Suffering from depression? Get a pet. That’s what the latest common wisdom would suggest. But taking the furry creature cure is not just iffy for the depression sufferer; it could also be harmful to the pet. I began contemplating this topic because of an op-ed in Wednesday’s New York Times by Hal Herzog titled “Fido’s…
Pet Adoption Videos That Don’t Make Me Want to Kill Myself, Part 3
I’m a fairly lazy TV watcher — so lazy that I don’t even bother to change the channel when the ads come on. I have a laptop near me and just check emails, look at Facebook, Twitter, etc. during commercial breaks. Sometimes — and here’s where I’m proof that TIVO hasn’t entirely destroyed the free-enterprise…
Frankie’s New Year’s Resolutions
I’ve discovered that Frankie has a pet name for me: She Who Must Obey Me. For obvious reasons. The human behavior modification program has been going pretty well, from his perspective, but even a master trainer needs to refresh his skills periodically. I caught Frankie scribbling down these resolutions for the new year: 1. I…
Ten Favorite Posts I Wrote in 2010…
… plus one semi-gratuitous guilty pleasure video Put out a challenge, take up a challenge. Yesterday, when Amy at GoPetFriendly.com and I were throwing down the gauntlet to pet bloggers to think and write about their blogs on January 10, Dr V. of Pawcurious was asking bloggers to choose their top 10 favorite posts of…
Take the Pet Blogger Challenge!
‘Tis the season for retrospectives, reflections, resolutions and other “re” words that describe paying uncharacteristically close attention to our lives. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago in Also Bullied By My Blog, my pal Amy Burkert at GoPetfriendly.com and I decided it would be useful — and we hoped, fun — to look…
Bootlegged!
I woke up yesterday to several Google alerts for Am I Boring My Dog. That usually makes me very happy, because it means that someone has been paying attention to my book, via a review, perhaps, or a reference in a blog post. Yesterday the news was not good. Turns out that Am I Boring…
And a Yappy New Year!
The Taj Mahal, the Mona Lisa & Greyhound Racing
My blog is not only a guilt-free zone, but also a disturbing animal picture-free zone. Abuse depictions get me upset in a debilitating way rather than moving me to take action. Which doesn’t help any dogs. Or me. I try to focus on the happy results of rescue rather than on the conditions that may…
Is My Dog Boring Me Contest: Two more winners!
When I feel bullied by my blog, our relationship often benefits from a bit of distance, not necessarily from the blog itself but from a particular issue. That was the case with the Is My Dog Boring Me contest. It was a cat — a cat! — who reminded me to trust my instincts. Mr.…
Anderson Cooper, Michael Vick & the Kackle Dackle
Anderson Cooper’s segment on CNN about why Michael Vick shouldn’t have a dog is the best thing I’ve seen in any medium on the topic, hands down. Update Note: The above embedded version of the Anderson Cooper segment, just added, is thanks to dog trainer, blogger (at DogSpelledForward.com), and code monkey par excellent, Eric Goebelbecker.…