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Blog reader Michelle sent me a link to this story on MSNBC's Web site about a study that shows wolves and their cousins, domesticated dogs, are intentionally pooping in conspicuous places.

On any given day a survey of my backyard could be used to prove this theory.

Apparently wolves choose prominent places to relieve themselves to announce their presence; they leave their business card where they leave their business.

Isabel Barja, an Autonomous University of Madrid zoologist and author of the study, inspected wolf scat in a mountainous region of Spain's northwest Iberian Peninsula. 

I'm guessing no one complains about their crappy job to Barja at cocktail parties.

Barja's study shows  that almost 75 percent of the time a wolf will choose to make a deposit on a plant that matches its height and that stands out "against the homogeneous background of more common plants."

Ta-da! Look what I made!

According to an American Kennel Club spokeswoman quoted in the article, our pet pooches retain this instinct from their wild ancestors for much the same reason.

"In an urban setting, a fire hydrant can be a prominent landmark," Lisa Peterson, director of communications for the AKC , said. "If a dog relieves itself there, other dogs could smell its presence 30 yards away."

Apparently dogs want to show the next nose that wanders by that a big, bad doggy's been here and done that. She said dogs "[try] to pee as high as they can on fences and other objects in their environment."

Even pocket pooches, Peterson said,  will lift their tiny legs as high as possible to let all who follow know what's what.

I can personally attest to this instinct in Dexter, who will lift a leg anywhere he gets a whiff other dogs, and he does seem to like an audience. We are almost certainly ensured to be embarrassed if we take him through PetSmart.  

He's all but lost his go-inside-the-store privileges because he gleefully leaves his calling card. Our choice is to put a belly band on him or one of us has to remain outside with him while the other shops.

One of us usually stays outside.

According to a CNN report, First Lady Michelle Obama has told a reporter from People magazine that her family has narrowed the selection of The First Pet to a Portuguese water dog.

Obama said the choice was based on the dog's sweet temperment, medium size and non-shedding coat. Malia Obama suffers from allergies, and PWDs, much like poodles, shed less fur and dander than other dogs.

The family will select a dog after they return from a spring break vacation. They are looking for a rescue dog that is "old enough" and will be a good match for their family.

(Photo from people.com)

Cindy from Rockbridge Baths give four-paws-up to two pet products. Cindy writes:

"The first is a new kitty litter by Arm and Hammer called "Essentials." This litter is a clumping litter but does not produce the dust that the others do. That dust is not only a nuisance as it gets everywhere (as with most dust it seems to get blown through the air and travels farther), but I believe that the small particles can be inhaled by the cats and cannot be good for small animals' lungs, nor ours for that matter.

The Essentials litter does not produce dust even though the particles are small (so they can clump) and will get tracked around by the cats, I find it much preferable and my cats took to it right away. It smells wonderfully and so keeps down odors while giving off a light pleasant fragrance continually.

It is a little bit expensive but goes a long way and lasts a really long time. It does not seem to need changing very often but you just need to add more to it as it gets used up in daily scooping.

The second product that I love is "Pill Pockets." These are small, soft treats for made in both cat and dog varieties (the dog ones are larger). They are cup shaped and you insert a pill in them and then pinch the top closed. Both my cats and dogs love them and it is an easy and great way to medicate your pets.

They are also a little expensive, around $8 to $9 for 35 treats in a package but well worth it. I keep them handy as you cannot find them everywhere, some veterinarian offices carry them, some pet shops and I have also found them at our Rockbridge Farmers' Coop."

I agree with you about the Greenies Pill Pockets, Cindy. They make it much easier to give our dogs pills and I agree they are worth the extra expense, especially when measured against the cost of losing a pricey pill.

If other readers are thinking about switching cat litter, I offer one helpful hint: Mix it in slowly with your current litter. Cats typically resist change, and whenever we have put a new brand litter in the box, Thai expresses his displeasure by making his deposits near the box instead of inside it.

Not all cats are so picky. My daughter's cat, India, is not at all finicky about the litter.

But if your kitty is like Thai, mix a little of the new litter with the old, then add a little more with each change of the box until you have kitty accustomed to the new stuff.

American Health Kennels Inc. is voluntarily recalling baked doggie treats that contain peanut butter paste that originated at Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Ga., facility over concerns of possible salmonella contamination.

Click here to see the list, including lot and UPC numbers,  of AHK Bark Bars products being recalled. Remember that while it's not likely your otherwise healthy pet will get sick, the bacteria can be transmitted from pets to humans. If you suspect your pet has eaten something contaminated with salmonella, see your vet.

In my last column I wrote how we were not pleased when the LitterMaid self-cleaning litter box we purchased a few of years ago quit working after only about six weeks of use by our two kitties.

We cleaned the rake and it never worked again, despite our relative certainty that all the moving parts were put back where they belonged.

Blog reader Peggy sent me this e-mail:

"Concerning the LitterMaid, I have had 2 of them in the past four or five years. The first one just quit one day. At the time it was serving three cats. I loved it so much that even though it had stopped working and [was] no longer covered by any warranty, when I called the company since I had bought one before they offered a new one for $115.00.  That one stopped working on auto. So we hooked it up to a timer. Also it has as laser beam that that detects when an animal has been in it, if the laser spot gets covered with the dust from the litter it may not work trying wiping it off. I do know that if you don't snap it back together it will not work properly."

