Romeo and Friends

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2012-01-27T13:25:00.001-08:00

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Romeo's Coat Care

2007-08-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of comments about Romeo's coat. A LOT. How soft he is, how beautiful his coat is, how clean he looks, even, if you can believe it, how nice he smells sometimes. I'm asked a lot how I keep his coat so soft. I think a lot of it has to do with the food that we feed him. But after not bathing him for about two months, I am going to have to break down and say that a lot of it also has to do with the shampoo and conditioner I use on him:

Cloudstar's Buddy Wash and Buddy Rinse

So we've been using this shampoo and conditioner on Romeo since he was like 6 months old. Not long after I started using Buddy Wash and Rinse on Romeo, they had a "buy the shampoo, get the conditioner free" promotion, and I bought like 4 bottles of shampoo. Romeo's small, and I think I've only gone through one or two bottles of shampoo in the last two years. It makes him smell nice -- like lavender, and the conditioner helps me keep his coat from getting matted. I'm sure there are other products out there that also work very well, but I've only ever used Cloudstar and baby shampoo on Romeo, so I don't have much to go on except for the fact that I know Cloudstar works great.

Oscar the Cat, aka The Angel of Death?!!

2007-07-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

My friend sent me this article about a cat who can sense when someone is about to die. It's pretty interesting:

When death comes calling, so does Oscar the cat - CNN.com

This cat is documented to be more correct than doctors are about when someone is about to die. Weird. Strange. Fascinating. I wonder what they will learn about cats when they study him further.

Tiny dog saves baby from rattlesnake - Yahoo! News

2007-07-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I wonder at a dog's devotion.

Tiny dog saves baby from rattlesnake - Yahoo! News

Good doggie!

It must be summer again...

2007-06-28T03:43:00.001-07:00

It must be summer again...
Originally uploaded by Tina Pham

It must be summer again, because here's Sambora, airing it all out. Sigh. To be a cat.

Romeo's Day at the Park

2007-06-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

I brought my camera with me this weekend to our park outing. Romeo *loves* his flying disc! We caught some great action shots, plus a couple of great catch sequences. Check them out!

Romeo's Day at the Park

Doing What Jezebel Does Best!

2007-05-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

I found Jezebel where I usually find Jezebel on laundry day: in the midst of the clean laundry, in a little cubby that she creates for herself. Today I had my camera on me. Here's what she thought of my presence:

Oh, to be a cat.

[Pet Care Articles] Adult Onset Allergies

2007-05-23T11:14:00.001-07:00

Romeo as a puppy had no allergies to speak of. Then, one day, he began chewing on his paws. So much so that he chewed his back paws raw. At first, I thought it was a nervous habit he had developed. I put bitter apple on, tried a bunch of holistic topical creams, but nothing worked to deter his chewing. Then he started to chew on his front paws. When I took him to the vet, she told me that it was an allergy to something in his environment. Probably grass, she said. A skin scrape (negative for mange or fungus), a cortisone shot, a course of antibiotics and prednisone, and Romeo was better.

But his antihistamine wasn't working for him. He began chewing on his paws again almost immediately. So I took him back to the vet and asked if we could try something different. She said to switch the antihistimine to something else. When I said I wanted something over the counter like Benedryl, she said to give Romeo about 1mg per pound twice a day. So now, we watch Romeo in the morning and at night for signs of bloodshot eyes or swollen eyes or feet, and in the summer, he gets a pill of Benedryl in the morning and one at night. He'll also get a pill if we know he's going to a park or a stable.

The Benedryl generally works, but sometimes it doesn't, and in the morning his paws will look like he chewed on them all night long. But his allergies are much more under control than they used to be. We also give him some holistic supplements and feed him specific food to help ease his itching (stuff that are high in omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids).

Here is an antihistamine chart that I found online to help you find the correct dosage of over the counter antihistamines for your dog. I'm not responsible for the dosage suggestions here (I'm not a vet), so please consult with your vet before giving your dog any medication. This chart was meant as a jumping off point for discussion with your vet. Every animal is different, so please if you have any concerns, bring it up with your friendly neighborhood vet.

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Posted By Tina to Pet Care Articles at 5/23/2007 10:30:00 AM

Blast from the Past

2007-05-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

I recently found this wonderful picture of Sambora, maybe around 1 year old, with Romeo when he was 7 or 8 weeks old. To say that these two bonded with each other is an understatement.

Cat Too Scary for Canadian Mail Carrier

2007-05-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

I just saw this strange tidbit on CNN.com:

Cat Too Scary for Canadian Mail Carrier

Apparently, the cat is "very threatening" and the Canadian mail refuses to deliver to the cat owner's house. The owner claims that the cat is 8 years old, declawed, and docile.

Score: Cats, 1. Canada, 0.

Romeo Visits Alice's Dog Park in Pasadena

2007-04-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the off-leash dog area in Pasadena. It has been around for nearly about a year, and this was the first time we went. We met up with my friends and their dogs. I have to say, it was one of the nicest off-leash areas we've been to! And most of the dogs were really nice. Here's more information on the off-leash dog park -- http://www.phsspca.org/about/news-dogpark.htm

We can't wait to go back!

Romeo's Outing: A Pet Friendly Pasadena

2007-04-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

I'm always so amazed at how pet-friendly Old Town Pasadena is. Yesterday, I took Romeo shopping, and we went into Old Town.

We went to the Paper Source to buy some paper for a test project that I'm doing. Then Romeo and I stopped in at The Gap, because for some unknown reason, Romeo LOVES The Gap. (FYI: I could be wrong, but I believe dogs are always welcome at any Old Navy, anywhere.) We were stopped there by a woman who had a regular sized Aussie, but hadn't ever seen a mini aussie so small. The Gap saleslady also stop to chat with us for a bit about Romeo. After all that cooing, we went to Romeo's favoritest place in all of Old Town Pasadena: Three Dog Bakery. There, he got to lick frosting off of a spoon. Doggie heaven!

No trip for an urban puppy could be complete without a stop at Victoria's Secret. The first time we went, I wasn't sure if they would let Romeo in, because, well, let's be honest, dogs are notorious for destroying underwear. But my sister went in and asked, and they said, "No problem." So we went to Victoria's Secret so I could get (yep) more underwear.

Our trip culminated with a trip to The Container Store. I had never seen a dog in The Container Store, so I stuck my head in to ask if it was all right before bringing Romeo in. There, another woman stopped us and asked if Romeo was a miniature Australian shepherd. To which I replied, "Yes." She asked how old he was, and when I said, "Two and a half." She asked, "Two and a half months, right?" And I said, "No, two and a half years." Apparently her friend has a mini aussie, and it was NOT Romeo's size. So many people are calling their mini aussies "mini" when they are actually standard size Australian shepherds coming from mini aussie stock. But that speaks to the politics of the Australian shepherd breed and not the actual size of the dog. (For any who claim that Romeo is not a true Australian shepherd, I invite you to look at his pedigree. He comes from CHAMPION, pre AKC, pre differentiating size, Australian shepherd lines! He's just small!)

We ended the trip there at The Container Store. Romeo is more well-behaved on Old Town Pasadena and other urban areas that is dog friendly than at dog parks! I love that Old Town loves dogs (and cats!) as much as the owners do. There is almost no retail establishment in Old Town Pasadena that won't let a dog in. (I'd ask before bringing in a dog to Barnes and Noble...there is a food establishment attached.) But if you're unsure, don't just barge in, canine in tow. Poke your head in and ask if it's ok. Gordon Biersch, for instance, even with its outdoor patio, when I last asked, wouldn't let Romeo in.

See you in Old Town!

