pet connection

Yesterday was our day off, with an entire day where we had no events, no long drives and no change of location. We got to Atlanta Saturday night after a relatively easy drive from Jacksonville (easy for me to say “easy” since I slept in the tour bus bedroom most of the way), settled in to a decidedly dog-friendly Residence Inn on Peachtree (not the one on Peachtree, but the one on Peachtree) in a gorgeous dog-friendly part of midtown and then had little in the way of obligations until this morning.

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.

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We’re about 90 minutes from Jacksonville, Fla., incredibly already the fifth stop at the end of the first week of our 45-day national BIG Bus Tour for “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual.” Houston, New Orleans, Tampa and Miami are already in the rear-view mirror, and I’m now completely comfortable living in a 45-foot rockstar bus.

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.

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Dr. Marty Becker, Gina Spadafori and cool flat-coated retriever McKenzie, are motoring around America as part of the “Healthy Pets Visit Vets Big Bus Tour.” Somehow in the drive from here to there on their 30-city tour, I managed to grab some mike time with America’s favorite veterinarian. I invite you to tune in to my special episode of the “Oh Behave Show” on Pet Life Radio that was just posted.

Dr. Becker, in his witty and whimsical style, unleashes great pet advice, memorable pet tales and much more during his guest spot on my show. It is fitting that he has been the only three-time guest since the show took to the air two years ago and has features Betty White, Victoria Stilwell and yes, the always controversial Cesar Milan.

Dr. Becker is truly on a Mission from DOG – with only slight apologies for tweaking the Blues Brothers’ motto. He shares some must-know pet care facts plucked from the pages of his latest book, “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual“ (co-authored by Gina Spadafori, of course). Listen as he shares a surprising but simple way to stop a wet dog from drenching you at bath time and a common item found in kitchens and purses that can be downright deadly to dogs. Catch his take on easing thunderstorm phobias in dogs and why he goes gaga over McKenzie, the canine tour ambassador.

If you’re new to Pet Life Radio, it’s the world’s No. 1 pet podcast network, featuring a lineup of more than 30 shows covering all things pets. You can tune in right from your computer, iTunes and countless other free methods and pick what show you want when you want to hear it. Think of it as TiVo for your ears.

To catch this show, simply click here:

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Undercover photographic evidence has been used countless times to expose things like public corruption and police brutality. However, did you know that secret video proof of animal abuse can land you in jail? In Iowa, Florida and Minnesota, legislation is working its way through state houses to outlaw what has always been a common tool for animal advocates. From the New York Times:

A bill before the Iowa legislature would make it a crime to produce, distribute or possess photos and video taken without permission at an agricultural facility. It would also criminalize lying on an application to work at an agriculture facility “with an intent to commit an act not authorized by the owner.”

While the laws are meant to keep animal activists from revealing some farming practices (like shocking treatment of dairy cattle exposed in recent years), the proposals will also help keep puppy-mills behind the curtain of secrecy. They  could even protect poorly run shelters from being exposed (cough cough, Memphis, cough cough), argues the website care2.com:

The legislation proposed in Minnesota attempts to crack down on activists who have exposed repeated animal welfare violations. Among its provisions, the bill targets anyone who documents an “image or sound” of animal suffering in a sweeping list of “animal facilities,” including factory farms, animal experimentation labs, and puppy mills.

According to Will Potter, author of “Green Is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege,” Minnesota’s House File No. 1369 goes even further.

The bill, introduced by six Republicans, also includes a number of other provisions that have popped up in “eco-terrorism” bills and “animal enterprise terrorism” laws over the years. Similar legislation has also been introduced in Florida and Iowa to target undercover investigators.

The Minnesota bill includes a number of dangerous parts. Among the most important:

1. “Animal facility interference.” This provision targets those who, without the owner’s consent, “produce a record which reproduces an image or sound occurring at the animal facility.” Even worse, it targets those who “possess or distribute a record which produces an image or sound occurring at the animal facility.”

Translated: Taking pictures and videos is illegal, but so is uploading them to YouTube for public consumption. Anyone else have a problem with this?

Community supported agriculture for pets! I have friends from Maine to California who participate in community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs. Perhaps you do it in your area. But here’s a new wrinkle: CSA for dog food. Kim Thornton sent me this link from the Village Voice, about Jake Dickson of Dickson’s Farmstand Meats in New York.

The new “dog-food program,” Dickson explains, “allows us to close the loop completely so we’re nearing zero waste.” The parts that he doesn’t have much use for, such as the 80 pounds of beef liver he receives each week, make ideal canine sustenance. But rather than just package and sell them as is, Dickson partnered with Stacy Alldredge, a dog trainer and canine nutritionist who, Dickson says, “is a big advocate of cooking real food for pets.”

Great idea. Use naturally-grown agricultural products that would otherwise go to waste, give dogs fresh, nutritious meals, and support local farms. Everybody wins. To see how this concept works already, check out the SFRaw co-operative, to which Christie and Gina both proudly belong.  It’s a little different in operation, but the local, sustainable and humane ethic is the same.

