Well… Jennifer Hildreth and I thought it would be a good idea to see if Cooper (her cat) and Cubbie would get along. Both are very playful, so I guess we thought they’d beat the odds when it comes to dogs and cats getting along and they would want to play with each other. We were wrong.

Cooper wasn’t scared of Cubbie, but he certainly didn’t like him. Cubbie charged into Jennifer’s house and Cooper immediately hissed and became a puff ball of hair. I don’t think he relaxed the whole time Cubbie was there.

Cubbie attempted to go up to Cooper, but Cooper wasn’t having it. Cubs then proceeded to explore the rest of the house. The whole time, Cooper would peek his head out to watch what Cubbie was doing. At one point Cubbie went downstairs, and when he tried to come back up Cooper was sitting on the stairs. Cubbers approached and Cooper swatted (good thing he’s declawed). Cubbie actually went back down the stairs. I’ve never seen him retreat from a cat before!

Once Cubbie got back upstairs he began whining and making a high pitched bark at Cooper. That bark is his “come on, let’s play” bark. Cooper wasn’t having it.

Cubs would get as close as he thought was safe to Cooper, then he would lay on his belly and bark. When Cooper would hiss, Cubs ran in circles and eventually started the entire cycle over again.

Maybe if we’d introduced Cubbie and Cooper sooner things would have gone better. Cooper’s never been around a dog before. The whole time I felt he was saying, “Why did you bring this THING into my house? I don’t want to play with THIS.”

While Jennifer and I ate some supper Cubbie sat on a rug in the kitchen floor and Cooper sat on one of the kitchen chairs. Cooper stared at Cubbie and Cubbie would whine.

The goal was to wear them out. Cubbie was tired from exploring the house and trying to get Cooper to play (very unsuccessfully), and I think Cooper was tired from not being able to relax the whole time we were there!

So far, Cubbie is 0-3 when it comes to making friends with cats. But… I don’t think he’s ready to give up yet.

Posted under Cubbie stories

I just want to take a moment to say thanks.

Thanks for reading my blog, thanks for watching the Saturday morning pet segment and thanks for caring about animals.

Whenever Cubbie and I are out and about, whether it’s at an event like the Arthritis Walk or at the dog park or on a walk, I love it when people want to meet Cubbie and say hello to both of us.

A few nights ago Cubbie and I were on a walk, and we met a couple out walking their two dogs. One dog was eleven years old, the other was just a puppy. The puppy kept wanting to play with Cubs.

We had a nice chat, and I’m always very appreciative and thankful when people say they enjoy the weekend morning shows. It really means a lot to me because Jennifer Hildreth and I care a lot about the shows.

I think what I love most about talking with people is the reaction I get when they see Cubbie. Almost everyone says, “This is Cubbie! I love reading about him on your blog.” Cubbie doesn’t have the slightest clue that he’s a pretty well-known dog, but he certainly enjoys the attention!

Thanks again.

Posted under Cubbie stories

Friends of the Animals in Tipton could possibly close in the next couple of months.

The shelter needs more money to keep its doors open. IF the shelter is forced to close, the fate of the animals is up in the air. Friends of the Animals is a no-kill shelter, but if it closes and the animals aren’t adopted, some could be put to sleep.

You can read more about this story on KWWL’s website.

Posted under In the News

The Cedar Bend Humane Society in Waterloo and several other area shelters are hoping to win some money.

You can go to the Animal Rescue Site to vote for the $100,000 Shelter Challenge. I actually shop on the Animal Rescue Site. They have great pet jewelry and other products. Plus, purchases help buy food for animals in shelters.

Seventy-three grants will be awarded for a total of $100,000 to eligible Petfinder.com members.

Voting begins on September 14th, 2009, and ends at midnight (PST) on December 20th, 2009. The more friends you can rally to vote for your favorite rescue organization, the better its chances of winning. Every vote, every day counts.

Eligible organizations with the most votes could receive a weekly prize and/or one of the other grants below:

Grand Prize: One $20,000 grant!
Second Prize: One $5,000 grant!
Third Prize: One $3,000 grant!
New! Most Touching Story: Two $2,000 grants!
State Winners:  Fifty-one $1,000 state grants (50 U.S. states and Washington DC)

To vote, click here.

Posted under In the News

Cubbie has lots of toys, but maybe just like your dog, he has certain favorites depending on his mood. The other day he was playing with one of his favorite fuzzy, squeaker toys. Playing consists of Cubbie bringing the toy to me, me throwing it, Cubbie getting the toy and then Cubbie trying to get me to chase him to get the toy back. This cycle continues over and over.

