Smarty Sunday: Winter Safety For Pets

Hi, everyone! Its me, Sammy-Joe, here with another super smart episode of Smarty Sunday! I can't believe its been a week already!
The other day it snowed here in Chicago, where we live. It may have snowed where you live to! Do you pets know how to keep yourselves safe during the winter? I thought I'd talk about this today, now that it is officially winter! Let me share them with you.


1. Dogs and cats...  You may love to play outside in the snow! But watch the weather, and trust your humans to use their best judgement about how long you should stay out. If it is so cold that your human doesn't want to stay out for very long, then you probably shouldn't stay out very long either. I know sometimes we don't notice the cold until it is too late! If it is below freezing, especially, just go outside long enough to do your potty business and then hurry back in. Some pets might like to wear coats to help keep them warm. But if you do wear a coat, ask your human to supervise you just in case you get caught on something! 


2. Your humans have probably heard that they should not leave you alone in a hot car in the summer. But do they know that the same goes for a cold car in winter? The car can act as a refrigerator, making it even colder inside there than it is outside. If you are left alone, you could get hypothermia. Please make sure your parents know this! 


3. If you do go outside on a snowy day, make sure you are wearing your collar with your ID tag at all times. If you go for a walk, ask your parents to keep you on your leash. Why? The snow can mess up the scents that we are used to. If we wander off and get lost, we might not be able to find our way back home using our trusty noses. If we are wearing our collars with ID tags, we have a better chance of getting a helpful human to take us home.


4. Cats... if you are allowed to roam free outdoors, do not climb into the hood of a car to stay warm. It is a bad idea! The human may not know you are there, and if he starts the car, you could be seriously injured or even killed. If you, or other cats in your neighborhood, do roam free, ask your humans to bang on the hood of their car before they start it up in the morning. This will scare away any cats that might be curled up underneath. 


5. When you come in from playing outside, do not lick your fur until your parents have dried you off! I know you probably have snow and ice on your fur and you want to clean yourself off. But the snow and ice could have salt, antifreeze, and other chemicals in it, and that could make you sick! So tell your humans to dry you off  with a towel as soon as you come in. Don't try to do the job yourself with your tongue. Have them dry your feet off well, too.


6. What if you do get lost, or sneak out, and end up being outside in the cold longer than your parents wanted you to be? You should know the signs of hypothermia and frostbite, and share them with your parents. If you can't stop shivering even after you get in, if your fur looks all puffed up or is standing on end, and if you seem disoriented or lethargic, you could have hypothermia. If your skin turns bright red, pale, or black, you could have frostbite. If either of these things happen, your parents need to get you to the vet! 


7. Remember, antifreeze is poison! If you see something blue on your driveway, do not lick it! In fact, tell your humans to clean up any antifreeze spills right away, just in case you forget that its poison. 


8. Do your humans use a space heater in areas of the house that are cold? Remind them that you need to be supervised whenever the space heater is on. They shouldn't leave it running when they are not in the room. You might chew the cord, or knock it over while you are running around playing, or jump on top of it if you are a cat. I know none of you would do any of these things because you are perfect angels. But still. Also, even just rubbing against the space heater could be dangerous, if the heater is too hot. Be careful with those things!


9. If you live near a body of water, be careful. You might notice that the water turns to ice, and you might feel like you can walk across it. But the ice could break, and you could fall into the cold, cold, cold water! This has happened to other dogs and cats before. So please stay away from bodies of water unless your parents are absolutely sure that the ice is thick enough for ice skating. To be sure, please remind your parents again to supervise you when you are outside, and keep you on a leash during walks. 


Maybe I made it seem like winter is terribly dangerous for pets! But winter can still be a lot of fun. Just be careful, and make sure you stay warm enough and are supervised, and you'll have an awesome winter!

Thanks for reading Smarty Sunday, everyone! I hope you feel smarter! 

