Doggie post (no not the position, the animal)

As you might know by now already I love animals, and although I’m a kind-hearted and caring person, I have no sympathy for people who mistreat animals. As it’s summer again, a lot of dogs are being left somewhere by the road because their owners want to go on holiday and a lot of cats, whose owners don’t feel like spending money to neuter or sterilise them, are getting litters. As a result of this the animal shelters are packed again. I don’t understand why people decide to get a pet, but are unwilling to spend money on it. It really pisses me off. I worked in the animal shelter as a volunteer for a while, and often came across people who came in with a dog or cat and made up some stupid excuse or just lied about why they were giving up their pet. In moments like that, I really wanted to give those people a piece of my mind, I do not respect people like that. So to all you who might be looking to get a pet, please think about it, are you willing to spend time and money on it? Are you willing to walk your dog at least once every day, are you going to make sure it’s not alone most of the day? There’s a lot of factors to consider. If you are however totally committed, I hope you’re going to an animal shelter, and not to a breeder, as there are so many great pets out there spending their best years alone and bored in a cage. Look at the sad pictures, look at them I say!

One of my dogs is an Irish greyhound, the kind that is used in dog races. We got her from a Belgian rescue organisation, Greyhounds in Need, that saves abused greyhounds in Spain. (you find it here, in English, if you care to know more: Greyhounds in need ) Fiona was born in Ireland, but unfortunately in Ireland they are very strict and only want the best dogs to race. My poor Fiona was not the best racer out there, which meant transport to a southern country. She ended up in Spain, where dogs are commonly not very well treated and animal abuse is often ignored. Just take the bullfighting; a backward tradition that is nothing but animal abuse, and people see it as entertainment. The amount of stray dogs in Spain is staggering. My friend who lives in Spain now has 8!! dogs, most of which she found on the street. She says it’s really too many, but she couldn’t bear to take them to a shelter as they are not very good most of the time.

Fiona has a sports heart, which means her heart is twice as large as normal. This is probably the result of being tied to a car to train them to run faster. She is still absolutely terrified of loud bang noises. Luckily, greyhound races have been abolished in Spain (thank god), and Ireland now transports their greyhounds to other southern countries, where pretty much the same horrible things happen. Although I love Ireland, dog races there should be abolished as well, hundreds of puppies are killed each year because they aren’t ‘race’ material. Dogs that don't end in first, second or third place often enough, are either sold on auctions, but more often killed at home.

In Spain you have the Spanish greyhound as well, the galgo, used for hunting and other horrible things. They are, if possible, treated even worse. Some end up in so-called ‘death-rows’, where they are left in cages without food and water to die. This Belgian organisation tries to save as much of these dogs in Spain as possible, but there are only so many that will be adopted.
What’s sad is that greyhounds are probably the nicest and most docile dogs out there, even after being treated like trash. They are known to be the dog least likely to ever bite, they are incredibly lazy, although they love a good playful run, they bark rarely, they don’t have that typical doggy smell and are almost odourless and are great with kids. Kids can walk all over them, they will continue on sleeping. Also they are incredibly soft. My own dog has her very own fatboy sleeping pillow, which she totally loves, and her favourite thing is to be covered with a blanket and get all cosy. She even makes grumbly sounds of contentment.

I’m not going to get into all the horror stories of what they do to these dogs in Spain, you can read it on the website but I warn you it's heartbreaking, but do check on the website and see what these type of organisations (I think you have several over the world) do for greyhounds. And maybe you, like me and my mom, will cave for these sweet darling dogs, and will decide to rescue one as well.

If you read all this, thanks for hearing me ramble on :D

Here's some pics of my lovely greyhound

greyhounds love to sleep on their back with their paws in the air, it's so funny :D

It's a dog's life

Ah Monday already, damn you Father Time! Five more loooong days of work till it's weekend again. Being a working girl is hard! You really take how easy school-life is for granted until you realise how hard it is to have to work five days a week every week. Goodbye long holidays, goodbye skipping boring lectures and going to the pub in the afternoon, goodbye for good! Sure the money is a big plus, but well I do miss having so many holidays and being around friend all the time. College and school really are the best periods in your life probably, there's just so little to worry about. And you're young, and can dream big and you still feel like it can all come true. Not that I'm old or something, 23 is still pretty good, but a lot of people are starting to settle down, in a relationship, moving in together..that sort of thing. Some friends are even married already! Now marriage, although part of my plan for the future, is still a bit too soon for me. I'd like to be in a relationship for a year or two before getting hitched :) with the current divorce rate, I'd like some foundation before taking the plunge. What would be nice is the first step, real relationship and the possibility of living together in the not so distant future. Love is pretty nice to have in your life, makes it more complete. And well I'd like to get out of my parents' house at some point! and less commuting! now that would be a blessing, not to mention the shared rent and other living costs and having someone to come home to and be there for you. Yup that would be a nice first step. But I guess I'll have to wait and see if it happens for me.