“I’m not asking you. You’re not nice.” Dogs beg people for food. Not exactly a news flash, is it? Here’s the kicker: it seems dogs know who to ask, by paying close attention to how people interact with each other. This article from The New Scientist article on the finding is frankly scaring me. (thanks, Patti S.)

Luxury in Boston for all: The Boston Globe spotlights the trend we’re developing here in the Boston area for creating –  and supporting –  ultra-luxurious vacation spots for pets. As a Red Sox fan, I found this next snippet irresistible.

At Fenway Bark, the best room in the house, the 72-square-foot Owner’s Box, costs $150 per night. True, that’s almost as much as the $155 average daily rate for human hotels in the Greater Boston area, according to the Massachusetts Lodging Association, but it does come with unlimited dog-owner Skype sessions, bottled water upon request, and custom-made beds with 6-inch orthopedic foam.

The Skype was a perk that Tara Philbin of South Boston could not resist. Before heading off to her bachelorette party in New Orleans Saturday, Philbin downloaded the Skype app so she could chat with her boxers Declan and Kiera.

I particularly like Fenway Bark‘s website. Check it out, unless you’re a Yankees fan, in which case you should just move on to the next paragraph.

Highlights from around the Pet Connection Blogosphere. Recent posts I particularly like from our distinguished blogroll:

A shout out to Ingrid: Our own Ingrid King‘s personal blog The Conscious Cat has a post I particularly like. This one is about World’s Best Cat Litter and how they’re supporting shelter causes in Texas.

Woo Woo! Photo essay posts from Three Woofs and a Woo always make me smile.

Happy Tax Day: Love this cartoon from SmartDogs.

Finally, speshal nom from icanhascheezburger.

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: Memphis Animal Shelter video snapshot courtesy of YesBiscuit.wordpress.com.

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My first cat was a talkative Siamese named Corky who earned the nickname, Loud Mouth. My dad was fond of saying that Corky “purred like a Mack truck.” But Corky’s vocals would be considered whispers compared to a gray tabby named Smokey. This very content cat from Northampton, England is generating headlines, TV appearances and YouTube fans for reportedly possessing the world’s loudest purr.

Are you ready for this? Grab your ear plugs. Sound tests performed on this 12-year-old cat by a British community college team registered as high as 92 decibels – about as loud as a lawnmower or a hair dryer. The average happy, contented cat purrs at around 25 decibels.

We mentioned Smokey in a previous news wrap. Smokey’s owners, Ruth and Mark Adams, submitted an application to the famed Guinness Book of World Record to have their cat declared as the World’s Loudest Purrer. The couple rescued Smokey from a local shelter about three years ago and Smokey is now recognized as an honorary volunteer for Cat Protection’s Northampton branch.

On Smokey’s website, Ruth Adams proclaims: “Sometimes, she purrs so loudly it makes her cough and splutter. She even manages to purr while she eats.” In a recent news report, Diana Johnson, of Northampton Cats Protection, declared, “I have never heard anything like her purr in my life. It can drown out your conversation.”

So, how loud does your cat purr? Any competition for this Brit cat? If you want to hear Smokey’s purr machine, just click here for her audio performance on YouTube that has 210,000-plus visits.

Purring by a cat is comparable to happy tail wagging by a dog. But somehow, I find purring more magical. As editor of Catnip, a national monthly affiliated with Tufts University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, I work closely with top veterinarians and animal behaviorists.

In explaining the art of purring, Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, veterinarian and director of the Tufts’ Animal Behavior Clinic, reports that cats produce purring sounds by using the diaphragm to push air back and forth across vibrating nerves in the larynx. All domestic cats and most wild felines are born with the ability to purr. Cats, from young kittens to seniors, purr when they are happy, anticipating dinner or snuggling on a warm, cozy bed.

Mother cats purr when nursing their kittens, and kittens purr when nursing. But many cats also purr when they are afraid or in pain. That helps explain why some purr when being examined at a veterinary clinic or when they are recovering from an injury. The purring might serve to reassure or comfort the frightened cat. In addition, some studies suggest that the low-level vibrations of purring physically stimulate feline muscles and bones to keep them healthy and actually speed up the healing.

Some cats purr right to the end. When my beloved Samantha had to be euthanized due to advanced liver disease, the sound of her purring comforted both of us as she slipped peacefully away in my arms at the veterinary clinic.

For now, Smokey is the poster cat for purring and I hope the Guinness World Record officials will give serious consideration to adding this entry to their long list of record-setters.

And there is one purr feat that cats everywhere can achieve that we mere humans cannot: Cats can purr while inhaling and exhaling. Don’t believe me? Try for yourself. It is far easier to say “toy boat” 10 times fast than imitate a purring cat.

Photo credit: Geoff Robinson Photography as appeared on Smokey the Purring Cat.com

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