Our Dream Walk by a Nightmare?

ARE PUPPY PARENTS SUFFERING?

We enjoy our walk down to Chelsea from Penn station. Our destination is Sueños restaurant our go-to place in NYC. It will be our last walk as our dream place is closing.

DREAMS

We are feeling sad and nostalgic as we walk down 8th Avenue. Sueños-translation dreams... and walking down we see so many dreams on display in people, businesses, bikes, apartments, dogs. It is a neighborhood...vibrant diverse, eye popping fashion, unique food offerings, animated conversations and puppies in a window.

Puppies in a window.

On the way we always stop to look at puppies playing in a store window. I never look at the store name.  I always get a nagging feeling about the display...like we are intruding on their infancy...I am part of the oohing and aahing group watching the puppies roll, sleep, eat and hide. Inside, the store is always packed; it is hard to resist the tug to get closer to these tiny creatures.... This day the window has only two little babies sucking from a dispenser. I feel I must give up my place to another puppy lover. Like viewing the Rockefeller Center tree- it is understood one cannot stay too long, others deserve to look.
I turn. Oh my! How did I miss them?  Curbside are protesters. My heart sinks. They are passionate as protesters are. Pushing leaflets. The leaflet info says that this store, the name I see is Citipups, is doing business with puppy mills. I am sure you have heard about those breeders for profit and the conditions in which the dogs live and die...here is the link for more

http://puppymillfreenyc.org/boycott-citipups/

Oh no! The parents of these Chelsea window puppies may be in mills. Places that breed the dogs to exhaustion and illness in crowded dirty cells. Really? Is it possible? I blurt out "my dog is a rescue." The protester softens towards me, I add, "He is from North Shore Animal League." "Oh, great place" she says. Encouraged, I continue, "his name is Liam, he writes a blog"  Seriously, I really added that. I had to engage and somehow wipe away her seeing my window gazing. Paul motions me away. We continue walking to our Sueños place. I am bothered through dinner and after do some googling about the store and its tenacious band of protesters.

ARE THE PUPPIES OKAY?

Here is the link to the store page... Testimonials are posted. Folks are happy with their puppies.
http://citipups.com/Breeds.html

WHISPERING CONCERNS TO LIAM

Should we worry about the Citipups parents?

By buying are people saving the pups? or creating the need for replacements?
What is the definition of a puppy mill?
Are there bad practices with good results?
Are the protesters right?

Citipups says adamantly no, the protesters are wrong and have been harassing their store for several years.

Apparently the protesters are being sued by Ciitpups who alleges they have been unfairly targeted. see link http://www.citipupsisnotapuppymill.com/

Our beloved Sueños is now closed ... no more looking at their crazy kaleidoscope flower filled bathroom window

WINDOW

The Citipup store is open, and we still can look in their window. 

LIAM DREAMING ABOUT PUPS AND PARENTS

Woof, Woof

Liam Lobbying

LIAM LOOKING AT LIAM

The original Liam, the one before Liam the dog, is actor Liam Neeson, after whom Liam the dog is named. Here is You Tube link
http://youtu.be/e5LHNv9OI20

Liam Neeson is lobbying to save the carriage horses of Central Park. Saving meaning saving their jobs. Not saving them from their jobs. A popular view of the horses is that they suffer, they are overworked, do not receive timely medical care, they hate their handlers, their handlers hate them.  Not true claims Liam's namesake. And he invited Mayor de Blasio to tour the stables with him   see link to Daily News article
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/liam-neeson-blasts-mayor-de-blasio-skipping-horse-stable-tour-article-1.1716111
The Mayor did not go. He says he will at some point. It certainly appears that he intends to do away with the horse drawn carriages.
If only the horses could talk...see article from the New York Times about Teddy, the carriage horse

http://nyti.ms/1cCza3N

Liam does not work.

DO THE HORSES EVER GET TO REST?

He has sympathy for working animals. He has a retiree's life. He wonders where the horses go after work. 

Do they play like he does?

Also if they lose their jobs do the drivers get severance! 

Do the horses go to a nice home?

DO THEY HAVE COMPANY?

Thoughts of a non-working dog.

Would his Liam Neeson take us down the wrong path?

