Thursday 25th October.
I received this mail from a friend this morning and feel compelled to add It here on the blog. It is an urgent reminder, (too awful to think about) that the animals fleeing the fires need our assistance too.
Horses stand in a pen as fire threatens the Bonita neighborhood yesterday in San Diego, Calif. You can help our response to this disaster -- and others in the future -- by making an emergency gift today. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images).
Dear grace,
I want to share with you my blog entry for today on our response to the devastating fires in Southern California. Our involvement during crises affecting animals is just one of the topics I cover on my blog. You'll also find my reaction to news and progress in our movement, my perspective on the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for animals, and reader feedback on the topics I cover.
The request arrived at the headquarters of the disaster response team at 3:18 p.m. on Monday afternoon.
Within an hour, Dr. Barry Kellogg, veterinarian and acting director of disaster services for The Humane Society of the United States, "pushed the button." Local authorities in San Diego needed our help. Our professionals answered. They shouldered their packs and began the race westward and southward -- trained people bringing trucks, portable clinics, equipment and a devotion to the task. Hundreds more trained disaster responders have been contacted, and they are standing at the ready if a second wave of personnel are needed.
Every second meant greater risk for animals in trouble.
Firestorms were advancing uncontrollably across great swaths of Southern California, displacing tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands of people and their pets -- plus an unknown number of farm and wild animals. Although California is no stranger to the autumn cycle of Santa Ana winds and wildfires, this maelstrom stretching from the Mexico border north beyond Los Angeles was like none in memory.
Just slightly more than 12 hours later, the first disaster responders from The HSUS had traversed the continent or come down from our Sacramento office and began assembling in San Diego. They streamed into town by ones and twos all during the day. More arrived through the night, from all corners of the country. On highways from as far away as Florida, The HSUS big rigs rumbled toward California with essential tools and equipment for animal rescue.
By daybreak this morning, virtually our entire front-line disaster team was on station, sleeves rolled up. We also began accepting donations to support our response to the wildfires and future disasters.
You'll understand my soaring pride in these staffers who give so much for the sake of animals.
Some of these disaster responders had returned just days earlier from another deployment to California -- this one to help law enforcement in the largest cockfighting raid in U.S. history. Less than a week before that, we had a crew in Buxton, Maine, helping state officials transport 250 dogs out of the horrors of a puppy mill to a future that promised better lives. At that very same moment, I was in the Gulf Coast with other staffers to launch another phase of our long-standing program to help Louisiana and Mississippi rebuild their animal care facilities in the aftermath of an earlier disaster, Hurricane Katrina.
Friends, it's been quite a couple of weeks in October.
I'll have more to say later about people who give so much. But at the moment my mood is tempered. How many thousands of animals are displaced? Or suffering? What do the vagaries of the Santa Ana winds portend in the next 12, 24 and 48 hours? Will the weather tamp down the flames, or feed their fury?
Some areas hardest hit by these fires are home to families with horses. More than a few were unable to evacuate all their animals. I'm told that sometimes the best that people could do was open the gates and let their horses run free -- to race ahead of towering flames in a sprint for their lives.
I'm glad we can be there to help. I'm so sorry that we have to. If you're able to support our disaster and crisis response work with a special donation today, I and our skilled response teams would be grateful.
Sincerely,
Wayne Pacelle
Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States
Copyright © 2007 The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) | All Rights Reserved.
The Humane Society of the United States | 2100 L Street, NW | Washington, DC 20037
humanesociety@hsus.org | 202-452-1100 | humanesociety.org
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Thursday, October 25, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Ranger
Tuesday 23rd October.
There is nothing to report on Ranger other than to say he is a good boy. He has a strong guarding instinct which I am hoping will soften with time. He can be asleep, then all of a sudden be alerted to some tiny little thing ie, seeing the cat at the window,and he is up and barking which of course sets the other dogs off. He also barks at the cows when they approach the bottom part of the paddock, so I am hoping with time he will not feel the need to protect us all.
The weather has been perfect and we have enjoyed beautiful long walks in the woods but today the rain arrived so I suspect the best of the weather is behind us.
I am planning to meet up with one of the pups from Kasidi's litter at the weekend, he was called Hamlet when he was with us but is now called Adia. He is a gentle giant and I can't wait to see him as he has apparently doubled in size since I last saw him.
