ProPac Gets in Bed with Puppy Mills

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Pet food companies have always been eager to get into bed with breeders – after all, we are (rightly or wrongly) considered ‘experts’ on what to feed our own breeds, and our puppy buyers open up an entire new market to the pet food manufacturer that they would otherwise have to compete for. Major manufacturers offer dog breeders a raft of things to encourage their business – frequent buyer points, bulk discounts, team jackets and sometimes even dog show sponsorship.

I have to wonder, however, at any pet food manufacturer that seems to be going out of their way to court the USDA/Puppy mill auction selling breeders – who else are you courting when you host seminars on ‘breeding better bulldogs’ right on the auction site itself?


http://www.swkennelauction.com/index_files/Auction6.htm

SPECIAL NOTICE: We will be hosting a Bulldog educational seminar on Friday night at 6:00 pm after the sale. The topic is “How to be a successful Bulldog Kennel.” The subjects are, implanting, cesarean sections, progesterone testing, how to use a Draminski ovulation detector, what to look for & look out for in English & French Bulldogs. The guest speaker in Dr. Samuel L. Harkey D.V.M. of All About Pets Veterinary Clinic..

Seminar & Meal sponsored by Pro Pac Dog Food Co. “Dinner is Free” R.S.V.P.

Wow, they’re even throwing in dinner. That’s pretty generous of Pro Pac, isn’t it?

Now, maybe I’m missing something. Maybe Pro Pac is proud to be the official dog food of puppy mill auctions (that would make a nice ad campaign, wouldn’t it?). I can’t help but suspect that they didn’t want their new ‘premium, holistic’ food, Earthborn, to be known as the food that sponsors puppy mill seminars. Again, maybe I’m wrong.

I guess the best thing to do would be to write to Pro Pac and ask them if they can explain it all a bit better. I did already, but so far no response.

Beware of Basements

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A Maryland woman didn’t hesitate to jump into a basement well when her four month old French Bulldog puppy fell in.

The rescuer needed rescuing on Wednesday when a Chesapeake City-area woman found herself stuck inside a basement well that she climbed into to save her puppy.

“She was stuck down there maybe 10 to 15 minutes,” explained first responder Tom Morris, the deputy fire chief of the Chesapeake City Volunteer Fire Company. “When I got there, she was clinging to a rope while clutching the dog. She was about five feet from the top, stuck there, and her feet were in the water. She was drenched and so was the dog.”

Thankfully, there was a happy ending –

The woman and the puppy were rescued in about 10 minutes. She had cuts and bruises, but was taken to nearby Union Hospital in Elkton, Md., for a checkup. The puppy was not injured.

More here.

Oh, those ever so unhealthy Frenchies…

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Gunny the Agility French Bulldog

Common knowledge says that ALL French Bulldogs drop dead of something or other by the age of five. Those that don’t are relegated to a life of riding around in mobility scooters or needing ramps to get up and down off of curbs.

Someone forgot to tell that to Gunny – Bullmarket Spirit Shogun Dragon – who, at age eleven and change, is still competing in and winning agility trials with his owner Andrea Morden Moore.

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Wordless Wednesday – Dexter In April

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Chaos Ensues

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Dexter is home, and boy – did I forget how much trouble a young, rambunctious, adolescent male who also has the ability to vault himself onto the backs of chairs can be! So far, he and Elliott have paid no attention to each other, which is likely because they have so many other things to pay attention to – namely a house full of girls in season.

Elliott is in an advanced state of Mc Lovin’ mode – any attempt to remove Bunny from the same room he’s in brings on the most heart breaking yodeling, in which he can clearly he heard to screech “I wurve you BunBun!” (or words to that effect).

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