Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Dogs "rescue" girl abandoned by mother

Tue Apr 22, 10:49 AM ET

PATNA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of villagers have flocked to a remote Indian village to see a baby girl who was saved by stray dogs after she was abandoned in a mound of mud by her mother, officials said on Tuesday.

Villagers in the eastern state of Bihar saved the newborn on the weekend after they saw three dogs barking near a baby covered with mud.

The dogs removed the soil around and began to bark and the baby started crying which drew attention of the local villagers," Ram Narayan Sahani, a senior government official, said on Tuesday from Bihar's Samastipur district.

"The girl is crying but is safe in the lap of a childless couple who have adopted her."

Police said they were looking for the girl's mother, who they think had left the girl to die.

Female foeticide, though illegal in India, is widespread as boys are traditionally preferred to girls as breadwinners, and families have to pay huge dowries to marry off their daughters.

The United Nations says an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India.

(Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Dogs that Blush


I'm a Pharaoh Hound and my breed are the only dogs that blush. I blush when I am excited or happy; and my ears, nose and eyes turn pink!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Help me, I'm Teething!

When I'm a puppy and I'm teething, purchase a few (inexpensive) wash clothes. Soak the wash cloth in water and put it in the freezer. When fully frozen give it to me to chew. Be careful when doing this if I'm a very small dog, as I may get a chill.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Veggie Dog Biscuits

  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup margarine
  • 1/2 cup cooked carrots or peas (or combination of both)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • Soy milk

Combine the cheese and margarine. Mix in the carrots and/or peas and flour. Add enough milk to form for a stiff dough ball. Chill dough for 1 hour.

Roll dough out on floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.

Bake at 375*F (190*C) for 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

How to Stop me from Jumping on You and Others

When I jump up, do not be aggressive and punch me with your knee -- that is mean and it's not effective in solving the problem.

Here's how you can teach me not to jump up. When I jump up, simply hold me up by my front paws and in a loving voice tell me you love me. I have jumped up so you react by holding me up. Do not let me down immediately, keep me up as long as you can. By keeping me up, I mean gently stretching me up, and up and keep talking. This is really not pleasant to me and I will then start to mouth your hands. When I do this, drop me down. Do not place me, gently drop me.

When I am on all four legs love me outrageously, cuddle and talk. Then encourage me to jump again -- as soon as I do grab my paws and repeat the whole exercise. It is important to get the timing right and it is important that the whole family learn this process. I will learn in a few minutes that to jump will make you react and I will not find this rewarding. Its easy, simple and kind..

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Natural Pest Repellent

Before you take me out during high mosquito hours, spray me down with a good mix of natural oils. This recipe keeps fleas, ticks and bees at bay!

  • Tea Tree Oil
  • Rosemary Oil
  • Sage Oil
  • Cedarwood Oil
  • Peppermint Oil
  • Sweet Orange Oil
  • Eucalyptus Oil
  • Citronella Oil
  • Pine Needle Oil

Mix 3 drops of each oil with 16 oz water in a spray bottle. Shake before each application and spray over my entire body, avoiding my eyes. Store in refrigerator.

How to Perform CPR on Me

It’s possible that you may at some point find me lying lifeless after an accident, heart attack or fire.

If my heart is beating but I’m not breathing, please perform artificial respiration on me.

First, you should check my mouth for any objects or mucus that may be blocking my throat and breathing passages. If you see something blocking my throat, you should remove it thoroughly. Then you need to pull my tongue out of my mouth to make sure it isn’t blocking air flow, as well. Then gently place my tongue back inside my mouth and close my mouth and lay my jowls evenly over my lower lips.

Next, wrap one hand around my entire mouth to keep it shut while you perform artificial respiration. Wrap your lips around my nose and breath even, slow breaths into me until I start breathing.

If I don’t have a heartbeat, you’ll need to perform CPR. Roll me onto my back and (if I’m a small dog) place your hands on either side of my chest and compress in even steady beats and (if I’m a large dog) lay me on my right side and compress my chest manually.

As soon as you jump start my heart, you can then start or continue artificial respiration.

Senator Vest's "Tribute to the Dog"

In 1869, Senator George Vest of Missouri represented in a lawsuit, a plaintiff whose dog "Old Drum" had been willfully and wantonly shot by a neighbor. The defendant virtually admitted the shooting, but questioned to the jury the $150 value plaintiff attributed to this mere animal. This is Senator Vest's closing argument:

"Gentlemen of the jury: the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his worst enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous... is his dog.

Gentlemen of the Jury: a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."

Dog Cookies to Make my Breath Smell Good!

  • 2 cups brown rice flour
  • 1 Tablespoon activated charcoal (find this at drugstores, not the BBQ briquets!)
  • 3 Tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2/3 cup lowfat milk

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Combine flour and charcoal. Add all the other ingredients. Drop teaspoonfulls on oiled sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake 15-20 minutes. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator. Feed me no more than 3 cookies per day!

Oil Supplement for My Food

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup safflower oil
  • 1/4 cup cod liver oil
  • 1/4 cup flax seed oil

Combine all ingredients together in a tightly covered bottle and shake well. Store in refrigerator. Add one to two teaspoons daily to my wet and/or dry food.

Foods that are Potentially Dangerous to Me

I know I try to beg, borrow and steal your food from you. Sometimes this really aggravates you and sometimes you're sympathetic and give me a few bites of your food.

I want you to know that many foods you enjoy can cause me illness and death if I eat them.

Please NEVER EVER feed me the following items:

  • Chocolate
  • Onions
  • Macadamia nuts
  • Pear pips, the kernels of plums, peaches and apricots, apple core pips (contain cyanogenic glycosides resulting in cyanide posioning)
  • Potato peelings and green looking potatoes
  • Rhubarb leaves
  • Mouldy/spoiled foods
  • Alcohol
  • Yeast bread dough - yeast from homemade bread produce alcohol-ingestion of raw yeast dough can result in serious alcohol intoxication. Additionally, I will have a risk of bloat and gastrointestinal obstruction from the dough as it rises in my stomach.
  • Coffee grounds, beans & tea - caffeine is a no-no for me, as it acts as a stimulant and can cause severe heart acceleration and seizures
  • Hops (used in home brewing)
  • Tomato leaves & stems (green parts): a Nightshade plant, tomatoes contain trace elements of nicotine, mostly concentrated in the leaves and stems
  • Cooked Bones - bones become brittle in the cooking process and splinter when broken. These splinters have sharp edges that can rupture/puncture my stomach lining. The most dangerous cooked bones are ham bones, pork chop, chicken and turkey legs.
  • Raisins and grapes
  • Cigarettes, tobacco, cigars

Digging

Am I digging and tearing up our backyard? Try putting cayenne pepper in the holes - I REALLY don't like the sensation and probably won't go back to that spot to dig again. A little cayenne goes along way -- please don't use too much or my eyes may get burned.

My Food Dishes

You probably know that I want you to clean my food bowls after each meal, and that you should not use dishwashing liquid, because I dislike the smell. What you might not know is that plastic bowls always retain some old food smell. I will notice, even if you don’t. I may refuse to eat out of this bowl for no apparent reason. Therefore, please invest in some porcelain bowls and make sure they are dishwasher safe. When washing bowls in the dishwasher, rinse twice after the washing cycle is finished for my safety and palette.

Also, using metal water dishes outside in winter may be a risk to me, because your my tongue could stick to the frozen metal. In the summer metal bowls can get very hot, and burn me.