Don't Be a July 5th Statistic

NOT my dog. Jedi would never sit still for this. *sigh*
P.S. The dog pictured above is Fabulous Finn! See comments.

Tomorrow is July 1st. I don't know about you, but we had makeshift fireworks stores pop up all over town. You can find a tent with sparklers and Roman candles in every major parking lot -- and people are lining up to buy them too. July 4th falls on a Saturday this year. I expect it to be a loud and crazy weekend. But before you run out and buy more charcoal and watermelon for your block party, let's talk about your pets.

I’m going to put on my Animal Control hat for a moment. July 5th is the busiest day of the year for me. Many pets run away because they're afraid of the fireworks. Others wander off unnoticed during family get-togethers. My kennel is full of these guys the first two weeks of July every year. Sadly, less than 25% of the dogs and cats picked up by my agency are returned to their homes. Too many animals are transferred to the county shelter simply because an owner can’t be found. (The county shelter's return-to-owner numbers are just as dismal.) Here are a few things you can do to prevent your pet from becoming a statistic:

• Crate and/or lock your pets in a back room during busy parties and 4th of July celebrations. If you have an overly-anxious dog, talk to your vet about sedatives and/or Thunder Shirts.
• Keep collars and ID tags on your dogs and cats at all times. Overwhelmingly, people tell me that their pet wasn’t wearing a collar because it “never leaves the yard” or “just had a bath.” My response: 1) Animals couldn’t care less about property lines and 2) if they’re dry enough to go outside, they’re dry enough to wear a collar.
• Microchip your pet. This is a good backup should the collar come off. Most vets and ACOs have microchip scanners and are able to trace chips back to the registered owners. Please note: microchips are an implanted form of ID, not GPS; an animal’s location cannot be tracked through their microchips. You’d be surprised how many people don’t know this.
• Keep your contact information current. Is the tag on your pet readable? Are the phone numbers correct? Has your contact information changed since your pet was chipped? The best time to replace tags and update microchips is now, before an emergency. Don't know how to check your chip? Go here for more info.
• Contact Animal Control as soon as you notice that your pet is missing. Animals are only held for a short period of time. Don’t wait a week “hoping he’ll come home on his own.” Otherwise, when you call it may be too late.
• Check craigslist.com for your missing pet. If you don’t see him, post a lost pet ad under the “Lost & Found” (NOT “Pets”) section. My office returns pets through craigslist all the time.
• Post a lost pet notice on Facebook and ask everybody to cross-post.
• Facebook has several Lost & Found pages. Post pics on your page and ask people to cross-post.
• Have recent pictures of your pet. You may need them to create signs and lost pet ads. Puppy pictures of your 10-year old dog aren’t very helpful, especially when dealing with mixed breeds.
• Visit the Missing Pet Partnership for more recovery tips based on your animal's personality.

Hopefully your pet will never get out. Should it happen, however, a little preparation now can save a lot of heartache later. -- K

Look of Love

My aunt took this picture of Jedi in Alpharetta. I think she did a beautiful job capturing his expression. What do you think?


  

 

It's Wordless Wednesday! Hop around and see what other people are sharing today. -- K

Catching Up

No offense to the guy below, but
I prefer my reptiles to have legs and eyelids.

Wow, it's been a while since my last real post. Despite what it looks like, I've been doing more than just dressing up my lizard and taking pictures. In fact, something pretty big has happened. I was elected president of my local German Shepherd Dog club. This is a big deal, even bigger than I had imagined when I said yes. I'm still trying to process everything. I've discovered this newest endeavor is much like showing dogs -- it's harder than it looks. I'm looking for fun and exciting ways to reenergize the club. Any suggestions? (And like my dog show saga, I will share -- warts and all.)

 

The weather has gotten extremely hot, so we're putting our dog showing on hold for a bit. I am in no shape to be running around the ring in Hell-like heat! To keep Jedi from going stir crazy in the house, we're picking up nose work again. K-9 Obedience Club of Jacksonville is working hard to bring nose work trials and Odor Recognition Tests (ORTs) to north Florida. With some work -- and a bit of luck -- Jedi and I could earn titles in our own back yard! We've registered with the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) and have broken out the sweet birch oil. Unfortunately, the nose work classes at K-9 are full so we're just practicing on our own at the house. eek. We (OK, I) do much better with the accountability and structure of a class, so wish us lots of luck!

