By Gwen Huneck

It is with great sadness that I share with you the news of the death of my Husband , Stephen Huneck, Thursday January 8^th. Tragically Stephen took his own life. Stephen had been despondent for some time now and was being treated for depression.  Like many Americans we had been adversely affected by the economic downturn. Stephen feared losing Dog Mountain and our home.

Then on Tuesday we had to lay off most of our employees. This hurt Stephen deeply. He cared about them and felt responsible for their welfare. I could see how devastated he felt and tried to reassure him that the most important thing to me was that we were together. I told him how much I loved him, that he had accomplished so much in his life he should feel proud not ashamed.

I said how I was constantly being told by visitors to Dog Mountain how much they loved his artwork. They also told me how meaningful the Dog Chapel was to them and how grateful they are that Stephen had created it.

Stephen and I discussed his feelings of despair and he said he would be seeing his psychiatrist the next day and would talk it over with her.  He seemed to be looking forward to his session. He got up early Thursday morning to go see her. Stephen drove to the doctor’s parking lot and while parked in his car, shot himself in the head.

I wished I could of reached him some how. Stephen gave so much love and joy to the world through his warmth and openness as a person and a great artist. I hope he will be remembered as that joyous soul.

One the last page of the “Dog Chapel” book Stephen wrote “you too can build a chapel, in a place that’s always open in your heart.”

In August 2009, the US Post Office released a commemorative plate of stamps that were all “TV Early Memories” and featured in that block of 20 stamps is one of Lassie.  I totally missed this release and it wasn’t until a friend pointed them out to me that I became aware of them and had to immediately buy them.  How I missed stamps about TV and Lassie is beyond me but I’m so happy to have them now.

The Early TV Memories commemorated in the 20 stamp set include:  Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Dinah Shore Show; Dragnet; Ed Sullivan Show; George Burns & Gracie Allen Show; Hopalong Cassidy; The Honeymooners; Howdy Doody; I Love Lucy; Kukla, Fran and Ollie; Lassie; The Lone Ranger; Perry Mason; Phil Silvers Show; The Red Skelton Show; Texaco Star Theater; Tonight Show; Twilight Zone; and, You Bet Your Life.

TV Early Memories featuring the Lassie stamp

by Charmaine Ham

I’ve had dogs for 21 years but it wasn’t until last Fall we took our dog on vacation for the first time. We had reservations but since we knew we’d be gone a month, we couldn’t be w/o Max! We made it fun, bring besides food, his dishes, & his dog bed a bag of new dog toys. We thought if we presented a new toy it would make vacation fun.

The biggest fun was actually walking him in a dog friendly neighborhood. He enjoyed the various smells and scents (he’s beagle/Jack Russell mix) and many people walked their dogs. Even more dog friendly was the beach — oh how he loved walking on the damp sand. If it weren’t for me, he’d walk all day! One time we saw people riding their horses in the surf and I had to pull him back on his leash because he was so curious! I didn’t want him to be stomped on or spook the horses, yet he had never seen horses before.

We did all the work as we were busy cleaning out an inherited house to get ready for rental. So Max was the only one who got a vacation! Then to top it off, we only got breaks when our friends stopped to visit, and as usual, he thought everyone came just to visit him!

I recommend taking a pet on vacation, and do your homework to make the proper preparations. I promised Max we’d go walk the beach again and hope to return this Spring.

Max always wondered what it would be like to go on vaction

Charmaine and Max on their first vacation

Max now knows that vacations are fun but that they also can wear a dog out

So you love dogs and live in the Land of Dogs.  Being as dogmatic as you are, you want to carve your pumpkin to look like your dog but you’re not sure how to do it.   We’ve solved that problem for you.  Now you can get  free dog stencils that make carving pumpkins much easier.   And please send in pictures of any of  your  dog pumpkin masterpieces and we’ll share them with the group.

The stencils were designed by Diane Starkey and are from the Good Housekeeping website in an article entitled “Free Pumpkin-Carving Stencils of Favorite Dog Breeds.”

Jon Gosselin gives back his dogs.

Stupid people get to be on TV all the time.   We watch these shows with the stupid people because we can’t believe that anyone would do such stupid stuff and then go on TV and tell everyone about it.   And I’m generally OK about that as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult.  That means that any animal or child who can’t choose to be there shouldn’t be there.  That means that there shouldn’t be any dogs used in reality TV shows or wild animals brought on talk shows or invasive nature shows where animals in their own habitat get heckled and poked by a man with a stick.   So when I read about evil Jon Gosselin, who has not one quality that should make him a celebrity, giving his dogs back to the breeder he got them from because he couldn’t take care of them anymore, I became very cross.  The German Shepherds never agreed to be on that show and now they don’t have homes.  And of course Jon blames Kate for this.  Go to radaronline.com to read the whole story so you can be cross about too.

There are three important ways you can help solve the dog over-population crisis:

1.  Adopt your next dog from a shelter

2.  Spay or neuter your dog

3.  Commit to keeping your dog for their whole lives

I don’t know if Jon’s dogs were spayed or neutered but he broke at least two of these rules.  Enough is enough.  Make him go pluck his eyebrows in the privacy of his own apartment and never come out again.  We’re really sick of him now.

