This year marks the first time Halloween and Daylight Savings Time collide, allowing party goers and trick or treaters an extra hour of mischief.  Saturday night, when the ghouls creep back to their beds, stop the tick-tocking of your clock and turn back the hands. Else Sunday morning you rise, rush your family to dress, and stand [...]

In October, our morning walks are enhanced by the neighbors spooky decorations.  One yard is covered in gravestones with ghouls erupting from the lawn.  Several doors down, a giant black widow lurks over the doorway, her legs creeping towards unsuspecting visitors.  The first day we walked Ella and Hobbit past the decorated houses, I prepared for their [...]

Read, Watch or Listen
Magazine:
Time Magazine has a photo essay called Strays To The Rescue featuring excerpts from the book “TO THE RESCUE: Found Dogs with a Mission” by Elisa Lufkin. “In these touching stories, illustrated with poignant photographs by Diana Walker, people give their rescued dogs much more than just a good home– they train [...]

Yesterday on her blog, children’s author Donna Gephart’s admired Leo Buscaglia’s response to a neighbor complaining about his messy yard. If I thought more like Mr. Buscaglia, dirty furniture would stop taking up space in my mind. You can read Donna’s post here:
http://donnagephart.blogspot.com/2009/10/do-you-know-leo.html

My sister in law, Ruth Burton, sent this photo, so I had to post it as an afterthought to my couch story. Her dogs ( 3 mo. old Maggie, left, and old-timer, Jake, right) even have their own pillows! Notice who claims the cushy top spot with a window view… Lover Boy, the feline. I don’t see a single stain [...]

We were in need of a new sofa when we moved to Lutz two and a half years ago.  I spotted one in a local furniture store window. It wasn’t too big or too small. The bright red color didn’t  scare me. We trotted inside for the final two tests…price tag and comfort. The cushions passed Scott’s [...]

Read, Watch or Listen
Newspaper:
The Tampa Tribune has an article about Canine Influenza.  ”‘Dog flu’ spreads to 30 states, worrying pet owners”  ”Parents worry about H1N1.  For pet owners, the rising threat is H3N8 – dog flu – a highly contagious, potentially deadly respiratory infection. It started at a Florida greyhound track and has spread to 30 [...]

What’s sweeter than a sleeping child? For those of us not blessed with children or grandchildren, the answer is a snoozing dog. Why does the sight of a pup lost in dreams melt our hearts? I have no idea, but today’s post introduces a new theme for our reader photo page. I hope this nudges [...]

Two weeks ago I did an article about how therapeutic dog parks are for humans. Of course dogs benefit from these venues in obvious ways: social interaction, large spaces to run in, and best of all freedom from leashes. Underlying all of that is the confidence dogs build roaming free among the human and canine tribes.
Ella just [...]

Read, Watch and Listen
Newspaper:
The New York Times is a great source of dog news with an online section just for dog articles.  This week:
Exploring the Health Benefits of Pets
By CARLA BARANAUCKAS  October 9, 2009
“Anecdotes abound on the benefits of companion animals — whether service and therapy animals or family pets — on human health. But [...]