After playing, Cubbie curled up on the couch to take a nap. I decided it was a good opportunity to get started on laundry.

I did the usual loads of whites, darks, towels and then I also decided to wash some blankets I usually use at night on the couch.

I read a book and monitored the laundry while Cubbie slept. When Cubbie woke up we went on a walk and played in the backyard. When we came inside he immediately ran for his toy basket. He looked in as if he knew he exactly what he was looking for, and when he didn’t see it, he looked at me. I assumed he was looking for his blue toy, the same one we played with earlier. I looked as well and didn’t see it in the toy box. We searched the rest of the house, looking places Cubbie sometimes leaves his toys. We tried the bedroom, under the bed, in the spare room, in the basement, in the couch cushions and even under the couch. I also tried the bathroom because sometimes he chews on toys in there while sitting on the rug. It was nowhere to be found.

I gave up searching and continued doing laundry. I moved the blankets from the washer to the dryer. Cubbie preoccupied himself with another toy before sleeping again. About a half hour later, I grabbed the blankets from the dryer and put them on my bed with the rest of the laundry to fold. I wasn’t much in the mood for folding, so I put it off except for my dress clothes I needed to hang up.

Around bedtime, I folded the clothes so I could clear the bed and go to sleep. As I shook the blanket and began to fold it, out fell Cubbie’s missing toy. It must have gotten stuck in the blanket on the couch while we were playing, and when I grabbed the blanket I also accidentally grabbed the toy.

I laughed and called Cubbie in to the room. He immediately grabbed his toy and began playing with it as if to say, “Thanks for finding my toy Mom.”

I guess it all worked out because his toy probably needed to be washed anyway!

Posted under Cubbie stories

ADOPT-A-PET.COM AND SHEPARD FAIREY ANNOUNCE “LEAD BY EXAMPLE” LIMITED EDITION PRINT TO HELP HOMELESS PET CRISIS

Following the tremendous response to the original red and blue Limited Edition ADOPT image release earlier this year, North America’s largest non-profit pet adoption web service, announces the upcoming gold and black Shepard Fairey “Lead By Example” print release.

According to Adopt-a-Pet.com Spokesperson Dr. Pia Salk, who initiated the ongoing collaboration with Fairey, “The ‘Lead By Example’ image is really a call to action to raise awareness for the plight of shelter animals nationwide. Shepard’s dedication to all victims of injustice, regardless of species, provides an example of what it means to ‘Lead By Example.’

Budget cuts recently led to a suspension of The Hayden Law, a bill that required California shelters to hold all incoming animals for a minimum of four to six days. The reduction to a one to three day hold gives lost and relinquished pets even less chance to be found or to secure safety before they are in danger of being killed. Sadly, these innocent animals are paying the price for our crisis.

We at Adopt-a- Pet.com are more committed than ever to getting the millions of great shelter animals currently waiting to be adopted, seen, saved and into loving homes.  Proceeds from the print purchase will help support pet adoption,” said Salk.
400 prints will go on sale Thurs., Sept. 24 at a random time.  The first red/blue ADOPT print by Shepard Fairey sold out in under 90 minutes, so this latest version is also predicted to go fast. 

Each print will be numbered and signed by Shepard Fairey and priced at $200 each.

T-shirts, dog bandanas and stickers with the ADOPT image are also available for those who wish to show their support for this lifesaving cause.  To purchase Shepard Fairey ADOPT print and merchandise and to sign up for alerts of future print sales, visit Adopt-a-Pet.com (formerly 1-800-Save-A-Pet.com) is North America’s largest non-profit pet adoption website, helping over 7,000 animal shelters, humane societies, SPCAs, pet rescue groups, and pet adoption agencies advertise their homeless pets to adopters for free.  Adopt-a-Pet.com displays photos and descriptions of adoptable pets to over 1.5 million people seeking to adopt a pet each month, and is funded by the passionate pet lovers at Purina and North Shore Animal League America.  Aside from being able to adopt a dog or adopt a cat, Adopt-a-Pet.com visitors may now also adopt a rabbit, horse, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, farm-type animals and other small pets.

Posted under In the News

I never thought about getting Cubbie a flu shot, but I guess it makes sense.

With all the talk about H1N1 and the upcoming seasonal flu season, we should probably be thinking about our pets as well.

Poynter had an interesting article on flu shots for your dog.

Here is the link.

Posted under In the News

Our internet director, Jenn Jarvis, sent me this article from the Associated Press.

