My Dog Loves Socks

One of my dogs, the Yorkie, Doby, loves socks. He used to never play with anything, least of all any of the toys we got for him.

But he loves socks. He gets especially excited about a sock that you roll up in front of him, but he also enjoys sniffing them out from the dirty clothes basket and also finding them in the bag of socks (see picture).

He becomes somewhat possessive of the socks that he has appropriated and will carry them from room to room, making sure that they stay in his possession.

He will play with them by biting them and moving them around so he can pounce on them again. It is just so cute to watch.

Doby used to be a dog who did not know the meaning of 'play,' but now he will play by himself.

Heroic Man Saves Pet from Shark!

I just read this story this morning on Yahoo news: A man dove into the water to save his pet dog, a rat terrier, from a shark attack. The shark grabbed the dog during a swim in Florida waters.

Talk about loving your pet! This man risked his life to save his dog. Amazingly, the dog suffered only minor injuries, thanks to his loving human.

I love stories like this.

More about My Dogs

I have 2 dogs, of whom I have posted about (with pics! so cute...). The younger, slightly larger Yorkie/Chihuahua mix, Gooch, is a bright energetic dog. He is also fairly quirky and an excellent jumper.
He makes really funny noises when he's excited, somewhere in between a growl and a bark. I can egg him on by imitating him (something like, ' aw-wa-wah grrr-ah-wah'--you get the idea).

Anyway when he particularly wants me to notice him, he makes sure to touch me with his paws, like he'll put his front paws up on the chair I'm sitting in, but puts one paw as far as he can to touch me on my leg, looking earnestly in my eyes as if he's just told me something important.

Dogs.

My other dog, Doby the Yorkie (and Gooch's dad), is an expert at looking cute. If he notices that you are looking at him, he puts on a cute face and changes his whole stance. He suddenly gets this adorable look, a combination of surprise and hopefulness that he'll get a treat or some extra attention. He will jump up and down expectantly with his little legs and compact body filled to the brim with joy and run around in quick, tight little circles. He is so cute.

They are definitely not the smartest dogs in the world, but they aren't the least intelligent either. A happy medium is important in many things, even pets.

Lament for a Lizard

I've recently been worried about the amount of mosquitoes in my neighborhood, considering the amount of rain that we've been getting. So I decided to finally fix the holes in our window screens. I managed to plug up the holes with some foam insulation (looks messy, but does the trick).
Those holes have been there since we moved into this apartment. We always have seen an assortment of different bugs (not too many at once) here, due to the lack of an airtight seal anywhere in this place.
There has been a small lizard inside. I've seen it a few times. But the night after I fixed the screens, I saw him searching for a way out of the screen. Now I feel bad! I was so pleased to keep out intruding mosquitoes, but I didn't even think that I would be trapping that little lizard inside. I hope that he can make it out of the apartment on his own, because there are other ways out (cracks, openings, etc.--this is Mexico) and he is much too fast for me to catch.
This lizard had been making his home inside of mine, and had been using the opening in the screen as his personal door. I hope he can find himself a new, more accessible home.

What (and How) to Feed Your Dog

As the owner of two small dogs, I have wondered quite a lot about how much I should actually feed them. I don't want to feed them too much, because I know that its not healthy for them to overeat. On the other hand, I don't want to feed them too little either.
One of my dogs eats very fast, while the other likes to take his time and hoard food for later. If I'm not careful, the fast eater will get too much and the picky eater, not enough.
I ran into a great article about diet and nutrition for dogs. It runs over the basics of what you should feed your dog and when. It also includes what you should never feed your dog.
In this day and age, some people like to treat their dogs like people. I understand loving your dog for who he is and seeing that he has incredible personality and intelligence. But dogs have different need that people. Whats good for us isn't always good for them, even if they love the taste! Some things we may not realize are harmful to dogs, because we eat them with regularity.
It is important to take care of our pets because we love them and don't want anything bad to happen to them. As pet owners, our animals look up to us and depend on us for everything, all the while giving us something special in return: their love.

Cameron Diaz, rescuer of pets

I always love to hear stories about celebrities who help people in trouble. It is also nice to hear about them helping pets of course!
Cameron Diaz recently found an injured German Shepherd and brought it into her house. Her people made up some signs for the dog, advertising that they had found him. The owner was able to contact them and get the dog back and to the vet.
It is so nice that she actually brought the dog into her house and gave him food and water. She also reportedly visited the dog at the vet! Very admirable actions Ms. Diaz.

Mexico's Illegal Trade: Wildlife

Having seen first-hand some of the exotic animals for sale in mall pet stores in Monterrey, Mexico, this article about the illegal trade of endangered animals did not shock me at all. I have witnessed several breeds of small monkeys and various beautifully colored parrots for sale. On one occasion, there was even a white tiger cub playing with a store employee. Although I don't believe that the tiger was for sale, just the fact that it was there, in a mall pet store, with no appropriate care taken of it, disturbed me. I am so disappointed that I had traveled on those days without my camera so that I would have some kind of proof. All that I have is my word.
I don't know what is more disturbing, however: the animals for sale in the pet stores, or the animals paraded around every town that hosts a circus. I have seen grown tigers and leopards paraded around in caged-back trucks, in the sun, with no water.
My animal loving heart has been broken enough down here. So many strays bear the look of years on the streets, with no one to look after them. Some of these dogs are so beautiful and unique too.
Mexico has not the resources to deal with animals, when there are more pressing issues such as drugs and violence for them to deal with. Hopefully the Mexican government will go through with their plan to begin a campaign to educate consumers to not buy such wildlife. It is important for us to remember the difference between domestic animals and wildlife.