respublica

Raising chickens?

Back in 2009 the interest in having backyard chickens was growing, especially in Clayton. I attended several city meetings on this topic back then and came away surprised at the amount of emotion on both sides of the issue.

Is this still a thing in any local city? I'm guessing the chicken fad has faded. What was fascinating was all the safeguards and rules which were tossed around during these public hearings. When people spoke against having neighbors raising chickens it was usually the smell and noise. The pro chicken people insisted there wouldn't be noise (absolutely no roosters) and no smell. You can't have just one or two chickens, there must be at least four to allow them to huddle together in cold weather to keep warm.

Anyway, I believe this kind of thing is in the past. Chickens are a lot of work. There will always be that one big bird who keeps escaping and ambles around the neighborhood.

Where are all the dogs?

This story popped up today and it pretty much describes our experience since March. So many people spending so much time at home during the virus shutdown wanted a dog or puppy to make the time less lonely or dull. The result of this interest in pets led to a shortage and extremely high prices if any were available at all. The price of some of these puppies if available is unreal.

I believe this. Our humane society in St. Louis went from a place where you could almost always find a dog to adopt to practically none for months. Anyone raising purebred dogs sold out fast. Right now it is difficult to even find a breeder who bothers to update their website or Facebook page due to having no puppies.

You will find shelters with many Pitt Bulls or Pitt mixes, but it takes a certain kind of person to take a breed like this on and it isn't us.

I wonder how many of the people who got dogs in these times will tire of the work and cost involved, get too busy to care for them, and eventually give the animals up for adoption. I envision many sad and confused dogs in months ahead. But, our last two dogs were both given up by their owners. One was 6 months old and dropped at the Humane Society in St. Louis. Our last, Ferdie, was put out of a car on a bitter cold, snowy night in a Collinsville neighborhood. He ended up at the local shelter and then at Dirks Fund Golden Retriever Rescue where we got him.

Both those dogs, probably because of losing the security of their first homes, never left our sides and we could not have had better dogs than those. If you got a dog during the Covid19 and can't handle it anymore, take it to a place where a good home can be found. Don't just dump them.

St. Louis is pet friendly

Wallet Hub did a study on "where pets can enjoy the best quality of life without breaking the bank."  The company compared the pet-friendliness of the 100 largest U.S. cities using 25 key metrics. It's data ranges from pet-care provider rate per visit to pet businesses per capita to walkability.

Of all the key metrics I was most surprised by the fact that St. Louis was number 1 in the number of animal shelters per capita. St. Louis ended up as number 6 on the list of most pet friendly cities. The most pet friendly city turned out to be Tampa.

It's long been kind of sad to me that Collinsville has no dog park. For a while a very tiny dog park was put in by the Herr Funeral Home with good intentions, but it was just too small. I believe it's no longer used for that purpose. We no longer have a dog, but I often think about how and where I'd be able to give one a good run or walk or play.

Ferdie's last Easter

Last Easter we went to church and afterward went to brunch with Lizzie's family at Porter's in Collinsville. A different time than today.

Sometime during the afternoon I put some rabbit ears on Ferdie. But as the day went on we realized he was in quite a bit of pain and could not get up without help. We ended up at the vet the next day with a bottle of a certain kind of pain medication. It helped, but it was obvious he was going down hill. We had him for only a few more months.

 

 

Dog at the -Day whatever

We stand the chance to have some bad storms today so our dog greeter at the front door is ready.

My brother in law gave us this rain slicker for Ferdie many years ago. Yes, the same brother in law who dressed as a shark to go grocery shopping this week.

Dog at the door-Day 5

I have to have something to entertain myself so I've been changing out the stuffed dogs at our front door each day to give the local walkers something to look at. And we have tons of local walkers over the course of the day. This campus is the corona walking park.

The two dogs were arguing over who got to be at the door so I showed them.

A great way to be stuck at home

One of our 4th year students just got the best "stay away from people" gift. A new puppy! He named this adorable Golden Lab, Gracie Lou, and if classes ever start up again, I'll get to puppy-sit.

Yes I clicked on a click bait story

This is the second time today I took a deep breath and clicked on a story which is obviously click bait. This one purports to tell us what dog breeds are best according to our horoscope sign.

I'm a virgo so I was sort of curious, even though I know exactly what type of dog I'd find to be the best for me. They advise the Siberian Husky, and the Doberman Pincher.

I have no interest in the Doberman, maybe the Husky, but not my first choice at all. But then I'm not into Horoscopes.

I miss my dog

There are days when a weird feeling comes over me when I walk through the house and expect to see Ferdie. We're not ready to get another dog, it's just too much to be planning to move and acclimate a new pet as well. It wouldn't be fair to the dog or us. But that hasn't stopped me from checking Dirk's Fund Golden Retriever Rescue website  and Facebook page every couple of days to see their adoptable dogs. At the moment I am in love with two or three and two of them won't be ready to be adopted for some weeks.

This is Lizzie. She was released from owners who kept her outside all the time and did not care for her health. So she's being treated for a few things. If we had her, we'd change the name since Lizzie is what we call our daughter. This dog is just so gorgeous and has that sad look of having been ignored.

This is Holly. She also has some medical issues from neglect and is being treated and will not be adopted til healthy. She looks so much like Ferdie, large and sweet.

What's Missing from the Westminster Dog Show?

Every year I set aside whatever else I have to do on the second Monday and Tuesday evenings in February in order to watch the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. And each year I hope against hope the Golden Retriever will win best in show. Actually I have come to have a low bar in expectations and merely hope a Golden will win its group. It never happens. The Golden Retriever is one of the most popular breeds in America and one of the few which have never won at Westminster. In fact, 11 of the 10 most popular breeds have never won.

These 11 include: Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, French Bulldog, Rottweiler, Dachshund, Welsh Corgi, Australian Shepherd, Great Dane, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Miniature Schnauzer, Shih Tzu. These are among the most popular dog breeds. Here is a complete list of dog breeds which have never won, you'll have to scroll down a bit.

So which dogs have won the most and seem to be the favorites of judges? The top 10. The Wire Fox Terrier has won 14 times!

Airedale Terrier

Boxer

Cocker Spaniel

Doberman Pinscher

Sealyham Terrier

Standard Poodle

Pekinese

English Springer Spaniel

Scottish Terrier

White Fox Terrier

You may notice 4 of the 9 are terriers. I know I'll be disappointed once again.