Irresponsible Pet Owners

In my last article I mentioned that I can’t watch several shows on Animal Planet because they upset me. Next to Animal Cops, the other shows that I find disturbing are those where dog trainers go to people’s homes to help with their dogs’ behavioral problems. For my second “Be Kind to Animals Week” article, I want to focus on irresponsible pet owners. Irresponsible pet owners are one of my biggest peeves, and the reason why I don’t like dog training shows. Watching those shows it seems like most of the time, the dogs have problems because their owners don’t … Continue reading

Be Kind to Animals Week

This week is the Humane Society’s Be Kind to Animals Week, so for the next few articles I’m going to share details and tips on responsible pet ownership. Or in today’s case, acknowledge some great animal rights workers. When I first started writing the pet blog, my husband joked that I could create a monthly column entitled “Reasons Why Angela Isn’t Allowed to Watch Animal Planet.” He said that because, on occasion, I get worked up watching the channel. In particular, the show I should really never let myself watch is Animal Cops. There’s a smattering of these series now, … Continue reading

Animal Planet’s Puppy Olympics

On Friday night, during the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics, Wayne just had to do what most men in charge of the remote feel the need to do: channel surf. But I’m not going to fault him this time. If it wasn’t for his ADD I wouldn’t have discovered Animal Planet’s Puppy Olympics. What’s Puppy Olympics? It’s actually called Puppy Games 2008, but I can’t stop calling it Puppy Olympics. From what I gather it’s the first year Animal Planet’s doing it. It’s very similar to when they do Puppy Bowl. Except instead of a football field, they have … Continue reading

Puppy Bowl IV Play-by-Play

Did you catch any of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl IV? The last couple of years I’ve usually only been able to watch part of it. But this year Wayne had some work to do, so I planted myself in front of the TV with a project of my own (folding buckets-worth of laundry) and watched even more than usual. Player Introductions Somehow I managed to miss most of this both times I was able to catch the start of the show. I liked how they introduced them by name, breed, age, and with a description of something about them. For … Continue reading

Gearing Up for Puppy Bowl IV

That’s right. It’s that time of year again. Time for what’s become a pre-Super Bowl tail-gating tradition in our house: watching Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl. And it’s the team of frisky pups getting their game on that truly puts the “tail” in tail-gating! This year’s “Starting Line-up” Which of the 33 puppies will be able to hang in there for the duration of the game? Who’s got the moves to go the distance? There’s no telling until the hounds are let loose on the field, but here’s this year’s contenders: Abigail (Jack Russell Terrier) Jack (Mini Dachshund) Attucker (Beagle) Jackson … Continue reading

The Pets Blog Week in Review for Jul 16-22

Did you notice a skip in coverage of the Pets Blog Week in Review? That’s because last week was my big vacation (I’ll be writing about that more this week) with Murphy and Wayne. Thus I wasn’t around to post last Monday for the week before. But vacation’s over so it’s back to the grindstone. Looks like Aimee covered a lot of interesting topics. (And I even snuck a few in myself.) Here’s what we covered on: Monday, July 16 We swam with kangaroos and author/publisher/pet rescuer Dindy Robinson in Part I of my interview with her. Aimee kicked off … Continue reading

Can Animal Planet Scare Your Pet?

Are you the kind of pet parent who leaves Animal Planet on when you’re away from home? I have a lot of pet parent friends who do this. It makes sense. Animal Planet…animals are featured…pets should like this. Right? But what if it scares them? A little while back I watched Bailey, a neighbor’s dog, for a day. It wasn’t an overnight thing; all I had to do was stop over for a couple of pee-break visits and such. So she wouldn’t get too lonely in the interim, her mom left Animal Planet on for her. During my last visit … Continue reading

Puppy Bowl III

While we were hanging out during Super Bowl Sunday last year, Wayne was channel surfing and happened across the Animal Planet‘s Puppy Bowl. He quit surfing so we could watch, knowing I’d get a kick out of it. We both ended up awing over the puppies romping about in a football field pen replica. And then we both cracked up over the Kitty Half Time Show, where a bunch of kittens with a carpeted stage enhanced with toys frolicked about. I’d forgotten all about it until, in a turn of déjà vu, we were hanging out yesterday afternoon watching TV, … Continue reading

Homeschooling and Animal Planet

We have a ‘TV off until 4 PM’ policy in our homeschool. There is one exception though. I allow the kids to watch Animal Planet almost whenever they please. (So I guess it is an ‘educational TV only before 4 PM’ policy). They mostly watch Animal Planet in the early afternoons and they also watch it a lot in the summer when I lighten their workloads. Animal Planet is an awesome channel and teaches my kids about so much. Many of the topics,I know nothing about. Here are some of the things they have learned. 1. How a baby is … Continue reading

A New Steve Irwin Special to Air January 21st

It has been about four months since we all learned of the death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. I still find it hard to believe he is gone. He worked with creatures far more dangerous than the stingray that killed him. After Steve’s death, we heard all types of statistics about how stingray attacks are rare and even then, even fewer are fatal. I cannot remember the exact statistic, but I think I remember Steve was the first person to be killed by a stingray in something like 40+ years. You may have watched the memorial that aired for Steve … Continue reading