Last week over at the new pet blogger community site, BlogPaws, they were having a promotion to encourage folks to adopt a less adoptable pet. This campaign was created by the BlogPaws' Be the Change for Pets committee and described a less adoptable pet as those animals who are not being  adopted either because of age (too old), medical condition (needs much veterinary care) or because of misunderstandings - maybe the dog or cat is too frisky or gets into mischief.

Well, the campaign was a great success. Lots of people participated and many pets were adopted that might not have been adopted. In fact, WE adopted a great dog of 7 years, who came from a research facility but had been living in a rescue ranch. Chester is a sweetheart of a dog, but he's very shy, he hasn't been around people much, and he doesn't even know how to be a dog!

I've got hundreds of TV channels on my cable and I regularly watch about ten. Make that eleven, now that I've seen "It's Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet. This is a show about dog training, one of my favorite subjects and one I write about a lot. 

Victoria Stillwell is the star of "It's Me or the Dog" and, from what I've seen, she knows what she's talking about. She understands dogs and dog behavior and the first part of each segment involves observation of the dog and the owners. She's funny, too, and her interactions with the owners reveal she knows a great deal about human behavior.

I've written a couple of posts in support of mandatory spay and neuter laws. Recently though I've come across some disturbing information that has altered my opinion somewhat. I still think some form of legislation encouraging animal sterilization is a good idea, if it's enforceable. I can't think of any reason why cats adopted from shelters shouldn't be spayed of neutered for instance.

My issue is always with the health of the pet and there is some pretty compelling evidence I've been reading that indicates that early spay and neuter may be a bad idea for some breeds.

I like this recent article out of DogTime media. Andrea Arden discusses the language we use to manage our pet's in public, mostly our dogs. In my youth, we were taught to be in charge. To be the "pack leader" if you will. And, I took it to heart.

Mind you, I did not use harsh punishment. I used a lot of love and reward, without knowing that was a better way. And, yes, sometimes I used punishment that today would be considered harsh. Mostly shouting - to be "loud" and "in command." As I remember, it didn't work much.

One of the more interesting couples I ran into at Blog Paws last weekend were the Burkerts, Amy and Rod of GoPetFriendly.com. They look like they lead a very interesting life. Their whole deal is to travel the country and uncover pet friendly hotels, restaurants, off leash dog parks, beaches and just about anything to make travel with pets more fun. 

They were in Jackson Wy at the same time we were there and Amy even went to my wife's booth at the Jackson Art Fair. Don't know if she bought anything. Amy wasn't too impressed by the dog friendliness quotient in Jackson. We told her about the hiking corridor along the Snake River that Chris and Miles frequented on our trip. It was cool, off leash and the river was right there to the delight of Miles our part otter, Lab. 

That's something to celebrate, don't you think? I'm encouraged to see this article in the Daytona Beach News-Journal about pets living longer these days. I actually saw it on the PurinaCare Facebook page.

The best part of the article is the message that our beloved pets can be around more than the 10-12 years we of baby boomer years were used to, as children. Our dogs, back then, didn't last much beyond 10 years. Although, I will say my dog before the beloved Carmie lived to be 15 (Missy - our family pet), and with Carmie living to 16, only succumbing to bloat (to my horror and dismay), my family has been lucky. We've kept our dogs healthy and happy. Which makes us happy.

One of the best and most inspiring presentations I saw at Blog Paws was the one given by Patricia Callahan from Canine Companions for Independence. This group raises and trains dogs for people with a variety of physical disabilities.

The fact that they use Labs in their work was a factor for me of course, but even if they didn't it would be a very compelling story. They use Goldens and Golden/ Lab crosses too, by the way.

CCI will celebrate their 35th anniversary this year. Ironically they will place their 3500th graduate this year, too.

W00t! As we say in the pet blogger world. This story, from June - where have I been that I just saw it??? - is all about a fantastic surfing dog, Ricochet. Now, truth be told, I have heard of Ricochet. You can't be a pet blogger and not know about her feats of daring on a surfboard.

But, I just saw an article about her amazing feat of raising $30,000 and increasing her fan base on Facebook by 10,000 (now well over 12,000). For a few minutes, as I read the article, I was mad at myself for not writing about this sooner. Then, I realized that this story is timeless.

After about a month on the road in the Northern Rockies, we pulled into downtown Denver yesterday afternoon and it was quite a transition. The last place Miles had been was my sister's country home up in Sheridan Wyoming where he had the run of the place. When I opened up the back of the car at the Grand Hyatt in Denver, he knew something was up.

It was a pretty chaotic scene. We had three bikes on the car top carrier and our stuff was scattered all over the back of the car. The Bellman was cool and composed however and the first thing he did was give Miles a pet cookie. They were ready for us because the Grand Hyatt is the host hotel for BlogPaws West and many of the pet bloggers in attendance brought their pets along for the trip. 

It's a rainy day and what better thing to do than go to the bookstore. Can't ride the bike, hike with the dog or go fishing so I might as well shop. I found a really interesting title and the University of Montana bookstore. Through a Dog's Eyes by Jennifer Arnold looks to be a book all dog owners will want to read.