When I was in college, I volunteered one night at a Grammys gifting suite. As a peon, I wore my one nice dress and handed bags full of ridiculously extravagant presents to celebrities and/or celebrity assistants. In return, I got....well, to say that I did it, I guess. Swag has gotten even more crazy in the ensuing years. Out of control, even. Compared to the Grammys, the Oscars are even more insane- the "Everybody Wins at the Oscars" bag given to the non winning nominees in the top 5 ... Read more »
Lifestyle
Candy Pee and Me: How Big Pharma Seduced Me at NAVC
It's been entirely too long since I've posted, and for that I apologize. I've been terribly busy responding to nastygrams depositing my checks from Big Pet Food sneering at plebians going to a continuing education conference this past week, and what a week it was. Like many of you, I read the Indy Star's expose about the loose strings of pharmaceutical companies (or, in internet conspiracy parlance, Big Pharma) at continuing education conferences such as the one I was going to attend, and ... Read more »
3 ways to save money on pet care
If you were awake at 7:50 this morning and happen to have been watching San Diego 6, you'd have seen me trying with varied success to get a very sweet and nervous Saint Bernard to eat some treats. You know what they say about pets and kids. But that's OK, because Gabana was still a precious prop to our perhaps less entertaining but still very important topic, saving money on pet care. Here's the tips I shared: 1. Don't skimp on preventive care. Pop quiz: what is more expensive- Regular ... Read more »
The best day of the year is here!
It's National Dog Day, a day to celebrate the love and bond we share with our canine companions. It's hard to top. What could possibly be better than National Dog Day? Having your birthday fall on National Dog Day. Especially if you've always proclaimed that dogs are pretty much the best thing ever. It is also, in a strange twist of fate that I cannot tell if it is coincidental or not, is also National hot dog day, which is a fact I'm not as excited about so I will choose ... Read more »
Pet insurance- the good, the bad, the somewhere in between
I admit I am biased about pet insurance. I like it, mostly. Clients who had it were, in my experience, much more likely to approve necessary treatments. That dog with a case of happy tail who wagged it so hard and so fast he got a nasty deep infection that ended up necessitating a partial tail amputation? Insured. Hit by car? Insured. From my perspective, it allowed owners to focus on the pet's immediate needs and get them taken care of. I also liked it because I didn't have to do anything to ... Read more »
Live from Vegas: Pet Products You’ve Got To See
FTC Disclosure: featured products provided review product and/or compensation for inclusion in the Product Spotlight. If you’ve ever been to a trade show, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed. A pet show like SuperZoo is an utter cacophony of sounds, sights, and row after row of many things that all look the same after an hour: treats and collars, treats and collars, rinse, repeat. It’s hard for products to stand out in a crowd like that, but when Dr. Andy Roark and I hit the ... Read more »
Moo-eauty is in the eye of the beholder
Ever since my first $5 velvet tiger bought at a flea market when I was 12, I've been a fan of animal art. My mother, whose taste runs more to lighthouses and anything by Thomas Kincaid, was flummoxed but tolerant, as long as I kept it all in my room and away from her floral landscapes. People who come to my house these days are unsurprised at the amount of animal art we have. Sure, it's not the only thing we have on our walls, but in the grand scheme of things one could easily deduce we like ... Read more »
What to Say to Someone in Mourning
This morning, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Joanne McGonagle over at The Tiniest Tiger for a Google Hangout on the topic of pet loss. I had this whole long post about how easy it is to get wrong and how hard it is to get right, but rather than go through the long sordid tales of all the times I've said the exact wrong thing I thought I would instead sum up what we, along with all the wonderful participants, concluded during the course of the talk. Some of the statements are specific ... Read more »
My husband and Her: A neato love story
I have no one to blame but myself, of course, for the events that have transpired since Christmas. I was the one who brought her in, invited her to come into our home and get to know the place. My husband said it was the only thing he wanted this year, so I went with it, albeit with some trepidation. You should have seen his face when he realized what I had done. "Wow!" he said. "Finally!" The children looked on in confusion. Brody ran away. Only Penelope, the newest addition to the fold, ... Read more »
On the twelfth day of Christmas AND another giveaway!
