EVERY SHAPE AND SIZE

There are lots of different kinds of Hooligans in the world. There’s Little Giz in Florida, and Popie up in Yankee Land. And there are the Hooli-guinapigs in Bellingham. I think there’s even a c@t somewhere that Mom calls a Signifi-Cat, who is a Hooligan. His name is Cujo. I don’t think we’ll ever get together but I’m okay with him being in the club. Being Anofficial Hooligan just means you have a Hooligan spirit. You get into mischief just for the sheer joy of it. Because you can’t not get into the mischief. If you understand that feeling, you’re a Hooligan too.

Mom and Dad went to N’awlins the other day to see a whole lotta Hooligans that are from the same dog family our Buddy is. There’s an Animal Planet show about this pit bull terrier sanctuary that just moved from California to N’awlins. It’s called Pit Bulls and Parolees. The Grand Opening of their place was last weekend. Mom and Dad took them some food and some money and spent the day touring Villalobos.

There are over 150 pit bull terriers there. Lots of them are ready to be adopted and they are GOOD dogs, happy and loving and playful like Buddy. Here are some pickshures of a couple of them. And you can find out more about them at http://www.vrcpitbull.net/dog/

 

Next time the ‘rents go to N’awlins, it will be to visit a new foster Airedale named Godwin. He was transported from Tuscaloosa to Meridian to N’awlins and is staying with a family that was really really excited to get him. Here’s a pickshure of Godwin. He didn’t come to stay with us but he’s part of the Hooligan House family anyway.

Y’owl have a good week! And watch out for Hooliganism.

April is a good month for it!

AAARRROOOOOO!!!!

How Hooligans Spend A Spring Day

playing fetch with Mom's shoe

wrestling with Sis

napping

reading Mom's Southern Living magazine

Another Pet Food Warning / Homemade Dog Food Recipes

ThEY PuT WHAT iN ouR FooD???

Dog Owners are Demanding Action from the FDA. One consumer reported they fed their dogs a product called Waggin' Train treats, which is produced by Nestle Purina. Nestle Purina also produces Canyon Creek Ranch treats, which some other complainants have also publicly blamed for dog illnesses and deaths. The Canyon Creek packaging has a picture of a rancher and his dog roaming a farm on the front of the bag and the company's address in South Carolina is displayed on the back of the bag. Beneath that are the words “Made in China”. You can read the entire article at http://news.yahoo.com/toxic-treats-china-killing-us-dogs-pet-owners-151514587--abc-news.html

From Mom-of-Hooligans:  This happens every couple of years. It certainly seems the US FDA is falling short of making sure the pet food entering our country is safe enough for our pets to eat. So --- here are some recipes for you to make for your dogs. They come from one of my favorite websites: http://www.dogtreatrecipes.org/

Remember, YOU are the best judge of what is safe for your dog.

HOMEMADE DOG FOOD

Ingredients:

6 c. Water (or low-sodium broth)

1 lb. Ground beef, turkey or chicken (you don’t have to use ground meat)

2 c. Brown rice

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

1/2 tsp Dried rosemary

16 oz. Bag of assorted frozen veggies (or preferably, 2 cups fresh), thawed and/or finely chopped.  NOTE:  NO Onions!

Directions:

1.  Add everything but the veggies to a large pot or dutch oven and cook on the stove on medium heat.

2.  Stir mixture until the ground meat is broken up and distributed evenly throughout the pot.

3.  Bring to a boil.

4.  Once boiling, cover and bring the heat down to low.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

5.  After 20 minutes, add veggies and cook for an additional 5 minutes or so.  The time will depend on how long it takes for the veggies to get tender.

Done!

Serve warm, not hot and make sure to let the homemade dog food cool completely before storing it in the fridge.

This dog food recipe makes about 10 cups or 5-2 cup servings depending on the size of your pooch.

It should keep in the fridge for about a week.

VEGGIE BAGELS FOR DOGS

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water

2 1/2 cups white flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chopped spinach

1/2 cup chopped carrots

Directions:

To start, combine all dry items in a mixing bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in a different bowl. Mix together the dry and wet ingredients and knead them to form dough. Next, shape small round balls of dough and poke holes in the middle of each ball to create a bagel shape. When finished making bagel balls, place them on a baking sheet and put them in an oven that has been preheated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake them for forty-five minutes.

