What to feed #Gizmo? He prefers #Purina #Beneful

Yes, I am a huge, healthy fan of Beneful dog food. 

            What to feed your dog is often an enormous decision fraught with dreary economics and deep emotions.  What to feed Gizmo was a fairly easy decision (until it was complicated later).                                              

     We vowed that we would not make the mistake that haunted us when we had Beowulf, our Shih Tzu who was put down when he was nearly 19 years old.  We fed him fairly regularly with “treats” from the table, which resulted in a nagging, cute, lovable, often fat dog.                             

     Gizmo has never had anything from the table or our hands, other than his regular, dry food and a half Beggin Strip treat.                            

     All he has ever known is #Purina’s #Beneful #Healthy #Radiance with real salmon and wholesome rice.  Since, when he is hungry, he eats with gusto, and he has tons of energy, while growing longer and heavier (and he doesn’t hang around the table when we’re eating), this seems to be working.    

    For treats, he enjoys #Beggin #Strips made with real bacon, which we break up into tiny pieces and work into his dry dog food.  Then, as an additional treat, we give him the last third of the strip before serving him his breakfast (late) or dinner.  This, too, seems to be appreciated, although sometimes he will run off and hide so he can eat this treat in complete privacy.  

   All worked well, until Joyce sat for us for nearly a week.  When he came back to us, she also presented us with a bag of rather expensive, super nutritious food that was filled with organically raised beef and vegetables.  The description was so mouth-watering that I was going to eat the pellets myself.  Then I looked at the price and decided I couldn’t afford this dog food despite all the health benefits boasted on the bag. (It was #Fromm Five Star Duck and Sweet Potato formula with vegetables, fruits, eggs and cheese plus probiotics, 4 ounces for $5, 5 pounds for $26 -- that's almost 8 times the cost of Beneful!!)

      We mixed less than half a cup of the expensive stuff (that didn’t have caviar!) with his Beneful for about two weeks.  Then Gizmo returned to his poure Beneful diet.  He has not left us any notes demanding the high-priced stuff.

“Maybe you've been looking for love in all the wrong places. A dog will treat you better than anyone you'll meet at happy hour.” Anonymous  used

#Battle at the #dog #Park: with a good ending.

Thank you for protecting me, and feeding me

Contretemps at dog park: Cozy, a hound-type dog, went for Gizmo, growling at him and looking like he was snapping or biting his neck.  This was shortly after we got to the dog park and it was very upsetting.     

     I examined Gizmo and it looked like he wasn’t injured, at least there was no blood.  We both walked away from the dogs and Gizmo was very subdued, lying down beside me.  When he didn’t want to go for a ball, I decided to leave the park and took him to the car.                 

     But then I thought that the owner should take some responsibility for the attack.  Leaving Gizmo in the car, I returned and confronted the owner, Judy, a short lady with a heavy New York accent.                        

       Her first response was that her dog was a wonderful, gentle thing and my dog must have done something to provoke him, which made me even more protective of Gizmo.          

       It is also typical of all dog owners: my dog, even if he or she is a biter, is perfect – your dog is the villain.                                             

       I responded by strongly suggesting that she better control her dog and take some responsibility.  Then she asked if I owned a home in the area.  I said yes I did and, whether I did or not, she should take better control of her dog.                                                       This discussion continued, and got more heated, in front of the association general manager and his wife, who identified herself as a woo-woo dog trainer, involved in massage, etc.  The wife said that Gizmo was “snarking” Cozy, a phrase I hadn’t heard of.  She explained that Gizmo was in Cozy’s face, which was a threatening gesture.  Then she demonstrated by getting directly in my face and, yes, it did feel threatening.                                                      

     The general manager said that there have been almost no complaints from the dog park and indicated that it was important for us to settle our differences between ourselves (something like saying “children, play nice together.”)                                                        As I calmed down a bit, Judy (who after refusing to give me her address or phone number in case my dog was injured, which infuriated me) suggested that I bring Gizmo back and we re-introduce Gizmo and Cozy.  I did and everything went well.                                                        

     Later, after more discussion, including learning the story of the mastiff that belongs to the general manager (from puppy mill to being thrown from the back of a truck and being malnourished to health and happiness after rescue), Judy and I hugged as our dogs alternately romped and ignored each other.  End of crisis.                                                      

     I was happy with the result: I went from righteously upset to allowing that maybe that was the way dogs worked things out – although the attack looked very serious at the time.
     PS: about a week later, another dog owner revealed to me that one of Judy's dogs had been banned from the dog park.  