[Pet Care Articles] Pet Food Recall Finally Hits Home

2007-04-18T09:59:00.001-07:00

Natural Balance has recalled all of its Venison products, regardless of date and lot. More information can be found here: http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/press_release.html

I think we may have one can of this left for the cats. Do we throw it out or return it to Petco? Thing is, it's just one can.

The recall finally affects our food supply. At least that's just one of many brands that we use, and not a primary one at that. Romeo does eat Natural Balance rolls as treats, sometimes replacing a meal a day with the rolls, but I think we'll just journey on and watch them all carefully.

Signs to look for in your pets that they may have toxic things in their system according to our friendly neighborhood veterinarian: vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, drinking more water than normal. If your pet displays any of these signs, bring them down to the vet. If you're worried but your pet does not show any of these signs, bring a urine sample down to your vet, and they can do a urine test to see if there is anything to be worried about.

So far, all pets are fine. Not even a hairball in the last week.

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Posted By Tina to Pet Care Articles at 4/18/2007 09:44:00 AM

Jezebel Gets Immortalized!

2007-04-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Jezebel gets her own letterpress card! Since she's my little darling cat, it was only fitting that I make a little darling card that features Jezebel! It's a letterpressed card, the print is from a linoleum cut I carved, black ink on Fabriano cardstock. I haven't quite figured out if I'm going to leave it as is or if I'm going to add text to it, either a "Meow" or make it into a "Thank You" or "Thinking of You" or something? If you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to share!

2007 so far: Romeo Sees Snow!

2007-04-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

At the end of February, we took Romeo on our snowboarding trip. There are lots of pet-friendly lodges and hotels up there, and we stayed at one that was close to Snow Summit.

Romeo saw snow for the first time since he left Turtle Mountain (Romeo was born in a snowy season!), and he didn't know what to make of it. It had just snowed, and Romeo just sank in and almost got lost in all the fresh powder! The first night we were there, it snowed, and we took Romeo out to see it. I don't think he thought anything was going on, but when we came back in, Romeo was covered with snow, and he didn't shake it off since it was so light he didn't know it was covering him.

Here's a picture of Romeo and Joel, with Big Bear Lake in the background!

2007 so far: New Year's Celebration

2007-04-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

So we haven't talked much about Romeo's goings-on all that much. It's been a busy 2007 so far!

So we'll start out from the top with New Year's Eve, where Romeo got to stay in a ritzy hotel for the very first time and got to make googly-eyes at none other than Mr. Justin Timberlake himself (SERIOUSLY, Justin Timberlake, former boy band member, ex-boyfriend of Cameron Diaz). I was a little tongue-tied, but Romeo made the cutesy face at the pop star. JT remarked while we waited for the elevator that Romeo "is a cutie, isn't he?" Indeed he is.

The little miniature australian shepherd leads a charmed life. Romeo is now the envy of his Auntie Tania.

Here are pics of Romeo after a hard night of partying with himself in the hotel room. He loved the bed.

Rescuer: Dog may have saved climbers - Yahoo! News

2007-02-19T22:47:00.000-08:00

In the news:

Rescuer: Dog may have saved climbers - Yahoo! News

Good doggie!

Romeo wishes everyone Happy Holidays!

2006-12-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

Love,

Romeo & Friends

Bah Humbug!

2006-12-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

Sambora's not getting up until Christmas Day!

Romeo's Birthday Parties!

2006-12-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

For Romeo's second birthday, Romeo had two parties! The first birthday party was on Saturday, December 2nd. All of Romeo's doggie friends showed up, along with some human friends, too! Romeo's agility friends Chachi and Ella were there along with Bridget and Kiwi. All the dogs enjoyed pupcakes from Three Dog Bakery as part of the party. Romeo got lots of cool presents and loves them all! Thanks everybody for showing up and getting such great gifts for Romeo!

Here are some pictures at the park:

Romeo looking adoringly at me (I have his frisbee)

Romeo running, Ella on the right with Romeo's frisbee

The humans look on...

On Monday, December 4th, after agility, Romeo came home to a beautiful boxer brownie from Three Dog (some days, we think Romeo keeps Three Dog Pasadena in business all by himself). Here he is with his birthday cake! Being a proper dog, he decided the best way to eat the cake was by licking all the frosting off first, then to eat the carob brownie.

Happy Birthday Romeo!

2006-12-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Romeo!
Originally uploaded by Tina Pham.

Happy birthday Romeo!

This year, Romeo turns two. Let's hope it isn't the terrible twos!

More about his birthday celebrations to come...

[Pet Care Articles] Pet Food Choices: Dry, Wet, Raw, and the "Rotation" Concept

2006-11-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

I went to a "food seminar" put on by Nature's Variety about a month and a half ago, and while it was nothing more than a sales pitch for their various lines of dog and cat food, it did bring up a couple of points of thought and some interesting tidbits of information. Here are my thoughts on the following subjects:

Cats Need Water From Wet Foods
Everyone at the seminar seemed aware (except for yours truly) that the main affliction of the housecat has to do with the urinary tract. Housecats are apparently especially prone to kidney and bladder problems. So this is apparently due to cats not getting enough water.

Cats are desert animals. (This I knew.) They therefore don't drink as much water. (This I also knew.) What I didn't know was that cats that eat primarily dry kibble do not drink enough water. (Now I'm going to paraphrase catinfo.org) Cats eating dry kibble get half the amount of water from wet food. So, pet nutritionists reason, it is preferable for your cat's health, that if at all possible, you feed your cat only wet food.

Raw Foods
I'm still out to lunch on raw foods, although I do have a bag of Nature's Variety Raw Rabbit in the freezer now. The idea of raw food is that it most closely replicates what cats and dogs eat in nature and that feeding raw food as opposed to cooked food gives our pets more nutrients since the nutrients aren't cooked off.

The main issue that pet owners have against feeding raw (besides cost and ease) is bacterial infection and food poisoning. I think that raw feeding advocates don't have proper scientific studies to claim that cats and dogs are not as afflicted by salmonella and e coli and whatever else as humans are. I think that animals do in fact get food poisoning. As in humans, once you get food poisoning, there's really nothing to do except wait it out and let it pass. And in dogs and cats, since they have shorter digestive tracts, the wait itsn't as long. Also, dogs are known to be able to stand a lot of pain without vocalizing their suffering, so even if a dog is suffering, the owner may not know.

A secondary issue I have to feeding my pets only raw food is that I can't be sure on my own that my pets are getting the proper nutrition. Left on his own, Romeo would only eat the meat, leaving everything else there. This would make for an unbalanced diet if he got to do this all the time.

All that being said, I do give my dog (and the cats, even though they don't seem to enjoy raw at all) raw sometimes to vary his diet. I like carpaccio and sushi, so I don't see any harm in giving them raw sometimes. The caveat is that I give him the commercially prepared stuff or, if I'm preparing it from supermarket stuff, I flash-fry the exposed parts of the meat to kill of any germs that may be on the meat. Searing the exposed parts of the meat kills the bacteria that may be living on the surface while preserving the raw nutrition benefits.

Variety in Diet
Nature's Variety promotes "rotation" of their foods. This I wholly advocate. I primarily feed my dog and cats either Innova Evo or Nature's Variety Raw Instinct dry kibble because of its high protein content and superior quality ingredients. Let's face it, it's easy to feed dry kibble. I look for foods that are at least 30% protein for Romeo and 40% protein for the cats. For the cats, additionally, I look for kibble without grains. This is particularly hard because dry kibble needs binders. Innova Evo uses potato, Nature's Variety Raw Instinct uses tapioca.

I feel it's important to vary the cats' and the dog's diet. First, I think it's boring for them to have to eat the same food all the time. Romeo and Jezebel in particular don't like eating the same things all the time, and they noticeably get bored with the food.