UPDATE ON CAMMIE

We know you all are looking forward to an update on Cammie (GG) and her adoption. It is with great joy that we report to you that Cammie is happy in her new home near Dallas, Texas. Her new sister, Lillie, is happy. Her new mom and day and human kids are happy, too. They have been sending us updates and photos all weekend.


Saturday morning began with Cammie inspecting her appearance to be sure she was ready to meet her new family. She'd had an oatmeal scented bath the night before and her fur coat was glossy and soft.

She hopped into the car happily and we started our trip to Baton Rouge. Cammie is a great traveler and she enjoys looking out the window to see the traffic passing by .

We were meeting the adoptive family at the Petsmart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was a long ride but Cammie cuddled close to me in the back seat all the way over. She snuggled as close as she could get, and chewed on my garnet ring. And for much of the time, she held my hand.

We got to Baton Rouge about thirty minutes before her new mom and dad did, so we walked around Petsmart and gave Cammie time to sniff dog food and dog treats and look at other dogs. New Mom sent me a text message when they were close to the store, and we said our goodbyes before they arrived. I kissed Cammie several times and she licked me reassuringly. She gave Steve a farewell hug.



We all decided to handle things as quickly as possible. They signed the placement contract that says if things don't work out for some reason or if their circumstances should ever change, that Cammie will be returned to us. I handed the leash over to Stef and Wes. Steve took off in one direction. Wes & Stef gave me a beautiful pink potted camellia bush to plant for Cammie. I left FAST as they began walking Cammie in the opposite direction.

Yes, of course I cried. We stopped at Bass Pro Shop for lunch and I think I ordered everything on the menu. Including a beer. We got back in the car and I cried some more. Then Stef sent me a text message to tell me that she was sitting in the back seat with Cammie and that Cammie was snuggled up tight against her, chewing on one of Stef's rings. That made me laugh, which felt good. We had bought some fudge at Bass Pro Shop so I decided it was time to try that. We did, and it was delicious.

Cammie arrived at her new home around 7 pm Saturday night. She met her sister Lillie and the human kids. She and Lillie have shared treats and toys, and have eaten their meals in the same room without any problem. Yesterday morning they ran ran ran through the house together and played bitey-face like fiends. I think it's going to work out beautifully. What do you think?

Cammie claiming Lillie's bed

HOMEWARD BOUND!

"GG", soon to be "Cammie"



We are so happy, and so sad too. Have you ever felt that way? When something so wonderful and lovely and exciting was about to happen... but there was a little corner of your heart that was aching because it was about to happen? Hooligan House is feeling that way tonight. Our GG is leaving Alabama tomorrow morning to go to her new home in Texas. We know it's the most perfect outcome that could have manifested for her and we know her new family will love her as much as we do. We know she will love them and enjoy playing with her new sister and learning new things. But we can't help it, we already miss her just a little bit. To help get past the sadness, we are going to concentrate on making the trip as comfortable and pleasant for GG as it possibly can be, and then when things have re-adjusted here at HH, we will start getting ready for the next rescue dog. Because there's always another one. And we love them all.

Plastic Bowl Nasal Dermatitis

My nose is black again.

AHAH! You didn't even know it was ever not black, did you? Because Mom has been so involved with GG she didn't stop long enough to TELL you. She didn't even stop long enough to take a pickshure of my nose to show you what it looked like. So I am gonna have to put up a pickshure of a different hooligan that had the same problem. But that's okay, cause you would have been sad to see MY nose not being black.

That's what my nose was starting to look like and it just happened OVERNIGHT. One day my nose was shiny black and the next day Mom looked at it and said, "WHAT IS THAT PINK STREAK ON YOUR NOSE???"

I said, "I don't know." And she looked at it close and she said, "You are allergic to your plastic water bowl." And Dad said he never heard of such a thing. And Mom said, "That's because you aren't an expert." I guess she told him! She teases him like that alot.

Anyway, she got up and went to the store and bought three ginormous stainless steel water bowls and now we are all drinking our water out of those. She threw away the plastic ones. (We have always eaten our food from metal dishes.) It took about two weeks but now my nose is completely black again.

I thought you all would like to know about this. In case you've been using plastic bowls for your Hooligans to drink out of.

AAARRROOOO!!!!

ANAVENTURE!

TODAY we are going on ANAVENTURE! 