There is nothing to report on Ranger other than to say he is a good boy. He has a strong guarding instinct which I am hoping will soften with time. He can be asleep, then all of a sudden be alerted to some tiny little thing ie, seeing the cat at the window,and he is up and barking which of course sets the other dogs off. He also barks at the cows when they approach the bottom part of the paddock, so I am hoping with time he will not feel the need to protect us all.
The weather has been perfect and we have enjoyed beautiful long walks in the woods but today the rain arrived so I suspect the best of the weather is behind us.
I am planning to meet up with one of the pups from Kasidi's litter at the weekend, he was called Hamlet when he was with us but is now called Adia. He is a gentle giant and I can't wait to see him as he has apparently doubled in size since I last saw him.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Ranger
Thursday 18th October.
I am very pleased with how Ranger has adapted to his new surroundings, more importantly I do believe he is very happy. I worried that he would miss his previous family but I think there is so much happening around him and he is never alone, so he does not have space in his life to pine. He now spends all of his time with the dogs and is getting much better at responding positively when he is called.
I experienced a scary moment this morning. We were all outside for our walk, (non of the dogs were on their leads). As I walked towards my chicken shed to open them up for the day I noticed a large back Labrador stood on the edge of our garden by the woods. The dogs spotted him immediately and chased him into the woods. My heart was racing as the dogs have never been faced with a strange dog on their property before and I was a little nervous as to how they would respond. I quickly regained my composure as there were no loud barking noises or any sounds of aggressive behaviour. I whistled with my fingers half believing they would ignore me but to my great surprise Kasidi returned promptly followed in relatively slow succession by the rest of the dogs. Ranger came behind Kasidi which pleased me enormously and Brewster was the last to come back, but, they all came back and no nastiness was involved. We did not see the dog on our walk, so, I don't know where he came from and I don't know where he disappeared to but I doubt we will see him again. More importantly, I was very pleased with how my dogs behaved.
We are having a deck put up at long last and the builders were very bemused by the Labrador incident. They commented on how amazed they were that yesterday I gave seven bones to seven dogs with no falling out as their experience with their own dogs suggest that this is not possible. I just gave them a look that said oh dear.
I think Ranger has lost a little weight, Its all the playing he is doing with his new playmate Motsi, they really are inseparable at the moment.
I am very pleased with how Ranger has adapted to his new surroundings, more importantly I do believe he is very happy. I worried that he would miss his previous family but I think there is so much happening around him and he is never alone, so he does not have space in his life to pine. He now spends all of his time with the dogs and is getting much better at responding positively when he is called.
I experienced a scary moment this morning. We were all outside for our walk, (non of the dogs were on their leads). As I walked towards my chicken shed to open them up for the day I noticed a large back Labrador stood on the edge of our garden by the woods. The dogs spotted him immediately and chased him into the woods. My heart was racing as the dogs have never been faced with a strange dog on their property before and I was a little nervous as to how they would respond. I quickly regained my composure as there were no loud barking noises or any sounds of aggressive behaviour. I whistled with my fingers half believing they would ignore me but to my great surprise Kasidi returned promptly followed in relatively slow succession by the rest of the dogs. Ranger came behind Kasidi which pleased me enormously and Brewster was the last to come back, but, they all came back and no nastiness was involved. We did not see the dog on our walk, so, I don't know where he came from and I don't know where he disappeared to but I doubt we will see him again. More importantly, I was very pleased with how my dogs behaved.
We are having a deck put up at long last and the builders were very bemused by the Labrador incident. They commented on how amazed they were that yesterday I gave seven bones to seven dogs with no falling out as their experience with their own dogs suggest that this is not possible. I just gave them a look that said oh dear.
I think Ranger has lost a little weight, Its all the playing he is doing with his new playmate Motsi, they really are inseparable at the moment.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Ranger
Tuesday 16th October.
I feel comfortable leaving Ranger outside with other dogs today, he has acquainted himself with the pigs and is now laid back with the chickens. He has barked at the cows a few times but they are bigger than him and he is not stupid.
A couple of times yesterday he showed signs of wanting to be my protector, he can be asleep one minute then be barking the next if someone enters the room, he let out a low groan this morning when he heard the kids getting up for school .He is fine when he realises whats what but I do not wanting him feeling he has to look out for me, so he will now sleep and hang out with the dogs all of the time. Hopefully he will realise It is not his responsibility to look out for me, he will become an insubordinate member of the pack.