Smarty Sunday: Trust Funds For Pets

Hi, its me, Sammy-Joe, writing to you for this week's Smarty Sunday! This week I want to ask you a serious question. 
If something horrible happened to your humans... for instance if they got into a car crash and died, or went into a long term coma... who would take care of you pets? 
At Almost Home Foundation, whenever someone over the age of 70 wants to adopt a pet, they have to designate someone who is willing to sign a form saying they'll take over care for the pet if anything happens to the senior citizen. I think that's a good idea because the over 70 crowd is more at risk of things like heart attacks, strokes, etc... and while we all know that just having a pet can reduce that risk, it is important to make sure that an adopted pet doesn't end up in another shelter, or put to sleep, if something does happen to the elderly owner. 
Older humans aren't the only ones who die, though. We all hate talking about it. I hate the idea of losing Mama, as much as she hates the idea of losing me! But it could happen. And if it did, who would take care of me, Trixie and Lily? Of course we have Gramma and Grampa who would automatically take care of us, but if they weren't around, who would be next on the list? 
Some humans handle this by setting up a pet trust fund. There are a few humans who get a little carried away with this. For instance, the actress Betty White plans to leave her $5 million estate to her pets! (We hope some human is going to live in that estate with them, since pets have trouble going to the store to buy pet food, filling their own water dishes, and stuff like that!) 
We don't expect Mama, Gramma or Grampa to leave us the house. Most humans handle things more simply, by adding a few lines in their will naming guardians for their pets, and by possibly leaving a trust fund that would be given to the new guardians in order to pay for the pets' care. 
Sixteen states allow people to set up a legally enforceable pet trust. The states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. (Not Illinois! Boo!) In these states, you can put together a very specific trust that outlines how your pets should be taken care of. If your dog goes to doggie day care, and you want him to be able to keep on going there every day, you can state that. If your four cats are very attached to each other and you want them kept together, you can state it. You can specify everything from what your pet should be fed, to where he will sleep, to how many walks a day he should be taken on. You should also name a few people who would be willing to carry on these wishes. (Is there a friend or family member who will promise to either adopt all four cats, or foster them until she finds a wonderful adoptive home for all of them together? Does the person willing to adopt your dog actually live somewhere near the doggie daycare your dog loves?) Adding a fund will make sure that the people in charge of caring for your pets get paid a certain amount of money, on a regular basis, for the rest of your pets' lives. It is also a good idea to decide a "remainder beneficiary." That just means, if your pet dies, and the money you left for his care has not run out, someone else can get it. You might name the caregiver you chose for the pet, or the animal shelter you adopted the pet from, for instance. 
If you don't live in one of the states that enforces pet trusts, you could still make arrangements for your pets! This works best if you have people you trust and you know will carry out your wishes. Simply add a clause to your will naming someone (and maybe a back-up person as well) who you want your pets to live with if you die. Then you can leave the instructions for the pets care to that person, along with the amount of money you think will be necessary for the pets' lifetimes of care. 
Both a pet trust, and a will, are legal documents, so you should prepare them with the help of an attorney. You should always make sure to talk with everyone who you plan to involve in your pets' care. Learning that your great aunt has died and, as a surprise, left you in charge of her seven dogs, twelve cats, four parakeets and two horses might make a funny movie, but in real life it will put your pets at risk! Talk to the people you love about how they care for pets, and what they'd be willing to do for your pets. (If your brother hates cats, or your daughter's dog training methods are way different from yours, find someone else to care for your pets!) 

A third way to do this, without necessarily needing a lawyer, is to enter into a Pet Protection Agreement. Basically, this is just a legally binding contract between you and a person you choose. It specifies everything you want for your pets, and the amount of money you would like to leave the person. You can also specify whether you want the plan to be put into action if you are incapacitated, have to go to a nursing home where no pets are allowed, etc. You and the other person both sign it. That makes it legally binding. A good place to do this online without an attorney  is at Legal Zoom. There is a small fee, but not as much as an attorney. Legal Zoom asks you to name two or three people (one person to be the guardian if anything happens to you, and one or two extra people to take over if anything happens to that person) and also an organization or shelter that you'd like to leave the pets to if all of the other people are unable to take care of them. (That's pretty unlikely, but you should cover all your bases!) 

Hopefully, nothing will ever happen to your humans, and you will never have to worry about going to live with someone else. But you should still talk to your humans about this, just in case something happens to them. It will give you all peace of mind, knowing that you'll be safe and cared for no matter what!

I hope you liked this Smarty Sunday! Now tell your humans to take good care of themselves and stay safe so that they never have to use this information!

Smarty Saturday: The REAL Dolphin Tale!

