Stinky Update

Well we took Stinky in for a vet checkup to see how he is coming along. As you will recall we are only fostering him until he is healthy enough to be neutered. We thought for sure he had put on at least 2 lbs. His ribs aren't sticking out as much as they had before. The vet informed us that he has only put on 1/2 a lb. 8 freakin ounces!! In 2 weeks. He was starved, malnourished and 2 weeks of yummy food and he only put on 8 ounces! We're shocked to say the least. Must be all that poopin he's doing.

So they sent him home with his little, stinky balls still in tact. I immediately went to buy new, fattening food which he loves. I don't want him to be here too long as he will just be more heartbroken (us too) when he gets his forever home :( He must gain some weight. Those little, stinky balls have. got. to. go.

13 inches

Cooper and Mom.

Cody and Mom.

You automatically assume it is going to be something sleazy don't you? Well it isn't. I had 13 inches of hair cut off. I also donated it to Locks for love which I have never done before. That was a good feeling. It took me 4 days to mail it off but I did it :)

My head feels lighter, my hair feels healthier and my husband has been looking at me with "those eyes" and has said he really likes my hair cut. So I am happy. He even wanted to take pictures of my hair cut. He never wants to take pictures of me! So here are a couple. What do you think?

Try to imagine me 15 lbs less! I know it's hard but please try...

Dog Balls

Stinky and Cooper

Stinky has been doing pretty well with his house training. So we have allowed him to sleep with us for a few hours each night. I get up in the middle of the night, take the dogs out and then he goes in his crate for the rest of the night. Well one night in particular I was knocked up on pain meds and sleeping pretty soundly when a smell woke me up. WTH? I reached over to pet Stinky on the head as he was on my shoulder. Hmm...where are his ears? OMG! His little stinky balls are in. my. face! They are only the size of a walnut (ha! no pun intended) but boy do they pack a punch!

Moral of the story...dog balls smell too.

Humans were God's only mistake.

Do I sound bitter? It is the truth though. Without humans we would have no rape, no Holocaust, no murder, no pedophiles, no puppy mills, no animal abuse, no child abuse, and on and on.

One thing that burns me up is animal cruelty. Animals can NOT speak up for themselves, can not take care of themselves or fight back. Humans torture animals every day in every part of the world. I am not talking about eating animals (though I am a Pescetarian which is a vegetarian who eats fish) but the cruelty involved is heinous! If you knew that the sausage you were eating had come from a pig who had endured massive torture every day of his life just so you could eat that sausage, would you still eat it? I'm talking kicked, beat with a metal rod, had that same rod jammed up it's nose, been pulled to and fro by it's snout, had broken bones go uncared for and more. This is just the tip of the iceberg folks. Don't believe me? There are actual videos and photos on www.Peta.org

Ok well I got way off track. So one of the top 10 most horrible things humans have created is puppy mills. A puppy mill is usually housed in a backyard of a family who lives in a somewhat remote location (this is why they are also called backyard breeders). Doesn't sound bad yet right? Well they have a bunch of dog kennels stacked all over their backyards containing several dogs in each kennel which is barely the size for just one. These dogs are there to breed, nothing else. They are never let out of their cages, ever. Well the females do get to leave only to give birth then right back they go to get knocked up again. These dogs are not properly fed. There is always a dog or two who will most likely starve to death because they don't get their share of the food. They live in the wire cages their entire lives. The wire allows the feces and urine to fall on the dogs below, chemically burning them and physically blinding them. They receive no vet care. No love. They sleep on the wire and nothing else. No beds, no walks, no human kindness. They create puppies which are ripped from their mother's way too early, shipped off to pet stores and sold.

When the kennels are outside the dogs are exposed to every type of weather. Snow, rain, sleet, hail, scorching heat etc...When they are housed in a barn or other type of building, the fumes from the urine and feces becomes so thick it burns your nostrils and your lungs. There usually is no ventilation, no fans, no heat.

These dogs live horrid lives and I have only just touched on the subject. Please visit www.stoppuppymills.org to see what you can do to help.

So why am I on this tangent tonight? Because our local shelter just seized 30 dogs from a puppy mill in Western Kansas this week. Starving and neglected. We have taken one in to give him some tlc while he becomes healthy enough for surgery to be neutered and to have his rotten teeth removed.

The details on this boy are few. He is a male papillon who is most likely about 6 years old. Every bone in his body juts out. His breathing is heavy and labored and his mouth is so full of rotten teeth that he reeks of decay. He is about 15 inches long and should weigh about 11-15 lbs. He weighs 4 lbs. It is hard to see just how bad of shape he is in due to his long hair.

We brought him home on Thursday. He was terrified. Never knowing a kind human in his entire life. Not knowing anything but the wire cage he had lived in. He cowered, shook, sulked in the corner of his crate. He didn't trust anyone or anything. When we finally got him out of his crate he proceeded to potty and poop everywhere. He ran from us and tried to join our other 2 dogs for safety. After all, he has known other dogs his whole life.

