Animals Behaving Badly: Part Two

We're back with more rule breakers, inspired by Wiley's reckless lifestyle.  First we have Lizzie, enjoying the cutting board post-steak-prep. She's just the right height too.

Next up is Rosco again. Oh Rosco, what did these toys ever do to you?

He just can't help himself.

Sandy finds her share of trouble too. Here she is ripping up all the wrapping paper on Christmas morning.  .  .

Frank and Mindy said she has to remove the squeaker from every toy too.  This was a brand new John Deere tractor her grandfather had gotten her.

Petey is trying to pretend he has no idea how the flower got there.

And Leroy is coping with his separation anxiety by self-medicating.*

*no one panic: he was just posing for a picture-not actually drinking beer

Lastly we have this bed vandalism, with the pillows of the guest room being pushed onto the floor.

 

Who is responsible for rudeness?  A tiny little force to be reckoned with. . .Utley.  Look at his defiant chin lift!  His mom, Amy, said he still wanted to play despite his scolding.

Ok readers-here is your homework! Our next photo promotion is going to be SPOILED PETS!  Don't you dare act like you don't spoil them. So start looking for some pictures, and share them whenever you are ready. Any kind of pet being pampered is eligible.  As always, we welcome your rescue stories too!   

 

Now I will leave you with a funny cartoon about when our pets try to pretend they haven't been up to no good:

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to like us on Facebook, so you can get all the blog updates!  You can also follow us on Instagram @rescuedogblog and share your rescue with the tag #thisisarescuedog!

Animals Behaving Badly: Part One

Well, a lot of our pets have been up to no good!  It all started with Wiley's crimes a few weeks ago. Some readers were kind enough to share some of their pets' naughtiness, just to make Wiley look a little less bad by comparison. We have enough pictures to post them today and tomorrow! Let's begin.

Just look what Rosco did to his brand new alien toy. If that toy knew a secret about him he'll never be able to talk now.

 

   

These toys seem to bring out the worst in our pets. Look what Harley did! It's downright gruesome. 

 

And she didn't even care! She just continued on her rampage. . .

. . .leaving total devastation in her wake.

She barely even looks chagrined about it. 

Then we have Leroy. See the white powder along Leroy's black muzzle?  He had just gotten done eating through the drywall in his dad's kitchen. His paws were white too. He has separation anxiety.

Here is Leo, a black lab puppy sleeping in his favorite spot in the shower.

That behavior, in and of itself, isn't necessarily bad. When he gets in the shower while his people are using it. . . well that's pretty naughty.

Lastly, we have Herbie.  Herbie has no shame in his game! 

He dug the dirt out of his mom's plant, and when she yelled at him, he rubbed into the dirt even more enthusiastically.

I'm sure all of us at one point or another have been tempted to give our pets an earful when they commit these criminal activities. I'm often reminded of one of my favorite Gary Larson The Far Side cartoons:

We all think our pets understand more than that, but it still makes me laugh every time.

Check in with the blog tomorrow to see the rest of the miscreants. It's not too late if you have something you want to share. If I can't fit it in tomorrow I can always use it the next time I do this promotion. As always, we need your rescue stories as well!

Goose and Eddie: Part Two

In the interest of being an equal opportunity rescue blog today we are featuring a cat-Eddie!  Eddie is the second cat from our Goose and Eddie spot we did last week.  

Double Vision

Francine first saw Eddie when he was featured as the Pet of the Week at the Hillside SPCA in 2006. He caught her eye because he was a buff tabby, like her Goose.  

He had been seized during a neglect case with many other cats, and he was terribly shy and scared when she first visited the shelter.  

She didn't get Eddie at that point because she was in the process of closing on a home and moving, and didn't think that would be a good situation to put Eddie through. However, Eddie was part of Francine's destiny, as we have seen time after time in our lives, and when she returned to the shelter a few months later Eddie was still there, perched on a counter as far away from the other cats as he could manage.

Francine asked about him, and the shelter workers said he wasn't very social.  However when Francine bent down to pet some other cats, she said, "Eddie marched himself right over and very vocally demanded my attention. That was the moment when he adopted me."

 Eddie doesn't like to be held but he does like to snuggle and purr. He grooms the other cats and watches over them, finding an important place for himself within Francine's feline family.

