February 2009 Archives

The big news is that we went to the East Valley Animal Shelter over the weekend and, with the considerable help of Valentine's weekend discounts, came home with a dog for the cost of the license.

Her name is Poppy (yes, we picked it), and she's a 3-year-old, already-spayed 15-pound Chihuahua mix. We think there's some Jack Russell terrier in there, since she's fairly curious and has been using her nose and paws to open doors in the house.

Of course, after leaving the shelter only $17 poorer, with dog in hand (holding even a 15-pound dog in front of you for an hour or more can really mess up your upper back, I'll tell you), we hit both Petco and Target, which got the rest of our money.

Poppy has been doing fairly well. She's housebroken, loves that expensive Dick Van Patten dog food and this morning sneaked onto the couch when I wasn't looking.

Related:

• Ilene's Poppy post

Update: Click here for KCBS/KCAL video of Dan and Van Nuys vet Dr. Michael Pitt

Above: Veternarian Dr. Michael Pitt rubs Dan, a german shepherd who spent 2 tours to Iraq as a bomb sniffing dog and is now under the care of Dr. Pitt at Mid Valley Veternarian. (Tina Burch/Staff Photographer)

Dennis McCarthy's Monday column on veterinarian Michael Pitt saving the lives of German shepherds serving in our military, including one named Dan who sniffed for bombs in Iraq, really hits home for me.

And not just because we used to have a German shepherd mix (Notorious D.O.G., aka Dogstoevsky).

Dr. Pitt used to be our vet at Beverly Oaks Animal Hospital in Sherman Oaks. One day he was there, the next not. I never did know what happened to him. Now I do: He's at Mid Valley Veterinary Hospital in Van Nuys.

He was always great with D.O.G. and my mom's dogs, too, and if I happened to have a pet that needed veterinary care, I recommend him very highly. (Prince Philip the fish, who Ilene is trying to rid of fin rot, hasn't needed any office visits — if they even do that with fish.)

From Dennis' column:

"His trainer at the academy called about three months ago and told me about Dan's war record, his injury, and that he was going to be put to sleep," said Dr. Michael Pitt, veterinarian at Mid Valley Veterinary Hospital in Van Nuys.

Pitt and his wife, Dinna, had already rescued another dog from the academy - Rex, a Belgian Malinois. Rex had washed out of military training because of an injury.

The Pitts flew to San Antonio, rented a van and drove Rex - who now lives with them - two days cross country back to Van Nuys.

"It was like Rex knew they were going to put him to sleep," Dinna Pitt said Monday. "He was living in a cage, and when we walked in, he ran out to the van and jumped in like he knew what was going on.

"For two days' driving, he didn't make a peep. I think he wanted to be good so we wouldn't take him back."

The Pitts would never have taken Rex back, and they were not about to let a war hero like Dan be put to sleep.

"This dog risked his life for you and me," Dinna says. "He deserves better."

I've been brewing my own lately — Trader Joe's Bay Blend at the office, Nescafe Clasico instant (because it's cheaper!) at home.

But today I swung into the Organic to Go outlet at the Daily News' now-not-so-new office-park location for a cup of what used to be very good coffee.

No longer. Worthless and weak.

I tried both "blends," House and Peru, in my self-service cup, and it's easy to see what the problem is.

They're not putting enough ground coffee in the filter, and the result is brown, tasteless water.

Don't pull this streetcorner s&%# on me. Not that I can afford to purchase individual coffees day in and day out (remember where I'm working, and in what dying industry), so it's probably not much of a loss for Organic to Go that I won't be subjecting myself to this under-caffeinated travesty.

That and my robust supply of Starbucks gift cards.

Luckily my co-worker Jason Kandel just produced a fresh can of Bay Blend, which when made under the right conditions is better than Starbucks.

Remember this, Organic to Go: There are greater sins, there are lesser sins. But bad coffee is just bad business.