Hi everyone! This is Sammy-Joe. We haven't had a Smarty Sunday for a while, have we? I thought I'd do one today. Do you mind if we have it on Saturday this week instead of Sunday? Great! You're going to love this one. 
A few days ago our Mama went to have a slumber party with her human cousins, who are only 9 and 7 years old. While she was there, they rented the movie Dolphin Tale. Mama is crazy about all animals, including dolphins, but she usually avoids watching animal movies because she hates when animals die. Luckily, this sweet movie had a happy ending! 
Mama, her cousins, and her cousins' parents were all charmed by this movie... especially at the end, when there was a little paragraph telling them that it was based on a true story! However, Mama wondered exactly how true this movie was, since she knows that Hollywood sometimes takes real life stories and changes them around. For instance, when she was a kid she watched a movie about a little girl who taught a flock of baby geese how to fly, and was excited to hear it was a true story... but was sort of disappointed to learn that the person who taught the geese how to fly was not a little girl at all, but a grown adult man. 
Mama rushed to the computer and did some research. It turned out she was right... Hollywood did change the story around a little! She thought the real story was worth sharing with you. 
Winter is a real dolphin who really did get entangled in a crab trap and had a near death experience.The baby dolphin was rescued by workers from Clearwater Marine Aquarium, who did not include any ten-year-old children or mischievous pelicans. The little dolphin's tale really did have to be amputated, and she did learn to swim without it by wriggling around like a snake. Thats a cool story. But the even cooler part of the story begins in 2007. 
The hero in the true story... besides Winter, of course... is Katrina, a little girl who was born with  proximal femoral focal deficiency. This is birth defect in which the hip end of the thighbone does not develop. Katrina's right leg is not as long as her left leg. In fact, her right foot hangs where her left knee is. By the time Katrina was in third grade, she had had suffered through multiple surgeries and body casts. At school, she was a quiet kid who had trouble fitting in, and was teased by the other children. (Our Mama knows how this is... she too was tormented by the other kids when she was growing up!) It didn't help that Katrina had a prosthetic right leg that was painful for her to wear. 
To try to brighten Katrina's life, her parents allowed her to pick a place for the family to go on vacation. She chose... like most kids would... Disney World! Her mom found out that a small aquarium was near Disney World and thought it would be a nice add-on to the trip. Katrina's mother had no clue that this visit would change Katrina's life!
The aquarium was Clearwater Marine Aquarium. There, when visitors viewed Winter, they learned that her injury was the result of human carelessness. The idea was for people to realize how their actions could effect animals. But what Katrina noticed was the "stub" where Winter's tale used to be. A stub, Katrina thought, that was similar to her own leg. She and the little dolphin locked eyes, and Katrina fell in love! 
After the vacation was over, Katrina couldn't stop talking about Winter. She begged her parents to take her back to Florida. Forget Disney World! Katrina wanted to see her dolphin friend! Katrina's mother called the CEO of Clearwater Marine Aquarium, who the family had gotten the chance to meet during their visit. She let the CEO, David Yates, talk to Katrina and update her on Winter. The two began talking daily, on the phone and through text messages. Katrina could also watch Winter every day on the aquarium's web cam. 
Katrina also traveled back to the aquarium many times in order to see Winter.  She was adopted as an unofficial member of the staff, and got to roam the aquarium, sort of the way Sawyer and Hazel did in the movie! She got to tell Winter's story to visitors. Now Katrina felt like she fit in... with Winter, and the others who loved the dolphin. She had a purpose. Being part of Winter's life brought Katrina out of her shell. 
In the meantime, Winter had become more and more famous. Other people with physical disabilities, including children, felt like they connected with Winter. Winter also had a new prosthetic tail, designed by Dan Strzempka. He, too, had a prosthetic leg, which had inspired him to become a prosthetic designer. 
When Dan Strzempka met Katrina and saw her ill-fitting, painful prosthetic leg, he offered to make her a new one. The new prosthetic leg, like Winter's tail, was more comfortable and didn't cause her pain or give her blisters. The prosthetic even had a Winter T-shirt embedded in it, so Katrina could always carry Winter with her! 
When Warner Bros heard about the story, they decided it was Hollywood-worthy. They spoke with Katrina's family and bought the rights to the story. The family imagined that the story would be changed a little, but not so drastically! The star of the story was not a little girl with proximal femoral focal deficiency, but two children with healthy legs. When Katrina found out that she had been written out of her best friend's story, she was angry. However, her mother tried to rationalize that, since the story was raising money for Winter and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, it was okay. But even her parents agreed that it was kind of rude of the movie makers to leasve Katrina completely out of the movie-making process. They never included her in any interviews, or to the premiere, or offered for her to be an "extra" in the movie. They never mentioned her name at all. 

Katrina is twelve years old now, happy and healthy. She is now able to be physically active, riding horses and jumping on the trampoline. She would like to write her own book about her experiences with Winter... if Warner Bros will allow her. (They own the rights to her story, remember?) 
Mama is glad she can tell her cousins that the real life Winter story has a "kid hero" in it. Sawyer and Hazel are fictional, but Katrina is real! And so is Winter. (By the way, Winter starred herself in the movie.) 
We love watching Winter on her website, See Winter. Our favorite web cam is the one with commercials. Its brighter and clearer, and you can even make it fill up your whole computer screen. You can see Winter chillin' in her swimming pool with her best dolphin friend! 
Thanks for reading Smarty Sunday (on a Saturday,) everyone! I hope you liked it! 
Edited to add: If you look in the comments of this post, you'll see that Katrina Simpkins actually commented! We are so excited that she read our blog! She wanted everyone to know that, even though her feelings were hurt that she was left out of the movie, she completely supports the movie itself because it is about her best friend Winter, and because it will help Winter and the aquarium. So, nobody go boycotting Dolphin Tale or anything drastic like that! Our Mama loved it and hopes to watch it again, so maybe we'll see it too! Also, Katrina let us know that there is a documentary, called The Little Dolphin That Could, that tells the completely true tale of Winter. Katrina is included in that documentary and is very proud of it Its available in the Clearwater Marine Aquarium online gift shop (and probably the real gift shop, too, if you go there) for $14.99. We think we might buy it! Katrina, if you read this again, thanks for visiting our blog!

Smarty Sunday: All Different Pets!

Hi everyone, its me, Sammy-Joe, here to share some more smartness with you on this great Sunday! 
Today Mama read this article about a friendly pet wallaby who got loose in Arizona. Of course, the first thing Mama said was, "I want a pet wallaby!" We Googled it and found out that, yes, wallabies are available as pets! We also found a bunch of other... um... unusual pets people can have.


