So, three episodes have passed since my last Greatest American Dog post (sorry, just too much exciting stuff going on in the dog space lately!!).  Here are my abbreviated comments:

 3 episodes ago - Travis, what were you thinking?!?  Throwing Laura under the bus to placate crazy Beth Joy???  You and Laura were supposed to fall in love and make beautiful babies to go along with your beautiful pups!!  Real smooth…

2 episodes ago - In a word….FINALLY!!  (I do appreciate the fact that Beth Joy loves Bella Starlet, but she is NOT the person I would choose to represent me as a NYC dog owner…I fear that everyone in the midwest must think that we’re all psychotic dog owners (not to be confused with crazy dog owners = excessively devoted to their pups, but not ACTUALLY INSANE).  Thanks again to David & Elvis for keepin’ it real.

Last night - I have to admit that Lori & Andrew hadn’t impressed me too much up to this point, but that little guy ROCKED the elephant challenge!  The elephant trunk came to within a foot or two of him and he didn’t even flinch!   I can’t even imagine what Oscar would have done in that situation, but I guarantee it wouldn’t have been pretty!

 Discuss amongst yourselves…

I just came across this story in the Daily News about this paralyzed Pomerian, named Willy, who was abandoned in Brooklyn…

It’s so nice to hear about wonderful organizations like Sean Casey Animal Rescue and HandicappedPets.com (who has donated a custom wheelchair)!  Willy will be ready to go to his forever home in a few weeks, so please pass this on if you know of anyone who would be able to provide a  wonderful home for a special-needs dog like Willy!!

So, yesterday I wrote about Oscar’s debut as a SNIF Tag spokesmodel, but I today I wanted to talk about some of the other cool companies we met at Pet Fashion Week 2008.  There were so many cool products and companies, but I wanted to give shout outs to a few of our favorites…

First, we need to give props to our neighbors - Leashes and Lovers and It’s Raining Cats & Dogs.  We were lucky enough to be situated next to people with really cool businesses who were ALSO just great people to hang out with for 2 days straight.  Leashes and Lovers is a online site that helps unite local dog lovers - they have events all over New York including frequent Hike & Hound outings to one of our favorite nearby hiking spots - Harriman State Park.  It’s Raining Cats & Dogs has distinctive animal themed jewelry - we were really impressed with their selection of jewelry featuring hard-to-find breeds! 

We were crazy about the hand-made collars and leashes at Bowchies.  The owner was kind enough to let Oscar model this one for the weekend…

It was the perfect complement to his SNIF Tag!  They have lots more stylish patterns on their website, so be sure to check it out.

We met also met fellow bloggers at Pupstyle- the self-proclaimed “original snobby dog blog”!  Of course we have added them to our blogroll and will keep an eye out for the newest trends in luxury pet products on their site.

Finally, I have to mention that I had my first real celebrity encounter EVER!  I know this is hard to believe, since I have lived in NYC for so long…but I’m not brave enough to ever go up to a celeb (plus I assume that they would be annoyed, so I just leave them alone).  But when David Best (of David & Elvis from Greatest American Dog) came around to our booth, filming segments for the pet section of David’s educational website for Doctors - thedoctorschannel.com - I had to let him know that he did us New York dog owners proud (unlike another NY contestant…ah-hem)!  I’m happy to report that Dr. Best was as nice in person as he seemed on TV!  My only disappointment was not getting to meet Elvis (he didn’t know dogs were allowed at the event).

Whew…well that’s all for now.  I know I’m forgetting to mention a ton of cool businesses so check out the full list of exhibitors on the Pet Fashion website and the photos from the Fashion Show in the Daily News.

Oscar began his career as a professional dog model this past weekend!  It’s not quite as glamorous as it sounds…he was modeling the product that my company makes and he got paid in treats, but we’ve all go to start somewhere, right?

So, Oscar’s spokesdog gig was at Pet Fashion Week in NYC (which actually should be called ‘Pet Fashion Weekend‘ because it was just Saturday and Sunday.  Anyway, here’s a picture of Oscar and his buddy, Chopper, modeling their SNIF Tags…

What a handsome pair!!  So, you might be wondering…what is the SNIF Tag?  Well, I’m glad you asked!  The SNIF Tag is a stylish accessory that tracks your dog’s activity and allows you to remotely monitor what your four-legged companion is doing.  It also has a built in social-networking functionality that logs encounters with other Tag owners and connects them online.

So basically, the SNIF Tag allows you to see what your dog is doing while you’re away from him and meet other dog owners in your neighborhood.  Pretty cool, right?

The Tag is scheduled to be available in stores and online later this fall.  As we get closer to the launch, I’ll occasionally share some fun stories about how the SNIF Tag has helped us meet people in our neighborhood, learn about Oscar’s activity level and basically just help us stay even MORE connected to our pooch.  But I don’t want to taunt you with these cool stories now, because you can’t get it yet!!   Don’t worry, fall is just around the corner…

I just finished reading a new dog novel called City Dog by Alison Pace.  The story is set in the East Village (with references to a previous life on the Upper East Side) and New Yorkers will appreciate the many references to local dog runs, restaurants and other establishments.

