St. Hubert’s Announces Black Friday Trial

Trial Secretary Ann Stochel sent out premiums for a trial on Friday, November 27th at Pawsitive Partners Dog Training Center. Pre-entries close November 20, 2009. “Day of” entries accepted for 2nd trial only.

If you need and entry form, click here.

Good Dog, Smart Dog – NYTimes.com

 

Life as a Labradoodle may sound free and easy, but if you’re Jet, who lives in New Jersey, there is a lot of work to be done.

He is both a seizure alert dog and a psychiatric service dog whose owner has epilepsy, severe anxiety, depression, various phobias and hypoglycemia. Jet has been trained to anticipate seizures, panic attacks and plunging blood sugar and will alert his owner to these things by staring intently at her until she does something about the problem. He will drop a toy in her lap to snap her out of a dissociative state. If she has a seizure, he will position himself so that his body is under her head to cushion a fall.  Read more..

via Good Dog, Smart Dog – NYTimes.com.

For Scooper, Popularity Fades but Its Legacy Endures – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com

The Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists, a trade group, held its annual gathering last week in Nashville. While much of the talk at the 7th Annual Pooper Scooper Convention, as usual, centered on business, it also featured the yearly tribute to a dying pursuit.

The contest is a two-minute head-to-head race to scoop the most plastic doggie deposits. A layman might be surprised that this year’s victor, Cheresee Rehart, like most of these professionals, generally shuns the very device designed for the task — indeed for which the gathering is named — the “pooper scooper.”

more via For Scooper, Popularity Fades but Its Legacy Endures – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com.

Pets Need an Emergency Plan, Too – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com

Consider it a government mantra: No Pet Left Behind.

Or, if a pet is left behind during a disaster evacuation, it must have food and water, and the home must be marked to indicate to rescue workers that a pet is still inside. Departing owners should also bring a recent color photo of them and their pets, to help identify them later.

Read more:

Pets Need an Emergency Plan, Too – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com.

Cesar Millan, Whispering to Dogs and C.E.O.’s – NYTimes.com

IT’S a miracle. That’s what the humans believe, more often than not, after watching this compact, 40-year-old C.E.O. do his work. He enters a room purposefully, his chest thrust forward and a smile on his face. “How can I help?” is his standard introduction, and the way he says it — calmly, assertively — indicates that your problems are about to be solved. Read more…Cesar Millan, Whispering to Dogs and C.E.O.’s – NYTimes.com.

The Puppy Diaries – Insurance, When the Patient Is a Pet – Series – NYTimes.com

By JILL ABRAMSON

Published: October 5, 2009

LIKE a lot of Americans, I’m obsessing about health insurance. Only in my case, the issue is whether or not to buy pet insurance for Scout.

Soon, she will be 6 months old, the age recommended for spaying, a procedure that will probably cost several hundred dollars, once tests and medications are included. A less invasive technique, done through laparoscopy, is far more expensive. And we’ve already spent quite a bit on vaccinations and routine checkups. Then there are possible future expenses, like an accident or a really severe malady, like cancer.

More via The Puppy Diaries – Insurance, When the Patient Is a Pet – Series – NYTimes.com.

Study Looks Into the Health Benefits of Pets – NYTimes.com

When Chad, a yellow Labrador retriever, moved in with Claire Vaccaro’s family in Manhattan last spring, he already had an important role. As an autism service dog, he was joining the family to help protect Ms. Vaccaro’s 11-year-old son, Milo — especially in public, where he often had tantrums or tried to run away. read more…

Dog From 9/11 Search-and-Rescue Unit Dies – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com

Dog From 9/11 Search-and-Rescue Unit Dies – City Room Blog – NYTimes.com.

A German shepherd named Taz, who was almost 2 years old when he was assigned from the city police’s K-9 unit to do search and rescue at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attack, has died.

Life Lessons From the Family Dog – Well Blog – NYTimes.com

Bijou, the family dog of Times editor Dana Jennings.

Our family dog started failing a couple of months ago. Her serious health problems began at about the same time I was coping with my own — finishing my radiation and hormone therapy for prostate cancer.

Since last summer, I’ve learned that my cancer is shockingly aggressive, and the surgery, radiation and hormone treatments have left me exhausted, incontinent and with an AWOL libido. These days I’m waiting for the first tests that will tell me the status of my health.

More via Life Lessons From the Family Dog – Well Blog – NYTimes.com.

Rescue

Listen to the story of one woman’s rescue efforts  in the city.