If you did not pick this up from Joanna’s blog, you should read it and keep this link in an easy to locate place. It’s a scientific paper on why we do not need to spay and neuter puppies as early in their lives as possible and, indeed all the reason we should not. The article was published by the Canine Health Foundation.
This is my last weekend to get all my office work done and to pack for nationals and to straighten the house and pick up the yard so my housesitter doesn’t run screaming into the night –but guess what happened. Murphy has moved in with me. Last night I noticed the refrigerator and top freezer were not as cold as I thought they should be. I woke up at 2:30 this morning pondering on the problem (or maybe hearing the rain and wind beating on my bedroom window). I think new refrigerators cost a lot of money — like maybe all the cash that was going with me to Topeka, and maybe more. Geez, Louise!
So at the earliest decent hour, I called my brother who is a licensed refrigeration and HVAC guru. Says I, “Marc, you need to come over right away. My refrigerator isn’t cooling the way it should and I’m going out of town Tuesday.” Says the Guru, “You still have those dogs?” Me, “Of course.” Says the Guru, “Take the grill of the front of the refrigerator and look underneath.” So I did, and it is full of dog hair. Apparently the refrigerator sucks the dog hair up into the coils and, eventually, it blocks the air flow. First it simply makes the refrigerator less efficient, but finally it prevents it from exchanging air and it can’t cool anymore. Since I’ve not yet blown up the compressor, I’m going to spend the next few hours lying on the kitchen floor with my shop vac and a stiff paint brush getting all the Cardi hair from the coils. Guru says, “Unplug the refrigerator or at least turn the cooling regulators to off before you do this.” Thanks, little brother!