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Topics - NoDogNow

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1
Bills & Other Legislative Acts / HORRIBLE BILL HAS PASSED.
« on: April 24, 2007, 04:43:01 pm »
Well, we clearly didn’t send enough angry emails yet to the California legislature, because they’ve passed that horrible bill.

I’m going to cross post something from one of my other forums, because I know that everyone here is as passionate about dogs and breeding and PROPER breeding of dogs as I am. And as this breeder is.

I encourage everyone to check out the website and also the PetLaw group.  Whether your children and grandchildren grow up with the boundless love you all get from your dogs is at stake, IMNSHO.

*****************************************

Permission to crosspost:

CA AB 1634 has passed out of committee. It will now go on to the appropriations committee. If it passes there, the next stop is the full assembly for a vote into law.

If it becomes law, there will effectively be no more breeding in California.

The people who believe we should "work with" the fanatics who want these bills passed should read The Future of Dogs at http://www.pet-law.com/future/forward.html It can also be ordered as a booklet from that site. These laws are not intended to lower euthanasia rate -- the DOG euthanasia rate has been dropping steadily for 30 years. They are intended to STOP BREEDING ALTOGETHER.

Unless you understand the animal rights agenda, you will never be able to protect your rights. When California develops a dog deficit, which is already happening in many parts of the state, when people cannot buy a quality purebred, guess where the puppies will come from? Over the border, as many are now. They are raised in uninspected, often filthy places that make the breeders we call "puppy mills" look like doggie heaven. Do you think the people who are already supplying puppies illegally ("Meet me in the Walmart parking lot at midnight. Bring cash.") are going to stop doing it when their market doubles and triples?

Since many of those pups will end up in shelters due to health or temperament problems, the ARS will be back in three or four years saying "The law isn't tough enough." And those Responsible Breeders who decided that since the laws would only apply to those Irresponsible Breeders, we should work on a compromise will find themselves caught in the web next. And guess who will NOT be there to help us? Remember those commercial breeders we threw to the lions??

The statistics cited as "horrific euthanasia rates" include:

1) Cats -- there is still a cat overpopulation problem, largely due to feral & "barn cats." Forcing purebred cat breeders to spay and neuter will not touch this problem. How many "excess euthanasias" do you think there are of, say, Abyssinians or even Persians? How many people with purebred cats allow them to roam and breed freely? Purebred cats account for one percent of the overall cat population.

2) Dogs brought to shelters FOR euthanasia. Many people cannot afford to have a vet euthanize an old, even very much loved, pet. Their only choice may be shelter euthanasia, where the perhaps 16-year-old chihuhahua is counted as "ANOTHER UNWANTED PET!!!!"

3) Dogs with no chance of being safe, happy or healthy pets. It's not true that there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. Just like some people, some dogs are just plain wired wrong. Yes, unfortunately they may bounce through a few homes before arriving at the shelter, but they too – even though no one could call them pets -- are counted in the "SKYROCKETING EUTHANASIA NUMBERS." If California goes mandatory spay/neuter, we will lose possibly ten percent of the gene pool of many of our breeds. What will that do for purebred dogs?

Folks, this is war. We are county by county and now state by state losing our right to not only breed, but to even OWN more than two or three dogs.

Compromising is not the answer.


Education is. I am amazed at the number of inquiries I get from people who already KNOW not to buy from pet ships, know what questions to ask, are prepared to pay a fair price for a good puppy. It will not help us to win the education war if we have meanwhile been legislated out of existence. There will always be shelter euthanasia and it will always include some dogs that could have been good pets. There will also always be child abuse, homelessness, and cancer. It happens. Life is not perfect. Passing laws to wipe out breeding as an approach to shelter euthanasia is like limiting couples to two children to prevent child abuse. The issues are not even related except that they both involve children.

We do not have a pet overpopulation problem. We have a pet retention problem, and the answer to that is education. Help people KEEP their pets by offering support and being open to questions. Many people who turn their dogs in to shelters do so because they don't understand the basics of housetraining or dog behavior. And yes, they may turn in their next dog too unless there is intervention. When your neighbor gripes about her Labradoodle peeing in the house, don't roll your eyes and preach about the folly of "designer dogs." Give her a copy of the housetraining paper you send home with puppies. Talk to her about what exactly is going on. Is he marking? Is he confined for too long and just can't hold it? Has he just never been housetrained? As breeders, we have a responsibility to address the owner turn-in part of euthanasia, but it is not fulfilled by cutting back on breeding or supporting laws against "those other guys." It is hands-on, one-on-one education provided in a friendly -- not condescending and bossy, which we all excel in! -- manner. We need to be making friends in the community and doing something to fight the "snobby dog breeder" image we've built over the years.

