Links:
Northwoods Animal Hospital
Mayfair Animal Hospital
Cope Eldercare
Jordan Lake Animal Hospital 919-542-5424


Where to find equipment and toys:
J and J Dog Supplies (www.jjdog.com)
Premier Pet Supplies
Care-A-Lot
Ruffwear
Planet Dog
In The Company of Dogs
Pet Edge

For links to poison information:
Go to AVMA.org

Also a link to Animal Poisons:
napcc.aspca.org


  Ten Commandments for a Responsible Pet Owner
1. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be very painful.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.
4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, you entertainment. I only have you.
5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I understand your voice when it is speaking to me.
6. Be aware that however you treat me, I’ll never forget it.
7. Before you hit me, remember that I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, but I chose not to bite you.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I am not getting the right food, I’ve been out in the sun too long, or my heart may be getting old and weak.
9. Take care of me when I get old. You, too, will grow old.
10. Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say, “I can’t bear to watch it,” or “let it happen in my absence.” Everything is easier for me if you are there. Remember, I love you.

Author unknown, From Ann Landers’ Column


The dog’s unconditional love was memorialized in a well-known speech given in 1869 as part of a closing argument in a court case involving the death of a dog.

“The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take the wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens . . .


A Dog’s Prayer

Threat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness that the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should like your hand between the blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside, for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to bitter elements. And I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth. Though had you no home, I would rather follow you through ice and snow than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land, for you are my god and I am your devoted worshipper.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for although I would not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me clean food, that I may stay well, to ramp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life should your life be in danger.

And, beloved master, should the great Master see fit to deprive me of my health, do not turn me away from you. Rather hold me gently in your arms as skilled hands grant me the merciful boon of eternal rest—and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I drew, my fate was ever safest in your hands.


Quotes to be used anywhere:

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
-Anonymous

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
-Ann Landers

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
-Will Rogers

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
-Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
-Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
-Andy Rooney

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.
And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
-M. Acklam

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are
incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.
-Sigmund Freud

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
-Rita Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three
times before lying down.
-Robert Benchley

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.
-Franklin P. Jones

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have
known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
-James Thurber

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise.
-Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can.
That's almost $21.00 in dog money.
-Joe Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back
from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow.
They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne Tyler

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and
get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein


If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you;
that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark Twain

You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says,
'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'
- Dave Barry

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
-Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket
and then give him only two of them.
-Phil Pastoret

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.
-Unknown

Money will buy you a pretty dog, but it won't buy you the wag of its
tail. --- Henry Wheeler Scott


Dear Pets (Cats or Dogs),
When we say to move, it means go someplace else, not switch positions with each other so there are still two of you in the way.

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain our food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of our plates and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do we find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating us to the bottom is not the objective. Tripping us doesn't help, because we fall faster than you can run.

We cannot buy anything bigger than a king size bed. We are very sorry about this. Do not think we will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs and cats sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. We also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out to maximize space used is nothing but sarcasm.

Compact discs are not miniature Frisbees.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle we beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, try to turn the knob, or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. We must exit through the same door we entered. In addition, we have been using bathrooms for years, pet attendance is not mandatory.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell other animal's butts. We cannot stress this enough. It would be such a simple change for you.

To pacify you we have posted the following message on our front door...

Rules for Non-Pet Owners Who Visit and Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don't.

2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.

3. We like our pet(s) a lot better than we like most people.

4. To you, it's an animal. To us, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

5. Dogs and cats are better than kids. They eat less, don't ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink, don't worry about buying the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes, don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and if they get pregnant we can sell the results.


Do Dogs Go to Heaven?
by Randy Alcorn

Q. Our beloved dog recently died. Should I correct my kids when they say they can't wait to play with Rocky again in heaven?
A. Humorist Will Rogers said, "If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." This statement was, of course, based on sentiment, not theology. However, it reflects something biblical: a God-given affection for animals.

That's why the question of whether pets will be in heaven is not, as some assume, stupid. Animals aren't nearly as valuable as people, but God is their maker and has touched many lives through them. It would be simple for him to re-create a pet in heaven if he wants to. He's the giver of all good gifts, not the taker of them. If it would please us to have a pet restored to the New Earth, that may be sufficient reason. We know animals will be on the New Earth, which is a redeemed and restored old Earth, in which animals had a prominent role. People will be resurrected to inhabit this world. Romans 8:21-23 assumes animals as part of a suffering creation eagerly awaiting deliverance through humanity's resurrection. This seems to require that some animals who lived, suffered, and died on the old Earth must be made whole on the New Earth. Wouldn't some of those likely be our pets?

In her excellent book, Holiness in Hidden Places, Joni Eareckson Tada says, "If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn't surprise me. It would be just like him. It would be totally in keeping with his generous character … Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy—utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous. … Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness of joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on his children."
In a poem about the world to come, theologian John Piper writes:

And as I knelt beside the brook
To drink eternal life, I took
A glance across the golden grass,
And saw my dog, old Blackie, fast
As she could come. She leaped the stream—
Almost—and what a happy gleam
Was in her eye. I knelt to drink
And knew that I was on the brink
Of endless joy. And everywhere
I turned I saw a wonder there.

We needn't be embarrassed either to grieve the loss of our pets or to want to see them again. If we believe God is their creator, that he loves us and them, that he intends to restore his creatures from the bondage they experienced because of our sin, then we have biblical grounds for not only wanting but also expecting that we may be with them again on the New Earth.

So let's not "correct" our kids when they pray they'll be able to see their pets again. The answer to that prayer is up to God. He loves to hear the prayers of his children, and there is scriptural reason to believe he may answer those prayers. Remember that our children's instinctive grasp of heaven—and what we should look forward to there—is sometimes better than ours.

Dr. Randy Alcorn is founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries. This article is excerpted from his latest book, Heaven (Tyndale). Used with permission.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian Parenting Today magazine.
Reprint information on Christian Parenting Today.
Summer 2005, Vol. 17, No. 4, Page 12


Humankind is drawn to dogs because they are so like ourselves --
bumbling, affectionate, confused, easily disappointed, eager to be
amused, grateful for kindness and the least attention. -- Pam Brown
Man is troubled by what might be called the dog wish, a strange and
involved compulsion to be as happy and carefree as a dog. --- James Thurber


God, Bless the Animals...and
especially those who
have no homes and families
of their own tonight.
Shelters and Rescue Centers are
warm and safe but they
are also very impersonal.
Domesticated animals need
homes and people to love who
also love them. Thank
You God, for putting into
the minds and hearts of
kind and caring people -
the thought - the intention
to take a sheltered animal
home today, to
live with them for good.

Amen


Speak Kindly

Speak kindly to your dog, my boy!
All things that live know pain and joy.
Speak harshly to your dog and see
How sad and shamed he seems to be;
His head, and ears, and tail all say,
Oh! Let me go far, far away!

 
   
   
   
 

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