COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • JUNE 27, 2018 • 5
A
Pet tips
‘N’ tales
Local youth collects cans to help orphans
By Mary Ellen
“Angel Scribe”
Don’t Be a Chicken!
T
ootsie, an eight-year-old Boston Terrier, commands
attention at the dog park. Everyone stops and stares
at the sight of her casually strolling around with a
rubber chicken dangling from her mouth.
Her latest rubber chicken is a “hockey player” chicken, which
is appropriate because her pet parent, Heather’s family lives and
plays ice hockey.
“Whenever we go to the dog park, Tootsie insists on taking
her rubber chicken,” said Heather, "and carries it the entire
time. She has a rather odd collection of rubber chickens, be-
cause they become headless minutes aft er receiving a new one.
She routinely decapitates the newest toy, takes the squeaker out
and declares it ready for the dog park. Our dog has never met
a real live chicken, but if she did, she would probably run like a
chicken in the opposite direction.”
Tootsie is curious and smart and she adoringly tilts her head
in an understanding way when we talk to her. Her ears spin like
radars when we say “go” or “beach” as she runs to get a carry-
a-long chicken.
“We have to keep a supply of rubber chickens in both of our
family vehicles.” said Heather. “One time, when we arrived at
the dog park we discovered that we were chickenless! Tootsie
fl ipped out barking in an anxiety attack because we broke her
routine. She had nothing to carry in her mouth. What a traves-
ty! She acted up and chased the other dogs, so I made her get
back in the car and go home.“
Not unheard of, Tootsie purr-furs people food. When there is
none on her horizon she reluctantly goes over to her bowl and
picks up one piece of kibble at a time, before spitting it out on
the fl oor. She will only eat the rejected food once she realizes
that no people food is obliging her by falling like autumn leaves
off the table.
C/O CHRESTMAN FAMILY
Second-grader Jude Chrestman raised more than $250 for an orphanage in India as part of his pursuit of generosity.
When Jude Chrestman
started the second grade at
ACE Charter School in Cot-
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
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tage Grove, he was given a list
of character traits and asked
to choose one.
It’s part of the curriculum
at ACE, a hybrid of charter
and home schooling, that
asks students to focus on one
character trait per year and
build a project around their
chosen trait.
Jude chose generosity and
spent the year learning about
the aspects of the trait — and
collecting cans.
“He decided to collect
cans and then donate them
to an orphanage we already
support,” his mother, Tara
Chrestman said. Th e orphan-
age, Send Hope, is located in
India, was founded in 1989
and has 20 locations around
India, helping children aff ect-
ed by HIV/AIDS. Send Hope
provides medication as well
as education, working to in-
crease literacy.
On Friday, June 15, Jude
gave a presentation to his
class about generosity and re-
vealed he had raised $253.60.
“He did go out and collect
the cans,” Tara said, noting
that the family lived near the
lake and ventured out to col-
lect cans. “Or, he’d say, ‘Stop
the car, I see a can!’ and we’d
pull over on the side of the
road,” she said. Jude also so-
licited can donations from
family, friends and his moth-
er’s co-workers. When he was
done, he packed his cans up,
processed them at the bottle
drop in Springfi eld and wrote
a thank you note to every per-
son who had donated cans to
his cause.
“He didn’t expect anything
in return,” his mother said.
“He gave freely and that’s how
he showed his generosity.”
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Tootsie's odd dog fetish is rubber chickens
Tootsie is also a discerning eater. She went through a phase
of waiting until cheese, left overs or gravy was sprinkled on her
food. Th en she’d gently licked the sprinkled food off the kibble
and eat the kibble for dessert.
Th e dog sleeps beside Heather, under the covers, but that can
fast become an unpleasant experience because of the “Toot-
sie-toots.”
“We impulsively bought Tootsie from a pet store,” confess-
es Heather. “It’s something good dog owners, like us, know we
shouldn’t do. Two days later, at her obligatory vet visit, the vet
told us that our puppy had juvenile cataracts. He suggested we
return the pup, that we had all fallen in love with, to the store
and get our money back. I asked, ‘Th en what will happen to
her’ and the vet said, ‘Th e store will return her to the breeder.’
Probably not a good fate for Toots. So that was that, we were
keeping her. As the months rolled by, she became blind so we
took her to a veterinary ophthalmologist who purr-formed cat-
aract surgery on her. It improved her vision!”
Heather said she must confess that they bought Tootsie on
a whim, but she was worth the wild moment for all the joy and
humor she has gift ed our family.
A second chicken encounter comes from Bea, my favorite
94-year-old Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales fan. Bea shared that prior to her
marriage, her date and her went to the race track stables to say
“Hi” to the horses.
“One horse was kicking his stall, whinnying and carrying
on,“ said Bea. “I asked the trainer, ‘What is wrong with your
horse?’
Th e trainer responded, “He won’t calm down until we put his
buddy in his stall with him.”
With that the trainer walked to the truck, reached in, and
pulled out a fl uff y white chicken. “He walked the live bird over
to the horse’s pen and put it in with the horse. Before you could
snap your fi ngers, the race horse became as happy as a scream-
ing baby handed his favorite blanket,” said Bea.
TIPS:
Don’t be a chicken, rescue your purr-fect pet from a pet shel-
ter.
Share your fun, amazing or crazing pet tips and tales at an-
gelscribe@msn.com or Follow Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/PetTipsandTales. Adopt loving pets online at
www.PetFinder.com. For spay or neutering, call the Humane So-
ciety at 541-942-2789.