     “Among God's creatures two, the dog and the guitar, have taken all the sizes and all the shapes, in order not to be separated from the man.”  Andres Segovia

ON singing "#Baby #Mine" to your #Dog, from #Dumbo

Almost ready to sing to Gizmo

            A New York Times review written by Alexandra Styron of “The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout” by Jill Abramson, begins, “Let’s be real. It’s hard to keep a straight face writing about puppies.”

           It includes the following, “(Full family disclosure: my husband routinely cradles our 85-pound Labrador in his arms and sings to her, as he did when she was a puppy, the “Baby Mine” song from “Dumbo.”)”

             The song, which got a 1941 Best Song Oscar nomination, appears in a scene in the movie when Dumbo visits his mother, who is confined in a tiny cage.  They touch trunks and mommy sings “Baby Mine,” while the Disney cartoonists pull out all the stops and we see hyena, lion and other mothers caring for their children, as one tear drops down Dumbo’s cheek.  Other tears came down the cheeks of the mothers… and mine.

           Then I looked up the lyrics, which as they say went something like this:

Baby mine, don't you cry

Baby mine, dry your eyes

Rest your head close to my heart

Never to part, baby of mine…

      At Gizmo’s request, we now sing it to him and to each other.  

     “ To err is human, to forgive is canine.”  Anonymous

#Houdini #Yorkie and reasons to #walk #dog

At age two, call me a retired escape dog.  Fun while it lasted

   Solved: #Yorkie #puppy does a #Houdini and escapes from cage. 317,000+ views!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8reNJAOsME&feature=player_embedded

“A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk.”  O. A. Battista

Gizmo, the protest #dog, with #Mel #Gibson quote

        Gizmo has now attended two rallies in #Santa Fe, NM, in support of the #Occupy #Wall #Street movement.         

             At the first, in front of the Bank of America branch, Gizmo was the only dog to respond positively to my cry to encourage our dogs to relieve themselves on the BofA.  He targeted a bush near the walls of the bank.                                                                                                                                    At the second, in a beautiful park near the State Capital, he was more interested in other dogs than in the speeches about energy independence through bio fuels (Always a cooperative dog, Gizmo did seem willing to contribute what he could to waste matter).                         

          We saw the dog pictured above with a “Don’t steal my bone” placard.                                                                                                                          Although Grace was afraid he would be trampelled and hurt, he was not, despite laying down at our feet in bored contemplation of the talks at the impromptu meeting.

              After we closed two accounts and sold our BofA stock, Grace told the first gathering we attended that she was ripping up our BofA checks, which she did to rousing cheers.  Then she shouted that she would put the torn checks in her pocket to prevent littering.  Even more cheers.

           They were peaceful, calm events which Gizmo rather enjoyed, while we upheld a middle-class presence in them.

"It freshens your breath and helps prevent tartar."   #Mel #Gibson, while eating a dog biscuit at Harvard

#Dogs #read us well: #Gizmo knows and #Buddah saying

I found my place under this wooden cabinet, and I'm going to stay here

       Before I go out for a couple of hours, I take Gizmo out to the back yard for a quick relief of urine.  But Gizmo reads me well: perhaps it was because I wasn’t carrying a leash, didn’t have my IPod on my ears or was wearing a hat. 
     Whatever it was, he walked out slowly as if he was going to the electric chair, instead of desperately running, and sat at the end of the patio. Then, when I opened the door and started to go inside, he went directly under an old wooden cabinet we have out there.  And refused to move.  
      I called his name, I said it louder and said, “HERE.”  No movement.  I put my foot under the cabinet, but he just moved deeper inside.  

