Seeing Doberman Double

There's another Doberman in town. "Whaaaaat" you say? Yes, but don't worry. We didn't run out and get another Doberman. This Doberman belongs to our friend, Josue. His name is Tino and he's about a year and a half. Peete and Tino are friends and they are so cute together. We took the Dobermans and Little Edie for a walk and they had a great time. Little Edie looked like she had her two big bodyguards protecting her.

Here's a little video I shot of our adventure....

I See Dead People

A few yeas back Karen and I visited the ancient city of Pompeii which was buried under volcanic ash after a massive eruption in 79 AD. We were lucky enough to be spared a six hour walking tour with nothing but a map to guide us. We met a little Italian security guard who took us under his wing and gave us a private two hour guided tour.

We kept telling our tour guide that we wanted to see 'the dead people'. If you have ever seen documentaries or photos of Pompeii they always show the petrified dead people. He got so mad at us and told us that there was so much more to see in Pompeii. He was right. We saw the farmers market, the brothel, the amphitheatre and the remains of several homes. In the entry of one of the homes we saw the mosaic floor picture above. How's that for a "Beware of Dog" sign?!

After he showed us what a wonderful city Pompeii had been he finally took us to see the dead people. I felt bad for thinking that was all there was to this fascinating and once thriving City. On the way to see the dead people, he showed us these petrified animals.....

Apparently, the dog picture above was chained to his master's house and died while struggling to free himself. We finally saw the dead people too. Very sad and very humbling. We left that day hot, tired, covered in dust and reflective. It made me realize that even back then life was the same. It was all about love, family, friends, food, wine and pets....

Oldest Living Dog?

Bella, a Labrador mix from the UK, is said to be at least an amazing 29 years old, if not pushing three decades! Her owners, David and Daisy Richardson, say that they brought the tenacious pooch home from an animal shelter 26 years ago when she was "at least" three. But due to missing records, Bella can't be verified by the Guinness Book of World Records as top dog.

Understandably, Bella's age of 200 in doggie years would slow anyone down, but she still manages to get around. During a brief scare when the Richardsons thought they would have to finally put Bella to rest, David took her to the vet to be checked out:

"I decided to take her to the vet to be checked and she said Bella was very fit for her age apart from a bit of arthritis in her legs. Her heart is strong and she can still potter around the garden so she might have a good few years left."

As shocking as her age seems, Bella is not the only pup to stand the test of time. To see who else has been honored by Guinness, read more.

Two other dogs have been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records: Butch from the US, who celebrated 28 doggie b-days, and Bluey from Australia, who rang in 29 years and five months as the longest living dog ever.

Make It A Double, Please....

Gin, the dancing dog is back! Here's a new clip of Gin doing her thing on the semi-finals of Britain's got talent.

Hmmmm..... Maybe Little Edie Could Be A Super Station Master...

A Japanese train company that had been losing money has found a novel way to increase business - a pet cat called Tama.

All the 9-year-old female cat does is sit by the entrance of Kishi Station in western Japan, wearing a black uniform cap and posing for photos for the tourists - who are now flocking to the station in droves from across the nation.

Tama has been doing such a good job of raising revenue for the troubled Kishikawa train line that she was recently promoted to 'super-station-master.'

'
She never complains, even though passengers touch her all over the place. She is an amazing cat. She has patience and charisma,' Wakayama Electric Railway Co. spokeswoman Yoshiko Yamaki said.

'She is the perfect station master.'

Appointing a cat to turn around fortunes makes cultural sense in Japan, where cats are considered good luck and are believed to bring in business.

People are snatching up novelty goods - postcards, erasers, notebooks and pins - decorated with Tama's photos. There's even a special 1,365 yen (£6.65) book of photos of Tama, called 'Diary of Tama, the Station Master.'

Tama had been on the brink of losing her place to live, with the nearby store where she was raised being torn down. Now, the station is home.

Kishi Station started running without any workers in April 2006 as part of cost cuts. The Kishikawa line had been losing 500million yen (£2.4million) a year as passenger numbers fell steadily to as low as about 5,000 a day, or some 1.9million a year.

After Tama's appointment last year passengers have been gradually returning, recently rising 10 percent to about 2.1million a year.

In December Tama was rewarded with bonus pay - all in cat food.

