URGENT ALERT - JOHNSON CITY, TN: STOLEN DOG ALERT *PICTURES*

Anyone who may have seen something in this area, or may have other information about the crime, is asked to call the Johnson City Police Department at 423-434-6168 or Crimestoppers at 434-6158.  To send an anonymous text message to the Johnson City Police: text 423JCPD and your tip to 847411 (tip411).  You may also log onto www.citizenobserver.com.

ALERT! STOLEN RESCUE DOGS!  Pictures follow information Our rescue has experienced a great tragedy.  Someone broke into the Cool School For Dogs Puppy Dog Day Care and stole many of the rescue dogs that were being cared for there.  There were mostly Dobermans taken and 3 other smaller dogs, in total 13 dogs.  We have no idea how many of these missing dogs were actually stolen as there is a possibility that some may have escaped out of the door and gate since the dogs were kept out in the playroom together and only a few were kenneled at the time.  They could have traveled a very long distance, especially if someone found one and took it home to help it by looking for an owner or new home thinking it was a stray.  Some of these dogs have very important medical issues that need to be addressed, including two that must have special supplements before eating meals or they cannot keep weight on their bodies.  Some have been with us for a long time due to medical needs and others were recently rescued. If you find one of these dogs please, please return it to us.  We are offering a substantial reward for any of our dogs that are returned - no questions asked, we just want them back.  There are families that are in the process of adopting a few of them and we want to get them in these wonderful forever homes.  If you know ANY information about where these dogs might be, have been taken, etc. please share that information with the local police.  Anyone who may have seen something in this area, or may have other information about the crime, is asked to call the Johnson City Police Department at 423-434-6168 or Crimestoppers at 434-6158.  To send an anonymous text message to the Johnson City Police: text 423JCPD and your tip to 847411 (tip411).  You may also log onto www.citizenobserver.com. If the people who took the dogs read this - please take the dogs somewhere safe, leave them and then call and let us know where we can find them.  Take them somewhere safe and let the police know where they are so we can get them.  Please know that the information about these dogs has reached every corner of the United States .  Rescue people are a close and tight group of people who save animals every day and this has outraged everyone that someone would take these dogs!  Dog lovers are outraged and spreading the word.  They are looking everywhere for them so just PLEASE get them back to us! If you happen to find one of these dogs - we understand that some people may be frightened by a Doberman but all of these are very friendly.  They may be frightened, unsure of where they are when they show up near you.  You can nicely talk to them and each and every one of them will willingly work with you, or you can call me at 423-773-8113 and we will send a volunteer immediately to get the dog! Some of these dogs need medication, some are ill or injured and recovering, please look at them - most have very distinct looks, markings, etc.  Here are the dogs that are missing:

 Bliss (below)

Blush (below)

Charger (below)

Dazzle (below)

Disney (below)

Flash (below)  

Honey (below)

Noble (below)

Pippin (below)

Puddles (below)

Rumor (below)

Radar--who is blind

Look at this poor little chihuahua...

I'll be helping this poor little urchin get to rescue next week. His name is PRINCE BABE, an approximately 5-year old Chihuahua that was found in a box near an apartment complex. Here is what the foster mom wrote about Babe:

As you can see he is quite pitiful. However, he looks tremendously better than when I got him on 1/4/10. When they first saw him at Whitfield Animal Hospital on 12/30/09, he weighed 4 lbs. He now is 5 lbs. and 11 ounces. He has also had several medicated baths which help with the peeling skin - a by-product of bad nutrition and a bacterial infection. He is taking antibiotics, prednisone, and soloxine. The first few days I had him, he just slept. I woke him up to eat after which he would go potty (he uses puppy pads.) I didn't think that was healthy so I took him to Dalton Animal Care where they put him on the medications and advised the medicated baths. They also clipped his nails, cleaned his ears, etc. It didn't take but a day on the meds before he actually became alive. He still doesn't play - don't think he knows how, but he does get up and roam around the house and eats like a horse. He also loves to be held and petted.

Such a sad little guy. I hope after our "transport train" gets him to his destination that he will be loved and cherished, instead of abandoned in a box suffering from disease and malnutrition. I don't understand this behavior.

Fence grazers and Pepper the fearful and anxious dog

I am furious this morning. Furious at my neighbors and furious with myself. Pepper, our big chicken shepherd, set off out into the yard this morning and spotted our dog-hating neighbor(s) across the fence and started her scary dog tactics.