      Finally, I stood inside the house and in no uncertain terms said, “Gizmo, HERE, NOW.”  He slowly emerged from under the cabinet and slowly, resignedly walked inside.   He knew two things from the moment I opened the door: going outside was merely a short, cheating walk and, when I left, he would not be going with me.

     “A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.” Buddha

Not #Palin, another strong #Alaskan punches #bear, saves #pet #dog

Brooke Collins, Juneau, punched bear to save Fudge, the Dachshund.

Punches #bear in nose to save pet #dachshund.                                    Strong Alaskan woman not named #Palin.

         A 22-year-old Alaska woman said on Wednesday she punched a black bear in the face to save her small dog from being carried off and possibly eaten.                                                                                                             Juneau resident Brooke Collins said she hit the bear Sunday night to save the life of her dachshund, Fudge. She said she discovered the bear crouched down, clutching Fudge in its paws and biting the back of the dog’s neck.                                                                                 “It had her kind of like when they eat salmon,” Collins said. “I was freaking out. I was screaming at it. My dog was screaming. I ran up to it … I just punched it right in the snout and it let go.”  

        As for Fudge, she’s staying indoors for now.

    

“When a dog gets a bone, he doesn't go out and make a down payment on a bigger bone. He buries the one he's got. Thus, save.”   #Will #Rogers

Can #Cats and #Dogs Live Together #Peacefully?

          

          They can, yes — one survey says nearly 18 million homes in the US have at least one dog and cat sharing space. But as anyone who’s tried it knows, it depends on the critters involved and their individual personalities and backgrounds.

     “The dog has got more fun out of Man than Man has got out of the dog; for the reason that Man is the more laughable animal.” #James #Thurber

IRRESPONSIBLE #owner sends #German #Shepherd on 3,000 mi one-way flight

Promise you won't ever do that to me?  I promise. 

Dog Returned to Sender by #Irrespondible #Owner

By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI New York Times (Edited)

  On Oct. 4, Jason Dubin drove to La Guardia Airport to pick up the newest member of his household. Six days after that first happy meeting, Mr. Dubin returned to La Guardia with that same member, a German shepherd named Emmi,   and sent her on a Continental Airlines flight to Seattle with a one-way ticket. 

   “I just couldn’t control her anymore; it was just time to part ways,” said Mr. Dubin, who bought the 80-pound dog over the Internet for $7,500 from Kraftwerk K9, a company in Rochester, Wash. “Emmi was portrayed to us as an obedient, well-trained, even-tempered dog,” Mr. Dubin said. “But within a week, I  realized that Emmi was an aggressive dog who posed a great danger to my family.” 

     So Mr. Dubin shipped Emmi back to the West Coast, but there was no one there to greet her when she arrived, safe in her crate, at Seattle-Tacoma Airport on Monday afternoon. After lingering in the company of pushcarts and lost luggage, Emmi was forced to spend a night in a Seattle kennel. ` “Why would Mr. Dubin abandon his dog like that?” Wayne Curry, the owner of Kraftwerk K9, said in a telephone interview. Good question. 

     The reasons were: (1) Emmi, who was born and raised in Germany, was not responding to German commands like “sitz” (sit), “fuss” (heel) and “aus” (let go). (2) Emmi was terrorizing the Dubin’s pet cat. (3) Emmi had tried to bite Dubin’s 8-year-old son. (4) and  had bitten another dog on the face. 

     Both sides argued about whether or not Dubin told Curry within a 72-hour period that he didn’t want the dog.  Then there are arguments with Continental, which shipped the dog 3,000 miles with no one to pick up Emmi at the destination.  Continental said, “We followed all standard procedures, and the animal arrived at its destination safely.”  But that wasn’t quite the point.  Somehow, by following the rules, Continental sent a dog on a long flight in a cage with no one to care for it at the other end. 

     Curry eventually had the dog picked up and paid the $115 boarding fee. ` “I’m glad he picked her up,” Dubin said. “I was worried that Emmi might be destroyed in a shelter somewhere if no one claimed her. That’s not what I wanted.”  Hmm: he says that now.  

     My reaction: and they're arresting Occupy Wall Street protestors in New York for nothing, while the owner of Emmi walks free?

