Dogs Love to Play Fetch

I just came across this video on Gadgetspy after being messaged on Stumbleupon by Scousemonkey(thanks Scousemonkey).

This Dog fetching robot looks pretty cool, and I imagine with a bit of customization, it will be out on the market in no time. Jerry, the Dachshund seems to really dig it. I wonder how hard it was to teach Jerry to load the ball back on.

Looks like a great toy to keep pets company that are left alone during the day.

Pet Tracking

I just published a hub on hubpages about Pet Tracking, which is about two types of tracking…the type of tracking that involves injecting or embedding a micro chip in your pet and the kind witch allows the pet owner to track their lost pet via a collar that has a chip on it, and has a hand held GPS unit to track the animal.

I think that using either one of these is a good idea, because having a lost pet really is an emotional ordeal that can be prevented, so why not do one or the other for your pet.

What about you, what do you think about pet tracking?

My Pet Collars

Pettags.com who is an indirect sponsor of this blog, has been focusing their marketing on “Collars” and specifically “Dog Collars“. Although they do sell Cat Collars in the form of break-away collars, it seems like the Dog collar market is a good niche to target.

To me this makes perfect sense. When I think back on all the pet collars that I have used, I have only had two cat collars. These cat collars were for our two indoor cats when we lived in an apartment in the city, and wanted to take them out for a walk. However, upon taking them outside, the female cat Pepper, was not too keen on the idea, and wanted to go back into the apartment. Pumpkin, our Maine Coon Cat, loved it, but managed to get his collar off and then scurried under some bushes and was then a real pain to get back in. All my other cats have always been indoor/outdoor cats, so I never really saw the need for a collar.

Now the dogs that I have owned have all had collars. Milton, my kids dog, currently has a Nylon dog collar like the ones sold by Pettags.com. He has had this one for years, and may very well have come to us with the collar on. Pepper, my friends dog that I occasionally hang out with, has a metal choker collar. As a kid, my Dog Lady, a baby of Doberman, also wore a metal choker collar as well.

Now just because two of the three dogs that I have taken care of wore metal choker collars, does not mean I advocate their use. I also have seen websites that sell choker collars, but do not recommend letting your dog wear them unattended while on a line or chain for fear of injury to the dog. I also recall on more than one occasion, having to remove the metal collar due to chaffing. Pettags.com by the way, does not sell choker collars, but does sell nylon dog collars that may be personalized with embroidery.

If I were to get an embroidered collar, what would the collar say. Would I put the dogs name on it? Would I put my name on it? Or would I put a little doggie prayer on it? I guess my a name and phone number would be a good thing to do in case he or she got lost. That would make sense.

Well that is about it for my dog collar post. If any readers happen to have any interesting collar stories, please feel free to leave a comment.

Related Articles:

Cat and Dog Collar article.

Buying a Dog Collar article in EzineArticles.

Nevada Poop Scoop

A blogging friend of mine Adam of TheAdamBox.com, has started a new business called Nevada Poop Scoop, which operates in the Reno Nevada area as a service business that picks up your doggie poop on a scheduled basis.

Just wonder what type of bag if any they use when disposing of the doggie waste?

Shopping Bags for Dog Poop

GreenChick just left a really informative comment on the Pet waste Hazards post about a recent post she made on ThisGreenLife, The Green Way to Pick up Doggie Doo Doo. GreenChick tells us about some alternatives to using the shopping bags we get in the stores, which don’t degrade for eons.

“Why don’t grocery stores use or offer Plastic bags that degrade?”

Now I pose the question, Why don’t grocery stores use or offer plastic bags that degrade?

What can we do about this problem?

• Write posts like GreenChick has done that inform consumers.
• Adopt one or more of the methods that were discussed in her post.(I like the idea of bags made of corn)
• Write to politicians to urge the passage of legislation that encourages the use or manufacture of biodegradable bags.
• Visit stores that refuse to use the non-biodegradable bags.
• Practice the Three R’s in relation to shopping bags. That is reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic shopping bags.

Just a short little list.

If you have any other ideas, leave a comment.

Turbo Scratcher As Seen On TV Pet Product

Diddy has been driving me nuts playing with his Turbo Scratcher. We were recently cleaning out the basement when we came upon the Turbo Scratcher hidden under some clutter. It got moved up to the bedroom some how, but when Diddy started playing with it around 3am one morning, I moved it up to the third floor in an unoccupied bed room. This also happens to be right next to the office, so I hear him throughout the day periodically playing with the TurboScratcher. We had gotten the scratcher some time in the fall, and then during cleaning of the house it made its way into the basement. I believe he now plays with it more now than he did when we first got it.

The Turbo Scratcher also has replacement card board scratch pads that may be purchased for an additional price. It also comes with a packet of catnip to sprinkle on the card board to encourage scratching.

Please Visit these Unsponsored Resources Sub pet category page in ddsx.com Web Directory. Alistdirectory.com pet sites…a superior general directory. Great Dog Products from Dog-toy.co.uk. Wonderful Pet sites from Viesearch.com. Pet Category of DirectoryVault.com.

The Turbo Scratcher other than being a little distracting, is a great toy for young cats that may other wise take their energies out on furniture or other items in your house that would be better left alone. We purchased the Turbo Scratcher at Petsmart, however they are also available at Walmart as well as various online stores.

Visiting Dog

We had a dog staying with us temporarily while his owner was in the hospital. It was suppose to be an extended visit for the dog, but he turned out to be more work than originally believed. First, he started peeing all over the house. Next, he wined to go out at the worst times of the night. He wanted to sleep in the bed with us. Lizzie does not even like to have the cat sleep with us. We compromised and let him sleep on the floor of the bed room, but soon had to escort him out when the gas from our visitor was just too much.

