I came across a really interesting group of veterinarians at last week's Western Veterinary Conference.

World Vets is an international animal aid group. Kind of the animal version of Doctors Without Borders, if you've ever heard of them. I spent some time talking to their representatives and came away very impressed.

An article in the NY Times about a Great Dane caught my attention yesterday. It was about George, the tallest dog in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The title was awarded to George just this month after some controversy involving another Great Dane from California.

Can't resist sharing this great video of Andrea Arden, from Animal Planet's "Underdog to Wonderdog." Surprisingly, I JUST watched the show this weekend and I am in love with it! (Saturday's show was sponsored by Purina ONE, not surprisingly).

Andrea is so patient, so smart, and so good at what she does, I'm a big fan - and after only watching the one show. It was so amazing to watch her take a poor, abused, puppy mill dog of 3 years old, from not knowing what it means to be a human companion, to being a part of a fantastic family with 3 young children.

Check out this video of her on the Today Show where Andrea answers viewers questions. Gotta love the puppies! [p.s. she's the keynote for BlogPaws - and PurinaCare® Pet Health Insurance is a BlogPaws sponsor! woot!]

The Westminster Dog Show just ended a couple a days ago while I was at the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas. I was trying to follow the competition but I was so busy telling veterinarians from all over the country about PurinaCare® Pet Health Insurance, I missed most of the show.

I was pulling for a Scottish Terrier named Sadie because she came in second last year and she eats Pro Plan® dog food. I'm a Scotsman by birth and the the former Marketing Director for the Pro Plan brand, so I had lot's of skin in this game.

I reported on this over at BlogPaws, but I think it's worth mentioning here, also. Pet spending - the money we pet owners spend on our favorite furry friends (and other pets, too, I think) - grew by 5% last year, according to the American Pet Products Association.

The information on the over $45 billion spent on pets in 2009, was part of a press release put out by the Global Pet Expo, quoting from the APPA. That's a big expo being held in Orlando in March. Wish I could go, but doesn't look promising at the moment. I wonder if Dr. Larry is going?

I'm in Las Vegas at the Western Veterinary Conference and I heard a most interesting story today about a claim we recently paid. It all started out with a seemingly routine surgery. A middle aged dog in Michigan had an ovariohysterectomy (spay) for treatment of a chronic vaginal discharge she developed after her last heat period. So far so good.

Some really big news from the animal health care industry this week. Bayer, one of the largest pharmaceutical outfits in the world, announced that they will start selling popular products like Canine and Feline Topical Advantage and K9 Advantix directly to pet stores and large pet store chains like PetCo and PetsMart. They will also sell these products on-line.

Earlier this month I wrote about what I consider the BEST BOOK of 2010 - when it comes to pets. It's Alexandra Horowitz's book, Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. Alexandra is a scientist and this book has a lot of scientific research in it. Research that really does reveal what a dog sees, smells, and knows. To the best of the author's interpretation, of course.

One of the things I found most impressive about Alexandra's approach is this - she says, "...with humans we never let one person's behavior stand for all of our behavior." And yet, "By contrast, with animals the order is reversed. Science considers animals as representatives of their species first, and as individuals second." Which is just wrong! Alexandra writes, "So, when I talk about the dog, I am talking implicitly about those dogs studies to date." And she goes on to note that YOUR dog, or MY dog, may be entirely different than "the dog." Oh, how true!

I'm sitting in the Tucson airport waiting for a flight to Vegas for the Western Veterinary Conference. My wife and I just spent Valentine's Day weekend at Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort, a really nice and dog friendly place. We took Miles, of course.