Second, it's better for their digestive systems. The reason that you have to switch over to new foods slowly is because the pets' digestive system has only been eating one thing the entire time. If you only ate one thing, and suddenly you ate something totally different, trust me, your system would rebel as well. Romeo doesn't have this problem, and I think it's in part because he eats something different every day with his dry kibble. I can also switch Jezebel, Sambora, and Romeo on a whim to another food without there being problems.

Third, there's a lot of talk about development of food allergies. I think that by keeping digestive systems and their palates robust (you don't want them to want only one food) , if a food allergy develops, you can easily switch their foods out with little difficulty.

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Posted By Tina to Pet Care Articles at 11/10/2006 02:55:00 PM

Immortalize Your Pet!

2006-11-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

So I've been looking through various things you can do to immortalize your pet. Don't ask why, since I'm content to not spend my money in that way. There is, of course, the standard "take a picture with Santa at your local pet store and turn it into a blanket," but that's so not as cool as other far more expensive things you could do.

Of the photography places, my favorite is Pet Photo Pros, based out of Long Beach. I like the modern feeling of the photography, plus they seemed pretty reasonably priced.
If you have a couple hundred to spare (namely $550), Dogs by Wags does pretty cool portraiture on pretty paper. If had money to blow, I would maybe think for a couple seconds about doing this.
Don't know what to do with all that kitty or puppy fur coming off of your dog? You can send it to VIP Fibers, and they'll spin it into yarn. Then you can wear your dog or cat. Hmm...

Happy Halloween! Romeo at Agility in Costume!

2006-11-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here are the cool kids at agility! Romeo, Chachi, and Ella!

Happy Halloween! Romeo in Costume!

2006-11-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

We don't remember what Romeo was last Halloween (I don't think he dressed up, actually), but this Halloween Romeo dressed up as a dinosaur! Call him Dino!

First Romeo Agility Pictures!

2006-10-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

Our friend Gina (Chachi's mom) took pictures at agility! Yes, that's Romeo coming out of the weaves without his leash on! (It might look like he's on leash since it's dark, but look closely, I'm holding the leash rolled up in my hand, and it's not connected to him.) He went through a bunch of obstacles on the course, finishing by doing the weaves all by himself!

Also pictured below are Romeo's agility friends Ella (the affenpincher) and Chachi (the chihuahua). We're the cool kids in class!

In Honor of Sambora's Birthday: Karate Kitty!

2006-10-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

In honor of Sambora's birthday, I found this cute video on Google Videos: "The Real Karate Cat." It looks like Sambora and Jezebel, right down to the coloring, size differentials, and outcome! Happy birthday, Sambora!

Happy Birthday Sambora!

2006-10-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Sambora's birthday! Our favorite orange fluffball turns a whopping 3 years old today!

Sambora is currently prancing around and enjoying his birthday. Tonight there will be a small celebration with his sister Jezebel and his brother Romeo.

A report on Sambora in the past year:

Another year, another pound gained.
Hates diets. Eats Jezebel's share.
Favorite toy: still animal print mice.
Loves everybody.
Still has a licking problem.
Wins fights with Jezebel most of the time, but gets humped by the dog.

Happy birthday, Sambora!

[Pet Care Articles] Romeo's Teeth are Now Bright White!

2006-09-26T14:33:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was a full, eventful weekend for Romeo. Not only did Romeo try herding for the first time (more on that later) and go play frisbee, Romeo got his teeth cleaned for the first time ever!

The American Veterinary Dental Society reports that by age 3, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats show signs of dental disease. Rocco has been getting anesthesia free teeth cleanings from a dental hygenist every six weeks, and my sister has been raving about the service. All my pets, despite my best efforts to brush their teeth, have noticeable tartar buildup and somewhat stinky breaths (you might know it to be dog breath or cat breath - it's actually just bad breath). I've been putting off doing the veterinary dental cleaning for them because, well, it's really expensive.

When I saw a sign for an anesthesia-free teeth cleaning clinic at Steve's Pets in Altadena (2395 Lake Avenue, Altadena, CA, 626-798-6290) by SmilePet (number below), I decided to give it a shot with Romeo. Now, with anesthesia, teeth cleaning at the vet's office can cost anywhere between $200-$300+, depending on your vet. So at $75, this was what I considered quite a deal. I decided Romeo should be the first even though he doesn't have the worst teeth out of all my pets -- he is the youngest, after all -- because dogs have shorter memories than cats and are far more forgiving of people. So Romeo got to be the guinea pig, and off we went for our appointment. It took about 40 minutes, and Romeo's teeth are now amazingly white! His breath smells better and all the icky yellow buildup on his teeth is gone! His gums, which were beginning to look inflamed, are starting to look normal again.

SmilePet isn't the only service out there, obviously. Rocco gets maintenance visits instead of a more involved teeth cleaning every six months (which is what most dental hygenists around here do or recommend). I did a lot of digging around, and these are the resources that I've confirmed exist (as of the time of this post, of course). Romeo will be going back to Kathy of SmilePet, as she did such a great job with him.

As a total disclaimer, do this at your own risk. Some dogs and cats need more work than what these dental hygenists can do without anesthesia, and some dogs and cats are too high strung to let a dental hygenist do this without being sedated. Check out the person before you go - this list is meant to be inclusive as a resource for you to find a good person to care for your pets and is not indicative of any sort of endorsement on my part. I'll add more to this list as I hear about them or run across them. The only person on this list we can attest to is Kathy of SmilePet, and we attest that Romeo's teeth are dramatically cleaner than before and that she didn't hurt him. That's all I'll swear to under oath.

ANESTHESIA-FREE TEETH CLEANING FOR DOGS AND CATS
(Los Angeles/Orange County/Southern California)

SmilePet (Kathy, 866-628-9745)
Makes housecalls and holds clinics from Los Angeles to San Diego. Kathy holds a clinic at Steve's Pets in Altadena (2395 Lake Avenue, Altadena, CA, 626-798-6290) every 6-8 weeks for $75 a pet. Call Steve's Pets to make an appointment. Romeo's had his teeth cleaned by her and his teeth are now bright white!

Houndstooth (Kathy (I think a different one), 877-309-8849, pettoothfairy@yahoo.com)
Makes housecalls to San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles (City and County), and Orange County). Price depends on type of pet and distance traveled. Also takes office visits in Chatsworth for $80 a pet.

The Tooth Fairy LLC (Shane, 818-988-3443, shane@thetoothfairyllc.com)
Housecalls only to most of Los Angeles county. Rates vary by type of pet.

Pearlie Whites (Dana, 818-667-5747, dana@pearliewhites.com)
Makes housecalls and takes office visits in Encino. Rates vary by type of pet, distance traveled, etc.

Gental Dental (JoEllen, 800-264-3094, petinfo@gentledentalforpets.com)
Housecalls around the Long Beach/South Bay area. Call for availability in your area. Rates vary. Holds teeth cleaning days at Wags to Whiskers in Long Beach (5505 Stearns St., Long Beach, CA, 562-430-5161) on the 1st Tuesday and 4th Saturday of the month for $85 a pet.

Bathe R Doggie (626-795-7777)
Pasadena, CA, based pet grooming salon. Anesthesia-free teeth cleaning available every other Sunday, by appointment only. Price ranges from $65-95, depending on the pet.

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Posted By Tina to Pet Care Articles at 9/26/2006 02:33:00 PM

Silly Little Kitty!

2006-09-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

I found this video on Google Video. This is so freakishly...like a cat. Jezebel and Sambora wholeheartedly approve!

[Pet Care Articles] MDR1 Gene Mutation and Drug Sensitivity in Collie Breeds

2006-09-04T02:56:00.001-07:00

I have been reading up on potential drug sensitivity of collie breeds due to a mutation in the MDR1 gene, whatever that means. Basically, from what I gathered, a significant number of collies and collie-related breeds like the Australian shepherd (Romeo!) have a mutation in this gene, which makes them sensitive to many common drugs, including heartworm medication.