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Upstate NY group tests composting of pooch poop
By WILLIAM KATES (AP)

ITHACA, N.Y. — A group of upstate New York dog owners thinks it has a can-do plan to profitably compost the tons of dog doo left behind by the roughly 50,000 canines that use the city’s pooch park each year.

If their pilot project is successful, the Tompkins County Dog Owners Group and Cayuga Compost hope to market usable compost within the next two or three years.

More importantly, finding a use for the billions of pounds of pooch poop produced yearly in the United States could also lead to a significant reduction in the amount of waste material sent to landfills, said Leon Kochian, a spokesman for TC DOG, the not-for-profit volunteer group involved in funding the project.

“There was a large Dumpster at the park, and it was just always overflowing with plastic bags of dog poop. The amount was unbelievable,” said Kochian, a Cornell University biology professor who owns a yellow Labrador retriever.

“Ithaca has a reputation as a green community. … It made sense to us to find a way to compost and spare the landfill from all the plastic bags,” Kochian said.

Dog and cat waste contain parasites and pathogens that make them unsuitable as compost for vegetable gardens and topsoil and can run off into local waterways and diminish water quality, said Cary Oshins, an assistant program director for the U.S. Composting Council. Composted pet waste can be used for deep-fill or other purposes.

There are any number of small-scale backyard pet waste composters and converters available on the market, but Oshins said he had not heard of any place in the U.S. trying to compost pet waste on such a grand scale.

“It actually makes sense to do it on a larger scale. The larger the facility, the more control,” he said. “Anything that gets waste out of a landfill is a good thing.”

There are between 3,000 and 4,000 dog-dedicated parks in the United States.

Moreover, there are an estimated 73 million pet dogs in the United States. The average dog produces about 274 pounds of waste a year, which means total dog waste in the U.S. is more than 20 billion pounds.

A handful of dog parks in the U.S. provide onsite composting receptacles but none have tried moving it offsite to a large-scale composting facility in a commercial venture, according to DogParkUSA.com, a national dog park Web site.

But large-scale composting has worked at the Parc Notre Dame de Grace in Montreal, Canada, where municipal officials have been composting dog waste since 2004 and annually divert about a ton of dog waste and 7,000 plastic bags from the local landfill.

Kochian estimated Cayuga Compost has been collecting about 1,000 pounds of poop monthly from the nearly 5-acre Ithaca Dog Park.

It’s not surprising that Ithaca would try to find an eco-friendly solution to its excess dog doo problem. The city has a long history of being a city on the cutting edge.

The city library operates on solar power; a task force is examining how Ithaca can build a rail system of high speed podcars to transport people; and the Green Springs Natural Cemetery was among the first in the nation to allow only biodegradable coffins and no tombstones, just markers of flat fieldstones, trees or shrubs.

___

U.S. Composting Council: http://www.compostingcouncil.org

DogParkUSA: http://www.DogParkUSA.com

Posted under In the News

I think when Cubbie and I go on walks I’m going to start taking a trash bag/can with me.

Cubbie has always liked to pick up stuff while we walk. I’ve written before about a ball he found and proudly carried all the way home in his mouth. I also talked about the time he found $20 on a walk. That was nice!

Unfortunately, people litter and there is lots of trash out there. Maybe Cubbie is an environmentalist because he likes to pick it all up! Really, I think he just enjoys walking with something or maybe with food wrappers he’s hoping to get a few crumbs.

Every time we go on a walk Cubbie has his nose to the ground, ready to pick up trash. He grabs fastfood wrappers, candy wrappers, those small bags of chips and whatever else happens to be on the side of the road where we are walking.

Cubs doesn’t hesitate to pick up the trash, and he doesn’t even pause in his walk. He just picks it up on his way by. Often he’ll carry the piece of trash in his mouth for a little bit, then he’ll either just drop it or drop it when another piece comes along.

I used to try to get him to drop it immediately, maybe I still should. (I’m worried about germs)! But, he just seems to enjoy walking with something in his mouth when he feels like it. Many times he’ll even walk with the leash in his mouth, as if to say he’s the one really walking me.

After three years, Cubbie will pretty much do what he wants. I guess he could have worse habits than picking up trash. After all, he is helping to make the neighborhood look nicer!

Posted under Cubbie stories

This is an interesting story. It raises a lot of important issues.

Basically, a school will not let a service dog be in class with an autistic boy.

On one hand, I understand some children are allergic to dogs, but shouldn’t there be a way to move students into different classes away from the dog?

Personally, if a dog is helping this autistic child, shouldn’t the school be willing to be a little more flexible and work with the family to come up with a solution that works for both parties?

Posted under In the News