January 2008
'It' Has Feelings →
“Excuse me! Did you call me ‘it’?! I’m a he, thank you very much, and my name is Clyde. Mr. Clyde to you!”
Long ago, in my previous life, I was a linguist and one of my areas of interest was sexism in the English language. Of course, all the “male chauvinists” pooh-poohed this as a non-problem, but I knew they were wrong. In my research, I had found...
Invisible Fencing, Visible Pain →
Ellie (right): “Don’t tase me, bro!”
A few days ago, I was lying in bed and little foster Chihuahua Theresa jumped up on the bed to join me for the night. As I reached out my hand to her and she went to sniff my fingertip, she got zapped with static electricity! The next thing I knew, she was huddled on the couch in the living room, shivering, and she has not been back up on the...
Pushing along…
http://tinyurl.com/2xh8db
When Jogging Loses Its Joy →
Seamus: “Uncle! Please can we rest for a minute?”
The following is a guest post by my energetic friend and coworker Alex. So here I am in the City of Angels, and as far as I’m concerned, they mean the City of Furry Angels. I didn’t know Los Angelinos were so dog-crazy! Everywhere I go, I’m seeing humans with their dogs, and more often than not I’m seeing sweet,...
Foreclosing on Fido →
Hold onto your dogs―no matter what!
As always, current events have an impact on animals, but who hears about it? Thankfully, Mary Umberger of the Chicago Tribune thought to investigate the subprime mortgage debacle’s effect on companion animals. What she uncovered is far worse than people’s actual financial troubles, and she spells out all the sordid details in an article that was...
Canine Racism →
It’s not Ty’s fault that he’s a purebred.
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. What an inspiring and insightful visionary he was! With his intelligence and charisma and sheer perseverance, he was able to make a huge difference in furthering the cause of civil rights and in fighting racism. And while all right thinkers continue to oppose racist attitudes and practices, there is...
My Dog Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student →
Louie the thinker
The following is a guest post by my dog-trainer friend, Amanda. “What a smart dog!” “She looks like she knows everything.” “She understands English, doesn’t she?” Random strangers make comments like this about my beagle mix, Louie, on a regular basis. Louie knows lots of words and phrases. She’s very alert and aware of her...
Mind Your Own Business! →
Hera: “Poop rules!”
Or rather, mind your dog’s business. I’m starting to get pretty disgusted with all the dog poop that I’m seeing on the beach in the morning when I take my dogs there to run. Sure, it’s possible not to notice it occasionally when your dog does his or her business. And for that reason, I pick up everyone else’s poop just in case my dogs...
My Dog Lied to Me! →
Darby: “A little white lie now and then never hurt anybody.”
Foster Chihuahua Sarah was just getting the hang of the idea that when you eliminate outside, you get a treat, and when you do it inside, you don’t. So we were out on a walk, and since she’s not the marking type, she wasn’t getting a whole lot of treats, whereas her colleagues Theresa and Sophia were...
Empathy Deficit Disorder →
Boris: “Can’t you feel my pain?”
Yesterday, I had yet another long argument about crating. But this time, it was with an intelligent person whom I greatly admire and respect, so it was very disheartening for me. I was shocked that she came out with some of the same lame excuses for putting dogs in crates that I’ve heard from other people—mainly relating to convenience and...
Exploiting 'Man's Best Friend' →
An assistance dog’s work is never done.
Last week, I ran across two articles on the same day about canine assistance programs (for people) that use dogs who were actually bred for that purpose. One article was about Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and the other one was about a police-dog training academy in the U.K. It just boggles my mind that when millions of perfectly healthy, young, and...
'Chains Shall We Break' →
January is ‘Unchain a Dog Month.’ Words can’t adequately describe the abject suffering of a lonely, intensely frustrated chained dog. Have a look: Patches
‘Nuff said. Please help unchain a dog this month and every month. Find out how you (yes, you!) can get a chaining ordinance passed in your community Get a “Friends Don’t Chain Friends” T-shirt and bumper...
That 'Helen Keller' Moment →
Sitting pretty! Theresa, Sophia, and Sarah have found the key to understanding what those wacky humans are always talking about.
Today we had a big breakthrough. This is the day that all three of my foster Chihuahuas learned how to sit on cue! What an exciting moment! Suddenly, a line of communication opened up between us that hadn’t been there before. It was as exciting for them as it was...
In Sickness and in Health →
Snoopy ponders some of life’s tough questions, like “Who am I?” Dogs need mental stimulation too.
Ugh. I’m sick today and have been under the weather for a few days now. I rarely get sick, but when I do, it’s usually a doozy, so I’m going back to bed as soon as I write this. Bad timing, because it’s cold and windy outside, too, and I just can’t...
Now, I know, hard work *really* pays
