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Good Monday morning to you all. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Today's Happy Wag print column is all about choosing a good kennel if you have to travel for the holidays. We have left Dexter at About Pets Center, one of the boarding places featured in the column. About Pets will also board kitties, but when we pack up and hit the road, we usually leave our two cats home alone.

As I wrote in the column, we are blessed to have a wonderful neighbor who will check on our independent felines to make sure they don't get themselves in any trouble in our absence. With plenty of food and extra litter pans, India and Thai have always done well having the run of the place while the people and pooches are gone.

But if we had to be gone for more than a few days, or if our neighbor isn't available, we may need to find a professional to see to their needs.

So, all you kitty pet parents out there, what do you do for your felines when you have to travel?

Do you trust them to watch the house for you, not to get into your liquor cabinet and not make overseas calls? Do you board them? Do you hire a pet sitter to check up on them, and if you do use a professional, who would you recommend?

The Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection (RCACP), which serves Roanoke, Roanoke County, Botetourt County and Vinton, has launched a new Web site to help families find missing pets.

The site, www.rcacp.org, features photographs of stray animals, with a general location of where the pet was found, when he or she was picked up and a date that he or she must be held at the facility for reclaim before being evaluated for adoptability.

The center's director, Stan Wrotniewski, said the site will be updated with new photos each day. He said with current gas prices, he hopes this site will help people know if their pet is at the RCACP before making the drive.

He also said the date that accompanies the pictures of each animal is the legal limit that stray pets must be kept. Adoptable animals will be kept longer if space is available or moved to the adjacent Roanoke Valley SPCA to be put up for adoption, again if space is available.

If space is not available in either place, and more strays are brought in, the pets held past the waiting period will be euthanized.

Wrotniewski said he hopes the Web site will increase the number of pets reunited with their families and reduce the number of animals that have to be put down.

Information on the site includes how to reclaim your pet, what to do when your pet goes missing, what to do when you find someone else's wayward pet, and ways to ensure your pooch or kitty can find their way home if he or she does become lost.

There is also a section on behavior problems, another resource that may prevent some animals from being turned into animal control by their owners.

I got this e-mail from a co-worker today:

"I was looking through your blog to see if you knew of any cat groomers in the area. It seems every place I call only works with dogs. My cat, Kali-Ma, has very long hair and is impossible to brush. She's been hair-ball-crazy lately and I'd like to get her groomed. Do you know of any places?"

My kitties have short hair so I can groom them myself with a brush (Thai actually will rub himself against the bristles if we hold it for him, effectively brushing himself) so I was no help here.

What do you say, readers? Anyone know of a cat groomer in the Roanoke area?

Click here for information about doggie daycare at Six Wags Dog Park in Salem and a new shuttle service the park will offer beginning this week.

I have visited Six Wags Dog Park in Salem several times and have always had a wonderful time there with my two hounds, but I had yet to try their doggy bath tubs. The Dirty Dog Clean Dog Wash can be used by anyone, not just dog park members.

It was in the back of my mind to try it soon, since we are moving from the spring mud season to the summer dirt season and since Coral has discovered the joys of "gardening" under the steps of our deck and is turning our tan carpet a nice shade of terra cotta.

Yesterday, I got an e-mail from a co-worker who gave the self-wash stall a try and she loved it.

She wrote: "My boyfriend and I have a long-haired Aussie/Chow mix who loves to get filthy and we were paying $30 or more just to get him washed. At Dirty Dog Clean Dog... it's $15 for a wash, or $10 on Tuesdays, or $25 for five washes. Everything is provided - wash bin, shampoos, conditioner, blow dryer, etc. We saved money and had a blast doing it!"

According to the Web site, Dirty Dog Clean Dog is offering a bathing, brushing and blow drying class for pet parents of long- and curly-haired dogs, although it does say short-hairs are welcome as well. The class is June 21 at 3 p.m. and costs $50.

That could be a real bargain if you save future grooming fees, which for our two short-haired hounds is $30 each.

Have any of you tried the self-wash tubs at Six Wags or any other park? Spill the beans on your experience with do-it-yourself doggie baths.

(Photo from Six Wags Dog Park Web site)

Somedays we are all just tired of the crap. It seems to just pile up and pile up with no end in sight. Who can you turn to for help?

