Good or Bad for the Jews

"Good or Bad for the Jews"

Many years ago, and for many years, I would travel to Morocco to visit uncles, cousins, and my paternal grandmother. Some lived in Tangiers;...

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Now For Something Serious: Dogs [UPDATE]

Have been spending way too much time on nonsense, e.g., Obama's foreign and domestic policies, and must now focus on what is really important in life, dogs. 

As noted before (here and here), I had a beloved Rottweiler who after some 11 years gracing us with her humor, loyalty, intelligence, and protection, moved on. I swore off dogs forever, but the pull of the canine, the call of the mild, the howl of a good time has proven too much. My daughter and I have been hitting the animal shelters and various dog rescue organization events. Had we our druthers our temporary house in California would be home for 50 to 100 large K-9s. Only fear of provoking the wrath of the Diplowife--35th wedding anniversary, yesterday--has restrained us.

But--Ha!--no longer! We discovered this magnificent young brute, a German Shepherd/Akita mix, who overcame the restraints of what commonsense I still possess.    





It is not like the old days when you went to the fetid dog pound on the outskirts of the city dump, woke up the guard, slapped down ten bucks, and loaded Fido into the truck. Now you must apply, and be interviewed, and be examined, and be approved. I dutifully submitted an application, providing references and financial data and swearing to my credentials as a responsible animal lover. I, subsequently, have been interviewed over the phone--I did not let on that I am The Diplomad, as I didn't want to play the Oprah Prima Donna card, "Do you know with whom you're dealing?"

Our house gets inspected on Thursday to see if it is worthy of His Highness Ludwig Von Yakuza. My daughter is a bundle of nerves. I, on the other hand, await with the equanimity of one who has dealt with State inspectors, Hill staff, and policemen all around the world, in other words, with a bottle of scotch and a bundle of bills at the ready (Disclaimer from Management: The owner, editors, and executive directors of The Diplomad do not condone this sort of behavior, and no intent to promote it is implied or should be inferred. Do not attempt this at home.)

It is easy to make fun of this dog adoption process. It, however, does show a touching willingness by many ordinary people, operating without government support, sacrificing their own time and money in a bid to care for abandoned and abused animals, and trying to ensure that these animals go to safe and loving residences. I think you can judge a society by how it treats children and animals. It seems, unfortunately, that we currently do better with the latter than with the former, precisely because of the great amount of government intervention in "caring" for children. To a very large extent the destruction of the family and of the non-governmental support structure that existed to help families through crises has been a result of  deliberate liberal government policies. We can see liberal policy "successes" most dramatically in Eden-like places such as Detroit. If we want to see streets filled with stray, sick, and violent packs of dogs, we should enact government programs to care for dogs, and push hardworking private sector people out.

Meanwhile, we await Thursday's verdict.

UPDATE: Inspection day. Nice inspection lady came over; we groveled, and apologized re the state of the house because of the paving operation underway.  We PASSED!!!! We get to pick up the brute, which we have decided to rename Hartza ("Bear" in Basque) next Saturday. I can't wait for Hartza to eat the neighbor's cat . . . just kidding . . . might give Hartza a bad case of indigestion.

WLA

39 comments:

  1. Thanks for waiting to post this past coffee time.

    They inspect your house?!! (after your financials?!!)

    Arkie

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you fail your inspection may I suggest:
    http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2013/08/08#mutable_983524

