Thanksgiving precautions

I am pretty excited for Thanksgiving. For the past two years, I've had to stay in town to cover Black Friday shopping the day after Thanksgiving. This year, I FINALLY get to spend the holiday with my family. I'll be in D.C. the whole weekend, but I'll try to update as much as I can.

CeCe, unfortunately, is going to be boarding. :( But I should be getting text message and photo updates of her, according to the people at the kennel. I hope she isn't too lonely on Thanksgiving!

I am friends with 2nd Avenue Animal Hospital on Myspace and recently, they sent out a bulletin on Thanksgiving precautions. So if your pet is spending the holiday with you, check this message out from 2nd Ave.:

Hello Everyone,

We wanted to remind every pet owner to swing by your local grocery store and pick up a few special food items for your dogs & cats for thanksgiving.

Every year, thousands of animals are rushed to emergency clinics and animal hospitals around the nation within a few days of Thanksgiving.

All too often the foods that we enjoy & share with our companion animals will give them diarrhea and cause them to vomit.

Remember: DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOGS or CATS Turkey or turkey bones this Thanksgiving!!!!

Every Year, EVERY animal hospital has at least one large or small breed dog come in after Thanksgiving with splintered bones protruding through his or her stomach lining into other organs, or stuck in the intestinal walls causing a bowel system shut down or blockage.(and this is BARELY an exaggeration)

If you want to make your pets a special dish for Thanksgiving, try making some white rice & boiled chicken breast (be sure there are no bones or spices present).

Keep canned dog & cat foods on hand and you can make them their own special Thanksgiving dinner!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM SECOND AVENUE ANIMAL HOSPITAL!!!

4025 2nd Avenue
Columbus GA 31904

706-507-7297

Animal Resource Campus photos

As promised, here are more photos from the Animal Resource Campus tour, courtesy of the L-E's Joe Paull.

Pet photos with Santa

Santa Clause is coming to town...and he wants to meet your pets.

Peachtree Mall is hosting St. Nick's Pet Pics every Monday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Bring your pets so they can sit on Santa's lap and take a picture.

Prices vary. Call 706-327-1578.

One more thing...my story on the new PAWS Humane Center (yes, PAWS and the Muscogee County Humane Society have merged) is in today's paper. Check it out online and you can see photos and video from our tour. Here's the link.

*New* Columbus Animal Resource Campus!

So I went on a tour yesterday of the new Columbus Animal Resource Campus on Milgen Road. That's where PAWS and Animal Control are now located.

All I have are three words to describe it: Oh. Em. Gee.

You HAVE to go to their grand opening tomorrow. It is AMAZING in there. Total upgrade from their old facilities up on Sacerdote Lane near the state prison. I spoke to Executive Director Donna Rex and she said a lot of the animals are already displaying behavior they would if they were in an actual home, not a shelter. And I could totally see that when I toured the place. The dogs seemed so much happier and less frightened than your stereotypical pound puppy.

Here's the 411 on tomorrow event:

What: PAWS Humane Grand Opening

When: Saturday, Nov. 22, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Where: 4900 Milgen Rd., Columbus (shuttle buses leave from Cooper Creek Park)

They'll have animals for adoption, facility tours and door prizes/giveaways. They also ask that you don't bring any of your own pets to the event.

I'll have an article running in tomorrow's paper, so be sure to check that out! Oh, and L-E multimedia whiz Joe Paull tagged along on the tour. He took some great shots so I'll post photos here soon.

Fat cats and dumpy dogs

Sooooo is your mouth hanging open like mine was when I saw this pic? This is Tinks, a 13-year-old cat from England. He weighs about 9.8 kilograms, or about 22 pounds (he totally looks like he weighs more!)

He's one of the eight participants in a Celebrity Fit Club-type contest...only it's for pets.

Check out the article here.

I just don't understand how some pet owners let their babies reach obesity. It's really not fair to these animals because it can introduce some serious health risks.

One of the recommended solutions? Don't give your pet human food. Here's another article on the dangers of doing so. It's particularly pertinent since the holidays are coming up...you know Fido will be staring longingly at those turkey legs, but like the article says, you must resist!

Fort Benning dog park

Have any of you brought your dogs to the dog park at Fort Benning?

CeCe and I were able to visit the park this weekend, thanks to my girl Lily, whose husband is in the military. She brought along her "little" man Dave, a Weimaraner.

If any of you pet owners ever get the chance to do so, I would highly recommend it - especially if your dog loves other dogs. There were probably 10 others canines there, of all sizes.

I seriously felt like a mother watching her kid at the playground. CeCe gets really excited when she sees other dogs and loves to play - sometimes a little too rough. She also loves to jump on people - which some may not like. I kept scolding her whenever she'd act out, but it's like she went deaf as soon as we entered the park.

Here are some tips I found on dog park etiquette.

Now all Columbus has to do is get a dog park as well!

If you missed it...

Just in case you missed it, here's the link to my interview with Carolyn Morris of the Developing Canine.

Enjoy!

Animal Thanksgiving

Here's a pretty cool event that you might want to check out tomorrow: Animal Thanksgiving at the Parks at Chehaw.

You can mix up treats for zoo animals, build homes for backyard wildlife and more at the Albany zoo Sunday.

Best of all, it's free!

