Cleveland rocks: Brent Toellner at KC Dog Blog reports the best piece of news. After a dozen years on the books, breed-specific dog laws are being repealed in Cleveland. From now on, the decision on how to handle a dog will be based solely on prior behavior.

Owners of dogs at each level have different requirements to meet – -and if they do meet the requirements, they can get the designations lifted over time. You can get a lot of details on the ordinance here.

More and more cities are continuing to look at ordinances like the one in Cleveland because it allows the city to more efficiently use resources by targeted dogs (and dog owners) who have shown signs of being a threat to citizens and not focusing any resources on people whose dogs are not a threat.

Even better, the state of Ohio is considering following suit. It’s almost enough to make me do that arms in the air thing they’re so fond of. Almost.

Two rulings from the bench: Separate decisions were handed down that should put smiles on the faces of pet lovers across the country. Both are discussed in this SFGate article. In the first, an IRS decision that effectively penalized a feral cat rescue organization for their work was overruled. The second one went to the heart of the age-old legal axion that pets are nothing more than property. The California Supreme Court ruled for the first time that…

the owner of an animal victim of intentional cruelty may now sue the perpetrator for the costs of medical care and treatment of that animal. Historically, even someone found guilty of a felony animal abuse who ends up serving jail time will only be responsible to the animal’s owner for the cost of “replacing” that animal; back to that earlier point of animals as “property,” the concept is replacement of that property’s “market value.” Now, that has changed.

The first case is good, but the California decision could have much wider significance in the long term. Thanks to Susan Fox for the link.

Puppy millers lose huge in Los Angeles: One more sign of the times… puppy milling scum are no longer welcome to do business in the City of Angels. Details in the Examiner.

Who knows what’s really going on here? I had a conversation with Susan Fox after she forwarded this link from Yahoo News. While there’s definitely something bad going on in the area north of Spokane, Wash., it’s such a poorly reported story that frankly, I haven’t a clue what the truth of the matter is. Are there wolf-hybrids wreaking havoc? Perhaps. Certainly something is. Do we know much more than that? Honestly, no. I have a little more faith in KXLY‘s reporting, but not too much.

Heat is no joke: Every year the warnings go out about the lethal nature of overheated cars in the summer, and every year someone else finds out (tragically) how serious it is. The headline from the San Antonio Express-News says it all. There is ‘No such thing as a five-minute errand’ in heat.

Video of the week: The New England Aquarium in Boston is more than just a fun place to spend an afternoon. The aquarium staff also performs critical rescues, and is able to take advantage of the region’s health care technology. In this Boston Globe video, a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle undergoes a CT scan. Great stuff.

Social media at work: Comedian Dane Cook lost his dog, and asked his Twitter followers to help out. The story had a happy ending, and when it was over, Dane took to Twitter to let his followers know all was well and to thank them. A high five to TMZ for the following line:

When you only get 140 characters, 13 exclamation points in a tweet means you’re REALLY happy.

Also, four instances of the word “so” has gotta count for a lot.

RIP The Cat Who: Lillian Jackson Braun Bettinger, the author of 29 best-selling “The Cat Who” novels, has passed away in South Carolina at the age of 97. The Washington Post had a kind remembrance with a quote from the late Ms. Bettinger.

Discussing the sleuthing abilities of her cat KoKo, Mrs. Bettinger once commented, “Of course when you’re writing about a cat solving mysteries, you can’t be entirely serious. He doesn’t speak English or leap tall buildings. But there are things he does that draw attention to clues that help solve the mystery.”

Pedicure time: Because you can never have enough icanhascheezburger, and definitely never enough lolcats. See you next week.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.
Photo credit: O-H-I-O, humorsoffice.com. Dane Cook tweet, TMZ.

In my column today for SFGate.com, I talk about the lessons I learned from our trip, and what dog-owners can do to make travel easier on senior pets:

1. Listen to your dog

The biggest mistake I made was thinking I could set a schedule to exercise, feed, walk and give water to my dogs during our five-day journey across the country.

For example, I had planned to walk Kyrie every two hours, to help keep her from getting stiff in the car. This turned out to be a terrible idea, as she would no sooner get comfy in the back of the car than I was waking her up and dragging her out to stand in a grassy rest area while big rigs whizzed by on the Interstate.

She’d look at me as if to say, “Are you out of your mind? Can I go back to sleep now?”

