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.

Uno the Beagle, who was named Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show earlier this year, was just certified as a therapy dog!!  In fact, he did his training the same place that Oscar did - the ASPCA up on 92nd Street!!

Way to go, Uno!!  If you’re interested in learning more about the process of becoming a therapy dog - check out Oscar’s Therapy Dog page.

If you’re looking for some places to go walking or hiking with your dog this summer, we have some suggestions…

1)  We just made our first trip to Prospect Park in Brooklyn this past weekend.  We had a great time walking through the lush trails, but we can’t wait to go back before 9am so that we can take advantage of off-leash hours.

2)  A good friend of the blog and Queens resident highly recommends Forest Park in Queens.  We hear that there is an agility course and enough wooded trails to make you forget that you’re in the city.  You can also participate in a bi-weekly Bark Brigade, where Urban Ranger will take you and your dog on a group walk through the woods. 

3)  If you’re willing to travel a little farther, we highly recommend a day trip to Harriman State Park (~45 minutes north of NYC) or check out these hiking sites for you and you dog on Long Island.

But as the weather continues to be nice and hot, keep these helpful summertime health tips in mind.  If you think it’s hot, just imagine spending a New York City summer wearing a fur coat…

Know a great local spot for walking or hiking with your dog?  Please tell us about it!

Stumbled across couple of interesting dog-related reads…

First on the list is 101 Best Businesses for Pet Lovers.  I dream of one day having my own dog-related business (when I grow up), so I might have to check this out.  I already have a specific future dog business in mind, but I don’t want to divulge it because it’s so good that everyone will want to steal my idea!  Oh yes, it’s THAT good. 

On that note, I just discovered that one of my other genius dog business ideas has already been developed - flushable poop bags.  I swear I’d be a millionaire 10 times over if only I could think up business ideas that hadn’t already been thought up by someone else! 

Anyway, here’s an interview with the authors of 101 Best Businesses for Pet Loves (who built a local pet store business that was acquired by PetCo).

The other interesting book I came across is Eco Dog which tells you how to reduce your dog’s carbon paw print.  Hmmm…I gave Oscar a stern talking-to about his carbon footprint and I’m happy to report that he’s promised that his next car will be a hybrid and he’ll try to cut down on green house gasses by farting less.   Good boy.

…if you lost your dog and someone in your neighborhood was walking around with him the next day and wouldn’t give him back??  I’d be pissed….big time.  I could definitely see myself getting arrested while trying to get Oscar back!

Who knows, maybe this lady is crazy - but I’m assuming the microchip company will have a record of if/when the data was changed.  Very curious to find out the real story here…

Wow, if I’m reading this article correctly, it looks like legislation in England and Massachusetts is effectively putting FlexPetz out of business.

“FlexPetz growth, CEO and founder Cervantes said that as a result of the recent legislation, she has decided to “shelve” operations in the US and London, and that each pet in all FlexPetz locations will be offered to a renter for adoption. Haddix said that the two remaining dogs at his NY location are slated for adoption in the coming weeks.”

One of the arguments against FlexPetz is that even though they are rescuing dogs from shelters, they are rescuing dogs that are the most “adoptable” and would almost surely be adopted by people/families and have a normal life. 

If you disagree with their business model, would you feel any differently if they were adopting dogs that were going to be euthanized? 

It might take additional resources to rehabilitate these dogs, but it could also address the ethical concerns.  There are a lot of great dogs being put to sleep in the US every day, wouldn’t they be better off being alive even if it meant having different people doting on them each night of the week?

Another way to mitigate the ethical concerns might be to push hard to get the dogs adopted after a shorter amount of time…of course, this might make the business infeasible because it would directly impact the profitability of the business.

I do think that the concept of a business that provides a responsible option for people to determine whether or not they can handle the responsibility of a full-time pet is interesting (as long as it can be done in a way that’s also beneficial to the dog) - thousands of dogs end up in shelters every year because people realize that they can’t handle the responsibility of caring for a dog AFTER they purchase one.

What do you think?  Is there any way to that FlexPetz could alter their business model to address the ethical concerns inherent in rental of a living being?

Okay, I wasn’t going to comment on the show…but I can stay silent no longer!!!  First, let me say that ALL of the dogs are terrific.  Now that I got that our there…how on earth can Tillman and Elvis be gone while crazy Beth Joy and Brandy are still there?!?!?

So, this is my tribute to Tillman the skateboarding dog (check out his videos on YouTube, if you haven’t seen them already)….

and our local GAD, Elvis…. 

You guys were robbed!!

As for their owners…a shout out to David (of Elvis & David) for being a great dog dad and an all round good guy - you make us New Yorkers proud!!   And Ron (of Ron & Tillman) won me over big time when he told Brandy something to the effect that he wouldn’t be able to make her wedding because he’d either be jumping in front of a truck or drinking bleach!!  HAHAHAHA….

So, I guess now I’m rooting for Bill & Star, Travis & Presley and Laura & Preston.  Who do you think should win??