election day!

What, you think pets have nothing to do with all this excitement? (Anybody remember Nixon and the "Checkers" thing?) Au contrere, mon furry frere, so go over to Pet The Vote.

Vote!

Presidential Pups

In honor of election day, This article from AKC talks about the tradition of presidents with dogs.
Did you know George Washington, the father of our nation, is also the father of American Foxhound?

Or that Richard Nixon had four dogs?

And who doesn't remember Bill Clinton's Choc. Lab Buddy?

Some interesting presidential dog facts!

And, no matter what you support, get out and vote!

images

Sometimes it's fun to stop and see the art in common media too. Check out this coffee cup from the corner stand and the cover of the latest Stranger issue. The kitty on the cup is a rubber stamp, and The Stranger listed the cover artwork as by Chris Crites, www.bagpainter.com.

"home for the holidays"

Did you know as many as 4 million orphaned dogs and cats will be euthanized this year due to shelter overcrowding and lack of awareness about these homeless pets? And that more than a quarter of all dogs in animal shelters are purebreds?

Wouldn't it be a great holiday gift that keeps on giving if as many as possible of these lovely beings got forever homes? Yeah, I think so too.

But I was still surprised when the Museum was asked to help spread the word for Iams Home for the Holidays 2008. Here, I'll let the official fact sheet take over for a bit:

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Iams Home 4 The Holidays – among the world’s most successful pet adoption programs – includes nearly 3,000 worldwide partner animal organizations that are dedicated to helping place orphaned dogs and cats into happy, loving homes.
Iams Home 4 The Holidays has set a goal to place 1 million orphaned animals into happy and loving homes this holiday season from October 1, 2008 to January 5, 2009.
Award-winning actress and pet parent Felicity Huffman has teamed up with Iams Home 4 The Holidays to help raise awareness for the millions of homeless dogs and cats in North America.

Last year half a million pets were placed. Half a mill! This year over 3000 shelters are participating, and you can find one near you on this page of shelters by state and country.

Hm I think I will go there now for Washington State. I live near Seattle, so . . . Wow, here's one called Kitty Haven in Tacoma. And here's the Seattle Animal Shelter. Lots of places to choose from! Why don't you look for one? Maybe you can help. . . or maybe a new friend is waiting there to help YOU share your love.

Home for the Holidays main page here.

Sugar Glider

Anytime I see a unique pet, I'm always intrigued...usually to the point of wanting one. At a recent pet expo, I came across a dealer selling Sugar Gliders. What are Sugar Gliders? According to Pocket Pets of Dallas, Sugar Gliders are small, aboreal marsupials which originate primarily from Indonesia and Southern Australia. As their common name implies, they possess a gliding membrane (similar to that of the flying squirrels) that stretches from their wrists to their ankles and allows them to 'glide' from tree to tree. As with all marsupials, female sugar gliders also possess a pouch, in which they raise their young. Sugar gliders are nocturnal animals, which spend almost their entire life in trees.

Sugar Gliders can make excellent pets. They adapt very readily to captivity and can develop very strong relationships with their human keepers. They are small in size, and are very intelligent and love to play. They are very smart and have a long life span, most living to be 10 years or older if taken care of properly. Although nocturnal, it can be a benefit, in that they want to play in the evening when you are at home, and if you take them with you in the daytime, they are content to sleep in your pocket or pouch. Most gliders, if handled well and given time, learn their owner(s) scent(s) and have absolutely no fear of them.

Their diet consists of fruit, fresh vegetables, wholemeal bread, yogurt, peanuts, high protein dry food, and supplemented occasionally with mealworms, meatmeal or hard-boiled eggs.

According to the company, they get along well with other household pets...though I'm worried my dogs might think of them as another new toy.

Dog Halloween Pictures

* * the book giveaway ! * *

That's right! Today I post the 3 winners of the

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Loving Our Cats

giveaway!

How did I make it fair you ask?

I got the dog to do the picking . . .

But Cash got a little stressed out by the responsibility.

So Elizabeth took over.

And the Lucky! Winners! Are!

Miss Peach

oh hey, The Lee County Clowder

Niko and Cloud

So I have to write you guys and ask where to send your new books.
I wish I'd had a copy for every single one of you!

Happy Halloween Everybody!