Random Thoughts: Mothers Hospitals Dogs and House Guests

Andy - Guest Dog at For Love of a Dog

We have a house guest.  Andy is my mother's dog and he's been staying with us since she was rushed to the hospital on March 14.  While we've been enriching the oil companies by traveling the interstate back and forth between our farm and the hospital, as well as our farm and my mother's home, the dogs have been ... well, waiting.

Waiting and hoping life will return to normal.  Soon.  

I can relate.  I just wish I had the patience of a dog.  The time to nap would be welcome, too.

The dogs are doing a whole lot of napping and very little flying disc or Jolly Ball exercise.  They, of course, know something strange has happened and they offer comfort whenever they can.  Comic relief, too.

They also know there's a very strange critter in their house.  Andy.

My mother's dog, Andy, is a 12 year old Lhasa Apso.  At least, that's what his registration papers say.  He sure looks like a Shih Tzu to me.  Believed to be a Missouri puppy mill survivor, he has a long list of health problems.  Not only does he have megaesophagus, Andy has lost one eye and is almost blind in the other.  In addition, he has some locomotion difficulties that are most likely neurological.

Andy is a money pit and the apple of my mother's eye.  

Normally this king of my mother's castle spends his days in my mother's lap, takes walks on a leash, and spends his nights in a very cushy bed.  These days he's spending his life in our mudroom with a crate at night. 

And he's having some big adventures.  These adventures will be detailed later this week by the dog daddy at our house.  Among them are his encounters with "the big dogs" at our house, getting lost in the yard, and discovering there's a world off-leash.

In the meantime, Andy is safe behind the baby gate.  Safe because he has "small man's complex."  No shirker, he's ready to attack and defend.. against the very curious canines on the other side of that baby gate.  Ready for his next adventure which is sure to bring smiles to our faces.

Dogs.  Gotta love 'em.

Puppy Mill Lemon Laws

We're barking about puppy mills this week as we count down to September 17 - National Puppy Mill Awareness Day 2011.

According to the ASPCA, if you buy a puppy from a pet shop, you run a high risk of taking home a sick animal.  Respiratory infections including pneumonia, as well as hereditary defects like hip dysplasia and severe allergies, are common among the indiscriminately bred puppies sold by commercial breeders.  If you have purchased a pet-store puppy who turned out to be sick, you may have some recourse.  Twenty states have enacted "Lemon Laws" that make pet stores financially responsible for sick animals purchased from them.  

These states have enacted laws that protect consumers when purchasing pets:  Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia.  While each state's laws differ with regard to time limits and conditions under which a purchaser may return a companion animal, all these states allow a consumer to return a "defective pet" and receive a refund or exchange.  Some allow pet owners to retain the pet and receive reimbursement for vet expense.  All cover dogs, fifteen states also cover cats.  For more information visit the Animal Legal and Historical Center at the Michigan State University College of Law.

As of yesterday, there's a new law proposed in Michigan that would entitle pet owners to a refund if their dog has a defect due to coming from a Puppy Mill.