This is my dog altar.  These are my dogs (Maxine, Star, Chloe, Artie, Coke, Rosie and Bear) who are already in heaven but who still are with me every day.   I miss them all so much and try to remember some little thing about each of them that keeps them alive in my heart.  Max loved to stalk–if you walked towards her slowly, she would walk towards you slowly and then she’d pounce when she got close enough; Star did the”boot-scoot boogie” as we called it because when she was really excited, she ran with her butt almost on the ground and her tail between her legs and she’d kick up her legs and run fast  in circles; Chloe carried gigantic sticks/logs around and because she collected so many of them, the house became known as Chloe’s Stick Farm; and so on.   This altar is in my bedroom and I think of all of them as my little choir who greet me everyday and who remind me how lucky I am that I could share their time on the earth with them.  It’s a given that however long our dog’s live, it’s not long enough.  So go love your dogs right now and don’t stop.

Gracie

I took the big leap this summer and am using only natural flea control on Gracie, my wonderful dog, instead of the horrible spot-on pesticides that the EPA is investigating.  Every summer I start out using natural products until July hits and the fleas here in the South get out of control.  Then, reluctantly, I would put Frontline on my dogs because it was the only thing that worked.  But not this summer.  I’ll never use those products again.  Ever.

Using only natural products for flea control, Gracie does have a few fleas and does itch more than she used to on Frontline.  And it’s a lot more time-consuming for me to flea comb and spray everyday but I truly believe it’s worth the effort.  To me, it’s really not even a choice.  Gracie is going through chemotherapy right now for a growth on her tongue and in her brain.  She’s already gone through surgery and radiation and there is no way that I would put any pesticide on her when her immune system is already being pushed to the max.  Why I thought it was ever OK to put poison on my dogs is a question I keep asking myself.

According to Jan Rasmusen on her  blog, Dogs4Dogs.com ,  “46% of dogs and 39% of cats dying of disease will die of cancer. Pesticides are proven to increase your dog’s (or cats) chance of getting cancer.  A University of Pennsylvania vet school study showed topical insecticides (aka preventatives) “significantly increased” bladder cancer risk, especially in overweight dogs. Other studies have shown cancer risks from herbicides. Some products meant for pets can even increase the chance you and your children will become ill.”

So this summer, I’ve been experimenting with different formulas and methods to naturally control fleas and have not settled on which one works the best. Along with daily flea combing, I’ve been trying four different things:

1.  Lemon Spray Repellent: Add a lemon that’s been sliced thin to boiling water and then let it steep overnight.  Spray your dog in the morning.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar Spray: Put half water/half vinegar in a spray bottle and spray away.  Be prepared for the smell of vinegar to take over your whole house.

3.  Rosemary Flea Dip: Steep two cups of fresh rosemary in boiling water for 30 minutes.  Once it cools, you can use it as a dip or spray. So far, this has been the most effective spray.

4. Diatomaceous earth: comb it into your dogs coat  and the fleas who come into contact with the razor-sharp silica in the DE , become dehydrated and die within a day.   When applying DE, you should wear a mask and keep your dog’s face protected with a towel because the silica can be inhaled and can irritate the throat and lungs.  I use this once a week.

Please let me know how you’re controlling fleas this summer because we can’t do it the old way anymore.  I’ll keep you posted on which of my methods is working.  We all know too much to go backwards.

Flea combs and the Ticked Off Tick Remover and now available at happydogsplay.com.

Photo of Gracie by Sisters Pet Pics.

On Tuesday, July 22nd, little Gidget, the Chihuahua that Taco Bell made famous, died at 15 of a stroke  and people all over the world are mourning her passing.  And I feel that same sadness.  But what about the animals that were killed to make the Taco Bell food that Gidget was made to help sell?  Do we mourn for them?  Well of course not.  Apparently “farm animals” don’t count as real animals with souls and personalities so it’s OK to eat them.  And the fact that many companies use animals to help sell other animals that are to be eaten as food is just plain wrong.  When I see billboards of  cows trying to sell chickens as a more desirable food, I get so angry.

But what about feeding meat to our dogs?  Is it really necessary?  I think about this question frequently especially since there’s now raw meat involved when I feed my dogs.  I see blood and ground up organs and I am so aware that an animal died so I could feed this food to my dog.   I know there are people who feed their dogs a vegetarian diet and there’s vegetarian dog food that I could switch to.    In a study of vegan and vegetarian dogs, these dogs were healthier and had less chronic health problems than they did when they were fed meat.  Also, the dogs who were on a vegan diet did better than the ones on a vegetarian diet.

Making the decision to switch is a big one and I need to do more research to make sure I can provide healthy vegan food to my dogs.  What do you think we should be feeding our dogs?

On a lighter note, these two Taco Bell toys are available to buy at happydogsplay.com.

$5.99 at happydogsplay.com

$12.99 at happydogsplay.com