Call The Scoop Group.

Matt Williams, a Southwest Roanoke County resident, started The Scoop Group, a company that specializes in dog waste removal. He said his motto is "making the valley a better place, on scoop at a time."

For a price, Williams will remove all the mess your dogs can make on your lawn. Fees depend on how many pooches you have leaving presents in your yard and how often you want your yard tidied up.

The collected poo is double bagged and put it in designated dumpsters or take it directly to the transfer station.

According to a press release, Williams recently moved back to Roanoke after serving in Air Force. He was looking for a new line of work and thinks he may have found it in waste removal.
"I've always dreamed of being an entrepreneur" he said in the statement. "Now I'm an entre-manure."

The Scoop Group can be reached at 819-8839 or through its Web site, www.TheScoopGroup.net.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and we will be off to visit family in Indiana. The only thing I dread about holiday travel is leaving my pets. My in-laws’ home is not pet-friendly, so the four-leggers have stay behind.

While we have a neighbor who can take care of the cats for us, Dexter has to go to a kennel.

We've had good experiences at About Pets Center in Salem. We call it our “doggy spa.”

We have left Dexter there a couple of times and he always seems happy and content when we pick him up. The facility is clean and comfortable, the play yard is spacious, and they give us a report card that lets us know how he spent his days, who was his best buddy, etc.

They are also aware of breed behavior and match him with other sight hounds when they can.

If you have a kennel or boarding facility you would like to recommend to other blog readers, post a comment.

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Congratulations to St. Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation. This week they became the first accredited organization in Virginia by Assistance Dogs International, a coalition of non-profit organizations that train and place service dogs.

The Roanoke-based foundation places assistance dogs with adults and children with ambulatory and emotional disabilities.

"To be recognized and accredited by an international organization like ADI is a tremendous validation of our work," Executive Director Cabell Youell said in a statement. "We look forward to expanding our services and continuing to serve those in need by providing highly skilled service dogs free of charge."

Service dogs are specially trained to perform a multitude of tasks, like opening and closing doors, retrieving dropped objects, even pulling wheelchairs. A service dog can make independent living possible for many people.

Have relatives coming in for the holidays? Are they traveling with pets? Does your sister's terrier terrify your tabby? Then perhaps you will need to find local accomodations for your out-of-towners and their lovable pooch while they are here.

This is a list of local pet-friendly hotels, including restrictions and fees:

Howard Johnson Express Inn; 992-1234; no large dogs; $15.00 flat fee
Best Western Valley View; 362-2400; 7 day notice; $25.00 flat fee
Comfort Inn Valley View; 527-2020; no large dogs; $25.00 flat fee
Residence Inn; 265-1119; 50 lb. limit; $100.00 flat fee
Days Inn Airport; 366-0341; no large dogs; $15.00 flat fee
Extended Stay Airport; 366-3216; no large dogs; $25.00 daily (3 day max)
Holiday Inn Tanglewood; 774-4400; 14 day notice; $35.00 flat fee
Holiday Inn Roanoke; 362-4500; no large dogs; $35.00 flat fee
Main Stay Suites Airport; 527-3030; 40 lb. limit;$40.00 per week
Quality Inn Airport; 366-8861; no size limit; $15.00 flat fee
Ramada Inn Franklin Road; 343-0121; no size limit; $10.00 daily
Sleep Inn Tanglewood; 772-1500; crate required; all rooms lower level; $25.00 flat fee
Super 8 Airport; 563-8888; no size limit; $10.50 daily
Comfort Suites Ridgewood Farms; 375-4800; 30 lb. limit; all rooms lower level; $25.00 daily
Econolodge Wildwood Salem; 375-4800; 50 lb. limit;increase in fee for bigger dogs; $5.00 daily per dog
Days Inn Salem; 986-1000; no size limit; $25.00 flat fee
Quality Inn Salem; 562-1912; 50 lb.limit; $15.00 daily

As of last week, all of these hotels had vacancies for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.

The Pet Loss Support Group is starting regular meetings on the first Sunday each the month at Six Wags Dog Park in Salem.

This meeting is an opportunity to share feelings in a compassionate environment with people who understand the loss a beloved pet.

The meeting is from 4 to 5 p.m this Sunday.