Thinking of my fellow canines surviving the disasters

Our hearts and minds are with those impacted by the recent, destructive storms in Texas, Florida, and surrounding areas. We wish them a quick recovery and rebuild.

As recovery efforts continue in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey—and as people begin to assess the impact of Hurricane Irma—it has been heartening to hear the outpouring of support and desire to help those in need.  Please don't forget to the animals who are impacted by the devastation. 

Please remember all the animals that need assistance when you think about sending a donation. 

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/ars/home

Consumer Reports recently shared the best ways to help storm victims on www.consumerreports.org. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance and two other watchdogs, Charity Navigator and CharityWatch, have released lists of more than a dozen highly rated groups in a position to help. Below are six national and local groups that are listed by the charity watchdogs. Where possible, we tried to include examples of charities that are listed by at least two of the three watchdogs. Each of the groups say they are helping victims of Harvey, Irma, or both hurricanes.

Americares American Red Cross Direct Relief Operation USA PetSmart Charities ShelterBox USA

Local groups (Hurricane Harvey) Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Houston FoodBank Houston Children's Charity Houston Humane Society Houston SPCA United Way of Greater Houston

These are just some examples of national and local groups the charity watchdogs have listed. In addition, the charity information website, GuideStar, has provided a list of its own. If you want to know specifically what any of these groups is doing to help, visit their websites directly. 

Woof, woof till later, 
Zoey

Here I go...bragging again....

This is the most I have ever walked on the trails with Mama. It is about 3.5 miles in little over an hour and a half! (The more I walk the more I have to stop to sniff.)

Here is the reason why Mama made me walk so much.

Last night she and Dad had a delicious dinner at Aunt Joan's house.  The menu was loaded with calories--fried chicken, potato skins, cannoli cake, which sounds like a feast to me. Oh yeah, broccoli was included too; can't forget the healthy stuff. Mama usually never eats like this anymore but she enjoyed herself and then complained that she ate it all.  Dad has this reminder that he gives Mama once in a while--it is called his 80/20 rule--once in a while it is okay to indulge.  I agree with Dad--I would love to indulge 80% of the time! Oh no, I think he means 20% of the time is acceptable to go off track.

Anyway, the important question is: Do you think I was offered any of the yummy fried chicken or potato filling with cheese and bacon--nope, not one morsel went in my mouth! Yet, I had to walk extra this morning to burn off some of Mama's extra 20% of calories.  Doesn't sound fair to me.

I don't plan on breaking anymore of my records so Mama better not have any plans on over indulging again.

Exhausted...I think I will rest my sweet head for a few hours. 

Woof, woof till later, 

Zoey Elizabeth

Bragging time again...

I may have been pooped but I still had my wits to find my red ball. 

I can collapse just thinking about my new record walking the trail with Mama last Sunday. 

Ready to hear how many steps? We walked 7,425 human steps in a little over an hour. Thank goodness Mama has to work tomorrow--hopefully she will not be dragging me to beat the new record. 

Wake me up in a few hours!

PS: We are always exploring new paths along the trail. There are so many that I bet people aren't even aware of them.  Last Sunday, while working on breaking my record, we took a detour from one of the side paths and came across an area that Mama doesn't think we saw before but I disagree. (Mama's memory sometimes is not up to speed.) I think we found this area last year...but I wasn't in the mood to bark at her so I just let her think it was a new spot. Anyway, here is a picture of the homestead. We walked around for a while and we never came across a canine.

Woof, woof till later, 

Zoey Elizabeth

Ten things you didn’t know about... pit bulls

Reprinted from Cesar's Way, August 23, 2017

Junior — and Daddy before him — has served as Cesar’s right paw dog and ambassador for this very misunderstood and maligned breed. Here are ten things you may not have known about pit bulls.

1. Pit bulls are the only breed of dog to have appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine three times, and of course pit bulls — especially Daddy and Junior — were regularly featured on the cover of Cesar’s Way magazine over its five-year run. Other magazine depictions have not been as favorable, however...
    
2. The negative change in attitude toward pit bulls began thirty years ago, with a Time magazine story called “The Pit Bull Friend and Killer,” which began with the premise that the breed is inherently dangerous and did its damage from there. Prior to pit bulls being considered the vicious breed du jour, Doberman pinschers, German shepherds, and Rottweilers had held that designation and were also subject to breed bans and breed specific legislation.
    