More information can be found at the following links:
Drug Sensitivity in Collies - very clear information about the mutation.
Buster Alert - not as clear, but good anecdotal information, as well as a drug list

You can order the test from Washington State and administer the test yourself, which costs about $50 less than if the vet were to do it. That's the route I'm taking with Romeo! For more information on that: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/

On a related note, here's an interesting article about how collies and sighthounds might be related due to research surrounding the MDR1 gene mutation: Collies have surprising relatives - Pet Health - MSNBC.com

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Posted By Tina to Pet Care Articles at 10/13/2006 12:32:00 PM

Quote from Miami Animal Police

2006-08-31T01:13:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting quote that I just heard watching Miami Animal Police -- I think one that exemplifies the changing attitude towards pet ownership in the United States:

"If you can't take care of a pet like you would a child, you shouldn't have one at all."

Where's Sambora?

2006-08-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

where's sambora?
Originally uploaded by Tina Pham.

The other day while I was working, I heard snoring in the room. Seeing as how I was the only human around, I gathered that Sambora was in the room somewhere (he snores loudly). After some searching, I noticed his paws sticking out from the top of the bookshelf...nearly 7 feet up...just the place to sleep undisturbed.

Romeo Catches the Frisbee!!

2006-08-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

I've posted the 5-second video of Romeo catching the frisbee under the Video links.

Crazy Cat Walk

2006-08-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this on CNN.com and could not resist posting it:

Crazy Cat Walk - CNN.com, 8/25/06

Absurdly cute puppies and kitties in that pound, too.

Romeo's Frisbee Skills

2006-08-22T00:24:00.000-07:00

We brought a camera with us to the park and caught Romeo in the middle of catching his frisbee! Go go Romeo! We also took a short video that I'll put up soon.

Romeo's First Sweater

2006-08-19T01:18:00.000-07:00

I don't care what anyone says about my sanity. Today I bought Romeo a sweater. And he's absolutely adorable in it. The sweater serves no useful purpose except to amuse me, so don't even start.

Doesn't he look so preppy and adorable???

[Pet Care Articles] Pet Food Snobbery

2006-08-17T15:14:00.001-07:00

Joel has called me a snob when it comes to my pets' food. And it's true. I go to little boutiques where they sell nothing but holistic and/or ultra-premium pet foods. I have driven 20 hours out of my way to buy pet food. Never mind there's a Petsmart not 3 miles away and a Petco not 5 miles away. I just mail-ordered for 11lbs of cat food because I can't find anywhere convenient around here to buy this new formulation.

I have to say that I used to feed my cats and my dog Science Diet because my vet said it was the best. For the first year of her life, Jezebel ate nothing but Science Diet and Purina and she is just fine. To this day, I am sure that you can feed Jezebel crap and she'd still be fine. Then I learned about the Iams Cruelty case, and while I'm not against animal testing and I'm no great lover of PETA, I believe that what has been documented far exceeds what is necessary to make dog and cat food. But the Iams thing made me look closer at what I was feeding my cats, and I was appalled, simply appalled, to learn what major commercial brands put in pet foods. But really, it was Sambora that started the whole conversion to human-grade, holistic, ultra-premium, sometimes organic food.

Sambora is, to put it kindly, big-boned. And he loves to eat crunchy dry food. When Sambora hit 16 lbs., the vet told us to put him on a diet. So I switched him to Science Diet Light. No problem, right? Except he started eating Jezebel's food, and Jezebel, as a result, started eating his. So I put him on another diet food, which solved the problem of Sambora eating Jezebel's food, but he started getting diarrhea a lot. Reading up on it, I learned that cats shouldn't have too much fiber or carbohydrates, because it messes with their systems. I also learned that cats were obligate carnivores and that carbohydrates weren't good for kitties. They, unlike dogs and humans, were not made to digest carbohydrates.

So cats are pure carnivores, but most store brands have grains as the first few ingredients. Why? I believe that commercially made dry cat food was made as an offshoot of dry dog food, and that dog formulations are only changed somewhat to meet the nutritional minimums of cats. So in today's market, you will find a lot of dry kibble labeled "for cats" when it is not actually designed for a cat's needs. And I'm just a little bit pissed that there are a lot of high-performance, high-protein dry foods for dogs, but to date, I have only found two over 40% protein for cats: Innova Evo for Cats and Nature's Variety Raw Instinct Grain Free for Cats. Dogs, unlike cats, are omnivores and they don't actually need high-protein diets like cats do.

Let's face it. If a cat cannot properly digest complex carbohydrates or plant-derived proteins, it's useless to feed these things to the cat. Nothing good can come of it.

The vet had recommended a wet food, Atkins like diet for Sambora, which would have been great for both cats except that Sambora doesn't really care for wet food. It's also very convenient to also just scoop out some dry food for the cats every morning. Innova Evo for Cats, made by Natura Pets, works well for us, although the cats will try the Nature's Variety once we get it in the mail. They're both 50% protein and as close to what a cat needs in commercial dry kibble as possible. The cats are supplemented with grain-free wet food (currently that includes Merrick's Turducken formulation, Innova Evo for Cats, and various Wellness flavors).

And since it's easy for me since I'm already going hunting around for food for the cats, Romeo gets ultra-premium, holistic, sometimes organic, human-grade food as well. With him, I'm not so concerned that he gets a high-protein diet, since, again, dogs are omnivores and it's not as important that they get a high-protein meal, although right now he's regularly fed a high-protein dry kibble (Innova Evo and Innova Evo RM) at supplemented with a whole lot of fruits and other things. He also has a bunch of Lotus dry kibble (not high protein), which he adores as well. It's mainly important to me that Romeo's food is made of high-quality ingredients that are good for him and that he like eating the food. So that means no by-products, no corn, no "animal digest," whatever that is, no white rice or "brewer's rice." One can find a complete list online. Or I'll find one later to post.

So now, when going to a pet supply store, I take forever looking at different foods, the ingredient list, and their nutritional breakdowns. Because while I'm too lazy to cook my animals food on a regular basis, I can at least be a smart enough shopper. I don't feed my pets raw for the same reason I don't eat things raw at home - human handling = germs. While other people do and I applaud their efforts to keep their pets healthy and I'm sure they keep their animals' raw feed and feeding environment as sterile as possible, I don't buy that cats and dogs are able to handle salmonella better than humans. In fact, I believe that feeding cats and dogs only one or two things their whole lives weakens their internal digestive systems and weakens their immune systems in general (hence the whole having to switch food over a long period of time).

There is some correlation between lower grades of pet food and internal problems with pets, including tumors and digestive issues. Again, I believe that if I were to continue to feed my pets food that they could not process appropriately, nothing good could come of it. Moreover, since there is less "filler" in the more expensive foods, they are more nutritious bite for bite, and at the end of the day, it doesn't really cost more to buy the higher premium foods because they eat less of it. This has a secondary effect of having less for me to clean up after they poop. And only good things can come of that.

--
Posted By Tina to Pet Care Articles at 8/17/2006 03:14:00 PM

Dogwalks and Pupcakes

2006-08-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Romeo did super good at agility this past week - he did the dogwalk for the first time ever and flew over it. For those who have no clue what a dog walk is, it's a 9-12" wide balance beam about 4' off the ground, with ramps on either side. Now, Romeo is the dog that would not get on the A-frame or the seesaw the first time, and the poor guy did not want to take this obstacle slowly like we made him. He also did very pretty sets of three hurdles, each set at a 90 degree turn from the last.

I'm pretty sure that Romeo's favorite obstacles are the A-frame and the dogwalk. Considering that we believed that Romeo had a fear of heights, this is pretty amazing.