Okay. Enough. Next time you see something about AB1634 or another bill in someone else's community, find out what you can do to help. Today it's California. Tomorrow it will be your state. You may not think you have time to help. You'd better make time or no one will be left to help you when it's your turn.


-- Sharyn Timbreblue Whippets ~ www.timbreblue .com Sharyn & Walt Hutchens Virginia Pet-Law: Protect Your Rights to Own and Breed Dogs http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pet-Law

*************************************

California Big Paw People: call your assembly rep and THREATEN TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST THEM if CA AB 1634 is passed.

And email the Governator, telling him to veto this bill if it passes.

This is an extremely bad law, with some extreme long range consequences; and if this bill passes in California, it's going to be put in front of every legislature in the country over the next year or two. We can't let this get past us.

2
Here's a link to the text of the bill.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1601-1650/ab_1634_bill_20070223_introduced.html

It's essentially a mandatory spay/neuter bill, but there are some very untenable aspects to it for legitimate breeders and show owners, not the least of which is that every local jurisdiction has the ability to 1--set it's OWN arbitrary price for the "intact" permit that every single unaltered dog or cat has to have, without any kind of restriction, and 2--decide for itself what to consider a legitimate registry beyond the 4 that the bill specifies, which are AKC, UKC, Amer Dog Breeders Assoc, & Intl Cat Assoc. That means that that ARBA and some of the other rare breed registries are subject to random discrimination by local officials.

A breeder or show owner with several dogs could end up paying literally THOUSANDS of dollars annually just for the intact animal permits.

Not to mention, someone who has a Catahoula Leopard Dog could find themselves completely out of luck if their local anti-dog nut in the Animal Welfare department decides that they don't like the sound of the American Rare Breed Association. Or a breeder who's working on a small scale with a developing breed could find themselves out in the cold because they've chosen to work with the Animal Research Foundation--which has been around for more than 60 years, but works mostly with very localized breeds, often with developing or 'savior' breeds. I only know about it because it came up here in the office in reference to a story, but it's a legit registry (even if I do question a couple of the 'breeds' under development... :-\)

I'll be calling MY representative s in Sacramento to register my objections to this bill. It's better than the LAST mess, but it's still too random, as far as I'm concerned.

3
Groans, Gripes, Brags & Boasts / ATTACKED BY A VICIOUS DOG!!! Not joking--
« on: September 01, 2006, 09:22:56 am »
So I've calmed down enough to tell this story finally. But I'm radically steamed. This is going to ruin my whole vacation week, I'm so pissed.

I got bitten last night. Yes, me.

No, it wasn't Roxie the Demon-Dog. I was scratching her sweetie pie chin when I got nailed from behind by the most dangerous biting dog known to man.

YES, I SAID IT.

It was a bloody Chiahuahua. Bit me right ON the Achilles tendon, the evil little POS. I didn't even see it coming across the street to nail me! The only reason he didn't break the skin is that I had on a pair of jeans instead of the capris I've been wearing to work all summer--we were moving a bunch of stuff around yesterday.

But talk about pain! Jesus, please us. I almost cried right there in the street.

Stupid *** woman--who of course in my neighborhood, wouldn't admit to even speaking English--didn't have the evil little bi**h--it was a bi**h, not and unneutered maleI picked its a** up and shook it, so I looked --on a leash!!!! I had my hands on it, shaking it by the scruff of it's misbegotten neck before she even realized her dog had attacked me. Then she comes running FROM ACROSS THE ******* STREET to scream at me in incomprehensib le Spanish, amounting to what I could understand with my excessively basic Spanish as "let go of my dog, insert Spanish cursing here."

Yes, she DID call me that. AFTER I WAS BITTEN. The...insert foulest possible cursing known to the Marine Corp...cow.

I couldn't get an address or even a name--she took off running down the street, and I could barely walk just then. But I've seen her with this rabid little POS walking around before, and it's almost never on a leash, and always aggressive. I limped home and called our local Animal Control; and was told that they would put the woman and the dog on a 'keep and eye out for' list. If I'm lucky, they'll catch her with the rat off leash.

I'm telling you, if I see either one of them again, I'm throwing that little POS right over the gate into Roxie's lot (she went BALLISTIC :o!) and calling 911, just before I beat the crap out of that...
Quote
insert previous cursing
...cow.

