Every few months (or weeks) we get an animal postcard from our veterinarian saying it’s time to bring in one of our dogs or cats for a check-up or shots - you probably get these reminders, too.

With our busy lifestyle, these postcards save me the time or worry of trying to keep up with which of our pets need to visit the vet - the vet keeps track of everything and lets all his patients’ families know when they need to schedule an appointment by mailing them adorable postcards that make the vet look caring and professional.

Actually, there are such a huge variety of animal postcards that almost any business could use these to send out reminders or advertisements - horses, fish, zebras, dogs, cats, pigs, cows, birds, pandas, tigers, etc. - there is probably a postcard for your business.

This is a paid review, but the postcards are very well done and attractive, and much cheaper to mail than a first class envelope, so that I have no misgivings about promoting this product. Our pets’ veterinarian, our daughter’s dentist, and our heating/air conditioning company all use postcards to remind us that we need to make an appointment.

With the bad economy, businesses need to promote themselves more than ever, and postcards are an inexpensive way to do it - and by using decorative, amusing, and interesting designs on the postcard, almost any business can get the recipient to take a second glance at their ad. It’s that second glance that will increase the likelihood that person will remember that company name when they need a vet, plumber, or whatever service your business is providing.

Our neighborhood is a popular spot for people to drop their dogs off when the dogs are no longer wanted. I have a feeling some of the people simply can’t afford the dogs any more, but that’s no excuse. Why not take the dogs to the animal shelter, where they will be safe from coyotes and get fed?

Last year we took in one stray, a young American Bull Dog. Our next door neighbor took in 2 dogs, a chihuahua and a small terrier. There were other strays we saw but who wouldn’t allow us to get close to them.

It’s always so sad to see a dog roaming the neighborhood, dirty, hungry, looking for their owner.

A second dog we took in is a Weimaraner whose owners decided they needed to find another home for her. They had planned to breed her, but their daughter couldn’t play in their backyard because the dog was too wild, and the dog kept jumping the fence into our yard to play with our American Bull Dog. So they offered her to us so the two dogs could be together.

The two dogs are best friends. Because they are so big (about 55 pounds and 80 pounds each) it’s like having two elephants playing in the backyard. Thankfully, when they are in the house they are fairly quiet and spend most of the time sleeping.

Weimaraners are great guard dogs, watch dogs, companion dogs, and hunters. She’s already caught several rats, a couple of pigeons, and almost got a duck that happened to fly into our yard. She’s very beautiful, and incredibly fast.

A couple of warnings about Weimaraners - they will go after smaller animals like pet rabbits, cats and birds unless they are socialized with them at a young age. They love to be inside with the family (they were bred to be companion dogs) but need plenty of exercise.

If you have the time to take your dog on a couple of walks each day, want a dog that wants to be with you, and have time to train a strong-willed dog, a Weimaraner is a great dog breed to have.

We like to think that our pets are kind to animals, and usually they are. But yesterday we witnessed four dogs, who are usually very docile and tame, attack 3 goats in our neighbor’s backyard pen.

Three of the dogs (2 pugs and a boxer) belong to the family who owns the goats, the 4th dog (a german shepherd) was obviously a pet (he had a collar and license), but somehow got into their backyard and into the goat pen, along with the 3 family dogs. From that moment, they behaved like a pack of vicious wild dogs.

My sister heard the goats crying and went to investigate (our backyard is up against the goat pen). She saw the 4 dogs attacking the medium-sized goat, who was crying, and the smallest goat lying dead-like on the ground. My mom hopped the fence, got the pugs and the german shepherd out of the goat pen, and went to tell the neighbors.

Thankfully, the goats were all okay and survived. The medium-sized goat had some damage to one ear, but that was all. The littlest goat was apparently in shock and had no cuts.

Neither we nor the neighbor had ever seen the black german shepherd before, and I don’t know what became of him after my mom got him out of the goat pen.

I guess the point I’m making here is that even docile, obedient dogs can go crazy in a pack and attack any defenseless animal. The pugs and the boxer are normally not vicious at all, but they went after the goats as if they were killers.

I’m sure it was the german shepherd’s idea to break into the goat pen and go after the goats, and the pugs and boxer followed. After all, the pugs and boxer have always ignored the goats, until yesterday.

So there are at least 2 lessons - don’t let your dogs roam the neighborhood where they might go after other animals (as the german shepherd did), and make sure your animals (if you have goats, rabbits, chickens, or whatever) are safely locked up in a secure area.

We experienced something similar a few years ago when our hen hatched 3 chicks. The chihuahua we were fostering and our cocker spaniel worked together to kill all three chicks when they were about 4-5 months old. The spaniel would chase a chick until it tired, then the chihuahua would go in for the kill.

Our spaniel had always ignored our chickens, rabbit, and all the wild animals on our property. We had no idea he would go after the growing chicks. But when the chihuahua came, they formed a pack and found it fun to chase and kill the chicks who were almost full grown.

We now have 3 more chicks, and even though the chihuahua is not with us any more, we are going to be careful to keep them separate from the dogs.

Last December a surgeon found that my older brother has a cancerous tumor. Our lives were drastically changed overnight.

The chemotherapy is shrinking the tumor, and the doctors say everything is going better than expected. But it requires a lot of time spent at the hospital and lots of doctor visits. One thing we have had to do is simplify our lives to make time for my brother’s medical needs.

With 4 dogs, 7 cats, a rabbit, chickens, and smaller pets, it hasn’t been easy to be gone as much as we have been. Here’s what we have done:

1. When I need to go stay with my aunt (for choir practice and to help teach a Sunday school class), I take the oldest dog with me. She is 15, and requires a lot of extra care. That frees my mom up to spend those days with my brother at the hospital.

2. We freed one room for the 2 cats who had been living in my brother’s room. He isn’t allowed to have any pets in his room until the treatments are all finished. So those 2 cats now live in the TV room.

3. I have had to start taking care of the chickens (my brother used to). When I am going to be gone for several days (to my aunt’s house) I fill the chicken’s food and water containers so my mom doesn’t have to worry about the chickens while I’m gone.

4. We had been fostering an elderly collie, who we all enjoyed, but he required a lot of extra care. We had to let him go to another home. It was hard to say good-bye, but it was something we really needed to do.

Now when I’m gone for a couple of days each week, or counseling at a camp for Easter week, my mom has less pets to take care of, and the ones left are fairly easy to care for.

If you ever have to simplify your life, for whatever reason, try to find temporary homes for your pets rather than sending them to the animal shelter. You probably know people who would rather help you out (people are very willing to help someone going through a difficulty) than see your pets end up at the shelter.

When my brother was diagnosed with cancer, lots of our friends and family offered to help any way they could. If you know someone going through a tough time, perhaps you can help them in some way. It really makes a difference.