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?

Anonymous Little Dog Seeks Advice!

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Hi, friends! Its me, Lily! I wanted to write to you to ask some advice on behalf of... uh... this little dog I know. This dog... she wishes to remain anonymous, so I'll call her Tilly... has been having potty accidents in the house! She's almost two years old, so its not like she's a baby. And she is, supposedly, house trained. She knows, when her Mama takes her outside, she should go potty, and she always does so right away like a good little dog. Then she gets all proud of herself and prances around in circles! In fact, most of the time she remembers to hold it until her Mama takes her outside.
But sometimes I... I mean, Tilly... forgets! Sometimes Tilly has to go potty, and she just goes right there in the house, pee and/or poop! 
Tilly lives with another doggie, but her Mama knows that she's the culprit, because the poops are teeny-tiny, like her. 
Tilly also doesn't know how to ask to go potty. Tilly's Mama says her other dogs used to bark at the door when they had to go, and so they never had potty accidents. But Tilly and her sister just can't figure that out! So if Tilly has to go, and its not during one of the usually scheduled times that her Mama takes her, sometimes she just lets it all out! 
Tilly doesn't want to go potty in the house. She knows it makes her Mama mad. But, more importantly, it makes her Gramma and Grampa mad! (Yes, Tilly also has a Gramma and Grampa who she lives with. Its a weird coincidence, isn't it?) Mama... I mean, Tilly's Mama... can forgive her little doggie no matter what. But Gramma? Not so much. She gets super mad, and then she even yells at Tilly's Mama! 
So, Tilly wanted me to ask my friends for advice. Does anyone have any tips on how to potty-accident-proof a two-year-old doggie? Please let me know, so I can tell her! 
Thanks, friends!
Also, don't forget, if you're a new bloggy pet, and you or your parents have their own business, you can join our Pet Blogger Business Directory! 

Our Favorite Neighbor!

Wordless Wednesday: Us In Pieces

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!

New Page On Our Blog

Hi everyone! First of all we want to say sorry for our April Fools joke! We were so touched that some of you really did want to adopt Lily's hypothetical puppies! In fact, we are kind of sad that we don't have any real puppies to offer you! You want we should try to find Lily a boyfriend? ;)


But for real, if Lily's puppies did bring out the puppy-lust in anyone, remember that there really are tons of puppies (and sweet "adult" dogs) in the shelters right now waiting for you! Lily's surprise puppies were a prank, but Lily's mama's surprise puppies were very real! (Obviously since Lily was one of them!) If you want one that looks a lot like little Lily, search for a chihuahua-maltese or chihuahua-poodle mix! 


Okay... now we have something cool to show you. 


Back when Mama used to take care of children and she was a "mommy blogger," she used to read a blog called 5 Minutes For Mom. One of the things they had was a directory of businesses run by other mommy bloggers. Bloggers were encouraged to shop for gifts and other things among these businesses to support their fellow mommies!

So we thought we'd do something similar and create a directory of businesses run by pet bloggers! 


We already added a few businesses that we know about or that we noticed on friends' sidebars. But if you have a business we didn't list, we would love it if you would email us and tell us about it! We will add it to the directory right away. Its a little crude now, but as it grows, we will try to make it better! 


Do you like our idea? We hope you do! 


Have a great Saturday!

Lily's Crazy Surprise!

Hi everyone! You'll never believe what happened in our house!
Lily has been acting really tired lately, and she's been gaining a lot of weight. Mama thought this was partly because the cold weather has kept us from getting much exercise, and partly because of all of the treats we've been sampling for our product reviews. She was planning on taking us for lots more walks as soon as the weather warmed up!
Then, the other day, Lily started acting really weird! She was walking around in circles and acting like she had to go to the bathroom. Mama kept taking her outside, and she'd squat down, but nothing would come out. Mama was starting to get really worried, thinking that maybe she ate something weird or was really sick.
And then... all of the sudden... a tiny, slimy alien came out of Lily! 
I was so freaked out! I thought, "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY BABY SISTER?"
Mama was freaked out too... but she knew exactly what was happening because she'd been through it before with Lily's original dog mama. Yep... its true... Lily had puppies!
We don't exactly know what happened. Lily is barely ever out of Mama's site! All we can think of is that little chihuahua at Lily's playgroup who kept trying to jump up on her. Maybe, somehow, they got a few minutes alone together?
Anyway... we now have four little munchkins who are going to need homes in about eight weeks. They kinda look like Lily as a puppy, don't they? Does anyone want one? We'd be happy to ship one to you, if you are unable to come to Chicago and pick one out. If someone has to raise Lily's babies, we'd love for it to be some of our bloggy friends! So, let us know! Mama wants to keep them all, but Gramma and Grampa say NO WAY, so we really need some homes to step forward!
In the meantime, here is a picture of the little mama resting comfortably with the four little ones. Aren't they cute?

PS... Happy April Fools Day!