I wanted to share this with you in fun, but first, I just wanted to remind everyone. Any time you get any pet, you should do you research first to learn about all the things the pet will need, and you should decide if this is really the best pet for you. Once you get a pet, there's no turning back! We don't want to hear about someone having to open a shelter for all of the unwanted wallabies that have been tossed out of their homes in a few years when people decide they're not exciting anymore! So please... if you do decide to get one of these pets... do a lot of thinking and preparing beforehand. (I'm not talking to my regular readers, who I know are very responsible pet owners! But you never know who will do a Google search, and find this blog entry, so I just wanted to do my part and tell people. DON'T DUMP YOUR PETS... whether they are dogs, cats, bunnies, or wallabies!

A lot of kids have guinea pigs as pets. What if your guinea pig weighed 150 pounds? If you have a 150 pound guinea pig, it is probably actually a capybara. They are the largest members of the rodent family. We found this information on Paw-talk: "Capybara can make captivating pets, but you should definitely have them neutered. Males can become aggressive, territorial and frustrated. If you do have one, neutering should take place between 6-9 months of age. They are intelligent and can be trained to do various tricks, such as sit, beg, and more. They are affectionate and very clean animals. If gotten young, you can train your capybara to walk on a leash. I would suggest a harness type lead, such as used for pot belly pigs. They are slow and deliberate movers though, so don't expect to work miracles. You won't be taking your pet capybara out jogging with you!

An enclosure for a capybara should be strong enough to prevent escape, they are known to be diggers. They should have a shelter ( large dog house, etc. ), mounds of grass and hay, and a tub of water to play in. A large child's pool would do nicely.

Capybara will eat most anything ! Seeds, fruits, vegetables, grass, hay, etc. You can also feed rabbit chow etc. as a supplement to their diet of hay and vegetables. They are rodents, and do NEED non toxic items to chew, such as willow or birch branches."

We also found a pet blog by a capybara's "owner." So be sure to check out the blog called Capybara Madness!

You've probably heard of people owning potbellied pigs and pygmy goats (both of which, by the way, are frequently abandoned after would-be owners decide the work isn't worth the fun) so you probably won't be surprised to know that some people like to have pet sheep! Sheep are said to be gentle and smar... as long as they are females or neutered males and do not have horns. (I don't know... do some come without horns, or does someone remove the horns, or what???) Smaller breeds of sheep, like babydoll sheep and mini-shetland sheep, could even live in your house with you. (Sure, a big sheep could live in your house too. But it might knock stuff over!) Look, we even found a pet blogger with sheep! 

When Mama was younger, before I was even born, she lived in a town that had the odd problem of foxes walking around in public. Mama learned that the foxes were not really dangerous. They wouldn't chase you, that is... but if you cornered one, it would probably bite you, just like any scared animal would! Mama enjoyed seeing the foxes around town. She was sad to later find out that one of the baby foxes ha rabies. :(  So she was excited to see that it is now possible to have a domesticated, pet fox... if you have $6,000 to order one from Russia. The reason it costs so much is mostly because they have to transport the fox to the USA all the way from Russia, which also involves a lot of paperwork. If you do have that kind of money, you could order a fox from this farm in Russia. The website says that these specially-bred, tame foxes are friendly to humans and other pets, can be litter box trained, and will curl up in your bed just like a cat or dog if you let them! (OMG now Mama wants a fox!) Oh yeah... for anyone out there who is getting a wise idea about owning a fox for less than $6,000... it is not legal or moral, and it is a bad idea, to take any animal out of nature and try to keep it as a pet. Don't do it!  (Should I tell you this... we just found a directory of Fennec fox breeders in the USA.) As always, DO YOUR RESEARCH before buying any pet! 

Look out! Its a stinky, yucky, disgusting skunk! Oh, wait, no, thats somebody's beloved pet! Skunks can be pets but, just like a lot of these unusual pets, they take a lot of work! You have to spend a lot of time bonding with a baby skunk so it learns that humans are friendly, skunk-proof your house, "corner train" your skunk (which means letting it choose a corner to go potty in, and then training it to go in a litter box you've placed in that corner), teaching it to play and not bite, skunk proofing your house, etc. We also read on the SkunkHaven website that, if your skunk bites someone and they go to the doctor, the doctor must report it to the health department, and your skunk might be taken and put to sleep. That would be heartbreaking! I think, if you plan on getting a skunk, you should do a lot of research and planning ahead of time! 

I found a lot of scary information about sugar gliders that would make me tell Mama to never get one! But then I found the North American Sugar Glider Association, and it seemed to dispel a lot of the things I read at the other sites. So, I have no idea what sugar gliders are like! They are either super messy or not messy at all, really noisy or very quiet, bite all the time or rarely bite at all,  and need giant aviaries or normal-sized cages. I have no idea! And I couldn't even find a pet blog about sugar gliders. All the info seems to come from breeders, and they all seem to contradict each other on purpose in order to get you to buy from them. One thing I know for sure is, they are very cute! If anyone out there has one they want to tell us about, we'd love to hear!