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy belated anniversary, and good luck with your application to become Chief Servant to The Dog. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The more I see of people, the more I love dogs. Our two, a lazy fuzzball chihuahua and a seriously hyper miniature dachshund, are security system, alarm clock and lovable attention hogs all at once. I picked up the dachshund from someone at work but had to go full on supplicant before the local pet adoption society for the chihuahua. It was an eye-opening experience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We had a fabulous dog, a pit/Labrador mix that passed away. I am friends with the local game warden and she is friends with volunteers at the pound.
    A few months after our dog's passing I got a call from the head volunteer at the town pound. She heard that our dog had died and wouldn't I like to adopt another? She had a dog that certainly would end up chained in the back yard or sent to fighting if I didn't adopt him...
    Being the horribly soft touch that I am, we took him home. Our dog Ty had been scooped up in a drug bust as a puppy and had spent almost a year in pooch prison. I have owned 12 dogs in my lifetime and I never met a dog like Ty. There wasn't a door that he didn't want to charge through, blowing out our screens, eating our stuff (including the garage door opener and my husbands cholesterol meds.)
    He is now 7 and I have to say that he is the happiest dog I have ever owned. He sucks a blanket... with a vengeance! I have never seen this before. He puts a huge gob of blanket in his mouth and sucks like crazy. After a while he collapses, much like auto asphyxiation. He never harms the blanket. In fact, we have the same blanket from when he came to us.
    Adopting dogs out of the pound is a crap shoot. Adopting a dog that would certainly have a miserable life under other circumstances is a blessing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have a Rottie/Dane cross who we bought from some rather unsavory Florida backyard breeders. I'm pretty sure our dog is the only one from that operation who didn't end up guarding pot farms or chained to a tree. Our 130 pound bundle of joy still nurses on her blankie like a baby now that she is six. She is the most sensitive, kind, scary looking dog in the world.

      Delete
  6. And BTW, I have never needed a home security system. Both my previous dog, Babs, and my current dog Ty would give their lives for me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have fingers and everything else crossed for you..I know you will...pass!! Am so glad for you and for your new puppers..I lost my sweet ,precious 14 yr old little girl 2 weeks ago to cancer..and I am heartbroken but I know I will see her again...as I will, all of our fur babies..at The Rainbow Bridge.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awe... not a huskie? They could turn that paver-covered yard into a moonscape in no time (well, mine did). But either way, congrats!
    - reader #1482

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fingers crossed also ... although the Daughter Unit and I have never had to go through the adoption screening for a dog. Ours have always just come up to us and asked if we could be their Person. The last two were found on the street, presumed lost, dumped and abandoned ... and like perfect suckers, we kept them. Charming, attractive and fairly well-trained doggies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've the same experience, Celia. We live on a ranch and our dogs always show up to see if we're worth adopting. Never had a bad one yet!

      Delete
  10. I've read where dogs can be trained to sniff out cancers in humans. How many would it take I wonder to do the same in Congress?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Now if dogs could be trained to sniff out good politicians, we would have something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We would have *nothing*, actually--"good politician" being an empty set.

      Delete
  12. Congrats to Mrs. Diplomad for putting up with you for so long (LOL).
    Very nice looking pooch. I hope many happy years with your new best freind.

    Dogs have Masters. Cats have Staff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We await the Thursday ruling

      Delete
    2. It's Thursday! Good luck with the Pet Police.

      Delete
    3. There is an air of tense expectation. The work in the backyard has been delayed; pavers and mud everywhere. House is a mess. Daughter going nuts. She KNOWS we are going to fail. I have a bottle of JW Black on reserve.

      Delete
  13. Congratulations on being demoted in the pack order!

    The fetching Mrs. Anonymous and I had a pet home inspector drive from Seattle to our home in the Salem, OR area - a one way trip of 220 miles on her own dime & time. We gave her gas and food money to cover the whole trip before she headed back to Seattle.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, Shepherd and Akita? Great Mix!

    I love dogs, among other animals. I've had terriers for over 40 years now, and every time I say I'm not getting another one.....I get another one. Usually when we are broke.

    Ah, enjoy him. God gave us these wonderful creatures for our benefit.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, congratulations on 35 years of marriage! My ex-dipwife and I have been together for 30.

    I have to admit that I'm a cat fancier myself, and would own a couple if my wife weren't allergic. However, dogs are great, too--as long as they're someone else's responsibility.

    And my guess is that your new diplodog would make a better SecState than either Shrillary Shrew or John-I-love-Nguyen-Thi-Binh-Kerry.

    Regards,
    Ex-"Kounselor" Kone (I'm not gonna let you get away on that one)
    Kepha

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have a small german shepard bitch, they are great dogs. She obviously thinks my kids are her flock. Every night she makes the rounds and checks on each kid in bed with a sniff. When one was away at camp- she became quite neurotic. On a hike she literally herds the kids, becoming agitated when on strays ahead or behind. Can’t tell you how many UPS drivers/service men have found themselves trapped in their cars by her. Hesitate to even contemplate what would happen if someone tried to enter our house uninvited. She’s smart as hell too. Recently found a good sire and will get her bred. If you find yourself in east Tennessee- diplomad – get ahold of me and I will give you a pick of the litter. I guarantee you’ll never own a better dog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I must hide your comment from the Diplowife . . .

