DeeDoo’s Digital Scrapbooking Blog

Another example of why many of us love our dogs so much. They accept who we are and love us in spite of it, and they don’t forget us easily. How can we turn away from that kind of devotion?

We are dog people. We have a house loaded with dogs, big dogs. Really big dogs. A lot of them. Every one of our dogs wandered into our lives without warning, bringing nothing with them but a heart full of love and a very empty belly. We always wonder if someone cast them out, or just tired of trying to work with them. You see, with one exception they are all males, about a year old, and none of them had been neutered. An intact male cannot help himself; he will always be wanting to roam in search of a female. It’s nature. And it’s a recipe for a very lost dog.

It seems few people are interested in taking in a large dog. First, did you see how big he is?!? Did you see the pile of poop he left in the yard?! Did you see the size of the hole he dug next to my favorite mums? And good grief, that bark!! Oh, yeah, and he chews Everything. Oh, and not to forget, he can eat his weight in food if you let him.

All of those observations are true! That’s pretty much what all dogs do, but you notice it a lot more with a big dog. We have cared for ours through all their growing up issues, and things are relatively settled down now.

So of course it’s time for a new fella to appear on the scene. Only this time, he’s a little bitty guy, and good grief he’s a cutie. Just look at him!

Seriously, we don’t go out looking for these dogs, they just appear, usually at our front door. But this little guy was desperate to find someone to love him. Or so it seems. On two separate occasions he ran out into a busy thoroughfare, right in front of my car. The second time he’s lucky my husband was with me, because I didn’t see him.

It was evening rush hour traffic, so I pulled into the neighborhood and was able to coax him to come to me. He wasn’t timid – such an outgoing little fella. I grabbed him up and went looking for his owner. I was just sure he had gotten out of someone’s back yard, someone nearby. However, it turns out he had been in the area ‘for several days’ and the neighborhood kids had been playing with him, but he didn’t belong to anyone and no one was taking him in. It’s hard to believe he made it that long without getting squashed, what with his disregard for busy streets and traffic.

We brought him home and cleaned him up and began the search for his owners. A fruitless search, unfortunately. Although we would love to keep him, we have reached maximum overload here – we had to find him a home, and soon.

What luck that we did find a wonderful place for him with a family that already has one Pom so they are familiar with the pitfalls of owning a small dog. (And there are pitfalls!) Our little guy soon found himself with a new family that wants him. He has a huge, fenced backyard to romp in and a new doggy friend to curl up with at night.

That’s a happy ending to what could have been a pretty sad tale. This little fella was also a male and not neutered, which I’m sure contributed to his lost situation. He had no collar and was not chipped for ID. No one posted fliers looking for him. No one placed a ‘lost’ ad in the paper, wanting him returned. No one responded to our ‘found’ ads. Maybe it’s been so long the owners gave up. But maybe not. Maybe someone dumped him in that neighborhood, counting on someone else to take him in. We’ll never know. But we do know that no one in that neighborhood took pity on him. We do now that he could easily have been killed in traffic. And we do know that because someone with a big heart wanted a second puppy he found a home.

I wish all dogs were this lucky. Please think long and hard before you spend money buying a puppy from an individual or breeder. There are so many lost and abandoned dogs, both purebred and mixed breed, that need homes. And they reward your kindness every single day with their love and affection. You’ll be glad you did.

Do you have children or grandchildren? The headlines about kids bullying each other in and outside their schools now has spilled over into online bullying via Facebook and other social networks. How do you feel about this chronic, and apparently epidemic problem? How on earth did things get to this point, and what can we, as individuals, do to stop it?

One thing we CAN do. We can limit the opportunities for bullying to occur – bullying BY our own kids or bullying OF our own kids. How?? We can shut down our children’s own Facebook pages. We can monitor their use of the internet and not allow them to be exposed to that particular threat. We can monitor their cell phone use, and limit it to calls to and from family members only, and mandate its use otherwise as ‘for emergency only’ and then define what falls within that description. Here’s a thought – we can take their cell phones AWAY.

We can make it our business to know who our children associate with at school and after school. We don’t have to let them roam the shopping malls in groups for ‘entertainment’. They should EARN any time they get away from home and parental supervision. They don’t have to be with other kids constantly, on one ‘playdate’ after another. We don’t have to allow them privileges they are not responsible or mature enough to enjoy. When we do, we are setting them up for problems. Not just bullying problems, either.

I know we are all ‘busy’. Busy, busy, busy. It’s crazy how busy everyone is. Too busy to take time to check things out. Too tired to make the effort to be responsible for our own children’s behavior. It’s tempting, and, frankly, far easier, to let the kids mingle with their ‘friends’, to use that as a babysitter, so we don’t have to listen to them complain of ‘boredom’ or whatever else it might be.

Too many think ‘the teachers and the schools should be more involved’ or that they are ultimately responsible for our kids. Horsefeathers!! That is such a total cop-out, it’s ridiculous. The teachers simply can’t do it, even if they tried. Ultimately, their hands are tied…how are they supposed to teach kids how to behave when it isn’t supported and reinforced at home. How are they supposed to enforce rules of behavior when laws against such enforcement prevent it? More to the point, how are they supposed to TEACH school subjects PLUS teach kids how to behave? Kids are supposed to come to school already knowing how they should act, and they should be doing it.

So, my conclusion is that if a finger must be pointed, it should be pointed at US. The parents and, yes, the grandparents, who turn a blind eye to the issues because it is easier than confronting it. We who want our kids and grandkids to ‘fit in’ and be a part of things. We who find it easier to stand by and let the kids drive the bus when they are, in fact, too young, too immature, and too irresponsible to be in charge of much more than cleaning their own rooms. (Which many don’t do.)

We need to be the grownups. We need to put rules and limits on the kids. We need to engage and get involved in their lives. Oh, they won’t like it, I’m sure. But who cares? Years from now they will look back, as I certainly have, and be grateful that their parents cared enough to draw a line in the sand and say ‘NO’ when it needed to be said, and then enforce it. Even to let them hate us for awhile, if that’s what it takes. Believe me, they’ll get over it.

Although I love to scrapbook lots of our photos, sometimes I also like to keep it simple. Sometimes simple tells the story far better than an elaborately created page with background papers and elements. Sometimes you just can’t improve on Mother Nature!

The clouds in this montage were part of a large storm system that moved through our area one August afternoon. Although predicted to dump large amounts of rain and possible hail in our area, the storm blew past without incident. The clouds were spectacular, though. Sadly, my camera and my ability don’t do the clouds justice. They were far more beautiful than I was able to capture.

My two little grandchildren are just now in the same elementary school. One is in kindergarten, the other a first-grader. Oh, they think they are so big. And they really are. It seems such a short while ago they were in preschool and elementary school was in the distant future. Well, it’s here!

Both kids love to ride their bicycles, and they are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood very close to their new school, so riding their bikes to school isn’t out of the question. At least, not out of the question due to distance. But things aren’t nearly as laid back as they were when their daddy was their age, and certainly not as safe as when I was their age – years and years and years ago, heh heh. So when the kids asked to ride their bicycles to school, the answer was ‘yes’. But they must have a parent along to ensure their safety from traffic, most certainly, but also from the threat of child predators. Sobering, but reality in 2010 in a big city.

So today, a gloriously sunny day with mild temperatures, the kids took off on their bikes, with daddy close behind. But he’s not on a bike. Nope, he’s following behind in the car. I love this pic, even more because you can see his side-view mirror. He’s a good daddy.