I will publish the text that goes with these beautiful images tomorrow.
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Nothing to do with dogs but I sense there won’t be any complaint!
Author: Paul Handover
We live in the country!
Yesterday was all about a dead deer.
In fact it started on Thursday with a local owner not taking care of a couple of dogs. I’m not sure about whether or not the dogs are being cared for but there have been a number of cases suggesting that they were thin and also that they were running wild.
Then yesterday it took a turn for the worse shortly after 7am. I was on my way back to the house having fed the horses and then heard an animal calling out. I paused trying to identify this animal. It was located very close to our border on the Northern side.
Then the noise stopped and I thought nothing more of it. Later on I realised that it was animal in serious pain. Too late now to attempt to save it.
A little later I went across to the area where the calling had been coming from. There, just alongside our fence but on the other side of it, lay a young deer. It was dead but still warm.
Then about 10:30 yesterday when after I had called animal control I decided to revisit the location and take a couple of pictures.
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It was tragic! The loss of a wild animal. In fairness, one that the dogs themselves are not responsible for. Dogs will be dogs.
Meantime, I pondered on what might have evolved differently had I intervened when I first heard the animal in pain.
It was not a good feeling.
A complex relationship
Slowly getting back to normal!
And posts like this help.
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Wolves on Michigan’s Isle Royale reveal new info about predator-prey relationships
This we know: Top carnivores profoundly influence local ecosystems.
By STARRE VARTAN October 26, 2018.
The American people’s relationship with top predators — especially wolves — is complex and ever-evolving. About three decades ago, it was mostly just animal-rights groups and their supporters who fought for the wolves’ right to exist; they were often considered a nuisance. But now there’s plenty of scientific evidence proving what’s good for wolves is good for their prey, the plants those prey eat, and indeed, positively affects the entire ecosystem. That’s ultimately good for humans too — unless you’re competing with the wolves, like a rancher who grazes animals or a hunter who wants to shoot the same deer or moose that wolves need to eat. But at this point, even some ranchers and hunters have come over to the pro-predator side.
Much of that change in the perception of predators is down to studies that have proven how precisely cougars, wolves, bears, tigers, lions, bald eagles, alligators and other apex predators affect the land around them. None have been studied longer than the wolves and moose in Isle Royale National Park, a Guam-sized island in Lake Superior. For almost 60 years, the populations of these two groups have been tracked — as well as their effects on the plants and other animal communities on the island. (You can read the reports here, including the recent 59th annual report.)
As the video above explains, there used to be as many as 50 wolves on Isle Royale; however, that number has dwindled, mostly due to inbreeding that caused a debilitating spinal condition to proliferate among the too-closely-related wolves. Just 10 years ago, there were still around 30 wolves but by 2015, there were only three wolves left. Now, there are just two, a closely related male-female pair that probably won’t breed. (The female of the pair has aggressively fought back when the male attempted to breed with her.)
Already, the moose population on the island has boomed, “undoubtably because of lack of predation,” John Vucetich, a wildlife ecologist from Michigan Technological University told Science magazine, adding that the two remaining wolves are now “… swimming in moose.” Despite the wolves’ regular predation on moose, there’s been a 20 percent increase in moose in just one year, which scientists estimate is about five to 10 times higher than on mainland areas. Beaver populations have also risen sharply. There’s just not enough wolves to keep either population in check.
So what’s so bad about so many moose? Well, as most ungulates do, moose spend their days browsing on vegetation, so the more moose, the more food they need — and the plants on the island can only take so much nibbling. An aquatic plant, which was found in abundance just six years ago, is now only found in places where moose are not. Long-term, this means the island will soon run out of food to keep the ever-larger moose population alive, and many will starve once food becomes scarce. Previously, the wolves have kept moose populations low enough so they didn’t overeat the vegetation, keeping the system in balance.
A plan to rebalance the ecosystem
This is why some people think the best solution is to bring a fresh influx of wolves to Isle Royale National Park. The plan is to release 25-30 wolves over the next three to five years. So far, park officials have trapped four wolves on the mainland beginning in late September and released them on the island. Three of the wolves are female — with the hope they will successfully breed.