My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard

Here's Ginger sporting her halter top and daisy dukes at her Memorial Day BBQ.

Peete was there too and he was such a good boy. His ears are healing really well, don't you think?

And this is Peaches. Peaches is an adorable one year old cockapoo. She belongs to our friend Victoria.

And.....finally......no party would be complete without Little Edie. Here's a video of Peaches, Ginger and Little Edie having fun.....

Another Victory Against Puppy Mills

The U.S. Senate followed the lead of the House of Representatives and overrode President Bush’s veto of the Farm Bill, ushering in key new protections for animals. The final bill -- which is now considered law, except for one section excluded due to a technical glitch -- bans the import of puppies from foreign puppy mills for commercial sale in the U.S. The law spares young, unweaned, and unvaccinated pups from harsh, long-distance transport -- during which they are exposed to extreme temperatures and often die in cargo holds -- and will keep foreign breeders from adding to the tragic overpopulation of pets in this country.

The Farm bill also adds a provision to federal law to make almost any form of animal fighting a federal felony. It’s also now a federal crime to knowingly possess or train animals for fighting, and the maximum prison time for a single violation of any section of the law goes from three years to five years. It is hard to overstate what a blow this is to dogfighters and cockfighters, and it brings us one step closer to eradicating these criminal industries.

The law also authorizes an increase in potential fines -- quadrupled from $2,500 to $10,000 -- for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, fines that haven’t been upgraded in more than 20 years. Such penalties will more effectively deter abuses at puppy mills, laboratories, circuses, and other facilities that use animals.

Happy Memorial Day!!

Here's a new "What If" to ponder.....

Canada's Next Top Dog

Yesterday we had a major breakthrough! Little Edie is one step closer to international superstardom. She had her first big AUDITION!!!! Edie and I went for a super long walk. It's a holiday weekend so it was the perfect day to be out and about. It had rained the night before and into the morning so as soon as it cleared we headed out...... with our hoodies on, of course!

We walked through her favorite park and ended up in Beverly Hills. Little Edie loves walking around Beverly Hills. She struts her stuff and everyone stops to pet her. "What kind of dog is she?" they always ask. I jokingly say "She's half fox and half coyote" and for a moment most people believe me. The tourists take her picture and kids and adults melt into a smile as she walks by.

Since the streets are so busy with people and cars I make Edie sit at every corner before we cross the street. The urge to run in every direction is very high and I need to keep her focused. As we practiced our ritual on one busy corner I noticed two men with big cameras across the street eying us. "They must be tourists and they think she is cute" I thought to myself.

As we crossed the street they stopped me and told me they were filming a show about Beverly Hills for Canada and could they film Edie!! I didn't even hesitate. "Of course!" I said. I gave Edie a look as if to say "THIS IS IT!!" and she sat at perfect attention waiting for her instruction. They asked me to do what I had been doing across the street, which was asking Edie to sit and then I'd give her a treat. One guy got down on the ground and filmed her at eye level as she sat on command in her black hoodie with her paw up to receive her treat. Then he asked me to put some treats on the ground and let her eat them.

Suddenly a crowd gathered around us. "Who were we? Why were we being filmed? This little dog in the hoodie is so cute. What's her name? Can I get her picture" There were tourists and shoppers and people waiting to be seated at a crowded restaurant. In a flash all the attention was on Edie. As we finished I was mid conversation with the two men and a little girl who wanted to pet Edie. I remember telling the men that Edie had a blog and before I could ask them where the show would air and was there any way I could see it they thanked me and moved on. I was left in the crowd while Edie basked in the glory of her moment.

So someday, somewhere in Canada my little girl will be on TV. The epitome of life in Beverly Hills. The superstar dog in her black hoodie and pink collar. Her namesake would be so proud.....I know I am.

Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend

Hurry!! Juicy Couture is having a sale on this adorable "Princess Necklace". Ok, so it's not really diamonds but what do you expect for $53.00?? It's made of silver cyrstal and has silver-tone heart shaped beads and a dangle heart charm in the center. One size fits most. There still in stock so hurry, while supplies last!

http://www.juicycouture.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod4190003&parentId=cat13001&masterId=cat117&cmCat=cat000000cat134&index=0&tid=P9

Cancer Sniffing Dog To Be Cloned

A Japanese center which says it has trained a dog to sniff out human cancer cells is cloning the animal in South Korea, a Seoul-based biotechnology company and the dog's owner said Wednesday.