Me and Mom and Dad and GG are going to the pet supply store. It will be GG's first time there. She is going to get her toenails dremeled down. That ought to be fun! I can't wait to see what GG thinks about the dremel!

 AAARRROOOOOOOOO!!!!

GG contemplates the definition of "dremel"

An Explanation

Y'all know that I, Mom of Hooligans, am a retired (mostly) dog trainer. Along with our Jack, I taught basic obedience and Therapy and Service Dogs. And y'all know that sometimes people write me with training questions. Also, my husband I do Airedale Rescue Volunteering as well as rescue of other four legged Hooligans besides Airedales. That means that we are always looking for ways to pay for extra vet bills for fosters, gas money for transport, and other things that lucky dogs need when they are rescued.

Recently, we've had alot of communications from people who want to know what kind of dog toys to buy, what books to read and things like that. We generally buy most of our books and supplies through online shopping. And we thought, this might be a nice way to raise a little money for our Rescue work. SO... deep breath here because I don't want to offend anyone....

At the bottom of our howlinghooligan blog there is now something called an "astore" (amazon.com store) that will show you book titles and dog accessories and supplies that we use for our own dogs. If you decide to buy one of these items and click through our link to do it, we will make a few dollars here and there that will add up to pay for things that our rescue work needs in order to continue.

Everything in The Happy Hooligan astore has been tested and approved either by the humans at Hooligan House or by the dogs. We hope you don't mind this commercial message.

HAPPINESS IS....

ADOPTION APPLICATIONS!

On Feb 16^th, the Howling Hooligan sent out an announcement that GG was ready for adoption. Less than 12 hours later, we received this response:

My husband and I have been loving the stories on GG’s fast progress and patiently waiting for her to be ready for adoption. We would love to adopt Miss GG. We live in Texas and have a female Airedale and two children ages 12 and 10. Please let me know what steps we need to take in order to get this ball rollin’ so Miss GG can come live in her forever home with us.

Since then, Hooligan House has been in a frenzy of excitement. Phone calls and emails and digital photos have flown back and forth across the miles. Airedale Rescue in Texas is helping coordinate the adoption application. The veterinarian references and personal references have checked out as GREAT.

The home visit is scheduled for this weekend. And, while all this was going on, we got 3 more applications to adopt GG! One family is in Florida and one is in Louisiana and one is in Alabama. Those apps are also being followed up and home visits are being scheduled for them. We don't know for sure who will be approved to adopt GG yet, and although there can be only one forever home for her, the other applicants will have good things to look forward to. They will go on a waiting list for Airedales that come to us in the future, or they may be matched up with an Airedale who is waiting for love in a neighboring state.

The very most exciting thing is that all these applications are from people we have never met but who are following our blog. There’s no way for us to know how many followers we actually have, but we appreciate all and every one of you so much! You have forwarded the blog stories to your friends and families and you have made a joyful difference in GG’s life. THANK YOU!

Sissy is at THE VET today!

Sissy has an ouchie: an abcessed tooth. She is at the vet's office today and Dad will pick her up in a little while. The office closes at noon on Wednesdays and Dad doesn't get off work until 4:30 today, but it's okay.You know you live in a small town when the vet calls your Dad and says, "Sissy will be outside in a locked kennel. I will leave the key to the kennel and a bottle of antibiotics under the mop bucket at the back door."

DEVILTRY

THiS iss MAGGIE! I FyNULLy goT to comPOOTER all By Myseff aND noBuddy iss wATCHING!

Yesterday ouryard was soaken wet beecoss of rainrainrain alladale long. We cooddint play out there for long. Well DUKE and BUDDY ddnt want to play out there for long.

I wass liken that rain, me. But they wanted to get outta rain so we came bak inna houss and wass habben a borren ole morning until me and Duke got the grate idea to tteach Bud how to do the Airedance.

Only Mom says Airedances don’t beelong inna houss and she fusssd and made uss stoppit.

Then we deesided to snoop around in the dog den to see if there wass anny spilt food on the floor. There wassent so I went counter surfing and I got inta trubble for that too.

IN a few minnutts Buddy saw sumthen red on toppa da kitchen tabble. He dossent like red and he goess after it every time. Whitch he did again it wass a red dish towel and he pulled it down and it was sittingg under a pan and when Buddy yanked the red towell it made the pan come down too and it clanged and banged and Mom jumped and yelled and blamed ME for it becoss I had just been counter surfen a few sekunds before when she looked through the door. 

