And now, on a serious note...

Calling all fox terrier and dog lovers!
Wire survivors in Canada need our help!

See that photo at right? Believe it or not, that is a wire fox terrier like me! An abused, horribly neglected wire who was one of 97 fox terriers found at a Monreal puppy mill belonging to Marc-Andre Laporte. Laporte was found guilty of two counts of animal cruelty at the St. Jerome courthouse in Montreal this week. Click here to see more photos

Almost 40 foxies had to be euthanized. The surviving dogs were cared for by the SPCA and later, with the help of devoted fox terrier lovers, found wonderful foster homes where they have been living for the past 2 years, unable to be adopted until the case is finalized. Laporte is only facing six months of jail time and up to $4,000 in fines. I find that disgusting - he should be locked in a cage forever or put to sleep - he murdered 40 dogs and abused 57 others!!

But it gets worse friends.
On Feb. 22, 2008 he will be sentenced.
And at the same hearing, the judge is to decide if Laporte is to get any of his fox terriers back!

Yeah, you read that right...get his dogs BACK! Are they insane in Canada? Are they blind? What is wrong with these people!? To even consider removing ONE wire from the safety and care of their loving foster families back to Laporte is OUTRAGEOUS!

WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN.

So friend, today we are launching a two-fold campaign to prevent Laporte from getting his dog/s back. We know we can count on you to take action and spread the word:

1: Please go to the online petition. Once all the signatures are entered, we will print it out and hand it over to our friend in Montreal who has been instrumental is saving and caring for the Blainville wires, for distribution to the media (unfortunately it is illegal in Canada to hand petitions to the court).

2: Please take a few minutes to write a letter to Judge Jean Sirois imploring him to prevent Laporte from ever taking possession of his former fox terriers or of owning any dog again. If you can, include a photo of yourself and your foxie/dog. All the letters received will be put in a file and also handed to the media.

Letters should be mailed to:
Elizabeth Pierce
119 16th Street
Roxboro, Québec
Canada
H8Y 1P1

Please disseminate this information on your blogs, to your fellow dog owners and friends.
Thank you for your support in this important matter.

A sad AGC and his very angry Mom

Mother Takes to the Kitchen

On Sunday morning, my best human pal Lynne (pictured with tampons in her ears in my last post) came by in her car, picked me up and took me on a long hike in the Wissihiken Creek. Man, it was a blast! I hiked and swam and had a terrierific time! Mom and Dad said they did too, when I got home they were just getting out of bed. It was NOON!

Mom made up for her lazy behaviour that afternoon, when she took to the kitchen in a cooking frenzy. When we were in Massachusetts, Mom observed Gracie's Mom making what is called a "Yankee Pot Roast". Mom and Dad enjoyed eating it, so Mom decided to try to make her own. I helped!

As you can see, the ingrediants are a big hunk of beef (Mom used rump after questioning unsuspecting housewives in the supermarket); carrots, parsnip, onion, potatoes, celery and beef broth and a packet of onion soup powder. First you cut everything up, then you sear the beef on the stove:

Then you throw it all in a crockpot/slow cooker (first picture) and let it cook for a LONG time. Too long for my patience...at the end, it comes out looking like the second photo:

Mom does not like to waste food. So she had many vegies left, so she thought, "I have a cunning plan, I'll make a vegetable soup!" Not that she knew how, so she winged it. She threw all the vegies in a big pot, added vegie stock and water, spices and let it boil away.

I didn't get any soup, but I have been enjoying the pot roast, it's very yummy. Luckily after eating it for 2 meals, Mom and Dad are sick of it already...I lucked out! Yummy.

Mom's creativity continued into the evening when she started work on a new arts and craft project - a room sign for her good friend's new baby girl in Atlanta. Her name is Hannah. I think it looks pretty cool - Mom should make me one - only I don't have my own room!! She loves doing this sort of thing - personally I think chewing a dingo or destuffing a toy is far more satisfying....



I want to send special love to my pals Ozzy and Romeo and their Mommy Jen who suffered a horrible tragedy on Thanksgiving day - the loss of their Dad and husband. We think of them every day and transmit warm, healing, loving wirey vibes to them up in NY. If anyone out there would like to express your sympathy to them you can visit their blog above or email Mom for their mailing address. They really need our wirey support at this time!

AGC

Detour Back to Puppyhood

I've been telling you that I am a mature 2 year old boy now. I have stopped chewing things up and getting up to evil mischief. That is not to say I am not a typical Wire Fox Terrier - I am still full of fun and energy!
But I have calmed down so much, that everyone has become very complacent around me, making the mistake of trusting me to behave at all times. Ha!