Cloned fetuses from the black labrador retriever named Marine were last month implanted into a surrogate mother dog, said Ra Jeong-Chan, president of RNL Bio."We are going to see the clones around the end of this month," Ra said.

Marine, who is six and half years old, lost her ability to reproduce when she had her womb removed because of disease. She is owned by Yuji Satoh, a head trainer at St. Sugar Cancer Sniffing Dog Training Center, located at Shirahama in Chiba prefecture.

Satoh said experts from Seoul National University, which created the world's first cloned dog in 2005, had taken some skin samples from Marine and brought them back to South Korea for the project.

"We are making clones of Marine. She is touted as having a world top cancer-sniffing ability. By making her clones, we want to promote studies into cancer-sniffing dogs," Satoh said. "It's the world's first cloning of a cancer-sniffing dog."

He and the Korean firm, which is coordinating the project, have agreed to produce two clones and train them at Satoh's center. One will then be brought back to South Korea for study at the university and the other will stay at the centre. If the project for two pups succeeds, they plan to produce more.

"We want to make more clones of Marine for worldwide distribution" for studies into canine detection of cancer, Satoh said. Researchers in several countries are investigating whether dogs have the ability to detect lung, breast, prostate and skin cancer at an early and treatable stage. They believe cancer cells create a scent not present in healthy cells, which can theoretically be picked up by dogs in breath or urine samples.

RNL Bio's last such project was an order for the world's first commercial cloning of a pet dog -- a request from a U.S. woman to re-create her beloved former pit bull. The firm said in February it planned to charge 150,000 dollars to clone the pit bull for the California woman, using tissue from her dead pet named Booger.

A Seoul National University team created the world's first cloned dog in 2005, an Afghan hound named Snuppy. Team leader Lee Byeong-Chun said last week that Snuppy was expected to become a father this month following the first breeding of cloned canines.

Lee's team also produced seven clones of drug-sniffing dogs last year at the request of the Korea Customs Service. They are said to be easier to train than ordinary canines.

A Day In The Life of Little Edie.....

"Do I play with the rubber kong toy, the I Love You purse (old and new versions), the squeaky dog, the ropey thing or my blanket? Or do I just sit here with my legs crossed looking cute?"

Hello, My Name Is......

When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught -- recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said. He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said.

The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years. But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials. "I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.

I'm Moving to Japan.....

Cult cartoon character Hello Kitty has been named a goodwill tourism ambassador for Japan.

It is the first time a cartoon character has taken on the normally human role. The feline character has become a global phenomenon, with more than 50,000 different products on sale in 60 countries.

The cat is one of mascot-obsessed Japan's biggest hits as a toy character - is often seen on lunch boxes, jewellery and many other accessories. She will be used to promote Japan in China and Hong Kong.

Japan's national tourism ministry made the announcement at a press conference yesterday. The ministry, which has so far appointed 11 people as goodwill tourism ambassadors, said the global icon was "qualified" for the job due to its popularity among Chinese people.

Shintaro Tsuji, president of Sanrio Co, the company which created the toy cat, called Hello Kitty's new appointment "an honour" and pledged the feline would "work hard to attract many visitors."The new role for Hello Kitty is part of the Japanese government's Visit Japan Campaign, which aims to attract 10 million tourists a year.

A Hello Kitty blog will start around late June on the Chinese language page of the campaign website to introduce tourist attractions in Japan, including historic and popular sites, Kyodo said.

In March, the foreign ministry appointed another cartoon cat, robo-cat Doraemon, as a charm ambassador in a bid to promote the nation's culture and win the hearts of future world leaders.

Mama's Got A Brand New Bag...

We haven't been shopping in a while so I thought I'd venture out into the virtual world to see what's new out there.....

Louis Vuitton has a new dog carrier. The Baxter. It comes in two sizes and features a washable rug, roll up side so your pooch can check out the view and a side pocket for carrying the matching leash and collar........ of course.

This new bag will set you back $1,410 or $1,570 and will accommodate a dog up to 20 lbs.

http://www.louisvuitton.com/web/flash/index.jsp;jsessionid=BD1F1KMMEXBAWCRBXUXFAHYKEG4RAUPU?buy=1&langue=en_US&direct1=home_entry_us