February 2009 Archives

Cowboy and Tess met Tripod this morning, the three-legged dog rescued by San Pedro businessman Herb Zimmer several years ago.

Tripod was a puppy when Zimmer came upon her being teased by a group of kids in Banning Park in Wilmington. He and his wife, Arlene, have long been active in community causes -- and they have a special heart for animals.

Tripod is something of a mascot at Herb's business, Priority One Printing at 350 W. Fifth St. in San Pedro, accompanying his master to work every day.

After I'd picked up some information I needed for a story early this morning at Herb's shop, I snapped these pictures of Tripod as I left. Cowboy and Tess got to come inside and the three got along pretty well -- except when Tripod tried to come on to Cowboy, that is. Cowboy found Tripod quite fetching as well, but it all brought out the snippiness in Tess, who considers Cowboy to be "her" guy, after all.

Stop in and say hi to Tripod if you need some printing work done -- or even if you don't. She's a very special pooch.

I received this email today from Lisa Petrich, who sells real estate in San Pedro; it was sent to her by another agent:

We have a puppy that was placed in a shopping cart early this morning in front of the CVS in Hawthorne and the person pushed the cart towards some employees and ran away.  This puppy needs a home.  I cannot keep him.  He is adorable! If someone would like to pick him up, please call me soon, as I need to find him a home right away. He looks like he could have a little lab in him and he is a light cream colored.  He looked hungry when they brought him here at 6:00 this morning so I gave him cheerios! Sorry, don't have any dog food on hand. So I called him "Cheerio" and believe it or not, he listens!  I hope someone can take him. Please call my home number 310.371.2503  or my cell 310.480.2786.

This article is kinda dry. But the pictures are amazing. Basically, it's a fish with a cranium you can see right through.

Here, see for yourself, then go look at more.

Wow, who could have guessed that our Jan. 22 post about Cookie and Coco, two San Fernando Valley-L.A. area Labrador retrievers needing a new home, would have caused such a stir?

For whatever reason, the post wound up catching fire and being passed on throughout the country via emails, bringing out offers of homes but also arousing suspicion that the whole thing must be some kind of a hoax.

Soon, the South Bay Pets Blog was getting comments flooding in from all over the place.

"My local shelter told me that this email is going around and is a hoax," wrote E. Chasen on one of our comment threads. "I received it this afternoon and it said that the dogs were in Maine."

"I just got this email yesterday from a coworker and Cookie and Coco are now from Massachusetts and still looking for a home," wrote Kathy, another commenter, on Feb 12. "Isn't the Internet a wonderful place?"

We received comments from North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Washington state, Pennsylvania and even Canada and Wales.

Most felt this was some kind of hoax.

Although I'd received the original information from a friend in San Diego -- whom I trusted completely and who had received the notice from "friends of a friend" of the family -- I began to wonder also if we'd been "had." Was the story about Cookie and Coco legit? Or was the original story somehow being twisted and morphing into an urban legend?

Kristin Coronado, features editor for the Washington Post, also began to wonder.

She'd heard the buzz on that side of the country and emailed my original source, Jim Harvey, and me asking us for some background.

"It's such a compelling story, I'd love to share it with our readers," she wrote.

And that she did.

Sure they're cute in their little monkey suspenders, but chimps are amazingly strong.

And as sadly demonstrated a few weeks ago whe a chimp nearly mauled a woman to death, they can be nasty.

But exactly how strong are they? Figures range from five to eight times stronger than human, a figure which doesn't really make sense when held up to scrutiny. I mean, yeah, sure, they're that much stronger than me, but I sit at a desk all day long and the only thing I ever lift are potato chips.

An interesting article in Slate magazine examines the issue. Yes, they're stronger than the strongest human, but not THAT strong.

A chimp on four legs can easily outrun a world-class human sprinter. But it sounds extreme to suggest that humans are only an eighth as strong as chimpanzees. Consider that a large human can bench-press 250 pounds. If the "five to eight times" figure were true, that would make a large chimpanzee capable of bench-pressing 1 ton. It's just the sort of factoid the zoo staff might tell you to keep you from knocking on the glass.

Photo from Slate.com 

Certain writers of this blog who shall remain nameless were apparently taken in by the whole Portuguese Water Dog hysteria that has swept the nation ever since it was reported that the Obamas have finally decided that's the dog they're getting.

But like all stories coming out of Washington, this one involves backpeddling.

According to the Los Angeles Times pet blog, which you should never read because I don't like competition, the Obamas are wiggling out of their earlier commitment.

The first lady's press secretary, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, threw cold water on the report today, saying that a decision on the breed of dog had not been made.

