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All the dogs playing on the beach make me a little homesick for my pooches. Just wanted to share this with you. Hope everyone is having a good week.

The photo of the week comes from food writer Lindsey Nair, who sent me this shot of her cat Zoe's beautiful toes.

Is it wrong to be jealous of the life of a house cat? Lounging near sunny windows, napping in a variety of quiet corners and soft places, getting affection on demand. What's not to envy?

Well, there is that whole taking-a-bath-with-your-tongue thing. And litter boxes. Ew.

My three dogs are not unruly, but I would not call them obedient either. Stormy will sit if motivated by a treat, and he will stay for a few seconds if there is hope for yet another treat. The greyhounds just wander around the house freely. They could not be less movtivated about actually doing anything we ask them to do. It's sort of like living with perpetual teenagers.

So how do I get the three of them to give me their undivided attention? Tamar Geller's The Loved Dog chicken treats, which I buy in the refrigerated pet food case at Kroger.

I swear they will stare at the bag in my hand like this for an hour until drool puddles on the floor beneath them. They like just about any cookie. They do love them some chicken sausages.

It's a bonding experience for my pack. And for just a few minutes, I hold the key to their world in my hands.

Who doesn't love puppies! And who doesn't want to see a picture of adorable puppies on an overcast Friday morning? I'm guessing no one who reads this blog would be raising their hands.

Monday's Happy Wag column is all about Sara Orrick and the dogs of Star City Greyhound Adoptions, a group that is very close to my heart.

Yesterday Sara e-mailed a picture of a litter of greyhound puppies that will be ready for adoption soon. The pups were an "oops" litter belonging to a sweet greyhound named Welch who was on her was slotted to go to adoption at a racing greyhound farm when apparently there was a romantic encounter. The result are three black and three brindle pups, five girls and one boy. Sara told me one of the girls and the only boy are already spoken for, so that leaves four little bundles of love looking for a home.

Interested families should contact Star City Greyhound Adoptions at www.starcitygreyhounds.org.

Please don't do this to your poodle.  But if you do please send pictures.

Click here to see more creative ways people find to humiliate poodles, clearly the best sports in the canine world to put up with this silliness.

Photo copyrighted by Ren Netherland/Barcroft Media.

Who feels like doing anything productive on a gorgeous summer Friday? But the daily chores of living have to be accomplished, and that includes the weekly trip to the supermarket. At least when the Fifer family of Roanoke brings home their groceries, they have kittens Gil and Gilah to help put them away.

Gil inspects the 'fridge.

Gilah makes sure the bags are empty.

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."

This picture was sent to me last night by blog reader John, who writes:

"These are our boys. Rotten to the core. The blonde shi tuzh is a rescue dog from Galax puppy mill. The other two are twins. Jack is the blonde one, Harley is the gray and white and Willie is the brindle color.  They are napping in my wifes’ office at home. "

So I guess ever day is Take Your Dog to Work Day for these three pups. They don't look rotten, John, but I will take your word for it. They all look pretty sweet, especially when they are asleep.

A co-worker of mine and a co-worker of my husband each adopted a new puppy in recent weeks, and you know how much I love to share baby pictures.

This is Seamus and he belongs to Anne and Brady.  Anne sought suggestions on her Facebook page for this handsome boy's name. Since he's a boxer, I suggested Ali, Foreman, Rocky or Balboa.  In honor of Merle Haggard's recent visit to our city, I also suggested Merle, and keeping with the old-school country music theme, I also tossed Hank, Waylon or Willie into the mix. 

Someone else came up with the brilliant moniker: Princess Sparkle Pants.

None of these suggestions were taken and, being a good Irish girl, I certainly approve of the final choice. I think Seamus is a perfect name for the little guy.

But I am so naming my next dog Waylon Balboa Sparkle Pants.

Meet Ellie. She's found a home with Chelsea and Ryan. As if just being a puppy isn't outrageously cute already, Ellie is a Lakeland terrier, which is apparently a breed of dog that can pass itself off as a Boyd's Bear.

That's Ellie on the right with the bow in her hair, by the way.

If you have any clever suggestions for LOL-type captions for either or both of these photos, post a comment.

And if you have any new additions to your family, e-mail the photos to pets@roanoke.com.

I feel certain that if we all looked at today's photo together, there would be a collective "Awwwww" all over cyberspace.

This is Dora, a long haired dachshund. I am guessing that Dora is short for a-DORA-ble, because she's a cutie. Dora's pet parents are Ray and Lucille.