Oh dear, Kevin McKidd has given us another celebrity example of how to get it wrong with dogs. Kevin is the Scottish actor you may have seen in the television series Journeyman, or the films Trainspotting, or Made of Honour. He has two dogs, which he obviously thinks a lot of, as he flew them out to LA with the family when they moved. However, Kevin's dogs are male and female, and he just didn't manage to remember to get them neutered.
Well, you know what happened don't you? Yes, nature took it's course and soon two dogs became nine dogs - the original two plus seven puppies. There are just some things in life you can't put off. Happily the family found homes for six of the puppies, and are lucky enough to have the resources to keep the remaining one. Even more happily, the parent dogs have now been neutered.
The reporting of this is interesting. It smacks of, "Silly old Kevin - he's a lad isn't he?" The reality is that this is being repeated in many homes, with far less fortunate an outcome. What a pity that an excellent opportunity to get over an important message was missed.
Another dog-related news item that caught my eye was one about cats helping to train guide dogs. I love this one - especially the photos. This concerns two cats who for eight years have been doing an important job - just hanging out and being cats. The key is that they do this around guide dogs in training. If the dogs show no response to the cats that's a good sign, but if they do respond, they're not quite ready to be allotted to a blind handler. What a brilliant idea. And how well trained those dogs must be not to do what comes naturally to most dogs, and take off after the cat.
On the home front I don't know if it's the cold weather, or post holiday blues, or something disgusting they've eaten on a walk, but both our dogs have been a bit under the weather the last couple of days. Buddy threw up in the hallway, and then looked at me with a, "Why did you let that happen?" expression. He ate a lot of grass, and endured a twenty four hour fast, and seems none the worse thankfully. He is unbearable during a twenty four hour fast. But then so would I be. Today Star seems out of sorts. She just wants to be on someone's lap, and ominous gurgles are emanating from her stomach. At least it's only a little stomach.
Take care,
Julie x