      Delete
    2. Ahhhh...Like our boy Gus (a shepard-wolf hybrid), long gone from us now. How I miss the days of the weekly phone call from the janitor letting me know that Gus has, once again, "escorted" the kids to school.
      I would not have felt a bit sorry for any perv on that day...

      Delete
    3. We had the most beautiful German Shepherd when my son was a baby..she thew herself in front of him as he started to toddle down the bank to the river..and I still chuckle at the number of delivery men that scrambled up on the hood of their trucks to get out of her way..she really was a pussy cat..they were not convinced..!!

      Delete
  17. so his initial are L.V.Y.
    that would be "Lovey" for short.
    perfectly suits the pictures...

    I adopted my current dog. He was a stray so the shelter named him Beau. I wanted to honor that and keep the name but it sounded like Bo, and I didn't want anyone to think I'd named him after the pres's dog. So he's now Beau Diddley and we are both content with that.

    jmb

    ReplyDelete
  18. It is sad that private sector, volunteer animal foster/adoption programs work so much better than government-run children foster/adoption programs

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congrats
    - reader #1482

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congratulations on your new doggie! He looks like a wonderful addition to the family...
    Although I have to say that my way of acquiring dogs is a lot less nerve-wracking. All I have to do is to go out in the street in my neighborhood, innocently minding my own business ... and dogs come up to me, begging me to make them their very special person. The latest is a wire-haired terrier-and-something-else. We named him Nemo, because we found him. He thinks he is a cat, actually ...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congratulations, indeed. Enjoy the new addition to the family.
    :)

    V
    (reader #15)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I have had a German Shepherd/kita cross for several years now, which I also got an a shelter. He's the smartest dog I have ever owned but not an easy keeper. He knows all the commands but he decides when he will obey them. He has a very strong prey drive and has killed two kittens who strayed into his kennel. Hr also baits ad kills possums- he leaves food in his bowl and hides behind his doghouse in wait. Someone spent a lot of time trying to make him a police dog only to be defeated by his independent streak. The bonus to that is when my neighbors put on a Fourth of July fireworks display larger than many cities have, he does not cower under the bed like my other two dogs. He watches them, his heading moves to follow the ascent of each skyrocket.

    Unfortunately he has serious hip problems and he may not be able to cope with another winter.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Appreciate your blog, and appreciated this post. I am on the board of our local shelter, and I understand that putting adopters through a background check seems a bit much. I have however had my eyes opened to the scum that comes through a shelter door (serial pets abusers, members of dog fighting rings looking for a dummy dog to use as bait for fighting dogs) to say nothing of people who have no idea what owning a pet means. So please forgive us for being on the paranoid end of things, and thank you for adopting a dog. My first dog was a pit bull type, a female Amstaff. Most loving animal I've ever seen.

    BTW, most of our board members are women....and as one told me -- "I was a real bleeding heart, until I started volunteering here and saw the species of humanity that come slithering through our doors."

    tim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have been very impressed with the volunteers. As I said, if we want to go back to the bad old days with packs of dogs roaming the streets, as they did in Honolulu when I was a kid, we should put the government in charge.

      While we were at a local shelter we saw one such piece of scum come in and demand a particular pit bull he had seen on the shelter's website. The volunteer immediately realized he wanted it for fighting and sent the fellow packing.

      Delete
  24. Good on you Dip for taking in a pound puppie. All my dogs since my first as a kid have been from shelters, or strays, and each a true friend. Latest is a German Shepard who was on the run for awhile and about to be put down in a pound, until saved by a breed rescue group. He's figured out how to unhook gates, open doors, and use the pedal operated trash can cover...rascal! But G-d help the bad guy who comes in this house without permission.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Congrats on the newest member of the Diplo-House.
    With open can I raise my beer in toast to you and the pooch.
    Happy Years.

    ReplyDelete