We have loved on him, held him, been patient with him, fed him, let him be so he could explore and tried to give him everything a little doggy could ever desire. Today is Sunday and we have made so much progress with him in these 4 short days.

We are working on crate training him. You might say "well how can you put him in a crate when he has been caged his whole life?" Well, the crate is where he is comfortable.

Last night was the first night he didn't potty/poop at all in his crate. Today he has had a total of 2 accidents in the house and otherwise has gone potty/poop outside every time. This is HUGE progress for a dog who peed/pooped where he was whenever he needed to go for 6 years.

He has really latched on to me. I guess because I am the first human who has ever shown him kindness, he is now protecting me from the other dogs. I am not happy about that at all but it is entirely understandable. I am now having to limit the snuggles I give him. He will sit next to me and "guard" me and if my boys (my dogs) come near, he growls and snaps. Not good. So every time he does it, he goes directly in his crate. Hopefully he will learn quickly. There is enough love to go around :)

The shelter named him Bryan. It doesn't suit him AT ALL. He is black and white and looks like a skunk and smells retched due to his rotten teeth so we call him Stinky :)

He tries to walk as softly as possible, lifting each paw as delicately as possible. Most likely due to the wire floor he spent his life on.

Every time you see a cute puppy in a store, on the internet or from a breeder, remember where he came from. The puppies may look cute but their parents are living in torture so that you can have your little ball of fur who will most likely end up with serious health problems due to the shape the parents were in. Not to mention inbreeding.

Don't breed or buy while shelter pets die. Save a life, adopt from your local animal shelter today!

I made it.

Yes I did. I made it to work. Most people blog about exciting or unusual things. I blog about being able to make it to work 2 days in a row. Sad huh?

I was told though that due to lack of space my desk would be "shared" for a couple months by a new employee who starts Monday. Now I totally understand sharing my desk when I am not there but apparently if we are there at the same time I will have to be the one who finds another place to sit. WTF?? But I won't have to pack up my stuff, just sit elsewhere while she sits at my desk. I am pissed.

Our office is being expanded into the next suite and will be complete about mid June so this will last until then. Fun stuff.

Once again, I can't do anything about it because no other job will allow me to work 15 hours a week and yet bring home over $14/hour. I'm stuck.

Did I mention that my boss decreased my paycheck by about $650/month because he thought I was making too much?

It's fun working for someone who knows you basically have no other choice but to work for him no matter what shit he pulls on you.

If only I were healthy. I would be a vet or work in animal rescue. Maybe even work at the zoo. Just something where I worked with animals. Something where I did some good and could handle working 4o hours a week. Oh to be normal.

Yesterday was kind of different...

Well yesterday did turn out to be somewhat different. I still didn't wake up at a decent time, I still didn't make it to work at a decent hour, I didn't really get many chores accomplished before work but I DID manage to stay at work for 4 hours! I gotta start somewhere :)

Problem is today I feel horrible and feel like staying home but how long will they allow me to call in 2 times a week? Like I said before this is real, I really do feel like death is knocking at my door every day. I am not missing work to hang out at home, eat ice cream, frolic with my two adorable dogs and watch Animal Planet all day. Nope. I end up sleeping all. day. long. My poor boys. They have learned to sleep all day right along with me. They must have such boring lives. But every time I bring that up to my husband he says "then let them get a job." (insert rolling of the eyes here)

So to call in or suck it up and go in? My husband is feeling lousy and he is at work and he HATES his job so I should suck it up and go. OK. I will. Off to get ready for work. Nice talk.

I am NOT a hypochondriac.

Sometimes I feel as if everyone around me must think I am a hypochondriac. I'm not, I promise. I have lupus along with several other ailments which I won't list only because it will look like a boring medical dictionary.

So I work part time. I miss at least one day a week because of complications due to my lupus. Sometimes I miss two days and if I come down with a bug or have an arthritis flare which makes it impossible for me to walk, then sometimes I miss 3 days in one week. Awful, I know. My boss has been amazing about it though and has kept me on for 5 years. However, I still feel awfully guilty each day I email in to say I am not coming in. Do they believe me? I have brought countless doctor's notes to them and they see how sick I get but do they roll their eyes and whisper "stupid bitch" under their breath every time they see an email from me? I bet they do.

Every night when I go to bed I tell myself "tomorrow will be different. I will get to work at a decent time, work 5 hours and get lots of work done." Then I wake up and feel like I have been in a car accident over night and can't get out of bed.

I promise I am not a hypochondriac. I am not a liar. I value my job and hate, HATE having to miss so much. I just wish I knew if I am wearing out my welcome.

Apparently I don't qualify for disability though because I have been able to hold down a job. If you call this holding down a job. I can't afford to not have a job though. And the stress I feel over missing so much work only works against me and makes me sicker. It's a vicious cycle. One I hate!

I know my employer and co-workers must hate me. I'll save my husband's thoughts for another day.

Off to bed now. Tomorrow will be different. I will wake up at a decent time, get a few chores done, get to work at a decent time, work 5 hours and get alot of work accomplished.