Everyone in the office thinks I'm being a big baby--my heel isn't even red--but it hurts like h*ll.

HATE STUPID PEOPLE AND THEIR STUPID VICIOUS RATS.  >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(

4
Groans, Gripes, Brags & Boasts / DEMON DOG--update
« on: August 17, 2006, 09:38:38 am »
My campaign to keep the drunk from working at night has had an even BETTER result for my sweet Demon Dog! Whose real name turns out to be Roxie, by the way.

The guy who’s closing now came over to talk at the fence Tuesday night when my she came running over to the gate to have her scratches. 

Mind you, she didn’t just come over and poke her nose thru.  She had been watching over the wall, as she likes to do, and when the bus pulled up to the stop, she let out a big “OOOFFF!!” and jumped down. Apparently, her run gate was already open for the night, because as I came around the corner to the gate, she was already over there--not just her nose poking thru, but one paw out waving at me too, so I didn’t miss her! Of course, I shook her paw and told her “GOOD WAVE! Such a good wave!” and scratched her chin and her chest thru the fence.  (I LOVE this dog. I wish I could take her home and spoil her. I hate landlords.)

So I’m scratching her chin and telling her good sit, good quiet, and she’s just drooling happily everywhere when this guy comes over and said in his very broken English, “I want to tell you thanks for making the trouble about Roxie. When the nephew came, I lost the shift, and I worried something bad would happen. I want to tell you that my wife was here and sees her coming to you and being so friendly at the fence that she’s going to let my kids come play with her while I do the cleaning now. If my wife didn’t see her being so nice to you, she would never let my kids come while I close. So thank you, and from my boys too, because they love Roxie very much and are really excited to play with her every night.”

So last night, sure enough…SHE HAD KIDS TO PLAY WITH!! They were playing soccer all over the lot.  I could her her barking play-barks as I got off the bus and thought she probably would be having so much fun she wouldn’t even notice me walk past. She must have been listening for the bus, though—-because there she was at the gate, waving her paw for her scratch! 

The boys are really sweet—one’s about 12 or 13 and one’s about 8 or 9—and they came over while she was having her scratch and said thanks, too, and maybe soon their mother will come to play with her.

Kids to play with AND a job to do.  How good is that!?!  ;D  ;D  ;D

5
My sister’s crazy BC died this afternoon. Snail bait is VERY BAD.

Demonspawn got into the shed yesterday—it looks like my BIL may have not quite gotten the door latched when he was out there before he took off for his 3 day driving gig this week.  When my sister got home from work last night, she found a horrible mess all over the yard, stuff strewn from h*ll to breakfast.  Included in the mess was a package of snail bait that was chewed open and pieces all over the place.  Demonspawn was acting funny, staggering and hanging his head.  Squig seemed fine, but she decided to take no chances. 

Her Petsmart vet was already closed, so she had to take them to the emergency vet—which is nearly 30 minutes away, at best.  By the time they got there, Demonspawn had started to seizure.

They did everything they could for the little twerp, but he’d apparently eaten too many baits too long before my sister got home.  I’m sure the only reason that Squig is fine is that she’s a finicky eater—she won’t eat anything that’s not either out of your hand or in her bowl—she won’t even lick stuff off the floor. Being a weirdo saved her life this time.

Of course, my sister’s completely devastated; Demonspawn was the puppy she got to replace Zach, who she had to have PTS while my BIL was out of town LAST summer.

Did anyone know that snail baits were that dangerous??  I certainly didn’t.  ???

Everyone have a glass of lemon iced tea on Demonspawn tonight—it was his favorite. And make sure your sheds are SHUT TIGHT.  :'(  :'(

6
Bills & Other Legislative Acts / Half a Million Dogs...
« on: August 04, 2006, 01:15:28 pm »
Half a million or more dogs are now in danger in China.  >:(   >:(   >:(   >:(  >:(   >:(  >:(   >:( Stupid Central Committe Comunist *#*$*@^#*(@&#'s!!!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5244304.stm

I saw a link to a petition for this, but can't find it now.  Anybody else know what it is?


7
Pit Bull Discussions & Pictures / Hurray for Pit Bulls in Los Angeles!!!
« on: August 03, 2006, 06:41:12 am »
Check THIS OUT:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pitbulls3aug03,0,550792.story?coll=la-home-headlines

If the story hadn't ended with the two idiots at the dog park, it would have been a TOTAL POINT in the responsible dog owner column.  Even so, at last someone says something positive about pitties!!
 ;D  ;D   ;D

8
Groans, Gripes, Brags & Boasts / SERIOUS PROBLEM (warning: novel)
« on: July 06, 2006, 02:58:10 pm »
I’m positively livid, and I need some clear headed advice about what to do.

