Houdini: A story of love and rescue

We don’t sell dogs here at that the animal store, although we do offer all the supplies you need to care for your favorite canine. One of the primary reasons we don’t carry dogs is that we strongly believe adopting a shelter or rescue dog is a great choice for many families.

Not all rescued dogs come with troubled pasts, but some do. Here’s a story of our friend’s rescued Hungarian Vizsla, Houdini, and how he become a beloved member of their family.

In 2009, our friend Angela and her family adopted a nine-month-old Vizsla from the Chicago Canine Rescue. “We had had a Viszla before and loved the breed,” said Angela. “This dog needed a home.”

Houdini had been neglected and then abandoned. “He was about 20 pounds underweight,” Angela told me. “And he had been given the name ‘Houdini’ for a reason. He could not be crated (he would tear the crate apart) and could jump a six-foot fence.” The family and shelter were afraid he would run away.

~read more on the Garanimals blog~

photo credit: Houdini by Matt Dinerstein

The Dog Days of Summer

Today’s forecast here in Chicago calls for a high of 93°F. According to one local meteorologist, we are on a record-pace for days in the 90s this summer. I make it habit to avoid complaining about the heat. In my mind, that would preclude me from complaining about the cold in February, and I would much rather complain about that.

But for most people, these are the “dog days” of summer. I know what the idiom means—the long, hot, sultry weeks between the beginning of July and the middle of August, but I’ve always wondered where the phrase came from. So, here’s the scoop. Read more of Susan’s post on the Dog Days of Summer at Garanimals.

Visiting the Dog Beach

The dog-days of summer are really pretty inviting if you have a dog and a beach nearby, as we do. Just steps away from the shores of gorgeous Lake Michigan … read more about taking your dog to Chicago beaches at Garanimals.

National Dog Bite Prevention Week

May 20-26, 2012 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. As the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reminds us, no matter how nice they are, all dogs can bite. It’s up to people to do the best we can to help prevent dog bites. Here a few tips from the AVMA for preventing dog bites (click here for more complete information):

• Always walk your dog on a leash
• Never leave a baby or small child alone with a dog
• Teach your children how to treat pets with respect
• Always ask permission before approaching a strange dog
• Spay or neuter your dog

The best way to prevent dog bites is to treat animals with respect. You are your pet’s guardian and advocate. When in public, be sure you pay attention to what’s happening around you and keep your pet safe from teasing and threats from strangers.

Wordless Wednesday #4: Noah and His Dog Roscoe

Which is the boy and which is the dog?

Animal Store Gift Card Winner Donates to Red Door Shelter

Hey, everybody, did you know that Kenn’s wife, Susan, has a blog called Two Kinds of People. Each year, she runs an essay contest complete with prizes. This year’s winner, Norine Dworkin-McDaniel, donated one of her prizes—a $25 Animal Store Gift Card—to Red Door Animal Shelter.

Red Door Animal Shelter is a no-kill shelter committed to helping animals in need. Its primary focus is on the rescue, shelter and adoption of cats, dogs and rabbits—the three most popular pets in the United States. The Animal Store supports the efforts of the Red Door.

We would also like to congratulate Norine on her excellent winning essay and thank her for her generous donation to the Red Door Animal Shelter. Thanks, Norine! (I, personally, love that Norine calls her blog “Don’t Put Lizards in Your Ears“. As a giant gourami, I can’t say that anyone has ever tried to put me [or my kin] into a human ear canal, but I strongly advise your readers to keep fish, as well as lizards, out of their ears.)

National Dog Show on Thanksgiving

Though I’ve been lobbying hard for a National Fish Show, it seems the top dog in animal shows is still The National Dog Show, which is going on this weekend in Philadelphia. In case you couldn’t make it to the live show, you can watch it on TV on Thanksgiving day at noon (ET) on NBC.

Last year’s Best In Show winner was handsome looking Irish Setter by the name of Grand Champion Windntide Mr. Sandman (aka Clooney). That’s one fancy name, although I still think Ernie Giant Gourami Fish has a nice ring to it. Maybe I should go with the more formal “Ernest” when they enter me in the National Fish Show.

I understand that dogs are “cute” and “loyal” and have a reputation as “man’s best friend”, but fish are cute, too (he said humbly). And come February, just remember that your furry “best friend” won’t care if it’s below zero. Those dumb dogs still need to be taken outside just to go to the bathroom. Come back then and we’ll talk about who your real best friend is.

