Support Our Youth

We continued to have occasional snow flurries throughout the day yesterday, and it didn't get much warmer than 28 degrees.  We are supposed to have a high in the low 50s today - and it was already 30 degrees at 8 o'clock this morning.  The forecast also says we'll get another 2 to 3 inches of snow tomorrow, so I guess I'd better get some more nuts for the squirrels this afternoon.  I let the kits run out this morning, and was very surprised when they were chased back inside by a large (50 to 75 pounds) black dog.  The dog tried to come inside, and I had to yell at it to get it to stop.  Since then, Lovey has been playing sentinel on the top of the cat tree, and poor Nedi crawled under the cover on the reading chair and is curled up asleep in the seat. I also found two large piles of dog poop on my patio, so I am not a very happy camper today.  -  I completely understand that dogs have a tendency to chase cats they don't know;  I'm unhappy about my patio being used as a toilet.  I will suppose that the dog that chased the cats is the same one that pooped on the patio, and also barked at me when I looked out of the curtains last night, when I arrived home.  I've sent a note to the apartment manager asking if he knows anything about the dog...  I have the feeling it belongs to the girlfriend of one of two neighbors.
  Now that I've gotten my morning snarl off my chest, I wanted to list a few URLs that might be of interest to people who love animals...  If you have children and want them to learn about animals and their care, I suggest you contact your local 4-H office (http://www.4-h.org/) and discover what programs are available in your area; the same suggestion goes for the Future Farmers of America Organization (https://www.ffa.org/Pages/default.aspx).  I belonged to both of these organizations (as well as the Brownies and Girl Scouts) and can say that I learned a heck of a lot about all types of animals and the the incredibly hard work that goes into being a farmer.
  If you'd like information about dog shows (purebred) in Colorado, please visit:  http://www.infodog.com/panels/co.htm
   For information regarding cat shows, there are two places to check:  http://www.catshows.us/   and   http://ticamembers.org/calendar/
   For local horse show information, check:  http://www.horsestop.net/shows.htm
And don't forget that both County and State Fairs usually include livestock judging, pet shows, and horse shows....
   Look them up, visit them, and support our youth that are interested in farming, livestock, horses and all types of animals!