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Service Dogs Can Help Children Avoid Allergens

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It can be really frightening for parents of children who have severe, life threatening, allergies to send their child to school, the park, or even the grocery store. Its impossible to know, without a doubt, that the environment will be free from the allergens that your child reacts to. Fortunately, specially trained guide dogs can help sniff out allergens, before your child has a bad allergic reaction. In general, people tend to understand why a person who is blind, or visually impaired, would benefit from having a guide dog. Most people realize that, in many ways, the dog is acting … Continue reading →

Pet Horoscopes: What’s Your Pet’s Sign?

I find astrology really interesting. I know some people would argue it’s evil because it goes against the teachings of their religions. I have no idea whether it’s bad or not. I just know astrology predates many of those religions and that even presidents as recent as Ronald Reagan have consulted astrologers to guide them in their daily affairs. I also don’t know if there really is something to the way the stars and planets are lined up that affect us, but I have noticed a couple of things. One, when it’s a full moon people do tend to act … Continue reading →

Sleuths and Guide Dogs: The Many “Eyes” of Joani Ascher, Part I

Author and Seeing Eye puppy raiser, Joani Ascher “Eyes” seem to be a theme when it comes to Joani Ascher, author of the Wally Morris Mystery series from Avalon Books. For one, she spends many a day crafting intrigue for her character, Wally (who, don’t let the name fool you, is a woman), to become entangled with. Wally’s not a private eye exactly, but she’s definitely a crime-solving sleuth of sorts. For another, Ms. Ascher raises Seeing Eye puppies. I asked her if she’d have time to spare from her writing and puppy duties to answer a few questions. To … Continue reading →

Cats and Dogs: Is It Raining Or What?

Can cats and dogs get along with each other or is that just a myth that belongs on the books with old wives, leprechauns and Santa Claus? All evidence (non scientific, of course), points to the fact that not only can cats and dogs co-exist happily but that more often than not, they do. Some pet owners claim that if both animals are young when introduced to each other, fewer problems with interaction occur. Others state doggedly (forgive pun) that for optimum results, the dog should be brought into the household before the cat. Still other sources scream vice versa. … Continue reading →

Dog Food Grade: Purina One Healthy Weight Formula

My Moose monster is currently on a diet of Purina One: Healthy Weight Formula in hopes of controlling his ever-expanding girth. I’m curious to see how his food falls on the dog food grading scale. Start with a score of 100. Easy enough. Here are the ingredients: Turkey, brewers rice, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, corn bran, whole grain corn, whole grain wheat, oat meal, non-fat yogurt, animal fat, animal digest, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, l-lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, … Continue reading →

Happy Valentines Day

It’s that time once again, Single Awareness Day, known to most people as Valentine’s Day. If you are single, you are very aware of this day. Even at work today when I called a client he wished me a Happy Valentine’s Day before we got off the phone. Ahhh, love is in the air. Except at my house, I am happily single but this is still a fun holiday that we can share with our kids. I think it’s important to establish traditions that your children will remember and will give them a sense of home no matter where they … Continue reading →

Back-to-School Blues

Will someone please tell me where I can purchase a Scooby-Doo backpack that’s not pink and doesn’t feature wheels? I’ve spent the past two weeks driving to nearly a dozen stores and scouring the Internet for my daughter’s dream backpack. The stores are a dead end and the online resources say they have the bag in stock, but when I click to order, all I get is an error message. What the… Heaven forbid the kid show up for the first day of second grade without an animated Great Dane on her back. Adding to my back-to-school blues is the … Continue reading →

Mommy Crushes

Grown women go gaga over 16-year-old pop star Justin Bieber… there’s just something inherently wrong with that scenario. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Did you see the episode of “Saturday Night Live” where Tina Fey played a high school teacher smitten with a student played by Bieber? “I don’t know whether I want to marry him or put him in a stroller and push him around the mall,’’ Fey’s character ponders in a dreamy baby girl voice-over. So much for motherhood being connected with adulthood… and completely disconnected to youth culture. These days moms are getting … Continue reading →

What to Know Before you Fly with Fido—Part 2

Did you know that more than a half a million dogs and cats are transported on commercial airlines each year? And according to the Air Transport Association, 99% of the animals reach their destinations without incident. (Not bad, unless your pet was part of that one percent.) In my previous blog I provided facts to consider before you take to the skies with your beloved furry friends domestically. If you are flying internationally check out El Al Israel Airlines, it was the first international airline to introduce a frequent flyer plan with its Points for Pets program in 2001. The … Continue reading →

PBS Games

I couldn’t let National Literacy Month pass without talking about the very fun PBS site for kids. PBS games are fun, colorful, easy to play, and educational. Many support reading skills. There are so many games for so many ages that I can’t list them all. Here though, are a few of my favorites. In Global Gizmo, under the Arthur Section, the player matches pairs of musical instruments from around the world. When you click on the pictures you hear what the instruments sound like. There is a link that explains where the instruments come from. Some are familiar like … Continue reading →