And now, for my final Smarty Sunday words. There is a reason why cats like me, and dogs like my sisters, are the most common household pets. We've been domesticated over generations and generations, we love being around humans (as long as we are treated with kindness) and we are pretty simple to care for. When you start getting into rarer pets, you have to be very careful not to bite off more than you can chew! I think, if you have your heart set on getting a rarer pet, you should first find a rescue organization that works with those pets, and spend some time volunteering there. (In fact, that wouldn't be a bad idea for those who want to get a dog or cat, or any other type of animal, either!) That way, you can get some first hand experience on what is involved in caring for the animals, 


I also found this article, on a website called Batworld, that talks about why it is a horrible idea to remove animals from nature and try to keep them as pets. Please read it, if you've had any thoughts of trying to domesticate a wild animal! 
"Try to imagine what this feels like…

Someone takes you captive, you don’t know why. You don’t speak their language and you are powerless to escape. You have no idea what they want of you, and you are terrified. Your captor locks you into a bathroom. This bathroom has a window covered with a shade, but you are not allowed to open it to get fresh air, or even look outside. There is a sink, but only your captor knows how to turn the water on. There is a toilet where you can eliminate, but only your captor decides when it should be flushed. You get the same thing to eat day after day after day after day. When you don’t feel good no one knows how to help, so you suffer in pain. There are no pictures on the walls, no TV, no computer, no phones, and no companions. You have absolutely nothing whatsoever to help you pass the endless days and nights. You are completely alone, and this is where you will spend every single day for the rest of your natural life.

This is what a wild animal feels when we take it into captivity. It has lost all control of its world. As captors, we control everything about that animals’ daily life. What it eats, when it gets fresh water, when its cage is cleaned, whether or not it gets fresh air, has companions, and whether or not it has enrichment to brighten its caged life.

You can see why it is not a good idea to own wild animals as pets. It might make you feel cool, but people who know better (and most of them do) feel that it is a horrible cruelty and they cringe when they see people keeping a wild animal as a pet."

Happy Smarty Sunday, everyone! I hope you feel a little smarter now! 

Smarty Sunday: There Goes Our Hero!

Hi everyone! It's me, Sammy-Joe, here with another Smarty Sunday! Last week I shared kind of a sad news story about a police officer who pepper-sprayed a baby squirrel. So today, I thought I'd share a happier story involving humans and animals! This happened in our hometown city, Chicago!

Two dogs... a pitbull and a Boston terrier mix puppy, were at home yesterday, when their apartment building caught on fire! The dogs were on the enclos

ed back porch, but they couldn't escape the building. It seemed like they were doomed!

Then, a firefighter named Tammy Rodriguez found them! Both were in b

ad condition. The Boston Terrier was injured, and the pitbull was in cardiac arrest.

Rodriguez, who has three dogs of her own, got right to work at saving the dogs' lives. First, she pulled them both out of the building, getting them to safety. Then, as other firefighters worked on putting out the fire, Rodriguez put specially-fitted pet oxygen masks on the dogs.

The pitbull was unconscious and seemed to be lifeless. But the firefighter thought to herself, "Oh my God, I can't just let this dog die!" So she did CPR on the dog. Finally the pitbull started breathing again, opened his eyes, and actually stood up! He wagged his tail and licked Rodriguez's face!

The pitbull is now fine, and is back with his owner. The injured puppy is still being monitored at an animal hospital.

I'm so happy these two doggies were rescued! Our Mama says she always worries that this could happen to us someday when no humans are home, and she s

ure hopes someone would rescue us! One thing humans can do is order this free decal from the ASPCA. Its a window cling, not a sticker, so you can take it with you if you move. It says, "In case of emergency... ANIMALS INSIDE!" Humans, you can check off how many dogs, cats, and other animals you have, and put down your emergency phone number, so rescuers know how many pets to look for and how to reach you. It might help to get two of these, so you can have one on your front door and one on your back door! You could also use this free, customizable decal. This one allows you to put your pet's picture, name and nickname, and favorite hiding place. If you have more than one animal, though, you might have to order one for each pet! If you want to pay a little bit of money, you can also find lots of different decals on Amazon and other sites.

One more thing... Tammy Rodriguez used specially fitted oxygen masks to save these dogs! Human oxygen masks don't fit animals as well and therefore don't work a

s well. It would be like putting an adult oxygen mask on a newborn baby. Find out if your town's fire department has pet oxygen masks. Ideally. they should own small, medium and large pet masks, for large dogs, medium and small dogs and cats, and small animals like rabbits. If they don't, you can put them in touch with Wag'n Pet Safety Gear. The department can buy a kit, or even get financial aid to get a kit donated. Or, people

can donate kits to their local fire departments and police departments for $65.00 each.

Tammy Rodriguez, you're our hero! Thanks for knowing how

important pets are, and taking the time to save these two!

(Tammy Rodriguez with the pitbull she saved.)

Smarty Sunday: This Just Doesn't Seem Smart!

Hi, everyone! Its time for Smarty Sunday again! This time I wanted to share a news story about something that happened that just doesn't seem so smart.

Who here likes squirrels? I don't particularly care for them. My species has been known to kill them and eat them. I have never tried that, myself... but they are fun to chase! However, I still can't understand what happened outside a middle school in Mesquite, Texas.

A baby squirrel, about the size of a hamster , was running around outside of a school and even chasing students. School staff members asked their police-officer-in-residence, Officer Davis, for help. When the baby squirrel ran towards the officer, the officer doused the squirrel with pepper spray. The children, who were watching, protested and begged the officer to stop, but he ignored them. One of the kids was recording the whole thing on his cell phone, and he later uploaded it to Youtube for all to see. Some kids showed the video to their parents, who went to a local TV station. Not only were the parents horrified to see that their children had watched a police officer pepper spray a baby squirrel, but the children also reported that, before getting the officer to intervene, the principal had kicked the squirrel!

Neither the principal nor the officer believe they did anything wrong. They say the squirrel was behaving "erratically" and might have been dangerous to students.

So... yeah.

You can read the story and see the video here, if you want.

You'll be glad to know that the baby squirrel was okay. The Animal Control people showed up, cleaned the pepper spray off of the little squirrel, and turned him loose into the wild.

Now, in case this ever happens to you, I did a little research to find out what would be the correct thing to do when attacked by a ferocious baby squirrel.

1. Walk away from the squirrel. Go inside or something.

2. If the squirrel continues to act strangely and doesn't leave, call Animal Control! They can humanely trap the squirrel and take care of it. If the squirrel is sick, or if it is a baby orphaned squirrel, it can sometimes be cared for at a wildlife rehabilitation center. (Rabid squirrels are really rare in the USA and almost unheard of.) If the squirrel is not sick, the Animal Control people will release it in a safe place.

3. Do not kick the squirrel, spray it with pepper spray, or otherwise endanger it.

What do you think, friends?

Smarty Sunday: Cats Who Browse In Libraries!

Hi everyone! Its me, Sammy-Joe, back with another Smarty Sunday! 
First an announcement... if you are a pet blogger who has your own business, check out the directory of businesses run by pet bloggers that we are building! If you want to be included, please email us!
And now back to Smarty Sunday. 


This time I have a cool book recommendation for you about a cat. (Yes, I know, my last Smarty Sunday post was about cats also. But I am the Smarty Sunday guy, so I get to decide what to write about... and since I am a cat, I want to write about cats!)


Have you ever heard of a cat who lived in a library? If not, then you've probably never heard of Dewey The Library Cat! In his book, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Dewey's mother, Vicki Myron, writes about how he came to live in the library. It all started when he was a tiny kitten. On a freezing cold night, someone stuck him in the book depository. Maybe someone found him and was trying to help him, not understanding that it was actually colder in the book depository than it was outdoors because of the metal. Or maybe this was someone's unfortunate way of getting rid of an unwanted pet. Either way, it turned out well for Dewey, when he was found by Vicki, the library director. Vicki and other staff members nursed him back to health, and the kitten's new home became the library! 
The book tells about how Dewey roamed the shelves of the library, using them as his own personal never-ending cat tree. He spent special time with library visitors, especially children, and formed a special bond with a child with severe special needs. In a lot of ways, he made the library the most popular place in town, and even brought the whole community together! 
If you love cats (and you better love cats!) you'll love this book.
Dewey's book reminded me of another library cat that some of you may actually know. Have you ever heard of Tober, the Thorntown Library Cat? He's not only a Library cat, but he's a bloggy pet too! Like Dewey, Tober was a rescued cat... although he didn't get tossed through the book depository. He was rescued on purpose by staff members at the library. Before that, he was a stray who lived outdoors.
They even look a little alike, don't they?

TOBER

DEWEY

After Mama and I found out that it was possible for cats to live in the library, we wondered why our library doesn't have a cat in it! In fact, we found on the Internet a map with a list of library cats all around the world. The list is pretty old, and some of the library cats have either passed away :( or been brought to live in the private homes of library staff members. These days people are scared about being sued, and you never know... some little kid might sneeze, and their parents could sue the library for making it unaccessible to their child with cat allergies! (In Dewey's book, the librarian explains that an allergist showed them how to tackle this issue.) 
Anyways. I'm getting a little too long-winded about this. I just love the idea of libraries... and how about other places in the community... adopting pets! There are so many unwanted pets out there, and letting them be adopted by places like libraries can give great homes to some of them!
To make a long story a little shorter, make sure you check out Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, by Vicki Myron. 
Thats it for now! I hope you feel smarter!

Smarty Sunday: Some Amazing Cats!

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been missing from Smarty Sunday for a few weeks! Between Apollo's Blogathon and Mama's being under the weather, I haven't had a chance to get my little paws typing! But I have something pretty cool to show you, this week. 


Mama went to the Chicagoland Pet Expo, and she saw some really talented cats! The Amazing Acro-Cats put on a show where a group of kitties did all sorts of tricks! They did tricks like climb things, walk on high places, jump up and down, ring bells, go bowling, and push each other around in shopping carts. The cool thing was that they were all things that the kitties did naturally... but their trainer, Samantha, had figured out ways of getting them to do things on command! (Well... maybe kitties don't naturally balance on balls or push each other around in shopping carts. But they didn't seem to mind it much!)


One of the basic things the kitties did was run into their carrier every time they heard a whistle. Samantha said this was an important thing for all kitties to learn. Imagine if your house is on fire, and instead of running around frantically searching for your kitty, who might be hiding, all you have to do is blow a whistle and the kitty runs into his carrier! 