She put me in TIME out and DUKe hadda come too even thow he wassent even inna kitchen when it happenned. Dales get blamed for EVERYTHING around here.  I think Duke told yhall one time that the hoomans think Buddy issa little PRINCE!

Here iss a exsample. Buddy even went and foun one of Dad’s clean hankees in the laundry basket. He picked it up and rann inta the den with it and tried to get Dad to play tug. Dad just said, no Buddy, all my handkerchiefs have holes in them from your teeth and the people at the office make fun of me. He took the handkerchief away from Buddy and that was all that happened! Buddy laid down at Dad’s feet like a real good boy. GRRR.

After awhile the little prince got bored and wannedd us to play with him. He play bowed and wagged and finully began jumpping at us. He iss like a bowling ball when he jumps on us. I think Mom tole you that once, too.

Affter Buddy bowled into me a couple of time, and made me grrrowl he started in afta Duke. Duke doesn’t play bowling and he stood up and gave Buddy whut for which of course got us in trubble all over again. Then me and Duke looked at each other and got the best idea of all.

It wass still raining outside but you know when a dog hass to go, a dog hass to go. Me and Duke ran to the door and barked and of course here comess Buddy too. He ran right up between us and bowled us away from the door. But we didunt snap at hm this time. Dad came over and opened the door so the DOGS could go outside to take care of their bidness. When the door opened, Buddy almost broke a leg running outside into the storm ahead of me and DUKE. He just hass to be first, in everyTHING.

BUDDY ran out into the storm and me and DUKE just sat down. And grinned at each other. And stayed dry. GOTCHA!

The Dale who AAARRROOOs last, AAARRROOOOs best!

Pack Integration

At Hooligan House, we believe in creating positive relationships between dogs and humans, one relationship at a time. You won’t see this technique on television, but we have tremendous success with it.

GG was afraid of everything and everyone when she first came to us. She had to be helped into a car and picked up and carried out of it. Her tail was constantly tucked tightly under her belly and she walked crouched down low to the floor. She wouldn’t eat her dinner or do her business if anyone was watching her. She shivered when she was touched and she wouldn’t look directly at other dogs.

We kept her away from our dogs for several days. We spent time showing GG that human touch is a good thing, and that every time we say her name it means that something nice is about to happen. Soon she would walk to us as soon as we said her name, and she learned that coming to us meant she would get a bacon-flavored treat. After about 6 days, when she had learned to trust us, we introduced GG to Jack.

He’s thirteen years old, a retired therapy dog that used to help me teach puppy obedience classes. He welcomed GG and then basically ignored her. He was courteous but not boisterous, and she learned that he wouldn’t run and play with her, but was a pleasant companion.

Two days ago, we brought Sissy outside to meet GG. Jack and GG had been hanging out for a few minutes beforehand, and when Sissy came out, she just walked up to GG, sniffed her, and that was that. They played chase for a few minutes, drank water together out of the bowl, and did a perimeter patrol together.

Last night we fed Sissy, Jack and GG at the same time. Their bowls were placed so that GG’s bowl was approximately six feet away from each of the others. In the following photos, you’ll see that Sissy’s and Jack’s tails are up while GG’s tail is still tucked. That’s a good signal for her to be sending at meal time. By tucking her tail when she’s eating, GG is telling the other two that although she is concentrating on her own bowl, she isn't taking ownership of it and she isn’t thinking about their food.

Sissy and GG

GG and Jack

In a few days, GG’s tail will go up while she eats. At the moment that occurs, she’ll be telling Jack and Sissy that she’s confident they aren’t presenting a threat to her food. All three of them will finish their dinners and then they’ll swap bowls to see if there are leftovers their pals may have overlooked. Bowl swapping after eating is a dog community thing. When it happens, GG will be positively integrated into a pack with Jack and Sissy.

While this is happening, we’ll introduce her to some other carefully chosen well-mannered dogs. This way GG will learn that it’s fun to be friendly with dogs outside your pack. It’s all about relationship. GG is learning how to build positive relationships and she is developing good meeting and greeting skills to help her in the future.

Update on GG's Training

Hi to all our Friends!

