Some bad person threw away two dogs in the garbage!

Mommy just read a horrible story: someone in the city of Rochester threw away two dogs in the garbage.

Two alive dogs! 

The news said that the dogs were very skinny and not well at all, and they were squished into a trash can with the garbage. One of them even had the garbage can lid closed on him! You can see the pictures of the dogs on the news website. Mommy says it makes her too sad to look at them and she's glad they are getting taken care of now.

The police came and took the dogs to Lollypop Farm so they could be taken care of right away. And then they went to find the bad lady who they think owned the dogs and threw them away.

Just in case you didn't know, you are supposed to take care of your puppies and feed them and love them and keep them healthy. Your puppies will then love you and protect you and snuggle under your blankets with you when you go to bed.

You are not supposed to put your puppies into the garbage can. If you don't want to take care of them any more, you should take them to Lollypop Farm where some nice family will adopt them and give them a good home.

I hope when the find the bad person who did that to the dogs that the police put her into a garbage can and close the lid on her.

Love
Bandit

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Bandit goes to the Rochester Pet Expo

Today I had a super big ginormous adventure. Mommy and Daddy took me to the Pet Expo!

Scout didn't get to come and that's all Daddy's fault. Mommy said she didn't think she could take two dogs by herself, so if Daddy came he would have to watch Scout. And Daddy said he wanted to come but he didn't think Scout would enjoy it so he should stay home.

What's not to enjoy! Friends, treats, and lots and lots of smells!!

I met a lot of dogs there. Some were little, some were giant, some were in baby carriages.

I met one super duper nice dog whose mommy couldn't hear with her ears, just like Dr. Dodge at the hospital! 

The mommy's friend could hear with her eyeballs, so she would see what Mommy and Daddy's lips were saying and then she would use her hands to talk to her friend. Mommy said that it is finally about time she learns how to talk with her hands because she doesn't like when she isn't able to talk to deaf people. I think that's a good idea, Mommy.

We talked to the lady from the animal hospital where Dr. Dodge and Dr. Simon Kirk - who took care of me after I ate Mommy's inhaler - work. She gave Mommy a new poop bag holder, which we needed.

We talked to a nice man named Ralph, who gave me and Scout some new healthy food to try. Thanks Ralph! There were other people there from Pet Saver Super Store, our favorite pet store on earth.

I met some nice kittens but they were taking a nap in a cage.

The kitten lady gave me lots of love. She works for Habitat for Cats and they try to take care of cats who live in neighborhoods but don't really have any homes. They take them and spay or neuter them. Ouch. But it helps the cats not make such a giant mess in the neighborhood or have more kittens that don't get taken care of.

Just in case you didn't know, puppies are not supposed to jump up on the table to sniff the kittens. It makes them nervous.

Mommy talked for a while with Sherri Romig about stuff that could help Scout be not so scared without making him all drugged up.

Mommy also talked to the people at the Verona Street Shelter. Did you know that is part of the Rochester Police Department? I know someone on the police force! He is a police dog named Bandit! The shelter needs vounteers so Mommy says she is going to visit and see if she wants to volunteer there.

There was even a pet psychic lady there who knows stuff about you that you she isn't supposed to know, and then you pay her money and she tells you what she knows. She also helps people talk to dead spirits, which is kind of scary. I think she was faking, though, because she kept on calling me a girl. If she can't even tell the difference between a girl and a boy, I don't know how she can talk to dead spirits.

Mommy and Daddy had a lot of fun talking to Mary Ann and her husband. They are very, very funny and they have a pretty dog. Daddy took her picture but he forgot her name.

Mary Ann and her husband are thinking about getting another dog. If Scout was there, he would say, "Don't do it!" Hahaha! Be careful, Mary Ann! If you get another dog, it could turn out to be a stinker like me!

Actually, I was a very, very good boy at the Pet Expo. I didn't bark or bite or potty inside the building. OK, I did jump up on every table but they all had treats out for the puppies! If you don't want puppies to jump on tables, don't put out forty-leven biscuits for us to sniff.

Everyone was super nice at the Pet Expo and all of the dogs were really friendly, too. Well, except for one lady with her fluffy white sled dog. He sniffed me as I walked by, so I sniffed him back, and his mommy said to my Mommy, "You know, not all dogs are friendly," and she pulled her dog away from me.

Just in case you didn't know, if your dog is not friendly you should not bring it to the pet expo where there will be seventy-leven other dogs. In fact, if you are not a nice lady, you shouldn't have a dog at all.

Anyway, that was my adventure day. Scout was very sad we didn't take him with us, but we brought home lots of treats. He sniffed me all over and I guess that was enough for him. But I still think he would have had fun.

Love
Bandit


Visit Mommy's new blog, Notes From The Funny Farm, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter!

Scouts gets a second chance

Scout's been offered a second chance to take the Canine Good Citizen test, and see if maybe he can become part of the pet assisted therapy program at Lollypop. Yippee! He had a problem with the loud noise portion of the test, so we're hoping that he'll be able to pass this time, and then we can go ahead and find the right volunteer situation.

And then ... I'm going to get Bandit trained for the same thing. If I learned one thing from Scout it's that I need to make sure I expose Bandit to as many different situations and environments as possible while he's still young.

Wanted: Volunteer opportunity for a girl and her dogs

Last fall, I took Scout through the Canine Good Citizen class in the hopes of having him approved for Lollypop Farm's pet therapy program. I'd hoped to get involved in the Kids Read To Dogs program, where kids with reading problems are paired with a dog that they can read to. Since the dog can't critique or criticize, and really doesn't care how well a child reads, it gives the child a chance to practice reading in a safe environment.

Even though Scout is a well behaved dog and has had training, after the first K9 class, I knew he wouldn't be a good candidate for the program, because they don't always go to the same place every week, and Scout's not great with new situations. Once he's settled in, he's fine, but he wouldn't be of use to anyone in a new environment week after week.

Well, that, and the fact that he failed the test. He's noise sensitive, and the portion of the test where Bob the trainer throws a metal bowl against the wall did him in.

I've been looking for a volunteer opportunity that I can do with my dog - and now dogs. Even though Scout didn't pass the Good Citizen test doesn't mean he's not a good dog. He's anxious and quirky, sure, and he's not the best dog to walk on a leash because he has only one goal in mind: let's get to the park to play ball. But he's also very gentle. This is the dog that won't eat the hamster if she's crawling around the floor; you can put your steak dinner on the floor and walk away and he'll sniff but he won't eat. If someone needed to throw a ball for an hour or so and have the dog return it, Scout's your boy. And I don't know that he still wouldn't be a good Kids Read to Dogs dog; as long as it was the same kid and it wasn't in a place where people were throwing metal bowls against the wall, he'd still be pretty good.

And now I have Bandit, the devil dog. Where Scout is nervous and anxious, Bandit is confident and obedient. His fault? He's a herding dog through and through, so he's prone to nipping heels to get attention. He's also the dog that will eat off your plate while your fork is in your mouth. But at just 5 months old, he'll play, lie down and chew a bone while someone reads, fetch a ball, and he loves to be pet. He's great walking on a leash.

And then there's me. I'm looking for something we can do a couple of hours a week. I'm not picky; I'll serve food, sort clothes, play with kids, do creative writing, sweep floors, give talks on everything from writing to Christian living. But I'd really, really like to find something to do with the dogs. And it doesn't have to be both dogs at the same time.

I guess as I read that, we're a pretty motley crew. But who knows, maybe we're just what your classroom, ministry or organization is looking for? If so, drop me an email at joanne@joannebrokaw.com.