I don't approve of Pepper terrorizing fence grazers, no matter how much they dislike her, so I immediately went to retrieve her. Instead of being very stern with her, yelling "No! No!" I've started getting her interested in coming to me, saying "nah-ah," and then playfully "come on, come here" as if to say "hey, these hugs are more fun than barking at them." Usually it works and in general works much better, but it took me maybe half of a minute to get her back to me. In the meantime, my neighbor, with full awareness of me trying to retrieve my dog, is throwing tree limbs at the fence. Of course this makes her more fearful and protective. I have also seen them squirt her with a hose...again while I am trying to call her back. This morning I had to say something, simply stating "don't throw things at her" with my "what is WRONG with you" face. I was merely met with a grimace. I was almost to her when he did this and I got her by the collar and said "c'mon, let's go back inside..." I had her sit and calm down in the process and got her back in.

Pepper will get used to people who want to be her friend (it takes a few visits), but she sees our neighbors as unfriendly intruders (unfriendly for sure) and so she throws her hackles up and does her best to look vicious. She does a good job.

So, I'm mad at my neighbors for being so rude and dog-stupid, and mad at myself for not doing a better job of socializing Pepper. I guess that makes me dog-stupid, too. She needs much more socialization than a normal dog. She is the most fearful dog I have ever met, but also one of the sweetest and smartest. I think that's why my little scared shepherd transport on Saturday got to me so badly. I could see a sweet, smart dog in there, but he was petrified.

Inside with us or outside sans fence grazers, she's a real joy. Pepper's real nature is obedient, sweet, gentle, and extremely smart. But she is very fearful and very hypervigilant (which vigilance is already a shepherd trait) and has been since being abandoned in a parking lot with her littermates. She's a little food/toy protective, but only toward our beagle Petey, and only vocally. I can imagine she remembers being very hungry as the runt of that litter of shepherds. We got her when she was 5 months old. She was afraid of stairs, doorways, strangers, everything, but I knew her true nature when she (covered in mud) bounded into my arms as soon as she had room to run at the rescue the day we met her. The only time she has growled at us is when we accidently scratched a tender spot too hard on her chest and she said "hey, quit that!" She never growls at us over having food or toys taken away. In general she's a big chicken. I've just now gotten her to the point where she won't pee when I try to get her into the bathtub for a bath! Thankfully she is so active that I don't have to trim her nails too often, because she goes off the deep end when you try to do that. We are going to have to have them trimmed when she gets her teeth cleaned next month!

So, I could have done better. I am a homebody and when I get home I'm in my castle with my beloved pets. My New Year's resolution is socialization, socialization, socialization. I don't know many people who love their pets more, but I'm not a perfect pet owner by any stretch of the imagination. I share this because if you're a homebody like me you HAVE to get your dogs out more. I've done my sweet Pepper a serious disservice in this way and I hate that other people see only her frightened (and frightening) side when her "territory" is encroached upon. I don't know that I can train this out of her, but I at least want her to feel secure when I tell her to ignore the neighbors or other frightening fence-grazers such as meter people or delivery peeps.

And while I have been feverishly writing this post about my neighbor's transgressions as dog-haters, and my own transgressions as a lazy dog owner, the slurping sounds did not register in my brain...Pepper has just eaten a big piece of cat crap out of the litter box. Nice.

Well, that was quick...

I showed up at my new job after a little training, and found that I had no office, no phone, no computer, and no place to sit. Huh? Couldn't they have stuffed a desk in the corner of one of the meeting rooms or something?

It's a growing company and they do NOT have any of their processes down yet. Look, I'll be 45 friggin' years old in January. I know I'm not a seasoned social worker as of yet, but maybe a chair? Maybe a desk that could be shared that is not piled high with papers and charts? I was so disappointed. Constant interruptions in clinical work would have been the norm. I have never quit a job without staying a while, but at this age, I know the score and I was going to be taking Xanax by the end of the week. The gals there were sweet, but it was really going to be miserable for me as a professional.

I've always worked in very mature and professional offices and this was like being in someone's house with people yelling back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. Yes, I know I am spoiled, but I'm too old to be going that far backward. Perhaps my first clue was when I threw up in the middle of the night after my first day. I DO NOT throw up and have NEVER in my life vomited from being emotionally overwrought.

Apparently when I got laid off I had the only good social work job in the city. Maybe I'll just go back to marketing, be bored, and draw an easy paycheck.

sunshine!

I can't believe the sun is peeking through today...at least here and there. Gosh, any light at all at this point is a Godsend.