"They have not selected a breed," Lelyveld said. "Mrs. Obama likes the Portuguese water dog, but she is only one of four votes."

SpcaLA is holding a low-cost vaccine and microchip clinic this Saturday in Hawthorne.

These are both vital procedures for pets. The vaccines obviously keep them healthy. And, if you're lucky, you'll never need the microchip, they help create peace of mind. Knowing that a lost animal has a way to find its way back to you is truly a wonder of modern technology.

Here's the press release I got:

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) will hold a Low Cost Vaccine & Microchip Clinic on Saturday, February 28, 2009 from 10am to 2pm at the South Bay Pet Adoption Center (12910 Yukon Ave. Hawthorne, CA) to ensure Southern California families put their best paw forward to keep pets healthy and secure.  
     "By hosting low cost vaccine and microchipping clinics, spcaLA is offering a helping hand to pet owners during these difficult economic times," said spcaLA President, Madeline Bernstein.   "It's important to keep your pets current on vaccinations and to have them microchipped.  Preventing common illnesses can potentially save you hundreds of dollars in costly veterinary treatments."
     Should the unthinkable happen and your pet goes missing, having a microchip will allow for a quicker reunion, which will save you and local shelters housing and boarding fees.  In addition, getting your dog vaccinated for rabies at the clinic will fulfill your obligation under state law.
     Each procedure includes a complimentary Ask the Vet session with Dr. Karen "Doc" Halligan, DVM, author of What Every Pet Owner Should Know, and judge on Animal Planet's hit show "Groomer Has It."
     The clinic will offer rabies vaccinations and microchipping for cats and dogs; DHPP and Bordatella vaccinations for dogs; and FVRCP and Leukemia vaccinations for cats.  The fee for microchips at the clinic is $25 for cats and dogs.  Rabies vaccinations are $5 for cats and dogs.  DHPP, FVRCP and Leukemia vaccinations are $15 and Bordatella vaccinations are $10.
      The City of Hawthorne Animal Care Services will be on hand to administer pet licenses for pet owners in the community.
   

Lisa Hirschmann is the newest writer in the stable of Daily Breeze reporters. I use the word "stable" only because this is a blog about animals, not because I think of reporters as being a bunch of, oh, say, jackasses.

As both of this blog's longtime readers know, I always try to post pictures of our staff's pets. Lisa has a shih tzu named Lulu. (Say that five times really fast)

Here are a couple of pix of the fuzzy puppy. Looks like Lulu is in need of a belly rub. I'm not sure what Lulu is cuddling in the bottom pic. Could it be a platypus?

So here it is: The First Family has decided on a Portuguese water dog. Just like Fernando who goes to our dog park. !  Go Fernando!   (He's the one sitting alone in the photo above, my dog Tess is under the bench). Good choice. They seem to be great dogs.

First Lady Michelle Obama told People magazine that her family has decided to adopt a Portuguese water dog, pointing to the breed's medium-sized and good-natured reputation. The breed is also hypoallergenic -- a must, given daughter Malia's allergy to dogs.

The first lady said her daughters will have to wait until the end of April to get the dog, since her family is planning on going away for Spring Break.

The only thing left to pick is the name, and Mrs. Obama said she is not a fan of her daughters' choices.

"There are names floating around and they're bad," Mrs. Obama said in the interview. "You listen and you go - like, I think, Frank was one of them. Frank! Moose was another one of them. Moose. I said, well, what if the dog isn't a moose? Moose. I'm like, no, come on, let's work with the names a little bit."

 

You can read more about the breed on the AKC Web site and also here at another dog breed site. And PetPlace also has some good info on the dogs. (Does the White House have a swimming pool?) They're described as friendly and active with webbed feet, making them terrific swimmers.

So now what to name the First Dog?

Some suggestions I kind of like (some are mine, others came from elsewhere) include: Liberty. Patriot. Freedom. Justice. Change. Hope. Bailout.

Or how about DOTUS (a take-off on POTUS, President of the United States)? I kind of like that one, though I'm sorry to say I didn't think of it. (Someone also suggested FIDOTUS, but that might a bit cumbersome to call).

They could also go for a water or fishing name -- or look to Portugal, to reflect the dog's origins. Like Fernando! I love Fernando.

Anyway, we'd really like to hear what you think about a name, so send them in via comments or emails and we'll post them.  

General guidelines say that a dog's name should be easy to pronounce and probably should end in a vowel sound since pets hear those sounds better. Nicknames for dogs usually wind up that way anyhow. (So Patriot might wind up Patty, Justice could end up being Justy, DOTUS would probably morph into Dody or Dodo, etc.) It should be something with no more than 2 syllables, or so the expert namers say.  

