It's Valentine's Day, sweethearts...Ah, people, critters and contemplations

Since it is Valentine’s Day, I will speak from the heart.
Patience is what we all need, both in affairs of the heart and in animal rescues.
If my funspouse Martha were not patient, she would not be getting an extraordinary Valentine today that includes a bag of Reese’s Mini-Peanut Butter Cups -- ah, romance! And if she were not patient, I would not be typing this from a permanent address.
FOUND ALONG I-20 IN DALLAS: Reliable tipster and rescuer Julie Norris sent us this note and we’re waiting to hear about the fate of this little dog. For now we know that the dog got a break while challenging the speeding traffic on the interstate highway.
Julie says her good friend Lisa Shaw found the dog, now known as Eli, running along I-20. “She was able to coax the little guy into her car with food. After scrubbing him in the bathtub and getting warm food into his tummy, he settled down for some much needed rest.”
He could be an Aussie/Lab mix, might be a Pyr mix. – whatever he is, he’s not supposed to be running down a freeway.
Lisa and Julie have teamed to foster him, Paws In The City accepted him into the guest dog program and now we wait to hear how he shapes up medically.
He was taken to a vet for a check-up and it appears, we're told, that he has chicken bones in his intestines, so the wait is on to see if he can get rid of them naturally or if something else is in his future.
Stay tuned and we’ll see what he needs. [Larry aside: How many times have you heard, "Don't feed chicken bones to the dog!" And, of course, if the little guy had to scavenge at a trash bin, well, son of a gun, how do you stop that? Ah, you -- and I direct this to the dog's pinheaded original owner -- treat the dog as if he matters. Because he does.]
Lisa, by the way, has most recently taken in Addie, a “remainder” when a rescue group shut down, and Millie, found in a parking lot and thought to be pregnant but actually suffering from a potentially fatal infection. Lisa also “feds a clan of stray cats that live in the Town Square in Lancaster,” Julie says.
She also says Lisa, who has encountered a health crisis, could use some help placing Millie and Addie and in feeding the cats.  And, of course, Eli may need a place to go or some special care. E-mail Julie at crescentrealtors@gmail.com to offer to help.
MOM AND SIX: Rescuer Rekka Melby sends word that Dart and her puppies need some help. They were rescued on Jan. 22. You can guess why mom is named Dart.
Here’s the story of the Take Me Home Pet Rescue Dart mission that night:
”The weekend of Jan 22, we helped rescue a stray momma dog and her six newborn puppies who were living on the streets of Dallas near a Dart station.  The good Samaritans who had been feeding and caring for the mom dog (Dart) found what they thought was a foster via a dog boarding facility but have recently found out they are being charged a  lot of money to house the little family there. We just found out about this and it is a very unfortunate turn in events.
”We urgently need to move this family out of there!  We are looking for a reputable rescue group to take in this adorable little family.”
To offer to take the mom and pups in, e-mail thedartproject@gmail.com.
You can see video of the rescue by clicking HERE.
And, as you’ll see, patience and skill team to save the animals.
[SOAPBOX MOMENT: You may also ask yourself “What kind of jerk let this dog run free and get pregnant?” and you may answer, “Please, help me swing my 2-by-4 in a swift and educational manner.”  Sorry, that would be wrong. Please forget that I suggested anything other than Pavlovian conditioning to change the thinking of the pinheads around here. That’s right, drop the 2-by-4 and pick up a big, well-cast bell and make it ring off the pinhead’s noggin. Wait, that, also would be wrong. Well, it would be right, but it would be wrong. Just remind everyone you see “spay and neuter” and “keep your dogs secure.” Seems so easy. Tries my patience.]
PATIENCE IN THE EAST: Months ago I had a phone conversation with Marilyn Allen, a volunteer with Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake, about two dogs she was trying to help. In fact, it was in early December and you may have seen the e-circulated note about Marilyn trying to help a Jack Russell and a Heeler/Spaniel mix who were taken in because they, basically, were in a home where nobody had time to care for them but made time to beat them. And they kept them tethered outside, too, in all kinds of lousy weather..
The little guy was adopted pretty quickly.
And the patience comes in with this handsome fellow
One of the reasons patience is important is the person who had the dog beat him – thus he’s a little wary around women. Yes, a woman beat him – basically for acting like a dog and not being so good at being left alone in a dwelling. He was beaten, then tethered.
And, now, he’s needing a real home.
This guy is neutered, weighs in at 35 pounds and is a year old.
Marilyn writes, “He truly has the makings of a great dog, but I am completely unable to meet his needs. A Heeler can’t be kept tied up/locked up because of their need to be active and busy. He’s young, high-energy, but has been tied up all of his life and is desperate to run free.
”He has responded immediately to training methods I’ve tried, only to lose interest because his need to run free isn’t met.  I have to keep him penned up or on a leash/tieout because of my three dogs and six cats.  I have limited time to work with him, only about 15 minutes 3 times a day.  He’s learned to sit, he’s loving and trusting, gives little doggy kisses, and is so grateful for the little attention I give him.  Then he’s heartbroken when I pen him up.”