Every night as I get off the bus to walk home (I’ll save my $3.59/gallon gas for FUN, thanks ;)) the auto shop on the corner is closing for the day.  This business is where Demon Dog, the infamous rottie who finds her greatest pleasures in life to be scaring boys off skateboards and making people fall off their bikes by barking like a nut when they pass her gates, lives.  She guards the property at night, but has a dog house and run area where she’s kept during the day. She’s not all mean spirited—people go back there and sit and pet her, kids play with her—she’s a good girl.  I’ve never, ever seen her loose—she’s either in the run, on a lead, or she’s locked inside the gates, guarding.

Last night as the bus pulled up to the corner, I could see that one of the security gates was already closed.  The other one was open—an entirely normal state of affairs.  I said good night to the driver, got off and started walking past the open gate toward the new nail shop that just opened, thinking that my nails had reached their semi annual decent stage, and I might just splurge on a manicure WHEN—

I WAS LICKED!!!   :o  :o   :o   :o  :o   :o  :o  :o  :o

All the way up my Achilles tendon, from the edge of my heel callus halfway up the back of my capris, which are immediately slobber soaked.  A hot, SLOBBERY lick.  Very wet, and about 3 inches wide.   :o  :o   :o  :o

Yes: it was Demon Dog.  LOOSE.   >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(

And the gate was WIDE OPEN, onto a busy four lane street.  >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(

So I turn around, and there’s Demon Dog, all happy and play bowing, spinning around, licking me from the tip of my toes, right across my sandals and up my shin, soaking the FRONT side of my capris in slobber.

I look around.  I can’t see a soul.   I holler for a good 2-3 minutes: hello, is anyone here, hello, your dog is out, hello, hello…NOBODY answers me.  I’m rubbing her ears, patting her sides, now I’m slobbered all the way up both legs AND both arms. (What a dangerous killer she is!) I call the phone numbers on the sign above the business—no answer.  I call the phone number on the tow truck—no answer.  I call them both again—still no answer. 

I start to step inside the gate, but she blocked me—very clearly, she wasn’t going to let me go inside.  She’s more than glad to stand around at the gate and lick me to death, to roll over on her back and have her tummy rubbed, whatever, but I’m NOT allowed past the gate. Fair enough. She’s a smart girl, and she knows her job. 

But I’ve been standing there giving lovies for well over 5 minutes, trying to get someone to come out and I’m not getting any answers.  Clearly, I can’t just leave her there.  There’s a lock keeping the gate open. She’s not going to let me come inside to put her in her run. There are dozens of cars and trucks going by 5 feet away in the street. If someone comes by on a bike or a skateboard, I’m certain she’ll chase them and even though I doubt she’d bite them, I’m  sure she’ll end up hit by a car!

And I’m starting to get a little scared about why I’m not getting an answer from anyone.  Y’all know I’m the worst case scenario girl—I’m starting to think of all the accidents that can happen in an auto bay.

Finally, I put my hand thru her collar and told her to heel. We walked over to the little diner that’s next door to the mechanic shop.  You can imagine their joy when I walk thru their open door with the enormous rottie from next door, who the cook is apparently terrified of.  I explain what’s going on, and ask if they have any other phone numbers that I can call, that nobody is answering the numbers I can see.  They search their rolodex and DO have another number, which I call while the cook goes over to see if he can find anyone—to get away from Demon Dog, who’s still slobbering me wherever she can reach and playing tug with my purse.  The guy I get on the phone does NOT speak English, my Spanish isn’t any better, and about the best I communicate is, “Tengo perro! tu gate is abierto, tu perro is loose!  Venga aqui, arriba!”

Yeah, my brother the Spanish teacher would be appalled.  But he finally said “Vengo!” among other things, so I presumed he was coming over.

OK, it's a little funny at this point.  But not really.

I walked her back over to the lot. I can hear a phone ringing somewhere. About 2 minutes later, out from the back of the bays stumbles a guy.  As he gets close, I can smell the beer. He’s drunk! He comes over, slurring in Spanish, which makes it completely impossible for me to understand him at all, he’s trying to unlock the gate to close it with no luck.  He keeps talking to the dog, who’s not remotely interested in going near him—she keeps circling around behind me to get away from him, simultaneously trying to make sure I stay on the sidewalk, while I’m trying to make sure she doesn’t end up in the street—well, I’m sure you can picture it.  I wanted to shove the drunk in the street really, really badly.