By the end of the second day, I was keeping a close eye on her restlessness level. If she seemed uncomfortable, we stopped. If she was sleeping happily, we drove.

2. Keep things as familiar as possible

Old dogs do not get over stress as easily as young ones do, and things that Kyrie got over in an hour in her puppyhood can set her back for days now.

That’s why it’s important to bring your dog’s familiar bedding, blankets, food, bowls, treats and toys on your trip, as they help him feel safe, and reduce stress.

Every night when we got to the hotel, I left Kyrie and Rawley in the car with my friend Dawn, who’d come along for the ride and to give me a hand with the dogs. I would make the trek back and forth to the car, lugging dog beds, bowls, food and blankets. It was all worth it, though, to see Kyrie trot into the strange room, take a nice, long drink from her water bowl, then settle down on her orthopedic dog bed with a little sigh.

3. Protect their joints

Eight or 10 hours in a car isn’t good for anyone’s joints, as I learned every time I got out of the car at a gas station. So it’s a good idea to provide memory or orthopedic foam bedding for your senior dog while traveling, instead of a simple dog travel mat.

Like me, Kyrie was extremely stiff when she got out of the car at night, and I’d walk her slowly around the hotel grounds until she’d loosened up a little. This let her settle down more comfortably once we got into our room.

Kyrie spent most of the night on the same memory foam bed that was in the car, but she also got on the bed with me for an hour or two every night. This was a problem because jumping up and down was hard on her — especially down, when she’d usually give a little cry on impact.

I realized that being on the bed was important to her; it kept her close to the most familiar thing of all in her life, me, which she seemed to find comforting. So if I had it to do over again, I’d bring some kind of portable ramp or stairs to help her get up and down safely.

Read more, including the other five tips, here!

Photo: Kyrie on my hotel room bed. I have no idea which state we were in, LOL!

Remember when you got that bundle of puppy love? Remember when you took him to training class, to the beach, on that road trip? Remember when he spent a whole week just snuggling with you in bed when you had the flu and he brought all his toys to help you feel better?

If you’ve ever loved an old dog or have one who is approaching his golden years, you have lots of “remember whens.” And you can have lots more with the help of “Good Old Dog: Expert Advice for Keeping Your Aging Dog Happy, Healthy and Comfortable “ (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26), a compendium of science, stories, myth-busting and more information than you might have known existed about the care and companionship of aging dogs. Compiled by veterinary experts at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and edited by Tufts veterinary behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman, the comprehensive tome covers everything from behavioral changes to expect and recognizing signs of potential problems to making health care and end-of-life decisions.

How long can dogs live? A lot longer than you might think, Dodman says.

“Here at the veterinary school, we see about 8,000 old dogs per year out of our caseload of about 24,000. The oldest one we had on record was 21, but I know dogs can make it to 22 or 23.”

Get the complete scoop on your old dog, and read what Kim has to say about “The Complete Cat’s Meow: Everything You Need to Know About Caring for Your Cat” by Pet Connection BFF Darlene Arden, too, right here.

Also in this week’s feature, Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker take a look at the feline skeleton:

No one can definitively say how many bones a cat has. A long-tailed Maine Coon cat will have more vertebrae than a Manx with no tail, or a Manx mix with just part of a tail. And a cat with extra toes — they’re called polydactyl — will have extra bones as a result. The range is usually between 230 and 250, with the average cat counting about 244 bones, if cats could or cared to count. Anyway you count it, the average cat has about 30 more bones than we have. But we have something cats don’t: collarbones. Not that a cat would consider that a disadvantage. Without a collarbone, a cat can fit his body through an opening the size of his head. Assuming he isn’t overweight, of course.

All this and more in the complete feature, here!

Yes, I’m loving it, but still … things start to blur a little after a while.

Until a single person stands out, and reminds you, really, what my life helping pets and people is all about.

Today, a woman named Marguerite Maddox reminded me, but good. And God bless her for it.

Marguerite told me she has been preparing to come out to our Detroit-area book-signing for a couple of months, after hearing me interviewed on PetLife radio talking about how the special relationship between a person and an animal can be life-changing, and how that’s never more true than when a trained service animal is paired up with a person living with a disability.

Like Marguerite.

“I heard you on the radio, talking about what dogs can do to help,” she said, “and I was determined to come out and meet you.”

