WHEN IS a game not just a game? When it is something you are paid to play! This may sound fike the back of a cheesy “No Fear" T-shirt, but it’s not. It's just reality... well only if you are a professional athlete. Unless you've been in a coma for the past few months or are just plain illiterate, you will have noticed that there was no Major League Baseball season Cad dditdhd this year. This event will go down in major- league baseball history as being the first time since 1904. 89 consecutive years, that there hasn’t been a world series. Who's to blame for this you may ask? Well, depending on your views of this situation, either the game’s many professional players, or the Major League Baseball owners. The Jeague’s players went on strike because the team owners are . PET CLINIC by Dr. Jef Grognet and Dr. Louise Janes Hip Dysplasia and What Do | Do if My Old Dog is Deaf Q: My with hip dysplasia, what is it? Dr. G: Dogs can suffer from a deformity of their hip ed hip dysplasia. It causes crippling joints cal 3-year-old Shepherd has been diagnosed retrained to hand signals instead of words. The dog must be taught to watch his owner at all times. Beanbags can be used to train a dog to pay attention to his owner. When the dog turns away arthritis primarily in dogs that weigh over 40 pounds. Hip dysplasia simply means that the hip joints (One ore bath) are loose. |n time, these excessivly mobile joints become arthritic. Not all dogs with dysplasia show signs of pain. Only 1 in 4 have obvious symptoms. Hip dysplasia is a serious concern because it is a heritable disease. Dogs with hip dysplasia should not be used for breeding. If a dog has hip arthritis, medical and surgical treatments can be used to provide pain relief. These will ‘ improve the dog's lifestyle and his longevity. Q: My dog seems to be deaf, can he be helped? Or. d: Many dogs jose their hearing as they get older. Even dogs with complete hearing loss cope very well because their other senses can compensate. The deaf dog must, however, be from the owner, a beanbag is tossed at the dog ‘s feet. The owner then walks away, signaling the dog to follow. In time, the owner can try walking awa before tossing the beanbag. When the dog follows or 6 times in a row without tossing a beanbag, the session is ended, Training sessions should ‘be a maximum of 15 minutes, and should be repeated 2 or 3 times daily. The dog is then trained in a more distracting environment such as a busy park. Pebbles can be used in place of beanbags for a refresher course. By devoting a little time to training, owners can ensura that deaf dogs enjoy a happy and safe life. Hearing aids are not currently available for dogs, though they were made at ‘one time. Unfortunately, they tended to fall out and the dogs ate them. ° BECAUSE OF the strikes in baseball and hockey, sports fans have had litle to watch. Who is to blame for this, and who suffers? Do you think the players make too much money? Do you think the owners are trying to make too much money off the games? 980-KiD> bidat insisting on a salary cap and the players say that they will never accept one. With the league's aver- age salary at around $700,000, | think a salary cap is a long time in the making. As of writing this article, it locks like there won't be any National Hockey League (NHL) games this year either. That means that there might not be a Stanely Cup this year. Whether or net you care that there was no baseball season and there is no hockey season, I don't know. {t doesn’t really matter that much to me, although I did jump on the Canuck bandwagon during the playoffs last year. 1 think that the real question is: “Should professional athletes really be paid the enormous salaries that See Athletes page 55 Howe Sound Pet Services Ltd. Complete Grooming & Boarding Service * Complete professional dog grooming ° Top class boarding facilities ® Unique U-Wash ® Innovative pet-check FOR MORE CALL 299-2000 Ou Not vedi with era me aN Ee RE ND. HIGHLAND ANIMAL HOSPITAL SEYMOUR ANIMAL CARE CLINIC and ANIMAL HOUSECALL PRACTICE take great pleasure in “ANNOUNCING” Dr. Sandy Lepitre . has joined our health cere team loving temale, 1 yr. young adults, spayed & neutered 2 1/2 tbs., neutered Dr. Lepitre, a resident of Deep Cove, DORIS ORR DORIS ORR DORIS ORR brings 15 years of clinical ~ . a experience and care. Pure bred Himelayan Yorkshire Terrier grey & white OFFICE HOURS: H.A.H.-M,T,W,F 8-7pm Thurs. 8-8pm Mion. - Sun. Sat. 8-5pm A.H.P.- By appoiatraent 985-0454 929-7367 New Clients Weicomed S.A.C.C. - New appointments 7 days a week Chin-Strap short haired calico 9 yrs. JOY PURSER Collie/Shepherd X spayed, 2 yrs. PETS LTD Boxer,Lab X neutered male PETS LTD.