Finally, a car pulls up, and out gets a guy I recognize as someone who’s worked on my car before.  No, we don’t communicate any better now than we did on the phone, but at least he could see that the gate was STILL locked open(!) and the dog was loose and licking me like I was Ben and Jerry’s Beef Jerky Bits.  He unlocked the gate, closed it, and started screaming at the drunk in Spanish.  Demon Dog just stands there, eyes all sad, ears down.  She wasn’t done having her head rubbed, I could tell.  So I gave her a few more pets thru the fence, and then I went home to take a shower.

I had to use a pumice stone to get the layers of slobber off me. (That’s not a complaint, just a measurement of how slobbery I was!)

I stopped and talked to the manager this morning—he knows me, he’s worked on my car too. The story is that the drunk is the nephew of the latest owner, and he knows there been drinking on the job—the uncle doesn’t care, just wants the drunk working. The manager is going to have another talk with the drunk, but he didn’t seem very optimistic. He’s as concerned as I am that it could happen again, only next time, someone could end up hurt.

Here’s my enraging dilemma.

Up until now, she’s always been taken good care of, with plenty of bones and Kongs and toys when she’s out guarding at night, she’s got two big 5 gallon water jugs refilled every day, and the dog food bags in their trash are Canidae. Her run is always clean, and she has a shade over her dog house to keep it cooler and out of the rain.

But I am NOT going to let that sweet good dog get run over because a irresponsible drunken…insert multiple profane curse words in both English and Spanish here…leaves the gates open while he’s getting smashed in the back.

If I find her loose again, do I call the cops?  If I do, they’ll call Animal Control, and she’ll end up in the LA County shelter. But maybe they would arrest the drunk for endangering public safety—after all, she IS one of those dangerous rottweilers... ::)  ::) And LA County IS a kill shelter, in a city where there's a high level of prejudice against rotties, pits, etc.

It’s not fair.  She loves her lot and her job and barking at people to make them jump!  That stupid…repeat curses from before…is the one who needs to be in the animal shelter, not Demon Dog!

If I find her loose and take her home, will Rottie Rescue take her as a stray, if I lie and say I just found her wandering?

I'm so mad, I don't know WHAT to do. >:(  >:(  >:(   >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


9
I need help, you have to calm me down. >:( >:( >:( >:(

How is THIS for the most useless, horrible woman in the world?

My friend T's dad passed on this morning. (They've known this was coming; he was told 5 weeks ago that he had a very agressive and inoperable cancer, and that it would only be 6-8 weeks.) T's regular daycare provider told her several months ago that she would have to arrange for alternate day care for tomorrow, due to the provider's daughter's graduation.  T planned to just take tomorrow off and take her girls out to Disneyland.  Even with her Dad's illness, she's stuck to that plan; there's been a lot of stress, the girls are really feeling it, even though they're only 2 and 4. 

She called me at 8:45 this morning to tell me about her dad; her husband has been up north at her parents all week helping out and he called her just after she got to work.  (The girls were already at daycare, fortunately--they don't know yet.)

Obviously, she's a mess.  She needs to get to her mom.  So...she called her mother-in-law to ask her to pick up the girls from day care, and asked if she would mind watching them until their dad gets home on Saturday.

AND GETS TOLD NO. No reasons, no explanations, just, "No, I can't do it."

T was almost incoherent when she was trying to explain this whole mess to me.  A co-worker drove her home--she wasn't in very good shape before she called the witch, and it just put her over the edge.  I told her co-worker to give T a Valium and put her to bed.  I'll pick up the girls from daycare and take them to Disneyland anyway.

I'm just livid. I've never liked this woman, but frankly, she's just put herself on my  personal hit list.  How do you do that to someone who's been your daughter-in-law for 20 years? 

Y'all know I can cuss, but I don't even KNOW any words bad enough. There aren't any emoticons for how mad I am. Who knows a voodoo priestess? 

Nobody messes with my friends.  NOBODY.

I have to calm down before I pick up the girls.  Somebody give me a mantra, the OOOHHMMMS aren't working.

10
Bills & Other Legislative Acts / Well, they've gone and done it now...
« on: April 19, 2006, 05:43:54 am »
And I didn't even hear that THIS was on the table!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dogs19apr19,1,43619.story?coll=la-headlines-california

With exemptions only for "show dogs owned by registered breeders" and service dogs, LA County is planning to require ALL dogs be spayed or neutered.

