Puppies!

I went to visit the puppies on Saturday. I didn't want to leave. They are the cutest little things...their eyes are open, they can hear now, and teeth are starting to show up. Soft little bundles of furry love, who doesn't love a puppy? With these dogs, though, you have to love them full grown more than as a puppy. Check out here to get a better idea of what a full grown IW really means. I was visiting the 4 full grown dogs in the yard, and let me tell you, it is quite an experience to have 4 of these dogs running full speed toward you. They are gentle and agile and won't run into you, but it sounds like a freight train comin' at you. Simply amazing.

It's very sad how many Irish Wolfhounds end up in shelters and rescue situations because "I didn't know how big he'd get" or "I didn't realize how much he'd eat." They are also not the kind of dog you can just let out unattended, they're sight hounds and will chase things for long distances if not fenced in (real fences, not invisible ones.) Needless to say, a lot of these dogs get lost, dehydrated, malnourished and hopefully rescued. We're already thinking our next IW (in about a year or so) might be a rescue/adoption dog. It would depend on his/her situation since there's a small-ish kiddo in the house, but I'd really like to do a rescue. All my previous animals have come from an animal shelter and if I can help keep one animal out of there, I consider it a good deed.

So, in the words of Bob Barker, please spay or neuter your animals. Educate yourself about what you're getting into before bringing an animal home. Also, please support your local animal shelter. Most of them love your old towels and blankets, especially fleece and they love Walmart gift cards to buy the everyday stuff. Mine prefers gift cards over food so that they can keep the animals on a consistent, healthy diet (it helps reduce the intestinal issues frequently found in shelters.) Treats and toys are always welcome, too. Let's all do what we can to keep more animals from being euthanized every day. One of our local pet stores has recently stopped selling dogs and cats and I personally congratulated them. They now have signs in their cages asking you to please consider adopting an animal from a local shelter. One small step closer to eliminating puppy mills and overbreeding, and a step towards less animals in shelters.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. Thank you for reading!