This past weekend I met the Paula Olsen, the owner of Raining Cats 'N' Dogs, a company that rescues abused and abandoned pets. They take them in, cares them back to health, and finds adoptive families for them. Ms. Olsen told me a story of a cat they took in that was so sunburned that her hair had turned red. She nursed her back to health and is now ready for adoption.

Ms. Olsen also told me the story of Bubbles. They had picked her up from a backyard breeder. Bubbles was only 6 lbs, showing all bones, and she needed immediate surgery. The blood vessels of her heart wrapped around her esophagus so solid food could not pass. Ms. Olsen had to feed Bubbles a liquid diet given when Bubble was upright. Eventually Bubbles got healthy enough for adoption and is now in a permanent home. You can see Bubble's story on the Doing More for Pets Rescue Stories Contest page.

Thank you Ms. Olsen for helping pets in need. We love you.

image courtesy of People of Walmart

I went to WalMart yesterday to take advantage of the school supplies on sale. I can't resist getting a new protractor each fall. I use it to help Shagg E. Dawg keep the boxes in his comic strip perpendicular.

As I was there I decided to stroll through the grocery aisles to see if they had any fresh salmon I could get for dinner. It was nice to see other dogs out and about. One fellow was taking his pets out for their groceries leading them to different areas of the store. Another was a small chihuahua being carried around by her pet in what looked like a purse. This little princess was a service dog for nursing homes bringing joy to elderly humans. We had a wonderful chat by the produce section.

As I walked off another human charged up to this little doll requesting to see her service tag. She was clearly upset with having a dog among the food of WalMart. I would have stayed around to help translate, but I had left my computer at home and had no way of typing my responses to her. And, while I like to think I do good by offering low cost pet products, I don't qualify for a service tag. And, this lady was quite angry.

This interaction made me wonder what others thought about this issue. Should dogs be allowed in WalMart? Leave a comment on what you think is appropriate.

image taken by shadowfax2008

This morning as I was out on my morning jog, I noticed this cat over the fence to the freeway. I could tell by his positioning it was going to scale that fence. Since I was looking for a reason to rest, I stopped to watch the action. It was effortless. He was up and over that thing in record time.

The best part was once he got to the other side, in the midst of tall weeds, he leapt straight into the air on top of some prey. Poetry in motion.

I love watching cats. They are beautiful animals. They even walk with flair. I, on the other hand, am like Chris Farley dancing with his shirt off. Why do you think I wear a vest?

Cats are smooth; much more poetic than me. I tried to write a poem once for Dr. Fox, but it just never came out quite right. I wanted to address the time I went to obedience school. Well, this is all I got:

As I walk along beside my pet,
He decides to stop, so I must sit.
Now we are back and on the go,
SQUIRREL!

Keats I am not.

As we are in the dog dayz of summer it is good to cool off with a little dip. I went hiking up to some local falls and saw Sally cooling off from the hot sun. She was a rather good swimmer - great form. Here you can see her going against the current with the sun reflecting off the mountain river.

Sally decided to come right at me. Who can blame her? Not many boy dogs can pull of the vintage turn of the century full body bathing suit in lime green. I work out.

I originally was just going to leave my feet in the water and stay dry, but Sally decided to give me a shower. It was all for the better. It was a great swimming hole.

I went out to enjoy the Fourth of July celebrations up the street. We had bed races, pancake breakfast, and a very nice parade. There were a lot of friends out and about.

Here I found a dog pulling in for the events. I think I saw him later pulling one of the floats down the street.

These two dogs had an excellent view of the parade. Thankfully for me, it kept them in place. So, when the candy was thrown out by the girls in sashes, I was able to scoop it all up before they could jump out.

There are also many other dogs in the parade. Most of them were riding on the other side... I sat opposite the fire hydrants.

Overall, it was a good day. The weather was great and everyone seemed to have fun. I would love to hear what others did for the Fourth.