walk my dogs every day

I was walking them once or twice a day (each dog at least once) and that was fine. Then it got hotter and I started running out of time in the morning (our schedule shifted earlier) and I started doing indoor workouts. Then we went on vacation and our friends took them for a walk most mornings. They still get excited when they hear our friends ATV go by the house. I feel bad. I should start walking them, and now would be good since the river is running but not heavily so it’d be safe for them to go swimming. Maybe on our days off I’ll try, but they really aren’t very good on a leash. Two of them will stay relatively close and come back if i call them…one just wants to RUN and will show up back at home when he feels like it, more than likely with an injury from a wild animal, so he needs a leash and he PULLS. I dunno. The three of them wrestle all day, so that knocks them out, and they are free to come and go from the house to our (big) yard…is it really so bad not to walk them every day?

Most of the past few days everyone has gotten walked. My days off I wasn’t feeling well at all so no one went, but they curled up on the couch with me. I still don’t feel well, but hubby is helping.

Well…yesterday afternoon I started feeling ill, so Tasha and Blaze didn’t get their afternoon walk. Bronson also didn’t walk this morning since I still wasn’t feeling well. I still don’t feel well, but I walked Tasha and Blaze extra long this evening, and hubby had Bronson for the same walk. It was going to be longer, but Bronson started limping. I hope that I feel better in the morning…or I’ll do a similar walk tomorrow night…hubby doesn’t want to put up the dogs for adoption (neither do I) and he said that it’s not fair of me to do that on my own (it’s not) so he’s going to help me keep the promise.

Yesterday morning I walked Tasha, intending to bring Blaze & Bronson in town in the evening. Hubby wasn’t feeling well, so he didn’t go, and I can’t handle those two together without help. Bronson went with me to town, and that went well. Hubby took Blaze for a walk since I wasn’t back in time. This morning I walked Bronson, and tonight will be Blaze & Tasha as usual. I got permission from our neighbor to walk down her part of our private road with the dogs, but I haven’t yet. I’d do that in the evening rather than the morning since not everyone is awake before 6am.

Blaze and Tasha got an extra long walk tonight to help make up for not walking the past two days. I also worked more on signs for tomorrow. I’ll have to walk Tasha in the morning since Blaze and Bronson are going to walk in town for pet food awareness. I’ve been very lucky so far that none of my animals have had any bad experiences with their food. I’d be devastated if they got ill.

Yesterday again no one got walked, but hubby was playing with them all afternoon so they still got good attention and exercise. Bronson has been walked this morning. I will walk the two big dogs this evening. Tomorrow afternoon Bronson and Blaze will be walking in Benson to provide awareness of the need for pet food safety (and people food too). See the email pasted below for more information on Defend Our Pets.

THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF CURRENT NEWS AND EVENTS FOR DEFENDOURPETS.ORG

1. MAJOR NEWS!

This could be the most important thing we can do.
On May 9, Senator Durbin introduced SB 1274 for Human and Pet Food Safety.

1(a). TEXT

PLEASE READ IT! Go to the following .pdf file.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:s1274is.txt.pdf

1(b). ANALYSIS

1. The bill allows the Secretary of the FDA, TWO years to establish a system for certification
of foreign food imports.

I think this is way too much time. How about 6 mos? And what about foreign
foodstuffs being imported during this period? In the case of known violators (China),
ALL importation of foodstuffs should be halted until certification is approved.

2. The bill allows for 5-year certification for each country exporting foodstuffs into the US.

How about 2-year certification with an annual certification fee? AND, tariffs placed
foreign food imports to encourage food processors to buy domestically? All tariffs
and fees would be 100% allocated for hiring more FDA agents for inspection and
enforcement.

3. The bill calls for audits of foreign food at least every 5 years.

This is far too long between inspections of foreign processing and quality control procedures.
How about -- at least every 2 years? or annually?

4. Establishes penalties for violators of $10,000 per instance.

Ridiculously low! This is chump change to the corporations involved. How about $100,000
and we'll settle for $50,000.

5. Allows 18 months for the FDA to enact standards for:
a. processing & ingredient standards & ingredient definitions for pet food
b. labeling standards for (1) nutritional information and (2) ingredient information

This is WAY too long. The expertise is already there. The slowest corporation in
the world could accomplish this in 6 months.

6. The bill contains NO labeling provisions:

How about 2 ideas?
a. For pet food with meat and other "byproducts" a label that reads "This pet food
    contains ingredients deemed unsuitable for human consumption." Like a cigarette pack.
b. For pet food containing imported foodstuffs a label that read "This pet food contains
    ingredients imported from countries whose processing and inspection standard may
    not meet the same standards for U.S. produced products."

7. The bill allows the FDA 6 mos. to create the pet equivalent of the CDC, or Center for Disease
Control and Prevention, that seems to work pretty well for humans.

