The Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Lynnwood circulated its top ten animal-friendly resolutions a few days before the corks popped. I'm normally averse to setting New Year's goals; running a marathon and learning banjo have actually fossilized on my Master To-Do list.
By Lisa Wogan | January 9, 2008
One of the advantages of the Kitties Sweeter Than Wine Cat Show at the Seattle Center Pavilion on Saturday and Sunday is that spectators won't have to hang around all weekend to see big wins.
By Lisa Wogan | January 10, 2008
On my errands this morning, I saw a woman jogging with two dogs in Wedgwood. She wore a vest with the words Jogs for Dogs on the back. As soon as I got home, I googled the phrase and discovered another business I should have thought up. (Back in the early 1980s, I wanted to create a line of men's underwear for women. Months later, Madonna put boxers on the fashion map. But I digress.)
By Lisa Wogan | January 11, 2008
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.
By Lisa Wogan | January 15, 2008
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.
By Lisa Wogan | January 16, 2008
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.
By Lisa Wogan | January 17, 2008
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.
By Lisa Wogan | January 18, 2008
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.")
By Lisa Wogan | January 21, 2008
There's not enough mainstream lizard action out there -- with the very
likely exception of the Geico gecko. No off-leash Komodo dragon parks;
no iguana reality shows. Considering that dogs can't regenerate lost
limbs and cats don't change colors in response to the environment, it
seems lizards deserve a little more time in the public eye. And that's
exactly what they're getting -- many millions of years later -- at the Burke Museum on the University of Washington campus.
By Lisa Wogan | January 22, 2008
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.
By Lisa Wogan | January 24, 2008