LIAM NEESON ON SNL

Thinking...

WORRYING ABOUT TEDDY BEING TAKEN

Woof, Woof

Sit at Six

HOW LONG IS A "GOOD SIT?"

The noise level is higher. The circling increasing. The throwing of the Kong toy fiercer.

We have to go back to basics. The sit command. The drop it. The stay. Barking, well that's a whole other matter. I think that is termed the say command. How do you unsay?

Is it this winter of more stay-ins and fewer walk-abouts? The doggie version of cabin fever which manifests with incessant treat demands and blatant nosing about our cocktail table dinners?

At six years old Liam is again learning sits. To some success. A series of sits by the kitchen

I BETTER GET A TREAT

WHY DO I HAVE TO LISTEN?

The living room. That is sort of a forward sit with intent to move.

The couch sit. Which is termed the lazy sit by some dog trainers. That would be not using his hind legs at all and his rear as the seat. And with the give of the couch cushion a pretty easy position.

EASY CREDIT FOR A SIT

Then we have the sit with food! The pork chop sit. Very hard for Liam to sit in front of a piece of meat. I am sure the brussel sprouts are not what he has fixed his glazed gaze on. Note ignored red Kong bone in the rear.

I AM IN SIT POSITION NO WAY TO GET THAT CHOP

Yay it worked. Liam stayed in his sit. No jumping for the chop.

Or it worked that night. But the latent memory was in Liam's head.  Next morning Paul was packing up the garbage; he left it gaping and untied. He turned to get his coat. Well lickety split Liam poked his snout in the hefty bag, tongued out the chop, wrapped his jaws around the bone and ran into the living room. He scooted behind the couch and pulverized the chop with his greenie strengthened teeth. He ensured that not a speck remained by licking every inch of his entrance path as he emerged from behind the couch. Better than a Swiffer.
No sit, stop, stay would have been effective. 

Liam rested in front of his fireplace (the hot air vent)  I threw my shawl over him.

DREAMING OF SQUIRRELS AND PORK CHOPS

No sense ruining a good steal of a meal. Onward to the next sit session. Sweet dreams. Better than the Kong bone.

Woof, Woof

Valued Pet

LIAM RUNNING IN PET VALU

Our Pet Valu is a play land for Liam. We try to bring him every few weeks for a visit. Sunday late morning is the time. We go as a family and know our fav staff members will be welcoming and loving to him. The smells in each aisle are the best! Even the bird food is fun to sniff. And sneaking a few licks is part of the game.

EVEN BIRD FOOD HAS GOOD SNIFFS

Pet Valu is like a small country store in the big city. Its wooden floors and cozy setup have customers feeling  comfortable and coddled.

Liam is mistaken for a puppy quite often due to his size and puppy licking and jumping ways,. Luckily folks who are outside and inside Pet Valu are always fine with Liam's personal contact and ready to hear the story of his DNA and how he got this way.

Pet Valu has photos of their valued pet friends and Liam's pic is there...see him third down on the right above framed writing

LIAM'S PIC ON THE HONOR WALL

 

 Happy for the Sunday sniff and stroll and generous treats

                                                Thanks Pet Valu Sunday staff Sam Liz Arianna

OUR PET VALU

And our Starbucks is next door!

Woof, Woof

Vaccine Vacillation

DO I NEED ALL THESE SHOTS?

Just about the same time as our Silver Medalist Slope styler Gus Kenworthy was hugging and tweeting about the Sochi Strays we received an email about Liam's vaccinations. They were due. Our hero Gus had mentioned that he was getting his puppies vaccinated and I knew that was good. No vacillation about his decision. Puppies coming out of Russia and into the USA would have to get the first important round of shots. However Liam is 6 and 1/2 and not exposed to other dogs or adverse conditions on a regular basis. He is due for kennel cough and lepto. Necessary? I never would have questioned this had I not read the loving and intelligent and gently questioning book Pukka's Promise by Ted Kerasote. He raises this issue. He does not believe in a yearly round of vaccinations...see link for more info  http://www.kerasote.com/ Vaccines have been under attack for humans also. Folks no longer sure that all are safe and helpful.
What is a vaccine? Here is the wiki definition.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine
Sort of putting a little piece of the toxin in the body so the immune system will build antibodies to fight against the real one.
Why might they be bad? May cause weakened immune system, may lead to other illnesses or in fact the illness being vaccinated against.
I knew what I was going to do. Liam would be getting his vaccines. If he skips he will not be allowed to board or go to play group. Those are the vet rules. I am not confident in going against current practice.

