Mae Comes Home – with Degenerative Myelopathy

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Mae makes herself at home

Mae makes herself at home

Some of you might recall Mae – she’s our big boned cream girl, also famous for being mom to the uber cute Solo. Mae was placed into a retirement home, but when things got rough for her adoptive mom, she thought it was best for Mae to come back to us. We’re always ready to take back any of our placed dogs, so of course we arranged to pick Mae Mae up.

We knew she’d been experiencing some rear end weakness, and that her vet had been having a hard time coming up with a definitive diagnosis for what was causing it. I’d assumed it was likely arthritis – her vet had speculated it was first stage degenerative disk disease, but in my (thanfully limited) experience with that, it usually comes as a ‘bolt from the blue’. One day, your dog goes to sleep completely normal, the next day, they wake up paralyzed.

Mae’s condition, on the other hand, was slowly progressive.

Read more →

Retriever Saves Boy from Cougar

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Angel the golden retriever is shown after a battle with a cougar in Boston Bar, B.C.

Angel the golden retriever is shown after a battle with a cougar in Boston Bar, B.C.

A British Columbia boy is alive today thanks to the actions of the family dog. Angel, as the dog is aptly named, fought off a cougar that was preparing to attack 11 year old Austin in the family backyard.

Read the whole story here. Excerpt below –

The way Lloyd Forman sees it, his 11-year-old grandson was saved by an Angel.

That’s the retriever who protected young Austin from a charging cougar during a bloody, against-all-odds confrontation Saturday in the tiny British Columbia community of Boston Bar, about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

“The cougar came (from) about five feet away and made a big jump (at Austin),” Forman said Sunday.

“The dog jumped in between and took on the cougar.”

Austin was in his family’s backyard collecting firewood with his dog when the cougar appeared.

The cougar charged toward the boy, but Angel stepped in and fought off the large cat while Austin ran inside and other family members frantically called for help.

Forman, 72, was sitting down to a bowl of homemade borscht soup when the telephone rang. It was the boy’s mother.

“They phoned here; the cougar was eating the dog alive, they figured. I said, ’Phone 911,’” Forman recalled. “Fortunately, he (the nearest RCMP officer) was a minute away.”

When the officer arrived, the cougar had Angel under the porch with its teeth around the dog’s neck. The Mountie fired several shots, killing the cougar.

The dog was injured, but is expected to recover. Austin wasn’t hurt.

If ever a dog deserved extra biscuits, that dog would be Angel.

Prepare Your Pets For War

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It’s a new year, and international politics are still screwed (Yemen? We have to worry about Yemen now? Where the hell is Yemen, anyway?). That means it’s time to make preparations, and prepare your pets for war.

Better safe than sorry, I always say.

Read the rest on The Oatmeal.

h/t to the ever excellent Bloggess, who’s probably knitting her Pug a tank as we speak.

Missing French Bulldog – Urgent Help Needed

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Shelley - Missing French Bulldog, Chicago Land Area

Shelley - Missing French Bulldog, Chicago Land Area

A Chicago area French Bulldog is missing, and volunteers urgently need your help.

Shelley is a seven year old, spayed brindle French Bulldog. She has a white chest. A photo is coming soon.

Shelley has been misssing since 11:15 am on New Year’s Day, from the rear of a house located on Woodland Drive, in Plano, Illinois. She was not wearing a collar, and is not microchipped. Her foster mom let her out for a pee, and Shelley took off into the woods. She has not been seen since, and it is cold in Plano, and getting colder.

Please – if you are in the Plano area, and able to assist with searching for Shelley, call Mary Scheffke at (773) 931 4860.

If you are anywhere in this area, please keep your eyes open for Shelley. It can be surprising how far and how fast small dogs can travel when they are scared and disoriented. Most Frenchies will seek out human companionship, happily getting into cars or going inside houses. Look for neighbours who might have found a dog recently.

Check CraigsList and Kijiji for notices of found dogs – occasionally Frenchies are listed as Pugs, Bostons or cross bred dogs. Please spread word about Shelley on Twitter, Facebook and other blogs.

Mary sent us an update on the search –

8 hours out there today with 2 dogs trying to track her- several volunteers- some hunters helping us- can’t believe a 7 year old frenchie got far! No fresh kill from coyotes in a 5 mile radius of our search. We have hire findtoto.com- they call neighbors in a certain mileage radius and ask if they have seen the dog and to watch for it-no luck yet. Praying that someone found her yesterday in daylight and are waiting for the holidays to call the police, vet or shelter- as she is friendly and would probably go to a house or people if she saw them- many houses and farms nearby the wooded area she took off in.

Mary Scheffke

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year, from myself, Sean and all the Bullmarket Frenchies (plus Petal, the cat).

Have a great time, but take Tessa’s advice and don’t over do the champagne – it leaves less room for the caviar.

French Bulldog Happy New Year!