Off The Leash

It only took 4 years...

According to this Ann Arbor News Article, a dog park may be coming to Ann Arbor by the end of this summer.
Kudos to all the people who have been working on this for so long (and even those who were around for a few rounds of the battle).

In NYC, off-leash hours in city parks (without designated dog runs) are in danger of being taken away thanks to the Juniper Civic Association lawsuit.
Sign the petition to save off-leash hours here.
Read more on the nonsense here.

I believe the dog people will prevail, because dog play is the best thing ever.

Cooper Bark

Cooper Park will now become Cooper Bark because volunteers are installing the fencing for the dog run today!  I'm lending a hand today.  Perhaps you could call it closure for the 3 year battle that is still ongoing with the Ann Arbor Parks Department/Washtenaw County that I faced in Michigan where there is STILL no dog park or dog run in the city. 

I met the parks community organizer and many of the CooperBark volunteers.  It was pretty cool to help out and see the good-size area that will be a dog run in the next couple of days.  As we were working, I learned that others have had trouble with landlords and dogs.  One man told me that his landlord used to come into the house and hang out in his apartment.  Another lady told me that the landlord told them she could get a dog and after one week she was asked to move out because she got a dog.  Also, the landlord started showing the apartment without telling her and the dog escaped the apartment once and, luckily, waited for her in the courtyard. 
Funny moment of the day: a man walking by with a shopping cart swiped the work gloves that the parks department provided to the dog run volunteers.  A few people had to chase him down the street.  The old guy couldn't have gotten far...and what would he have done with all those gloves?! 
Flickr has the rest of my photos from the day.

Prisoners training dogs or vice-versa?

I have heard about prisons all over the country adopting programs where inmates train dogs for various jobs.  This story from Best Friends Animal Society discusses a prison where greyhounds are helping inmates to find less anger and more love during their incarceration periods.
The prisoners in ? help the greyhounds during their transition from the racetrack to the comfy couches of new homes.  The other types of dog training programs that I've heard of include: prisoners training leader dogs for the blind, training new puppies as future helpers of the disabled, training shelter rescue dogs as new canine good citizens, classes where prisoners learn how to groom dogs and obtain a certification in dog training.  These are all programs that teach patience (as we all know!), focus on another being, and tolerance.  Without these things, prisoners will not be successful in communicating with the dogs to get consistent good behavior.  I would guess that the experience would leave many prisoners inspired and confident in their ability to make change for the better in the world.  Now I sound like a real hippy!
I heard that a professor at UM was going to start a dog training program at the prison in Milan.  I wonder if she ever did....

Shelters & No-Kill

For those of you unfamiliar with what No-Kill shelters really do, here is a rundown of the difference between shelters & no-kill shelters.

Shelters will try to keep animals for a certain number of days, but if they are not claimed by their owners (in the case of strays, runaways) or adopted out (in the case of the previous examples along with owner surrenders), they are euthanized to make cages available for incoming animals.  This is a waiting game with the most brutal of sand-sucking hourglasses.  In typical shelters, dogs are selected based on the amount of time they are kept in the cage, with the first ones to go being any that are deemed not adoptable.  There are extensive exams that can be performed (IF the shelter has the personnel and resources...) to determine if the dog is healthy enough and there are not any behavioral problems exhibited by the dog.  Obviously, sick and injured dogs are put down because no one would be able to really devote resources to care for these animals. 
In short, if you are a healthy, well-behaved dog that is kept in the shelter too long, you will probably be euthanized in a shelter.  This will happen to you right after the sick dogs are put down for the day.

In a no-kill shelter, dogs that are healthy and not aggressive (regarding food, toys, or people), you will be given as much time as necessary to get a home.  This includes going to foster homes to get away from shelter stresses and attending adoption events to strut your stuff.

The practices of hosting adoption events, fostering, and buying time for animals are similar in both types of shelters because everyone really wants to see these dogs find homes.  The one drawback to the no-kill shelter is that if a dog is kept too long in a cage environment, the dog will start to go a little crazy and become aggressive toward people.  When this happens, the dog will have to be euthanized to prevent any dangers toward people.

In the end, I hope all of the programs that shelters are implementing will continue to get the number of euthanizations down (working with other agencies, individual rescue groups, hosting big adoption events-like Petapalooza-and weekly adoption spots, spay/neuter programs for low income indivduals, humane youth education programs, and pr campaigns regarding pet overpopulation).

My personal standpoint is that you can have both the dog fancy (breeders that care about specific breed traits and quality of the dogs) and animal shelters working together.  How?  That is hard to define in a small space.  I think that big breeding business should be made hard to do and that the small breeders that show they are not inbreeding receive better support from the shelters.  Everyone is in this for the dogs, there is just too much politicking from the sides of only spay/neuter vs. breed responsibly.  I'll keep pondering this, send your thoughts my way.

Dog Detective

Despite my knowledge of all things dog, I discovered today the Dog Detective webpage for lost (and found) pooches.
Here is an Ann Arbor dog post:

Lost Jun 08, 2005 06:00 PM

Dog Description:

Small (0 to 20pds) Black & White Male Boston Terrier simon is a black and white happy boston terrier. last seen at zingermans deli in ann arbor. please help.

Last seen in:

Ann Arbor, Michigan United States

kerrytown market area was where he was last seen

I hope that they find this guy!  I've tied Honey up at the front of Zingerman's before while grabbing bread.  I don't do that much anymore.  She is unpredictable with strangers, and loves to yell at me for leaving her behind!

To report a lost/found dog, visit the Dog Detective.

Mr. Jengels gets no cash

A dog cannot win the lottery.  Sorry, to Mr. Jengels and his owner Kevin Strybos.  While trying to avoid telemarketers (oh the things people do to avoid annoying phone calls/junk mail/spam!), he signed his dog's name as the lottery ticket purchaser.  Now the gas station owner will not give up the dough to Strybos.  At least he has offered to give the $410.00 to an animal shelter.  Hopefully, Strybos' heart grew three sizes that day! Link

Murphy's Law(lessness)

Murphy, the Golden Retriever from Newton, MA, was talk of the news world because he received a summons to attend court for breaking the leash law.  Here is a link to his adorable picture: Murphy.
So the only thing that I think the owner, Steven Dean, did wrong is forget to get a license for his dog. 
His fine for being off the leash was $25.00.  That is a drop in the bucket compared to the $100.00 fine in Ann Arbor.  Does anyone have a higher fine?  Just curious.

As I was walking with Honey today I realized that even if we are using a long lead (over 6 feet), I can be given a ticket for disobeying the leash law.  Or perhaps Honey will receive the ticket.  After all, Trouble is a part of her middle name!