This new blood would potentially rebalance the predator-prey relationship and the idea is that the rest of the ecosystem would follow. Introducing so many wolves over several years is hardly natural either, others argue, saying that humans should just be hands off and let nature take its course. The original 50 wolves had found their way to the island on their own, having moved in from Canada; perhaps they could do so again if given the chance.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated since it was originally published in April 2017.
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This is the real news!
A dog food recall for you!
This came in while we were away.
G & C Dog and Cat Food Recall Expands to Include Multiple Brands
October 24, 2018 — G & C Raw of Versailles, Ohio, is recalling all products lots manufactured from February 27, 2018 through July 20, 2018, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
Affected products are sold under the brand names G & C Raw Dog Food and G & C Raw Cat Food and sold through direct distribution to customers.
Product Image
No product images have been provided by either the company or the Food and Drug Administration.
About Listeria
Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in animals eating the products.
Furthermore, there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.
Healthy people infected with Listeria monocytogenes should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, aches, fever, and diarrhea.
Listeria monocytogenes infections can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
Pets with Listeria monocytogenes infections are rare, and pets may display symptoms such as mild to severe diarrhea, anorexia, fever, nervous, muscular and respiratory signs, abortion, depression, shock, and death.
In addition to the possibility of becoming sick, such infected animals can shed Listeria monocytogenes through their feces onto their coats and into the home environment and thus serve as sources of infection to humans and other animals in the household.
If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
Where Was Product Distributed?
Recalled products were distributed by direct delivery and may have been sent to the following states:
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
What’s Being Recalled?
The manufacture dates are included at the end of the lot number.
For example, the pet food product manufactured on February 27, 2018 has a lot code of that ends with 022718.
The company is now recalling all products with lot numbers that end in 022718 through 072018.
The recalled dog food products include:
- Beef Veggie Mix Dog Food
- Ground Beef Dog Food
- Sliced Beef Heart Dog Food
- Ground Beef Heart Dog Food
- Kim’s Special Beef Organ Dog Food
- Ground Chicken Dog Food
- Chicken Veggie Mix Dog Food
- Chicken Mix Patties Dog Food
- Duck Veggie Mix Dog Food
- Ground Duck Dog Food
- Ground Rabbit Dog Food
- Rabbit Veggie Mix Dog Food
- Ground Lamb Dog Food
- Lamb Veggie Mix Dog Food
- Ground Beef Pancreas Dog Food
- Beef Liver Chunks Dog Food
- Beef Sweet Breads Dog Food
- Ground Pork Dog Food
- Pork Veggie Mix Dog Food
- Shelby’s Pork Organ Mix Dog Food
- Ground Pollock Dog Food
- Turkey Veggie Mix Dog Food
- Ground Turkey Dog Food
- Tripe Dog Food
The recalled cat food products include:
- Pat’s Cat Beef
- Pat’s Cat Chicken
- Pat’s Cat Turkey
- Pat’s Cat Duck
- Pat’s Cat Rabbit
No confirmed illnesses have been reported to date.
What Caused the Recall?
The recall was initiated as the result of a routine sampling program by the Ohio Department of Agriculture which revealed that some finished products contained the bacteria.
What to Do?
Consumers who have purchased the products are urged to return them to G & C Raw, 225 N. West Street, Versailles, OH, for a full refund.
Consumers with questions may contact G & C Raw at 937-827-0010 from 9 to 5 pm Easter Time or by email at mgcrawdogfood@yahoo.com.
U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.
Or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.
Canadians can report any health or safety incidents related to the use of this product by filling out the Consumer Product Incident Report Form.
You keep all your dogs safe out there!
We are back!
Just a quick note to say that we arrived back yesterday afternoon.
Slightly complicated by an installer arriving to put up a shed for us at eight this morning.
It’s great to be back home again.
What a way to spend a Sunday!
Poor little Sweeny!
