Pets on my Mind

  So, do you agree or disagree about my pet column today? I'm curious. I really want to know what the benefit would be to my dog to disturb his routine and make him come sit under my desk or behave around all these strangers and other dogs if my office was open to this.

What are your thoughts? Here are my dogs in their normal positions. Asleep. Either on the bed or if the spirit moves them, they will lumber to the sofa or maybe go out the dog door and sit in my glider for a bit, just for a change of scenery. They've been on a 4-mile walk this morning, like every morning, and now it's nap time. Even on Saturdays and Sundays when I'm home, their routine is the same. They may follow me outside, but they will be napping most of the day.

They are happy in their creature comforts. They like their routine. What about your pets? Would they thrive in one day at your office? Would you get any work done? I wouldn't. For me, it would be like putting a 5-year-old in a toy store and telling them to focus on their book. I would spend the whole day petting, getting kisses and listening to pet stories. I would. I wouldn't be able to pay myself. So while the newspaper pays me to write about animals, I don't think they would put playing with animals in my job description.

After all the tears and sadness surrounding Bruiser the pit bull, I needed some happy pictures to get me out of my funk. Here they are: 3 angels that my friend Joan is fostering for the Memphis Shelby County Humane Society.

Their mom gave birth to 4 and was bleeding. One of the pups was having trouble too, but the owner didn't take them to the vet. Mom and pup died. These pups were brought to the humane society when they were 1 day old. The humane society happened to receive a nursing mom (Miley) without pups so they put these with her and she took care of them.

The brown pup is Montana. The little girl, the black and white one, is Hannah, and the black one with rottie markings is Cyrus. They will be ready to be adopted at the Humane Society in probably 4 or 5 weeks. If you're interested, visit the humane society and fill out an application.

The Mutts cartoon today by Patrick McDonnell could have been about Bruiser. It's on page M8 of Saturday's paper.

• A group of people are meeting at 2:15 Sunday at the Central Library on Poplar to talk about Bruiser's Law, one they hope will give our anti-cruelty laws some stronger teeth.
• The Memphis Animal Coalition, a group that formed to look at issues regarding the Memphis animal Shelter will be meeting there at 3:30 p.m.

Hi,

I forgot to post a comment and a picture of the talking kitty for you to leave some replies. I've had several emails. I will include them below.

***

I have the same problem with my cat Rusty.  Rusty was stepped on when he was very tiny and nearly died;  then he had a bad reaction to his vaccines, and there was a some brain damage from it.  He seems to be more "cognizant" now but this cat has meowed more, and LOUDER, than any cat I've ever had before.  I live in an open floorplan with cathedral ceilings and he seems to love to hear his voice, at the top of it's volume, where it echos off the walls and ceiling.  When I first moved, he meowed the entire night ... never stopping.  He can drive you crazy in a very short time!!  Sometimes it's as though he's searching for me.  He meows louder and louder until I say "Rusty, what is your problem!!".  Then he will come find me .. and then start it all over again.   And the meow is not a pleasant, sweet "mew" type.  It's a loud, demanding "murrrr-roooow" ... over and over.  So if you readers know of anything that will help stifle his vocal renditions, I would greatly appreciate their advice!!    Otherwise, he's a loving, sweet kitty so I don't want to give him away.  (Besides, I don't think I could do that to my worst enemy!)

Barbara J. Robertson

 ***

She needs to give her kitty something to do while she is at work.  Put bird feeders outside of a window and place an ottoman or perch for her viewing pleasure.  Or get a covered aquarium and some fish for kitty's entertainment.  When she comes home from work, the first thing she should do is ask Maggie May, "What did you do today?" and give her the undivided attention she wants for at least 20 or 30 minutes.  She should also make it a habit to have snuggle time together at the same time each night, maybe just reading a book with her kitty snuggled in her lap.  But, if her kitty is a Siamese like mine, she should probably just invest in a good set of ear plugs.