On another note completely, Casey and I took Romeo to Old Town Pasadena, where Romeo had a grand old time at his favorite place in the whole wide word: a restaurant. We sat outside Mi Piace, and Romeo got a grilled chicken breast. You can't imagine how well-behaved Romeo can be if there's food in front of him. Then we took him to Three Dog Bakery, since he was being so good. On the way there, we passed a statue of a coyote, which Romeo immediately started barking at. It was the most hilarious thing. I took him closer so he would see that it was a statue, but he just started barking and growling more. It amused us and other random passers-by. So then we got to Three Dog. I had never been inside before. He's been finicky about treats in the past, so I was a little concerned that fresh-baked, gourmet dog treats would not be for him. Boy was I mistaken. The man working there was very nice, and let Romeo taste a couple things to see what he would like. We ended up getting Romeo two Harlequin Hearts (peanut butter cookies half dipped in carob) and two pupcakes (Romeo especially liked the yogurt and honey frosting they had on top). Suffice to say that this was probably one of Romeo's best days ever.

Introducing Marlowe

2006-08-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Ching has a new puppy dog! Introducing Marlowe Keeper of Flames!

Fashion Accessory...or a Dog?

2006-08-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

"Seriously, Get This Sweater Off of Me"

This article was passed on to me by Jared. So funny, and somehow so apt in light of the recent dog episode on Project Runway, which, by the way, I absolutely adored. The pomeranians were especially cute.

Romeo at the Park

2006-07-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, in record-setting heat, Joel and I took Romeo to the park. These are pictures taken with Joel's cameraphone. We went around 4pm, and it was still sweltering hot. Romeo had not had a real walk in a couple days, so he was geared to go. He's becoming more accurate at catching the frisbee when it's thrown to him, and he's starting to do some fun jumps like you see on TV. We weren't able to catch any on the phone's camera. Next time, I'll have to remember to bring a real camera.

Romeo loves his frisbee. Even when he was dead tired, he refused to leave the park. As we were leaving, Romeo took the frisbee and started walking back to where we were playing. One thing Romeo's got plenty of - it's personality!

Romeo Finishes His First Session of Agility!

2006-07-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, this isn't Romeo...I took this photo from Jump City Agility's website. We'll get Romeo pictures soon. The dog in the picture is Shelby, who we haven't met. But Romeo does love his agility. Last Monday, Romeo did the A-frame, seesaw, and the weave poles like a champ. And it goes without saying that he loves the tunnel. There was a switch at some point in the class where Romeo stopped barking randomly at everything moving around him and started barking in excitement whenever it was near his turn to do the seesaw and the A-frame.

So we'll continue agility. It's definitely way more fun than obedience.

Another Romeo Glamour Shot

2006-07-13T03:13:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten how great SLR cameras were for taking pictures. Here's those famous blue eyes!

Four Weeks of Agility Classes: Some Thoughts

2006-07-12T01:57:00.000-07:00

Four weeks of agility classes have gone by, and now I can safely say that Romeo likes it. I've noticed a couple things about Romeo that have changed while taking agility classes. Mind you, there have been a number of other changes in his routine, so I can't say that it's all due to the agility classes, although I feel agility classes have been a much greater help at getting Romeo more socialized around other dogs than obedience was. Mostly because I think obedience wasn't very challenging for Romeo. And a bored dog is often a barking dog.

Now, reading agility literature, one might think that agility is the cure-all for a shy or fearful dog. Literature says that agility "builds confidence" and "deepens dog-owner relationships." I think this may be true, but not in the way that agility propaganda implies. Mind you, I have a degree in psychology but that doesn't make me an animal expert by any means.

I think a dog's "confidence" is built by agility much in the same way obedience training using positive techniques builds confidence. A dog that loves you wants to do things that pleases you. The difference is that instead of telling the dog to sit, walk at a controlled pace, or lay down, things that calm a dog or put the dog into a submissive position, agility rewards the dog for doing something physical that the dog might like to do on its own anyway. I don't think completing an obstacle gives the dog any sense of real satisfaction, since, let's be honest, at the end of the day, a dog is a dog and doggie doesn't care whether he jumps over the hurdle or not. I think the real satisfaction comes because the dog gets to not only run (which doggie wants to do) but also do something in the process that makes the owner/handler happy (do the obstacle). It's like double happiness for the dog to be able to do something doggie wants to do and make the owner/handler happy at the same time. Dog is happy; owner/handler is happy. Et voila! A deepened dog-owner relationship.

I already love my dog, and my dog adores me. No problem with our relationship there. So my thought is that telling a dog to run and then rewarding the dog for running would have much of the same effect. Romeo and I often run down the hallway together, and I swear he loves that as much as he loves agility sometimes.

The one thing that sold me on agility to begin with was speaking to two men who owned standard aussies. They both told me that their dogs had boundless amounts of energy, and that they could run them for miles, but physical exhaustion wouldn't stop their dogs for more than a couple hours. But agility works their minds, and when their brains are tired, they are quiet and still for the rest of the night. This has been absolutely true with Romeo. I don't think he gets nearly as much exercise as when we go to the park and play ball or frisbee, but he is putty after agility class.

So we'll continue because Romeo likes it, I like that it challenges him and forces him to focus, and I like seeing my dog able to jump over hurdles and through tires and run through tunnels and stuff. I don't know if we'll ever actually compete, but it's a good hobby for us so far.

Here's Romeo's progress on the agility obstacles after four classes:

Hurdles - They are still set to the lowest level for beginning training, but Romeo has had no trouble completing three in a row on his own so far.

Tire Jump - Surprising to me because of the infamous hula hoop affair, but Romeo has had no trouble jumping through the tire so far.

Tunnel - He runs through with no problem - again, I was a little concerned after the hula hoop fiasco, but he excels at the tunnel.

Chute/collapsed tunnel - Romeo did fine in class 3 with the chute, but would not do it in the 4th class with no one holding the sheet up so he could see the end this time around. I had food in the hand that pointing him into the chute, so I don't know if it was actually my mistake or not. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure he was following his nose. So yes, handler mistake. Sorry Romeo!

Weave poles - Now, mind you, we're in our beginning stages, but I think he's mostly getting it just fine. I'm able to lead him through the weave poles with no real stubbornness on his part.

A-frame - We only did this in class 3. The first time, we had to force him up the A-frame. By the third time, he knew exactly what to do on his own. All within the space of 10 minutes. Amazing!

Seesaw - We did this in class 4. Romeo would not, and I mean, WOULD NOT get on that thing the first time around. Then he figured out there was food at the other end of the seesaw. The second time he figured out how to get on the see saw, and the third time, he rushed so much I needed to help him stay on the thing to get to the end. So much for his fear of the seesaw!

Sambora's on Catster's main page today!

2006-07-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Way to go Sambora! Here's the e-mail I got from the folks at Catster:

Dear Tina,

Catster wanted you to know that Sambora is today's Diary of the Day! Sambora will be featured on our homepage all day long at http://www.catster.com complete with picture, name and title!

I know I know, we're purring like mad over here too!Thanks so much for running with the Catster pack and keeping a diary.

Much Meow,
Catster
Here kitty kitty
www.catster.com

Sambora is featured on Catster!

2006-07-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

This morning we got the note that Sambora's diary was featured on Catster!

Here's his Catster page for anyone that wants to see: www.catster.com/?320596. Don't forget - leave him a treat!

Cats v. Dogs

2006-06-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking of this email forward, so I decided to paste it online. It's hilarious, and strangely just a bit spot on. Read on and enjoy!