Don't y'all think this is going just a little over the top? 


11
Book Club & Noteworthy Reads / Right or wrong?
« on: February 06, 2006, 06:18:08 pm »
Check out this story:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1586602&page=1


I'm ambivalent about this.  Admittedly, it sounds terrible.  But they ARE chasing wild jackrabbits, which in my experience are nothing but evil, nasty pestilential rabies bearing creeps.  (Yes, I admit it, I hate jackrabbits.)

And while it's politically correct to use other lures, just exactly why is it wrong to let a sight hound hunt real, actual prey? 

The only thing I AM certain of is that the California legislature has bigger problems to solve than this!


12
Great Dane Discussions / Dane on 7th Heaven
« on: February 06, 2006, 05:22:19 pm »
I haven't watched this mess regularly ever, but it's one of the shows that my friend Julie lets her kids watch all the time, on the theory that the father being a minister makes it 'worthwhile.'  (I find it annoying, stupid, overly preachy and fully of incredibly mixed messages, which is why I never watch.) 

But I was over there last night helping her with a project for church and guess what?  The blonde daughter that's married to the blonde guy that REALLY can't act has a GREAT DANE now!  Julie said they got 2 dogs at the shelter for Christmas--apparently as part of a 'don't adopt a dog at Christmas' plotline, they got the Dane and a yapper.   ::)

Stupidest show ever, I only ever see it at Julie's:  but I can't think of another show that's featured a Dane as a family pet!

There was a cute scene last night where they were feeding him, the yapper that must have come from the shelter with him, and an adorable baby ice cream cones in a car last night.   I have no idea why they were in the car, but the Dane was just so cute slurping ice cream out of the cone in the stupid actor's hand.   Between him and the cute baby, we were "awwing" so much, we weren't even paying attention to what was supposed to be going on.

Has anyone else seen this cutie?  They're calling him Samson on the show. 


13
My friend Desi, who for some reason known only the the god of over-neatness will NOT keep more than 1 bookcase in her house, gave me this medium-sized hardback last night as I was leaving.  She got it for Christmas, and loved it (but doesn't love it enough to replace one of the books on the only shelf with it.)  "Here, you'll like this, it's funny--like those vet books you bought the kids.  Take it home."  (I gave the kids a boxed set of Herriott last summer.)

"Desi, this is a new book."

"I know, that's why I'm giving it to you.  If I ever want to read it again, I can borrow if from you."

(Desi is one of the 2 people in the world who I lend books to--and she's the only one who gives them back.  I have to smuggle my 'lent' books out of my mother's house by the sackful, usually under cover of darkness.) 

So I brought it home. 

It being a TAR-less Tuesday, I didn't even bother turning on the TV.  I just put on my sleep shirt, got a mug of ice water and a bag of sunflower seeds, smooshed my pillows around, curled up in my flannel sheets and cracked the book.  It was about 9:30.

About 3 pages in I started giggling. 

About 7 pages in, I started to laugh. 

About 15 pages in came the first guffaw. 

At 11:45, a pounding rattled my security door.  It's the neighbor, in his robe, slipperless and mad.  "What the h*ll is going on over here?  I'm trying to sleep!"

"Sorry.  Sorry.  My book is too funny."  This is emphasised by the fact that I am, in fact, still snickering.

"Well, quit reading it if you can't laugh quieter.  I have to be to work at 4:00!"

I couldn't put it down, though; I was too close to the end.  I returned to my flannel sheets and rearranged my pillows to read on my tummy, with a laugh pillow carefully propped under my chin, to muffle the noise. 

At 12:15, I was sobbing helplessly. I went to sleep with a headache from crying;  I still have it.

It's everything everybody who wants a dog needs to be warned about, and everything everyone who has a dog knows and loves about their own.   

You have to read this book. You will laugh for 270 pages, see it coming for 15 pages, and bawl like a baby to the end of the book.  But it's worth the crying headache.   


14
OK, I'm still looking for the right apartment.  Craig's List always distracts me with that pets link.  I know, most of them aren't legitimate people.  Nonetheless, this one caught my eye.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/pet/120827259.html

I emailed her and asked if it was OK to post her link.  She said MOST HAPPILY, PLEASE. 

Anyway, an evil neighbor is causing problems for a Dane boy.  Maybe someone here has room for him??

Thanks for looking!

 

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