Dog Blog

Thursday, May 23, 2013

BOOKBROWSING



I'm pleased to post this review I did with PJ Nunn for Bookbrowsing, which features reviews and musings about books and those who love them, write them and promote them.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

A JOYFUL REUNION


Keep a hanky handy when you watch Barbara Garcia's unexpected reunion with her little schnauzer while she's being interviewed by a TV station after her home was destroyed in the terrible Oklahoma tornado.  She hid in her bathroom with her dog and survived the storm.  She didn't think the dog did, but her second prayer was answered and recorded on camera as the poor little fellow climbs out from the rubble.

My dad used to tell similar stories about Texas twisters. Wide-eyed, I'd sit and listen at the supper table while he spun his yarns about holing up in the storm cellar and once doing the same thing Mrs. Garcia did to weather the storm, only he huddled in the bathtub.  I remember thinking that a tornado must be the most terrifying thing in the world. Seeing the incomprehensible destruction caused by this one, I know it's true.

Monday, May 20, 2013

NEW REVIEW BY CINDY CHOW


Kings River Life magazine features a great new review of Braced for Murder by Cindy Chow and an article I wrote about life with my bassets.

Friday, May 17, 2013

AVAILABLE NOW!






BRACED FOR MURDER, the fourth book in the Beanie and Cruiser Mystery Series, was released yesterday from Five Star Publishing.  Read about it at Kirkus Reviews

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

MUTHER TRUCKER SIGHTING


It's hard to believe that many people still don't know (or don't care) that dogs shouldn't be riding in the back of a pick-up truck.  Would you let your child ride loose back there to be thrown from one side to the other as you maneuver down busy city streets or race down the freeway? I hope not!  It seems like a no brainer, but apparently some people have no brains. 

Even if the dog is tethered, which the one I saw yesterday was not, the dog is in danger of falling over the side of the truck and being hanged or dragged to death if the leash is too long.  A dog can also get seriously burned paws on metal truck beds on some of the unexpectedly hot days we've had recently.  How long would you last while standing barefooted on sizzling hot metal?  

I watched in horror as the beefy, gun-metal gray, ear-cropped pit bull hung precariously over the edge of the truck while the driver seemed utterly oblivious to the fact he even had a dog riding in the back of his truck.  The guy was driving was one of those high-profile, black as sin, macho man machines, and his dog sure fit the image he was trying so hard to project:  ME BIG MAN.  ME HAVE BIG, MEAN DOG.  ME TOO STUPID TO HAVE DOG.  

I would have hollered at the clueless driver through his open window, but from the looks of him I figured he probably had an automatic weapon resting on the seat next to him, instead of what should have been sitting next to him inside the cab of the truck: his dog.  I figured it was pointless to report it.  Police have bigger fish to fry, but then dogs fry and die every day in Sacramento, and it's not yet even the first day of summer.  It breaks my heart that some people care so little for the well-being of their animal companions.  I could only pray as I drove on that the dog came to no harm.  



        

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

HOT DOGS!



I hate to repeat myself, but I will for as long as it takes to get through to people that it's just not safe to leave a dog in a car, especially when the weather turns warm.  Even 70-degree temps can be unsafe for a dog left shut up inside a car.   HOT DOGS is the subject of this month's Pets and Their People column.  I sincerely hope that yours is not.