When we leave Oscar home alone, we always try to leave the radio on…I would say that the purpose is two-fold.  First, we want him to be calm and relaxed, but we also want to drown out the city noises so that every truck going by and person ranting incoherently doesn’t drive him crazy.

Or at least those are the reasons that I leave the radio on for Oscar.  I normally leave the radio on low-volume and tuned to some easy-listening station.  But somehow it always manages to get cranked up and turned to the classic rock station…okay, it’s not a mystery how it happens - my husband says that Oscar “likes rocking out to the Classics”.  Of course, once again…I’m proven right (by a vetrinary neurologist, no less).  According to Susan Wagner, dogs are calmed by music with slower tempos, fewer instruments and simpler melodies.  Maybe it doesn’t seem like rocket science, but this article from the Worcester Telegram is all the evidence I need to make my case.  

Apparently many animal hospitals and shelters have been reaping the benefits of music therapy to calm the animals in their care.  The Telegram article specifically mentions our very own ASPCA, as well as two county shelters in California that installed a continuous Muzak system.

Continuing on the music in shelters theme, a recent article from the Downtown Express talks about how music is used at two different shelters in downtown Manhattan - Animal Haven & Pet-I-Care.   While I’m very familiar with Animal Haven from meet-ups and training classes we’ve attended there, I don’t know very much about Pet-I-Care.  I love that they provide free lifetime surgery to all animals adopted from their shelter, but maybe they need to rethink their music selection…

There has been a lot of dog news in the last few weeks…most of it very sad.  If you haven’t been paying attention, here’s a quick update…

First we had another dog electrocuted by stray voltage (in Queens).  Then a dog was killed by a street cleaner and a dog fighting ring was busted in the Bronx.  And finally, poor Trouble got her inheritance chopped from $12 Million to $2 Million!

Okay, that last one isn’t exactly in the same league as the first three, but nonetheless…this is not turning out to be a fun summer for the four-legged residents (or previous residents, in Trouble’s case) of New York City.  Let’s hope all the sad doggy news is behind us…

On June 19th, more than 9,000 dogs from across America illuminated the Reuters/NASDAQ Digital Tower in Times Square as part of the Purina Dog Chow promotion “Picture Your Dog in Times Square.”

One lucky dog, (Sassy, a two-year-old Yorkshire Terrier) and her owner also won a 5 day, 4 night trip to our fine city.  As part of the promotion, Purina also awarded grants to a number of organizations seeking to improve or create dog parks.

Congratulations, Sassy!

Sadly, another dog has died recently in NYC as a result of stray voltage.  Sebastian, a 7-year old Siberian Husky, was electrocuted over the Memorial Day weekend in Queens.  Last June, Mushy, a 5-year old Bull Mastiff died as a result of stray voltage in Harlem.  The issue of stray voltage was elevated in 2004 after the death of a 30 yr old woman, but 4 years later it’s still a frightening problem.

According to what I’ve read, the problem usually occurs when frayed underground wires come in direct contact with a metal plate or manhole cover, but sometimes wet concrete itself becomes electrified.  Dogs fall victim to stray voltage more often because they don’t have shoes to insulate against the electricity.  I normally try to keep Oscar away from walking on metal surfaces, but it sounds like that’s not enough to keep him safe.  Very scary stuff… 

As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one real problem with dogs - they leave us far too quickly.  With normal life spans between 8 and 15 years (depending on the breed), a dog lover will have to suffer the loss of his/her best friend far too many times in a normal human lifetime.  Since Oscar is my first dog, I have yet to go experience the sad reality of losing a beloved pet.  And since Oscar is only 2 and 1/2, I hope that I won’t have to face this reality for at least another 10 years or more.  But it’s really scary how quickly the first few years have flown by…and it makes me unbearably sad to even think about the day when Oscar’s smiley face won’t be the first thing I see every morning.  I can’t even read stories about wonderful pets passing away without tearing up…

So, what if a company could clone your elderly or deceased pet and give you a perfect genetic match so that you could start all over again?  Best Friends Again is looking to do just that.  They claim to have successfully cloned a family dog named Missy 3 times.  Tpday they are auctioning off the opportunity for 5 people to clone their dogs and I CAN’T WAIT to see what people will bid for a 2nd chance with their dog.  Bidding for the first auction starts at $100K (!!), and the starting bid increases by $20K for each subsequent auction.

I joked with my husband that fortunately we have 10+ years for the price of cloning to come down, but assuming I had money to burn, would I really spend $100K for Oscar II?  My first reaction is…absolutely.  I would pay any amount of money for another 12-15 years of Oscar - adopting Oscar is the best decision I’ve ever made and I can’t imagine having to fall asleep every night without him curled up beside me.

But on the other hand…just think of all the animals in shelters and how many wonderful dogs could be helped with the money that will be spent on this first commercial cloning opportunity.  I have no doubt that the 5 cloning slots will go like hot cakes.  Even if the bidding never goes above the opening bid, that will be $700K spent to create 5 dogs.  Imagine how many dogs lives could be saved with $700K…when I think about it that way, I know I’ll never be able to justify Oscar II, so I will just have to do my best to enjoy every second with Oscar the 1st!!

What do you think?  Would you clone your current or childhood dog?