I'm doing a pet loss support group tonight which is kind of difficult for me right now after losing my kitty Grayson, but these groups help people so much. Our culture doesn't do a very good job of honoring companion animal grief and people really suffer when they can't get support from others. Loss is loss in my opinion. If you've loved an animal like a family member, that loss is commensurate to the attachment. Additionally, that loss reconnects people with other losses in their lives. Unresolved grief issues can pop up.

Mom's MRI went well...she had to be perfectly still for 45 minutes, which is like asking my mother to do a tightrope act between two speeding 747s, but she did it. We should know some more by tomorrow. She is nervous about getting bad news (that the cancer has spread outside of the known area). One day at a time. I am not good at waiting and she isn't either. Genetics, I guess. Overall, she is nervous but still has a good attitude. Me, I've gained 3 pounds. I'm not sure what that's about!

One day at a time. :-)

heart and mind tired...

Whew...tired tonight. My body is dragging because my mind and soul are exhausted from worry. Mom spent a great day with loving friends, so that is comforting and wonderful.

I lost another job to a candidate with more experience, though I was in the top running. This time I am not upset, but relieved. I think right now my mom needs me and I am grateful for time to take care of her with surgery on the horizon.

I worked at the vet school today but the afternoon was quiet, which was probably good given my confused state of mind. The sun came out for a while this afternoon, but rain set in again later on...at least we got a little sunshine to boost the spirits. That always helps.

what are the odds on this one?

I really would like to know the odds on receiving a pitch letter from a funeral home on the very day you are told you have breast cancer?

Thankfully, my mother was able to laugh about it and shake her head. Today, she is a bit more gloomy, as is the weather. The news is starting to sink in and I can hear the fear in her voice. I hope and pray this cancer has not spread. It's hard to wait even one day to continue the treatment plan. MRI on Monday; discussion of type of surgery on Wednesday. I wish we could get it all done today and know what we're dealing with. And I wish the sun would come out. My mother's gas tank has always been run on sunshine.

The "C" word...

I went with my mother today to get her results of her breast biopsy, and unfortunately it was cancerous. I knew it was not good news when the manager of the breast center ushered us back to a room with couches and "comfortable amenities." \

The first sentence out of the doctor's mouth was that "it was cancer..." Thankfully, I was able to take some notes and keep things straight, because after the "c" word, I think my mother zoned out. It was a real shock.

We immediately saw a surgeon and had bloodwork done. It was a really, really hard day. I had a gray feeling when I headed over to her home to take her to breast center this morning. I felt the constant stream of bad luck was not over.

Monday will be an MRI and then Wednesday we'll talk to the surgeon again. I can only hope it is in early stages and that a mastectomy can take care of the cancer. This is scary. I am really close to my mom and I'll be frank...I'm scared to death.

Let's hope her diligence has paid off. The mammogram did NOT show this as a mass to be investigated because it was lobular and not ductal cancer. Lobular breast cancer DOES NOT always show up on mammograms! So, after her mammogram, which was CLEAR, she reported to her doctor she had a "tender place" and her doctor fortunately did a sonogram which resulted in the immediate recommendation of a core biopsy. Thank God for that. Otherwise, it could have been another year before another mammo was done and by the time it did pick it up, it could have been much worse. My mom is a strong lady and keeping her chin up. I hope and pray for the best.

heartaches

I almost can't write about losing Grayson so suddenly. It makes me hurt all over. I was part of making a pet memorial event happen just three days after his death and I thought I was going to be physically sick for hours on end. My body hurt as if I had the flu. Today I feel better having had some sleep and quiet time.

I have lost my father, four cats, and two dogs in the past 4 1/2 years. It's only been four months since losing my 17 year-old kitty Atticus. He was my art partner...always sitting near me any time I went to create. It's just been one loss after another and I feel as though my heart as been pureed. Throw in turning 40, major surgery, job loss...well, hell...that's enough.

Tomorrow I am going with my mother for her follow-up appointment to a breast biopsy. I am very nervous about this as my bad luck with beloved companions and family seems to be curse. I hope and pray we get good news for her tomorrow morning. If we hear otherwise, I think I might explode.

THE GOOD THING ABOUT TODAY IS THAT I HAVE BEEN MARRIED 13 YEARS. My DH surprised me with a netbook...he knows I'd rather have technology than jewelry (I can pick out my own jewelry-LOL). I absolutely love it...it's so light and portable and the battery lasts forever. Super cool gift!!!!

Grayson

say a little kitty prayer...