If not I guess I could always become the crazy dog-lady. Yup I'm a dogperson. I do like cats too, they're all graceful and adorable, and I love to watch them get themselves into trouble. But I've had dogs all my life and well I feel dogs give you more love, like they'd do anything to get some attention from you. Cats are more the other way around. "Here I am, aren't you glad, now feed me!"
The dogs of the house are currently Annabelle (nicknamed Belly) and Fiona.

This is Belly. She's 12 years old and a scruffy mix of a Fox and a Shnauzer (supposedly, her parents may have been mixed too, as she turned out a bit funny looking :p) She isn't the prettiest dog ever, but she's a real funny and loving dog. We got her when I was 11 years old, so I have a lot of great growing up memories with her. I have lots of funny memories about Belly, and I will never forget. She's a great dog, and I hope she will be around a few more years, mixed breeds are strong and she's healthy except for some artritis. I'd be devastated to lose her, cause she really is one of a kind. Belly is very fond of my dad especially, mostly because he walks her the most :D, she's always extatic when my dad comes home, it's like she hasn't seen him in weeks, whining and crying and jumping.
Some great memories of Belly growing up are:

- One her first day home she slept in my room. She decided to poo right in front of the door. And yes, horror of horrors, the door turns inwards -_-#. Very very gross. I also threw the poo in the bin in the bathroom instead of the toilet, but it was the middle of the night and I was 11, so shh!

- She chewed and destroyed my Leonardi Dicaprio standing poster also in those first nights, sniff, poor Leo

- She ate a whole bowl of olives that was on the coffee table for guests coming

- She had a poo in the couch, and the carpet, when not toilet trained yet.. I must say it was funny to watch mom cleaning it whilst mumbling swear words :D

- she ate a pie that was cooling down in the garage on a closet. She ate half of it, standing on her hind legs against the closet, probably poking her tongue out as far as she could to eat as much as possible from it. When mom went into the garage, she was hiding under the car, tail between legs, looking all guilty, face full of pie. I was so angry to not get to eat pie :p

- We were walking her in a field, off the leash, when she stumbled into a ditch :D Was so funny to see her hopping in the long grass like a kangaroo, and then suddenly freaking out near the sudden edge of the ditch and falling in, poor puppy hihi. Luckily we got her out ok.

- She opened a low cupboard with her nose, found the half kilo of chocolate we got for eater and proceeded to eat all of it. Needless to say she barfed all over the place and didn't eat a thing the next day. Good thing she was ok, chocolate is really bad for dogs, they aren't supposed to eat it.

- She hates baths. When you get out the tub she runs under the table and hides, you should see her sad sad look when all wet in the tub, so funny.

That's just some of the fond memories. Love you little messy Belly!





This is Fiona, our greyhound. She's 8 years old. We got her when she was three from a greyhound rescue foundation. She is originally from Ireland, but in Ireland when the dogs aren't great runners, they are shipped off to some foreign country where the dogs are usually treated with nothing but cruelty. Fiona was sent to Spain. Back then her racing name was 'A day out'. Luckily the racing tracks in Spain are now closed, but the spanish greyhounds, called galgos, are still treated appalingly. I read all about the conditions dogs like Fiona were and still are living in in Spain, and me and mom just had to adopt one as well and help out. The greyhounds are given nothing but mushy bread to eat, totally ruining their teeth, are kept in steel cages on top of each other, living in their own filth. The dogs are often trained by tying them to a car and driving. My own dog experienced this, and now she has a heart doubled in size because of this insane training. The dogs are also abused by the owners. Animal rescue is hardly present in Spain, and many people have little respect for them. Just take the horrible bull fights as another example, just plain torture to me. Even more horrible is when they notice the dogs aren't good enough runners, or hunters (galgos are usually used for those kind of things) they kill them in the most horrible ways. Shooting, burning, staking, hanging them so their paws can just reach the ground, making them suffer for hours. For shame, how can the government not intervene in this. I'm so happy I rescued sweet Fiona. Greyhounds are lovely dogs, the laziest ever, they love to sleep all day long, preferable with paws high up in the air. Never I've seen a dog enjoying naptime so much. They do like a good run, but only once or twice a day, for the rest sleeping is their favourite past-time. They almost never bark and are the dogs least likely to ever bite. They are very sensitive though, harsh training isn't for them, they like doing their own thing, bit like a cat really :) Poor Fiona is terrified of loud noises and goes all shakey when she hears it. Now that a few years have passed she's doing great, not skinny like crazy anymore and less zombie-like. And they're so very soft dogs, fun to pet! Another advantage of greyhounds is that they smell nice, they don't have the dog odour, very handy that. They are very calm too, which might make them seem less attached, but they do like getting cuddles and being pampered. Fiona loves to be covered by blankie, she gives a great big sigh then :) cutie. It's definately a unique dog breed, great for people who want a less overactive jumpy around dog who is happy with one or two walks a day and doesn't bark or smell. Well that's the story of my pets :) Here's some more cute pics for you to aww over, just click for a larger view. Aren't they the cutest!