Dec. 1, 2024

Shelter Dogs See Christmas Lights, Squirrels Eat Them (5 Good News Christmas Stories)

Show Notes
Transcript

West Virginia shelter dogs get a magical night out seeing Christmas lights, with research showing these outings make adoption 5x more likely
The world's most depressing office Christmas tree goes viral on Reddit
Berlin's 100+ Christmas markets offer something for everyone, from rainbow pierogi to moose goulash
Twisted Sister's Mark "The Animal" Mendoza releases new Christmas single with Marla Adler
The case of the vanishing Christmas lights at Ritter Park is solved

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Callaroga Shark Media. Hey there, I'm Johnny Mack with five

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good news Christmas stories. Let me tell you about what's

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happening at a shelter in West Virginia. These shelter dogs

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are getting into the Christmas spirit in a big way.

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They got to go on a special field trip to

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see some Christmas lights. You know, getting out of the

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shelter can make a huge difference for these dogs. And

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we're not just saying that. There's actually some science behind it.

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A study from twenty twenty three found the dogs who

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get to go on these little outings are five times

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more likely to find a forever home than well the alternative.

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So when the Charleston Dirty Birds, that's the local minor

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league baseball team, reached out to Angie Gillenwater at the

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Kanawa Charleston Humane Association about bringing some dogs to their

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pet Friendly night, she was all over it. You see,

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every year they turned their baseball field into this winter

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wonderland with Christmas lights everywhere. Now, so Angie had done

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this before last year, but this time these dogs had

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some pretty amazing reactions. Let me share what Angie told Newsweek.

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She said, many of our dogs had different reactions. Our

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senior dogs that attended, like Zeus and Mama Odie, tired

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out pretty easily, but noticeably love the lights. All dogs

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in attendance were very loose, wiggly, and visibly excited to

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be away from the shelter and out of their kennels.

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And here's something interesting. Back in twenty eighteen, some researchers

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found that just fifteen minutes of one on one attention

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could make a huge difference for a shelter dog. Well,

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these pups got way more than that. They got to

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play with other dogs and get attention from all the visitors.

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Angie said. All the dogs were friendly upon meeting other

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dogs owned by the public, as well as meeting members

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of the public. And get this, they had this one

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dog named Felix who was just so excited he couldn't

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stop barking the entire night. High energy doesn't begin to

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describe it now. Of course, they had to go back

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to the shelter eventually, But Angie's hoping for some Christmas magic,

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she said, Hopefully our dogs will be adopted and spend

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Christmas in a home. That is, of course the ideal scenario.

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If not, we try to make Christmas just a special

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and they really do. Throughout November and December, they collect

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donations of blankets, toys, and treats. They hang stockings on

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every kennel, and on Christmas morning, the staff comes in

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and make sure every single pet gets to open their stocking. Hey,

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there's still time before Christmas. Maybe a few of these

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good boys and girls will find their forever homes. Hey,

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this next one's pretty funny. You know how this time

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of year, office is everywhere getting decked out for Christmas. Well,

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one workplace is getting attention for having what might be

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the most depressing Christmas decorations ever. Someone on Reddit shared

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a photo their fiance sent them of their office Christmas setup,

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and I've got to tell you what the original poster wrote.

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They said, I think it's the most depressing thing I've

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ever seen. Now when I say decorations, I really mean decoration.

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It's singular. What we're talking about here is a tiny

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two foot Christmas tree. And get this, it's just sitting

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on top of the office fridge. No bobbles, nothing fancy,

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just a star on top and some fiber optic lights

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on the branch tips. And it's just sitting there under

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the air conditioner next to the fruit juice. Now the

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comments on this are great. One person tried to find

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the bright side, writing, ah, the lights look pretty cool

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at least. Then they shared their own sad tree story, saying,

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at my work, we just had someone's NaN's old fake

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tree in a corner of the workshop with no decorations whatsoever.

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Eventually we nabbed some tinsel from the office, along with

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a stuffed tigger dressed as an angel that we put

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on the top. Then we jazzed it up with some

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jubilee clips. Another person tried to be philosophical about it,

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writing less is more, you know what. Sometimes less isn't more,

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Sometimes less is just less. In Berlin, the Christmas markets

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are back and they are something special. More than one

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hundred of them are opening their doors this week and

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the whole city smells amazing, mulled wine, roasted almonds, hot

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bratwurst wafting through the air everywhere you go. Now, Berlin's

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really done something cool with these markets. You know how

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some traditions can get a little traditional. Logically, Berlin's taken

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this medieval tradition and giving it a modern twist. With

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almost forty percent of Berlin having immigrant roots, They've made

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sure there's something for everyone. There's this amazing Christmas avenue.

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It's all lit up in rainbow colors and they're serving

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these rainbow pierro gie. There's a Scandinavian market where they're

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selling moose goulash and reindeer salami. And if you're feeling adventurous,

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head over to the Humboldt Forum Christmas Market by the

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Spree River. They've got everything from Jamaican jerk chicken with

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cooked bananas, to Argentinian impanadas to Hungarian langos. That's an

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amazing deep fried flatbread. There's even a one day only

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Kinky Christmas Market in the Kreutzberg neighborhood. It's for people

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who think traditional markets are too overwhelmingly contemplative. I'll let

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your imagination run with that one. Hey, if you're looking

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for some different Christmas music this year, have I got

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something for you. Mark the Animal Mendoza, you know him

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the basis from Twisted Sister. He's just put out a

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new Christmas single with singer Marla Adler called I'm Your

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Christmas Present. Now, this isn't the first time Twisted Sister

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has done Christmas music back in two thousand and six

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put out this album called A Twisted Christmas. Here's something cool.

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You know they're huge hit. We're not gonna take it well.

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It was actually inspired by Oh come all you Faithful.

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He'd sing both in your head it works. Good news.

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They've solved the mystery of who's been messing with the

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Christmas lights at Ritter Park. You see, the Greater Huntington

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Park and Recreation District has been really stepping up their

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holiday game, adding more decorations and lights every year. But

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when they started wrapping lights around the trees, they ran

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into an unexpected problem. Scott Miller, he's their superintendent of

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Buildings and Grounds, and I love this detail. He's known

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to occasionally rock a white beard himself. He said, I

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guess it's a form of vandalism. The vandals in question squirrels.

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Squirrels have developed a taste for Christmas lights. Miller said.

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The squirrels started chewing through some of the strands. We're

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not quite sure why they're doing it. I think they're

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just curious, it's something they're not used to seeing, or

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maybe Christmas lights are tasty. I've never eaten one. Kat Michaels,

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who lives nearby said, I hope they don't get fed.

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Probably just get a little zap and run away. Miller

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says no squirrels have been hurt. They think the squirrels

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are smart enough to do their snacking during the day

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when the lights are off. Those are your five Good

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News Christmas stories for today. If you enjoyed the program,

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tell a friend about it. They might like it too.

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Have a great day.