3. Ironically, 1987 was the same year that Bud Light introduced its hugely popular mascot, Spuds MacKenzie, during Super Bowl XXI. The campaign was not killed because of the dog breed, however. Instead, it was because of pressure from special interest groups that perceived the dog as encouraging underage drinking. Spuds was retired in 1989, although she (yes, the dog playing him was female) made a return appearance as a ghost during Super Bowl LI in 2017.
    
4. You may not recognize the name Armando Christian Pérez — or, as he says Lady Gaga calls him, “Armando, formando escándalo” (“Armando, creating a scandal”) — but you’ll probably recognize him by his stage name, Pitbull, which he adopted because of the breed’s tenacity, as well as its outlaw status in his native Dade County, Florida.
    
5. Years before their reputation was tarnished beginning in the 1980s, pit bulls were not only considered safe with children, but they were often used as nanny dogs — and some of the most famous images of pit bulls from the 1920s and 1930s involve them with children, including as Petey in the “Our Gang” comedies and as Buster Brown’s sidekick Tige.
    
6. Photographer Sophie Gamand created a series of portraits of pit bulls with flowers in order to help soften the breed’s reputation.
    
7. Meanwhile, pit bulls Budgie and Basil front the grindcore band Caninus as vocalists, with a little human help from members of the group Most Precious Blood — which is not a reference to bloodhounds.
    
8. There are many persistent myths about pit bulls. Some of the false ones are that they can lock their jaws, and that they bite much harder than other breeds. But the truth is that there’s nothing special about their jaws, and in a test against a German shepherd and a Rottweiler, the pit bull’s bite strength actually came in last place. (The winner in the animal kingdom is the Kodiak Bear, by the way, with a bite force nearly four times as strong as a pit bull’s.)
    
9. One of the reasons that pit bulls get so much of the blame in the media for attacking people is that dogs are often misidentified as belonging to the breed when they don’t. In one study using animal shelter employees in Florida, the number of dogs misidentified by people as pit bulls when DNA said otherwise was inflated by 55%. Out of 120 dogs, only 25 actually were pits or part pit, but shelter staff identified 55 dogs that way. Remember, too, these are people who work with dogs all the time making the error. In the case of police or reporters making the call, it’s reasonable to expect them to be at least as inaccurate, if not more so.
    
10. Cesar has always said that a dog sees itself as animal, species, breed, and then name, with the latter two fairly unimportant as far as the dog is concerned — and with breed having nothing to do with a pit bull’s temperament. While people still spread the rumor that pit bulls are inherently vicious, studies have shown that breed is actually not a factor in dog-bite related fatalities at all. Human error and their failings at training or socializing dogs, though, were the biggest factors.

Yikes, I broke my record again!

We walked this morning 6,781 human steps in a little over an hour! My stamina and patience are really increasing...there were times when I dug my paws into the gravel and said, " woof, woof, NO Mama, let's turn around." I couldn't convince her, she said, "let's go Zo, we can do this;" me being the wonderful, loving dog that I am looked at her and realized she was not stopping...so off I trotted with my special Mama to do some more walking and sniffing. In my head, I kept listening to my mantra...I want to go home, I want to go home...

Home I am!  Just look at me, of course, my ball is right next to me but I am not getting up off this floor until tomorrow (or at least until I hear the ruffle of the treat bag).

PS: We didn't locate any painted rocks this morning:( Maybe tomorrow, one could only hope.

Woof, woof, till later, 

Zoey Elizabeth (one tired pup)

Barnegat trail painted rocks

Mama and I have been taking long walks along the trail this week. I broke my own personal step challenge today. I walked 6,407 human steps this morning! I wonder if I should double that since I have two set of legs?

The other day Mama noticed a few painted rocks scattered along the trail. The rocks weren't there the next day so she assumed people took them (they are very hard to resist). Monday morning on our walk, we came across this adorable rock and Mama couldn't resist taking it. Under the rock it says "Manahawkin rocks."

Mama knows there was a campaign in Lacey that someone was painting rocks and leaving them around the area. She has no idea if it is the same artist; Mama wants to thank the artist and she hopes we find more treasures on our hikes.

Here is another one we found...

Woof, woof, till later, 

Zoey Elizabeth

Remember Xylitol is dangerous

An artificial sweetener found in sugarless gum, candy, and baked goods, Xylitol may be approved for people but can cause liver damage and a life-threatening drop in blood sugar in dogs. According to the Pet Poison Helpline (PPH), a 10-pound dog would only need to eat a single piece of sugar-free gum to reach a potentially toxic dose. Low blood sugar can develop within 10 to 15 minutes of ingestion, in addition to vomiting and loss of coordination, says Pet Poison Helpline.