Find out more info here in Katie Holland's Ledger-Enquirer story.

The Developing Canine

As promised, here is some video from my visit to The Developing Canine. Owner Carolyn Morris demonstrates basic obedience with her two-year-old hound mix, Sunshine.

Sunshine is the sweetest! Make sure to check out my story on Carolyn tomorrow at www.ledger-enquirer.com. It'll also be in the business section of the print edition as well. Carolyn gives some great tips for dog owners of the unruliest pets - or so they think!

Bald dog

Yes, everyone, this is a dog. It's called the Peruvian Hairless Dog, and our South American brothers and sisters are now suggesting the Obamas take one in. Malia is allergic to most dog breeds, and with this little guy right here, that wouldn't be a problem.

Check out the Yahoo News article here, which also has a link to more photos of this bald breed.

So...what do you think of the Peruvian Hairless Dog? I can't imagine what it would be like petting CeCe if she were just...skin.

Fall ball and interviews

L-E photographer Robin Trimarchi took some great action shots of Kira, a 4-year-old Weimaraner, and Brecon, an 11-month-old mastiff, playing at Lakebottom Park Monday. They're not online, but you can check it out in today's print edition of the Ledger-Enquirer (the photos are on the front of the local section.)

Today, I'll be interviewing Carolyn Morris of the Developing Canine (www.thedevelopingcanine.com) for an "On the Job" profile that will run in the business section Thursday. I'm looking forward to it! She'll be demonstrating some training techniques with her dog, Sunshine. I'm bringing my camcorder along so you guys will be able to check it out, too. I'll post the video here as soon as possible, so make sure to check back!

Animal deaths on airplanes

How shady is this?

Airline loophole: Many animals' deaths not tallied

Airlines should be held accountable for ANY "accidental" death involving animals on their planes...whether they are considered pets or not.

The idea of animals being placed in a plane's cargo section has never sat well with me. Imagine the emotional trauma that causes a pet. I have never traveled on an airplane with CeCe and I don't think I ever will. There's just something wrong about me sitting in an airplane seat while she's in a crate below me next to some luggage. I'd worry the whole time (as if I don't worry enough!)

Have you ever traveled with a pet on an airplane? What was that like? Or do you refuse to let your pet on board? How come?

Barking for a Cure

Did you know that dogs can get breast cancer?

It's true. I didn't know that until I received an informative e-mail this week from 2nd Avenue Animal Hospital.

They're hosting the event "Barking for a Cure" this Saturday, Nov. 8. Here's the 411:

BARKING FOR A CURE
What: 2-mile walk with your dog
Where: The Riverwalk
When: Sat., Nov. 8, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (meet at 2nd Avenue Animal Hospital, located at 4025 2nd Avenue in Columbus, at 1 p.m.)
Why: To help support a female puppy-spaying program (spaying young dogs reduces the chance of developing breast cancer)
Cost: Donation of at least $5. You'll receive a free bandana.
For more 411: Call 706-507-7297

If you register ASAP for the walk, you will receive a free mammary tumor exam on your pet as well.

To read up on mammary tumors in dogs, click here.

Loving Bullmastiffs

Joe and Ploy of Columbus submitted these ADORABLE pictures of their Bullmastiffs, Jasmine and Maggie! Don't you just love this picture of them cuddling?!

Pictured below is Jasmine, who is 7 months old. As her owner Ploy says, got to love that face!
Maggie, a 7-month-old Bullmastiff, is pictured below! Ploy says: "She was having a Braveheart moment and decided to paint her face with mud to get ready for battle."
Awwwwww! LoL!

If you want your pet featured on Girl's Best Friend, e-mail me at ahernandez@ledger-enquirer.com.

A new puppy for the Obamas

Hey everyone! I am super tired from covering the elections last night...I didn't get home until about 2 a.m. this morning and am not feeling so well today.

Anyway, if you have been living under a rock, news flash: Barack Obama has been elected president of the U.S.! I know, I know, this is a blog about pets. The reason I bring this up is because if you watched Obama's victory speech last night, he mentioned a little something about a new pet while he was thanking his daughters:

From a CNN transcript:
"Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House."

Awwwwwww!

Back in September, I blogged about pets in the White House.

And I'll pose the question again: now that the Obamas are definitely getting a new puppy, what breed would you recommend the family?

Dog show participants

Last week, the Ledger-Enquirer invited several dogs to our studio for a photo shoot. (These were dogs that participated in last Saturday's dog show.) L-E videographer Joe Paull was able to snap some shots of these "models" on their way out. Enjoy!

From left to right: Suzie Q, Emma and Johnny
From left to right: Robert and Lily

Vote-casting pets

Happy Election Day!

I'll be the 3,403,129,967th person to remind you to go vote today, if you haven't already. Polls close at 7 p.m.

That being said, Charles Memminger, a blogger for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, posted a pretty interesting blurb today...he mentions a lady named Tammy Kubo who is conducting an online poll for pets: "If pets could vote - Are you a Doggie Mama for Obama or a K9 for McCain?"

I think you'd be surprised by the results.

Check out the blog here and Tammy's Web site here.

Columbus Kennel Club annual dog show

Don't forget today is the Columbus Kennel Club's annual dog show! You can bring leashed dogs even if they're not participating in the show.

Click here for Sandra Okamoto's story on the annual event.