So the other day, Mom's friend Lynne came over - Lynne loves dogs but can't have her own right now, so she comes to the dog park and enjoys socializing with all of us. So after the park, she came home with us for dinner and while her and Mom were tucking into cottage pie (known as Shephards pie here), I investigated Lynne's purse and had a jolly good time. I especially enjoyed chomping and destroying this cylindrical plastic things...

When Mom and Lynne discovered what I'd been up to, they laughed real loud - and then Lynne started clowning around...


I'm glad they didn't mind what I'd done - evidently I did good as they both looked very happy!

In other news, Miss Amelia sent me the most awesome Hanukkah gift box. I was very naughty cos I totally ignored the big instruction on the box that read, "Do not open before Hanukkah". Sorry Miss Amelia - you know patience is NOT one of my virtues! I did wait a few seconds, but then I opened the box and did a jig. Mom would only let me have one toy at a time, so I chose the awesome duck with the rope neck and squawking voice. I have played with it non stop! Thanks Miss Amelia - and we all hope that your daddy is feeling better after his knee operation!
AGC

PS Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I went to dad's parents last night and had a jolly good time. I spent most of the evening jumping up and trying to get turkey!

Visiting Gracie in Western Massachusetts

On Friday, we packed up Dad's truck and went on a very long drive to visit Gracie and her peeps in South Hadley, Mass. I was the navigator and made sure I had my map handy.



I was very alert the whole way to make sure that Dad did not get lost. I did not want to land up in Canada!

We pulled into Gracie's driveway around 8pm Friday. Gracie's Mom Di was a bit nervous to reunite us as Gracie can be an aggressive gal when she doesn't know you. Dad was fully confident that we would remember eachother, and disregarding Di's nerves, he opened his car door and literally threw me out. Gracie bounded towards me, Di nearly had a heart attack...but of course we recognized eachother, and boy were we happy to see eachother! Unfortunately it was pitch dark, so we have no photos of the heartwarming reunion.

However, for the next 2 days, all we (Gracie, her little bro Fenway and me) did was play and run and eat a few yummy bones that Mom packed! Gracie has an awesome, huge back yard the size of my park at home! She sure is a lucky gal!



We also played inside a lot! Fenway and I got along real well, Gracie is more mature now and didn't always want to join us in our wrestling!



Massachusetts sure is pretty - we drove around and saw lots of pretty trees and sites:

On Sunday we visited Di's brother Tim - he lives in the woods and has more land than I have spunk! We were supposed to go for a walk in the woods, but the day before a Coyote had grabbed a little dog and nearly killed it, so we didn't want to risk it until the hunters shot him. Poor Coyote. Tim and his lovely wife and kids have lots of animals - 6 dogs and many of these funny birds called chickens. I'd never seen a real chicken before, I just enjoyed eating the featherless product! I was a little scared of them to be honest.


I met one of Tim's bitches - she's a special hunting dog that flew to America all the way from the Czech Republic! The breed is called Cesky Fousek - they have wiry hair like me - Mom thought she was adorable. I was more interested in the Khoi fish in the pond and jumped in to take a swim with them. Dumb move on my part, I forgot it was 25F outside - I soon regretted it when I started to shiver!


I met more dogs at Tim's place - but I didn't really know them and we left Gracie and Fenway at home, so I didn't feel very sociable. Besides, I was freezing my nuts off. Oh yeah, I forgot, I don't have any...but you get the idea!


Between shivers though, I did marvel at the beauty and space around us. I could quite easily adapt to life in the country! All that space to run and play!

I have to admit, I was so nervous when I saw Mom and Dad packing up the truck on Sunday - I feared they might leave me and bugger off somewhere (again) - so I jumped into the truck way before they were even ready to depart. So I never said goodbye to Gracie or Fenway...sorry guys, I do love you, but home is with my humans. Home is in the city. Home is even my tiny back yard, just big enough to pee in. But it sure was GREAT to visit! Hope to do it again soon!

AGC

New Coat

As you all know, because I keep telling you, I do not like to wear clothes or costumes. I like to go kaalgat as we say in South African language Afrikaans which means, basically, naked. I don't know why humans think we need winter coats when it turns cold out...what do you think our fur is for people??? Thousands of years ago before we were domesticated, do you think the cavemen would knit us coats? Oh please!

