Low Maintenance Dogs

Grayslake animal shelter carries on without power

“The care hasn’t wavered,” said Marc Portugal, development manager for the not-for-profit, no-kill shelter on Fairfield Road north of Route 60. “Every animal has been fed on schedule and dogs are getting walked on a regular basis. It’s just harder to do the daily work.”

The shelter has been closed since power went out Monday, putting adoptions on hold because the public can’t be allowed inside.

And since then, four more animals have been added to the population of about 180 cats and 70 dogs, including a dog that was abandoned on the doorstep.

They are probably warm and confused, but the animals are doing better than expected, Portugal said.

“They’re holding up. You can never underestimate their strength of spirit,” he said.

That also goes for staff, volunteers and supporters who have rallied to provide portable generators, the gasoline to run them and food and water for the animals.

The outpouring came in response to a Facebook post by the shelter for gasoline, and has spread through a grapevine of

supporters.

In addition to the care staff of 15, hands-on help has come from dozens of volunteers who have been donating more time since the power went out.

“We wondered if we could help you,” Jan Rhein told staffers who greeted her as she entered a conference room turned supply area stacked with bottled water, food and gasoline.

She and her husband, Wayne, also handed over a $25 check.

“We’ll do whatever we can do — clean up poop, whatever,” she said.

Earlier, Elizabeth Simmons of Hainesville toting her kids, Hunter, 18 months and Wyatt, 4, dropped off a container of gasoline.

“We’ll need it,” Portugal said.

Gasoline is at a premium for the shelter as the old main generator is out of commission and would cost more to repair than replace, Portugal explained.

Three portable generators, on loan from supporters, are providing power for about a dozen fans and for refrigerators to cool medications needed by many of the animals. But the hallways remain dark and the air conditioning silent.

The need now is for fuel, water, dog and cat food (preferably Friskies, Pedigree or Science Diet brands) and Tidy Cat brand litter. Gift cards for gasoline or big box stores also are welcome.

“The generosity to keep our doors open comes from donations and relationships, we can never have enough of either one,” Portugal said.

Advice on Picking a Pup | SteadywithStyle

Spring is one of the best times to think about getting a new pup, and it is also the time people start calling me to ask for advice. I give the same advice regardless of whether the person wants a hunting dog or a family companion. I suggest they look for a field-bred pup. A field-bred pup is a pup from field trial lines, and one glance at the pup’s pedigree gives you this information. You want to see one or more champions in a four generation pedigree.

Reading a pedigree can be confusing because the two major registries for pointing dogs— the American Kennel Club and Field Dog Stud Book, use different titles to designate a champion in the field. In an AKC pedigree, a field champion has an FC in front of his name while a show champion has a CH in front. In a FDSB pedigree, a winner of an American Field championship has a CH in front of his name so you have to pay close attention to the registry. Look for FC titles in AKC pedigrees and CH titles in FDSB pedigrees to tell you if the pup is from field trial lines.

The best bird dogs are bred and not made. It is as simple as that. Natural ability and pointing instinct come from parents, grandparents and so forth. So does health, temperament, intelligence, biddability and trainability. Many bird dog qualities that make a field trial dog successful also make a hunting or family dog successful.

Field trialers are a competitive lot, and they want to show up at a trial with a dog that can win.

Of course, not all field trial litters make good hunting dogs or family companions. Sometimes field trialers try to breed more extreme types of pups because great champions tend to be more extreme. That said, two or three generations removed, field-bred pups become less extreme as laws of nature move them towards the middle, and yet they retain many of these bird dog qualities.

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