My Life In Blog Years

Today we are joining with Dog N Pawz where we blog about a\ndog or cat in our local shelter that needs some love and attention. You can visit Dog N Pawz to get the full\nscoop on how this new blog hop was conceived. \nThis new blog hop actually couldn't have been thought of at a better time as it just\nso happens that my local SPCA recently rescued 48 animals from a horrific hoarding\nsituation. You can read all about the story below, and pass this information along to folks you know living in this area.","engine":"visual"}" data-block-type="2" id="block-a5a03beeeb89473da36b">

Today we are joining with Dog N Pawz where we blog about a dog or cat in our local shelter that needs some love and attention. You can visit Dog N Pawz to get the full scoop on how this new blog hop was conceived. This new blog hop actually couldn't have been thought of at a better time as it just so happens that my local SPCA recently rescued 48 animals from a horrific hoarding situation. You can read all about the story below, and pass this information along to folks you know living in this area.

Image provided by SPCA of Monterey

According to the SPCA for Monterey County -

On April 28 the SPCA for Monterey County rescued 17 cats, 24 dogs, and 7 young puppies from a horrific hoarding situation in Monterey.

SPCA Humane Officers and skilled staff members responded to the scene at 1:00 am after receiving a call for assistance from City of Monterey Police Department. SPCA staff worked diligently until 9:00 am that morning rescuing the scared dogs and cats and brought them to the safety of the SPCA to provide much needed medical examinations, vaccinations, flea treatments, food, water, and care.

The rescued pets suffered from flea infestations, eye infections, painful dental infections, and skin infections. Many of the dogs are covered in painful mats, urine stains, and fecal matter due to the inhumane conditions in which they were being kept. Most of the rescued animals are emaciated.

The cats and dogs are now safe and are being treated for their illnesses and enjoying fresh food, clean water, and comfortable living conditions in addition to compassionate care from SPCA staff.

No information is currently available on the owner. The house where the animals were being kept was three feet deep in garbage, urine, and feces, and has been declared uninhabitable by the City of Monterey.

You can help by donating to help rescue more animals in need, or if you are a professional groomer your time and skills to groom these rescued dogs and cats would be greatly appreciated. To volunteer your professional grooming skills, please call 831-373-2631.

I will be completely honest – we are not dog park people. We don’t have anything against dog parks; we actually think they are great resources for exercising and socializing dogs. That being said, dog parks are not for everyone and every dog.

I’d like to share our not-so-wonderful experience we had the last time we attended (back in 2009) one of the largest dog parks located in Norfolk, Virginia. Despite the fact that there were only three dogs outside that day, they were all extremely aggressive and would NOT leave Luna alone. Dog number #1 was a swatter, dog number #2 was an aggressive humper, and dog number #3 was a biter.

Here we are with the swatter. This boxer (friendly and all) kept chasing Luna while trying to swat at her face. I wanted to leave Luna alone and have her play and mingle with the dog, but I was getting concerned that I would be going home with a dog that had no eyes, ears, and nose intact.

This is a picture of Luna and the humper. After the third mount by otherwise cute yet aggressive ‘humper’, Luna finally looked up at me with those telling help-me eyes and I managed to grab humper off of her so she could catch her breath. Humper’s owner finally came over and took him away.

We didn't bother taking pictures of the biter because we got\nfed up after biter\u2019s second mouthful of Luna\u2019s cheek, and decided to go home. I was clearly annoyed and frustrated that\nLuna was constantly \u2013 and let me emphasize constantly \u2013 being swatted at,\nmounted, and bitten by the only dogs there. \nShe wasn't given the chance to check the place out and run around before\nshe had to constantly defend herself from these dogs.

After being rolled over in the dirt several times at the\npark, it was only appropriate that Luna should get a driveway hose-down. She didn't seem to mind and actually enjoyed\ninteracting with the water more than she did with the other dogs.\u200B

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We didn't bother taking pictures of the biter because we got fed up after biter’s second mouthful of Luna’s cheek, and decided to go home. I was clearly annoyed and frustrated that Luna was constantly – and let me emphasize constantly – being swatted at, mounted, and bitten by the only dogs there. She wasn't given the chance to check the place out and run around before she had to constantly defend herself from these dogs.

After being rolled over in the dirt several times at the park, it was only appropriate that Luna should get a driveway hose-down. She didn't seem to mind and actually enjoyed interacting with the water more than she did with the other dogs.

The more I think about it the more I realize that back then\nLuna was probably not ready to enter into the dog park scene. At eleven months of age she was naturally shy\nand easily overwhelmed around rough playing dogs. We stopped going (once I figured this out) as\nI didn't want to worsen her shyness by exposing her to the hectic environment\nof the park. Even to this day (and at 4+\nyears of age) I prefer to take her to scheduled play dates with friends we know,\nor I attend small meet up events supervised at places like the Zoom Room. These types of environments just seem to work\nbetter with Luna\u2019s sweet personality.

We are participating in Gizmo\u2019s Park Day co-hosted with Finn\nwhere we share our experience of visiting a park with our dogs.\u200B

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The more I think about it the more I realize that back then Luna was probably not ready to enter into the dog park scene. At eleven months of age she was naturally shy and easily overwhelmed around rough playing dogs. We stopped going (once I figured this out) as I didn't want to worsen her shyness by exposing her to the hectic environment of the park. Even to this day (and at 4+ years of age) I prefer to take her to scheduled play dates with friends we know, or I attend small meet up events supervised at places like the Zoom Room. These types of environments just seem to work better with Luna’s sweet personality.

We are participating in Gizmo’s Park Day co-hosted with Finn where we share our experience of visiting a park with our dogs.

Tuesday's Tails Blog Hop - Hoarding In Monterey

We Are Not Dog Park People