Canter for Cancer

 

On October 16th, 2010, Pet-Ink participated in the Canter for Cancer event in Venice, FL.  We proudly dyed a horse pink and tattooed the names of breast cancer survivors as well as women who have lost their lives to breast cancer on a horse.  Pet-Ink also tattooed ribbons and pictures on another horse that was also sponsored by Pet-Ink for the event.  It was a wonderful event that raised over $4000 for breast cancer research.  And it was a great place for horse lovers to come together for a great cause.  We are looking forward to participating in more events in the near future.  Thank you to the people that worked so hard to put on such a great event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For all you animal lovers out there, we have a created this FUN FACTS and SILLY STORIES page. Keep coming back as we will be adding more facts and stories as we find them. Feel free to send us silly stories of your adventures with your lovable pets.

Throughout my life, I have been told so many crazy “facts” about different animals. Some of them I believed and some of them I just shook my head at.

Is it just me, or have you ever just stared at your dog or cat and wished they could just open their mouth and tell you what they are thinking? I know there have many times I have looked at my dog and asked her what she was thinking, or asked her what she had done all day. It would have been so cool just to have her look back and me and say, “Well, it was a pretty boring day. I barked at the mailman and then chased my tail for a while. I never did catch it so I decided to go smell the garbage can and then I chewed up your new sneaker. Then you came home and here we are.”

Of course my dog has never said anything like that to me, well not in those exact words at least. She has told me she barked at the mailman, by the dried up slobber I have found on the front window. She told me she chased her tail by knocking over the plant on the end table and knocking the foot stool over. She told me that she smelled the garbage by knocking the lid off of it and of coarse the chewing of the sneaker was an obvious one when I came through the door and she said there with her head hanging down and her sad face.

DOGS FACTS

• Every known dog except the chow has a pink tongue - the chow's tongue is jet black.
• Every year, $1.5 billion is spent on pet food. This is four times the amount spent on baby food.
• For Stephen King's "Cujo" (1983), five St. Bernards were used, one mechanical head, and an actor in a dog costume to play the title character.
• Inbreeding causes 3 out of every 10 Dalmatian dogs to suffer from hearing disability.
• It has been established that people who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.
• There are 701 types of pure breed dogs.
• There are more than 100 million dogs and cats in the United States. Americans spend more than 5.4 billion dollars on their pets each year.
• Though human noses have an impressive 5 million olfactory cells with which to smell, sheepdogs have 220 million, enabling them to smell 44 times better than man.
• Using their swiveling ears like radar dishes, experiments have shown that dogs can locate the source of a sound in 6/100ths of a second.
• Walt Disney's family dog was named Lady. She was a poodle.
• The first seeing-eye dog was presented to a blind person on April 25, 1938.
• Dogs have about 100 different facial expressions, most of them made with the ears
• Dogs have about 10 vocal sounds
• Contrary to popular belief, dogs aren’t color blind; they can see shades of blue, yellow, green and gray. The color red registers on a grayscale in a dog’s vision.
• Dogs only sweat from the bottoms of their feet, the only way they can discharge heat is by panting.
• Using their swiveling ears like radar dishes, experiments have shown that dogs can locate the source of a sound in 6/100ths of a second.
• Dogs have about 10 vocal sounds.
• Dogs do not have an appendix.
• There are more than 200 different breeds of dogs.
• Dalmatians are born spotless: at first pure white, their spots develop as they age.
• Contrary to popular belief, dogs aren’t color blind; they can see shades of blue, yellow, green and gray. The color red registers on a grayscale in a dog’s vision.

CAT FACTS

• Cats do not have sweat glands.
• A cat's tongue is scratchy because it's lined with papillae—tiny elevated backwards hooks that help to hold prey in place.
• The nose pad of each cat has ridges in a unique pattern not unlike a person's fingerprints.
• Cats' bodies are extremely flexible; the cat skeleton contains more than 230 bones (a human has about 206), and the pelvis and shoulders loosely attach to the spine. This adds to their flexibility and allows them to fit through very small spaces.
• Cats have better memories than dogs. Tests conducted by the University of Michigan concluded that while a dog's memory lasts no more than 5 minutes, a cat's can last as long as 16 hours—exceeding even that of monkeys and orangutans.
• A cat sees about six times better than a human at night because of the tapetum lucidum , a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light.
• A cat can spend five or more hours a day grooming himself.
• A cat can sprint at about thirty-one miles per hour.
• A cat cannot see directly under its nose. This is why the cat cannot seem to find tidbits on the floor.
• A cat has 230 bones in its body. A human only has 206 bones.
• A cat has four rows of whiskers.
• Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw
• Cats do not have sweat glands
• A cat can jump as much as seven times its height
• Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten
• A cat's tongue is scratchy because it's lined with papillae—tiny elevated backwards hooks that help to hold prey in place
• Calico cats are nearly always female
• Cats average 16 hours of sleep a day, more than any other mammal
• A cat can jump as much as seven times its height.
• Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.
• Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.
• A pack of kittens is called a kindle, while a pack of adult cats is called a clowder.
• An adult cat can run about 12 miles per hour, and can sprint at nearly thirty miles per hour.

BIRDS & OTHER EXOTIC PETS

• To survive, every bird must eat at least half its own weight in food each day.
• A bird's heart beats 400 times per minute while they are resting.
• A garter snake can give birth to 85 babies.
• Ferrets are currently the third most popular pet in the US. There are an estimated eight to ten million ferrets in the United States being kept as pets.
• The only continent without reptiles or snakes is Antartica
• The feathers of a pigeon weigh more than its bones.
• You can find 40 different muscles in a bird’s wing (now that’s a lot!).
• Amongst any other bird, the Woodpeckers have longer tongues;

• Rats cannot actually burp;
• Iguanas are able to hold their breath for up to 30 minutes
• To survive, every bird must eat at least half its own weight in food each day.
• Larger parrots such as the macaws and cockatoos live more than 75 years
• Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time
• Armadillos have four babies at a time and they are always all the same sex. They are also the only animal besides humans that can get leprosy
• A goldfish can live up to 40 years
• The eye of the ostrich’s is much bigger than its brain (poor bird)
• Nectar bats is recorded to have longest tongue amongst all mammals
• A total of 14 feet worms is just enough for a baby robin’s day
• Singapore is home to the world’s largest bird
• White eggs are what all owls produce
• The kiwi cannot fly and lays only a single egg yearly

RESCUE STORIES

 

Kim is the proud mom to 8 big dogs and a super hero to many other pets. Just recently, Kim and her fellow Great Pyrenees Rescuers were called in to save the lives of 13 Great Pyrennes that had been living in the mountains on 300 acres with an elderly gentleman who was dying of cancer. When he could no longer care for these gentle giants, Carolina Pyr Rescue (http://www.carolinapyrrescue.com/) was called in. All of the dogs were in terrible condition. Fur was matted so bad on some they had to be shaved. The most heartbreaking were the little females, who obviously had given birth to pups. No pups were found so they are assuming that he sold them. They were ALL skin and bones. Never had they seen dogs be so afraid of everything. It was very hard to see these magnificent dogs in this condition. They have NEVER known the love of a person, ever. Volunteers are now taking turns going to the rescue to brush, massage and love on the dogs. Kim has spent several hours with them 1 dog at a time. Some responded to the sessions and 2 especially were terrified. 1 of them was so afraid she was throwing herself against the fence when out on bathroom break and against kennel wire when inside. A foster mom took her to her house and she has taken up with her 2 Pyrs as her guardians and is doing much better. It is going to take a lot of TLC to show them people can be trusted, but it will be time well spent.

Tracy is the proud human companion to 2 awesome rescued dogs.  Here are their stories

Doofus is the white one. She is a product of a puppy mill. Her name comes from a funny story. I was trying to teach her how to sit, stay, roll over, etc. and the "dumb" dog just wouldn't learn anything. So happens my mother dropped something very loud behind her and she didn't flinch. This was our first clue that the dog was not a doofus or dumb, that she is DEAF! Born that way from inbreeding. She is also nearly blind. We love her very much and have adjusted to her, using sign language instead of speech.

Preacher is the black dog. He was left to his own devices in a garage. Neglected because they didn't want him and didn't know what to do with him. He gets his name because he was just a skinny little guy when we got him. All black with a one inch white stripe on his neck-like a preacher's collar. This is absolutely the most spoiled dog in the world-try fighting him for the couch. He is also loved by all of our family and friends and very protective of the kids. He's just all around a really great dog.

 

 

 

 

Snickers is her name and being a lazy hound dog is her game.  I had wanted a big dog for a long time and then one day I read an advertisement saying that a shelter would be having a “Big Dog Adoption” at a pet store.  I thought this meant large sized dogs, but I was wrong.  It actually meant that there would be a lot of dogs there.  When I got there, I walked around looking at each dog and talking to them so see how they reacted to me.  I came across this hound dog that was just adorable.  She looked like the beagle that my mom had, but much taller and leaner.  Her face was precious.  The people told met that she had been found on the side of the road with a horrible broken leg.  She had surgery and they put a big pin in her leg.  She had been in a cast for 6 weeks and it just been removed.  I thought about that a lot as I keep moving down the row of dogs.  I didn’t want to make a decision until I was really sure.  I ended up leaving going to have lunch.  The more I thought about that hound dog the more I knew I had to go back and get her.  I knew that she needed someone that would love her, care for her and get her medical care if she needed it.  I figured she would probably have some problems down the road from the accident and that she would need someone that would help her.  After a few bites of lunch, I made my decision.  I tossed my lunch in the trash and raced back to the adoption.  I had to get her.  She needed me as much as I needed her.  I ran to the door and raced in to make sure she was still there.  She was!!!  As soon as I got to her one of the ladies that was working there came over to help me.  I told her I had to have this hound.  She gave me the application and I filled it out quickly.  She read over it and handed me a leash.  With my new dog at my side, I walked proudly through the pet shop picking out everything my hound would need. 

I took my hound home and here we are 5 years later happy as can be.  There have been bumps in the road with her leg, but nothing we can’t handle.  She is my lazy hound dog, my guard dog, my crumb cleaner upper and most importantly, she is my best friend.