Cats vs. Dogs

As seen in a dog's diary:

7 am - Oh boy! A walk! My favorite!
8 am - Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 am - Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
Noon - Oh boy! The yard! My favorite!
2 pm - Oh boy! A car ride! My favorite!
3 pm - Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
4 pm - Oh boy! Playing ball! My favorite!
6 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Mom! My favorite!
7 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Dad! My favorite!
8 pm - Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 pm - Oh boy! Tummy rubs on the couch! My favorite!
11 pm - Oh boy! Sleeping in my people's bed! My favorite!

As seen in a cat's diary:

Day 383 of my captivity... My captors continued to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from clawing the furniture and urinating on the bath mat.

Tomorrow I may eat another house plant. Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded - must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair - must try this on their bed, or swallow enough thread from my captors mending basket to produce a trailing piece of fecal matter.

I decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in an attempt to make them aware of the horror that I am capable of, and to try to strike fear in their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, not working according to plan... Later, there was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smellthe food. More importantly, I overheard that my confinement was due tomy powers of inducing "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. My proof is that the dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant, as he speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured.

But I can wait, it is only a matter of time...

Agility Classes

2006-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Our favorite little mini aussie is going to agility class! Romeo and I completed our second class on Monday at Jump City Agility. It's a bit far, but I've heard the best things about this class. Everyone said that Romeo would be so good at agility, and I'd rather not introduce him to herding until I have better control over him, so Romeo and I drive 25 miles each way to The Valley once a week to learn agility!

I'm frankly surprised at how well Romeo is doing. First off, there a GAJILLION dogs there and Romeo barks like mad. The trainer told me on Monday that Romeo's stressed and a bit scared of everything going on. But there are pretty long moments which I'm able to get his attention and get him to do obedience commands AND rollovers. For those of you that don't know anything about dogs, dogs do NOT like to show their undersides (it's puts them in a weak position) when they are stressed, nervous, or scared. That he will do a rollover (or three in a row) for a treat means that he's absolutely focused on what I'm asking him to do and not the environment around him.

Second, we could not for the life of us get Romeo to even go near a hula hoop. I think he thinks he will most certainly die if he walks into the center of a hula hoop or walks through a hula hoop. So I was pretty concerned about the agility obstacles such as the tunnel, the chute, and the tire. But Romeo's done these things no problem so far, which is delightful and a little freakish all at the same time. The funny part of it all is that when we went hiking after the first class, Romeo saw a sewer pipe and ran up to it and looked at me as if to say, "You want me to go through?? I'll do it!" I don't know how he'll do with the see-saw and the A-frame, but we'll see. The ladies that run Jump City seem to know what they're doing!

Also, I really like Sue's furrmom (I'll get her name next week). We stood next to each other in line the whole time and talked about our dogs and training. She was very nice about my barking Romeo and suggested, probably correctly so, that we should just stand by each other each week so he gets used to the same dogs and gets less nervous.

We don't have any pictures yet of Romeo in agility class, but that's just because no one's come with me to take the pictures. Hopefully some day, Beth, Dena, or Joel will come by and snap some pictures of Romeo and me in class.

Starring: _Romeo_

The OTHER Romeo

2006-06-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

We're surprised at the traffic that has been generated by the Meow Mix House posts. And so Jezebel, Sambora, Romeo and I looked at the Meow Mix House website today. Lo and behold, there's a CAT named Romeo from Los Angeles, California competing in the kitty reality show. Maybe he's named after our little Romeo!

We are supporting Jo, who seems to be the combination of Jezebel and Sambora. I have to say, this advertising stunt is just a bit lame thus far. I expected it to be far more entertaining. But that cats' personalities aren't quite flushed out, and there aren't a lot of glamour pics of the cats. You can hardly see anything on the webcams, and the first episode didn't really introduce us to the cats at all. I'm hoping that it picks up as the "episodes" go on. How are we supposed to vote off any of the cats if we don't even fully know what they look like or how their personalities flush out? Isn't part of the fun watching catfights and disputes???

More Meow Mix House News!

2006-06-09T02:05:00.000-07:00

Claws could be out on cat reality show - Yahoo! News

It's on Yahoo! That means it's officially big news and not just some weird cat thing that Jared emailed me. I don't know who the cats are just yet, but I'm voting for the cattiest one or the biggest fluffball, depending which one of my cats is nicer to me that day. Jezebel and Sambora will be vying for the computers to vote, too, I'm sure.

A kitty reality show?!!!

2006-05-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

It seems we can't get away from cheap pet foods with lots of advertising money around here. Our friend Jared emailed us this article about Meow Mix's new gimmick, and how could we not repost this? I mean, it's a kitty reality show?!! This could very well be Jezebel's and Sambora's new favorite TV show...

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 by Tobi Elkin
Calling all kitties: Are you ready for your closeup? On a reality TV show?

Meow Mix is sponsoring a reality show competition just for cats. Kitty competitors will be asked to lick themselves clean, chase balls of string, and relieve themselves in alitter box as they scratch and claw their way towards the grand prize.

Ten cats from shelters across the U.S. will be selected to compete in the inaugural edition of The Meow Mix House. The cats will travel to New York City and live together in a specially-designed house from June 13-23. Webcams will be mounted in every room in the house to get a glimpse into what cats do all day--and in our household, that's sleep. Well, most of the time, anyway.

Visitors can also go to http://www.meowmixhouse.com/ to vote for their favorite cat, (starting Thursday.) The cat with the fewest votes will be evicted from the house. However, all the cats in the Meow Mix House are winners: each cat that gets the boot will be adopted into a permanent home and receive a one-year supply of Meow Mix as a consolation prize. Meow Mix will pre-select a family in each city to adopt the cats after their stay in the house ends.

The last cat standing in the house will receive a job working for The Meow Mix Co. as Feline Vice President of Research and Development. He or she will be responsible for taste-testing and feedback on new Meow Mix product launches and line extensions. The Meow Mix Co. is producing the show along with Grand Central Marketing, an event marketing and promotion agency, and MMB, Meow Mix's advertising agency. Since it takes a special kind of person to understand what cats are saying, pop-up dialogue bubbles will be used to help translate the meows into English. Negotiations are underway with several cable networks to air the show.

Meow Mix will use the reality show as a platform to showcase Meow Mix Indoor Formula and Meow Mix Market Select wet food. In addition, the company's new line of cat treats will be offered to winners of reward challenges.

Tobi Elkin is Executive Editor, MediaPost.

Just An Online Minute for Tuesday, May 30, 2006: http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=43945

For more information: Meow Mix House

Psst...over here!

2006-05-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

In a blatant attempt to gain more friends, Romeo has entered the weird world of Dogster and dragged his cat buddies onto Catster. Romeo's page is http://www.dogster.com/?320566; Jezebel is at http://www.catster.com/?320590; Sambora's page is http://www.catster.com/?320596. This prompted a photo shoot for Jezebel to get more pictures for her Catster page.

The world of pets is so weird and fun.

And yes, in fact Romeo does have a MySpace page. Other showbiz dogs had MySpace pages, so Romeo had to have one, too.

Starring: _Romeo_

Romeo Hikes Where the Stars Hike!

2006-05-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

Star Tracks - Friday, May 26, 2006 Page 6 Nicole Richie : People.com:
StarTracks
ICE ICE BABY
"Nicole Richie counts on the kindness of strangers - namely a paparazzo who reportedly lent her money to buy a blueberry snow cone - while hiking with pals in Hollywood's Runyon Canyon on Thursday. "

Romeo hikes there, too! And we park near the shave ice man. Wow! They say it's a good place to see stars, but we've only met out of work actors and models so far.

Starring: _Romeo_

Romeo's Pedigree Shoot!

2006-05-26T22:51:00.000-07:00

This is not the face of a dog only an owner can love!
The Pedigree people love it too!

Today was Romeo's Pedigree Shoot! We were told on Tuesday that Romeo's shoot would be on Friday. No problem!