Yes, he just needs a good home. To offer to give him a good home – and you’ll have to pass an audition – email marilyn.j.allen@centurylink.com or call 903-675-9681 or 903-675-5697.
Larry aside: There’s probably some reason I didn’t get this dog’s photo published in December – like maybe his home wouldn’t really be ready until this week. Maybe someone who’s reading this will see the potential joy of having a boy like this around the house.
A GIRL SCOUT OPPORTUNITY: Talk about a guaranteed sale, the folks with Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake have a deal for Girl Scouts.
We got the info from our Friends tipster Sydney Busch. Friends, as you know, is the group that runs the world’s greatest spay/neuter clinic at Gun Barrel City, Texas, over by Cedar Creek Lake, east of Dallas.
They’ve apparently got a rule, though. If anybody’s selling Girl Scout Cookies at the clinic when it’s open on Tuesdays, it has to be the actual Girl Scout, not the moms.
Sydney sent out a note to Friends’ friends saying that “this year I thought out would send out an email to our supporters to see if any of you have children or grandchildren /nieces/whatever selling these, we would rather buy from a supporter of ours than not.
”But the girl has to come in herself and do the sales pitch. We are at the clinic on Tuesdays until about 5:30 and there is the special Sunday Surgery Day on Feb. 26– we’ll be there from about 8 until 5 that day.”
So, you can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak: Get a critter fixed and boost your Girl Scout’s sales, too.
Larry aside: People helping people who are helping animals who will eventually help people who are helping people who are... well, you see how this goes. I’m surprised Andrew Lloyd Weber hasn’t written a musical about the “Circle of Goodness.”
Get directions to the cookie-buyer clinic by going to the Friends site HERE.
EARLY BIRD’S LAST DAY FOR TEXAS UNITES CONFERENCE: Today is the last day to get the Early Bird registration deal for the 3-day Texas Unites 2012 conference March 17-19 in Austin. The conference has 41 workshops dealing with animal issues in the State of Texas.
You can get all the details about the annual conference by going HERE where you can register and also see the list of the 41 workshop topics.
UGLY NOTES ABOUT ANIMALS: Read these only if you want to (a) learn about a brave dog in the first story and (b) a dedicated rescuer in the second.
Because we get a daily report from the San Jose Mercury we spotted this story of thugs beating a man and killing his Yorkie, too, as, apparently, the little dog tried to protect his master. You can read that HERE
 Story one from San Jose is HERE. But you will want to come right back and read the story of a rescuer, Catherine Bugg, who was trying to get a foundling puppy from Tucumcari to Amarillo when the treacherous weather conditions took the lives of both. That Examiner story is HERE.
Larry aside: From these two stories we’ve decided this: Just as there are so many breeds of dogs, there, apparently, are three different kinds of human hearts: mean, good and indifferent. Indifferent hearts help the mean hearts win. And the good hearts leave us too soon.
A BEDFORD EARHOUND:  Maryann Izzarelli who works with the Team Bedford folks on the Bedford Animal Shelter Facebook page, has a real eye for Earhounds.
Last night she sent this photo of Millie who, as you can see, is gifted with a sensational set of ears.
Maryann says, “She's available for adoption or rescue...sweet as can be, we've had her a few weeks.  She takes treats like a lady -- makes me sad because I'm sure she was part of a family at some point.”
You can visit the Facebook site HERE  and you can see how to contact the shelter and visit it HERE. You can also see other adoptables in Bedford by going to that link. As Maryann says, “It never ends.”
CONTEMPLATION: My tunespouse Martha and I both listen to KEOM, the student radio station in the Mesquite school district – it’s at 88.5 on your FM dial. Martha was driving to work in Monday’s sloppy conditions and listening to KEOM’s traffic report when the student announcer warned listeners of a car accident in Dallas at I-35 North and “E Wing Avenue.” Yes, that is near the Dallas Zoo, but there are not really A, B, C and D Wing Avenues to go with E Wing. And it occurs to me that the kid who read the report is probably way too young to have ever heard of the famous Dallas oil  family, the E Wings, I mean the “Ewings.” The “You-wings.”  One reason I’ve always enjoyed the print media – we had editors backstopping what we typed. No editing button on the radio mike. … The dogs at the Westminster Kennel Club Show are fantastic. We watched the first night with our crowd last night though we just couldn’t get them to do the wave during the judging. Had no trouble getting them to tailgate before the show, however. The champ will be picked Tuesday night – and there’s a flap over the club dropping Pedigree as a sponsor because of the company’s “sad” take on adopting shelter dogs. You can Google Pedigree and Westminster and see several opinions.…  We’ve had purebreds, we’ve had mutts. You know the difference between purebreds and mutts? Yeah, I don’t either.  I think the difference might be in their people.  All dogs rock.  Especially on Valentine’s Day because they don’t get the chocolate and the human does – one of the few treats we don’t share. Roses? Oh, Griffin the Orange Cat eats the petals. That photo? That is Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, in the official attire he wears when judging dog shows. He is certified to judge three recognized breeds: the Western Counter Surfer, the North American Morsel Nabber and the Texas Mud Wallower. He has lived with all and may be that middle one.
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