pet connection

Life’s never been easy for anyone trying to make a living as a writer, but in the old days you were either dealing with the starvation that comes with being unknown (unless you married well and or lived off an inheritance) or weeping privately into your pillow after reading the work of professional critics in journals that were often pretty darn obscure.

Oh, for the simple days of yesteryear!

Now, of course, every word you write or say is examined, your facts checked, your subconscious or potentially hidden agendas speculated upon. And everyone with an Internet connection is a critic, like the person who trashed my “Dogs For Dummies” on a book-sellers Web site because it wasn’t much about Boxers. Well, it wasn’t much about Dachshunds or Irish Wolfhounds or Finnish Spitz, either. It’s a general reference, duh. Or the person who trashed the same book because it recommends the use of a crate for house-training — she thought that cruel in the extreme, even though it’s been common, accepted practice by trainers and behaviorists for a couple decades now.

This is all by way of saying if you’re going to put it out there, you’d better have a pretty tough hide because you’re going to need it.

Which brings me to Jon Katz.

Katz is a very talented writer who knocked around for a long time writing on all kinds of topics. And then, I’m guessing by accident as much as anything else, he latched onto the subject of dogs. Success breeds success, and soon, too soon perhaps, Katz was writing about pretty much nothing else except dogs, border collies to be precise. And soon, without the years of work, apprenticeship and study that characterize the true “dog man/woman,” he went from an expert writer on the subject of dogs to an expert on dogs who writes about them.

If there’s one breed in which that’s truly not advisable, it’s the border collie.

The loathing each faction of serious border collie people has for the people within another faction is truly quite remarkable in the dog world. (The heated show-field split in some sporting breeds is a mere preschool food fight by comparison.) The agility border collie people hate the show border collie people who hate the obedience border collie people who hate the stockdog border collie people and they all hate hate hate people who get a border collie for an under-stimulated suburban family pet. It’s not by chance that regular Pet Connection reader Christopher has called his blog Border Wars. It’s ugly out there.

But whether because ignorance is truly bliss or because he knows controversy sells books or because after knocking about for years as a writer he actually doesn’t give a damn what people think — or all of these combined — Katz bravely/foolishly finally writes a book about a border collie with a behavior problem: The dog bites people. After page after page of angst and some previous work from other places, most notably his Slate.com column, Katz decides that the dog needs to be killed, so that happens.

At that point things go nuclear. (more…)

Gina’s on her way home from Global Pet Expo, and I’m on my way to Las Vegas for the Western States Veterinary conference. And Dr. Marty’s on his way from the first to the second, because he’s an Iron Man!

I didn’t blog today because I’m overwhelmed with work — Chat Month is clustered on the weekends and this one was a killer!

But tonight, Sunday, February 17, while I’m in Las Vegas hanging out with veterinarians, Gina’s and my friend, Claudia Kawzczynksa, editor of The Bark Magazine, will be the guest at DogHobbyist.com’s Sunday night chat. It will be at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific, in the Dog Den. Claudia will be discussing Bark’s newest book, “Howl”:

Dogs are celebrated members of our families thanks to their capacity for unconditional love, unfaltering loyalty, and now, in “Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit,” for their comedic genius. In their follow-up to the New York Times bestseller “Dog is my Co-Pilot,” the editors of The Bark have returned with over seventy pieces highlighting the hilarity of dogs. Come hear more about the witty voice of today’s canine culture, and the endless reasons why we love our dogs — plus get an inside look at America’s hippest dog magazine.

I hope you can stop by — I’m sorry I won’t be able to make it, although maybe I’ll find a little wi fi sweet spot somewhere and sign in!

I’m back! I am telling myself you missed me terribly, so don’t disillusion me. I was in Los Angeles at the Xena: Warrior Princess convention, and yes, I was working, but also yes, I’d have gone anyway. I am just that geeky.

I was digging through a pile of email that reaches to the virtual ceiling. I go through my email backwards, which can be confusing, but it does mean that while I haven’t read my Google alerts from last week, I did read one that bounced in a few minutes ago.

Seems Florida’s Palm Beach County is considering a mandatory spay/neuter law, and some kind constituent sent each of the county commissioners, the ones who’ll be voting on the issue, a copy of Nathan Winograd’s “Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America” to assist them in making this decision that will impact the lives of dogs, cats, and people in their county.

Now it seems that one of the commissioners, Burt Aaronson, has no plans to read the book, saying, “If people want me to read something, they could have enclosed a letter: ‘We’d like you to read this, we’re giving it to you as a gift.’”

Wow, commissioner, you’re a tough guy to do a favor for. It wasn’t enough that this constituent purchased the book and sent it to you, you wanted them to schmooze you up, too?

