This Tuesday September 30 between 3:00 – 4:00 pm, Dakota is going to make her TV debut on KSTP Channel 5 Twin Cities Live program.

Hosts Rebekah Wood and John Hanson will talk about Doggie Palooza and show video from last year. My dog Dakota and I will appear on the segment along with local TTouch practitioner Elaine Garley demonstrating the TTouch technique.

Dakota has a very nice hot spot on the front of her leg that has morphed into a lick granuloma. Elaine will work on Dakota illustrating how TTouch can help heal the body.  read more »

Whenever my husband Brian travels, I am, of course, responsible for all things animal in our house. Since Brian gets up before the sun, (and I definitely do not) he feeds the animals in the morning. So whenever he is traveling, the animals have to adjust to my internal alarm clock and eat later in the morning. Which they are not happy about.  read more »

Mr. Clemens’ Cats
By Laura French
“A home without a cat--and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat--may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?” Thus wrote Mark Twain in The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson.

It might seem a little surprising that the cranky, crotchety American writer Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, showed a distinctly softer side on the topic of cats. The website www.twainquotes.com shows the author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn with an enormous cigar between his teeth (one of 40 he smoked each day) and a tiny tiger kitten in his lap.

Clemens was always highly critical of the human animal. In his notebook, he said that humans “seem to be a poor invention.” In an article, he called it “a pity” that Noah didn’t miss the boat. He claimed to be free of prejudice and bigotry simply because, “All that I care to know is that a man is a human being--that is enough for me; he can't be any worse.”  read more »

My husband and I had a party this weekend. Some of the people who attended were animal people, others were not.

Having non-animal people over always makes me a little nervous. First of all—I’m sure my house has the faint odor of animal—which I can no longer detect. So I go around lighting scented candles before the guests arrive.  read more »

If you are looking for a getaway close to the Twin Cities, be sure to look into Turtle Creek Ranch. My husband Brian, our dogs Dakota and Meadow and I stayed at Turtle Creek and loved every minute of it.

80 private acres of rolling hills, woods and fields were ours to explore. I loved watching the dogs run freely and investigate the property and interact with the ambassador animals of the Ranch—-horses, potbelly pigs and goats.  read more »

8 State Hurricane Kate
A Minnesota woman’s Katrina story
by Kelli Ohrtman

8 State Hurricane Kate, a book by Minnesotan Jenny Pavlovic was scheduled for release several weeks before the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Little did Pavlovic know that its release would coincide with another hurricane barreling down on New Orleans, making her book even more timely than expected.

While none of us who were there will ever forget Katrina’s aftermath, Hurricane Gustav’s approach brought the memories right back-- just in time for Pavlovic’s book.

8 State Hurricane Kate is a heartfelt recap of what it was like to watch a natural disaster unfold on television and get on a plane to do something about it. It is a story of one woman’s experience of stepping out of her comfort zone and into a disaster zone, and then stepping out again with one significant difference: a dog that she was able to lift out of harm’s way.  read more »

A love for animals often leads to unexpected adventures—like getting involved in agility because you have a dog that needs a hobby or learning how to be a good leader because you've got a new puppy.

Sometimes that love for animals leads us on lifetime experiences that we'll never forget. Writer Patty Miller is an animal person to the bone. In a recent article, Patty shares her adventures of taking equestrian vacations in Europe-—where she rode horses across Scottish moors and skirted the French Alps.

Her accompanying photo slide show captures a bit of the amazing scenery, a portion of the adventures, and all of her joy experiencing Europe on horseback. Enjoy.  read more »

I was recently reminded how important it is to provide cognitive experiences for dogs. On a pretty regular basis, I try to provide my dogs an experience that exercises their minds. I imagine it gets rather boring locked in the house all day, so I try to give them something new to do. This might be as simple as taking a new route to the park or hiding a toy under an object so they have to find it.

I’m convinced that many of the problems that we have with dogs today (separation anxiety, destructive behavior, obsessive barking, etc) are because we don’t give our dogs enough to do and think about.  read more »

The Gustav timing is eerily reminiscent of hurricane Katrina—except that this time, plans and resources are in place.

Says Mike Fry, executive director of the local shelter Animal Ark, “If we could learn anything from Katrina it is that the rescue of people and animals are not separate efforts. Companion animals must be accounted for in all human rescue efforts.”

Since the Katrina disaster, new laws and new attitudes have changed how animals are treated during emergency evacuations. On Oct. 6, 2006, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS) became law, requiring that state and local emergency preparedness plans include household pets if they want to receive federal funding. Even organizations like the Red Cross must have provisions for animals.  read more »

Today’s guest blogger is Kelli Ohrtman from Best Friends Animal Society. I have the distinct pleasure of working with Kelli and receiving exclusive updates about the Vick Dogs who are being rehabilitated and cared for at the Sanctuary. Today, Kelli shares information with us that has, so far, been off limits.

Silent no more: Meet the “Golden Four” by Kelli Ohrtman

The 22 pit bulls from the Michael Vick case haven’t been a secret by any means, but there are four special dogs in the bunch that we at Best Friends Animal Society have been kept quiet. There haven’t been stories written about them, they haven’t made the news, they haven’t had their photographs published. In fact, as I’ve been writing these monthly blog updates about the dogs for Pet Central, those four have been strictly off limits.  read more »