Eddie is now about 14 years old, and has recently been diagnosed with kidney disease. Please keep Eddie, Francine, and all of her furever kids in your thoughts and prayers. Eddie is getting the best possible care and attention through his mama Francine, and we thank her for sharing his story.

And speaking of stories. . . are you ready to share yours?  Let's hear it. Tomorrow we will have our Animals Behaving Badly post, and it's not too late to share your pictures for that too!

Cali

This is Cali, a Cocker Spaniel/Beagle mix from the Hillside SPCA, the same shelter where Wiley lived.

Cali came to live with Jane and Ralph back in 2003, and was their first family dog. She was a perfect fit for that position.  Here she is in her first Christmas ornament, by which time she had already worked her way well into their hearts.

Cali is sweet and lazy. She has a favorite spot in her favorite chair.

Cali has a roommate who was already featured on the blog: Petey!  They get along just fine, as long as Petey lets her relax in her spot.

This friendly dog gets along with everyone, but especially pals around with anyone who will rub her belly.

 

Loving, lovable, docile, adorable. . . these are the kinds of traits found in the animals waiting for furever families in shelters. Please consider adopting before you buy! The possibilities are, unfortunately, endless.  All rescue dogs deserve such a comfy home and life as the one afforded to Cali.

When we started the blog we pictured sharing stories like Cali's every day.  We have evolved into something more than that, but rescue stories are still the foundation on which this site stands. We need to hear from you! Tell us where your rescue came from, and what he/she means to you.

Sunday's Gratitide: A Sense of Humor

Wiley is the namesake of Wile E. Coyote, the famous nemesis of the Road Runner.

Here he is posing with his Wile E Coyote glass from our Looney Tunes set.

When we first got Wiley, we literally had a written list of  18 names to consider. Remember, he was an adult when we got him, and the details on his name were lacking so the shelter called him Moses.  We wanted something to reflect his playful and silly nature.  We got the list down to Wiley, Buster, Kramer, or Clifford. In personality, he is 100% Buster, from the tv show Arrested Development. If you watch the show you know what I mean. If you don't, you need to start!  Here is a clip of Buster chasing a bird that got into his mother's penthouse.

In the picture above, taken in the summer of 2012, Wiley had discovered his first housefly.  His reaction was to bark loudly while chasing it, knocking over anything in his way.  Since he weighs 60 lbs, he was the proverbial bull in a china shop; his resemblance to Buster was uncanny.

Wiley consistently and flagrantly breaks rules.  As I teacher, I know all too well there should be consequences. However, some days my enforcer spirit is just depleted, and Wiley's spiteful cuteness is too hard to fight.  Whether he's showing me the cup he just stole from the dishwasher:

or he's trying to get me to notice he has an empty cup of yogurt in his mouth:

I cave in and laugh. I whisper to my husband "Look at your dog," and he does the same to me.  There are so many serious and sober moments in life. We have decided in our house we will take as few things seriously as possible. 

Getting back to the name thread,  why didn't we go with the name Buster?  He just wouldn't answer to it. Nor would he to Kramer or Clifford. Wiley, on the other hand, produced an immediate and enthusiastic reaction. He is our Wile E. Dog.

How did you chose the name or names of your pets?  Share some funny stories with us about them.  Get excited too, because this week is going to be fun. We'll have Animals Behaving Badly, for which you can still submit pictures. We'll have part two of the Goose and Eddie story, and a cute rescue named  Cali who has a great furever home!  Check in often.

What did you miss? 1/20-1/25

The Rescue Dog blog was all over the place this week. The post that took the most time to write was Tail to the Chief, which is a quick walk through some of the more famous presidential pets who resided in the White House. Wiley and I were shocked when we learned about Lincoln's goats, and moved by the touching memorial to FDR's dog Fala.

We also shared Wiley's feelings towards bath-time. Here's a hint if you haven't read it yet:  he is not a fan.  Neither is Jackson, the dog featured in the short and very cute video featured below.

Click on the picture to watch the video.

There was a tribute to Mac, who has gone to the Rainbow Bridge, and the most heroic and heart-warming rescue dog story we've ever featured.  Just to remind everyone how important it is to rescue any and all animals we can, we featured Goose, an orange tabby, and this upcoming week we will meet Eddie, his equally cute brother.  

