However, I had to share this story, as it is horrifying  and, apparently, legal. For those who let their dogs roam off leash, take heed, as you could inadvertently be putting your dog’s life in grave danger, not to mention your own.

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It took about two hours for Greta to worm her way into my heart after I adopted her. And although there have been challenges along the way, I could not imagine my life without her.

As more and more greyhound racetracks are closing (hallelujah!), that means there are that many more greys that need forever homes.

Here’s a great article on getting a greyhound in the white house.

Or your house.

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Last week’s election was good news for greyhounds in Mass. and animals in Calif., as voters on both coasts made it clear that animals have feelings and animal cruelty should not be tolerated.

In Mass., Ballot Question 3 regarding the state ban on dog racing passed with 57 percent of the vote, ensuring commercial dog racing will be phased out by 2010. There are two dog tracks in Mass., and the hope is that rescue groups will be able to find homes for any racing dogs who become available for adoption. Although I don’t live anywhere near Mass., I took a personal interest in this, as I adopted a retired greyhound two years ago.

In Calif., Prop 2, also known as the Standards for Confining Farm Animals Act, won with over 60 percent of the vote, thus mandating an increase of confinement space for veal calves, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens. The Act is effective Jan. 1, 2015, when these animals will have the right to turn around, lie down, stand up and fully extend their limbs. (I voted yes, and thankfully I was not alone!)

These are but two small steps that will make a huge impact on the lives of many innocent animals.

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Two years ago today, my husband and I rescued Greta, and our lives have never been the same since. Sure, it was hard in the beginning–after all, she was a puppy with no experiences outside of living in a wire crate 23 hours a day.

Slowly, she learned how to relax and live in a home. Although she readily accepted me as her Alpha, it took her a bit longer to understand the hierarchy of the home (me, husband, cats, her).

Now, she fits right in and not a day goes by that she doesn’t make me laugh due to her silly antics.

This year, I decided to commemorate our anniversary with a cute photo frame I found online at Pearhead.com.

The frame is called Pawprints, and it allows pet owners to create an impression of their pet’s paw, which is displayed on one side of the frame, with a photo on the other.

Pawprints includes everything necessary for assembly, including an elegant pine shadow-box frame, acid-free picture mats, acid-free background boards, non-toxic/air-drying impression material, a wooden rolling pin, shaping ruler and double-sided tape.

Mine should be here any day. Get yours here.

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There are many victims of domestic violence, including pets, who are often caught in the crossfire and wind up either victims of abuse at the hands of the domestic abuser, or used as pawns to keep victims from leaving.

It may sound incredible to some people, but there are many women who will not leave an abusive situation if they can’t stay somewhere that allows animals–and most shelters do not. (You would have to drag me kicking and screaming from my dog and cats, so I sympathize.)

According to American Humane, 71% of pet-owning women entering women’s shelters reported that their batterer had injured, maimed, killed or threatened family pets for revenge or to psychologically control victims; 68% of battered women reported violence towards their animals, 87% of these incidents occurred in the presence of the women, and 75% in the presence of the children, to psychologically control and coerce them; 13% of intentional animal abuse cases involve domestic violence; and between 25% and 40% of battered women are unable to escape abusive situations because they worry about what will happen to their pets or livestock should they leave.

Battered women have even been known to live in their cars with their pets for as long as four months until an opening was available at a pet-friendly safe house.

Fortunately, many women’s shelters are establishing “safe haven” foster care programs for the animal victims of domestic violence–some women’s shelters are even building kennels at their facilities.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, three states — Maine, New York and Vermont — have already enacted laws permitting family pets to be included in protective court orders involving cases of domestic violence. Such court orders are meant to shield animals as well as spouses and domestic partners from abusers. An additional 12 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey,  Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, have considered “pet protection” legislation.

With over 100 safe haven programs currently operating today in the U.S., many victims no longer have to choose between their safety and their pets.

