A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting a great pet boutique in Harlem called Posh Paws.  While pet boutiques, stores and related businesses are a dime a dozen in lower Manhattan, some savvy small business owners are realizing the potential of opening similar businesses in untapped local markets.

Posh Paws is getting stellar reviews from local customers who value the large selection of high end pet products including food, clothing, beds and carriers.  Don’t see the brand of food that Fido craves?  No problem, they’ll order it for you… 

The super friendly co-owner even gave us a great recommendation on where to grab lunch.  It’s refreshing to find a local neighborhood dog business that is hitting a home run, especially since they do it without the attitude that you get at some high-end boutiques! 

Oscar’s Rating - 4 paws up!  However, he’s not a big fan of designer doggie duds…here he is sporting his Maverick Top Dog tank under duress…

Uh-oh…our neighbors to the west are experiencing a doggie flu outbreak.  Hopefully it won’t make its way across the Hudson, but that is probably wishful thinking. 

I’m assuming the annual 5-in-1 vaccinations Oscar gets every year cover canine influenza?  I’m going to have to check on that…

Just saw this article in The Villager about the opening of the new Thompson Square Dog Run.  I didn’t realize that this run would be the unveiling of a special new surface…

“Using several layers of rock, landscaping fabric and a new top surface called Plymouth Brown Screenings, the surface will allow dog urine and rainwater to drain directly through the run, meaning it won’t emit unpleasant odors.”

I can’t wait to check it out.  We frequent the Leroy St. and Washington Square Park dog runs and have frequently commented on the fact that neither surface is ideal…the paved surface at Leroy St. makes for a very clean environment, but no traction (especially when it’s wet).  On the other hand, Oscar loves to tear it up in the pebbles at the Washington Square Park dog run, but that place stinks to high heaven during the summer months.

I have high hopes for this new surface - especially since the article states that it will be used next in the renovation of the Washington Square Park dog run. 

If you get a chance to check it out before we do, let us know what you think…

Our Memorial Day hike with Oscar has piqued my interest in other outdoorsy/hiking opportunities in and around New York City.  It has also inspired a huge Internet shopping splurge for dog-related hiking/camping paraphernalia, which Oscar will clearly hate…starting with a new life jacket!

I’ve been meaning to replace Oscar’s life jacket for a while now.  It was purchased when he was still a puppy and we had no idea that he would blow by the 10 lb weight limit and end up at almost 20 lbs!  We love to take Oscar canoeing, but I’ve been nervous the last few times because I’m convinced that he’s going to go overboard and sink like a rock.  Contrary to popular belief, all dogs are not natural swimmers.  And we have confirmed that Oscar can NOT swim, but that’s another story…

 In addition to the K-9 Float Coat by Ruff Wear…

I also splurged on an Approach Pack and some Grip Trex Bark’n Boots.

The X-small back pack is on backorder, so we don’t have that yet, but Oscar is RIDICULOUSLY cute in his boots.  He hasn’t quite figured out how to walk in them yet - check out this video as he makes his first attempts to walk in his boots - in my opinion, possibly the best 7 second video on YouTube!!

If you like that one, check out the longer (45 sec) version we lure him around the kitchen with T-R-E-A-T-S to try to get him used to walking in the boots…

Okay, maybe we won’t be using these for hiking…but they will definitely be an improvement on the disposable booties we’ve been using in the winter after it snows.  And no….the boots are not for the snow - they’re for the massive amounts of salt and chemicals that everyone throws in front of their buildings to avoid lawsuits…

With the upcoming Olympic Games, the world’s attention is focused on Beijing and our four-legged friends are (at least temporarily) benefiting from this attention…dog is off the menu in Beijing for the duration of the Games!!

But dogs in Beijing aren’t quite celebrating yet - a long-standing Beijing law prohibiting dogs taller than 35 centimeters (1.1 feet) is still being enforced.  A friend sent me this really interesting article about the law and its origins.  Apparently, historically dogs in China were primarily kept as pets by the wealthy.  During the rule of communist leader Mao Zedong, dog owners were “scorned as bourgeois timewasters” and strict laws were enacted that still are enforced today.

It’s ironic that a country that has given us so many varied breeds of dogs has become so unfriendly to canines.  The Shar-Pei, Chinese Crested, Pekingese, Chow Chow and Shih-Tzu are just a few of the popular breeds that have originated in China.

Local dog lovers are hoping that the attention focused on China for the Olympics will force officials to address their outdated dog-UNfriendly attitude.  With registered dog ownership in Beijing up a staggering 17% from 2006 to 2007 (~600K –> ~704K), there is certainly a huge dog-friendly contingent growing in the capital city - keep in mind that only dogs meeting the 35cm or less rule can be registered!!

Two bizarre dog-related stories in the news this past week…

First a girl in Queens is reunited with a dog that she lost 5 years ago.  He turned up in 850 miles away in Georgia!! 

More cute pics of Natalie & Rocco can be found in the Post Photo Gallery.  I really need to get Oscar micro-chipped…

Next, a scary story from the Bronx…a pitbull was bitten by a rattlesnake on Tuesday in a public park near the Bronx Zoo.  Stone (the dog) was rushed to the hospital and treated with anti-venom.  The parks department is searching for the snake, which they believe is probably someone’s escaped pet. 

