sandiegopets

One of the first travel books I remember making an impression on me was Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. He traveled around the United States with his standard poodle, Charley to re-discover the America he had made his living writing about. Charley served as an entry into people’s lives. It was a way to connect with others and find common ground.

Steinbeck traveled more than 10,000 with his dog. He was somewhat disillusioned with the United States as he saw it in 1960, but he did what so many others have only dreamed about–took to the road, followed his whims, talked to people whose paths he crossed and did it with an open mind.

Charley, the poodle, was born in France and only responded to commands in French. He died at 11 years and is buried on the Steinbeck estate in Monterey, California.

Photo by: LAURA EMBRY / Union-Tribune

Yesterday water-loving dogs of all breeds showed up with their humans to go surfing on Imperial Beach.

Good for them! San Diego is surfer land and everyone loves their dog, so why not combine the two. I imagine the dogs loved it. At least the kinds of dogs who love water must have.

I didn’t make it down to Imperial Beach yesterday but I’ve been thinking of those glorious dogs on the waves today. I think it’s a great idea, and maybe a way to address the no dogs allowed on the beach rules all over the county.

Maybe dogs can be allowed if they’re surfing. It’s something to think about.

You can read the Union-Tribune article for more.

The first time I heard someone talk about schnoodles I thought it was a recipe for a German pastry. But, no, a schnoodle, as I now know is a cross between a poodle and a schnauzer. They may be hypoallergenic. Or they may not. Because they are a cross-breed, the results can be unpredictable. However, they do tend to be good choices for people with allergies since they don’t shed.

They’re smart, personable dogs. Like poodles, they’re intelligent and like schnauzers, they’re friendly.

The dog in the picture, Ivy, is a dog I’ve come to know over the past few years. I dog-sat her and her co-dog, Lucky, a time or two and she’s a sweet, personable dog. She’s a lap dog. However, she also has a strong attachment to her owner and while she was friendly with me, I also felt there was some resistance. Maybe she caught the German noodle vibe.

But at least I now know that a schnoodle isn’t something you have for dessert.

In San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter is a statue of Bum. During the late 1800s Bum arrived in San Diego as a stowaway and quickly became a fixture in the downtown district. The local restaurants fed him. He became a mascot for the firemen. Sometimes he led parades. Eventually he became San Diego’s official town dog.

Part of Bum’s charisma is that no one could own him and he made friends with all–all humans, anyway. He did lose a forepaw and part of his tail in a scuffle with another dog. When he died at 12 years old, the local children took a collection to give him a proper burial.

I didn’t know about Bum until yesterday when I spent the day in the Gaslamp District, but this small monument to him helps to bring to life the area as it once was–a seaport of brothels and gambling halls where a dog named Bum found a place for himself. It’s a fine thing when a dog has such a prominent part in a city’s history.

On Wednesday the Senate Local Government Committee voted 3-2 to pass legislation that would require pet owners to spay or neuter their dogs or cats if they run into too much trouble with the animal patrol–that is, if they have to respond to a complaint–three times for a dog, two times for a cat. Some examples might be excessive barking or biting for a dog. For a cat? Could it meow too loud?

This bill, AB1634 by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is a revised version of an earlier one that required statewide neutering and spaying of all dogs and cats with some exceptions.

Supporters say it would help reduce unwanted and abandoned dogs and cats in California. Critics say it could increase cases of euthanasia. I’m not sure I understand how unless it’s people putting down pets that they can’t breed, in which case they shouldn’t have an animal anyway. I need to read up on this more. I just read a short brief on this on News 10.net.

I’ve always been an advocate of spaying or neutering your pet. I think it’s easier on them, and I know it’s easier on their owner. Yet, I’m a rebel. I also don’t like being told what to do. Like so many issues in our society, I think taking social issues and making them legal ones is often a mistake. The answer to these sorts of problems should be something the community deals with.

There are still many pets in this state who are meeting untimely ends because they have no one to care for them. Something needs to be done, but is that something to pass a law? I don’t know.

 I came across this piece today in the San Diego Weekly Reader about keeping chickens as pets. The Imperial Beach City Council passed an ordinance to allow residents to keep up to five chickens as pets. Apparently, chickens can be kept legally throughout most of San Diego, with the exception of Coronado.

I say good for the chickens!

But it brings up the question, if a chicken is a pet, can you still get eggs from her? I would assume it means you don’t eat them, although I’m not opposed to raising animals for food. It’s healthier and with rising food prices, maybe more economical. But it’s hard to eat an animal if you have an emotional attachment which you probably do if you have a pet chicken. In fact, it occurs to me, in a blog, about pets, that some people might be seriously opposed to this topic altogether.

I digress. So what does one do with a pet chicken? They’re messy birds so I would hope they’d live outdoors. But chickens are entertaining. When I lived in the country, I loved watching the chickens. We raised them for eggs, not for pets, but they were a great way to pass the time. Better than television. Better than cleaning house.

