The Top Pets Blogs of 2007: June – December

We started out with a list of the Top Blogs from January through May. To conclude the Year in Review of the Top Pets Blogs, here’s the last six months of the year. June 2007 Top Blogs Adopt-a-Shelter Cat Month Starts Today: How to Participate Moose’s Special New Trick The Trouble With Walking Two Dogs Life Without a Fence Moose’s Bad Luck Continues Murphy, Kitty, and Tabby’s Dilemma: What to Get Wayne for Father’s Day? Fitting a Harness Moose Update: He’s Healing and We’re All Adjusting Animal Movies = Torture: How I Fared Through Evan Almighty July 2007 Top Blogs … Continue reading

Moose and Lally’s New Year’s Resolutions

With 2008 just a few days away, the dogs and I sat down to work on our New Year’s resolutions. Moose’s New Years Resolutions Moose resolves to stay out of traffic. For the rest of his life. He’s been pretty good since he got hit by a car back in June, but sometimes in the apartment complex parking lot, he has a bad habit of straying into the middle of the road between spots. Moose resolves to lose more weight. When we moved west in May, Moose weighed more than 100 pounds. His ideal weight is closer to 75. Slowly … Continue reading

Moose and the Collar Trick

Before Moose got hit by a car back in June, I was lamenting his collar trick. You see, Moose has a big head — most German shepherds have a narrow skull, but Moose is crossed with something that has a big, square skull. (The vet suggested a pit bull or a rottweiler.) He’s also got a big neck and lots of thick fur. All that adds up to trouble for me and Moose and the collar. As much as I tighten the collar, he can still somehow slip out of it. The diameter of his neck must be bigger than … Continue reading

Moose’s Newest Bad Habit

Oh… my special boy dog. We’ve been through a lot since we left New Jersey: his late night escape from the hotel room as we drove cross country, an attack at the dog park, learning to slip out of his collar, and getting hit by a car and losing his tail. Now Moose has developed a new bad habit: snacking on animal droppings. Yes, my special boy has started eating poop. MUCH to my dismay and disgust. So why do dogs eat animal droppings? A dog’s taste buds aren’t as sensitive as human taste buds. The smell and the texture … Continue reading

The Pets Blog Week in Review for Jun 4-10

For the first full week of June, here’s what Aimee and myself covered in the Pets Blog. Monday, June 4 Moose has got a special new trick (slipping out of his collar) that’s giving Aimee fits –and potentially a heart attack. Apparently it’s not enough he just slips his collar, he also thinks Aimee chasing after him to get him hooked back up is a fun game. Tuesday, June 5 The Great Cat Rehabilitation Project made even further progress. I got my Mr. Meow shower buddy back. This is a big step! Aimee and crew have had to make a … Continue reading

Moose’s Special New Trick

My dog Moose is definitely NOT the stereotypical German shepherd. I’ve had little kids stop me and ask me if Moose is a police dog, and I have to laugh. He’s definitely not the smartest of dogs. Don’t get me wrong — Moose is a loveable, cuddly, goofball of a dog. He just doesn’t seem to have much in the brains department. For the first few weeks I had him, he didn’t answer to his name. (He came from the shelter named Coyote.) He’s not the best with obedience and basic commands, but he tries. Sort of. Alas, now that … Continue reading

Why We Never Leave Home Without Murph’s Choke Chain

Murph’s leash and choke chain Spring fever is most definitely in the air. Since we’ve had some spells of excellent walking-in-the-park or on longer-walks-through-the-neighborhood weather recently, Murph and I have been getting out more. So has everyone else. Inevitably we stop to chit chat. Sometimes with strangers, sometimes with people we already know. Some of these encounters are pleasant, some are not. Lately I’ve had two people on separate occasions comment about Murph’s choke chain. Mainly they’ve expressed unfavorable opinions about the use of them. “I think that is so cruel. Those things are so painful,” one lady said to … Continue reading

My Separation Anxiety

I haven’t been home to see my family in five months. Back in May, I took my dogs on a cross-country drive and relocated from New Jersey to Oregon. Now I’m going home. Some friends of mine are getting married, and I figured that was a good excuse to fly home for a long weekend. As my trip approaches, I find myself getting more and more nervous about leaving the dogs behind. This is the first time since I moved that Moose and Lally will be staying behind while I travel. When I still lived in New Jersey, I had … Continue reading

Moose’s Bad Luck Continues

On Friday morning, Moose did his patented head-twist and slipped himself free of his collar. Then he spotted a cat in the landscaping and took off. He ran through the bushes and out of my line of sight, towards a nearby side street. A moment later, I heard a loud yelp and Moose came limping back towards me. He got hit by a car. I didn’t see any open wounds, and he didn’t seem to have any broken bones, so we carefully walked back to the apartment and called the vet. They said I should bring him in to get … Continue reading

Life Without A Fence

I feel bad sometimes, that I took my dogs away from their big, fenced backyard at home in New Jersey. Here in Oregon, we have a lovely apartment, and the complex has lots of walking paths for us to explore. But I no longer have the luxury of opening the back door and letting the dogs out to romp and sniff and play in the yard. It takes some getting used to. I was definitely spoiled; Lally and I could play ball while Moose watched the neighborhood kids play and nobody had to worry about leashes. Now, unless we go … Continue reading