HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

Wishing you and ALL of yours a blessed Easter from HoundsGood.com

Dogs Deserve Better has once again mounted a Valentine’s Day Campaign.  There is still time to volunteer. Many people, including many children are meeting to create Valentines and stuff envelopes and send them to homes that have chained or penned dogs.

Last year, 12,113 Valentine’s were delivered to homes all over the country (plus to some areas of Canada and Australia).

They are asking for three things:
1) People to make Valentines

2) People to send in discount coupons for dog treats and donations for Valentine postage and materials.

3) People to send in addresses where they know a dog is chained up outside or penned. Last year there were more cards than addresses. This is so important.

At first I was skeptical, thinking that an owner of a chained dog would just throw out the card, and maybe some do, but response from the previous years has proven that some people take it to heart:

From Bobbie (2009 ):  On Valentines day a woman called me and said she received our Valentine again this year. She had received them in previous years and called the police to report harassment. I sent one again this year. And she called and said “come get her.” Not because she was angry with us, but with her family for wanting to keep the dog chained. Her daughter has severe allergies which is why Mackenzie was out there in the first place. She did the brave thing and went against her familys (sic.) wishes and surrendered the dog to us. Now we need to get her out ASAP. She told her husband and children “how would you like to be chained?” She read the brochure and looked at the website and she now believes that chaining is cruel and inhumane and is going to try to teach her family. Mackenzie is about 9 years old spayed, submissive with other dogs. She comes when called off-leash. We took her for a walk but I have 9 dogs and 4 cats here. Regan got adopted and was returned after 4 days or I would have been able to take her. We can help transport almost anywhere.
Thanks,
Bobbie and Terry, Greencastle PA REPS

From PA Rep Tena Emerson (2008), “Two dogs, a chocolate lab and a terrier mix have been taken inside by their owners after getting their Valentines card. I have been working with this family for some time. The husband was all for bringing in the dogs and wife not…she told me ‘that Valentines card just did it, it pushed me to the yes’. Her husband said he was very happy when she said ‘bring them in’ with tears running down her face. Well, after getting their valentines cards, the dogs are happy inside and groomed. I have let them know I am here if they need anything…

From Martha Honus, North Carolina: “I am a volunteer with Carolina Poodle Rescue. One of our members lives in your area and gave us information on your organization. I sent a neighbor’s dog a valentine. It is a beautiful brindle dog that is tied to a tree with a piece of loose tarp for a house. I found out their name and address and sent one of the Valentines to the pup. On February 16 the little dog had a little barn house and is not always tied out there now. Thank you so much for the valentine.”

Ohio Rep, Marla Dakes, reported her first Valentine Success Story. Harley is a beautiful long-haired German Shepherd who spent his life living in a pen. As a Valentine’s Day gift of love – His caretakers called Marla, and released Harley to rescue. On 2/24/08, Harley was delivered to his forever home in Canada! Marla drove many of the miles from Ohio north herself. She is Harley’s rescue angel.

Sometimes its a little message that someone reads in private that makes all the difference.

Some people look at their dogs and say “they have dog food, they have a water bowl, and there’s an awning in case it rains,” and they think that they are fine. Well, a dog is a “pack” animal and being seperated from their “pack” (YOU!) is torture to a dog. It can cause loneliness, behavior problems, and more. Some may justify this because they go out and pat the dog a little each day and then refuse to bring the dog inside because the dog jumps and acts crazy when they are paid attention to. You would act desperate too if you were stranded alone somewhere and saw a chance at being able to be with family again. In a “Pack”, you walk together, you eat together, and you sleep together. Now, I am not saying that every dog has to sleep in a person’s bed, but a dog who is not allowed in the “den” and is forced to live a part has a lonely and unhealthy life indeed.

If you can make Valentine’s, provide addresses of chained dogs, or can help in other ways please go to Dogs Deserve Better’s Valentine’s Day 2010 page http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/Valentines2010.html

I was cleaning out the crawl space with Mom and Dad this week and found an important family relic that used to be brought out around Christmas.  Although we were looking for Halloween decorations, we found the most talked about Christmas item.