Sounds like Peggy had a good experience reaching out to the company, which I admit we did not do. Perhaps the product has improved since we tried it in the summer of 2005. We were very pleased with it until it went kaput.

Anyone else have any experience with LitterMaid or other self-cleaning litter boxes?

The newest face on the Wall of Shame belongs to Spud, who shares his nauseaous fumes with blog reader Sandy. She writes:

I've been chuckling over the two blog entries regarding flatulent dogs.  Here are a couple of pictures of my fiancé's English bulldog, Spud.  I believe the Spud-man has to be the most gaseous of any of your readers’ pets.

English bulldogs are famous for their gaseous emissions due to the shape of their muzzles. They swallow a lot of air while eating.  Might I also mention the snoring that bulldogs are famous for? There isn't a dog food made that will lessen the after effects of bulldog digestion. 

Spud does his best to temper the foulness of his bowels by eating copious amounts of grass. I've often compared him to a goat.  Believe me, it doesn't help. We buy Royal Canin dog food made especially for a  Bulldog's sensitive stomach at PetSmart to the tune of $43 a bag plus tax.  Needless to say, that money ends up going up in "smoke". 

I've heard you can mix in activated charcoal in their food to help with gas but I can't see a sharp-nosed dog going for that unless you mix it with caviar.

Sorry to say, we have pretty much abandoned any hopes of controlling this and have to banish him to the outdoors. He's very sweet and lovable, but a very stinky little man!

Shelters across Virginia hope to get their adoptions on with the second annual Midnight Madness Adopt-a-Thon this Saturday.

Locally, Angels of Assisi, the Bedford County Animal Shelter, the Montgomery County Animal Care and Control will be participating in the late-night matchmaking. All of the shelters will be open until midnight.

The press release from Angels indicates the staff will be dressed in their PJs and working on a nice caffeine buzz so they can help adoptive families choose the right pet. They will also serve refreshments.

Click on any of the links above and look over the adoptable pets.

All pet parents know their furry four-leggers like to leave a little bit of themselves all over the house, as a reminder of how much they love us. My pets deposit their love on every surface, from the carpets to the "fur"niture.

Now Bissell would like to feature some cute little shedders on their packaging. And the winning pets can help a local animal charity on their way to advetising stardom.

Click here to enter a photo of your pet in the Bissell MVP (Most Valuable Pet) Photo Contest.  The entry form is very simple, and you click to upload a photo (.jpg format, under 1 mb, one pet only and no people) and the photo pops up quickly for you to crop. One click and you are done.

Then visitors to the Web site vote on their favorite pet of the week.

The family of the pet with the most votes each week gets a bundle of cleaning products from Bissell and the book "100 Simple Secrets Why Dogs Make Us Happy" by David Niven. The weekly winners also moves on to the semi-finals, where a grand prize winner and four runners-up will be chosen by the staff at Bissell.

The grand prize winner will be featured on Bissell packaging, get more cleaning products, and have $10,000 donated to the family's favorite pet cause. The four runners-up will also be featured on Bissell packaging, get some goodies, and have cash donations made to their favorite animal-related charities.

If you decide to enter, please let us know and we will try to drum up support among the blog readers. This could be a great way for us to support local rescue groups, like Star City Greyhounds, and other animal-related causes like the Roanoke Dog Park or St. Francis Service Dogs.

This may sound a little too good to be true, but Bayer HealthCare, the makers of Advantage whose advertisments feature this adorable singing Golden retriever puppy, is offering a $20 to pet parents for preventative veterinary care.

From now until Feb. 28, pet parents can log on to Bayer's Web site and fill out a form for a $20 vet voucher. The Help Your Pet Get to the Vet program will award 80 vouchers per hour on the hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. If all 80 vouchers aren't claimed in an hour, the company may elect to roll the unused vouchers over to the next hour.

The online form in simple to complete. If you are awarded a voucher, you print it out and mail it back in with your receipt from your next visit to the vet fora wellness exam, dental care, vaccines and parasite prevention (I am sure they hope you will ask for Advantage, but that doesn't appear to be a requirement). The company will then mail a check for $20.

You would have until May 31 to redeem the voucher.

The Web site indicates this promotion is intended to help people, in these tough economic times, afford basic care for their pets.

I think it is a little like winning the lottery. I tried three times in a row at the top of the hour and had no luck getting a voucher. Still, it's worth at least a try.

If you get a voucher, post a comment and let us know how may attempts it took and what time of day worked for you.

Bereaved owners of the departed -- be they dogs, cats, fish or fowl -- will soon have a funeral home of their own.

Rezoning for a pet funeral home and crematory, the first of its kind for the region, was approved Tuesday night by the Roanoke City Council.

"It might be because I'm a big animal lover, but we just saw a need," said Sammy Oakey, president of Oakey's Funeral Service & Crematory.

The funeral home will be at 5416 Airport Road Northwest. A June opening is planned.

The funeral home will offer caskets, urns, plaques and memorial keepsakes designed for animals. The home will offer a cremation service, but has no plans for a cemetery.

The goal, according to information presented to the city council, is to "serve pet owners with the same care, dignity and respect that they do with human remains."

Oakey's will handle arrangements for all pets up to 200 pounds. "We won't be able to do horses or anything," Oakey said.

-- Laurence Hammack