A New Puppy

Dave is pushing for a new dog after Dixie disappeared two weeks ago.
I think it's a little soon, but admit the chances of her re-emerging at this point are slim. Working theory -- someone found her, liked her and kept her. At least until she decides to take another walkabout and plop into someone else's life.

So, Dave contacted the pet rescue people and found this pup -- "Mallory," a lab/retriever mix.

So, the name "Mallory" has to go. The Pet Rescue people, we think, give the dogs names because it's probably easier to adopt a dog with a name than a number. Dixie came to us as "Selena."

Mallory makes me think of Alex P. Keaton's sister. So we talked about a new name last night.

Dave: How about "Pooka dog."

Me: What?

Dave: It's Hawaiian for "hot dog." Isn't that clever?

Me: I'm not going, "Here Pooka Dog!" That's too gay.

Dave: Well, how about a regular girl name. [he thinks for a minute] How about Bonnie?

Me: We have a friend named Bonnie. We can't name her Bonnie

Dave: But she's moving.

Me: [knowing I need to come up with an acceptable alternative or I'm going to be stuck with "Pooka Dog" -- which means why not just get a poodle and groom her and tie pink ribbons in her fur] How about "Betty?"

So we're thinking about "Betty." Feminine, yet kind of working class girl. And we don't have any friends named Betty.

Thoughts?

Police Dog Shooting Incident Gets Nastier

UPDATE: Mayor is calling for a federal investigation. Says it's too early to think about monetary compensation.

The story about the Prince George's County police who burst into the Mayor of Berwyn Heights' home in a drug bust and shot his two dogs -- one of whom was running away -- gets worse.

1) the police didn't have a "no-knock" warrant, meaning sending a SWAT team bursting into the Mayor's house was not covered by the warrant they did have. Oops.
2) They HAVE arrested someone: a deliveryman. Who doesn't have anything to do with the Mayor or his household.

Police Chief Melvin High (ironic name, dontcha think?) told the WaPo that most likely the Mayor's family were "innocent victims."

Yeah. Of the police department.

Meanwhile, people like me who spend time commenting on this stuff in the blogosphere have been demanding retribution and encouraging lawsuits.

The problem with suing Prince George's County is that any settlement is going to come from the taxpayers (or is the County insured for stuff like this?)

At the very least, someone should be fired. As more details emerge it becomes clearer that the police really screwed this up - and as a result a family lost two beloved pets.

More Mayor of Berwyn Heights

Here he is on the local news. Can anyone spot a reason why Prince George's County Sherriff's office found it necessary to send the Surge into this guy's house and murder his dogs? Wouldn't just a normal search have worked?

Prince George's County Dogs Beware if Your Master's a Pothead

We're lucky the Sherriff's department in nearby Prince George's County Maryland are such humanitarians.

According to WaPo, it went down this way: The Mayor of Berwyn Heights ' home was raided by a SWAT team who forcibly entered his house and shot his two labs. One of the dogs, if I read the account correctly, was running away from the SWAT team into another room. The Mayor's "alleged" crime? He had a 32 pound package of marijuana delivered to his house (that is a lot of pot).

But before you can say "excessive force," a spokesperson for the Sherriff's department offered these reassuring words:

"We're not in the habit of going to homes and shooting peoples' dogs," Ellis said. "If we were, there would be a lot more dead dogs around the county."

So, like, we could if we wanted to. But we don't so you all should be grateful for how restrained we are.

They handcuffed the Mayor and his mother-in-law and interrogated them for hours as their dogs' bodies lay bleeding on the floor.

Lonely Dog Night

Our big dog, Buster, came to bed with us last night.

In his younger days, Buster and his older "sister" always slept with us.

Then, arthritis made the stairs too difficult. Buster was the first to give in, and we got him a dog bed which we put by the back door of the house. Truthfully, I like having him there -- a better sentry we could not ask for. He's already stopped countless squirrels from breaking into the house.

Ranger, the younger dog, who has insisted to be next to me in bed since I rescued her, lasted longer. Then for some strange reason she wouldn't stay in bed but would lay on the floor. We'd pick her up and put her back but she'd jump right off again. Then, because of the brittleness of her bones (she's 15) we realized the wisdom of letting sleeping dogs lie. Now she's too weak to attempt the stairs and we don't carry her up any more for fear of her falling down them at night.

So it's always a bit of surprise when Buster decides to join us in bed these days. What makes him endure the risky flights of stairs? Was he having a bad dream? Where the squirrels chasing him? Or did he just wake up in a quiet house and miss companionship? Do dogs have the 3 a.m. heebie jeebies where every little thing you ever worried about rises like a specter to taunt you into restless half wakefulness? (and since dogs can't use phones, they can't call Hillary for help).

Whatever the reason, I awoke to a warm mound of fur curled up next to me. One bonus -- when Buster pants, being a big dog, the entire bed shakes, like one of those cheap vibrating beds at hotel pay-by-the-hour. Except with Buster, you don't even have to put a quarter in.

But the need for companionship wasn't limited to the canine side of the family. About 6 am I heard the pitter-patter of clawless feet, opened my eyes and saw two little hands on the side of the bed, and then a blond head came into view as Eli pulled himself up into bed and crawled under the covers between Pappa and me.

So there we were, an aging dog, two aging homosexuals and a three year old, addressing the human and cross-species need for warmth and companionship in the lonely hours of the morning by snuggling together.

If we all didn't have to pee, we'd be there still.