dogcents

Do you have a favorite blog and want to let the author and readers know that you are a fan? Well now you can do that and more with the Blogger Following feature! You can even keep track of the blogs you follow via your Reading List on the Blogger dashboard.

How do I become a Follower of a blog?
There are several ways to become a follower of a blog. One of the easiest ways is to visit a blog that has added the Following widget and click on the “Follow” button under the “Followers” widget:

You’ll then see a popup window with the options to either follow publicly or privately:

Select how you’d like to follow the blog, then click the “Follow this blog” button. It is that simple, you are now a follower of the blog! If you elected to follow the blog publicly, your profile picture will be displayed on the blog with a link to your Blogger profile (Note: The widget may not show all followers of the blog. If this is the case all followers will be linked from the widget). When you become a follower of a blog, the blog will also be added to your Reading List on your Blogger dashboard and this site will also show on your FriendConnect profile for all the sites you’ve joined using Friend Connect. Additionally, you can become a follower of any blog or URL (even if the blog doesn’t have the Followers widget) by adding the blog to your Reading List on the dashboard.

FTP Blogs
If you join/follow an FTP blog from your dashboard or the Nav bar, the owner of the blog WON’T be informed that you followed the blog. However, if you join/follow normally (via the gadget) the owner WILL be informed that you followed the blog.

How to remove yourself from following a blog

The easiest way to remove yourself from following a blog is to visit the blog, and click “Settings” under the Following widget on the blog.

You will then see a pop-up window with your profile settings. Click the “Stop following this site” link and you will be removed from following the blog. If the blog doesn’t have a Followers widget, you can still stop following the blog. To do so, go to the “Blogs I’m Following” tab under your Reading List on your dashboard.

Then click the blue “Manage” button. You will then see a list of all the blogs that you are following. To stop following a blog, click the “stop following” link next to the blog you want to stop following.

Lastly, following a blog will create a subscription to the blog in your Google Reader account.

What does Blocking a follower do?

When you Block a follower of your blog, the user will no longer appear in the Followers Gadget on your blog and will not see your blog in their Blogger Reading List. However, since your blog is public, the user can still use the other feed readers to subscribe to your blog, read your posts, and comment.

How to grow your audience with Following

The Followers widget is a great tool to help you grow your blog’s audience. Readers often visit a blog and enjoy it but fail to return. With the followers widget you can get all readers to return and become a fan. We highly recommend that you write a post about your followers widget and encourage all readers to become a follower. Additionally you should put your followers widget at the top of your sidebar so more readers will notice it. Many readers ignore sidebar items so by writing a post about your followers widget and moving the widget to the top of your sidebar, you will inevitably grow your audience.

Source: Google Help, Bloggers Help

Michael Vick leaves federal court after pleading guilty to a dogfighting charge in Richmond, Va.
RICHMOND, Va. - Suspended NFL star Michael Vick has left a federal lockup in Kansas, apparently bound for Virginia to appear at a bankruptcy hearing next week.
I know you all remember the man who abused and used cruel methods on his dogs to get them to fight other dogs and if they did not win or did not fight as he wanted them to , he would torture them. If he had a jury of his peers (DOGS) he would have gotten the death penalty) If I had sat as the Judge in his case I probably would have given him Life for I do not believe in the death penalty. Altho that is just my belief I know you all who do think he deserved this sentence would have given it to him? …………….LETS TAKE A POLL: How many of you would have given him the death penalty?….How many of you would have given him Life?…. How many of you would have given him Probation?…..How many of you would have given him 10 years?……..How many of you would have given him Five years?…………….How many of you would have given him 20 years?
This is just a Poll I’m taking , You do not have to participate in it if you don’t wish to.. Im just curious to know how you all animal and especially dog lovers will answer??? The U.S. Bureau of Prisons Web site showed Wednesday that Vick was no longer at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. It listed his status as “in transit.”

It was not clear when he left, or where he was. But two weeks ago, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro demanded that Vick to testify at an April 2 hearing in Newport News about whether his Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan should be confirmed. Another judge issued a court order directing federal marshals to bring the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback to Virginia for the hearing.

Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Victoria Joseph said bureau policy prohibits disclosure of the prisoner’s destination until after he arrives. Vick’s attorneys did not immediately return phone messages left by The Associated Press.

Vick is serving 23 months for bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy. He is eligible to move into home confinement no earlier than May 21 and is scheduled to be released from custody on July 20.

Vick will likely be kept in a southeastern Virginia jail until the hearing, but it wasn’t known which one. Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan said he had not been notified that Vick would be staying in the city jail, but it was possible Vick and federal marshals would show up unannounced.

The judge overseeing Vick’s bankruptcy case rejected the idea of allowing testimony by video hookup, saying he needed Vick in the courtroom so he could assess his demeanor and credibility.

Vick’s plan for paying his creditors is based largely on his intention to resume his NFL career. Vick was suspended indefinitely after his 2007 indictment, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he will review Vick’s status after he is released.

The Falcons still hold the contract rights to Vick but have said they will try to trade him. Vick’s bankruptcy plan would allow him to keep the first $750,000 of his annual pay. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale.

Source: Associated Press……..A REMINDER, TIme is running out so Please go and VOTE here http://bloginterviewer.com/animals/dogcents-ruth your vote is a vote to fight against animal cruelty . Help to feed and shelter these dogs who deserve better lives, I blog for them but I cannot do it alone I need your votes . It will only take a few minutes of your time to go and vote and it is for a worthy cause. Go and Check it out…

She finds parts of three $100 bills and five $20s in his leavings during walk
Dog gobbles down family’s cash
It’s bad enough the family dog ate $400 worth of cash, now this North Carolina family has to go through Fido’s deposits to get it back. WNCN’s Jaclyn Asztalos reports.

APEX, N.C. - A North Carolina family’s dog didn’t eat the children’s homework, he ate mom’s money.

Kelley Davis said she had an extra $400 in cash to deposit after working extra hours as a physical therapist. She told the News & Observer of Raleigh that on Friday she planned to deposit the money, but it wasn’t in her pocket.

She remembered leaving it in the bedroom and it occurred to her that the family’s 2-year-old greater Swiss mountain dog, Augie, might have eaten it.
Davis, 42, said when she took Augie for a walk Saturday, she found parts of three $100 bills and five $20s in his leavings. She washed them with a garden hose and hopes to find enough pieces to exchange them for cash.

A professor at the North Carolina State University Veterinary School said the money shouldn’t hurt the dog.

Source:msnbc.com

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This is the crazy Pic of the day and I hope you all enjoy! Its so cute… Now a Reminder…..If you love dogs and animals be sure to go and give your votes at http://bloginterviewer.com/animals/dogcents-ruth Your votes are important. It only takes a few minutes to go and vote and if each person who stops by to visit votes it shows you care and want to help save the dogs.. Thanks

Chris Trott was on duty answering the emergency phone line, when a call came through from a dog. Nobody would have blamed her for hanging up, but something about the urgency of the barking and the whimpering made Chris stay on the line. On checking the incoming phone number Chris realised that the line belonged to Joe Stalnaker, who is known to be susceptible to seizures.

The background to this phone rescue was that Joe had pre-programmed the buttons on his phone to dial 911, so all his dog Buddy had to do was to pick up the phone in his mouth. One of his teeth was almost certain to hold down one of the keys for 3 seconds and thus trigger the dialling. (See mock-up of miracle dog with phone to the right).

The very same thing had happened twice before, unfortunately, Joe is prone to seizures as a result of suffering a brain injury while serving in the army. Buddy arrived aged 8 weeks courtesy of ‘Paws With A Cause’, which trains miracle dogs like Buddy to help people like Joe.

Surprisingly, Will and Guy learn that there have been other similar cases of miracle dog rescues, for example, Leana Beasley’s Rottweiler called Faith summoned help by pressing a speed-dial button with her nose. Then when the operator answered, Faith barked down the phone so that the emergency services operator realized Leana needed medical assistance.