We wish Stone a speedy recovery and hope Natalie & Rocco enjoy their second chance!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Best Friends Again dog cloning auction that was held in mid-June .  (Click here if you missed the first post.) Still no word on how much bidders were willing to pay for each of the 5 doggy cloning slots - bidding started at $100K.  But there is some news on the cloning front…

I don’t know how I missed this (because I surely would have entered Oscar), but there was an essay contest to find the most “clone-worthy dog” with the winner receiving free cloning of their dog. 

I guess it’s just as well that I didn’t spend too much time working on my “Why Oscar Should Be Cloned For Free” essay, because it sounds like there was some stiff competition.  As WONDERFUL as Oscar is, I’m not sure that he could compete with Trakr…

Trakr is credited with finding one of the last survivors at Ground Zero after the Septermber 11th terrorist attack.   The 15-year-old German Shepherd suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder, which experts believe could be related to exposure to toxic smoke from Ground Zero.

Will be keeping an eye out for Trakr II…

Come cheer on the competitors in the Iams Doggy Duathlon this Sunday!  I hear the swimming portion has been cancelled, due to logistical problems, but those duathletes are going to need some strong encouragement to run a 10K in this nasty July weather!

WHAT:           For far too long, canine athletes have faithfully trained alongside their human counterparts, only to be left on the sidelines on race day. No longer!  The Iams Doggy Du gives man (or woman) and best friend the chance to compete in tandem over a 1500 meter swim and 10 kilometer run course.

WHO:             Meet the canine competitors

WHEN:           July 20, 2008 during the 8^thAnnual NYC Triathlon.  Start time TBD

WHERE:         Swim:   The Hudson River between 99th and 72nd streets.

Run:   Central Park from 72nd and Central Park West, clockwise around the northern loop and finishing on Dead Road just west of the bandshell on the 72nd street transverse. 

Right now, Oscar is a kibble dog.  He gets a mixture of Nutro and Beneful (plus a little taste of whatever I’m eating - I know, bad…) every day and he seems pretty happy about the situation.  He’s only 2 and a half, but seems to be pretty healthy, his teeth are very clean and he rarely has “dog breath”.  So, if it ain’t broke - don’t fix it, right? 

Maybe, but I have a few friends who feed their dogs a raw diet and they SWEAR by it - they believe that their pets have increased energy, thicker/shinier coats and a healthier weight since they switched to feeding them raw food.  Plus there have been a lot of scares lately with processed dog food… 

Experts who recommend the raw food diet cite studies where animals who are fed processed food appear to be healthy when they are young, however, as the animals reached adulthood, they supposedly begin to age more quickly (than dogs fed a raw diet) and also develop chronic degenerative disease symptoms.  These proponents claim that your dog would be healthier if his diet more closely resembled what he would eat in the wild.

And mimicking the type of diet they would have in the wild does make some sense to me.  I was also pretty surprised to find that Oscar seemed to LOVE the raw food meal that he tried at his friends Arnold & Giuseppe’s house.  So, as long as it won’t do him any harm, why not try it?

Well there’s cost and effort…depending on the raw food diet you choose it will probably take more effort that throwing down some kibble and will definitely be more expensive.  Okay, well that’s no problem - I love to feel like I’m spoiling King Oscar. 

My friend recommended the Volhard Natural Diet Foundation (NDF) - AM & PM. 

I’ve also heard good things about The Rotation Diet from Nature’s Variety.  What I especially like about the Nature’s Variety plan is that they encourage switching between types (raw, kibble, cans) of food.  I like the idea of keeping some kibble in Oscar’s diet to keep his teeth clean and breath smelling…well, not like dog breath!  I’m not really into canned food, but the combo of raw and kibble is appealing to me.  I really like the feeding guide on the NV website…it’s easy to use and helps you to figure out how much of each type of food to feed your dog each day. 

So, what do you think?  Should I give it a try?    I would love to hear about your personal experiences with a raw food diet.

You know what’s wrong with this blog lately??   Not enough pictures of Oscar, that’s what!!  Well, I’m about to remedy that problem AND display the newest addition to my Oscar art collection….the Oscar sculputure!!

In my ongoing quest to fill our apartment with all things Oscar, I discovered another artist (Kathryn Nicholoas of Pet Sculptures) who specializes in turning your little beast into a work of art.   I think that you’ll agree that she did a FABULOUS job!    And for a very reasonalble price - individualized sculputures start at $95 plus s/h (but check out her website for current pricing).

Now, I had this marvelous plan to take picture of Oscar next to his mini-me sculpture, but due to some very bad planning on my part, I forgot to take the picture before Oscar’s latest grooming and now he looks like a totally different dog…

Oh well, nobody’s perfect (well none of us with 2 legs anway).  But I think you’ll agree that the sculpture looks exactly like Oscar looked in the orginial picture I sent Kathryn…

If you missed the first installation of “Oscar Art”, you can check it out here.