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One of my husband’s biggest issues with getting a dog was the fact that said dog would inevitably “burn” our back yard when it went potty.

Urine contains excess nitrogen resulting from the natural metabolism of protein in the body. And dogs, especially females, urinate anywhere and usually all at once, often causing dead brown patches or lawn burn.

So I did some research and found that there are many products available to fight the burn.

Among the products is Nutri-Vet Grass Guard, which neutralizes the potential for high pH (alkaline) urine that can damage grass. It’s available in a wafer and a soft chew.

Luckily, because I’m home with our dog all day, most of the time I can take her on a walk to go to the bathroom, so I have the ability to ensure she’s not marking the same spots over and over. And when she does, I simply dilute the area with water from our hose.

For those who aren’t home to monitor potty breaks all day, especially those who have doggie doors that allow pooches to relieve themselves whenever they wantto, Nutri-Vet Grass Guard should help keep lawns in the green.

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We have a joke in our house that our dog, Greta, isn’t the brightest bulb because she often does silly things. But is that her personality, or is she really a bit of an airhead?

According to Stanley Coren, psychology professor at the University of British Columbia and a best-selling author of The Intelligence of Dogs, dogs display intelligence by reading social cues, learning new tasks, understanding language and solving problems.

Here’s what the experts say you can do if you’re curious about your dog’s IQ.

Problem Solving:
Hide something your dog loves underneath a sofa, and see if it can figure out how to retrieve the object. Score five points for getting the item with its paws in less than 30 seconds; four points if it uses paws and takes more than 30 seconds; three if it uses paws but fails; two if it uses its head but doesn’t try paws, and one point for dogs that try to use their head but then give up. It gets no points if it does nothing.

Learning Rate:
How many times do you have to repeat a task with your dog before he/she masters it? Try the detour-taking test. Find a fence that your dog can see through with a gate open at one end. With you on the other side of the fence, call your dog and see whether it can figure out how to get around to the other side. Score five points if it goes around the fence in a minute or less; four points if it succeeds right away after you take a few steps in that direction and gesture; three if it succeeds in 30 seconds after the prompts; two if it succeeds between 30-60 seconds after prompts, and one if it succeeds but requires even more prompting and time than that.

Social Cues:
Try the smile test to see how smart your dog is at picking up social cues from humans. Start with your pet sitting a few yards away from you. Stare at your pet’s face. Once you make eye contact, count to three and then smile very broadly. Score five points for coming to you with its tail wagging; four points for coming part way; three points for standing or rising; two points for moving; and one if he/she pays no attention at all.

Inference Challenge:
In this version of the shell game, with your dog on a leash or in the stay position, use treats and two different bowls set a few feet apart. Smear the treat on both bowls. Then very dramatically put the treat underneath one bowl. Release your pet and see what happens. Repeat this 10 times changing which bowl you put the treat under. Repeat another 10 times without letting your dog see where you’re stashing the treat, but DO let the pup see you enthusiastically lift the other bowl up each time. Score five points if the dog goes to the correct bowl and gets the treat each time; four points if it masters the first 10 and improves over the course of the second 10; three if the first set is perfect but not the second set; two if the dog improves during the first and second rounds; and one if the dog is initially not very good but improves over the first round and completes the second round by going to the bowl you lifted.

Language Comprehension:
Start with your dog sitting in front of you. Using the tone of voice you use to call your dog’s name, call “refrigerator.” Try this again, calling “movies.” Score five points if the dog doesn’t respond to those words but comes after you call its name; four points if the dog comes the second time you call its name; three if the dog starts to come; two if the dog comes to “movies” but not “refrigerator”; and one if the dog simply doesn’t come to any of the calls.

Your Dog’s Score
Gifted and Talented (25-31)
Clever Canine (18-25)
Sharp, But Slow (10-18)
Doggie Dropout (Less than 10)

Greta scored in the (low) “clever” range. How smart is your dog?

