BObama visits MV

so glad to know they took Bo along

Martha's Vineyard is a terrific place for dogs

if they had "asked me"


I would have told them to take him to Lambert's Cove

our favorite beach!

Dog Days of August

Edward M Kennedy loved his Portuguese Water Dog, Splash, more than he loved maintaining senatorial decorum.









The Senator brought Splash to work about once a week along with a tennis racket to hit balls for him to retrieve.

He even inspired his dog to write

My Senator And Me: A Dog's Eye View Of Washington, D.C.,
a book on the political process for ages 4-8.

The book "not only takes readers through a full day in the Senator's life, but also explains how a bill becomes a law."

what a great idea!


Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy 2. 22. 1932 – 8. 25. 2009

fun with Squirrelizer!

(click on image for larger view)


Squirrelavatar Generator:
http://bit.ly/za0TV

the Peril of Puppies online

“Buying a puppy online is probably the worst thing you can do when looking for a new pet,” said Kelli Ohrtman, Best Friends’ Puppies Aren’t Products Campaign Specialist.

“While I completely understand how adorable puppies’ photos are on the Internet, we caution people never to go this route. Breeders selling online are often not regulated by anyone depending on what state they’re in, and it’s a way for breeders to cater to customers who will never see the conditions they keep their dogs in.”

Best Friends was involved in a puppy mill case last year where a West Virginia breeder with 973 dogs was shut down. She sold puppies almost exclusively on the Internet. To read about the case, click here.

Many thousands of puppies are sold over the Internet each year. Approximately 20 percent of the sick puppy complaints that the Humane Society of the United States received last year involved Internet transactions. In these cases, people either ordered their puppy over the Internet or dealt with a seller whose ad they found on the Internet. Of all the sick puppy complaints received (Internet, pet store and otherwise), about 20 percent involved pups who died.



“Puppy sales on the Internet are not regulated,” said Ohrtman. “Customers don’t have the same protections with online sales as they do even buying from a pet store, and we know that those protections, lemon laws and such, aren’t enough to ensure the best for puppies or customers.”

A Win-Win Alternative
An important fact to remember for people who want only a purebred dog is that approximately 25% of dogs in shelters are purebreds. If you look for a purebred Chihuahua on Petfinder.com, for example, you'll find thousands of Chihuahuas looking for homes, like Agape, a female Chihuahua available for adoption.


In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of wonderful dogs in shelters, waiting for homes. Before you buy a dog, please consider opening your heart and home to a shelter dog. Besides finding a friend for life, you will know that your dog adoption will help decrease demand for puppy mill dogs and help to end the terrible suffering of dogs kept in puppy mills.

credit is due II

Happy Birthday, O

just do your best, sweetie
























Barack Hussein Obama
was born on August 4, 1961
in Honolulu, Hawaii, our 50th state
(for the mentally challenged)

Al's first bill is spot on!

Freshman Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced his first legislative initiative on Monday

-- a bill to provide service dogs to wounded veterans.

Franken wrote an op-ed in the Star Tribune on Saturday describing how an encounter with an Iraq veteran and his service dog, Tuesday, inspired the bill.

Service dogs are of "immense benefit to vets suffering from physical and emotional wounds," the newly-seated senator said, and they could even "reduce the alarming suicide rate among veterans."

Franken wrote that it costs about "$20,000 to train a service dog and another $5,000 to place the dog with the veteran." The bill he proposes would make that price more affordable for veterans themselves.

"Frankly, I believe it is enough simply to improve the lives of those of whom we asked so much," he explained.

"But this program isn't just the right thing to do. It's the smart thing to do. This is win, win, win, win."

doggone it, it is smart!