www.roanoke.com

OK- color me totally embarrassed! I got this e-mail yesterday from two people involved with Botetourt County, and so I assumed these dogs were in Botetourt County. What do you get when you assume?

Apparently my journalistic instinct to question everything is a little dull today. Seems that this e-mail has made it's way across the county for months now and these two dogs, whose family lost their home to foreclosure, have found a home in California.

Thanks to my friend and blog reader Vicki for sending me the link to Snopes that puts the happy ending to the story of Coco and Cookie.

Lesson learned for me and I apologize for getting anyone's hopes up about adding these two great dogs to their family. Pardon me now while I go wipe the egg off my face. 

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This is the story of Coco and Cookie:

"We are moving in just 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I have still not been able to find a good home for Cookie and Coco . We're not able to take our beloved doggies with us and I've been desperately trying to find a home for both of them 'together'. They were raised together and pine without each other The Lab rescue have already said that they would probably separate them, so this is my last resort. Recently I tried to take Coco out in my car alone and she TOTALLY refused to even get into the car without Cookie.....!!!! She absolutely pulled back on her haunches until Cookie was by her side
 
Both doggies are in great health, have been spayed and have ID chips implanted under the skin.

Cookie turned 3 December 10 and Coco turned 3 April 1. Cookie is my mellow-yellow, and just loves her tummy rubbed. Coco is adorably funny and lives for her "ball." She also loves the water...... Cookie loves lots of attention. Both doggies are loyal and love to walk. They have been raised with my three kids running around all over the place, and have survived constant hugging and 'dress-up', so they are fantastic family dogs. This is by far one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make, but under the circumstances I have no choice.
I want to find a great home for these fabulous doggies. They are just adorable and it's heartbreaking to let them go. In a perfect world, I hope that we could find someone local so that we can still keep in touch and visit them. I pray that someone, somewhere can help us keep Cookie and Coco together, and love them just as much as we do. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

I consider myself very lucky for the love of three rescued greyhounds: Dexter and Coral who live with us now and our Missy, lost to cancer two years ago. I fell in head-over-heels not just with these three amazing dogs, but with the breed, too. Anyone who has let a greyhound into their lives will have plenty of stories to tell about how gentle, affectionate and noble these long, lanky hounds are.

Here's a Web site where adoptive parents of rescued pooches can share those stories.

Happy Tails Books, a company in Boulder, Colo., collects and intends to publish stories from people who have adopted, fostered or otherwise helped breed-specific rescue groups. According to the news release I was sent from Kyla Duffy, the company's founder and co-editor, 25 percent of the profits will be donated back to rescue groups.

According to Duffy, the books are intended to entertain and educate people about specific characteristics of various breeds and promote rescue and adoption of purebred dogs.

The company is about to publish it's first book about Boston terriers, the breed that Duffy loves. That's Bill, Duffy's rescued Boston, pictured here.

According to the site, the next book is planned about golden retreivers and with an eye on several other breeds in the future.

Click here to see the Web site. You can submit your own stories, read excerpts from other pet parents, and pre-order the book about Bostons.

If you decide to share a story, post a comment and let us know. We want to read it, too.

If you are a NASCAR fan, support the work of Best Friends Animal Society and have yet to purchase tickets for the 2009 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, then the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has an offer that may appeal to you.

The track in my hometown in the Hoosier state has donated a luxury package as a fundraiser for the non-profit, no-kill animal sanctuary in Utah.  Online bids will be accepted until 5 p.m. EST tomorrow.

The package includes:

·Four tickets in a luxury suite for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday, July 26

·Two rooms for July 24 to 26 at the Staybridge Suites in downtown Indianapolis (rooms are one bedroom suites with one king size bed and one sofa sleeper)

·A police escort in your vehicle on race morning from the motel to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (if you have ever been to the track on a race day, you can appreciate the value of this)

·Credentials for access to the pits and garage area for all three days and the action on race morning (you must be at least 18 years old)

The minimum bid is $500.  Place a private bid to: jennifer@bestfriends.org.

Winners will be notified by e-mail and the package is non-transferable. (To my hubby who reads this blog and is a dedicated NASCAR fan: Sorry honey, no. I did not make a bid. Love you!)

Best Friends Animal Society is located in  Angel Canyon, Utah, and is home to 2,000 animals, most with special physical needs or behavioral problems. Best Friends took in 22 of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's dog fighting operation and is the subject of the National Geographic Channel's documentary series "DogTown."

Gil (left) David (middle) Gilah (right)

Come on, you know you want a couple of new kitties in your home. Don't let a slow economy stop you from adding a little feline fun to your family.

Adoption fees have been lowered at Angels of Assisi to help them reduce their adorable inventory of cats, including the kitties that were rescued from Giles County. The no-kill shelter in downtown Roanoke is offering cats for a $35 adoption fee, or two felines for the low, low price of $50.

All the kitties have been spayed or neutered and are up-to-date on their vaccinations.

According to a news release I got yesterday, many of the kitties are starting to get depressed from being stuck in crates all day. They need a little human interaction to get their purr motors running again.

I am including this photo to remind you how much fun life with cats can be. The two pocket-sized kitties in this picture were adopted from Angels by the family of Jordan Fifer, a multi-media producer for roanoke.com. Kittens Gil and Gilah love hanging out with Jordan's brother David.

As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I would then add vodka.

iStock photo

And if the vodka bottle happens to have a gorgeous dog on the label, all the better.