I must do some reading on over protectiveness as I am no expert but I constantly strive to understand the behaviour of my dogs.
The other dogs are looking good and behaving very well, Motsi, given the opportunity, will chew anything in sight. She really has been the worst of my dogs for chewing, no matter how many toys she has, she will find something that she knows she shouldn't have and destroy It.
I feel comfortable leaving Ranger outside with other dogs today, he has acquainted himself with the pigs and is now laid back with the chickens. He has barked at the cows a few times but they are bigger than him and he is not stupid.
A couple of times yesterday he showed signs of wanting to be my protector, he can be asleep one minute then be barking the next if someone enters the room, he let out a low groan this morning when he heard the kids getting up for school .He is fine when he realises whats what but I do not wanting him feeling he has to look out for me, so he will now sleep and hang out with the dogs all of the time. Hopefully he will realise It is not his responsibility to look out for me, he will become an insubordinate member of the pack.
I must do some reading on over protectiveness as I am no expert but I constantly strive to understand the behaviour of my dogs.
The other dogs are looking good and behaving very well, Motsi, given the opportunity, will chew anything in sight. She really has been the worst of my dogs for chewing, no matter how many toys she has, she will find something that she knows she shouldn't have and destroy It.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Ranger
Monday 15th October.
I took a chance this morning and took all of the dogs together on their walk, it was a delight watching them all interact. Ranger is very unfit and cannot keep up with my dogs, he is clumsy when running through the woods and cannot negotiate obstacles very well such as a broken tree in the path. I am confident he will be whipped into shape in no time.
He slept with me again last night as he started to whine when left with the other dogs, at this stage I have no problem with this as he is having to adjust to a lot of new things all at once. Later I am taking him to my friend Julian who has a Ridgeback called Simm, more playing and running, he is going to be exhausted.
I have lived with big dogs most of my life and Ridgebacks for 21 years and I cannot emphasise enough the importance of exercise. Free running everyday, not just when It suits the owner is essential for physical and psychological welfare of any dog. Ridgebacks are hounds and they need to be allowed to follow their natural instincts which is to use their nose and sight and to run free. The size of the garden is irrelevant. I have 20 acres but my dogs do not venture far from the door. They wait for me to take them out.
I need to work with Ranger on recall, so far, he has shown little enthusiasm for coming to me when called, hopefully he will take his cue from the the other dogs.
I took a chance this morning and took all of the dogs together on their walk, it was a delight watching them all interact. Ranger is very unfit and cannot keep up with my dogs, he is clumsy when running through the woods and cannot negotiate obstacles very well such as a broken tree in the path. I am confident he will be whipped into shape in no time.
He slept with me again last night as he started to whine when left with the other dogs, at this stage I have no problem with this as he is having to adjust to a lot of new things all at once. Later I am taking him to my friend Julian who has a Ridgeback called Simm, more playing and running, he is going to be exhausted.
I have lived with big dogs most of my life and Ridgebacks for 21 years and I cannot emphasise enough the importance of exercise. Free running everyday, not just when It suits the owner is essential for physical and psychological welfare of any dog. Ridgebacks are hounds and they need to be allowed to follow their natural instincts which is to use their nose and sight and to run free. The size of the garden is irrelevant. I have 20 acres but my dogs do not venture far from the door. They wait for me to take them out.
I need to work with Ranger on recall, so far, he has shown little enthusiasm for coming to me when called, hopefully he will take his cue from the the other dogs.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Ranger
Sunday 14th October.
Everything went very well this morning, Ranger slept with me last night and was very good, then this morning he went on his first walk , in this instance with Brewster, Motsi, Kasidi and Lela. Alex and I soon realised there was not going to be a problem so we let Brewster and Ranger off of their leads. They had a good run through the woods and then we came home and repeated the exercise with Raiza and Ruby and unbeknown to me at the time, Mr Smith my cat. Raiza was very interested in Ranger but we sensed not in an aggressive way so we let them off of their leads and they were absolutely fine. Ranger soon became aware that the cat was with us and although he dived at him a couple of times he soon learned that behaviour was unacceptable.