     “I just couldn't live without dogs.”  #Tara #Reid

#Rules: #Kiss me, then kiss guest #dog's #butt

From the Internet, submitted by Ginny Weissman:

But do the rules apply if you have invited me on the bed?

The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.
Dear Dogs and Cats:
       The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
      I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed.  I am very sorry about this.  Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep.  It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible.                       

      For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door.  I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.
      The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.
     “Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with another.  #Adam Smith

Why #Dogs are better than #children

And I'm willing to wait maybe 5 seconds to play with a new dog. 

From the Internet: 

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
(1)  eat less,
(2)  don't ask for money all the time,
(3)  are easier to train,
(4)  normally come when called,
(5)  never ask to drive the car,
(6)  don't smoke or drink,
(7)  don't want to wear your clothes,
(8)  don't have to buy the latest fashions,
(9)  don't need a gazillion dollars for college and
(10) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children...

      “The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.”  Warren G. Bennis

Are you #upset that #dogs are getting better #medical #treatment than you are?

When I can't chase dogs like this, I'll share stem cells with you if you need them.

Stem cells rejuvenating arthritic dogs

         Australian vets say they are having great success treating arthritic dogs with stem cells and researchers developing arthritis treatments for humans are taking a keen interest in the technique.

The trouble is that some dog owners feel their four-legged friends are getting better treatment than they are.

         MY REACTION:   YOU BET WE’RE UPSET.   ONLY STUPID AMERICAN RELUCTANCE IS PREVENTING STEM CELLS FOR HUMANS WITH ARTHRITIS.  GIVE IT TO EVERYONE WHO NEEDS IT, EXCEPT THE TEA PARTY WHICH OPPOSES IT!!!!

      Melbourne vet Ray Ferguson has now treated about 40 dogs.

"For individual joints where a dog has one bad knee or one bad elbow, the treatments are very simple," he said.  "A very, very light anaesthetic and we pop an injection of the stem cells straight into the joint and it's all over in about five minutes."

      Dr Ferguson says the stem cells come from donor dogs.

"These largely come from dogs that are being de-sexed, they're all young dogs so we've got young, vibrant cells," he said.

      Dr Ferguson says preliminary trials involved dogs with skin disease and joint disease being injected with stem cells as well, but the arthritic dogs responded best of all.  The stem cell treatment costs between $1,500 and $3,000.

            Dr Ferguson says he tells dog owners the stem cell treatment works best on younger dogs but dogs up to about 10 years of age are also responding well.

Humans 'getting jealous'

             Professor Richard Boyd says the stem cell treatment of dogs is helping researchers understand the effect similar treatment would have on humans. "Their lives are constrained into 10 or 15 years and that reflects a human going from up to 70 or 80 years.

          "So the conditions which are generative which a dog gets in 10 years like arthritic hips and joints is very similar to what ageing humans get.

          "The retired senior who's taking the rejuvenated dog for a walk is now getting jealous," he said.  "So hopefully we'll get a retired senior and a retired dog both walking briskly along the beach."

“When a child is locked in the bathroom with water running and he says he's doing nothing but the dog is barking, call 911.” #Erma Bombeck 

#Bulldog found 6 yrs later: another reason to #microchip your dog

Bama goes back home 6 years after adoption: please microchip your dog

10/18/11 Dog found in Stockton, CA, back with Salt Lake City, UT, owner 6 years later, thanks to microchip!

                 STOCKTON, CA - A woman from the Salt Lake City area came to Stockton Tuesday to take home the dog she gave up for adoption 6 years ago.

              Jackie Rougle had a newborn baby and three dogs when she became overwhelmed by those responsibilities. She thought their bulldog Bama was going to a good family. Later, she learned the dog was almost immediately sold.

             When Bama was located in San Joaquin County last week, thanks to an identifying microchip, Rougle said, "My little girl said when she heard Bama was back, you have to go get her, so I came and got her.”

              Her husband Larry was the one who first wanted Bama, but Larry died in battle in Afghanistan four years ago, so for Rougle, getting Bama back was like being reunited with Larry’

   My reaction: another reason to put a microchip in your dog.