The rest of the story’s here.

And hey, did you miss my lame headlines? Or just me in general?

I’m reviewing a book for the Pet Connection syndicated feature. I don’t get much room for those reviews, just enough to give readers an idea of what the book is about. And I’m not going to “spoil” the review for you here.

I just wanted to share a small excerpt from the book itself, because it took me by surprise and gave me hope, and I thought it might brighten your hearts, too.

The book is Bonnie Silva’s “Fifteen Legs,” and it’s the account of the nationwide network of animal rescue transporters who move dogs, cats, and other animals from areas where they’re unlikely to be adopted to foster and forever homes.

But this post isn’t about rescue transport, nor even Silva’s book. It’s about a network of cat lovers caring for a feral colony in Newburyport, Mass. The cats live in a waterfront area full of expensive shops and restuarants, and were becoming a nuisance, stealing food off the diners’ plates in the summer, and mewling pitifully outside the restaurants in the winter.

Several residents went to the head of the local Chamber of Commerce, herself a cat lover, and suggested something be done to help the cats, and in 1992, the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society was formed.

And all that’s very wonderful and heartwarming, but it’s not the part that made me cry. This is:

We have twelve feral cats living on the waterfront right now that are fed out of four feeding stations by thirty-five devoted volunteers who are there twice a day feeding and caring for the kitties. The volunteers are all between twelve to fifteen years of age.

Twelve to fifteen years of age. Go give those kids some love.

Yesterday I went to San Francisco to get some errands done (this week I’m driving the 2008 version of our DogCars.com Best in Show, the Honda Element). Stopped off at Christie’s to have lunch and have her cut my hair. (In another life, Christie owned a handful of chic salons in SF and is the only one who really “gets” my thick, curly mop.) Became re-aquainted with her sweet Rebel, the gorgeous 130-pound Scottish Deerhound who makes my retrievers and shepherd seem small, and Miss Kyrie Borzoi in all her silken elegance. Christie’s mom, too, who understands that me giving her last name to my dog McKenzie is a compliment.

I had Heather and Drew with me, and they enjoyed seeing Christie, too. In all the time I’ve had Drew, Christie had never met him. They liked each other, no surprise.

In addition to her work for the Pet Connection and SFgate.com, Christie’s also the editor at PetHobbyist.com.

From Christie’s Dogged blog:

One of the PetHobbyist.com family of websites, RescueNetwork.org, is presenting an evening with Nathan Winograd as the opening event of its 10th Annual Chat Week — which is, in honor of the anniversary, going to be Chat MONTH this time around. Please help spread the word, thanks!

An Evening with Nathan Winograd
Friday, February 1, at 9 PM Eastern Time

The event is free. For more information or to sign up for a free email reminder of the chat:

http://www.rescuenetwork.org/articles/NathanWinograd.html

Nathan Winograd’s 2007 book “Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America” set off a firestorm of controversy — and inspired an army of animal lovers across the country, calling for serious reform of the American shelter system and an end to the use of killing as a tool of animal population control.

RescueNetwork.org is proud to present an evening with Nathan Winograd as the opening event of PetHobbyist.com’s Tenth Annual Chat Month. Please join us on Friday, February 1, at 9 PM Eastern Time in the Auditorium. In addition to authoring “Redemption,” Winograd is the director of the national No Kill Advocacy Center. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School, a former criminal prosecutor and attorney, was director of operations for the San Francisco SPCA and executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA, two of the most successful shelters in the nation. He has spoken nationally and internationally on animal sheltering issues, has written animal protection legislation at the state and national level, has created successful No Kill programs in both urban and rural communities, and has consulted with a wide range of animal protection groups including some of the largest and best known in the nation.

Other guests during Chat Month will include Joan Miller, legislative analyst for the Cat Fanciers Association, and Karen Delise, author of “The Pit Bull Placebo.” More information and updates as they are announced, at this link:

http://www.pethobbyist.com/ChatMonth10.html

Hey Christie, weren’t you going to review “The Pit Bull Placebo” for Pet Connection?

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By the way, the Element is still an awesome DogCar. This time I’m driving the 2008 SC, which is the sporty version, in a nifty sparkly root beer color. Manual transmission on the tester, which I like … or would have liked if holiday traffic hadn’t kept me on the freeway for more than four hours on the way home — it should be a two-hour trip. Folks, that’s a lot of shifting in stop-and-go traffic! On the other hand, the Element’s manual transmission is a kick in tight city traffic in downtown SF (but you’d better know what you’re doing to drive a stick on those hills in the neighborhood where Christie lives!)