Yesterday night I was dismayed to learn that Romeo's calltime was at 10AM and that his shoot location was in Pacific Palisades. I set my alarm for 7AM for an 8AM departure to the other side of LA. Today I was even more dismayed when I heard that Thursday's shoot was in South Pasadena, five minutes away from our home!

We made it, no problem, to the location, only to be bussed up to another location. To wait. For a long time. Romeo was overly stimulated and excited, and somewhat wary of the new dogs. So while we were there, we took in the view, walked Romeo, hung out in the trailer with the other "real" dogs (what one PA called the dogs they cast from various LA locations - who had much nicer digs than the studio trained dogs, I have to say), and tried to figure out what was going on.

Romeo was called to the set right before lunch, and he was asked to sit and stare at the camera. This took like five minutes altogether for three takes. And that's it. Stacy (the director) was very very interested in Romeo's eyes, and it seemed like he only wanted a shot of Romeo's face (specially his eyes) to convey excitement in a different way without movement. The theme for this commercial, by the way, is excitement. We weren't sure if Romeo was needed for anything else, and the production crew didn't seem to know either, so they called a break for lunch and said that Romeo wasn't wrapped yet.

I do have to say, the lunch was superb and totally made the experience. Joel's been raving about craft services for years, but until now I'd never experienced it. A gourmet meal came out of a lunch truck. I swear! I had NY steak, cooked medium, with some sort of wine sauce and sauteed shallots over the most tasty breaded asparagus.

So then, after lunch, we went back in the trailer where it was air conditioned. And waited.

And we kept waiting. Romeo was really tired at this point but didn't want to go to sleep, so I accompanied him to the back of the trailer where his bed was set up and sat in a chair next to his bed while he took a nap. Dena covered him with a towel so he could keep warm.

After his nap, I took him out of the trailer for another walk to pass the time. He ran in between two cast members playing catch (like with baseball and mitts) to pass the time for awhile before they had to go work. We were walking when the second assistant director (2AD for short as I learned) found us and told us that we were wrapped and could go collect our check! Sweet! In: 9:45AM, out: 3:15PM!

We're hoping they need him back for the still shots. Romeo's saving up for a yard, after all! I'm going to call the ad agency in a couple weeks to find out the airdate of the commercial, and hopefully they'll be able to tell us whether Romeo made the final edit and is still in the commercial!

Starring: _Romeo_

A call from the Pedigree commercial production people...

2006-05-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

They called this morning to ask that I have Romeo's nails trimmed. And that's it.

Strange, but okay, whatever Hollywood wants.

Starring: _Romeo_

Watch out Hollywood! Here comes Romeo!

2006-05-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

So after the open casting call at Runyon Canyon and the subsequent callback, I started wondering if Romeo got the part, is there a doggie SAG that Romeo would have to join? Does Romeo need to find a doggie entertainment lawyer? I know there's doggie talent agencies, but which one is reputable? How does all this work?

Well, we'll all soon find out, because Romeo got a part in the Pedigree commercial! Yay! Congratulations to Romeo!

Filming happens next week, and we'll have more to tell more then. For tonight, though, Romeo and the cats had a celebratory meal of wet food.

Starring: _Romeo_

Introducing Bridget Jones!

2006-05-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

Our friend Beth got herself a lovebug of a border collie named Bridget Jones. Bridge is almost exactly 4 months old. She's a bit shy and timid right now, but a real sweetheart! We'll see how her personality develops once she settles in.

Starring: Bridget Jones

Romeo gets a callback!

2006-05-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Romeo at the callback, fixated on that most wonderful toy - his frisbee

Last night was consumed by the season finale of Grey's Anatomy. At midnight I realized I had phone messages, so I checked them. The messages were for Romeo. The open casting call Romeo walked into on Friday for Pedigree wanted our little mini aussie in for a callback!

Things happened pretty fast. I called back this morning and they were only doing callbacks today. So Romeo, Dena, and I went since we were all together when we got into this crazy mess! I was told to bring something that Romeo would get excited about, so out came the frisbee and some meatballs and the Natural Balance training sausage, just in case he needed a little "motivation" to eat Pedigree food or something. More Polaroids abound. Hollywood must keep Polaroid in business. Romeo's getting good at posing for Polaroids.

So we go in, and the first thing the crew commented on was Romeo's eyes. The crew apparently had been talking Romeo's eyes from his casting call audition thing. I was told to play with him for a bit while they filmed him. He was a good little performer, very motivated by his treats and his frisbee. We didn't need to break out the sausages since he was so excited and happy looking in front of complete strangers filming him. Dena thought it was funny that Romeo would look into the camera whenever he was near it.

We'll see what happens next. Joel, who is our entertainment industry expert, says there may be one or two more callbacks. But no matter what, Romeo made the first cut. Maybe he can be a real Hollywood pooch after all!

Starring: _Romeo_

Another casting call for Romeo?!!!

2006-05-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

Proving that Romeo really is an LA kind of dog, our favorite mini aussie walked right into a casting call for a Pedigree commercial. Two casting calls in one week (Old Navy was last Friday)! Dena, Romeo, and I went to Runyon Canyon again, and there the guy was, asking if we wanted to be a part of the open casting call. Romeo calmed down just long enough to let the guy take a Polaroid of him and then proceeded to run around for him. Then we had to go hiking, which included the dreaded slope once again (see below - and note: it goes up more...). We still suck and Romeo still rules at this stupid going up thing. I have to say that this is probably one of Romeo's favorite activities and totally made up for the fact that he had to go to the vet this morning.

That stupid slope...this is just the beginning

After the hike we went to the Breadbar (Megan, are you jealous?), where Romeo wowed the Beverly Hills ladies who lunch with his cuteness. He got some healthy roast turkey slices and a tiny tiny bite of my burger for being so good. He got comfortable under the table but we pulled him out for some pictures.

Breadbar on 3rd St.

Romeo keeping cool under the table

Romeo got weary of taking pictures...

"Please, no more pictures!"

Starring: _Romeo_

Candie's Cassidy

2006-05-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Have you seen a dog get a piggyback ride? Well, apparently Cassidy loves them! There's Cassidy, getting a ride from her owner Candie.

Starring: Cassidy

Jezebel's Version of Help

2006-05-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm in the middle of potentially internationally important research work, right, and Jezebel decides that the keyboard should be danced all over, and that paper should be thrown everywhere, chewed on, and then slept on. Who cares about my Ph.D. anyway?

Starring: Jezebel

Romeo versus Kiwi: Opposite ends of the Mini Spectrum

2006-05-10T01:19:00.000-07:00

Romeo took a walk with his friend Kiwi today. It was hard to get a picture of them together, but we managed. Now, they are both miniature Australian shepherds, but check out the size difference between Romeo (who is doing his "king of the castle" bit on top of the chaise) and Kiwi! The miniature spectrum is from 14" to 18". Romeo barely made the 14" cut, and I think Kiwi must be just under the 18" top limit. Below is Sambora, our friendly neighborhood greeter, saying hi to Kiwi. Romeo is like 1-2" taller than Sambora, so what does that make Sambora and Kiwi??

Starring: _Romeo_

Guest Stars: Kiwi, Sambora

Subscribe to Romeo and Friends!

2006-05-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Romeo and Friends has a new feature - a SUBSCRIPTION! I don't think pictures will be emailed (but who knows, I've been wrong before), but you'll get an update whenever the blog is updated. Much easier than checking back every day like I know all of you are. To subscribe, simply go to http://groups.google.com/romeoandfriends/subscribe. Easy!

Romeo's Photo from Old Navy Event

2006-05-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

Here's Romeo's pic from the Old Navy event! So I wasn't supposed to be in it or the table on the side there. It's just supposed to be Romeo in front of the Hollywood sign. I emailed the Old Navy people to see if I could get a copy of this to tweak it a bit, since this is the only thing I could get online and it's super small.