In the meantime, do you know the seven groups of dogs that compete in The National Dog Show? See if you can spot the fake in our poll:

Stumped? Check your answer here.

Beagles and Kong Guest Post

This guest post is reprinted with permission from the fabulous blog of Melisa Wells called Suburban Scrawl. Thanks Melisa!

One Pet Peeve Down…
by Melisa Wells
from Suburban Scrawl

If you’ve ever known the joys of owning a beagle, you know that the breed comes with all kinds of eccentricities and baggage that show themselves just often enough to keep you in line and remind you who’s really in charge.

When Roxie was a puppy, a friend of mine took care of her for a weekend while we were camping, and upon our return said to me, “She’s just cute enough that all of your friends will want to watch her…ONCE.” Roxie has electrocuted herself once. She has been skunked once. She has escaped from the back yard around five times (including the time she was discovered running down the middle of the golf course behind our subdivision, big ears flapping in the wind). Where our late, great Bijoux had that adorable beagle bay that everyone loves because it sounds so dang cute, Roxie was “blessed” with the annoying type of surprising, blood-curdling howl that scares the bejeezus out of anyone who is hearing it for the first time (and sometimes the second). She does that “reverse sneeze” that is common for the breed, and, well, I love her dearly but it’s embarrassing to take her anywhere.

Roxie will also do anything for food. Anything. She has stolen more food in her seven years of life than Bijoux did in her entire thirteen, I think. Roxie has eaten entire loaves of bread just like her predecessor, and chocolate (never enough to warrant a stomach-pumping, but nonetheless), and crackers, and cookies, and, well, anything she can get by standing on her hind legs and swiping off the countertops or dining room table with her paws. She has even been known to slurp up a glass of milk or soda if I accidentally leave it on the table next to the couch when I get up to get something from the kitchen. She does this without spilling a drop, leaving the glass standing proudly on its coaster as if I put it there fresh out of the dishwasher. It drives me insane. INSANE, I tell you! She will stealthily carry off an empty wrapper that one boy or the other leaves in his trashcan, and lick it for dear life, in case there might be a microscopic crumb of its former contents stuck to the inside.

Not only does she eat anything she can get into her mouth, but she doesn’t even chew. She inhales. When it’s time for her to eat what we intentionally give her (dog food) in the morning and the evening, she sucks up the little nuggets so quickly and violently that over the past couple of months she’s been choking herself. (But it doesn’t stop her from eating, oddly enough.) I worry that one day, she’s going to excitedly run over to her food dish, start her inhaling process, and die because nobody was right there to give her the Heimlich.

I think I’ve found a solution, though.

(Note that this is NOT a sponsored post in any way, shape, or form.)

I read somewhere a couple of weeks ago that you can slow down your rapid-eating dog by putting her food into a container that acts like a puzzle: she has to use her mental and creative skills to figure out how to get the food, and thus doesn’t choke herself to death from the lack of a challenge. I took her to get her nails trimmed today, and remembered to look for this amazing contraption. Lucky for me, they were in stock:

Truth be told, I love this brand. Ages ago we bought one of the smaller toys and stuffed it with dog treats: Roxie, being really smart (as beagles tend to be), learned how to pick up said toy in her teeth and flip her chin so the toy would go airborne before bouncing on the floor, the impact making the treat slot open enough for the treat pieces to pop out. As I stood there at the store today, I imagined the entertainment possibilities for something like this.

Then I saw the picture of the spokesdog, in the corner of the package. She looked very familiar …

As I inspected the package, I had a great laugh:

Contrary to what this company thinks will happen, I know that beagles are not usually truly appreciative about anything, especially something that is going to stand in between them and food. In fact, I figured that the purchase of this meal tool just might cause Roxie to hold a grudge against all four of us for longer than you would think possible, for a dog and all.

As it turns out, we all had a great time! (Mostly us, watching her.) It took her about eight minutes to eat her dinner, as opposed to the 45 seconds it usually takes, and tonight’s mealtime was silent except for the sound of that red plastic Wobbler being pushed all over our living room. It was glorious.

