Promoting animal welfare and individual responsibility for the care and protection of animals
A No-Kill Shelter Promoting Spay/Neuter
6073 Loma Avenue, Eureka CA 95503
(707) 442-1782
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
Incoming animals by appointment only
2005 Annual Report
Please click here to view the Sequoia Humane Society's
2005 Annual Report (PDF)
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Fionn, my partner’s dog, has many fine qualities. He is handsome. He is cheerful. He is friendly. He is always open to doing anything (if it doesn’t scare him). 
Fionn also has the energy level of a hyperactive 4-year-old boy who has just eaten all his Halloween candy in one sitting. And the same attention span as said child, as well. Unlike most children, he sometimes uses his excess energy to chew things up and distribute the pieces around the yard.
Fionn’s energy level is natural; so, until we discover that he has a candy supplier we don’t know about, we are left trying to find ways to wear him out. Unfortunately, intellectually challenging activities like “fetch”, which might get him running without us having to keep up, seem largely beyond his mental ability. (Dog-knowledgeable people always shake their heads knowingly when they hear that Fionn has Lab in him. I gather that Labs aren’t exactly the Einsteins of the dog world.) I’m a fairly avid bicyclist, so the idea of bicycling with Fionn appealed to me. Surely I could ride fast enough and far enough to wear Fionn out, I thought. However, the idea of attaching myself on a bicycle to Mr. Short Attention Span while we ride/run past dozens of potentially distracting sights and smells seemed fraught with problems, if not outright danger. I envisioned tails, paws, noses, and other body parts stuck in the spokes of my moving wheels, and, soon afterwards, Fionn and I in traction in side-by-side hospital beds. Then I saw an online ad for a device called a “Springer”, designed to allow safe bicycling with one’s dog. I found glowing praise from owners of this device, and videos of people riding with their dogs. Some people even said that it made their dogs more disciplined and well behaved. That got my attention. Finally, I decided to gamble $50 and try it. No one carried it locally, so I ordered it online. When it came I messed with it until I got it mounted on my bike. (The instructions want you to glue spacers to your bike so the clamp fits, which I wasn’t about to do, but I used rubber hose to clamp it securely and removeably). I put the included harness on Fionn, clipped him to the Springer, and…stood there. I looked at Fionn, who had his usual “What, me worry?” expression on, and wondered what he would do and how badly it would hurt when whatever he did resulted in me sprawled on the road. Maybe, I thought, all those glowing Springer reviews were written by people with smart dogs. In fact, a lot of them said they used it with a German Shepherd. Maybe this was a Really Bad Idea. Oh, well. No pain, no gain, right? So, saying “C’mon, Fionn, let’s go!” I pushed off and started peddling. And the most amazing thing happened. We didn’t crash. In fact, it seemed to take Fionn all of about 10 seconds to settle right in beside me as if he did this every day. We went half a mile down to the park without incident, turned around (!) without incident, and came home. I was amazed. We’ve gone on 8-10 rides of varying length so far, and I’m still trying to fine-tune the whole thing for Fionn’s comfort and my own. Overall, though, my experience with the Springer has been very positive, and Fionn seems to really like it. When I get him clipped in and say, “Go!” he takes off sprinting for about half a mile, pulling me along, before he slows down. Not bad for a dog who is still trying to master the intricacies of “fetch”! Submitted by Tod Fiste, MFT. For more information about “The Springer” visit their website at http://www.springerusa.com. |
humane@sequoiahumane.org
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Sunday, September 7th, 2008 10am - 5pm at Halvorsen Park in Eureka, CA
Visit the SHS Forever Friends Memory Garden
Woofstock 2008 T-shirts are now available on sale for $20.00. All sizes are in stock. 
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By leaving a legacy through a gift in a will, your commitment can continue. |