Finally, we got some new stories this week at the blog, so Wiley and I will be working hard to write up some happy furever home posts. However, we will definitely need more so please keep sharing. Also, we are still accepting pics for our Animals Behaving Badly feature post this week.  For example, here's Wiley with the mousetrap he sprung and stole without hurting himself in the slightest. I have no idea how. I was mopping and heard a lot of noise, and turned around to see this:

On Wednesday we will share the pictures we've gotten so far, and they are great! Please, if you have caught your pet misbehaving, even if it's not a dog or not a rescue, we'd love to share it.

Feel-Good Friday: Shana and Shiloh

Shiloh, a Wolf/Malamute hybrid, and her sister Jackie, an Alaskan Malamute

 Well, it's Feel-Good Friday again. The past two weeks I've run an incredible or inspiring story on Friday, and I thought maybe it was time to establish a Feel-Good Friday story officially as policy. Believe me, this is a feel-good story.

This story is about Shana. Shana was rescued from a puppy mill by the Fertigs when she was just two weeks old.  They were an elderly couple who had a wildlife sanctuary at their home in Alden, New York.

A few years later, in early October, Norman and Eve Fertig were caring for their animals in one of the sanctuary's buildings when the power went out. They went outside to find a surprise snowstorm so strong it was knocking down trees, one of which prevented them from moving. The snow had drifted into piles they couldn't get through.  At their advanced age, climbing over the tree wasn't an option. They thought for certain this was the end. They hugged each other for warmth and could not see how they would get out of the situation.

They hadn't considered what Shana, a German Shepherd Dog and wolf mix, could do. She was with the Fertigs when the power went out. When she realized the situation, she began digging a tunnel. Yes, that's right. Shana dug a tunnel to the house!  It took her a few hours, and when she finished she came back for the Fertigs. Eve draped herself over Shana's shoulders, too tired and frail to crawl through, and her husband held her legs while Shana pulled them both through the 20 feet long tunnel to their house. Once inside she curled up on them to keep them warm, and when the local fire company came to check on them in the morning to see how they'd weathered the storm that's how they found them.

What an amazing and touching story!! My great-grandmother's maiden name was Fertig. I'd like to think of this couple as some distant relatives, sharing the same compassion for animals as the rest of my family.  I also hope that if, God willing, my hubbie and I make it to such an advanced age, we have someone looking out for us the way Shana was looking out for the Fertigs that night.

My brother had a wolf hybrid years ago who went to the Rainbow Bridge in 2002 (I think).  She is on the left in the picture at the top of this page. Not only was she beautiful, but she was the smartest animal I've ever known, and I've had and have Australian Shepherds, who could give any breed a run for their money with intelligence.

Shiloh was very people-oriented. She followed her people everywhere. In fact she didn't even like when some of us were upstairs and some were downstairs, and our house was pretty small. She would get me out of bed by licking me until I gave in, or putting her paw gently right on my face.

Anyway, Shiloh was terrified of loud noises. Once, during a heavy snowstorm, I walked her to my grandmother's to check in on her. She lived about six blocks away, all uphill. Shiloh walked well on a leash and harness, and everything was going fine until a snow plow went by.  She pulled me all the way up two blocks of hills to get away from the plow. And when I say pulled me, I mean I lost my footing, fell on my butt, and she literally pulled me Marmaduke-style. 

I have no difficulty believing this story about Shana. I believe Shiloh could have and would have done the same.  Most of our pets would make efforts to save us, for sure, but the intelligence and perseverance in this story really resonates. This quote, attributed to Josh Billings, is exemplified in the story of Shana and the Fertigs.

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

― Josh Billings

We've gotten some good pictures of pets misbehaving, but it's not too late to submit yours!  Are you telling me your pet never misbehaves? 

Sources:
"Incredible Rescue of Elderly Couple by Heroic Wolf Dog." Dog Heirs.  26 Jan. 2012. web. 24 Jan. 2013

"Half Breed Wolf Dog Hero Rescues Elderly Owners from Snowstorm." Fox News.  6 Dec. 2006. web. 24 Jan. 2013