A few months ago, I wrote a post about Poisonous Foods for Dogs.  I mentioned some of the more well-known poisonous foods for dogs (chocolate, grapes, onions, etc.), but I didn’t realize that sugar-free gum containing the sweetener Xylitol can also be fatal to dogs.  It’s particularly scary because most people have sugar-free gum in their homes and don’t even realize that it’s poisonous to their dogs.

This article from the Burlington County Times drew my attention to Xylitol, but once I started looking I found tons of heart-breaking stories of pet owners losing their dogs to Xylitol poisoning.  The article also talks about other common household products that are commonly ingested by pets.

If your dog ingests a potentially poisonous substance, you can call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center hotline.  The ASPCA APCC charges $60 per case, with no extra charge for follow-up calls and can work with your vet through the entire treatment process.   Their toll-free, 24-hour hotline number is (888) 426-4435, which handled more than 130,000 calls in 2007.

Think you know what’s bad for your pet?  Take this quiz to test your knowledge.

Yikes!!  This wcbstv.com article is pretty scary…almost 7,000 reported cases of bed bugs in NYC in 2007. 

I continue to be amazed at what dogs can do with their sniffers!  From drugs, to cancer and now bed bugs!  Pretty amazing stuff.  If anyone is missing some TREATS, I have a dog who can find them…

Anyway, the article is pretty interesting, but it also reminded me of a time that I saw a couch on the sidewalk in my neighborhood with a sign on it that said “BED BUGS”.  Whoever was dealing with that nasty problem was kind enough to not want to share it with anyone else, but now I’m always wary of furniture, clothes, etc. left on the sidewalk.  Oscar always wants to sniff and check out everything on the curb, but I won’t let him near any kind of clothing or cloth furniture because I’m paranoid that he’ll get bed bugs (or fleas).

We’ve been lucky on the bed bug/flea front so far (knock on wood), but our little Oscar is a tick magnet.  Every time we take him in the woods, we have to check him from head to toe and usually end up pulling 4-5 ticks off of him.  Yuck…

People often tell us that Oscar is perfectly named…he LOOKS like an Oscar.  It’s true and it’s no coincidence.  However, what people probably wouldn’t guess is that instead of picking the name to match the dog, I picked the dog to match the name! 

When we decided that we were going to add a four-legged family member, before even considering things like breed, temperament, size, etc. - I had made up my mind about one thing…our new dog was going to be named Oscar.  I don’t know why, but I was fixated on Oscar…the name seemed to sum up everything I was looking for in a dog….tough, loyal, dignified, affectionate and maybe just a little bit stubborn (like me!!). 

So, the search was on for a dog that looked like an Oscar.  Now I’m pretty sure that experts would strongly discourage you from choosing a dog based on what you wanted to name him - and don’t get me wrong…we also did our homework to make sure that our choice of breed would fit our lifestyle.  But sometimes you’ve just got to go with your heart…I can’t imagine how we could have ended up with a more perfect Oscar or a better canine addition to our family.

So where is this going, you ask?  Well I stumbled on this list of the top 100 dog names in NY.  See if your choice of dog name (or the name you inherited, if you adopted an older dog) makes the top 100.  Oscar came in at 83…

Or if you’re going the traditional route of picking a name AFTER you pick the dog.  Check out this site for a list of 2,000 dog names.

Elected officials in Massachusetts have recently filed legislation to ban pet rental businesses in the state.  Check out this post by our Boston site for more details.  Flexpetz (the same company causing all the commotion in Mass) already has a NY location.  They operate out of the Wet Nose Doggy Gym at 34 East 13th St.

I don’t think anyone can argue the benefits for the people…the joys of pet ownership, but only when it’s convenient, but is it fair to the dogs?  According to people who oppose pet rental, they believe that it detrimental and can potentially confusing and upsetting to the animal. 

But according to Flexpetz, all of their dogs have been rescued from animal shelters and their hope is that they will be adopted by someone who rents them and falls in love.  Furthermore, pet rental clients are thoroughly screened before they are allowed to become clients and they insist that the dogs are very happy and well cared for.

One of our readers in Boston pointed out that many people don’t how much responsibility is involved in owning a dog.  Many dogs end up in shelters each year because their owners realize too late that they aren’t prepared to take on the responsiblity  of pet ownership.  Could sad situations like this be avoided if people had the opportunity to test drive pet ownership?

What do you think?    Is this a good way to let people enjoy spending a little time with a dog if they are unable to keep one as a pet, or is it unfair for the dogs themselves?

I am so excited to hear that the ASPCA has started construction of the United States’ first Anti-Cruelty Institute in New York. It will open in 2010, and will include a forensic laboratory and veterinary hospital dedicated to animal victims of abuse and neglect.

Of course, this is good news for animal lovers everywhere, but I also learned that there’s another compelling reason to prosecute perpetrators of cruelty and abuse to animals.  According to this article from the Sydney Morning Herald, people who abuse animals are likely to move on to violent crimes towards people.    Examples include serial killers and sexual homicide offenders.

To learn what you can do to help prevent animal cruelty in NYC, check out the ASPCA’s Anti-Cruelty Resource Center and take the pledge to fight animal cruelty.