Speaking of dogs and cats …
(With huge thanks to John H. for sending these on to me.)
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Another set of these gorgeous photographs next week.
Stay happy and stay warm all of you!
Category: Dogs
Cold Winter nights.
The last few nights have been so cold we have needed to put an extra dog on the bed!
Private First Class Lingo.
Don’t worry son, you’re in the Army now!
Fellow author member of AIM (Authors Innovative Marketing), Constance Frankland, sent me a link to this news item over on Californian station KSBW. Here it is:
and here are the details that were presented on KSBW’s website:
Private First Class Lingo is in the Army now.
The 8-month-old shepherd mix enlisted in a formal doggy ceremony in Monterey on Tuesday, signing up to be treated like any other member of the service.
“He will be uniformed, he will be tracked, he will be documented,” said Defense Language Institute commandant Col. Philip Deppert.
The Private First Class will go down in DLI’s history books as its first-ever mascot. The Presidio of Monterey had a canine mascot back in the 40s, before DLI existed, and his name was Sgt. Tippy.
Lingo is starting at the bottom in his military career, but Deppert said he will have opportunities to move up in rank if he behaves.
“He will also have the opportunity to lose rank, should he misbehave, and not perform as we expect the rest of our service members to,” the colonel said.
But so far the pup has been toeing the line: getting up early for walks, exercising out on the field with the students, and most importantly learning the art of obedience.
Part of Private Lingo’s training is learning how to run in formation because in February he is scheduled to lead the commandant’s run with all the 2,000 plus service members at DLI.
Aside from his normal duties, the rescue dog was brought to the Presidio of Monterey for a special mission, to be the mascot, and so far he is knocking it out of the park.
“He has made about 2,000 new best friends; he is a magnet any place he goes, and it is exactly what he was intended to do,” Deppert said.
Lingo was adopted from the SPCA for Monterey County in November.
Here are two photographs from that story.
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Another example of our incredible dogs.
Precious puppies
Just couldn’t resist these.
I was searching for another item on YouTube and accidentally came across these two videos.
Take a few minutes out of your day and revel in the following.
Published on Dec 29, 2015Zina, a Maremma/Great Pyrenees mix, does her very best to get her father to play with her. Will he give in? Well, it’s not looking good so far…
Published on Mar 3, 2013Zoey playing with her dad, Bravo, who was a certified therapy dog. 😦 Sadly, Bravo passed away in February. We are happy he can continue to bring joy to people through this video, even though he is no longer with us.
Dogs of all shapes and sizes bring us humans so much joy.
Big Dog Natural food recall
The first one of the New Year.
Dear Fellow Dog Lover,
Big Dog Natural of Brick, NJ, has announced it is voluntarily recalling select lots of its raw dehydrated dog food products because they have the potential to be contaminated with either Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.
To learn which products are affected, please visit the following link:
Big Dog Natural Dog Food Recall of January 2016
Please be sure to share the news of this alert with other pet owners.
Mike Sagman, Editor
The Dog Food Advisor
If you go to that link, you will read the following:
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January 4, 2015 — Big Dog Natural of Brick, NJ, has announced it is voluntarily recalling a select lot of its Big Dog Natural Chicken Supreme raw dehydrated dog food because it may be contaminated with Salmonella.
The company is also recalling its Fish Supreme product because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The affected products were shipped to online customers during the period from October 31, 2015 through November 13, 2015.
About Salmonella and Listeria
Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes can affect animals eating the products.
And there is also 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 Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever.
Rarely, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms.
Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
Pets with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.
Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.
Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans.
If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
These products were sold directly to consumers through the company’s online website and in the US.
The recalled products include all weight volumes of the Big Dog Natural Chicken and Fish Supreme.
No additional products are affected by this recall.
What Caused the Recall?
Big Dog Natural became aware of a potential issue after receiving notification from the FDA that an investigative sample of Chicken Supreme tested positive for Salmonella.
And that an investigative sample of Fish Supreme tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
What to Do?
Consumers should discontinue feeding the affected product, monitor their pet’s health and contact their veterinarian if they have concerns.
Consumers who purchased the product can obtain a full refund or exchange by returning the product in its original packaging.
Consumers with questions should contact Big Dog Natural by calling 732-785-2600 from 9 AM to 4 PM ET.
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.
Get Dog Food Recall Alerts by Email
Get free dog food recall alerts sent to you by email. Subscribe to The Dog Food Advisor’s recall notification list.
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Please share this with all other dog owners – thank you!
The beauty and power of words!
You are going to love this – guaranteed!
Eleanore MacDonald is the author of the blog Notes From An Endless Sea. It’s a blog that I have been following for a while.
On the last day of last year, I published a post that contained the following:
There is much in this new world that concerns me and I know I am not alone with this view. But the rewards of reading the thoughts of others right across the world are wonderful beyond measure.
Little did I know that in just five days time Eleanore would demonstrate “wonderful beyond measure” par excellence! With her very kind permission I republish in full her post from last Sunday. Please don’t read any further until you can be very still and read Eleanore’s post with your total concentration on her stunningly beautiful prose.