Poor Grayson is at the vet.
He has been getting more and more disoriented over the past couple of days and I asked the vet to squeeze him in today. They are keeping him overnight for fluids and checking bloodwork. Not really sure what is going on with my little old man. He's 15 and the last of the original crew of kitties we adopted. Hopefully we will hear something tomorrow.

Goodbye Sweet Atticus...1992-2009

We had to let go of our first kitty, Atticus. Heartache and misery to let go of my little guy. He was not a cat...he was a feline entity...so much personality. The house is empty without him.

Laid off...

For the past two years I have loved my job as a clinical social worker with older adults. We had a really unique program that helped older folks with mild cognitive impairment or mental health issues such as depression get their lives back. We saw so many people regain their resiliency and make new meaning and purpose for themselves.

But this year's Medicare cuts drove the final nail in our coffin. Our program was cut and the entire staff laid off. We will finish out treatment for our current patients and then we are off to hinterlands of unemployment, or even worse, forced into a job we are not suited for. It's all really depressing and the patients are angry and upset because there's no other program we can refer them to that's like ours.

It's been the best two years of employment I've ever had. It's a bad time to be jobless. I hope things turn out okay. It's definitely an anxiety-producing time.

Petition Against Vick

For anyone out there that are as disgusted as I am with Michael Vick's actions, and minimal sentence, there is a petition to ban him from the NFL.

Michael Vick has openly admitted to the fighting, torture, and murder of many pit bulls on his land in Virginia. These dogs were not only fought but murdered in some of the most brutal ways-beating, drowning, hanging, and even electrocution.
For the horrible crimes that Michael Vick has committed, he was sentenced to a mere 23 months in prison, and now his lawyers are announcing that he should be out of prison and in a halfway house by Jan. 20, 2009.

This petition is to encourage the NFL to not reinstate Michael Vick into the NFL EVER! As we all know, famous athletes are supposed to be role models, setting a good example for America and its youth. Michael Vick should never be allowed to play professional football again.

If you agree with this, please sign the petition. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-NFL-from-reinstating-MichaelVick

For more information on how the dogs lives have been affected please visit http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/07/vick.dogs.rehab/index.html

Not so Happy Tails...

This is an email that was forwarded to me from the owners who lost their dog at Happy Tails... (if you're in the Knoxville area you know the story...if not, read HERE...)


Friends:

Although this is difficult to write, I wanted to go ahead and share
the story of our beagle's death. Our dog, Moxie, was a healthy five
year old Beagle; she loved to bark at walkers, lie on our front porch
and have her belly rubbed by any and all visitors. She loved our
three children and just enjoyed her life. On Tuesday before
Thanksgiving, I called Happy Tails (a grooming and boarding business
located on old Ebenezer) to see if they could give her a bath. We
were planning on lots of family on Thanksgiving at our house and knew
Moxie would be in the middle of it. She has been boarded and bathed
there when needed for over five years. I dropped her off at 12:30 PM
and paid in advance because my 16 year old son was picking her up on
his way home from Bearden High School . He arrived at around 4 PM
and was told that she would be ready in a few minutes. After waiting
around 10-15 minutes, the owner, Eric Webb came running through the
lobby with our dog in his arms and told my son to follow him to his
father's office. My son, a licensed driver of two weeks, followed
Eric from their business, past our vet's office and traveled another
10 minutes to his father's office, Dr. Carlos Webb, Rocky Hill Animal
Clinic. They traveled at a high rate of speed and our son was
distraught and confused as to what was occurring. After arriving at
the office, our beagle was pronounced dead by Dr. Webb. The
explanation was that she had a seizure and died after being dried
from her bath. Our son called my husband and me on our cell phones
and we arrived as soon as possible (about 20 minutes). The owner's
wife, Sarah, did not call us even though she had all our
information. They also did not use our vet listed on our emergency
form. The owner, Eric, said he did not call because he was "busy,
trying to save your dog's life". The only discussion at the vet's
office while we were all still in a state of shock was whether to
cremate or have the city pick up our dog. They also discussed the
associated costs. We agreed to cremation around 5 when we left the
office.

