Holiday 2007
Before you buy another squeaking busy bee or hand-knit puppy vest, consider, for a moment, the other end of the leash. There stands a perfectly generous human, who regularly showers her pup with the best treats and toys money can buy. While she would not begrudge her furry sidekick a thing, the sight of his holiday payload -- plush bed, bakery-fresh cookies, couture luggage -- is apt to make her feel a little left out.
December 17, 2007
From the strange wirehaired dog in Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait (1434) to the first daguerreotypes in the 1800s, pets have long been featured in significant family portraits. But these days, pet pictures are practically de rigueur -- like school photos for the kids -- which is good news for a generation of local photographers and painters who delight in working with unpredictable, treat-eating models.
January 7, 2008
Pet Dish
I recently discovered the Seattle Animal Shelter's Bunny Cam. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., a video eye silently captures rabbit life in two glass-fronted cages. I've whiled away more time than I'd like to admit watching a pair of floppy-eared, gray Lagomorphs sleep and munch, but mostly sleep. It's calming on a hectic day.
January 15, 2008
Pet Dish
Dogs inspire all kinds of transformations in their humans. It's one of the things that makes talking to "dog people" so satisfying. A slobbery, big-eyed quadruped can turn a cold bastard into a cuddle fiend and a couch potato into a marathoner. Dogs even inspire job shifts. Scratch a dog walker or a trainer and you'll find a former teacher, lawyer, bartender -- you name it.
January 16, 2008
Pet Dish
I had one reaction to Janice Kajanoff's sporty, artfully designed dog jackets. I wanted one. Not for my dogs, who have plenty of fur, and honestly, won't appreciate neon-orange ribbon-trim from Paris. For me. You just don't see sportswear for people designed and sewn with as much care as these coats for dogs.
January 17, 2008
Pet Dish
Dogs appear to be winning the bumper sticker wars. I see little round "WOOFs" and "Wag more, bark less" ovals on the backs of wagons, PT Cruisers and SUVs all around town. This week I spotted two black dog silhouettes (I think a poodle and a Lab), an "I heart my basset hound," and a "Praise dog." Not a single cat fancy.
January 18, 2008
About three years ago, Dona Penfold capped a surprise baby shower for a friend with the gift of a lavender rhinestone collar. The party wasn't in Europe, where some tots troll the streets on leashes. It was in Billings, Mont., and the "baby" in question was a sweet little Yorkshire terrier.
January 21, 2008
Pet Dish
It's rubber-boot, black-tennis-balls, hog-fuel season at the dog park.
Heavy rains have created slime fields and muddy walkways only a dog
could love. Some stewards are getting proactive by spreading wood chips
to make the shoe-sucking sludge a little more navigable. (If you're
curious, I was, wood chips are called hog fuel after the wood grinding
machines known as "hogs.")
January 21, 2008
Pet Dish
It's going to be another Cold Paws day, Q13 Fox News meteorologist M.J. McDermott, "reported" on this morning's Pet Walk Forecast, which you don't really watch for the weather but for pet photos. Today, the forecast star was Cooper, an Australian shepherd with Elizabeth Taylor-blue eyes.
January 24, 2008
Pet Dish
Lulu would wade through a pool of fire-breathing cats for a piece of old, dry kibble, so I had to say "sure" when my new friend offered a treat. She liked my dog, had a cookie supply in her car, was prepared to trek out and back in the middle of a busy day. I adore dog people. But I did think: If a stranger offered a cookie from their car for my kid, would I say yes?
January 27, 2008
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