She also said that the biggest difference between training cats and training dogs was that dogs will work because they want to please you, but cats want to get paid every single time! So, if you are training cats, you have to have lots of delicious treats ready at all times. 


Want to know something else these cool cats did? They had their own rock band! There was a cat playing the guitar, a cat playing the drums, a cat playing the cow bell... and a chicken playing the tambourine. 
Yes, I said a chicken playing the tambourine! The chicken also bowls, by the way. And he usually beats the cats. 


One more awesome thing about these cats? Most of them came from shelters or rescue organizations. Samantha continues to foster cats and kittens who are in need of forever homes. She teaches the foster cats tricks, too, to make them more adoptable. Sometimes a foster cat gets along so well with the rest of the group, it becomes part of the show! 
You should check out their website, Amazing Animals By Samantha. They live in Chicago (like us!!!) but they travel around to different states, and their shows are very inexpensive. Besides the cat shows, they have other programs, including a reptile show, and they will perform at birthday parties, schools, and other gatherings. So, check out the site and see if they're coming to your town anytime soon! 
Did you like that Smarty Sunday? Now excuse me while I go push Lily around in a shopping cart. (LOL! As if!) 

Smarty Sunday: KEEP Your Pets Smart!

ATTENTION: DON'T FORGET OUR FLAXYPET GIVEAWAY GOING ON RIGHT NOW! TWO DOGS AND TWO CATS WILL WIN FLAXUSA PRODUCTS! GOOD LUCK! 


Hi everyone! Its me, Sammy-Joe, with your weekly installment of Smarty Sunday! Every Sunday I try to find away to make you a little bit smarter!


This week I wanted to talk to you about helping your pets to stay smart. Some of the symptoms I'm about to talk about might make you feel sad... but keep reading, because there is better news ahead!


We all know that some humans can get Alzheimer's Disease, which makes them forget more and more things over time. You may not know that pets can also get something similar, called Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome. Veterinary experts mostly know about it in dogs, but it also occurs in cats. In dogs, symptoms may start appearing when they are over the age of 8. Cats often live longer than dogs, and our symptoms might not start showing up until we are 12. 


There is an acronym for the symptoms of Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome. The acronym is DISH.
D= Disorientation. A dog may seem lost or confused even in his own house or yard, or forget what he's supposed to be doing outside; fail to respond to his name; act like he doesn't recognize his familiar humans; or do things like try to go through the wrong side of the doggie door or the hinge side of a door. A cat might show confusion by not recognizing his familiar humans, forgetting where his litter box, food and water are, or getting "stuck" in places and forgetting how to get out. 
I=Interactions. The way a dog or cat interacts with people and other pets may change. They may not be as outgoing or attention seeking as they used to be, and maybe seem less enthusiastic when they greet you. 
S=Sleep Disturbances. They may sleep more during the day and less at night (when they used to do the opposite.) You may hear your dog pacing around all night, or your cat meowing and crying at night. 
H=House training. Pets might start having accidents around the house, even though they used to be house trained. Dogs may forget to ask to go outside, or they may go outside, and forget what they were supposed to do, then go inside the house and have an accident. Cats may forget where their litter box is or forget that they are supposed to use it. 


Okay. Those are the signs of Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome in pets. But you need to know that it can be delayed, prevented, and even treated!


One of the best ways to delay or prevent Cognitive Dysfunction in your pets is to keep their minds stimulated. The best way to do this is with interaction. When you are not interacting with your pets, they are often just sitting around. Even if you let your dogs outside to play, they may just sit around out there because you are not there for them to impress! Take dogs for regular walks so they can see, smell, hear and interact with new things. Play with your dogs and cats every day. Its not just for our amusement, but for our health! 


If you are gone during the day, you can still keep your pets stimulated by providing challenging toys. For instance, you can buy or make toys that dispense treats or pet food as your pet plays with them. You can even hide these around the house so your pets have to hunt for them! Rotating toys regularly can also keep us stimulated. Even if we own a hundred toys, if it is the same hundred toys year after year, we can get bored. It is better to give us five toys for a few weeks, and then a few new and different toys for a few weeks. We know some of our bloggy pet friends have humans that put away certain toys and take them out only at certain times, so that they stay exciting and special to the pets! 


If you have an indoor cat, you might like to put a bird feeder near a window, where your cat can see out and watch the birds. We also enjoy cat trees with lots of hiding spaces and things to climb on! 


You should also continue training us. Just like humans should be lifelong learners, so should pets! Work with us and teach us new tricks and habits, on a regular basis. 


Our diets can also make a difference. We should eat foods that are low in fat, and rich in Vitamins E and C, fruits and vegetables, and Omega-3 (Hey, see our FlaxyPet giveaway for more info about Omega-3!  


If we do begin to show signs of Cognitive Dysfunction, there are medications available, and also a prescription pet food, that can help make the symptoms less severe. 


So, everyone go play with your pets! Have fun and enjoy us, because that will help us to live healthier, happier lives!

Smarty Sunday: How To Make Valentines Ice Cream Treats For Pets!

 Hi everyone! Welcome to Smarty Sunday, the feature of this blog where I show you something smart, like a book review, cool website, or news story about pets! 


Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, Mama and I thought we'd show you how to make some delicious ice cream treats for pets. 


We did some research online and found a couple different recipes, but we adapted this one for what we had around the house. 


Mama found this heart shaped ice cube tray at Dollar Tree and she thought it would be perfect for our Valentine's Day treats! You don't need to use a heart shaped tray, if you don't have one. A regular ice cube tray would be fine.



"Uh.... what are you up to, Mama? Making anything good for me?"
"No, Lily, nothing at all. Scamper away and bark at the vacuum cleaner or something."

You will also need peanut butter, and yogurt. One variation is to use plain or vanilla yogurt, and add in mashed bananas. We are fresh out of bananas... and Trixie and Lily don't really like bananas anyway... so our Mama used strawberry banana yogurt. It doesn't really matter what peanut butter you use. Grampa loves Peter Pan, but I hear that choosy moms choose JIF, and that for good nutrition its hard to beat Skippy, and of course the regular store brand is probably fine too! Mama likes Dannon yogurt because they are having a contest where the foil on top of the yogurt has a letter on it, and if you collect the right letters to spell certain words, you win prizes. Mama is such a sucker for that kind of thing! But really, use whatever brand of yogurt you like. We've also read that some people like to add honey! 

Mix some of the yogurt in with a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. The amounts are not exact. Our Mama used about half a carton of yogurt, and three spoonfuls of peanut butter. You might need to use more of each, if you are making more, of course!

Now, all you have to do is spoon the mixture into the little compartments.

It might be a good idea to label the treats, so the humans know not to eat them. (Everything in the treats is okay for humans to eat... but do we want them to eat our treat? No way! Its ours! So, tell your human to label it!)

Finally, put them into the freezer! When they are frozen, they're ready to be enjoyed!
We can't wait to eat our delicious Valentine's Treats! I know Trixie and Lily will love them! I am not sure if I am a big fan of peanut butter, myself, but I'll find out. Mama said, fi I don't like it, she'll sneak me some tuna instead. :)


Happy Smarty Sunday, everyone!

Smarty Sunday: A Book Recommendation From Sammy-Joe!

Hi, its me, Sammy-Joe, back with Smarty Sunday! 


Today I wanted to talk about a book Mama read to us all. We read Nose Down, Eyes Up, by Merrill Markoe. Mama said it was one of the funniest books she had ever read! And even though it was mostly about dogs, I liked it too. 

The main character in Nose Down, Eyes Up is a forty-seven-year-old guy named Gil who is living life like a twenty-two year old. His roommates are his dog Jimmy, and three more "foster" dogs that have turned into permanent family members. One day Gil walks into the garage and finds his dogs, and some neighborhood dogs, having a meeting! Jimmy has started a class to teach other dogs how to manipulate humans. Gil is surprised to realize that he can understand Jimmy and the other dogs! 


He later learns that Jimmy believes he is Gil's birth child, and that he is a hybrid between dog and human. He hopes to someday be able to walk on his hind legs and get his driver's license! When Gil breaks the news that Jimmy was actually "adopted" from a litter of dogs birthed by Gil's ex-wife's dog, he gets very upset and demands to meet his birth family.

The rest of the book follows Gil's adventures and misadventures as he reunites Gil with his birth family, reunites with his ex-wife, and reunites with his own birth family. But the thing that makes this book hilarious is the personalities of all of the dogs! We loved reading about Dink, who is completely confused about the concepts of inside versus outside; Fruitey, the poor doggie who was abused in her former home and has to learn to trust humans again; Cheney, who believes life is all about chasing balls; and of course Jimmy, their fearless leader! 


Here is a short excerpt from the book, just to give you a taste. 


"Can I ask you a question?" asked Dink. "...Tell me one more time. Is it pee inside, poo inside, eat and play outside? And what about puke? Inside or outside?"
"Here's a mnenonic device. Everything starting with P is outside. P is for 'patio.' P is for 'pool.' P is for 'plants.' P  is for 'poo' and 'pee. And 'puke.'"
"...If we're supposed to poo outside, why does Gil collect it in a bag and bring it inside?"
"Because Gil collects s***. No one knows why or what he does with it," said Jimmy. "From what I've observed, I think he maintains a pretty extensive collection..."


ROFL! Right?


For all of you bloggy pets, the author does make fun of us a little bit. When Gil starts understanding Jimmy, he creates a blog and meets a lot of other pet bloggers... who happen to be really annoying! We hope you won't be offended by that part... We thought it was pretty funny, ourselves. Our Mama says she hopes they someday make a movie out of this book, because she could picture it all so well in her head. 


Merrill Markoe has written a few other books about dogs, and our Mama hopes to buy them as soon as she has more $$$. But for now, we are excited to recommend Nose Down, Eyes Up for your reading pleasure! The author has a blog, too, so be sure to check it out. 


Thanks for joining us for Smarty Sunday! Oh yeah and I almost forgot...  Don't forget about our three giveaways this week! You can enter to win the kitty surprise pack, the Kong Tugger Knot dog toy, and the dog treats fromClaudia's Canine Cousine! Remember, the last day to enter is Tuesday at 5:00 pm Central!