I’m not opposed to chickens in San Diego. But I don’t know if I could ever see them as pets. I think of chickens as livestock, as food products. No disrespect to the chickens. It’s a matter of conditioning.

 In my lifetime I’ve probably been through every king of pet imaginable–or my kids have. Once my mother got fed up with me dragging home stray dogs and cats, the only creature I was allowed to have were rodents.

There’s one guinea that stands out in my mind. Fritz. He belonged to a college classmate of my older sister and when she moved, she gave it to her, and my sister gave it to me. Unfortunately, due to my carelessness Fritz escaped. We lived next to a large field in Ohio so I figured that was it for Fritz.

Summer moved into fall, then a cold Ohio winter. The following spring I was rowing in my boat when lo and behold, there was Fritz hanging out outside a woodpile. He was a distinctive black and white guinea pig and I’ve no doubt it was him.

In my childhood memory, he was there for years, but in reality, it was probably only one or two. Still, he survived at least one cold winter and every time I saw him he looked fat and healthy.

This morning while my friend, Tina, and I were walking our dogs, she said that recently there had been a problem with rodents being poisoned around the golf course. She said one of her neighbor’s dogs ate a poisoned gopher and got sick from it. Also, the poison can kill any animal that eats it such as opossum, which have their place, and small dogs and cats.

My husband is a gardener so I do understand the frustration of waking up in the morning to find all your squash eaten by rodents, but there are alternatives to poisoning.

• Live traps. This is the most humane, of course. You set a live trap, catch the critter and take it somewhere far away. This isn’t always practical, especially if you live in a large urban area like San Diego. You may just be sending them off to destroy someone else’s garden which is probably bad karma.
• Chemfree Blackhole Rodent Trap. I’ve never used this, but I found it on the internet and it says its unique features make is safe for both humans and pets
• Snap traps. These are baited traps which kill the rodents. These are the little wooden traps often used to catch house mice. There is also a quick-kill trap which has a power bar for a quick, more humane kill.
• If you have a problem with rodents in your home, there’s actually a sonic pest chaser that has a high-frequency sound to repel rodents. Of course, you need electricity to use this so it might not work if the problem is in your yard or garden.
• For wild animals, there are live traps specifically designed for all kinds of wild animals which might be pests
• Chemfree Critter Ridder. This spray is made with organic ingredients. When wild animals sniff it, it causes a mild irritant, which is supposed to help keep them out of your yard or garden.

Too often we turn to solutions to rodent problems which are poisonous, bad for the environment and bad for our pets. These days, there are lots of options for rodent control. The site where I found some of the information on the above suggestions is: Victor Pest.

 A friend who went on holiday asked me to stop over and play with her cats. She had someone to feed them and make sure they had water. She just needed someone to stop by and play with them.

Since I often relate better to animals than people, it sounded like a good thing to do.

Cats are great creatures. They’re unique and they have such attitude.

JJ is the kitten. He has no inhibitions. He’s full of spirit and a joyous creature. When I visit, he rubs against my legs. He purrs. He bites my feet and clings to my skirt. He loves affection and will do whatever he can to get it.

Chloe, on the other hand, is above all that. She is a prima Dona. She sits imperiously on top of her scratching post. I think she’s the reincarnation of some silver screen actress. Greta Garbo, perhaps. When I tried to photograph these cats, it was nearly impossible to get a good shot of JJ. He wanted to play with the camera. He wanted to play with my hand. He kept coming up and sticking his face in the lens.

Chloe, on the other hand, preened. She seemed to expand when the camera was on her. When JJ tried to jump up and join her, she literally swatted him down with one swipe of the claw. This cat was not going to share the camera with any one.

These two cats are drastically different from one another. JJ is carefree and loving, Chloe is a queen through and through.

Although I love dogs, I feel closer to cats. There’s something about them that I relate to. Dogs are loyal while cats are independent. Dogs are an open book. Cats are mysterious. I’ve always felt that cats are my familiar.

 When my son was little and we lived in the country, every spring the snakes would come out of  hibernation. Although, we sometimes saw rattlers, mostly they were big, harmless bull snakes. My son used to catch them and bring them home. We’d let him keep them for a week or so, then return them to the wild.

One year, a snake came and made herself at home. She was a beautiful, mellow creature. She followed the sun around the house. We would find her curled up on the bedroom windowsill in the morning, then she’d move into the living room in late afternoon.

This snake had so much charisma. We called her Isis. She let us handle her and she liked to sit on our laps. I have no idea if she was really a she, but she felt female. We all felt she was.

I’ve never felt particularly drawn to snakes, but Isis was different. She seemed to know us. She stayed longer than any of the other snakes, nearly three weeks. But then the time came to release her. She was such a beautiful creature that we all knew she would be happier in the field eating mice.

Isis set raised the standard on snakes for us after that. Other snakes came and went. Some were angry and hissed. We let them go immediately. Others were more low key, but none of them connected like Isis.