Our heroine, Amy, is a 30-something divorcee who would often times be happier spending time with her 3 1/2 year old West Highland Terrier, Carlie, than interacting with the outside world (now who reading this blog can’t relate to that just a little bit??).  Of course, Carlie believes that she is the true heroine of the novel and frequently reminds us that, “The Westie will not be ignored!”.

I tend to read a lot of both fiction and non-fiction books about dogs (not that I’m an expert on dog books by any means…I’m just drawn to stories involving dogs) and my biggest gripe is often with how the author “speaks” for the dog.  Often I find it cheesy and annoying, sometimes it even seems arrogant.  But I’m happy to report that Alison Pace does a wonderful job in the chapters narrated by Carlie.  In fact, my only suggestion for improving the book would be to have more of the story told from Carlie’s point of view.  The voice of Carlie is clever and whimsical, as shown in her commentary on the importance her owner attaches to her life’s work… 

“I have things that I work on, that I put a lot of care and time and energy into.  For example, I am systematically defringing the Oriental rug in the living room.  It is long work, and it is tiring work, and also to avoid detection, it is work I must go about very slowly, under the cloak of darkness, or at least when I am here along with only the Dixie Chicks for company.  Who knows when I fill finish?  But I do not get all dramatic about it and call it my life’s work.  No, I prefer to think of it as my current project.”

And isn’t that why we love our dogs?  They help us to put things in perspective…although probably not as eloquently as Carlie!

City Dog is a fun read with a very realistic portrayal of romance, dog ownership and the struggle to find yourself in New York City.  You can find it in stores and online September 2nd - enjoy!!

Can dogs smile?  I’m pretty darn sure Oscar can. 

He’s capable of making a mischievous “let’s rumble” face before play-attacking me in bed and he’s also capable of making the “I’m the saddest dog in the world” face - which he makes far too often considering that he couldn’t really be more spoiled.

Even though the little guy can’t talk, he can still express himself more than adequately!

Get it?  Like “The People’s Court”, but for dogs….nevermind. 

Anyway, lots of pet law related stories in the news recently.  My brother recently took the bar exam, so I’d like to take this opportunity to draw his attention to what I can only imagine is an extremley lucrative legal specialty - I wonder if they had any Pet Law classes at Harvard?? 

First (and most interestingly, in my opinion), I stumbled on this gem in an article about rules and restrictions for dog ownership in NYC apartments…

“the Pet Law provides that once a pet lives in a multiple dwelling—which is a building with three or more residential units—open and notoriously—meaning not hidden from the building’s owners, their agents, and on-site employees—for three or more months, then any no-pet clause in a lease is considered waived and unenforceable.”

Hmm…very interesting…not trying to stir up any trouble, but might be a handy tip to know.  Although I would never recommend getting a dog without your landlords permission because what are you going to do if they do enforce the no-pets policy within the 3 months? 

Also in pet news, local law makers are cracking down on spectators of animal fights and another state is enabling pet owners to create trusts to ensure their pets can be cared for after their death.

In June, I wrote about a US company that was auctioning off 5 dog cloning spots.  Now a laboratory in South Korea has begun cloning dogs commercially. 

Their first dog cloned commercially is a pit bull named Booger who died of cancer two years ago.  Booger’s owner agreed to pay $150,000 for the new cloned puppy, but they later reduced the fee to $50,000 if she agreed to publicize the birth of the Booger clones.  She even ended up selling her house to pay for the cloning!! 

I’m not clear from the article whether she gets all 5 of the Booger clones - if so that’s only $10,000/puppy - what a bargain!! 

If you have a dog and a computer, you’ve probably heard that the NYC Dog Licensing System has moved online.  Well, it’s about time!!  What most of the press releases failed to mention is how the old manual system in complete disarray… 

Oscar’s Dog License expired in March - when I hadn’t received my renewal form by the beginning of March, I called 311 to check on it.  I was informed that they were 3 months behind schedule and not to worry about it - but of course, my overactive imagination had Oscar being dragged away by the dog-catcher…long story short - I sent O’s dog license form back the day after it arrived and finally got his new license at the end of July.  And of course, it doesn’t expire in July ‘09 - but Mar ‘09.   So, I get to do it all over again in 8 months…

Hopefully this new online system will solve the backlog and make the process a whole lot less annoying. 

I have one other pet peeve about NYC Dog Licensing - a few years ago, I had it in my head that I wanted to open my own Dog Bakery (even though I had no experience in either baking or running my own business).  I contacted the NYC Department of Health, who own dog licensing for the city, and requested information on dog ownership by neighborhood (so that I could decide where I should locate my bakery) and I was politely told that they don’t give out the information. 

A friend later pointed out that something called the Freedom of Information Act should require them to provide that information upon request - does anyone know what if that’s true?  Not that I’m still contemplating the dog bakery…

A new veterinary website launched last week called WebVet.com.  According to WebVet, they are…

 ”the most comprehensive and credible online resource for pet health and wellness information and education. It is the first Web site dedicated to a whole-pet approach, which emphasizes both the emotional and physical needs of pets. “

I poked around a little and it looks pretty solid…there’s a great section about ticks.  It wouldn’t have helped us in our latest veterinary crisis - we found a black spot on Oscar’s tongue that turned out to be harmless pigmentation - but that’s pretty obscure and I’m assuming that they’ll continue to build up their library. 

Read more about the launch here.