Things have been very busy at Hooligan House. GG and Jack and Duke are getting along very well together and GG has been proclaimed "officially potty trained"!  HURRAH! The tether technique does work, if you work it. And we did, 24/7 until a couple of days ago when she started showing us that she wanted and needed to go outside to do her business.

While we were working on that Very Important Problem, we also began training GG to "come" to us on command. That's a little trickier to teach an adult rescue dog than it is a puppy.

Puppies come to humans out of curiosity and playfulness, so they are easy to teach. The best way to get an adult dog to come to you is to gain that dog’s trust. And you can’t do that by barking commands and raising the household stress level. Instead, each and every time the dog is near you, reach over and scratch behind her ears or gently scruffle her chest while you repeat her name a few times. Offer her treats and say her name while she is eating them. After a few days of this, when she hears you say her name she is going to perk up and look at you. A couple of days later, she’s going to come to you when you say her name. The first time that happens, pet her gently and say the word, “Come” in a happy voice. Continue working with your dog this way and she’ll learn the come command without even realizing she is being trained.

GG now turns and looks at us expectantly when we call her name and then comes trotting over to us to have her ears scruffled and receive a treat. She even does it off-leash, while playing in our fenced yard. We vary the reward so that sometimes she gets a tasty treat and sometimes she gets a backscratch. She enjoys both equally, so we are checking the "come" command off our list. Good GRRLL, GG!

In other news, Duke has weathered the first thunderstorm since his new crate arrived. He did very well, and we didn't find any evidence of physical trauma in the dog den. Of course, he and GG were howling and crying to get to each other when I got home from the office that day, but that's not a sign that anything was wrong. It's just how Hooligans roll.

Application to Adopt An Airedale Terrier

Ready to adopt an Airedale Terrier? Please print out the following application, fill it out entirely, scan & email it to Alabama Airedale Rescue. Our email address is at the bottom of the application. 

Application for Adoption

Name:_________________________________________   Telephone:______________                                                                          

Address:________________________________________________________________

City:______________________________  State:___________  Zip:________________

Occupation:_______________________________  Work Telephone:______________

Would you prefer Male or Female:__________________     Age:_________________

Have you ever owned an Airedale?_________________________________________

What other breeds have you owned? ________________________________________

Tell us about your current pets.       

Breed                          Age     Sex      Neutered

______________        ____    ____    ________

______________        ____    ____    ________

______________        ____    ____    ________

______________        ____    ____    ________

How and when did you lose your last dog?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Have you ever given up a dog?  ( ) Yes   ( ) No

If Yes, please explain______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Under what circumstances would you consider giving up your dog?

_______________________________________________________________________

When will you be ready for your new dog?___________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Where will your dog stay when no one is at home?____________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

For how many hours per day?_____________________________________________

Is your back yard fenced?________________________________________________

Type of fence & approx height:___________________________________________

Is the fence detached from the home so that you have to walk into it or does the back door open directly into it? _______________________________________________

Approx size of the fenced area: __________________________________________

                                          

What type of residence do you have? (house, apt, condo, manufactured home, etc)

Do you own or rent your home? __________________________________________

Living Arrangements:

Where will your dog stay when no one is home during the day?_________________

_______________________________________________________________________

                                                         

For how many hours & how often?_________________________________________

Will your dog have the run of the house? ___________________________________

If your dog is confined, where will he/she stay?______________________________

Will he use a crate? Where will it be located? _______________________________

Where will your dog sleep? _____________________________________________

Will he be allowed on the furniture? ______________________________________

When you travel, where will your dog stay? ________________________________

References:

Your Veterinarian:_______________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________

City: ________________________________    State: ________  Zip: ______________

Groomer Reference: _______________________  Telephone: ___________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________

City: ________________________________    State: ________  Zip: ______________

Personal Reference: _______________________________ Telephone: ____________

Address: _______________________________________________________________

City: _______________________________    State: ________ Zip: _______________

Are you prepared to make a donation to our rescue organization?  Each ADT takes almost $300 to rescue.  We never turn down an application because of the lack of funds, but we sure could use the help!

Signature: ___________________________________  Date: _____________________

Please Return the completed application to:  ALAIREDALES@yahoo.com

                                         

Thank you for your application.  One of our volunteers will contact you to set up a convenient time for a pre-acceptance visit to your home.  Please understand that follow-up phone calls and house visits are routinely made to insure that all is well with the adopted Airedale.  We reserve the right to refuse placement.