Determination was exactly what it took, because getting around isn’t easy for Marguerite, not even with her service dog, Jello, to help.  The book-signing was miles away from her home in Detroit, and it took her a couple of buses and an hour and a half to get to the signing. But she wanted me to see what she could do, and she wanted to talk to me about it.

Jello is a Lab mix, and she is Marguerite’s first service dog. Jello helps by making her aware of her surroundings, by picking up dropped items and by helping alert to sounds Marguerite cannot hear.  She also, like many service dogs, helps to bridge the gap between people who don’t know what to say to a person with disabilities; “your dog is beautiful” is a natural place to start. And that’s where I started, with Marguerite, but that’s not where I ended. She told me how important it was to share her story, her love of photography, and how much she liked my books.

I do run into a lot of fans, but few are as determined to see me as Marguerite was, and I was very, very touched and grateful for her.

As always, our day in Detroit ended with a long drive to the next city.  I wanted to drive Marguerite and Jello home so they wouldn’t face another long and difficult bus commute, but I couldn’t. We had to hit the road for Chicago. But I never have to worry about caring people in a place full of animal-lovers, and another person at the signing immediately stepped up to drive them home.

I’ll long remember Marguerite and Jello, and how they reminded me why I do what I do.

Darlene’s wealth of knowledge, thorough research, and engaging writing style come through on every page. Even more than that, it’s Darlene’s love for cats that makes this book special, beginning with the introduction’s closing phrase “The Complete Cat’s Meow will…help your feline companions live longer, healthier, happier lives. In return, you will reap a boundless bounty of love and affection” to passages such as “open your heart and your home to a kitty and watch the love flourish.” One only has to look at the photo of Darlene with her cat Aimee on the back cover to know that Darlene isn’t just an expert on all things cat, she truly loves cats.

Reading this book is like a conversation with a good friend who loves cats as much as you do, but knows much more about them than you do. The book covers newborn kittens, how to choose the right cat for you, how to prepare your home for your new kitty, understanding cat behavior, nutrition and health care. Darlene presents an extensive list of feline health concerns ranging from urinary tract disease to cancer to dealing with emergencies and surgeries. The book also includes a listing of popular breeds with detailed descriptions of their appearance and personality.

The two sections that really stood out for me are the ones on new kittens, and on how to choose the right cat for you. In the kitten section, Arden goes into great detail on how a responsible breeder raises kittens. At fist, I was a little skeptical about the emphasis on breeders in this section, because I’m not someone who would ever purchase a kitten (nor does the author advocate this as the only way to bring a kitten into your life). I quickly realized that the author uses the example of how a responsible breeder raises a litter of kittens to illustrate how kittens are raised in ideal circumstances, such as being handled and socialized from a very early age, and not being separated from their mother until they’re at least 12 weeks old.

In the section on how to determine which cat is right for you, the author carefully reviews all aspects that should be considered, from age to breed to coat length. This is the most comprehensive coverage of this topic that I’ve seen in any cat care guide, and should be required reading for anyone who is thinking about getting a cat.

This is not to say that the other sections aren’t covered with the same level of depth and attention to detail. Every section in this book provides excellent information, and Arden’s writing style makes for an entertaining and fun read. I particularly loved the author’s emphasis on cats’ need for human companionship and interactive play, dispelling a common myth that cats are solitary creatures who can be left alone for long periods of time.

The book is beautifully illustrated throughout with black and white photos and some absolutely stunning full color photographs in the middle. It also features an exceptional resource guide.

If you’re only going to buy one cat guide, this is the one to get. The Complete Cat’s Meow is not only a great book for those who are new to sharing their lives with cats, it belongs in every cat owners library.

Darlene Arden is an award-winning writer, lecturer and Certified Animal Behavior Consultant. She is the author of numerous books on pet care and  hundreds of articles and columns for all of the major cat and dog publications, as well as for newspapers and general interest publications. Darlene is passionate about helping animals live longer and better lives. For more information about Darlene, please visit her website.

Those 4 a.m alarms for morning TV shows just aren’t getting any easier, especially after a day off.

Yesterday, I worked most of the day anyway. The weather was lovely, warm but not too hot or humid, and I spent most of the day typing madly away on my laptop on the hotel’s streetfront patio. I took three breaks to indulge in long walks through the neighborhood with McKenzie, enjoying the historic homes and daydreaming about calling the number offer a classic Midtown carriage house for rent. I thought about going to services at the historic First Presbyterian, so close I could hit it with a tennis ball, but in the end the house of worship I chose for my diversion was one built for art: The High Art Museum, also just spitting distance away.