But no, humans think just because they need loads of layers to keep out the freezing temps, so do we. Well, listen up. We do not. At least I do not.

Unfortunately, I cannot speak - so when Mom triumphantly came home with a box and said it was for me, and produced a bright orange and silver dog coat - I thought, oh crikey, not a frigging coat again. I had been so happy to see her mail Gus my winter coat from last year - I thought that was it for me and coats. Mom had finally understood my body language...but no such luck.

I didn't even try to feign happiness when she called me over to put it on. I just stood there and let her. So here I am, in all my glory...in my new Landsend coat, or squall as they call it (it is waterproof on the outside and lined with flannel):

What do you think? The only positive thing I will say, is that it is less restrictive then my last coat which ran all the way to my pee-pee and I didn't like that cos it made me nervy to pee in it!

We didn't make it to Gracie this weekend, but we will be going this coming weekend. I can't wait. Hopefully I can leave the coat at home...but Mother keeps yakking to me how cold it is in Massachewsits and yadda yadda, you need your coat!!

AGC

Another Dinner Party

Our dinner parties are not as glamorous (or delish-looking) as Asta's dinner parties, but they are much fun none the less and I like to take an active part not only in the eating but in the shmoozing. And to do that, you can't sit on the floor waiting for food to miraculously fall in front of your snoot! So about a week ago, when Dad's parents came for dinner, I took every opportunity to take Mom's seat when she was busy serving or adding finishing touches to dishes in the kitchen:

Mom served London Broil with gravy, asparagus (I like it but it makes my pee stink!), caesar salad, roast potatoes with herbs and an Entermann's cake for dessert. Mom says to make it clear this was a spur of the moment affair, nothing fancy. Boy Mom can be defensive. They were actually going to order in, but since Dad had been away working for 5 days on the road, Mom thought he'd appreciate a home cooked meal. And he did.

When everyone left I felt a little sad - so I sat on the front step and hung out. Note I am not tethered or fleeing. I have really mellowed. I only go crazy if a stranger walks past - I lunge and bark...and I don't discriminate between little strangers or big strangers. Mom says I'm silly and shouldn't be mean to little strangers who are likely to get a BIG fright. Too bad I say, it's my turf, STAY AWAY!

Thanks for everyone's nice messages for Ricky Pepper's family - unfortunately the family have decided to find Teddy a new home to appease the horrid neighbor - so if you know of any Doxie-loving family with lots of patience for a special needs boy, please let us know.

AGC

PS Yay, Mom fixed the template. We removed the Google ads cos they were advertising unsavory foxie breeders. Thanks Pat for the heads up!

A Plague of Frogs for a Horrid Neighbor

Why does the world seem to be full of nasty neighbors? You'll remember we had a run in with our neighbor last year over my barking - he went to Animal Control and then the COPS (who in our city of Philly clearly have more important things to worry about!)

So you can imagine how distressed I was to read my pal Ricky Pepper's blog tonight to hear that their neighbor slipped a copy of their town's ordinance under their door stipulating that households are only permitted 3 animals. How dare this witch threaten Ricky Peppers lovely family! All the doggies are rescues, two are therapy dogs - they don't bother or harm anyone - and their parents are the loveliest folks you'd ever meet. If I was still living there, I'd have to take action. But for now, since the ordinance says you can have unlimited amount of frogs, I think the doxies should round up as many as they can find and ask them to croak day and night along this bitch's fence! Also strange that the ordinance allows horse, sheep and cows - as long as the sum total of animals is THREE.

I really can't suffer humans who don't work and have nothing to do all day but start up nonsense with their neighbors. Get a life woman and leave these people alone!

I know you are disappointed that I ignored Halloween and did not publish photos of myself in cutesy costumes. I don't like to dress up and I don't like to wear anything on my dogen (vs. person). If you like to dress up, that's great and I don't for a minute mock or begrudge anyone who enjoys it. Take Terry for example - I nearly burst my appendix when I saw his costume! How funny is that! A wirey lobster!

Exciting news is that there is a wee possibility that Mom, Dad and me and our neighbors/friends Vin and Sophie (a sweet 9 year old retriever type) will make the trek up to Massachewsitts to see our pal Gracie and her family! We may go in two weeks but there are many factors to work out, so it's only tentative for now, but it sure is exciting to think about!

Prayers to my friend Jackson in the UK who is undergoing many tests to find out why he is having fits. Poor guy is the bravest wire around and he's been through so much already, but we Wires are a tough bunch and we know Jackson will get through this too.

Happy November!

AGC