Stitchboard Admin message #3
Re: Yikes... I'm not used to sewing..
July 3, 2014 at 10:59:45 PM  (in response to Aabye message #1)
 
Line,

Squeeeeeeeeeee!    You may not be used to sewing, but that turned out great, just as good as the original!  You are going to have two very happy piggies! 

Wow, if I could sew that good after not sewing for 5 years, I'd be happy...great job! 

Now I'm wondering how a certain kitty would like something like that...though I'd have to knit or crochet it, as I'm sewing challenged, LOL.  But it looks sooooooooooo adorable!  Do they make a human sized one?  LOL!

What wonderful ingenuity that you made such a great toy for your piggies, and for a fraction of the cost of buying it! 

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Stitchboard Admin message #5
Re: Yikes... I'm not used to sewing..
July 4, 2014 at 9:27:58 PM  (in response to Aabye message #4)
 
Line,

LOL, I was definitely kidding about human size...but doesn't that look like fun?! 

See, your boyfriend could play in that if you made it human size!  

Awww, thank you for the vote of confidence.    It would be wonderful to make one for the cat!  Though I agree, it probably shouldn't collapse in the middle for a cat.  I'm not sure where to get the foam, but no worries...there are other materials available that would keep it open.

And it's definitely got to be much larger for a cat than a piggie. 

Then again, if she doesn't like it, I call fair game!    Still want to curl up in that! 

Do you have any other piggie toys planned?    Those are going to be two of the happiest piggies ever! 

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Stitchboard Admin message #7
Re: Yikes... I'm not used to sewing..
July 5, 2014 at 5:18:54 PM  (in response to Aabye message #6)
 
Line,

Ooh, do tell about the dog bed! 

What's the deal with the hay?  I've never been a human to any piggies, so not sure what being their human entails...would love to learn, though!    As much as I'd love to have an entire menagerie, for right now it's got to be just one kitty, since she would likely see any other animals as food.    We think she was abandoned around the time she just got out of kittenhood, so being out in the wild, I'm sure she ate whatever rodents she could find.  Breaks my heart that someone would do that to any animal, though.    Of course, her survival skills weren't very good...no doubt she'd rarely - if ever - been outside before she was so unceremoniously dumped. 

Can't wait to see the next thing you make! 

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Stitchboard Admin message #9
Re: Yikes... I'm not used to sewing..
July 6, 2014 at 6:23:46 PM  (in response to Aabye message #8)
 
Line,

Awww, looks like piggie heaven!    I'm sure you'll have very, very happy piggies with everything you're doing for them.  And thank you so much for explaining that to me! 

So they eat the leaves, too, then? 

I know...it's so heartbreaking that I tell my husband I don't really want to know about what our poor sweetie went through before we took her in.    If she could talk and say what happened, I'm sure we'd be absolutely horrified. 

It's awful that someone would leave the kittens and the mother with no water in a box outside in the summer.    But unfortunately, not surprising.

A friend said that until recently, her neighbors used to leave their dog tied up outside, in the sun, with no water.  Now they at least put a bowl of water out for the poor little one!

I'd like to rescue the poor little critters, too.    And if people don't want their dogs anymore, why not just hand them over to the shelter?  Even here, as bad as some shelters are, they will take them.  My friend was getting pressure to give up her pets (luckily, nobody is pressuring her anymore), so she did inquire at a local shelter.  So they do have programs available here, and I imagine they do there, too.

This is why I have very little respect for some humans.  There are too many people who don't consider their poor pets and just let them wander around outside, looking for a new home.  I can't stand that.    Better to reliquish them to a shelter and give them a chance to be adopted out, than to just leave them to die because they don't know how to forage for food. 

Some humans suck. 

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Stitchboard Admin message #11
Re: Yikes... I'm not used to sewing..
July 9, 2014 at 10:46:17 PM  (in response to Aabye message #10)
 
Line,

Awww, how cute that they eat pretty much everything!    I bet parsley was a great treat to give your old piggy. 

