If you only watch the Super Bowl for the ads, then you also might enjoy flipping over to Animal Planet and watching Puppy Bowl V — “the ultimate puppy showdown.” (Above is the clip from Puppy Bowl IV.)
Recruiting from local shelters, the Puppy Bowl features adoptable puppies on a pseudo-football grid iron battling with toys, playing tug-of-war, and committing fouls (piddles) on the field. Crowd sounds fill the background as puppies go nose-to-nose; and nose to every other part of the body; making their way down the field shrugging their stuffed toy and looking absolutely adorable.
Before these puppies vie for title Most Valuable Puppy, Pepper the Parrot, a 12-year old African Grey, will kick things off by singing the National Anthem. And in between the puppy action, kittens will play in the halftime show.
You may recognize Harry Kalas, the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, giving the play-by-play. Or you may not. Either way, it’s fun for people who love pets to take a short break from the day long Super Bowl coverage.
Puppy Bowl V will air on Animal Planet on Sunday, February 1 at 3 p.m. EST.
Scared and frightened, pets often hide when a fire breaks out, making it difficult for rescuers to find them in a burning home. While more than 40,000 pets die annually in house fires, even more are saved thanks to the heroic efforts of firefighters.
Firefighters now know to look for pets these days, and in the process of rescuing them from under beds and couches, they often have to perform the same life-saving techniques as they do on people — CPR and mouth-to mouth resuscitation. Some fire stations now even carry on their firetrucks specially-designed oxygen masks just for pets since they often need immediate fresh oxygen to recover from smoke inhalation.
While it may sound gross or even difficult to do, mouth-to-mouth and pet CPR are actually easy to learn. As a former Pet CPR instructor, I found a video (above) that will take you step-by-step through the process. Learn how to find your pet’s pulse, how to perfom mouth-to-mouth, and where to find your pet’s heart for CPR.
If you want more hands-on training, contact your local American Red Cross about their Pet CPR classes. You never know when you might be first on the scene.
When Danelle German sees a Persian Cat come into her grooming salon, her heart skips a beat. That’s because many people want their Persian cats shaved for easy maintanence and Danelle uses the leftover hair in a lucrative recycling business. She spins the cat hair into a silky yarn to produce one-of-a-kind handbags that sell for between $45 and $400. She apparently has sold these handbags all over the world. Great idea or way out there? Depends on who you are — and if the purse is made from your cat’s hair.
Normally my cat perches on the desk leaning over the keyboard to bat my fingers as I type. Or, she stretches and then sits in front of the computer monitor, so I have to type and look over and around her to see the screen. So naturally I was amused at watching this cat try to figure out how the printer works. Check it out.
Cathy M. Rosenthal, The Pet Pundit, has been the pet columnist for the San Antonio Express-News since 2003. Her entertaining and informative weekly advice column (with an occasional essay on popular current animal issues) provides readers with insights into animal behavior. She offers solutions for the most common animal behavior problems; deals with neighbor-to-neighbor issues concerning animals; provides relationship information to keep pets and people together; and educates readers on humane pet care—hopefully keeping pets from being abandoned on the streets or local humane society.
She also authors a blog at www.mysanantonio.com called Animals Matter, and has been a contributor to Dog Fancy and Dogs USA magazines. Her articles have included such topics as, selecting dog foods; canine sports for beginners; alternative therapies for dogs; canine physical therapy; the problems with microchips; and the different ways we communicate with our pets through body language.
