Â鶹ÊÓƵ

          I don't own a dog, but I was quite excited to be asked to stay at a friend’s house and take care of theirs for five days. 

          I absolutely love dogs, so this was something I jumped at. He's quite the sweet pup. But, I quickly discovered taking care of a dog is quite a bit of work. In reality I knew it was, which is why I haven't made the decision to put myself in a position in life to adopt one.  

          Growing up on the farm, dogs were pretty easy to take care of though. They stayed outside, you never had to walk them although they might join you for a walk, etc… basically you made their water bowl was full, they had food, and you spent time with them as you could. And we mostly had short haired dogs: a couple of Dobermans and a couple adopted from the SPCA, so they got to sleep in the porch. And cold days they got to come in, although they had an insulated dog house too. 

         Being on the farm, however, meant there were dangers. I wrote awhile ago about our one dog who used to terrorize coyotes was eventually killed by them. But one died from a bone. 

          A bone? Dogs love bones. Well, they definitely do, but not all bones are for dogs. She had gotten into something and the bone actually punctured her stomach. We were devastated. She was a beautiful Doberman – her tail had been docked but her ears had been left floppy. She was a sweetheart.  

          Flash forward to taking care of my friend’s dog. We were out walking and he pulled hard to go inspect this one area right by the road. I heard him crunch on something and immediately checked to see what he had in his mouth, which he wasn't happy about when I plucked the rib out of his mouth. He let me take it then turned back and grabbed another. I did the same thing and had a look, it appeared someone had walked home with a few ribs from the restaurant and discarded them.  

          Yes, to those that are thinking it could have been a wild animal that left them there, it could have been. But there were about three or four, all left in a line along the road within feet of each other. A pattern that isn't likely for a wild animal to leave.  

          On our journey he also dragged me over to some empty ice cream dishes and other random garbage.  

          It's all littering, which is bad for the environment, and it can all potentially be dangerous to animals – dogs and more. If a bone can splinter off and lodge in such a way it can puncture their throat or stomach, etc… then it could potentially do that in wild animals as well. All things that are driven be their instinct to live. I knew the bone was bad for him, so I took it away. He thought the bone was food so decided he should eat it. 

          So, although I don't actually own an animal, I'd like to ask on behalf of all those that do, please refrain from tossing or  giving bones to  animals on the chance that it is one of the kinds that can splinter and puncture their digestive tract. 

          And in general, avoid littering. It too could potentially be dangerous to an animal – domesticated or wild – and it just looks terrible. It's not the end of the world to carry it to a garbage can or wait until you get home to toss it. Trust me, I was picking up dog poop in a little baggy for a few days and they don't always do their business next to a garbage can.