The day comes, Friday February 21, 2014. Liam knows something is up.  I call him to come down. No jingling tags, no thump, thump on the stairs. I have to go up and get him. There he is. Settled on the rug.

 "Come on Liam, we have to go to the appt."  A stare off. Then a stand off.  Liam in the doorway. First step to going. I win. We get leashed and make it to the car.

I GUESS I HAVE TO GO

Then we are off.  A short car trip and soon at the Vet. One side is the boarding and the other is medical.  Uh oh.  Liam knows. We arrive and he immediately tries to leave. Then deep moans... not whimpering but sad and low. Almost inaudible. But I hear.

The assistant comes, takes him, I look away.

Over and done. He returns.  All seems fine.

Vaccines necessary?   Still vacillating.

I AM VACCINATED I CAN PLAY ALL DAY

 

Woof, Woof

Canine Count- All Gold

LIAM AND SOCHI SURROGATE FAMILY

An update on last week's blog Sochi Strays. As the medal count rises for each winning country, the canine medal count is also rising. These are medals for those who are helping the Sochi Strays. They are symbolic and as valued as the real ones by those who are helping and those of us rooting for them.

THINKING SAD ABOUT THE STRAYS

Good news. People have stepped up to help. A slopestyle skier, Gus Kenworthy, fell in love with a group of puppies and tweeted his pics.  His Olympic spirit compelled him to find and gather them up in hugs and then set out to save them. We love to see love rewarded and it was! Gus won the silver medal in his specialty with a Sochi slope ski performance. He added a gold for his act of saving the family of Sochi strays.
Joining in are hockey players, athletes from all sports and countries as well as Russians residents...all coming together to help these dogs. Here is a video of a CNN reporter's visit to the pups and the pup Mom. Gus is the guide. Spoiler alert, possible names for the pups are mentioned, any guesses? think s's
and a link for those who cannot view the video on their mobiles... link has a lick more, so worth a look for all
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/02/17/gus-kenworthy-puppy-pkg.cnn.html

Sochi surprises

And more international interest may bring better endings to these stray stories. As we near the end of these Sochi games we see the shared spirit of mutual purpose in this endeavor. More athletes are leaving with strays. Some won medals and some did not. The canine count is being watched as closely as the medal count. We do not yet know the final canine count.

Liam takes care of his stray in this spirit of solidarity with his Russian rescue relatives

LIAM IS A RESCUE

LIAM'S ADOPTED STRAY

Woof, Woof

Sochi Strays

SETTING OUT TO SEARCH

Seems there are a good many "s" words in these Winter Olympics. Location, Sochi, Russia...Then we have sports of snowboarding, skiing, skating, sledding, skiathlon, swizzling, shooshing, sloping and searching for strays. Last category a new Olympic sport this year in Sochi. They would be the Sochi dogs living, watching and hanging out around the Olympic village and venues. Round them up...clean up the area of unwanted and unattractive strays...a sad savage Sochi story.

               Search

                                             Slay

                                                                             Save

                                                                                                            Shelter

One of the first stray stories...see story in link .http://nbcnews.to/1gKJQ90

Liam not happy
searching for Sochi strays  

sinking in the snow 

looking 

none here
listen to what Liam says

Sochi surprises! Some of its strays are saved. Someone has come through see story in this link http://fxn.ws/1bFXuTb
and if you want to adopt here is the latest story. It seems that the surest way to save a stray is to be in Sochi and bring one home. The following story gives guidance on Sochi stray adoptions.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2014/02/10/how-to-adopt-a-sochi-stray-dog/5365519/
And BTW Sochi is a summer resort enjoying spring temperatures...no snowfall and back in the USA we have snow, sleet, snow...

I THINK I CAN SEE SOCHI FROM MY WINDOW

Woof, woof