Now if I can just find a way to change the way she howls …

*****

Thanks so much to Melisa for this great post. In honor of Melisa and her beagle, we would like to offer a 15% discount* off all Kong products to our readers. Just come in to the store and mention this post when you check out to get your discount. No coupon necessary.

*Offer expires July 22. Good on white tag prices only.

A New College Graduate’s Search for the Perfect Pet (Part 2)

Welcome back to Lisa Shoreland, with Part 2 of her search for her first post-college pet. Today she shares her decision-making process. Tune in on Thursday to see what she finally decides.

Lisa Shoreland is currently a resident blogger at Go College, where recently she’s been researching aerospace engineering scholarships as well as health administration scholarships. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing, practicing martial arts, and taking weekend trips.

Pets I’m Considering
by Lisa Shoreland

I’ve compiled a list of the different pets I think could possible fit all of my needs. I’m going to consider the pros and cons of each pet to determine which one I’d like to buy. Although there are some pets that might fit this list of needs, I’m going to rule out lizards, snakes, spiders, rodents, and birds because none of them appeals to my personal tastes. Although a ferret or a hamster might fit my needs, personal childhood experiences have led me to take them off the list as well.

Small Dog

Pros	Cons
Great personality	Shots and spaying/neutering can be expensive
Furry and nice to pet	Need a carrier for travel
Will curl in your lap	Require more attention and care than other animals on list (e.g., regular baths)
	Can be paper/litter trained, but tend to take longer to house train
	Some apartments don’t allow dogs
	Can be destructive to furniture
	Have that dog scent, even with regular bathing
	May bark and anger neighbors

Cat

Pros	Cons
Independent	Shots and spaying/neutering can be expensive
Quiet	Need a carrier for the move
Clean	Male cats are known to spray furniture
Have a personality	Can be mischievous and claw furniture
Furry and nice to pet
Cat’s purring is soothing
Will curl in your lap

Aquarium with Fish

Pros	Cons
Visually Stunning	No personality
Very low maintenance	No real companionship
	Difficult to move

While we don’t necessarily agree with Lisa’s assessments of each type of pet, we do like and recommend her process of creating a list of pros and cons about which pet will work best for you. If you have questions or we can help you overcome a particular “con”, let us know. Part 3 with Lisa’s final descision will be posted on Thursday evening, June 16. In the meantime, what was factor that tipped the scales in determining which pet you would choose? Let us know here.

In honor of Lisa’s guest post and all you new grads out there, The Animal Store would like to give you a graduation gift. Bring in some proof of your recent graduation and get 25% off your entire purchase• of a new pet and all the supplies you need to get started. For those who have already graduated or are still in school, mention Lisa’s post for a 10% discount.*

*Offer expires June 30. Good on white tag prices only.

Pets and Careers: Is there a connection?

You know you love your pet. You know your pet loves you. But did you know the kind of pet you own might be related to your career choice and even your income?

According to a new study by Career Builder, owners of certain pets are more likely to pursue certain careers. For example, reptile and snake owners tend to be social workers, marketing or PR people, editors or writers, police officers or engineers. Even more interestingly, the survey found that reptile owners are more likely to make salaries in the six figures.

Bird owners are the most likely to be satisfied in their career choice, and can often be found in administration, advertising, sales, or construction.

You dog owners are most likely to be top executives, and are often entertainers, nurses, professors, or in the military or IT.

Cat owners, on the other hand, are most most likely to be doctors or med techs, caretakers, realtors, or machine operators.

And what about aquarium hobbyists? You fish lovers tend to be in farming or forestry, fishing, transportation, human resources or finance.

These days, many people are looking for new jobs or career paths. Maybe what you really need is a new pet. Looking for success in sales? Come talk to us about a new cockatoo or a pair of lovebirds. Want to boost your income over the $100K mark? We’ve got just the corn snake or tegu for you. Trying to get into medical school? A new kitty may be just what you need. We also have everything you need for your fish tank or to care for your favorite pooch. Who knows? Maybe investing in your pet is actually an investment in your career. And you know they love you, no matter what you do.

To help you along your career path, just mention the pets and careers post and get 20% off* your next purchase at The Animal Store.

And check back on the blog for more holiday specials between now and Christmas.

*Offer good on white tags only; expires 12/31/10.


Photo credit: Mango HaX0ring by Slava / slava via Creative Commons License.