ohmidog!

 
Thanks to your votes, ohmidog! has climbed into the top ten “misfit” blogs in Maryland.

In just a day’s time — after I learned about the “Mobbie” awards, and informed you, dear readers, about them — we rose from No. 23 to No. 9.

That, of course, made me want to be No. 1 — that and the fact that I used to write a similar blog for the Baltimore Sun, which is sponsoring the competition. I thought winning could serve as one of those  “how do you like me now?” moments.

Suddenly, beating out the Baltimore Sewing Examiner wasn’t enough, and I set my sites (sights?) on the current top vote-getter, You Don’t Say,  written by another Sun alum, John E. McIntyre, aka the grammar Nazi.

The fact that the winner gets 50,000 “impressions”  was not a big incentive for me since I’m not even sure what those are. I wanted to win for reasons of ego alone.

Anyway, I was all geared up to lobby for a Mobbie — to urge you to vote and vote again for ohmidog! here before the contest ends tomorrow — until this morning when I saw and posted the video below on Baxter, the therapy dog.

If you, too, need some perspective, scroll on down to the next entry (or, if you’re not on our main page, click on the ohmidog! logo above to get to the main page and then scroll on down) and watch Baxter in action.

Then, once you’ve witnessed the true meaning of selflessness, and the tears have dried up  … Vote for me! Vote for me! Vote for me!

(Photo: My dog Ace takes pen in mouth — but just ever so briefly so I could take a picture. Then it was taken away and placed where he couldn’t reach it. By John Woestendiek, potential Mobbie award winner, if enough people go here and vote.)

You can learn more about Baxter and the book here.

The Pennslyvania Department of Agriculture has revoked the kennel license of CC Pets, a Lancaster County puppy broker with a history of violations under its previous name.

Once known as Puppy Love, the kennel, owned by Joyce and Raymond Stoltzfus, has been the subject of investigations and lawsuits for at least 20 years, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

CC Pets sold more than 2,000 puppies last year, making it one of the state’s highest-volume dog dealers.

In 2000, the kennel was fined $35,000 by the state for selling sick puppies and misinforming buyers about the health or breeding qualities of the animals. In 2001, kennel owner Joyce Stoltzfus was cited for practicing veterinary medicine without a license. In 2005, the kennel was the subject of a consumer fraud settlement stemming from a lawsuit filed on behalf of 171 customers in seven states.

One of the agreement’s conditions was that Stoltzfus, had to identify herself and the business correctly to customers rather than use an alias. Her failure to comply with that condition led to the license revocation, officials said.