Last Sunday, Sweeny not having eaten for 3 days, it was felt that we could not leave it any longer and decided to take Sweeny to Southern Oregon Veterinary Specialty Center. They are an emergency 24-hour a day service. It turned out to be a longer day that we had anticipated.
For we arrived at 9:15 am and didn’t leave until 5:15 pm.
Even then we were still left with some uncertainty.
For the long rigmarole of tests didn’t come to a firm conclusion.
Luckily we could leave taking dear Sweeny back with us but the results from the Fine needle aspirate won’t be through until Tuesday or Wednesday. (P.S. Just heard by phone that the results should be through in the next hour. Ergo: Monday evening.)
If it is Tuesday that will be better than Wednesday.
For on Wednesday we leave for a short holiday in Mexico.
In fairness, the house is being looked after by Jana Stewart but it will still be better to know before we leave.
That leads me to say that for the next ten days the regularity of blogging is going to be variable; to say the least.
A mild infection.
A further note re my medical situation.
Last Wednesday week, the 3rd October, I had a really strange morning.
As per usual for a Wednesday I went for a group bike ride. I didn’t notice anything unusual except perhaps that I was rather more remote than the others on this particular occasion. When I got home I didn’t mention anything. But later that morning Jeannie rang Dordie, one of the cycling group, and found out that I had basically being speaking gibberish.
Jeannie and I discussed the situation and we decided that it was best to volunteer ourselves for a visit to the local Three Rivers hospital. There is a walk-in facility there that is open 24 hours a day.
I was seen pretty promptly but nothing was found.
Also later that day I noticed my typing skills had disappeared.
At the same time I also noticed that my left-hand side of my face had a ‘edge’ to it. Whereas normally I couldn’t feel it in this instance I could.
Jeannie started to worry about me, big time, and I wasn’t sure about anything anymore. I resisted seeing any more specialists although Jeannie thought that I should.
I hung on to the fact that I was seeing my regular doctor, Dr. Angela Mount, on the 12th.
So yesterday I saw Dr. Mount.
She was of no doubt that what I had experienced was a ‘magnification’ of the old wound resulting from my trip to the Regional Trauma Centre in Eugene on December 24th, 2017.
Now, today, that had been brought about by me incurring a low-level infection; probably a cold-like infection but without the streaming nose normally associated with such diseases.
What had happened was that the extra load on the body brought about by the infection had caused the damage to my left-hand side of my body and skull to re-appear.
Thus no need to worry, it was OK and that fairly rapidly I should regain my old composure.
Phew!
P.S. Only wrote this just in case it matched any experiences out there.
Returning to Sabrina.
These next couple of weeks are going to be challenging!
So ….. I am returning to a post I published a year ago.
Sabrina’s Loyalty
Lisa Mae DeMasi offers you all a beautiful guest post.
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How this Handler and Service Dog Nurture One Another
by Lisa Mae DeMasi
At two years old, Lady’s ribs protruded from her coat and her belly was swollen with milk.
Like the thirteen other Labs that had arrived at a rest stop in Union, CT on the straight 12½-hour drive from Muncie, IN, she was presented to us on a crisp autumn day amid the chaos of respective adopters.
My husband Dennis had never experienced the warmth and companionship of having a dog and well, I surprised him with Lady, who we quickly renamed to Sabrina. The very afternoon we picked her up, we raced to the park, wanting her to feel the joy of freedom and play. My husband’s face lit up and while I was thrilled at the opportunity to befriend and care for Sabrina; it meant closing the 20-year gap since our beloved German Shepard from my childhood passed away.
Until laying my eyes on Sabrina’s profile, my heart couldn’t entertain loving another dog.
And what canine isn’t after the same love?
In Sabrina’s case, she couldn’t know of the family members that awaited to embrace her presence. Within days of the initial hair-raising excitement, the cat sought out occasions to groom her ears. Our pet rat was free to waddle the kitchen floor un-bothered, and the pair of bonded bunnies in want of company stretched out beside her on the living room floor.
Dog, cat, rat, rabbit?
