New Puppy Coming to For Love of a Dog

Tucker & Jeffie

Santa is coming to our house early.  We must have been very, very good because Santa is bringing us a new puppy.  We're all pretty excited.

We've re-arranged the mudroom to accomodate a crate.  We'll use that when we want to leave the farm.  When Gary brought in the crate and set it up, Tucker began tap, tap, tap dancing with glee.  Gary said it was in anticipation of a puppy.  I suspect he was hoping we were going to corral Jeffie in it.

At any rate, all three dogs have caught our excited energy.  Tucker and Jeffie have taken up residence at the front door awaiting the puppy's arrival.  (They haven't realized yet that daddy and I will be leaving soon to go get the puppy.)  Lucy hasn't had a whole lot to say, but she did supervise washing the puppy food and water dishes.  They definitely met with her approval.  So far none of the canines has expressed a preference on color or sex.

A few weeks ago Gary was at our vet's office with my mom's dog.  There in the waiting room was a woman with a laundry basket of puppies.  Labrador Retriever puppies in black, chocolate, yellow and one lemon/white.  They exchanged information and she said she'd get in touch soon.  Well, the puppies are now 8 weeks old and she did (get in touch.)

Now we'll see if one of them "speaks" to me.  Yes, I adore all puppies, but one must speak to me.  When we adopted Jeffie from Dogwood Animal Shelter, we'd seen his brother on Petfinder and we intended to adopt him.  Once we got there though, it was Jeffie who spoke to me.   Lucy was a similar story and I knew she was "the one."

I have a feeling that I need to be promising puppy photos.  Because I don't have much doubt that a puppy will be speaking to me in just a matter of hours.  Merry Christmas to me!

Dog Jewelry Gifts - Blue Lapis I Love Dogs Silver Bracelet

I Love Dogs Bracelet from
For Love of a Dog Jewelry and Gifts

Dog jewelry is always makes a wonderful gift for a dog lover.  And this lovely I Love Dogs bracelet is no exception.

Absolutely gorgeous royal blue teamed with sterling silver in this handcrafted dog lover bracelet. Focal is a hand stamped sterling silver oval. Gently domed and proclaiming the wearer loves dogs, the oval is accented with a little hand carved sleek grey Hematite gemstone heart bead and a three dimensional silver dog bone. Royal blue Lapis Lazuli gemstone beads are hand wire wrapped with silver jeweler's wire. Beautiful blue Lapis Lazuli hand carved heart dangles from the end of the bracelet. Classic blue and silver. A thoughtful gift for any dog lover, pet rescue volunteer or dog foster mom.


For Love of a Dog offers dog breed jewelry and Christmas ornaments in over 70 dog breeds, as well as jewelry for dog lovers of mixed breed mutts and rescue.  Gift box packaging and fast, free standard shipping.

Visiting Nurse Asked to Leave - MO Prop B Controversy Continues

A few days after the November elections I found myself asking a Visiting Nurse to leave my home.  I've never done that before - asked someone to leave. 

My mom was here recuperating from a fall.  The visiting nurse was here to check and re-bandage her injuries.  To simplify things I'll call her VN.  We were chatting about this 'n that while she worked and she expressed her shock that MO Prop B (the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act) had passed.  My mom and I agreed.  VN said she'd been watching the results that evening and went to bed believing the measure had been rejected by voters.  Again, my mom and I agreed.

VN went on to say she felt so terribly sorry for the farmers, plus she didn't know what her sister was going to do.    A yellow light began to flash in my head.  I told her that we all voted for Prop B.  (Okay, I admit that as I said this I raised my fist in the air, pumped it a few times, and grinned broadly.)

VN's hands idled, my mom and VN's job-at-hand forgotten, as she sputtered in rapid succession the talking points of the anti-Prop B folks.  Prop B would ruin farming in MO because the law would also apply to dairy cattle, beef cattle, hogs, chickens, and horses.  Poor hardworking dog breeders would be forced out of business, including her sister.  And so on and so on.   She didn't stop for a breath for quite some time.   

I did try for about a minute or two to reason with her.  No good.  By then that flashing light in my head had turned red.  So then I reminded her that the old rule about never discussing politics and religion was probably a good one.  That didn't do any good either.  She'd worked herself into a fevered pitch.  Finally, I reminded her that she was in my house, that I did not want to "discuss" this issue any further, and that I'd appreciate it if she'd stop.

She couldn't.   So, I asked her to leave.   Before I lost my good manners.  As she walked out my front door she apologized.  I accepted her apology.  Then she started in again.

Bottom line:  we never saw VN again.  Another visiting nurse has been treating mom since then.  And none of us discuss politics or religion. 

Bernese Mountain Dog Jewelry Gift Idea for Dog Lovers



Bernese Mountain Dog Pin from
For Love of a Dog Jewelry and Gifts

 If there is a Bernese Mountain Dog lover on your Christmas gift list, we suggest dog jewelry from For Love of a Dog.

Take a look at this sweet handcrafted Bernese Mountain Dog brooch. This Berner dog charm is not a flat cut out, but rather a little dog art sculpture. Handmade of hand cast resin in a hand sculpted mould, then carefully air brush hand painted. True to AKC and UKC dog breed standards, highly detailed and absolutely beautiful.

I've accented the Bernese Mountain Dog charm with Black Onyx surrounded by sterling silver. Then I dangled them from an adorable three dimenional silver metal ribbon bow pin. Small in scale and a stylish way to show your love for this wonderful dog breed. This handcrafted dog lover pin is perfect jewelry for anyone who loves a Bernese Mountain Dog or might be involved in Bernese Mountain Dog breed rescue work. A barking good gift idea from For Love of a Dog Jewelry.

Fetch more dog jewelry from For Love of a Dog.  We offer unique dog breed jewelry and Christmas ornaments in over 70 dog breeds, plus mixed breed mutt and dog rescue jewelry, too.

Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act: MO Prob B Still a Hot Button Issue

I'm tired of MO Prop B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.  I'm tired of thinking about it; I'm tired of feeling a need to blog about it;  and I'm tired of talking about it.  Just the thought of it is beginning to give me a headache.  In fact, even though I've just begun this blog post, I already have a headache.  And a heartache.

The painful truth is that I can bearly stand to think about commercial dog breeders who fall under the definition of puppy mills.

Afterall, under current Missouri law dog breeders are expected to adhere to mere survival standards of care for the dogs in their custody.  A mother dog can legally be confined for her entire life in a tiny wire floor cage that only has to be six inches longer than her own body.  Dogs can be warehuosed in barns and sheds and confined in cages tacked one on top of another, never seeing the light of day. 

I'm not even going to get into the ambiguity in the current law regarding the dogs access to water, protection from temperature and weather extremes and the fact that veterinary care is not required for sick and injured breeding dogs.  My headache can't take it this morning.

MO Prop B raises the requirements of care from basic survival standards to humane standards.  Simply put, it's about preventing cruelty to animals. 

So, why am I still blogging about MO Prop B?   Because there's a strong effort afoot to repeal it or amend it significantly. 

Missouri is a constitutional democracy.  It's constitution states: That all political power is vested in and derived from the public; that all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.The voters of Missouri have spoken.  Let the will of the people be respected.