My doggie gave to me: 12 Yummers Yumming! Eleven Crunchy Carrots Ten Snorers Sleeping Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Thank you to Annette at Biscuits By Lambchop for bringing up the end of this crazy train :) Treats for all tonight! Speaking of that, for those of you who are still around, I do have another giveaway ... Read more »
Naughty or Nice Giveaway 1: Motorola WiFi Pet Monitor!
Has your pet been naughty or nice this year? You can find out for sure with the Motorola Scout1B Wifi Pet Monitor. I used a camera like this to verify it was indeed Kekoa and not Brody who was counter surfing while we were out. Here's the description: This remote Motorola Scout1 Wi-Fi Video PET Monitor camera allows you to monitor your pets from anywhere. Catch live action, record video and take snapshots while controlling the camera with Remote Pan, Tilt and Digital Zoom. Home ... Read more »
A Dog’s Holiday Wishlist
One of my favorite holiday traditions is going over to Fox5 News and doing a bit with Rancho Coastal Humane Society talking about the dogs' holiday wishes (next to being adopted, of course.) Just me, Santa, and a bunch of adorable dogs all doing our best to avoid any sort of Ron Burgundy stereotypes about San Diego programming. Here's the segment with the 6 adorable pups. :) It's always hard to pick just 6 items, but here is what we presented this year: 1. The ThunderShirt ... Read more »
A Veterinarian’s Holiday Wishlist
I usually spend this time of year making up wishlists for dogs and cats, and with a new kitten in the house, there's plenty she could be interested in finding under the tree (though for her, the tree itself is present enough). But then I saw a few things that I just had to stick on my Amazon Wishlist, and because I thought they were awesome I thought some of you out there might find them awesome too. If you want to get that special vet in your life something that blows the lid off a "I love ... Read more »
World’s Most Adorable Degenerate Produce
A grape. So benign. Frozen, so delicious. Dehydrated, so raisin-y. And in large quantities in dogs, the unassuming grape goes Breaking Bad and becomes a killer. Da da duuuuum.... so let's talk toxic foods for a minute. When my friend Lili Chin over at Doggie Drawings asked if I would look over a poster she was designing of toxic foods for canines, I was so excited, because her drawings rock and I couldn't wait to see how she interpreted "bulb of garlic." The idea was to create a simple, cute ... Read more »
Back to School Giveaway: Busy Treats Bag
Remember that Staples back to school commercial, the one where the dad was riding a cart around the store to "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?" That was me. The sad, dejected faces dragging around behind him? Not my kids. They like school. Brody, on the other hand...Brody is sad. He's lost his summertime playmates to the double whammy of school, plus homework and extracurricular activities. Having me around is OK, but it's not the same as the kids. And if your dog is anything like ... Read more »
Summer Reading List, Vet Version
It says right there on my FAQ that I don't do book reviews. Not because I don't like doing it, but because approximately two seconds after the review book arrives I start to get emails: "didyougetitdidyoulikeitwhensthereview" from the publishing house interns whose job it is to do things like that. Which is completely fine, except for the fact that I don't read very quickly and I just couldn't handle the pressure. I will do book reviews, just as long as no one cares when I get around to it. ... Read more »
Food Rules for Dogs
It's generally accepted that of all the controversial people food trends out there, the paleo/raw/low carb/low fat rules of ingestion, the one thing everyone seems to agree on is Michael Pollan's Food Rules, which at its core is this: don't eat so much processed food, and don't eat so much food in general. Agreed, and you can certainly extrapolate this to pets too. However, with over 50% of US pets overweight or obese- a condition with definite and real consequences- I'm more concerned with ... Read more »
Who’s Jimmy Moses? And other dog show musings
This winter marked my third trip to the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship, and while I've learned a great deal more about dog shows over that time (mostly due to the instruction of my friend Susi Szeremy over at DogKnobit), I think it's fair to say that I'm still mostly clueless about that world. Which is fine, since I'll never show a dog; I just need enough knowledge to be able to watch. I know a bit about the point system and the actual play by play of showing a dog, like how you're ... Read more »