A Pearisburg couple, M.K. Zeppa and Kerry Schmelzer, is marketing a new vodka that will feature a label created by Zeppa and inspired by Gator, her first Labrador retriever.

Black Lab vodka is distilled in Oregon and will be available for order through Virginia ABC stores.

"After all, Virginia is for Lab lovers," Zeppa is quoted in a news release. Click here for more information about the vodka.

iStock photo

It's the time of year when we in the media feel compelled to remind everyone not to leave pets and small children in cars. The temperature inside a car in the summer heat with the windows rolled up can soar to 120 degrees and can cause heat stroke and death in less than 20 minutes.

But I would also like to say that when you see a situation that seems perilous, like a dog left in a car with the windows rolled up, I think you are compelled to find the owner and politely offer help. Emphasis on politely.

Yesterday morning, with temperatures in the mid-80s and low humidity, I was out on a reporting assignment when I saw a parked car with a beautiful golden retriever in the back hatch inside a crate. All the windows were rolled up.

The car was in the parking lot when I arrived so I had no idea how long the pooch had been in the car. This lot was also on a busy highway with lots of construction work near by, so it was very noisy.

I went inside to the building and asked the receptionist if she knew about the dog in the car. Another woman in the lobby said it was her dog, and that the car was running, she was headed right out and everything was OK. That was most likely true and I just couldn't hear the engine over all the other noise. The dog did not appear to be in distress.

I think the woman was annoyed and offended with me for butting in. I really tried to be polite about asking, and smiled at her and thanked her as she left. I certainly did not mean to imply she was not being a good pet parent; she did have her dog in a crate in the car so I could assume she cared about her dog's safety.

I just wanted to make sure that someone was aware the dog was there and that I could find help for the dog if needed.

I am not going to let offending someone keep me from preventing a pet, child or anyone else from getting hurt, but I do believe it is best to approach such a situation not from a place of accusing anger, but from a place of helpful concern. I thought that's what I did and I regret that the lady understood it any other way.

So the lesson I learned, besides not to leave living things in a closed car in the summer (I killed some houseplants that way once years ago) is try to keep your cool on either end of a sticky situation.

Please click here to read today's Happy Wag newspaper column all about the love of pugs.

While working on this story I met some great people who are dedicated to helping pugs find new homes. If you are thinking about adding a pug to your family, I would suggest looking at the Web site for Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescueas a first stop in your journey. Not only can you see photos of some pretty cute puggies looking for homes, like Coco Chanel pictured here,  but you can get a lot of good information about this breed to make sure it's right for your family.

Pugs are companion dogs. They need to be with the people in their lives and really become part of the family. While they are the polar opposite of my greyhounds in physcial appearance, their need to be with people and their low tolerance for outdoor life is nearly identical. Puggies, like greyhounds, are house pooches and they thrive on attention.

I thank photojournalist Stephanie Klein-Davis for introducing me to these dedicated pug people. Click here to see Stephanie's videoall about puggy love.

Today's entry is a repeat topic from last week but one that seems timely with the upcoming holiday.

Saturday we celebrate Independence Day and that means fireworks. If you have a fearful dog like my greyhound Coral, you are probably not looking forward to the inevitable anxiety attack that will surely happen once the sky goes dark and the lights go up.

I am prepared to deal with the big public displays in the distance that start and end at a predictable time.  What is going to make it a little tough at my house are all the firecrackers that folks shoot off on the cul-de-sac where we live and throughout our neighborhood. There will sporadic booms, bangs and snaps all weekend long, which will make calming our nervous pooch a real challenge.

I do, however, realize that's the fun of the holiday and I certainly don't expect people that live two blocks away from me not to enjoy themselves because it makes my dog crazy. I studied astronomy in college and while I didn't retain much of it,  I do recall learning that the world does not revolve around me or my problems.

Our other big challenge is keeping all three dogs from table-surfing the snacks and sipping out of unattended glasses of margaritas, but that's an entry for another day.

Here's a link to petside.com, one of my favorite pet-related Web sites, with some good advice on how to handle the Fourth of July with a scaredy-dog like our Miss Coral.

Enjoy your holiday.

Starting this month, pets can fly the friendly skies on their very own airline dedicated exclusively to furry passengers.

Pet Airways launches on July 14 and offers service from five cities, including the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area.

The airline is the brainchild of Dan Wiesel and Alysa Binder, who found that transporting their Jack Russell terrier Zoe by air meant she had to ride in cargo, an option that is not appealing to many pet parents. 

Pets are checked in anywhere from two to 72 hours before their overnight flight. All pets are secured in a carrier in the main compartment of the plane and an attendant monitors the comfort of each "pawsenger." Pet parents can pick up their pets at the destination airport the next day.

Fares are not outrageous, but they aren't cheap, either. Introductory rates are as low as $149 each way, but If I wanted to fly Dexter, my biggest pooch, from Baltimore to Denver (we do have family there) it would cost $299 each way.

To fly Thai, a much smaller but much more demanding traveler, from Baltimore to Denver it would cost $199 each way. Of course, if I was really determined to take Thai out to see his cousins and the Rocky Mountains, he could just fly with me as carry-on. He's not so chubby he wouldn't fit under the seat.

(To my husband, who reads this blog: No, I am not planning to take the cat to Denver. Breathe.)

This seems like a pretty good idea if you need to transport your pet cross-country. What do you think? Could you see your pet racking up frequent flyer miles?