Spanish Street Dogs; the other Waifs and Strays.

Much has been written in the forum lately about barking dogs as if it is something uniquely Spanish.

Well....

Sorry guys, but dogs bark period.

Brit, Spanish, Chinese or Eskimo, its one of the things they are incredibly good at, like peeing, pooing, eating, drinking and multiplying.

Yes, its down to the owners to control these actions BUT... when it comes to barking, unless you have a guard dog from a Military Service or the Police specifically trained to be quiet, it will bark and even a service dog will bark when its off duty.

Humans talk or shout, dogs bark... The higher up the Canine evolutionary tree they are the more inclined they are to bark... or howl.

Dogs will tell the world if they are happy'.

Dogs will tell the world if they are p*ssed off. they do so in the only way they can.

They cant go on the internet and bitch or cheer about things so they do it their way. They bark...

As for the GC officer...I'll repeat something from a previous blog entry...

Going back to the GC Officer who murdered a sleeping dog, the guy should be taken unarmed to the nearest bull-ring and made to face 650kgms of charging bull. This would provide a hithertoo unseen level of entertainment for the blood-thirsty punters and at least ensure that one bull came out alive at the end of the day.

In our village there are now almost as many dogs as there are people. Barking is a way of life, part of the background noise. Many of these dogs are abandonado's; we have our two original hounds and five such live-in waifs and strays.

Me?  To them, I'm the best thing since sliced meat loaf... if I venture out of the house, its choir practice time, led by the Queen Bitch Greyhound and vocal accompaniment from the rest. No amount of soothing will quieten them. If I have to take one to the vets the others provide a vocal seeing-off concert. The greeting I / we get on our return is enthusiastic and vocal.

At the moment my wife is laid up recuperating from an op described elsewhere in this blog so the dogs are totally reliant on me for walks, food, drink and everything else. There are times when its absolute bedlam in the house, particularly with four males jockeying for position in the order of ascendency. Most of the time we just put up with it but just occasionally they may learn a few unfamiliar words... but what the hell, they don't understand them anyway. Being males, they have only one brain cell which they share between themselves and at the moment I think they have mislaid it somewhere...

But Barking?....LIVE WITH IT!

See 'Dogs of War' photoset here.

I'm not totally sure of just what my reactions are to this series of photographs.

As I said in a previous entry, these animals didn't ask to come into this world and in the case of War Dogs it's all they have known, so I guess they treat it all as a good game. They are well fed, well looked after and cared for by their handlers. In many cases, the dogs stay with their handler when they reach retirement age. It's the principle that concerns me; making use of a dogs unique sensory system as a tool or weapon.

In rescue scenarios there is probably no better tool, but as an assistance in the scenarios depicted I ask what right man has to expose these animals to dangers that under normal circumstances they would never encounter.

As with other things, Man chooses to go to War; the dogs have no option.

I had a close encounter with one such during my time in the RAF. We were on a temporary detachment from Leuchars to Kinloss and I had occasion to make a night-time visit the Nimrod Servicing Unit on the other side of the airfield from where we where operating. I parked my Landrover just off the darkened taxiway and walked across the grass towards the hangar. A voice out of nowhere called out. "Stand perfectly still..."

I complied knowing that the RAF Police on the site were armed.

"LIe face down arms and leg stretched."

Again I complied.

Next thing I knew I had 100lbs+ of drooling, slavering, but perfectly quiet GSD standing firmly on my back, front paws on my shoulders, back feet planted firmly on my ass and his head just a couple of inches away from my neck.

The handler called the dog to one side with the word  "Guard."

The handler then instructed me to take my F1250 ID card and place it on the ground in front of me.

After checking my face against the mug shot on the card and my reasons for being there, he called the dog back, and proceeded to give me a lecture for not using the main hangar entrance. As luck would have it we were of the same rank; I just agreed that it was stupid of me and so, under escort, he took me into the hangar. I asked the handler if I could visit the compound the following day. He agreed and then departed. Nuff said...

Off duty, the following afternoon I paid a visit to the dog compound, met up with the handler and he showed me around, including introducing me to his dog. I dropped down onto my knees to his height and if a dog can smile and say "hi" then thats exactly what he did. His tail resembled a propellor rather than a pendulum, then it was feet up on my shoulders long wet licks and a general rough and tumble in the sand of the compound. I went to see him every day after that until it was time to return to Leuchars.

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Firstly see the wiki entry...

This is a very hard hittng film about mans treatment of Animals. Note the use of the capital A...

Animals generally have no rights; like us they didnt ask to be brought into this world, unlike us however they cannot effectively change their way of life, be they bred for 'sport', for food or as pets.

This is a very difficult film to watch; I defy anyone to watch this film and not come back a different person.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6361872964130308142#

Found this at dogwork.com

Reproduced in the hope that it might just change someones life...

If you live by these dog rules, you will be a happier person!
There's a lot we humans can learn from dogs. If you live your life by the same philosophy that dogs do, you will be much better off in life. In the wild, animals fight only for two things, not a fancy car, not clothes or jewelry, they just fight for food or a mate, everything else they get after that is just pure happiness.

1. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
2. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
3. When loved ones come home, always run and greet them.
4. When it's in your best interest, always practice obedience.
5. Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
6.Take naps and always stretch before rising.
7. Run, romp and play daily.
8. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
9. Be loyal.
10. Never pretend to be something you're not.
11. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
12. When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
13. Delight in the simple joys of a long walk.
14. Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
15. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
16. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
17. When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
18. No matter how often you are criticized, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.

Summer is back home but effectively confined to the ground floor for a while. The clips / sutures are supposed to be removed on Tuesday. Then hopefully it's just the long recuperation period we have to cope with. She has to go back to the hospital in about a months time for a check-up and x-rays.

It's so damned ironic!  We set out trying our damndest to help the little ones abandonded for whatever reason, and the whole thing has backfired on us big time. I mean it was never meant to be some sort of refuge, just us doing our bit for the unfortunate ones that find themselves abandoned in the village.

The small size of our property is our biggest stumbling block and there are steps everywhere, two up one down to get from the living room to the kitchen and bathroom, two quite high steps to get from the street to the living room and all tiled  throughout,.

Piddle-puddles can be a real hazard on the tiles and given the pretty dire weather weve had over the last 10 days, everytime I take the dogs out for a walk involves having to make sure that the floor is completely dried off as soon as we get back indoors because crutches and slippy floor tiles dont mix wel!.

Summer (Aries  female!) is handling the whole thing quite well all things considered. She is on self administered Heparin shots and strong painkillers although she is trying to wean herself off the painkillers slowly. She is using half crutches and is under strict instructions not to put any weight on the injured leg although its quite impossible to negotiate steps without doing so to some extent.

The dogs are slowly learning that NO most definitely means NO; we have always encouraged them to come up for a cuddle when they are feeling insecure and they are having a bit of a problem understanding that Summer's left leg is not there to be jumped on; but they are slowly getting the idea.

We are actually having a lazy day today; its raining again with a bit of a tormenta rolling through, so the animals are showing no great desire to go walkies and are thus engaged in a prolonged siesta period, so it's nice and quiet at the moment.

(By the way, just to add to the general mischief, Siouxsie, the last of the trogs, escaped from her new home and immediately headed back to her cave. Her would be keeper has shown no interest in her since her escape so I guess he was thinking more in terms of breeding from her rather than keeping her as a companion. She is growing up to be a fine looking girl and apart from the odd tick which I have dealt with she is incredibly fit.. She is now adorned with a Scalibor collar which should keep the ticks and other parasites at bay. I am still the only human she will relate to but seems perfectly happy to live her life as she sees fit. I still want to get her to the vets sometime in the near future and get her spayed before she comes into season and gets caught out. Last thing we need is yet another pregnant dog in the village).

Fred and Wilma

Sophie

Spike and Scruffy (The Villains...)

More later...

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