I have just discovered a Dogstrology column! Very entertaining and if you believe in astrology you might want to know what the planets have in sore for your pet!! Let me know and we will get a monthly update going on Paws Connect for you!

While we chatter on line or on the phone to our friends, do our pets feel left out?! Toffee our labrador always comes and nudges my hands off the keyboard with her nose, and does the same if I sit down and play the piano! To her this is just antisocial behaviour, and of course being very clever she knows exactly how and when  to distract me, these are times when a dissmissive pat on the head is just not good enough!

Toffee may not think much of my piano playing but bearing in mind that we try and keep in with the neighbours, perhaps she is doing us all a favour! One thing is certain, dogs need conversation, even one sided, and failing this, the reassurance of the voice they know best, 'the Master's Voice'!

Well I hear that a Canadian firm called Contech Electronics has addressed the issue of the 'home alone' pet whose owner is racked by guilt at leaving them even for an hour. The  product that might make parting with your pet just that bit less truamatic for both of you, is called the ChatterBowl. Yes a talking bowl, or at least a bowl that sounds just like you with the help of a pre-recorded 10 second message of your voice. The bowl has a built in sensor that detects when the pet is within six inches and triggers your special message!  The makers claim that once animals become accustomed to the sensor, they will deliberately set it off just to hear their master's voice! I will look into this ingenious idea and get back with some more facts!

Bye for now

Catrina

I smell a Rat! I have an unreasonable fear of Rats and realise that this year with the help of the Chinese Zodiac, there will be steady reminders of this creature, until the end of January 2009! A Rat year is apparently a time of renewal, activity and hard work! A year of opportunities for those who are prepared and resourceful! A good time to begin a new job, get married, and generally make a fresh start! Perhaps it is a time to change my attitude to rats and even embrace the possibility of a rodent in the house! And by that I mean the Pet kind rather than the uninvited midnight guest! I will tell you my horror mouse story in a future blog but for now here is a thought for 2008:

It may be the year to champion hamsters, guinea pigs and gerbils, as news reaches me that Pet shops are seeing their popularity decline in favour of Iguanas, snakes,skinks and newts!

In the U.K Pet shops are attributing the surge in demand for reptiles and amphibians to the famous naturalist David Attenborough, whose latest T.V sereies for the BBC is called 'Life in Cold Blood'. The man is a genius at presenting nature and wildlife programmes and attracting massive interest in the natural world from adults and children alike. Great news until your child comes home from school and says 'Mummy I wanna Iguana'! This headline in the Daily Mail got me thinking and in anitcipation of such a request, I am totally prepared to champion the rodent versus the reptile!

Just had a great skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps with 3 very happy children but sadly no Toffee...not that she knew what she was missing and in any case she was being utterly spoiled while staying with her other no 1, Granny!  I did however promiss the kids to drive Toffee out there next year, after all she has her passport and in this ski resort at least,dogs are very welcome!

I was struck by how happy dogs of all shapes and sizes seemed to be in the mountains! The snow makes a playground with endless exercise potential and with a huge frozen lake to walk on pets and parents alike reep the benefits of the clean air and sunshine! A snow spa for dogs and happy moods all around, what more could you want? Perhaps it is the altitude that has a positive effect on animals generally, and the lack of car fumes puts a spring in their step..even the horses seem to make light of their loaded sleighs as they trot up and down the steep roads...

Those of you who have to deal with pets facing a long cold winter might have a different view, but please post your snow and travel tips for us on Paws Connect, it would be really appreciated I am sure!

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