But now, 11 hours into my Monday and still two hours from Raleigh, I’m thinking I would have been better off sleeping yesterday, even though I enjoyed the day very much.

I know I was tired, because I could see how tired McKenzie was. When I left her to go to the museum, she was flopped on the floor of the hotel room, sound asleep.  She lifted her head just a little when I told her I was leaving, and hadn’t changed position (as far as I could tell) in the time I was gone. She got more down-time than I did yesterday, but she was still reluctant to wake up for this morning’s TV appearance, at least until I picked up the leash.

She was wonderful, though. While I joke that this is her trip, of course it’s really not. During some media appearances she’s there to be a demo dog, giving Dr. Becker an easy-going dog on which to demonstrate everything from tooth-brushing to body-weight checking  to the back-ruffle of fur that IDs the presence of fleas. Other times, McKenzie’s just there to be part of the set, relaxing patiently while the cameras, news folks, producers, directors and floor managers whirl around her. She has been very good in both rolls.

This morning, she was in the “part of the set” mode, holding a down-stay for five minutes while Dr. Becker was inteviewed at the table above and behind her. Off-camera, I would occasionally flash her a “stay” hand-signal just to remind her of what I wanted. It wasn’t really necessary, since she was relaxed and happy, even as the cameraman kneeled down and moved in tight to get a close-up of her. Good girl!

McKenzie travels relatively light. For food she’s mostly eating something her breeder in Texas suggested (Mary’s a distributor), ZiwiPeak, alternating with Honest Kitchen and supplemented by Iams Prostora probiotics. Aside from the occaional homemade JillCookies treat from regular reader/commenter Jill Gibbs, McKenzie eats nothing else, since I’m trying to spare her (and me) the difficulty of dealing with tummy upsets along the way. So far, so good.

For “wardrobe,” she has three Doodie Pack vests — purple, red and blue — with her name embossed on them, and a couple of different bandanas. She wears the vests for media appearances, at the PETCO book-signings and in the hotels. I’m sure some people think she’s a service dog, but that’s not my intent; rather, I’m trying to telegraph that she’s a friendly, well-trained and well-mannered dog no one need fear. So far, it’s working:  Everyone loves her (and vice versa).

McKenzie is comfortable in crates, and when the bus is moving she sleeps in one of two. One is a soft-sided Petmate crate wedged in the gap between the bed and the back cabinets in the bedroom at the back of the bus. In the front of the bus, she has made a “crate” out of the area under the banquette — the tile is cool under the table, and the facing seats approximate the safety and comfort of a crate. She’s a smart girl: Both sleeping spots are safe for her, and neither leaves her dangerously underfoot

The rest of her gear: Poop bags, tennis balls and a Chuck-it. She’s generally well-mannered on leash, so she has a couple of comfortable flat collars and (comfortable for me) a couple of well-worn leather leashes.

She’s a very easy dog to travel with, asking for little and giving her all.

Image:  McKenzie, people watching on the patio at the Residence Inn in Midtown Atlanta.

Note: The Dr. Marty Becke BIG Bus Tour schedule is here. Come by and see us! We’re on the road for about five more weeks.

And so, too, is McKenzie. She now recognizes the bus as home, and trots happily to the door when asked to “Go to the bus.” She also, in just a few days’ time and never having been in an elevator in her life, knows to sit  to wait for one, trot in, turn around and sit inside when the doors open, and go left or right on request after exiting. (Her first impression of a high-speed glass elevator was  pretty funny, but while I thought I was recording it on my phone, I wasn’t, so you’ll have to take my word for it.)

Inside the bus, she also responds to “go to your room,” since the rockstar bedroom at the back of the bus is our default for when we need a safe place for her to chill out for a bit while the generators are keeping the bus air-conditioned. At the very beginning of the tour, I thought she and I would be spending a lot more time back there since we were thrown out of the first hotel room we’d checked into, owing to miscommunication between our agent, Marriott corporate and the local management at the no-pets-allowed Courtyard by Marriotts we had been told were accepting the dog as a condition of booking our national tour.

