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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is advising pet parents to quit handing out peanut butter flavored snacks to their pooches.

“The ASPCA recommends that pet parents discontinue the use of all affected products immediately until further information has been received,” Dr. Steven Hansen, the ASPCA’s senior vice president of animal health services is quoted on a news release on the organization's Web site. “Pet parents should wash their hands after handling any potentially contaminated food and immediately consult with a veterinarian if any signs or symptoms are noticed in their pets.”

Salmonella contamination in commercial peanut butter paste made in a plant in Georgia has led to a massive product recall, including Grreat Choice and Carolina Prime dog treats and rawhides sold by PetSmart retailers nationwide and Happy Tails and Shoppers Valu treats sold by regional grocery chains including Alberston's and Jewell's (but not stores in Southwestern Virginia, so all you Kroger and Food Lion shoppers are OK.)

No other dog biscuits or flavored rawhides have been recalled, and jars of people-grade peanut butter have not been affected by the contamination and thus have not been recalled, so you can feel confident in frosting your dog's Kong with Skippy and Jif.

The ASPCA's warning to lay off the peanut butter snacks was issued before the dog treat recalls were announced.

While healthy adult pooches are not highly susceptible to salmonella, it can cause a problem for young puppies, older dogs and dogs with existing health concerns or that are pregnant.

Salmonella can be transmitted from pets to people and vice versa, so scrub those hands often (that's good advice anyway during the cold and flu season.)

Dogs who do become ill from salmonella may vomit, have diarrhea, run a fever, seem lethargic, and drool or pant excessively—an indication of nausea. The common sense statement of the day is: If your pet has these symptoms, no matter what you have or haven't fed them, call your vet.

I learned my lesson a while ago that posting You Tube videos on my blog can have some undesirable consequences. A rather innocent video about kitty cats having an imaginary conversation had another link attached to it where the same kitties were having a rather foul-mouthed rant.

While it didn't offend my rather tawdry sensibilities, I also didn't think it belonged on a family newspaper's Web site and so I took that one down right away.

But some videos are worth the risk. So, click this link right here for a rather amusing video of a smart dog whose ingenious pet dad had a little too much time on his hands.  Warning: a crass word appears in the corner of the video, in case you are sensitive.

And then reader Linda Smith sent me a link to this video of Gin, the dancing dog, a contestant on the original British show that inspired "America's Got Talent." Nothing at all controversial here, but always beware of the other links lurking below. I did not check them out.

I posted Gin's dance routine to the blog several months ago, but those links were lost when we switched blog software a while ago. I think the performance will make you smile, as it did the normally surly judges Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan, and get you in the mood for the upcoming season of "American Idol," if you dig that sort of thing.

Enjoy.

Facebook status line from a friend of mine this morning and the ensuing comments over the next half hour from me and two other social-network friends:

Friend A thinks the cats have reached a new low.

Me: Cats don't have an answer for "how low can you go?" It's a feline thing, you understand.

Friend B: Are they using the carpeting like TP?

Me: My cat does the butt scoot across the floor. Gross.

Friend A: They treated the gift wrap storage bin as their new litterbox.

Friend C: Wow. That's a new one. Both of them? Like, in tandem? Bad kitties! I hope mine doesn't get any ideas.

Me: They left you little gifts they made themselves. They just lacked the opposable thumbs it takes to use the wrapping paper. Don't be such a Scrooge.

Enough is enough now.

What started as what I thought was a nice story about wine bottles bearing the faces of the dogs that were rescued from Michael Vick's illegal dog fighting operation has turned into a long, rambling thread about pit bulls and breed specific legislation.

That in itself would be okay, if the discussion wasn't being dominated by people with very specific agendas. I think this rhetoric has ceased to be informative and now we just have people sniping at each other.

So, I will no longer approve any comments on this topic. Find another platform, Betsy. Your free ride here at The Happy Wag is over. My blog, my rules.

We now return this blog to readers who like to read and share information about pets.

In today's Roanoke Times' Extra section is a story about designer dogs: hybrids of two purebred breeds crossed to make litters of puppies with desired characteristics, size and appearance.

Many of these popular pooches are mixes with poodles: Labradoodles, like the one in this picture, cockapoos, Yorkiepoos, etc., hoping that the thick, curly coat of the poodle, which is less likely to shed, will pass along to the puppies. This is an attractive option for people with allergies who yearn to have a dog.

All dogs shed. While it is true that poodles and other breeds with curly, wiry hair shed less and thus leave less dander, it can’t be completely eliminated because the dog is alive and hair and skin naturally sloughs off.

And dogs drool, folks (I am thinking about the dog in the movie "Turner and Hooch"). Some less than others, but they will drool as long as they have saliva.

Read more »

It always seems like this is the time of year for making lists: the best of this, the worst of that, what we will do better in the New Year, etc.

Dogster, the social network for dogs I wrote about in my very first entry on this blog, has published a list of the 100 most popular dog names, based on home pages on the Web site.

Top names for boys include Buddy, Max, Jake and Charlie. Top names for girls include Lucy, Daisy, Molly, and Bella. Bailey was number 5 on the boy's list and number 10 in the girl's list.

My boy dog's name, Dexter, appears somewhere near the middle of the list. Coral, my little girl pooch, apparently has a unique name: hers did not make the list at all. Of course, those are the names they had when we adopted them, so we get no credit for creativity of lack thereof.

How did you decide on your dog's name?

Here are a few more adorable dogs from Howl-O-Ween. Look for more photos in Thursday's Inside Out section of The Roanoke Times.

Even though I love animals and have lived in this area for more than two years, I have never been to the Natural Bridge Zoo. The zoo is located in Rockbridge County.

And from the sounds of things, I am glad I haven't made the trip.

From what I read in the newspaper and what I have seen on television, it seems pretty dreadful.

If any of you have visited the zoo, post a comment and share your impressions.

Many working people decide not to add a dog to their family because they honestly know they can't get home during the day to let their pooch out for much-needed relief. That's good and responsible thinking, but unfortunately it means good, responsible, thoughtful people may miss out on a chance to welcome a lovable canine into their family.

The answer for canine-loving workaholics is a dog-sitter.

Check out this video from pets.roanoke.com: