Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Dogs in the big lake again

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Back in the spring, I mentioned two separate incidents in which dogs jumped or fell into Lake Michigan, owners went in after them, and humans and canines both needed saving. It happened again on Thursday night, and at this time of year, the consequences could have been really awful. Dogs and human were rescued, and are fine now.

Most of these stories involve dogs let off-leash where it is technically not legal to do so, and owners who either are not paying close enough attention to call their dogs back from a potentially dangerous situation, or dogs that don’t have a solid enough recall to come back immediately to an owner who is paying close attention.

I totally get that dogs should be able to run sometimes. What I will not get in the slightest, however, is if a rescuer, whether it be a Good Samaritan or a paid professional first responder, is injured or killed saving someone from their own lack of judgment.

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 9 of 31)

Not-so-good news of the dog

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Wow. I wrote on Monday about two separate incidents in Chicago where a pet dog went into Lake Michigan, followed by its owner, followed by emergency workers and a successful rescue:

These stories won’t be cute little human interest pieces any longer once they result in serious injury or death of any of the involved parties, or what to me would be even worse, injury or death to a police officer, firefighter or emergency medical personnel who was involved in rescuing someone from an incident probably of their own making.

When I wrote that, I hadn’t yet seen a story from the UK in which the parents of a seven-month-old baby girl drowned while attempting to save their two dogs from an undertow in the River Garnock. Very sad and very possibly preventable, as were the incidents in Chicago.

I think we dog owners, especially city dog owners, get caught up in wanting our dogs to be able to run free now and then, and lose sight of what could happen, not only to them but to us.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 13 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 109 of 274)

Another dog and owner in the big lake

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Last week, Jess Craigie jumped into Lake Michigan to rescue her dog Moxie, who had gone off the pier while chasing seagulls.

Today, a woman jumped into Belmont Harbor to rescue her dog, who had gone into the water while chasing a duck. Woman and dog were not named in the article.

I really hope this is not a trend. Lake Michigan is still extremely cold at this time of year and hypothermia is a real danger. These stories won’t be cute little human interest pieces any longer once they result in serious injury or death of any of the involved parties, or what to me would be even worse, injury or death to a police officer, firefighter or emergency medical personnel who was involved in rescuing someone from an incident probably of their own making.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 11 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 107 of 274)

My dogs love me. But for sure they don’t like…

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Eric Zorn. Or Jon Katz.

Let me backtrack. On Tuesday, Jess Craigie jumped into Lake Michigan to rescue her 2-year-old mixed breed dog, Moxie, who had gone off the pier chasing seagulls at North Avenue beach in Chicago. Both were rescued by the everyday heroes of the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Fire Department, and everyone is going to be fine.

Arguably, Moxie should not have been off-leash, which basically is what started the entire chain of events. And it would certainly be a much different story if Ms. Craigie or a CPD or CFD rescuer had been injured or killed in the process.

Since everyone is alive and well, though, what exactly is the point in an entire column about why our dogs don’t love us? And worse yet, using Jon Katz as the “expert” to “prove” this? A Good Dog is right up, or should that be down, there with Marley and Me as a dog story that brought me to tears, but not for the usual reasons. More like tears of frustration about these dogs’ lives.

My dogs love me. And your dogs (probably) love you. Yes, they are opportunistic little bastards. The way they scheme and scam makes me smile, because it shows me how they think and solve problems. But I am still absolutely sure they love me and my husband. Whether or not we have food or toys or any other thing that dogs supposedly want on us, they still shower us with love (and since they are Rottweilers, vast quantities of spit).

I have never been a fan of Eric Zorn, and his blog post did nothing to change that. Not that he, or maybe any of you, would care.

But my dogs still love me!

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 7 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 103 of 274)

Long life, canine and human versions

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Chanel, an almost-21-year-old dachshund mix who is the world’s oldest dog according to the Guinness World Records, made an appearance on the Today show.

Chanel’s story is noteworthy to me not only because of her age, but because she has spent that entire life with her original owner, through bad times and good. I have been a supporter of and an occasional volunteer for rescue, and may I say that the stories that a rescue volunteer has to listen to when talking to people who are giving up their dogs make you lose faith in the basic goodness of human nature. The tough situations that owner Denice Shaughnessy was faced with, in addition to frequent moves as a soldier in the U.S. Army and later a caretaker to her grandparents, are tougher than many of the dog-dumping excuses that I’ve heard over the years, and yet Ms. Shaughnessy kept Chanel with her through all of the difficult times. She is really a great example of responsible, caring dog ownership, and I applaud her for the lifetime commitment to Chanel.

But, yeah… 21 years. Wow. I would have given just about anything to be able to have that long with any of the dearly departed vom Viersen Rottweilers. In many larger breeds, anything past 10 years is truly a gift. Since three of the four angel Rottweilers made it past 10 years, and one close to 12 years, I can’t honestly say I was cheated of time with them.

There are a fair number of Rottweilers that have made it farther into the double-digits, though, and the Rottweiler is the initial breed chosen by the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation for a canine Exceptional Longevity Database. Information gathered for this project will be used to learn more about the aging process in canines and how it relates to the human aging process. The Murphy Foundation also uses Rottweilers in a study about cancer prevention with dietary antioxidants. Dietary antioxidants are also part of a trial for human patients: a study on prostate cancer prevention for men over 55 years of age.

This is of great interest to me, not only because of my love of Rottweilers, but because of my own family’s participation in a different ongoing longevity study. My family also has more than its share of cancer survivors, and unfortunately a few others who did not survive, so I am interested in the studies for so many reasons.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 6 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 102 of 274)