After she and I slept in the bus one night, got booted to another hotel the second and were facing doG-knows-what the third, I took things into my own hands and had McKenzie launch a “why don’t you like me, Marriott?” campaign on Twitter and Facebook, which was quickly threatening to go viral. That got Marriott’s attention in their NYC HQ, and within an hour or two a nice PR guy was asking our tour manager to please ask McKenzie to tell her fans that Marriott was working on it. Not long after, the hotel issue was resolved, and now McKenzie is greeted by name as she walks into the lobbies of the no-pet Marriott chains we’re booked into. (Me? I’m just the one holding the leash!)

Obviously, with a special arrangement for her to stay in Marriott’s two no-pet chains (Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield Inn) I have a very serious responsibility to make sure McKenzie is well-behaved, quiet and doesn’t cause other guests any problems. Fortunately, she has been up to the job, and I’m very proud of her.

While every day has been a little different, the typical schedule is local TV at dawn, a VIP (Veterinary Important Person) event in late morning, more media and then the book-signings at PETCO. Then we all hit the road for the next city, which may be up to eight hours away. And we’re doing that six days a week — a grueling schedule, but I couldn’t be more happy I’m on board. We really do have the most incredible team, starting with Dr. Becker.

We’re rolling into Jacksonville now, so let me just share some tour-related links and call it a night:

The boys on the bus: Jimmy the tour manager and Phil the bus driver are the most incredibly skilled professionals imaginable. They have easily 40 years of experience between them in handling tours a lot larger than ours, and they have worked with Lady Gaga, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Whitney Houston and many more big-name acts. Mindy Valcarcel, the DVM360.com reporter who was with us for the first three stops, gave an overview of the team here. Be sure to follow the link to the clip of Phil from “Dog The Bounty Hunter.” Our “ground support” consists of Christie, David and Ericka from our PetConnection team, along with our publicist, Kathie Kerr, and our VIP event coordinator, Ellie Shaw.

Henry the cover dog: Handsome Henry, the cover dog on the book, has his own publicist, his Mom, Jill Gibbs. She scored him a feature in the Billings Gazette. Yesterday, I saw Henry’s pawtograph for the first time, as one of our mutual friends took the afternoon off to bring the book to be signed by me and Dr. Becker. There was barely any room left after Henry’s pawprint!

I’ll try to get more blogging done this week. Jimmy warned us that the first week of a tour is a period of adjustment, and he was sure right. But now most of the major problems seem to be ironed out, and we’ve all settled in for the long run as a great team.

Don’t forget the entire tour schedule is at DrMartyBecker.com. You can also follow Dr. Becker on Facebook and Twitter, and McKenzie on Facebook and Twitter.

Well, that’s what Dr. Becker and Gina are doing; McKenzie’s just checking out the nooks and crannies at Petco to see if she can find any spare tennis balls.

First, though, Dr. Becker will be joining hosts Jocelyn Lockwood, Jon Huffman and Hank Allen on WGNO’s “Good Morning, New Orleans” at 6:15 AM. He’ll be doing a live 3-minute “doggy health evaluation”  on Jocelyn’s dog, Lucy, and Huxley, the dog of one of the show’s producers, Jill.

After that, Dr. Becker will be heading for a special “VIP” (Veterinary Important Persons) breakfast event, after which he, Gina, and McKenzie will be making an appearance at the Petco located at 3520 Veteran’s Memorial Blvd., Metairie, LA 70002, from 12:30-2 PM.

You can follow the good times on Dr. Becker’s Facebook page, and, of course… McKenzie’s. You never know when a tennis ball might turn up. As she says, “Laissez les bons temps rouler!”

Today, though, we took time to take some family portraits here at Windfall Ranch.

This is a three-generation shot, with Faith, her mother McKenzie (both dogs are mine) and McKenzie’s mother, Karma, who lives here on the Windfall Ranch.
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On this morning’s “Good Morning America” segment, not only did  Dr. Becker announce the release of his new book, “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual,” but showed Stephanopoulos and fellow anchor Robin Roberts how to brush a dog’s teeth, too.

With the help of three adoptable dogs from the Humane Society of New York, Dr. Becker demonstrated how to get dogs used to the idea of better dental hygiene, and provided a motivation for their owners to stick with the job: It can add as much as 15 percent, or two years, to the life of a dog.

You can read an excerpt from “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual” and view the segment on the GMA website, or watch it right here:

See more great photos from the set of “Good Morning America” on Dr. Becker’s Facebook page!