They say you should always make sure whatever name you pick is something that won't embarrass you when calling out the dog's name in public, of course.

Oh, the suspense, the pressing issues of our day.

   .

WEST PALM BEACH -- Of mice and men, there are tales aplenty at the Palm Beach County Courthouse.

Mice falling from ceiling tiles, scuttling down corridors, munching papers and potato chips - so many sightings that some staffers check their handbags for stowaways before leaving the building each day.

Lannis Waters/The Post Circuit Judge Krista Marx keeps this trap at her feet in the courtroom. Lannis Waters/The Post Facilities Manager Robert Zuppinger said he's put out 20 or 30 traps, little boxes with a sticky board inside the mice get marooned upon.

Last week, a mouse scampered around a courtroom in the midst of a burglary trial. Circuit Judge Krista Marx contained her yelps as the critter roamed for an hour. Thank goodness the verdict ended up being a not guilty, she said.

"I know if it had been guilty, they would have said the jury was distracted and we want a new trial," Marx said.

There's an infestation, Marx said. But she's armed: a mousetrap is now right at the judge's feet.

Seven floors down from Marx's courtroom, case manager Jill Mitchell bangs the walls of her cubicle each day before entering to let the mice know she's there. Curiously, they passed on the Snickers on Mitchell's desk and gnawed away on paper instead.

"I no longer leave files out. I'm afraid they'll get eaten," Mitchell said.

There are sightings in the law library on the ground floor, usually around 3 p.m. Scratching can be heard behind press room walls. Traffic homicide prosecutor Ellen Roberts, in the state attorney's office building across the street, has one she nicknamed "Moses."

In the county's Victim Services office on the fifth floor, employees found one dead in a hallway last week and saw others running around.

"They're so cute," said Nancy Dixon, head of the office. "We like to put a positive spin on our mice."

Socks, who was born in 1989, was put to sleep about 10 a.m. at Three Notch Veterinary Clinic in Hollywood, Maryland, said veterinary assistant Rae Dera. Veterinarians say he was probably either 19 or 20 years old.

The cat had been losing weight since November and had been treated at the clinic, Dera said. He had been suffering from a cancer in his mouth and jaw.

Since the Clintons left the White House in 2001, Socks had lived with Betty Currie, former President Bill Clinton's secretary. The Clintons were known to have visited Socks, and Currie, when in Washington.

He had been a stray and was adopted by Chelsea Clinton, the Clintons' daughter, when Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas.

"Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere," Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement released by the William J. Clinton Foundation. "We're grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years."

Horse nutrition will be the featured topic at the Empty Saddle Club on Thursday Feb. 19.

All are welcome.

From the e-mail I received:

Dont miss this informative evening when our speakers will discuss good nutrition for the young horse, the competing horse and the senior equine.  They will present products that can make your horse look like a show horse all the time, introduce fish oil and its many great qualities (I thought horses were herbifores?) and scientifically proven feed to keep your horses engine running at maximum performance levels (that is if you need it). You will enjoy a DVD presentation on nutrition. And a great time for questions and answers from the experts.  Come join us!  PS Triple Crown provided the feed for our US Olympic Team.

The Empty Saddle Club is located at 39 Empty Saddle Road, Rolling Hills Estates. For more info, call 310-377-9059

So here are the numbers from last weekend's special Valentine's Day adoption event  at the Harbor Area Animal Shelter in San Pedro. Adopted over the 2-day event were: 

• 30 dogs
• 21 cats
• 6 rabbits
• 1 rat   

Thanks to Herb Zimmer of Priority One Printing  and Wellington Signs, both in San Pedro, for chipping in: Herb donated fliers for the event and Wellington donated a colorful banner. And thanks especially to all those who provided homes for some homeless animals (yeah, even the rat -- ewww).

But the work isn't done.

The shelter is still in need of volunteer dog walkers, expert computer help for marketing, and financial donations to the non-profit, shelter support group Pedro Pet Pals.

The shelter is hoping to increase visitor numbers and, of course, adoptions.

Of immediate concern is a girl named Frenchy, a Sharpei/pitbull mix who has special needs and is desperately in need of a caring home. Frenchy is almost bald as a result of non-contagrious dermatitis and needs someone who will understand and nurture her.

From Nicky at the shelter:

She's totally goofy, not a great beauty, and if you sit on the floor with her, she leaps into your lap (all 35 lbs of her) and her nose shoots up behind your neck and you get a big bear hug -- and there she stays until you peel her off you! She's remarkable, very unusual, extremely sweet and desperately in need of the perfect home, preferably as an only dog, I think.

*(The velcro action sounds so much like my border collie Tess; she's on top of my head and all over me before I know it whenever I invite her up on the couch; still trying to work on that.)

