somerville dog: a weblog

“Let kids have two dogs and a cat,” prescribes Dr. Joel V. Weinstock, Director of gastroenterology and hepatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. According to Weinstock, pets expose kids to "intestinal worms that can promote a healthy immune system."

Weinstock's research is featured in a New York Times Personal Health Article this week, "Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You," by Jane E. Brody. The article explores recent research that is

concluding that organisms like the millions of bacteria, viruses and especially worms that enter the body along with “dirt” spur the development of a healthy immune system. Several continuing studies suggest that worms may help to redirect an immune system that has gone awry and resulted in autoimmune disorders, allergies and asthma.

It's to late for us: Marshall already has allergies that preclude our having a cat. As for a second dog: Having a two-year-old can be a tricky time to introduce a new dog in the family.

Thanks, Steve, for sharing this article!

Posted by Michèle at 10:14 PM
Categories: And Baby Makes Four, Your Health
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Cosmo Catalano has made a dance remix of familiar voice of Tom Champion, Executive Director Communications Department, for the City of Somerville:

Posted by Michèle at 8:45 PM
Categories: Somerville
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This is a video I took at the Nunziato Off-leash Recreational area on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 19.

I love living with my dog in Somerville. Because Somerville offers safe and legal opportunities for people to come together and share our mutual interest in our dogs, Somerville has a strong community of dog owners. Because Somerville has a strong community of dog owners, dog owners feel like we are a part of the larger community.

In some other towns, people who own dogs feel like second-rate citizens. The following are actual quotes from dog owners who live in other Massachusetts cities and towns:

# # #

I have found the attitudes of the people who posess authority so disturbing, the loathing and discust which they have no hesitation to express in their condemnation of dog owners has left me utterly deflated.

# # #

We are treated dismissively by certain town officials, and by many in the public.

# # #

Employees “warned” dog owners in a very menacing way: they drove their trucks right onto the field, close to dogs and children. Certainly makes dog owners feel like criminals.

# # #

Posted by Michèle at 11:20 PM
Categories: And Baby Makes Four, Off-Leash Recreational Areas—i.e. "Dog Parks", Somerville, Somerville Dogs, Strummer
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Yesterday Strummer sustained a laceration to her ear that went through both layers of cartilage and slightly perforated the ear. I took her to Porter Square Veterinarian yesterday afternoon and Dr. Adam Parker gave her two skin staples and warned me to monitor her for an aural hematoma, when blood collects in the space between the two layers of cartilage. He also prescribed Cephalexin, an antiboitic, and Tramadol, and analgesic.

Of course Strummer's ear was swollen this morning, but I wasn't sure I could tell the difference between "normal" swelling and hematoma, so I brought her back to the vet. Dr. Lisa Jablonski saw her and said the ear looked good. She also had a technician fit Strummer with a cone. (I had asked Dr. Parker yesterday about an Elizabethan collar, and he thought it was a good idea, but we both forgot about it. I got a call from Porter Square Vet, yesterday evening apologizing and welcoming me to come back to pick up a cone if I wanted one.)

Between the Tramadol and the cone, Strummer looked pretty pathetic when she left the vet. She kept bumping the cone into things like door frames, which made her think that she couldn't get past them: She's stand there and wait for me to help her get through. On the sidewalk, the cone caught a snow bank and shoveled snow into her face.

She certainly got a lot of pity while we were out, and no one tried to scritch her ears. I stopped by Laundromutt to give her a quick bath (from the shoulders down) and the collar was handy in keeping her ears out of the water. Then we stopped by a little inauguration day party where my husband's mother was watching my daughter.

I was afraid that Strummer wouldn't be able to eat with the cone on (though, when I was putting my daughter to bed for a nap, I could hear her drinking). She couldn't seem to relax with the cone: She held her nose up and didn't seem to want to sit, let alone lie down. So, I took it off. (I probably shouldn't advertise that: I don't advocate disobeying doctors' orders.)

Srummer is not scratching at all—I think she's too out of it with the Tramadol—and I'm monitoring her pretty closely. I know the wound will itch as the skin heals, and I expect that I will put the cone back on her. For the time being, I just can't bear how pathetic she looks wearing it.

Posted by Michèle at 10:03 PM
Categories: Friends of somerville dog, Strummer, Your Dog's Health
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I want to thank everyone who was at the Nunziato off-leash recreational area this morning for being such a great community of park users while Strummer and I were there with my twenty-two-month-old daughter Kate.

Strummer and I don't get to visit the OLRA very often since Kate was born almost two years ago. Today we were walking by on our way to Capone's and I couldn't resist the sight of so many people with their dogs playing in the snow.

I entered the Putnam Street "airlock" with Strummer and Kate, and I called into the OLRA to ask if anyone was concerned about my bringing my daughter in. Everyone said to come on in, so we did. Kate (not very mobile in her snowsuit) hung out with me by the picnic tables, while Strummer played with the dogs.

The community of dog owners really came through for me when Strummer got into a fight with Maggie.

Special thanks to the owner of the dog that Strummer got into a fight with. When I asked him if his dog's rabies vaccination was up-to-date, he assured me that it was and then gave me his name and phone number in case I needed to follow up with him.

Thanks, too, to the dog owner who got Kate out of the way of the gate to let other people enter with their dogs while I was getting the other dog owner's contact information. It's great to see an adult being an adult with someone else's kid.

The gentleman apologized to me for picking up my child, but there was no need: I am grateful that he was able to help me without worrying about asking me if it was okay first. He then thanked me for calling out to everyone when I entered with a child.

To some degree, I enabled him to help me, because I asked for permission from the community to bring Kate into the OLRA.

It was one of the best social experiences I've ever had. The people at the Nunziato OLRA are the best!

Posted by Michèle at 10:15 PM
Categories: And Baby Makes Four, Off-Leash Recreational Areas—i.e. "Dog Parks", Safety Around Dogs, Somerville, Strummer
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via FellsDOG (January 4, 2009)

A shepherd mix with fluffy fur around the head was seen this morning in the Middlesex Fells near the Long Pond parking lot on the cranberry pond path.

Hi all, I came across a lost dog this morning on the cranberry pond path, near Long Pond Parking lot. It looked to be a shepherd mix. He/she was about the size of a shepherd but extremely skinny. I could see the ribs and pelvic bone clearly. He/she had tags I could hear clinking but couldn't get close enough to read them. Wouldn't even come close for a treat. Seemed to like my dog though. It could've been an older dog but the fluffy fur around the head made it seem younger. Other than the skinnyness seemed to have good energy as he darted one way for a while then came back and proceeded down the trail. I tried to report it to the Winchester animal control thinking someone would've called there first but they were closed until Monday. I saw this dog @9:30 on Sunday Jan 4th. I figured one of you may know the dog or the owner. He/she is still out there in the Fells. Thanks.

Posted by Michèle at 8:18 PM
Categories: Lost and Found, Massachusetts
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