I can completely agree with that saying on Thomas' shirt...when I hear about animal abuse, I really do absolutely despise people! 

You did exactly the right thing with that puppy.  Poor little one!    I hate that the kids mistreated the poor creature.    And I also despise what the parents did, by ignoring the poor creature, letting the kids do all of that abuse, etc.    What horrible people! 

I'm so glad he has a wonderful life now!    I'm sure he's very happy to be out of that place. 

It's terrible that some places won't intervene when there's animal abuse.    They don't care about cats where we are, only dogs.  There's a crazy woman who used to live here and treated cats so badly...but there was nothing the county would do about her.  So a rescue person stepped in and did what she could, but she couldn't save all of the kitties, some were so bad off.    Absolutely heartbreaking. 

So I know where you're coming from, and that's why I definitely know you did the right thing by that little dog!  I hope the stupid family returned and decided the dog had managed to get loose and ran off...and that they were better off with no pets as opposed to another one!

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Stitchboard Admin message #13
Re: Yikes... I'm not used to sewing..
July 10, 2014 at 11:54:01 PM  (in response to Aabye message #12)
 
Line,

He sounds very special!    LOL, they sure let you know what they like, huh?  And even better...his breath must have been very fresh smelling! 

Well, maybe thinking the dog had run off because it was unhappy was best...and hoping they never got another pet, because those are the kinds of people who should not have a pet!

Chubby and happy is wonderful...and far better than suffering.    And I'm glad the parents of that family taught their kids to treat pets right.  I don't think it takes very much to teach kids about the right way to treat pets...and it's beyond me why so many people don't. 

At least we can call this particular dog's story a happy ending. 

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Stitchboard Admin message #15
Re: Yikes... I'm not used to sewing..
July 12, 2014 at 12:16:32 AM  (in response to Aabye message #14)
 
Line,

I'm sure any parent who is caring and dedicated can teach a child to treat pets right!  And you've proven that by teaching your son well. 

Nobody should ever adopt a pet if they're not going to treat that pet well or won't teach their kids to do that (like your former neighbors, sigh).    That's a disservice to the pet and to the kids. 

Of course, you can tell when play is getting too rough for the dog, and I know you're good about stopping any behavior the dog doesn't like.  I cringe when I see pictures online with kids and pets marked "cute," and the animal obviously isn't happy.    Like one where a child is standing on a dog's face!    What?!  How is that cute?  The dog doesn't look happy, and if the poor dog snapped, which could easily happen, that dog would be on its way to the shelter to be euthanized immediately. 

I honestly don't see how people can miss the signs.  You can look at a dog's body language (or a cat's body language) and see the animal clearly isn't happy.  I've seen horrific pictures of cats with their ears back and a baby with its hands roughly grabbing onto the cat.  And dogs looking similarly upset.  You just know that animal is seconds away from snapping and trying so hard not to! 

When I was young, nobody would have dreamed of euthanizing their dog or cat for scratching or biting.  I remember once when a family friend's dog chased me, jumped up on me and scratched me very badly.  I was scared, because we'd never had dogs and nobody told me not to run away from a dog when frightened, but to simply stand there.  And those scratches hurt.  Yet at the same time, it did not occur to me or anyone else to destroy this dog for simply being a dog and me not knowing the proper way to treat him.  The same with the family cats.  I got scratched here and there.  Nobody said, "Oh, you poor dear, we'll have the big bad cat put to sleep!"  They simply said, "You must have been doing something to bother the cat.  Now you've learned."  And I did.  I learned that something I thought was okay was irritating to the cat, because they think differently than we do.  And then it was no big deal to keep from repeating the irritating behavior.

How neat that your cousin has taught her son well for the future dog they'll adopt!    You know that will be a good household and the dog will be very happy...and so sweet of you to tell her that, so she did the right thing in advance! 

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