A bunch of years ago, Target stores did an It’s a Wonderful Life promotion or theme, and hung giant cardboard Christmas balls from the ceiling.  Each was emblazoned with the image of George Bailey and the children after he comes back from his ordeal.   Somehow, my dad ended up with one of them.  It may have looked rather demure hanging from the ceiling of a big box store.  In a regular home, it was a big over the top.  My parents live on a corner, and a major road runs along the side.  It’s not really all that major, but its major for the town.

Passersby for many years saw the big window in the living room almost completely covered by what had to be the king of the large Christmas ornaments in all of its cardboard glory. Of course, when my younger sister was the last of us to be living at home and thought it was embarrassing, it was moved. Jimmy Stewart was moved to the den, and then not to be seen.

Since my Dad likes to do Christmas big, I wondered what there could be besides lawn deers that would make as big of a statement as he was accustomed to.  We were not “that weird family with the mutantly large Christmas decorations. Just one was fine.   I recently stumbled across these fantastic jumbo sized ornaments at Outdora.com and they would definitely be up Dad’s ally. They remind me of something Gimbel’s or Hudson’s would have had in their stores. Maybe it wouldn’t be all of their stores, but just the big ones downtown.  They were probably a fraction of the size, but to me as a small child they were parade float size.

The spiral ornaments are 53″ tall, so would probably give the actual Christmas Tree a run for its money.  Of course, Dad may wonder whether the measurement includes the loop and string or is it just the actual ornament.  No matter what, it doesn’t make them any smaller.  An idea would be to put one on each side of a door or fireplace.  Less is more in this case.  They are not inexpensive, but could definitely be a family heirloom.

Does your family have an unusual Christmas decoration, or do you have that one neighbor whose house is used as a landmark when giving directions because of their large Christmas decorations?  I always love to hear stories like that.

Well, it is just a few more days to October. Many children I know have been talking about what they are going to be for Halloween for the past several months now. I remember my suffering parents had to watch us scramble, the procrastinators we were. Inevitably, with the aid of all the robes and bandannas in the house, my brother was yet another Ninja. It rotated every other year with being Jason from Friday the 13th just because he owned a hockey mask. While most of my friends decided hat a punk rocker costume was the easiest thing to put together, I was always cutting up or drawing on a box.  Hey, I could have been a Tetra Pak.  More on what this is later.

Now that I am an adult, I am more concerned about what goes into the stomachs of the children than what goes outside of them. I don’t have any children myself, but I have neighbors under five years old (oh, yes, they do live with parents. The neighbor couple is older than five years old), the nieces and nephew of My Favorite Guy, and of course, my cousins children. It is not so much about nutritional value. I will let the actual parents worry about that. It is the big sugar rush that may occur that I could somehow be in the line of fire of. I won’t pretend it doesn’t exist. I remember late night candy trading sessions with my friends and brother. We crashed right there on the living room floor.

Luckily, there is a Trick Or Treat Me blog which helps the adults in charge make the right decision. It also suggests that one should give out milk for calcium, in the new safe Tetra Pak cartons. I was a little skeptical about giving out milk, but apparently, Hershey’s Chocolate milk comes this way and is supposedly safe for many hours outside of the refrigerator.

In correspondence with this, you can Trick Or Treat Me on Twitter, or anyone else you know. For every tweet originating from Trick or Tweet Me, Tetra Pak will donate 10 cents to the World Wild Life fund. You can choose if your twitter friend deserves a Trick or a Tweet.   The more people you Trick or Treat, the more likely you are to become the scariest Twit on Twitter.

If you want to Trick or Treat me, I am at @thesnackhound.  I’ll Trick or Tweet you back!

Mother’s Day is just around the corner.  In fact, for me, the first part of the year goes by very quickly.  Most of my family and extended family have birthdays in the first part of the year.  By mother’s day, we are pretty well partied out and need the break.  We often see Grandma on Mother’s Day, and some of the extended family does the same.  I am always a little perplexed about what to do for my mom.