The next morning, I visited our veterinarian to discuss the
situation. She immediately requested the body be released to her
staff. After first denying that they had Moxie they called back to
confirm that they were mistaken and she could be picked up. Dr.
Frazier, Northshore Animal Clinic, delivered her to UT for an
autopsy. She confirmed that Moxie had no history that would indicate
a seizure, etc. It was only after being notified by Dr. Webb that we
had her picked up, that we received a call from Eric to see how we
were. He assured me repeatedly that there was no foul play and that
she died of natural causes. He also offered to pay to buy us a new
dog, any breed we wanted. < /SPAN>The results of the autopsy were a
shock to us all. The cause of death was determined to be heat stroke
and blunt injury trauma. She had three cracked ribs and her liver
was lacerated and had bled into her stomach in an amount that would
cause death. Until we can investigate further, we will not know
exactly what occurred at Happy Tails. All I know is that we miss her
terribly and find it hard to understand why she had to endure such a
horrible death. It is a difficult situation to explain to our
children.

I have promised our children that her death will not be in vain and
that we will do all we can to share her story and hopefully prevent
others from suffering a similar loss. After our tragedy I researched
on the computer about Happy Tails and was shocked at the other
stories. You can google it and read those for yourself. I can only
ask that you do not utilize Happy Tails for any services for your
pets, even something as simple as a bath. Also, please check out and
ask for recommendations for any services for your pets. I never
thought this would happen and always felt safe leaving my pet in
their care. If you have any questions, or if you have a similar
story, please call or email me.

Please forward to your friends. Thanks for listening and give your
pets an extra hug today! They deserve our protection!

Kim Ramsey

(Tom, Ryan, Reid, and Abby Ann)

(address and number removed for this blog)

not a good way to end the day...

I have to pull myself together to get through the work day. I have to put my little Rooney to sleep this afternoon. He is very sick and there's nothing the vet can do for him. I will miss him so much! He is an awesome cat...the personality of 20 cats in 1.

All of my froggies died...

every once in a while you just want to throw up your hands...

and scream...and scream...and scream. Another rotten weekend. I do not like to have rotten weekends. Yet, I keep having rotten weekends.

Dude, it's bringing me down.

HOWEVER, the blog is starting to look at least palatable. I can view it without clenching my teeth or sweating profusely, so perhaps I'll be grateful for that and stop whining about the other garbage.

I am flanked by cats, so that I, the HUMAN, may not rest my arms on the ARMrest which is made for HUMANS. Yuki and Grayson could not care less. In fact, they are sneering at me as if to say, "Hey, at least we're not helping you type like we usually do...get over yourself lady!"

You gotta love 'em.

A beginning therapist’s guide to the universe, or “How to run a relaxation group while a patient vomits…”

Granted, I knew becoming a clinical social worker would be challenging—more challenging that writing brochures and thinking up new ways to respond to the following: “I’m not telling you how to do your [marketing] job but look at this brochure I found” (said brochure is always the most expensive piece known to man)…and then, “Yes, can we make it look like that (the very expensive 4-color brochure) and pay $500?” You might as well have said, “…for the same price as drawing with crayons on recycled newspaper?” Or, “Oh, you know, make it creative.” Or, the best, “I just have a few changes” the day before printing.

Then, I moved into the far away and strange world of social work, where you find both the best in humans and the very worst. People stealing from the disabled, people suffering unspeakable tragedies and abuse, but still giving life their best shot, people blowing their life savings during just one bipolar manic phase. You name it. You get the joy. You get the heartache. You see people practically come back from the dead. You see people struggle with things that are unimaginable. You learn some sort of painful (and immeasurably valuable) life lesson just about everyday.

Then there are times that make you incredulous or just make you laugh out loud. I remember when I started this new career I was leading a relaxation group with about 12 people. During the most calming deep breathing part, I hear “heclgh, heclgh, heclgh, bleeeeeehhhhhhhhh!!!!!” I open my eyes to a patient spewing all over the carpet with absolutely no control.

I was surprised to see about half the group was still in a deep relaxation. Several are aghast. One runs from the room hand over mouth. “Uh, just keep breathing…um, don’t worry, just keep your eyes closed and keep breathing (thank goodness it didn’t smell)…we’ll take care of this…”

Well, we moved to another room. It was a little difficult to return to the same level of relaxation. The patient was unaffected by the whole thing.

It has taken me a full year to get to the point I don’t collapse at the end of the day. At first I was completely exhausted and emotionally immobilized after the work day; now I’ve started beginning to practice the survival skill of detaching from work when I go out the door. Patients still creep around in my head, but they don’t keep me awake or distracted during my free time. It’s finally starting to BE free time again.

The main thing I have learned so far is that there is so, so, so much more to learn. Beginner’s mind is useful here.

Mr. Peepers died...

I am totally bummed out about losing my little frog, Mr. Peepers. I tried everything I knew how to get him healthy again, but alas, he lept into froggy heaven whilst I was away last night.