All of the dogs are now in the mud room and Raiza is exhausting himself by constantly playing/mounting Ranger. Castrated dogs have always held an attraction to dogs that are entire and Raiza is no exception, he seems to be in love and is very happy with his new playmate.
So my worries about Ranger coming into our home have, so far have been unfounded, but It is early days and I know from experience that situations can blow up from nowhere. What has pleased me most is Rangers gentle easy going nature.
Everything went very well this morning, Ranger slept with me last night and was very good, then this morning he went on his first walk , in this instance with Brewster, Motsi, Kasidi and Lela. Alex and I soon realised there was not going to be a problem so we let Brewster and Ranger off of their leads. They had a good run through the woods and then we came home and repeated the exercise with Raiza and Ruby and unbeknown to me at the time, Mr Smith my cat. Raiza was very interested in Ranger but we sensed not in an aggressive way so we let them off of their leads and they were absolutely fine. Ranger soon became aware that the cat was with us and although he dived at him a couple of times he soon learned that behaviour was unacceptable.
All of the dogs are now in the mud room and Raiza is exhausting himself by constantly playing/mounting Ranger. Castrated dogs have always held an attraction to dogs that are entire and Raiza is no exception, he seems to be in love and is very happy with his new playmate.
So my worries about Ranger coming into our home have, so far have been unfounded, but It is early days and I know from experience that situations can blow up from nowhere. What has pleased me most is Rangers gentle easy going nature.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Ranger
Saturday 13th October.
Well, Ranger has arrived, and, so far, I am really pleased with the way things have gone. I have not introduced him to the boys yet as that will have to be handled very carefully but he is integrated with the girls. Kasidi was the least welcoming and was aggressive towards towards him in the first instance but has now warmed a little towards him. Ruby basically ignores him and Lela and Motsi think he is great fun. He follows me everywhere and is here by my side as I type.
I am trying to be objective here but he is veryhandsome. He has an incredible front with a prominent prosternum which I love. He is very big, maybe too big, but has balance and will look even better when he has lost a little weight and acquired hardened conditioned muscles. His angulation is very good both front and rear and he has good breadth through his quarters. He has been very gentle, impeccably behaved so far and very loving. My only worry to date is he has not been to the toilet.
So, tomorrow he will come on the walk but we will have Brewster and him on the lead and we will take things step by step. I will leave Raiza at home on this first outing as he is, I think going to be a little more difficult, but I have no doubts that we can integrate Ranger pretty quickly into the pack. He will not pose a threat to Raiza as he is castrated, having said that, he has already humped Lela so he really does take after his dad.
Whatever the outcome for Ranger, I sense already that It will be very difficult for me to part with him , I look at him and see Kasidi and Brewster and love him.
I want to keep him here with me and see how he handles different situations and then, when I think he is ready, I will think about re-homing him, but only to a home that is very well acquainted with this incredible breed.
Well, Ranger has arrived, and, so far, I am really pleased with the way things have gone. I have not introduced him to the boys yet as that will have to be handled very carefully but he is integrated with the girls. Kasidi was the least welcoming and was aggressive towards towards him in the first instance but has now warmed a little towards him. Ruby basically ignores him and Lela and Motsi think he is great fun. He follows me everywhere and is here by my side as I type.
I am trying to be objective here but he is veryhandsome. He has an incredible front with a prominent prosternum which I love. He is very big, maybe too big, but has balance and will look even better when he has lost a little weight and acquired hardened conditioned muscles. His angulation is very good both front and rear and he has good breadth through his quarters. He has been very gentle, impeccably behaved so far and very loving. My only worry to date is he has not been to the toilet.
So, tomorrow he will come on the walk but we will have Brewster and him on the lead and we will take things step by step. I will leave Raiza at home on this first outing as he is, I think going to be a little more difficult, but I have no doubts that we can integrate Ranger pretty quickly into the pack. He will not pose a threat to Raiza as he is castrated, having said that, he has already humped Lela so he really does take after his dad.
Whatever the outcome for Ranger, I sense already that It will be very difficult for me to part with him , I look at him and see Kasidi and Brewster and love him.
I want to keep him here with me and see how he handles different situations and then, when I think he is ready, I will think about re-homing him, but only to a home that is very well acquainted with this incredible breed.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Dog things
Friday 12th of October.
Life is pretty much quiet now the pups have gone and the children are all back at school and college.
In the end Raiza did not enjoy his time away from home. He did considerable damage to Karens brand new kennels even though he spent very little time alone in them. Fortunately, Karen was able to have them replaced free of charge from the company she bought them from, so that saved me from huge bill, I would have payed it had I been asked.
I am waiting for Lela to come into season, but also hoping she can hold on until next month as she will need to be X Rayed for hips and elbows as 2 years is the age requirement here in the US. It is 12 months in the UK. She will be 2 at the end of November.
I am very pleased with Lela, she has beautiful construction but has inherited the free flowing movement that is so typical of her mother Kasidi. She really is a dream to watch.
Having bred 5 litters in 5 years, I now have to face something this weekend that I have never faced before and that is taking back a puppy. His name is Ranger and he is a brother to Lela. He was placed with a family with young children who were used to living with large dogs, in this case, Dobermans. Ranger is a very much loved family pet, but has, in the last 12 months, bitten a child in his family and recently bitten a neighbours little boy. Fortunately, they were not serious incidents, but non the less, serious enough to remove him from the family situation.
Mark and I faced a similar situation many years ago with our dog Louis. He was a fabulous dog in many ways but on several occasions in his life he let us down by suddenly lashing out at people by biting them. We had him castrated, sought expert advice from an animal behaviorist, practised dominance training, but nothing could predict his aggressive tendencies. In the end our vet advised putting him to sleep. It was a very difficult decision for us but we had 3 children and our home was often frequented by lots of children and we felt very strongly that he could not be trusted. What made it difficult for us was, we could never pre-empt Louis behaviour, months would go by and he really was the novel dog and then suddenly without warning we would have a situation on our hands.
Rangers family are devastated at having to part with him. He is, by all accounts, very well behaved, good with other dogs and good with adults. He is also a big boy, weighing in at 115 pounds.
He will find life very different here with me, he will be joining a pack where he will be at the bottom of the pecking order. He will also have to get used to my free range chickens, my three cats and my pigs and cows. I hope to keep him here long enough to assess him and will then decide to either re-home him or keep him here with us.
Either way I will monitor his progress here on the blog.
Life is pretty much quiet now the pups have gone and the children are all back at school and college.
In the end Raiza did not enjoy his time away from home. He did considerable damage to Karens brand new kennels even though he spent very little time alone in them. Fortunately, Karen was able to have them replaced free of charge from the company she bought them from, so that saved me from huge bill, I would have payed it had I been asked.
I am waiting for Lela to come into season, but also hoping she can hold on until next month as she will need to be X Rayed for hips and elbows as 2 years is the age requirement here in the US. It is 12 months in the UK. She will be 2 at the end of November.
I am very pleased with Lela, she has beautiful construction but has inherited the free flowing movement that is so typical of her mother Kasidi. She really is a dream to watch.
Having bred 5 litters in 5 years, I now have to face something this weekend that I have never faced before and that is taking back a puppy. His name is Ranger and he is a brother to Lela. He was placed with a family with young children who were used to living with large dogs, in this case, Dobermans. Ranger is a very much loved family pet, but has, in the last 12 months, bitten a child in his family and recently bitten a neighbours little boy. Fortunately, they were not serious incidents, but non the less, serious enough to remove him from the family situation.
Mark and I faced a similar situation many years ago with our dog Louis. He was a fabulous dog in many ways but on several occasions in his life he let us down by suddenly lashing out at people by biting them. We had him castrated, sought expert advice from an animal behaviorist, practised dominance training, but nothing could predict his aggressive tendencies. In the end our vet advised putting him to sleep. It was a very difficult decision for us but we had 3 children and our home was often frequented by lots of children and we felt very strongly that he could not be trusted. What made it difficult for us was, we could never pre-empt Louis behaviour, months would go by and he really was the novel dog and then suddenly without warning we would have a situation on our hands.
Rangers family are devastated at having to part with him. He is, by all accounts, very well behaved, good with other dogs and good with adults. He is also a big boy, weighing in at 115 pounds.
He will find life very different here with me, he will be joining a pack where he will be at the bottom of the pecking order. He will also have to get used to my free range chickens, my three cats and my pigs and cows. I hope to keep him here long enough to assess him and will then decide to either re-home him or keep him here with us.
Either way I will monitor his progress here on the blog.
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