I actually think this part is pretty good.

Well, now you know how I feel. But that’s just me.

1©. It has been referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Please use the address below to voice your request for amendments
strengthening SB 1274 and for supporting passage of a tougher bill
out of committee.

You may go to the Committee’s web page, and contact them (there’s a link at the top right of the page) through that page at:

http://help.senate.gov/./About.html

Attached is a word document containing all the published information about
contacting the members of the committee via the internet.

You may use these links to contact your Senator if one of the members of
the Committee represents your State.

1(d) Sample Committee Letter

Some of you have requested that I post a sample letter to the committee.

My own is attached.

Feel free to use whatever you like, BUT remember I want it to be your feelings and words, not mine.
It would reduce our effectiveness if each Senator on the Committee received 100 copies of the same letter with only the adressee changed.

The important thing is to SEND EVERY SENATOR ON THE COMMITTEE YOUR IDEAS! This is not one of those “Let Joe do it.” type of causes. It has affected all of us.

2. National Pet Food Protest Day – June 9th

Plan some sort of public display (no matter how large or small) of your support for stronger laws and regulations on:

Saturday June 9th - Pet Food Protest Day

I received an inspiring e-mail today and thought I should share it:

A grandmother in Charlotte, SC who lost her cat to the poisoned pet food
is borrowing her son’s two golden retrievers, putting white vests on them
with signs saying “Stop Poisoning Our Pets” and “Clean Up Pet Food” and
is walking the dogs in downtown Charlotte on June 9th. She will also be
getting signatures for our petition.

This incredible lady understands the very essence of what this is all about.
She is an example for all of us.

Who says one lone person can’t possibly be heard? With the strength
of her convictions, her voice echoes in all of us.

Needless to say, this made my day.

Thanks,

Mike Floyd
mike@defendourpets.org

So day before yesterday everyone got their walks. Yesterday no one did :( We had to get up early to try to get a van running, then had to go to town to get a new battery and then to Loews to pick up supplies for a bird cage, and grocery shopping. Got back late, so didn’t walk anyone. I did make some signs for a walk on Saturday about pet food contamination. Feel free to copy the letter below and send it to your state representative. Yesterday was my day off, and I was doing things that are for the dogs, so I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I figure maybe one day off each week if I don’t walk everyone it’s OK.

Jun 7, 2007

Representative ___
United States House of Representatives
502 Cannon Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0001

Dear Representative __

As your constituent and a supporter of the animal rights and welfare, I urge you to support the Human and Pet Food Safety Act
(H.R. 2108).

Introduced by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), this bill would
establish critically needed mandatory federal standards to ensure the
safety of the nation’s food supply.

By enabling the Food and Drug Administration to order mandatory food
recalls, establish a system whereby possibly contaminated food is
detected even before it is distributed, and work directly with
veterinarians and public health officials to disseminate accurate and
up-to-date information about food contamination, H. R. 2108 is a
critical step toward resolving consumer uncertainty and protecting the
lives of both humans and their pets.

Please support this bill and help protect the nation’s pets and humans
from contaminated food. I look forward to seeing what action you take
regarding this important matter.

Sincerely,

It’s getting a little bit easier…I walked Bronson to the mail boxes this morning (and had to get Tasha back in the yard because she decided to take off and not come when we called her…hubby had to pick her up at the neighbors gate and carried her home!!!) This evening I walked Tasha and Blaze together to the mail boxes. It wasn’t too bad. They tugged a lot on the way out, but the way back was better. Walking early in the morning before it gets hot, and just before it gets dark when it’s cooling down seems to be the best way to do it.

Barely made it again today. Didn’t walk anyone in the morning since I had extra things to do before work today (a videographer came to take some footage for a potential documentary/series) So I had to look decent. After work I walked Bronson…first to the neighbors to drop off her mail and to see her two dogs, then up to the office to see the bosses and another dog, then home. He did very good. Tasha and Blaze went together (with my husbands help) just before sunset down to the road and back. It’s pathetic that I keep on only barely doing it. I guess it’s still better than nothing, and maybe it will end up as a habit.

So Tasha got her walk this morning, Blaze got the afternoon walk, and then it got dark…It’s really not safe for me to be walking alone at night in the desert, especially since the rattlesnakes are out. I do want to get to a point where I am walking each of them once a day, but there are a few factors in play too. Bronson may have a new home soon (which is good) and he’s pretty good about being on the leash. I decided that if I save his ‘walk’ for last, if it ends up being after dark I will take him by himself to have 1 on 1 time with me, and work on some of the basic training. Tonight he got a 15 minute training session instead of a 15 minute walk. Technically that could work for all of them if I rotate who gets what time slot. If Bronson gets a home then that will decrease my responsibility by 33.3% and allow me to spend more time with the two dogs that are definitely mine. I’m counting today as a success, since the quality time is the main purpose of the goal.