I recently moved across the country, and am back near my parents.  I have been away for over a decade, and while they are happy to see me, there is also a big adjustment.  I was “just a kid” when I left.  Actually, I was in my twenties, but the person I am now is far from who I was then.  Seeing someone on a holiday once a year doesn’t really prepare you for who the person has become.  It has caused some friction between us for some reason.  On her end, she thinks I am at the same competence level I was in my early twenties, or lack there of, and gets miffed when I don’t like foods that I used to. On my end, I have developed a very firm sense of privacy.  When she tries to make small talk, I think I bite her head off a little too much.  In some ways, I interpret her small talk as being too probing, or along the “interrogation” line.  It is true, that often she asks questions that are very personal and labels them “small talk.”  Sometimes, though it is me.

I think sometimes siblings can get caught in a trap of wanting to outdo eachother on Mother’s Day.  Whoever comes up with the bigger present or the one mom likes the most, Mom must love more.  I have been really on the fence this year, but I think I found a few nice things on 1-800-Flowers that would sort of be a “Happy Mother’s Day” and a peace offering more or less at the same time.  I sometimes think that I really don’t deserve to give an apology for anyone for being a different person than they remember.  Maybe it would be more of a “Sorry you feel that way,” rather than an “I’m Sorry,” but I have learned that you can’t take ownership for everyone feeling bad.  You become like a sponge and it does no one any good, and you get in a cycle of feeling you must unchangeable things about you to make others happier.  But then they are still unhappy.

Wishing you and ALL of yours a blessed and happy Easter…

From all of us at HoundsGood.Com

It is very important to take care of yourself. There is a real temptation to want to spread yourselves thin and do more and more for a good cause. The end of the year is a time to reflect on what you enjoyed this year and what achievements have been met. With the extra stress of the holiday season, some people go into overload.

Takemi Select has a large selection of massage chairs and beds. I was familiar with massaging chairs, but never heard of a massage table that did the work by itself. There are also a series of foot massagers as well. I recommend that if you have an injury that you are healing from, that you consult a professional first before using any automated massagers.

So, stop hogging the display model at the mall and treat yourself or someone that you either love, or think is a cranky pain in the butt who might mellow out if they had one.  I know I will probably not be getting one for Christmas, as I have yet to determine if I am on the Naughty, Nice, or SuperNice list, but I sure will come over and push you out of yours so I can have it all to myself.

As you are out celebrating today, it is natural to think of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the other framers of the Constitution. Since, as you know, I think volunteers rock, it was literally a cast of thousands who supported this grand idea and made our freedom possible.

Deborah Sampson took up about a paragraph or two in my grade school history book, but her curious story stuck with me all this time.

She was born into a poor family, having a father who was lost at sea (or at least that is what history has passed down). She was split up from her siblings, and grew up as an indentured servant, learning how to sew and shovel. Despite her modest existence, she eventually served a family that allowed her to attend school with their children, and she quickly became enthralled with politics.

At 18, she was free from service and so badly wanted to join the cause of Revolution that she disguised herself as a man and enlisted. She was a tall girl, and because of her servitude learned some of the skills and hard work men faced, so she felt she could hold her own. However, she feared that she would be recognized and joined the Continental Army a year later and used the name Robert Shurtliff, which was the name of a brother who had passed away in childhood before she was born.

She managed to keep her secret for several years until she became stricken with illness and was treated in a hospital. The bands that bound her breasts was discovered, but Dr. Barnabas Binney, who treated her kept the secret and brought her home, where she was further treated by he and his wife.

Later, Deborah married and had four children (one of which was adopted and an orphan like herself). She went on the lecture about her experiences, and the campaign for her army pension (though serving under a different name and gender) was successful and paved the way for women in the armed services.

I know it makes us scratch our heads today thinking nobody would have noticed. We let Shakespeare get away with it due to the dramatic contrast in attire, the miles and pounds of brocade that could easily obscure, that

What is the moral of the story? Excuse the butchering of a crude, yet popular phrase, but even if you don’t have a pot to…well…relieve yourself in, nor are wealthy enough to own a window to throw it out of, you can be very capable indeed. You may never make a paragraph in an HBJ reader, and no one may never know how you have made an impact on someone’s life, or at just knock yourself out of the “poor me” rut.

P.S. Fun Fact: Did you know that word has spread that George Washington had a pet parrot named Polly? You think he would have come up with a more original name, but perhaps he was being original at the time.