You bet.
And Dennis and me?
Like kids again.
Sabrina settled into the folds of our lives, well-nourished and exercised in Boston’s epic snowfall in the winter of 2009-2010, taking careful watch over all of us. The fear expressed in her eyes pre-adoption disappeared.
Eight years later, she watches over me in particular. Thirty years ago, I was struck and thrown from the passenger side of a car until my abdomen collided with the steering wheel—blunt force that called for iterative repair to my digestive system and caused permanent damage to the nerves that signal my bladder is full.
Today when I’m busy working away, Sabrina will alert me to get up every couple of hours to make a trip to the restroom by gently placing her head in my lap.
When I suffer acute intestinal cramping, Crohns-like symptoms, she’ll sit at my side and lean her body against mine. Her calm and steady source of nurturing, helps me to relax and mitigates the cramps.
In 2008, the Department of Justice amended the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This was amended to include digestive, bowel and bladder impairments that limit major life activities as the disabled, 
calling for employers to make reasonable accommodations and if the individual elects, to allow task-oriented service animals [dog or miniature horse] to accompany them on the job.
Sabrina, serving in the capacity of a sensory/medical assist – alerting me to get up and take care of myself – qualifies.
The HR Director, Debra Susler of Reputation Institute in Cambridge, MA this past April would not allow Sabrina to accompany me on-the-job. I sent her an elaborate email explaining my condition and Sabrina’s certification. She did not reply to me but to my supervisor.
She said “no”.
My response?
I walked out of the place
Sabrina: rescue dog to devoted helper dog.
Respectively, Sabrina’s competencies and understanding of language cease to astound us and her behavior on-the-job at Dell EMC is so well-mannered, coworkers never run out of compliments.
And bystanders in public? The grocery store, pharmacy, gym, dentist, doctor?
Gazes from cell phones are broken, conversations fall short.
Then, come the smiles. A question. Praises. The feel-good moment.
Sabrina brings people together.
I recently read a distressing post from a woman who said every time she looks into a service dog’s eyes, she sees sadness. Even Ingrid Newkirk, CEO and Co-Founder of PETA, has told me, “the life of a typical service dog is a terrible one.”
It’s true. Any canine enslaved to servitude is doomed a dog’s life unlived.
Service animals are working animals, not pets.
The ADA confirms it.
But that’s not the relationship Sabrina and I share [and I understand it can’t be the same with other handlers and service dogs]. In addition to being my devoted helper, Sabrina teaches me to exist in the moment — just like she does. To enjoy the sight of the sun shimmering through the trees, the call of the birds, the fragrance of wildflowers, the feel of the soft soil I tread a few yards behind her when we’re on our hikes.
What more could a dog do for a girl?
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There is something rather special about Lisa’s guest post; special in an introspective way!
That will be better appreciated if you go across to Lisa’s blog site at Nurture Is My Nature.
In particular when you read, via her ‘About’ link, what Lisa offers about herself. Republished here in full.
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Lisa’s creative work has recently placed second in Fiftiness’s 2017 Writing Contest (Why I Love Bike Commuting in Boston) and been featured in the anthologies, Unmasked, Women Write About Sex & Intimacy After Fifty (9/17, print) and The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal (11/17, print). Her essays have been published in the lit journals and several other media outlets. She considers Massachusetts her home, but has lived in Connecticut, Vermont, New York State and two other planets called Wyoming and Arizona. She earned a B.A. from Regis College and an MBA from Babson College, and holds a Master certificate in Reiki.
Lisa is seeking a development editor [that gets her] to work on her collection of essays and her memoir.
Published work:
Contests:
Why I Love Bike Commuting in Boston, Fiftiness, Second Place Winner, 5/23/17
Anthologies:
- The Kickass Formula that Restored My Libido, Unmasked, Women Write About Sex & Intimacy After Fifty, print, 9/17
- Grievances, Vine Leaves Vignette Collection (coffee table book), 11/1/17
Literary journals:
- This Writer’s Secret (Fiction Southeast, 11/1/170
- Snowflake (Crux Magazine, 9/17) [FINALLY got picked up!]
- Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Gravel, 12/4/16)
- T-boned (Gravel, 12/4/16)
- Forgive Me (Slippery Elm, 12/16)
- What More Is There to Ask? (Foliate Oak, 9/1/16)
- Becoming Our Fathers (East Bay Review, 2/23/16)
- The Subversive Writer (Shark Reef, 7/9/14)
Media Outlets:
- Not Having Children Was My Perfect Path (Fiftiness, 12/16)
- What More Is There to Ask? (Huffpost, 9/16)
- The Secret to Doing What You Love (The Artist Unleashed 9/16; HuffPost 3/15)
- The Kickass Formula That Restored My Libido (HuffPost 2/16; Rebelle Society 4/15)
- My Dear Friend, the Dirty (HuffPost 1/16; Elephant Journal, 12/14)
- She, Mother. Me, Daughter. (Huffpost 2/16; Elephant Journal, 1/15)
- What the Wrong Job Can Teach You (HuffPost 1/16)
- What Happened When I Performed Reiki on My Conservative Mother (Elephant Journal, 1/15)
- Why Regret Is So Deliciously Fun (HuffPost 1/16; Midlife Boulevard 8/15)
Write to me at lisa dot demasi at gmail
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Now please watch “Just Like Heaven,” the video Lisa filmed of Sabrina, post-adoption in 2009.
Not only beautiful …….
……. but also intelligent.
There is something about a Huskie that takes one’s breath away. Not only because of the grace and wit with which they conduct their lives but also because the majority of them are working dogs.
So it was with interest that I read recently about the Huskies and wanted to share it with you all.
Here it is.
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Why do huskies have blue eyes?
New genetic study finally solves the mystery.
BRYAN NELSON, October 4, 2018.
A dog DNA startup company called Embark, based out of Boston, Massachusetts, and Ithaca, New York, appears to have finally solved the mystery as to why huskies sport their beautiful blue eyes. The study is the first consumer genomics study ever conducted in a non-human model, as well as the largest canine genome-wide association study to date, reports Phys.org.
The key, it turns out, lies in the dogs’ 18th chromosome. A duplication on chromosome 18, near the ALX4 gene, was found to be strongly associated with blue eye color. The ALX4 gene plays an important role in mammalian eye development, so this association is not entirely out of left field. And interestingly, the study also found this same genetic quirk in non-merle Australian shepherds, which also tend to have blue eyes.
This flies in the face of how eye color is usually thought to be determined in dogs. For instance, two genetic variants are known to underlie blue eye color in many dogs, but scientists have long known that these variants do not explain the blue eyes of huskies, thus the mystery.
In fact, even though we’re seemingly in a genomic scientific age, the genetic underpinnings of many traits in non-human animals are still largely unknown, even for humans’ best friends. Embark aims to change that.
For the study, which was performed in partnership with Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, researchers used a diverse panel of 6,070 genetically tested dogs, with owners who contributed phenotype data — physical traits of the dogs — via web-based surveys and photo uploads. A comprehensive, consumer-driven survey of this size is largely unprecedented.
“Using genetic data from the pets of our customers, combined with eye colors reported by customers for those same animals, we have discovered a genetic duplication that is strongly associated with blue eye color. This study demonstrates the power of the approach that Embark is taking towards improving canine health,” explained Aaron J. Sams of Embark. “In a single year, we collected enough data to conduct the largest canine study of its kind. Embark is currently pursuing similar research projects in a range of morphological and health-related traits and we hope to continue to use our platform to move canine genetics and health forward in a very real way.”
It’s all in the name of improved health care options for our canine companions, as well as helping curious human owners better understand the origins of their pets. Answering why huskies have blue eyes is just the first such mystery they hope to solve.
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What can one say! They are such beautiful dogs!
Picture Parade Two Hundred and Fifty-Nine
Taken from the world’s most smartest dogs.
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Onward and upwards to another set.
Learning from Dogs 