has great strength and no particular interest in pleasing people, it is my opinion he is not an acceptable pet.""

That's a veterinarian. For one, a veterinarian is not a behaviorist. She is not an experienced dog trainer. For two, like has she even had dogs? What would you expect of a dog confined for three months in a shelter with no appropriate social interaction and no outlet for his frustration or pent up energy? The size of a dog is moot. The strength of a dog is moot, considering this dog exhibited extremely good bite inhibition when he didn't just eat the guy's arm. Pleasing people is not a trait that is necessary in order for a dog to a) enjoy a home w/ people; b) be good around people or c) be adopted. Dumb reasoning to take the life of a dog.


The woman wanted him back. She could not have him back in the state of Minnesota, because as a person with a felony on her record, she can only own dogs under 20 lbs. According to the animal protection group advocating for Putz, a sanctuary was willing to take the dog and not adopt him out. A judge denied that option.

So instead the dog who showed incredible bite inhibition during an act of protecting a member of his pack is dead.




This woman was not only a victim of domestic violence and abuse, she was a victim of a system that provided more protection to her abuser than to the beloved companion dog who saved her from a sucker punch to the face, possibly worse.

26 Years Ago: The Challenger

From last year's post:

When I was five, I remember with excitement - along with all my other Kindergarten classmates - preparing to watch the first teacher, Christa McAuliffe, fly into space aboard the shuttle Challenger.

Schools across the country gathered their students, turned on the television to watch a teacher, one of our great educators, fulfill every child's dream of going to space, of traveling somewhere so foreign.

For 72 seconds, they were "normal" astronauts, lifting towards the stars. The next second, they disappeared.

For many of us young children, it was perhaps our first experience with death, that incomprehensible moment when a person, full of vitality and spirit, is here and then suddenly gone. I don't know if I understood the magnitude of that explosion, the arcing and billowing smoke. I knew it was not right.

How awkward it must have been for our teachers left on earth, left to face horror-struck children, left to try and explain what had happened.

We are all little moments in time. Beautiful, perfect moments. Cherish the seconds you have. It means something. I know it meant something to me as a 5-yr-old kid sitting in that California classroom. It means something to me now. For McAuliffe and the other astronauts, those 72 seconds were amazing and chilling and wondrous. But I wish I could erase that 73rd and bring them all back to be with us here on earth. I'm sorry I can't.

The Perfect Dog

Is this not the most perfect dog?

True Story

Yesterday I ran an errand before work, so I was an hour late.

I get a call from my friend and colleague.

Hey, what's up?

I was just calling to make sure you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere.

Um, thanks? Glad to know that's your first thought when I'm not on time!

But it did get me thinking - would anyone do that for you? Personally, I am glad to have a friend who checks in, even if it is to see if I'm dead in a ditch. : )

The Only Body Part Showing

When Mina sleeps - always under cover - the only body parts she likes exposed to the world are her feet. Sometimes her nose, but mostly her feet. This is her valiant attempt at thermoregulation until she is forced to emerge from the blanket world and pant like a normal dog.

This Dog Peed on My Car

This is the resident Chihuahua at a local print company. He saw Mina in the car and was all HEY HOT STUFF! and Mina was all LITTLE DOG, BE MY FRIEND! OR ELSE! and then he escaped out into the parking lot and peed on my car. Jerk.