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I know it’s short notice, and I just made the deadline myself, but here’s a photo contest you may want to enter now.

Animal Wellness magazine’s Amazing Animals Photo Contest deadline is today. 

To enter, email photos@animalwellnessmagazine.coma jpeg, tif or pdf of your pooch at 300 dpi resolution, along with your pet’s name, sex, age and a short description of the photo. Be sure to include your name, address and telephone number. You can submit a maximum of two photos for each animal in your home. Winners’ photos will appear in a future issue of Animal Wellness.

And if last minute isn’t your thing, there’s yet another contest worth a shot.

If your dog is more of a pinup guy or gal, enter Evanger’s 2009 Calendar Photo Contest. Email a high resolution digital image of your dog to contest@evangersdogfood.com by August 25. Include your name, address and phone number, the name of the person who took the photo, and your pet’s name. For more information, click here.

Good luck!

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Fast forward three years, and our greyhound, Greta, has, at the age of three and a half, become a welcome, if not comical, addition to our family. So it only seemed fitting that when we considered another venture up to Mendocino, we decided to take her along for the ride.

The original room we stayed in at MacCallum house, the Gazebo Playhouse, was quite charming and perfect for my husband and myself, but I knew that adding a dog crate and 60-pound pooch to the mix would turn the cozy quarters into a cramped jail cell.  

I finally decided that the best option for everyone was the Bug’s Ear, a stand-alone cottage about a mile away from MacCallum that offered a bit more privacy and much-needed space.

We hit the road on an early August weekday, and as Greta is not very fond of car rides, she was up and down and panting for the majority of the four-hour ride.

We arrived in Mendocino too early to check in, and I was dismayed to find that not one merchant in all of the small town had a dish of water out for a thirsty dog. Finally, we had to resort to begging for some tap water at a local cafe. (I did bring Greta’s dishes and water for the ride, but she is very particular about when she will and won’t drink from a dish, and in a car, moving or not, she won’t.)

Once we got some liquid in Greta and were able to check in, we set up her crate and she was finally able to get some rest.

The next morning, we took Greta to the beach, where she splashed and frolicked in the surf.

We had to keep her on leash, not only because she’s a greyhound, but also because the beach didn’t allow off leash dogs. (We heard there is a beach in Fort Bragg that allows dogs off leash, but we didn’t feel the need to make the 10-mile drive to check it out.)

The MacCallum house charges an extra $30 per night for pets, and they did provide us with a dog bed, blanket, and a few waste bags and treats. They also provided food and water dishes, although they would have been better suited for cats or very small dogs, so I’m glad I brought our large dishes from home. We also could have splurged on the Tail Wagger’s Club Basket (see photo below), but at $85, I decided to pass (since we were already paying an extra $60 for the two-night stay).

Other than a small coffee shop that had outdoor seating, there didn’t seem to be too many places in downtown Mendocino to dine with Greta in tow. We opted to pick up food and take it back to the cottage for lunch during the full day we were there. As breakfast was included with our stay, we did crate Greta both mornings while we ate, and we did the same for the two evenings we dined in town.

I’m glad we went, but next time I think we will stay closer to home and choose a place that’s more dog friendly. We did see a few dogs here and there during our stay, some large and some small, but in all, I was surprised that Mendocino didn’t have a more welcoming mat out for canines and their human travel companions.

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One of my “greyhound” friends recently had to have her hound’s front leg amputated due to bone cancer, which is, unfortunately, common in greyhounds.

Both she and I know of one amazing “tripod” that we’ve both witnessed run our own dogs ragged.

While my friend’s handsome greyhound who, by the way, is also a pal of my own girl, Greta, recuperates from his recent surgery, I am already looking forward to cooler weather so we can all get together for a romp.

Until then, this video I found on YouTube featuring a tripod greyhound who was rehabilitated at a Spanish animal shelter will have to suffice.

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