Mary Jane Pike

***

There are several possibilities:
  1. The cat could still be insecure and wanting
reassurance that she is loved and has her forever
home. That might die down after she figures that out.
  2. The cat may be hungry for attention and has
figured out that when she demands attention she gets
it. That solution is different: she needs to be
ignored, other than necessary attention, until she
stops constantly demanding attention and figures out
she WILL get love and attention.
  3. And most likely; she may have Oriental/Siamese in
her background. This you can't do much about; the
oriental breeds are very chatty. is she marked like a
siamese (darker feet, tail and mask)? Does she have
blue eyes? All you can do is ignore her when you're in
the middle of something, or teach her the command
"Shoo!" (or scat) and get used to it.
  I reserve comment on her unfortunate name.....but if
possible, I'd like to see a good photo of her....
Cheryl Dare

***

For the reader with the very vocal cat:   I actually watched a PBS show on cats called "Wild" with our son last week...it talked about cats and meowing and said that scientists believe that cats should not be vocal on a daily basis; they are vocal if they are hurting, in need of something, etc.  So she may want to take the cat to the vet.  Another possibility is that the cat is part Siamese...although they don't meow as much as "talk."From Aimee McMillin

Please tell me what plants and ground cover are durable in a multi-dog household I'm about to do some landscaping and add a path. I was going to put thyme between the stones, but my friend said her dogs trampling killed it all. What have you found to be hardy, to withstand foot prints and dog's urinating?

Someone suggested hollyberry because they won't go near the sticker leaves. What else?

Tell me about your beagles. How can you keep them in your yard. I'm having a heck of a time with a digging beagle. She is making me miserable because she keeps tunneling escape hatches. Suggestions

I am so excited about Uno's win at Westminster. Was there ever a dog more adorable than that beagle? Beagles are the every man dog. Everyone has a beagle story somewhere. They are the most compliant, happy little dogs. I'm so glad he beat out those poodles and that terrier. They always win. I feel like dogs that are groomed to look a certain way aren't as superior as a natural coat that's just brushed and fresh.

I'm worried that the high-profile of Uno will make people rush out and buy beagles. They are one of the breeds that are mistreated in this world. Many of them live their lives in hutches and spend their lives breeding pups for their owners to sell to rabbit and squirrel hunters. There's a man who lives in my parent's old neighborhood who keeps beagles in hutches. If I could go over there and buy out his stock, I would. Of course, he'd just get more that would have to adjust to this miserable life.

 Before anyone rushes out to get a beagle, do some homework on them. They are adorable, make great family pets, but they are notorious escape artists. They are scent hounds and will do anything to get out of a yard if they get on the scent of anything prey, another dog, you name it. My beagle has driven me crazy with that. My yard looks like a fortress. She is constantly looking for ways to escape.

 But when she's with us, her little butt just wiggles when you call her name, which we rarely do. Mostly, we just say "beagle, beagle beagle!" and she comes running. I've heard from friends that all her dogs answer to "beagle." Her real name is Meggie. Okay, it's Meg Ryan but we call her Meggie when we aren't calling her beagle.

She snuggles in our bed at night, usually behind the knees of either me or my husband. She wakes up every morning happy and goes to my other two dogs and tucks her head under their chins and loves on them. I never expected to own a beagle but here I am, cheering my breed at Westminster. I can't get enough of Uno. The best in show!

Tell me your beagle stories. What did you think of Westminster?

No animals were harmed during the Super Bowl on Sunday

 During the big game Sunday, Americans were treated to more than a dozen commercials featuring animals ranging from household pets like dogs, to lemurs.  And while these ads placed many an animal in outrageous and comical situations, most advertisers made sure safety representatives from the American Humane’s Film & TV Unit were on hand to ensure that no animals were ever in danger.

The number of spots monitored by American Humane represented what is believed to be the most ever for Super Bowl-bound commercials. In every ad American Humane monitored, the advertiser succeeded in earning the “No Animals Were Harmed” credit.

Here's a copy of the bill: It says it's a crime to own a pit bull. While it may not say a ban, it says it's a crime to own one. Symantics, but it seems like a ban to me: I just read on the Tennessee General assembly that the bill has been withdrawn. Animal lovers need to keep a watch to make sure it doesn't manifest in some other form. Here is the original form: