Now more than ever, you are needed to donate your old blankets, towels, and sheets to your local animal shelter. With financial cut-backs, repairs on shelters are often put off, so if it's drafty, the animals suffer. I know my shelter uses rags to stuff under doors. No kidding! Empty out those closets... this is your chance to get rid of stuff and do something useful!


Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Keep Your Dog Safe Over July 4th Weekend

This article by Shelly Maslak in her column "Rescue Me" has some great advise. Each year dogs "get away" during fireworks celebrations.  The sounds startle them and their instinct is to run.
•Make sure your dog is in a comfortable place. Most people allow their dogs inside, if you do, keep them there. I love to share experiences with my two, but not all are for them. If you keep them home, they can get in their "safe place" and try to comfort themselves when they hear loud booms from across town.

•Do not leave your dog tied up outside while you watch the fireworks. Everyone is looking up at the sky and a scared dog can get away in the blink of an eye. By the time you look down, your dog is long gone when the search begins. A scared dog is also more likely to bite out of fear.

•Make sure your dog has tags, or better yet, a microchip! If your dog does run, a microchip, which is implanted under your dog's skin, can help rescuers trace the pooch back to its rightful owner. A collar and tags can easily be removed by bushes, a fence, a fight, or dishonest people.
I cannot emphasize the importance of checking your dogs' collars or getting them a microchip. My own dog once got away (he broke out of my Mom's house in Florida - a place he was unfamiliar with) to find me after we went shopping. I had already waited a full day at her place so he would be used to it, and he wasn't). Her neighbor grabbed my little Renaldo as he was frantically scouring the neighborhood for me. Thank God he had tags and a microchip. Renaldo pushed the kitchen screen out (of the window!) to get out to look for me. I thought I had done okay by being there for at least 24 hours, sleeping over, and him being with my Mom's dogs when we went shopping. But somehow he managed and I might have lost my baby if it weren't for his tags.



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