       “My mom was a ventriloquist and she always was throwing her voice. For ten years I thought the dog was telling me to kill my father.”  Wendy  Liebman

Could #Gizmo prefer to #sleep in the #cage?

Shhh, I like it here

          At night, Grace says she’s tired and will go to bed.  I turn off the television set and prepare to join her.  Actually, I look around to find Gizmo and get him in the cage.  He trots by me, stops at my feet, looks up, his eyes still tired because he just woke up.

          Then I turn away, making the table neat before leaving the living room.  And I hear Gizmo’s nails on the cage.

          He has walked through the cage door and was already in there, prepared to go to sleep.  In other words, he put himself into the cage for the night!  What a dog.   Women often say they want a trainable man.  How much better is it to have a trainable dog?

"If your dog doesn't like someone, you probably shouldn't either.”  Anonymous

For #non-pet #owners who #complain about our #pets

That is, if they can read.

Posted by anonymous on the Internet:
TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:
(1)  They live here. You don't.
(2)  If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
(3)  I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
(4)  To you, they are animals.  To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

       “If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.”  Woodrow #Wilson

Another reason to #love a #dog: no dog ever #ran a #bank

But, then again, I never wanted to run a bank.

     Another reason to love a dog: no dog ever manipulated a bank, invested in lousy mortgages, owed a ton of money and then had the taxpayers bail the dog out.

     “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?  Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.”  #Abraham #Lincoln

#commands every #dog should know: including bring pretty #blond

When you said "come",  I heard "come to bed."

Commands every dog should know

Sue Manning | The Associated Press/6/11

LOS ANGELES —Three veteran trainers were asked by The Associated Press to share the first five or six things they think every dog should know.

         "I am often amazed at how many animals do not know their names," said Lauren Henry, co-owner of Talented Animals.

           Here are some other commands that every dog should know:

Pay attention. Henry says this is "the behavior on which I spend the most time with any new animal. If they are not paying attention, none of the other commands will matter. After name recognition, they need to learn to keep their attention on the person and not get quickly distracted."

Come. "The key is repetition and building up a strong reward history, letting the dog know good things happen when it comes," said Van Wye. "Don't call them when you know they won't come and if you are mad at the dog and when he gets there you are going to scold him." Henry said teaching a dog to come when called is "the single biggest lifesaver."

Down and/or sit. "You can keep your dog out of all sorts of trouble with these," Henry said. " Your dog cannot get into trouble if it is lying next to you." 

Stay or wait. "Teaching a dog to wait at a door when it's being opened or wait in the vehicle when you open a car door and not bolt out is definitely critical for safety," said Henry.

     Van Wye also thinks "wait is better than stay. Wait is like a pause button”

Let's go. "This is not a formal heel but an informal loose leash, a command to walk next to me and don't pull on the leash," Van Wye said.

     My comment: I’m trying to teach Gizmo the command “do income taxes,” but progress is slow.   Also: the command bring me pretty blond.

“I was a dog in a past life. I'll be walking down the street and dogs will do a sort of double take. Like, Hey, I know him. - William H. Macy

#Bad #dog becomes #good #dog with the #cage

Yes, I actually like it here at night.

     After almost two perfect weeks, Gizmo urinates on the living-room hallway rug, twice.  First, just before we go to bed, he hides under bed, far away from us as he can get.  When we look under the bed, he gives us his cutest expression and we do not have the heart to remove him.

     When we wake up, there is a urine spot on the rug.  Twice.  Therefore, once again Gizmo goes into cage.  There are two nights when his wining at 1 and 3 am wakes me up.  I go to him, slam the side of the cage and say in no uncertain terms, "No."  Then, eventually, he sleeps through the night. 

      As soon as I wake up, after unsetting the alarm and getting some water, I free him and let him run out the front door.  The result: two accident-free days.

“There are times when even the best manager is like the little boy with the big dog, waiting to see where the dog wants to go so he can take him there.”  Lee Iacocca

#Internet #hoax could #harm #dogs: the #cheese scam

If you let me in, I promise never to eat cheese

     Facebook hoax: New trend at dog parks, nails in pieces of cheese --- NOT!!!

      Summary: Scammers are pushing a sick hoax on Facebook, trying to warn users that dog owners should watch out for a supposedly malicious new trend.