 

Actor portrayal, not the real snake

Work has been busy as well. I'll tell you all about it in a later post, but I'll share the weirdest call of the week with you right now: Yesterday a guy brought me a dead snake in a Ziploc bag. He told me it had just bitten his daughter and wanted to know if I could identify the snake. (I know! I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!) I told him "I think it's a garter snake. However, I am not a snake expert. I strongly suggest you take your daughter to the doctor . . . and take your dead snake with you." And I said it with a straight face too!

Hope all is well with you. Until next time, stay cool. -- K

Awww...Poor Lizard Again!

Yep, still hot. We're still bored. And we're spending waaaay too much time at the craft and party stores. I'm afraid Store Security is going to put our faces on some strange BOLO, so we need to lay low for a bit. This will be the last of the Drogo Dress Up pictures -- for now. Enjoy.

We call this one "Thug Life." This one makes Hubby giggle.

Whazzup My Lizza! 

 

The skull is actually Drogo's basking rock from his tank. When I put it on the blanket he immediately climbed up on it and gave me the stink eye. How dare I mess with his precious rock? Too funny.

 

My Precious

 

I call this one "Party Animal." I was trying to play with light and effects all while keeping the lizard from licking the glass marbles.

Just so you know that this isn't ALL mischief, Hubby's boss is developing a game around Drogo's photos. He needed 20 different pics, so we've tried to be creative. I'll post a link to the game when it's ready to go. Until then, you can check out more of Drogo's photos on his Fashion Dragon page.

Anyway, this silliness is being linked up to the Awww...Monday and Monday Mischief blog hops. When you're tired of laughing at my lizard hop around and see what others are sharing today. -- K

Happy Father's Day!

Drogo and I would like to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the men out there who work hard to provide a good life for all their little ones -- two and four legged alike.

We'd especially like to say thanks to Hubby. He has he lovingly guided two boys into manhood. He has also loved numerous dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, rodents and reptiles over the past quarter century. Thanks for everything. -- K

P.S. He has also been my partner in crime when it comes to lizard pics! Click here to see what we've been up to lately!

Awww...Poor Lizard

It's time for some Monday Mischief. The dogs have been well behaved -- the humans, not so much. As I mentioned yesterday, it's HOT here. The heat and humidity just suck the energy right out of you. I had a try-not-to-move-so-you-don't-sweat kind of weekend. With props to Dr. Seuss:

The sun just kept shining.
It was too hot to play.
So we sat in the house
all that hot, hot, humid day.

I sat there with Hubby.
We sat there, we two.
And I said, 'How I wish
we had something to do!'

Too hot to go out
and too hot to play ball.
So we sat in the house.
We did nothing at all.

I can only watch so much TV before going stir crazy! So what does Kelley do when she gets bored? (Besides speaking of herself in third person?) She breaks out the camera, looks around the house for "props" and comes up with stuff like this:

Drogo Bon Jovi. Everybody sing now "Wanted, Dead or Alive."

 

Bonus points to everybody who knows what a Dewback is.

The weatherman says that the heat and humidity is here for a while. Coincidentally, Hobby Lobby has all kinds of seasonal stuff on sale. I fear this is only the beginning. Poor Drogo.


This is a blog hop. (Actually, two!) Hop around and see what others are getting into today and start your week off with a giggle. -- K

It's HOT!

Whew, we're having a heat wave here in North Florida. The weathermen are saying "Stay cool and drink lots of water." Many of my friends are headed to the beach. Not me, I am not a beach fan. Instead, we're staying home -- in the air conditioning! -- and having our own beach experience. Isn't that right Drogo?

Speaking of Drogo, tonight is the season finale of Game of Thrones. I'm already going through withdrawals. Guess I'll just have to take more lizard photos. Poor Drogo. Click here to see his entire fashion page. Catch you later, -- K