This photo, by the way, doesn't do Frenchy justice, I'm told:

The Peninsula Friends of the Library book sale will feature new books about horses. (There will also be books about Indians, gardening, Shaker furniture and the Civil War, but, hey this is a pet blog; we don't care about that)

It will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Malaga Cove Library, 2400 Via Campesina in Palos Verdes Estates.

For info, call 310-377-9584, ext. 553.

If you're mean to your dog, he's going to be mean right back at you. And if you're nice to your pup, chances are pretty good, he'll be nice in return.

That's what U.S. researchers have discovered, but it seems fairly self evident to me.

Treats and exercise are the keys to a well-mannered dog. My dog goes through about two boxes of Milk Bones a day and is walked so often that strangers in my neighborhood wave at me as I pass their houses.

"Nationwide, the No. 1 reason why dog owners take their pet to a veterinary behaviorist is to manage aggressive behavior," lead author Meghan Herron of the University of Pennsylvania said in a statement.

"Our study demonstrated that many confrontational training methods -- staring down dogs, striking them or intimidating them -- does little to correct improper behavior and can elicit aggressive responses."

The study also discovered some pretty alarming things. Now it's true that I've growled at my dog, but only when we're playing and he's play growling back at me.

The researchers found 43 percent hit or kick a dog, 41 percent "growled" at a dog, 39 percent physically force the release of an item from a dog's mouth, 31 percent "alpha roll" -- rolling the dog onto its back and holding it, 30 percent "stare at or stare down" a dog and 26 percent grab dog by jowls and shake. All of these techniques may provoke fearful or defensively aggressive behavior, Herron said. 

For real -- $20 veterinarian visit vouchers being offered online (click our link) by Bayer HealthCare. Available from Feb. 16-28.

Log in between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. eastern time for your chance at one, they're giving 80 vouchers per hour.

The site also features money-saving pet care tips.

Sure, we all think it'd be cool to have a pet monkey, but it's one of those ideas that's probably left in the realm of fantasy.

It's a hard lesson to learn, but one that a lady in Connecticut learned this week when her pet chimp nearly killed her.

The animal weighed 200 pounds, so maybe the trick is to get smaller monkeys.

The story ends badly for the chimp.

NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Police shot and killed a 200-pound (90-kg) chimpanzee that had once starred in television commercials after the ape nearly killed its owner's friend and attacked a police cruiser.

The victim, Charla Nash, 55, was in very critical condition from the biting and mauling attack on Monday, said Captain Richard Conklin, a spokesman for police in Stamford, Connecticut, a New York City suburb. Her injuries were life threatening, he said on Tuesday.

Owner Sandra Herold, 70, tried to stop her rampaging pet, Travis, by stabbing him with a butcher knife and hitting him with a shovel but the chimpanzee fended off the attack and then stormed a police car that had responded to the scene, Conklin said.

 

Interested in getting some professional shots of your dog?

MacroMutt is a new Web site set up to link dog owners to dog photographers in their region of the country. Here's one for an L.A. area photographer, Jules Bianchi.

The paws? Those belong to "Olive."

HT: Barkability

I heard about this over the weekend from someone at the dog park -- iPhone now as an off-leash dog park locator as one of its free "apps" you can download. Great for those who travel with their dogs. Also available through the iTunes App Store.

It works with your phone's GPS to tell you where the closest dog parks are, wherever you and your best friend happen to roam.

Backstage at the the 2009 Westminster show.

Photo: Chris McGrath, Getty Images

HT: The Pet Blog

He's officially now an outlaw.

You've got to admire the innovative spirit out there among dog owners.

Now there's a little gadget called "Port-A-Poo."

Tired of carrying full bags of poop along with you when walking your dog(s)? This gizmo attaches to your leash and is designed to carry the, a-hem, used bags so you don't have to. And they come in red, pink, blue, black and purple, with more colors to come.

They'e available online and also at a retailer called Ginger Pup Lane, 4201 Long Beach Blvd., Suite 420, Long Beach (562) 595-8151.

A program on PBS at 8 p.m. tonight addresses the issue of Why We Love Cats and Dogs.:

Why We Love Cats and Dogs
Introduction

For this Seattle cat, photography is his medium, a gift from his "parents" -- filmmakers Michael and Deirdre Cross, who gave him a very small and light digital camera that hung from his collar one day a week for a year.

It was programmed to take a picture every two minutes.They wanted the answer to a question many pet lovers have asked themselves: What does he do all day?

He came back with thousands of answers -- 16 of which are framed and on display at the Urban Light Studios in the Greenwood Collective.

Not just kittens, but KITTENS!