Source: Web News

Rocco’s owner is now 11; ‘I was scared I’d never see him again,’ she says
Five years ago, a heartbroken 5-year-old girl from Queens, N.Y., was hanging posters for the return of her lost beagle. Today, after years of wishes, little Natalie Villacis has been miraculously reunited with her beloved dog Rocco after he resurfaced some 850 miles away in Georgia — proving that every dog owner can have their day.

“I was actually scared that I was never going to see him again,” the now 11-year-old Natalie told TODAY’s Ann Curry on Wednesday. “I literally said, ‘I will probably never see him again.’ ”

Cristina Villacis, Natalie’s mother, said the family was shocked to get a call last week from a shelter in Hinesville, Ga., informing them that their long-lost pup had been found after half a decade. Thanks to a microchip implanted in the dog, an effective form of permanent identification, Natalie’s greatest hopes had been realized.

To help fill the aching void left by Rocco, the family got another dog a year after the disappearance — Bonita, a poodle from Ecuador. But even another wagging tail in the household could not fully erase Natalie’s heartache. “She got over it, but she was always wishful that he’d come back,” Cristina Villacis said. “She’d always make wishes.”

A surprise call
Although she was barely a pup herself at the time, Natalie had no problem remembering the joy of getting a new puppy named Rocco. “I was really excited,” she told Curry.

But one fateful day in 2003, after just two months in the Villacis household, the beagle slipped under a fence and ran off.

The family searched high and low, checked with neighbors and local authorities and posted flyers. But the only thing that remained of Rocco was his little red toy — and the memory of the joy he brought Natalie.

“She was very devastated,” Cristina said. “She kept his toy. She had a scrapbook with his picture.”

Then, on July 5, while Natalie was at a block party, the family received a call from Liberty County, Ga., Animal Control.

“We were so surprised,” Cristina said. “At first, of course, we thought, ‘It’s the wrong dog. It can’t be.’ But I think the turning point was when they said, ‘His name is Rocco.’ Right there, we said, ‘OK, it’s ours.’ ”

When her mom told her the amazing news, Natalie just “cried hysterically,” Cristina said. “She actually wanted to go to Georgia to pick him up, but the ride back was too long.”

A long leash
Natalie’s father, Jorge, and older brother, Nick, flew down to Georgia to pick up Rocco and drove the dog back home in a rental car.

“I was so choked up when I saw him,” Nick said. “It was a very nice moment, just to see him. He was doing well. He looked well-kept.”

Randy Durrence, supervisor at Liberty County, Ga., Animal Control, said Rocco had only a cut under his left eye and a spot behind one ear to show for his years on the road when he was brought in by someone who found him at a local military base. After the dog was scanned for a microchip, which Durrence says is “normal procedure,” he gladly made the call to the Villacis household.

“[Jorge] said he had been missing for five years,” Durrence said. “My understanding is that [Natalie] ran off into the bathroom and started crying right away. She is a real animal lover.”

How Rocco actually got all the way to Georgia from New York remains a mystery.

“Somebody must have taken him there; I honestly don’t think he walked there,” Cristina said with a laugh. “It’s OK, as long as we have him back.”

Durrence said no one came to claim the dog before the Villacis family, and that no one called to report this type of dog missing. But whoever it was that looked after Rocco over five long years has the lifelong gratitude of a little girl in Queens.

“Too bad we couldn’t meet them or see them,” Natalie said wistfully.

Source; The Web News

Why is it that my heart is so touched whenever I meet a dog lost in our noisy streets? Why do I feel such anguished pity when I see one of these creatures coming and going, sniffing everyone, frightened, despairing of even finding its master? I have a great dog. She’s half lab, half pit bull and good combination. Sure, she might bite off my leg, but she’ll bring it back. Dogs are lousy poker players. When they get a good hand they wag their tails. Time is running out go and Vote now.. Join the fight against animal cruelty and give a thumbs up at http://bloginterviewer.com/animals/dogcents-ruth each vote you give and you can vote every day towards this worthy cause to help towards buying food and giving shelter to these dogs who deserve better You can make a difference by voting.

Who said Dog’s can’t fly?