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January 3, 2016
I didn’t have to search for it. My word for the year just came to me, and with it, a host of lovely synonyms in its wake. Devotion. Well, devotion––minus the religious connotations––holding hands with dedication, fealty, loyalty, commitment, fortitude and constancy.
In the past I have labored over what it might be for me, that word that embodies all I want to do with my intentions in the year ahead. But this year, it came floating to me like an errant leaf, late falling on a winter’s breeze. It resonated deep within and because it came with an entourage I felt like a farmer with acres and acres of fertile, unblemished land spread before me all waiting for me to plant an endless bounty.
So I start my new cycle, this new year, with the sowing of seeds of intention, digging deeply into this dark, rich soil. It begins with a renewed Devotion and dedication to loving. To magic. And to beauty.
And writing – something I failed so miserably at conjuring last year. A block is no joke, it is a deep, dark hole that any creative soul can fall into and in my case is called ‘writer’s block’, and it is real. And it sucks. I banish it now with a loyalty to work, those further and continual efforts to paint with words from a palette-full of color.
And then there is Fealty. A deep and resonant fealty to my love/partner/mate, to family and those dear ones who love me as I am whether broken or whole; to those who love the animals and celebrate empathy, truth and compassion; to those who will be happy for me when I succeed, and cry with me in my sadness, who try to pick me up when I fall, and push me hard to continue to explore the vast continents of my interior and to walk onward along the path to becoming the best I can possibly be.
Those beloveds who allow me, in all of that vulnerability, to do the same for them.
Loyalty. Loyalty to my path. And to the greater good. To honesty, integrity, goodness, caring, loving––to kindness and empathy, to staying awake with eyes and ears and heart attentive to the big world around us, to laughter, to weeping buckets when I’m overflowing, to connection, to speaking up and speaking out (loudly!), to celebrating beauty and color, and to a nurturance of the evolution of soul and spirit, my own and that of others.
Commitment. To continuing to wield light, through music.
Commitment to seeing the glass half full.
And to the voiceless ones, who really are my reason for being. The animals. Commitment to doing what I can to ease the burden of suffering for those in need of compassion and caring, of rescue and respite.
Commitment to honoring those others who continue to do the hard and mostly thankless work attending to the emergent needs of those barely surviving untenable lives in the shadows; those caring for the pets of the homeless, animals who act as angels for the people of the streets whose only tether left to any comfort in this life is a beloved dog or cat companion; those pulling the newborn kits and pups from garbage bins, or flimsy boxes set in the cold rain along busy streets, those rescuing dogs from a brutal existence of abuse, abandonment, fighting, life at the end of a cold chain; those earthly angels whose hearts have been broken over and over again yet they continue on, continue giving, helping, trying to make a better life and a better world for those left behind. (I have always held that, were humans to collectively realize that the other beings we share this glowing, gorgeous orb with––the animals, the trees, the waters, the land––all require and deserve our recognition, our action, our honor and caring, then the world’s ills would resolve. And so it goes…)
Fortitude. The fortitude to walk my path ahead in constancy, through dark and light with no time or inclination to curl into a ball and sink to the bottom of the well. Life now is too short for that.
Dedication, fealty, loyalty, commitment, fortitude… in action, together they reduce down and distill to a fine and pure constancy of devotion.
I am good with that! Right?
Do you have a ‘word for the year’? If so, do try to hold it close, in honor of its gift. When 2016 comes to pass, I would love to hear what your word was and how it served you. Or, how you served it.
Spreading my wings now… With love and light, and hopes that your year ahead is graced by all that is good,
Eleanore
all photos © Eleanore MacDonald except for those taken by Paul Kamm.
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Adding anything from me runs the risk of diminishing the beauty of Eleanore’s words.
See you tomorrow!
A tiny bite of this could kill your dog!
Please read, digest and share as widely as you can!
Fellow author, Deborah Taylor-French, recently posted a stark warning for all dog owners. Deborah wrote on her blog, Dog Leader Mysteries, the following:
1 thing more toxic than chocolate for dogs
Yes, and it’s everywhere.
Please visit my guest blog post on 4Knines blog “One common thing that is more toxic than chocolate for dogs” Then please comment! Of course, after you comment, I’d love it if you would share far and wide for the love and lives of dogs. After working on this post for about a month I shared it as a guest post so that it may reach a larger audience of dog lovers, beyond my WordPress blog.
(I also can’t resist including the following photograph of Deborah and Syd that was in that post!)
So the balance of my post today is a full republication of Deborah’s guest post as it appeared over on 4knines blog.
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One Common Thing That is More Toxic Than Chocolate for Dogs!
A resolution for 2016
Says it all!
(This was published yesterday on Facebook by George Ball, a friend from my Devon days.)
Here’s to loving our dogs more than ever before in this new year.
A lesson in bridging divides.
Mid-Winter warmer!
Sent across to me by Dordie, a close neighbour of ours.
You all stay warm wherever you are – and here are some good ideas about so doing!
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Heading into the end of the year now!
Learning from Dogs 