     Facebook users are warning each other that dog owners need to keep an eye out for a horribly twisted prank: pieces of cheese with nails in them, strategically left in dog parks. While these people likely have good intentions, the truth is that this is a hoax and there isn’t any proof that this is really happening.

      Until just recently, I was a dog owner myself, and this hoax makes me sick to my stomach. The “warning” comes in the form of one of the following messages:

     New trend at dog parks, nails in pieces of cheese, if you take your dogs to dog parks, please be careful!!

     DOG PARK ALERT: We have received two notices. (1) Nails wrapped in cheese at dog parks in Chicago and Massachusetts (see pic). (2) from some friends that in Augusta Maine dog park, antifreeze is being found in doggie water bowls. Please beware and be careful and PLEASE SHARE and spread the word

     This hoax is spreading like wildfire on Facebook, despite there being any actual information. As Sophos and Snopes points out, this actually happened in a kennel, not a park, in Buenos Aires, Argentina in July.

     In other words, this is definitely not a “new trend.” Also, don’t blindly copy and paste warnings just because your Facebook friend’s status tells you to do so. Although you probably mean well, you could be helping a hoax become more popular on the social network.

      Snopes agrees: a hoax.   

      My Comment: what evil jerk would come up with this hoax?  And do not pass it around: reading it, another jerk might actually decide to try doing it.

       BeDogSavvy Heather @BeDogSavvy  “Journalists are like dogs, when ever anything moves they begin to bark.”  Arthur Schopenhauer

#Youtube: a #boy and his #dog.

A boy and his dog: sweet video:
http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/boy_dog.html

"“Youngsters of the age of two and three are endowed with extraordinary strength. They can lift a dog twice their own weight and dump him into the bathtub.”  Erma Bombeck

A #dog with a definite #operatic career

That C is not easy to hit. 

Sing like no one’s listening.  This dog has definite operatic possibilities:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcQai--9AHQ

“We've begun to long for the pitter-patter of little feet - so we bought a dog. Well, it's cheaper, and you get more feet.

Rita Rudner

#Saved by #cattle #dog and #manure

Austrralian cattle dog

Saved by cattle dog and manure:

      Beloit Daily News:

     SHOPIERE - Farmer David Ferwerda may have dug pythons out of warthog holes and escaped elephant herds in Africa, but it was a pregnant Black Angus that would leave him on the operating table.

       Ferwerda, a globe-trotting game hunter and farmer, credited his loyal Australian cattle dog Hannah with saving his life after the Angus attacked him.

     "She's an exceptionally good dog. She never takes her eyes off me. If it wasn't for the dog I would never have gotten out of that barnyard," he said.

     It was a sunny morning when the 77-year-old bachelor went to do chores during calving season at his farm. Little did Ferwerda know when he went to fix a leaky stock tank, that an Angus in the early stages of labor was lurking behind the barn door. The pregnant predator struck Ferwerda in the collar bone, knocked him in the manure and started pummeling him with her hooves.

Ferwerda thought he was dead meat.

     "I hoped it would be over in a hurry because I didn't have any chance to get out. I just gave up," Ferwerda said.

      The Angus didn't break any bones, but put a nasty gash in his head. As he regained consciousness, Ferwerda saw that his mighty cow dog Hannah had backed off the beefy bully. The farmer crawled out on his hands and knees through the manure as the dog watched his back. Ferwerda said cows are scared of cattle dogs because they can bite their noses.

     "The cow was pawing the ground, kicking manure and blowing snot. I got out of the barnyard without getting mauled again," Ferwerda said. "She's a wonderful little dog."

     It wasn't the first time Ferwerda had narrowly escaped death, only to ignore it. He was attacked by a Holstein bull in the 1960s, but credited soft manure for helping him safely slither away.

     As for the angry Angus, she lost her calf and was later trucked away to Monroe.

     "She's hamburger," Buss said.                                                                                                Which do we give the most credit to:  his faithful dog. Or the manure> 

“It's tough to stay married. My wife kisses the dog on the lips, yet she won't drink from my glass.”  Rodney Dangerfield