The next day, I noticed pee in kitchen and later realized he had also peed on the radiator. The smell from that made me gag. I also found another surprise from our friend. He had also urinated on a present for my daughter. That was the last straw. The dog had to go. Phone calls were made and within an hour, he was gone.

Other than the smell, the dog was not that bad. Diddy really seemed to like playing with him, however, I could just picture this guy taking a bite out of Diddy, and Diddy would be no more.

Post Resources:

• Cat Care
• Pet Categoryof Freeurldirectory.com
• A groovy Puppy/Dog directory, Puppythrill.com…I especially found the dog product page helpful.
• Animalpetsandfriends.com Dog Category page.

Pet Collars and Neutering Diddy

Diddy was taken to the Veterinarian this morning to get neutered. As great a cat as he is, we really don’t want to have any more of him running around the neighborhood. Many people don’t like having pets neutered because they feel it is cruel. What would be even more cruel is to kill an unwanted animal.

While at Patt Verterinary Hospital in Gilbertsville, I noticed the Pettags.com display. Pettags is a great company, with a lot of great animal products. While on their site, I noticed a Break away Pet collar, made for cats. I am not sure I have ever had a cat that wore a collar. I actually got several for Pepper and Pumpkin when they were young, but they did not work very well.
I am guessing here, but I think the Break away pet collar for cats is designed so that when they climb trees they don’t get hung up in the branches. That would indeed be a bad thing.
But why wear a collar? I read somewhere, I believe in Birds&Bloom magazine, that cat owners were encouraged to have their outdoor cats wear collars with bells on inorder to forwarn birds of their presence, which would result in fewer killed birds. Many birds, to include many endagered species, are subjected to becoming prey to our domesticated little hunters, that don’t need to kill to survive, but kill out of instinct.
Just another thing we need to consider while having a cat for a pet that ventures outside. It may not be a natural thing to do, much like neutering, wearing a pet collar could be something that could in the end benefit the cat.

Getting an Outdoor Cat Inside

Herman has been living outside since Ditty came to live with us. He was coming in for meals, but Ditty made it unbearable for him. Whenever Herman would come in, Ditty would playfully attack Herman. You can tell Ditty really likes Herman by the the way he romps after him. Herman on the other hand, reminds me of an old man who can not stand the young little whipper snapper.

This morning, instead of feeding Herman outside, I decided to let Ditty play outside after he had his breakfast, so I could bring Herman inside to eat. He hissed and howled, but settled down after a little while to eat. He then paced around the house, but eagerly went back out when I opened the door. I am going to have to gradually increase the time he spends in the house so he doesn’t freeze this winter. We also made arrangements to get Ditty fixed, so hopefully that will cool his jets a little.

Both of the boys are also medicated. I bought a supplement that is put into the cats water, Good Cat, which is a Homeopathic medicine that has the essences of many herbs. Ditty seems much nicer since being on it, but the effects on Herman are negligible. But Herman is outside a lot, so there is no telling if he drinks the water I give him.

Pets of My Life

Currently, there are  two dogs and five cats that I take care of. The two dogs are named Milton (a terrier sheep dog mix) and Pepper (a springer spaniel),  and the five cat’s names are Herman, Pepper (black cat), Deuce, Ditty, and Maggie.

The youngest is either Maggie or Ditty, but the oldest is Pepper who is a black cat that we got around 1992 as a kitten with another cat who recently died, Pumpkin. Maggie, Pepper, Deuce and Milton live with my kids, and only two cats, Herman and Ditty, currently live me. Pepper (the dog) is a friends dog that frequently stays with me when her family goes on vacation.

Over the years I have had many pets, mostly cats and dogs. Although for a few months I did have some fish, but they have mainly been either cats or dogs.

As a child living in Maine, we had one cat which was a white Persian named Teddy Roosevelt. He ran away shortly after we moved to Virginia though. For a short period of time when we still lived in Maine, we had a Black Labrador named Bow, who stayed with us while his family was getting re-adjusted. He was a great dog, even though he bit me. As a small child I sucked my thumb, and would do so while playing with his ears. I guess he did not like that…oops. I had to get a shot after getting bitten.

Later on, we got two Siamese cats, Clarence and Mittens. These cats were very affectionate and loving animals. We had several litters of kittens with them also that could have been considered to be kittens also. Clarence was a very loud cat, so loud that often when my mom was on the phone, people would think she had a baby because his cry sounded like a baby.

We then moved to Pennsylvania, and the cats Mittens and Clarence (this might have been the second Clarence and Mittens) came along. Then, for the first time in my life,  we got our first family dog, Lady (a Doberman Pinscher). She was not your normal pinscher in that her ears were not cropped. She was a big baby, but very protective. I will have to tell some Lady stories later on, because we (Lady and I) grew up together.

The next few cats came around after my childhood years. At school I actually named my roommates cat Momma San. Momma San had a kitten named Gaoogie, and was a very playful kitten(then again, most are playful). The next cat that fits into the time-line is my moms cat, BC(Black Cat). BC was an orphan that showed up at her house. After BC,  Pumpkin and Pepper came about, and lived with my girlfriend and I, who later became my wife (now ex-wife). After my son was born, we got Deuce who was originally Dueceldorf. Then came Milton the dog.

So as you can see from this timeline of the pets of my life, I have had pets around me for most of my existence. I think living with pets is a very normal way to live, and I find it hard to believe that there are people out there that do not have any pets.

Well, I am going to wrap this up as the first post to my Pet Blog because it is 9pm and the two cats, Ditty and Herman require my attention. I feed them at 9pm and first thing in the morning.