Anyhow, I decided to use one of the photos we took of Romeo yesterday instead, since you can see more of him in it than in the one Old Navy took. The photo we submitted to the Old Navy contest is below. Look for Romeo's entry on the Old Navy contest site.

Here's the direct link to Romeo's entry:
http://66.70.119.253/Profiles/ViewDogProfile.aspx?profileID=5240&curpage=86&numperpage=48&currecindx=4120

We're hoping for the best for this little mini aussie!

Starring: _Romeo_

3rd St. Promenade: Will Romeo be the next Magic?

2006-05-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Dena and I learned that Old Navy was going to have a "casting call" on 3rd Street Promenade to find their new mascot today. Romeo is cute and fun. We decided, why not, let's go! At the event, we met a large Australian shepherd that looked like Romeo (except Romeo had better fur and blue eyes). Romeo looked like that dog's mini-me! Too bad Rome wouldn't stand still long enough to take a picture with that dog with all the excitement around.

We also got loads of cute pictures of Romeo today since we actually brought the digital camera for once. He was barky as usual, but pretty well behaved all things considered!

Can you believe he's smiling and calm enough for that picture above with 30 other dogs around?

This was Romeo's first time to 3rd Street Promenade. I think there was too much stimulation for him, with all the people, the dogs, the street performers, because he had real trouble keeping focus, but he was listening when he wasn't super distracted. Below, Romeo obeys the "down" command in the middle of 3rd Street Promenade. Quite a feat!

So now we have to go through all of Romeo's pictures to see which one the best one is to submit for the Old Navy contest. We did get him a pin today that says "VIP - Very Important Pooch," which he's wearing in the above picture. So no matter what, Romey knows he's special!

Starring: _Romeo_

Runyon Canyon: Romeo thinks we're out of shape

2006-05-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Romeo, Dena, and I went hiking today! Above, there we are at the first vantage point at Runyon Canyon. LA's great from here! I think I was pretty cocky, all worried that Romeo wouldn't be able to do the full hike I had planned, but when we went up the slope, Romeo LOVED it, just loved it, and went up the slope like he was a mountain goat while Dena and I were huffing and puffing and fearing that we would fall backwards. He kept running up and down the slope between us to check up on us, since we were a bit apart. I'm pretty sure Romeo thought that he needed to motivate us more or something because he was having no issue with the hike. He got to meet lots of new dogs, including another Australian Shepherd on the way down - a red merle by the name of Gibson! This was his first time off-leash here and he did excellent! I do have to say that he's a great dog. Below is Romeo resting when we forced him to stop somewhere along the path.

Then afterwards, since Romeo was so good, the three of us hit the Melrose scene to Lala's, an Argentinian grill. I do have to say that Romeo took to Melrose quite well. He had an empanada, which he quite enjoyed. Romeo likes Argentian food! Below are some pictures of us at Melrose. The pics were all taken with my camera phone. Pretty good photos, huh?

Starring: _Romeo_

Bizarre Day at the Dog Park

2006-05-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

Romeo is resting after a bizarre afternoon at the dog park.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened with the dogs today. Romeo met a bunch of very nice looking dogs. We met Walter the Great Dane, some very nice retrievers, Buddy the Beagle, and some other dogs that I don't remember the names of. It was pretty straightforward with the dogs. Humans, however, were another story entirely.

So we got to the dog park to meet Beth (and her new beau Charlie) and Kiwi (another Australian shepherd) and there were firetrucks and an ambulance. I thought, well, that's not good, someone must be really bad off. We saw a man lying on the ground with a number of firefighters leaning over him. Romeo and I walked around the scene and then we saw a dog walker that we had interviewed for Romeo and the cats awhile back and I thought, isn't that funny that she's here at the same time as us? Then I got to the off-leash area where Beth and entourage were, and I got the whole crazy story connecting everything together. Apparently, the dog lady had parked her car, and a drunk guy in a white van backed up into her car's side. The situation apparently went south from there because somewhere in the course of it all the drunk guy decided to douse himself with gasoline (with, I believe, the purpose of setting himself on fire). Everything turned out all right by the end of our park outing as the dog lady and the drunk guy have auto insurance, the firefighters did their job and the drunk-gasoline man did not set himself on fire. Strange. In any case, as Romeo and I were leaving, the drunk-gasoline man was in the custody of the police, so thankfully, everything ended well instead of becoming more messed up than it already was.

Starring: _Romeo_
Guest Star: Kiwi

Jezebel and Her Throne

2006-04-27T00:11:00.000-07:00

Jezebel has an almost unhealthy fascination with boxes. I think normal cats do. Depending on the size, the box is generally a fort for Jezebel to protect or a kitty condo for her to set up house in. Today, the box was small. So she sat in the box for a good long while. I imagine she thought it was her throne. Then it became her bed. I'm frankly surprised she was able to fit herself in that box to sleep in. And in case you're wondering, which I'm sure you're not because we're talking about my cat, Jezebel likes to wear her tag askew like that. We've straightened it out multiple times, and she always puts it back.

Starring: Jezebel

Sambora's Trading Card

2006-04-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

He's our little superstar! Sambora loves food so much he comes inside of cat food bags! Find him in Blue Spa Select for Cats.

Starring: Sambora

Rocco Bear

2006-04-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

Rocco is Romeo's cousin and Sambora's long lost brother. Rocco was born in California, but now lives in Hawaii.

Starring: Rocco

Romeo and the Park

2006-04-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Romeo is an Australian shepherd. Technically a "miniature" since he's way under breed standard. But he's an Aussie through and through. He sticks a little too close to breed standard in terms of temperament - really really reserved around strangers and VERY protective of his owners. He barks a lot at other dogs with us. Not with his dog walker, not with his Aunty Beth. Just with us. So in an effort to calm him down a tad, we've been taking him to the dog park.

Now, we have been strongly discouraged from taking him to a dog park. But since I don't really know anybody with a dog for Romeo to play with, we were left with two options: go to the dog park and find dogs or let Romeo continue to believe that he is actually a cat. So now I take him to the park near home which has an off-leash area. A lot of owners bring their dogs there at all times of the day. So far, it's been good. And we're really careful and watchful. Romeo gets a bit possessive of me at the park. There was a chihuahua mix there yesterday that got a little offended at Romeo's barking and started growling at him. I separated them since I didn't want Romeo to get into a fight on the doggie playground his second time out. Perhaps this is what the dog park naysayers were talking about? I think you just have be aware of what's going on with your dog. What was really wonderful yesterday was that a boy played with Romeo the entire time. I thought Romeo didn't like boys, and this made me feel very proud. The boy asked him to sit, and he did. He's so well-behaved with strangers. He's got them fooled thinking he's a good dog!

Starring: _Romeo_

Sambora had a hard day...

2006-04-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

Life is tough when you're a cat. Especially when you're a cat who thinks he's human.

MEET ROMEO!

2006-04-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

NAME: Romeo (registered Pham's When in Rome)
RESIDES IN: Los Angeles, California
SIGN: Sagittarius
BREED: Australian Shepherd
COLOR: Blue Merle EYE COLOR: Ice Blue
WEIGHT: 17 lbs. HEIGHT: 14"
FAVORITE TRICK: Roll-Over
LOVES: Barking, frisbee, fetch, tug, catch, hiking, Tina, Sambora
HATES: Baths and getting yelled at
MORE: Romeo is a sweetheart. He loves to play and loves to herd his cats. Often a little too vocal, Romeo is smart, somewhat manipulative as a result, and is more athletic than his owner would like. You can often find him on walks in his neighborhood, at the park playing ball, racing after a frisbee, or directing other dogs around him, or at home, playing with his best friend Sambora.