Recently in Pet fun Category

PHOTO BY INA JALIL

As we've discussed before, music can excite, agitate, or soothe and calm pets, and it's the relaxing aspect of music that most interests us: can music make your anxious dog calmer during or after the storm, or while you're away? Can the right symphony soothe kitty when too much activity or outside interference makes her skittish? Research says yes, and in fact we've discovered a whole micro-industry of sweet sounds for furry friends, including one online shop that actually sells "pet speakers" for purrfect acoustics. If you search Amazon for "relaxation music" or "calming music" for pets/cats/dogs, you'll discover you have a lot to choose from, but there's really no need to spend a lot of money on pet tunes.

Many experts recommend classical music (this article has some specific recommendations), so you could just mine your music collection for Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi and the like for your furball's relaxed listening pleasure. This independent study [PDF] claims that solo piano with simplified arrangements at 50-70 beats per minute is optimal for calming canine anxiety, and this article says, "dogs appear to be calmed by music with slower tempos, fewer instruments and simpler melodies."

But guess what, you don't even have to bother rifling through your stash of tunes, because in the manic, magical wonderland that is the Internet, guess what I've discovered? Yep, radio stations for pets. For reals.

• Dog Radio plays very simple, classical compositions which should please skittish kitties, too. The page operates on auto-start (no controls), and worked for me in Firefox and Internet Explorer, but not Opera.
• Cat Galaxy radio says it plays only cat-approved tunes -- music that the cats of the website owners like, as well as as suggested tunes from other music-loving cats, via their owners. (Article here.) Cats apparently have way more adventurous musical tastes than dogs, according to what I've listened to on this station! :) Cat Galaxy worked for me in FF, IE, and Opera.
• Dog Cat Radio is another station for our furry friends, but it seems stuck on only one song for the moment... perhaps something to check back with later.
  

There's also an inexpensive Pet Acoustics iPhone app "music for your dog, cat or horse from your iPhone, iPod Touch or other music player" that I have not personally checked out.

Click on the image above to see a cool infographic from mint.com. "Pet Obssessed" gathers together a big ol' pile of stats to explain to us the "cost of cute." For example, "$1.5 billiion is spent on pet food every year. This is four times the amount spent on baby food."

Okay, but on the other hand, we don't have to spring for several years of college education a few years down the line, do we? Who's laughing now, eh? eh? On the other other hand, "39% of pet owners say they have more photos of their pet than of their spouse or significant other." erm. well. yes. guilty. You can laugh now. (My spouse is quite lovely and photogenic, actually -- he just complains too bitterly when I try to take photos of him begging and playing dead.)

For more statistical and infographical goodness, you can also check out 20 Crazy Facts About Pet Ownership in America.

by Tom Pappalardo. I love it. I just love names and nicknames for pets, and Flossie is such a great dog name -- full of personality, cute, quaint, sweet, easy for the dog to learn and understand (sticking to one or two syllables is usually best), and doesn't sound like anything else that might confuse her (a dog named "Seth" might become confused with the "sit" command; "Noah" might get confused with "No!" etc.).

But speaking of pet names, I have to mention this: I've looked at a lot of pet name generators and pet name lists, and recently came upon a fairly unique one. Pet-o-licious Namerator is a World of Warcraft pet name generator to help gamers to name their WoW game pets.

You can find names both silly and serious (serious in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game sense, at any rate) for cats, dogs, bats, wolves, moths, wasps, crabs, "spirit beasts," "warp stalkers," "ravagers," and more. Need a silly name for a spider? The generator suggests Lollipop, Bluestar, Scuttlebutt, Waterspout, Tickle, Spinnerz, Nuzzle, and Icanhazfly. My next pet spiders are def being named Scuttlebutt and Tickle.

But I also found a great name for a cat here:  Luxray! Oh yeah. Love it. 50 Nicknames for My Imaginary Cat Luxray: Lux, Luxie, DeLux, Luxomatic, Luxolicious, Raygun, RayRay, FayWray, SprayRay, RuxLay... never mind me, I'll be at this for a while...

And our award goes to... Puff and Puppet, perfect pals:



Can you guess which one is "Puff"? Hint: the lizard is a Bearded Dragon. I love these adorable little buddies. Elsewhere on YouTube, another Bearded Dragon cross-species relationship is proving a bit more complicated: Puppy is eager to play with Beardy, but Beardy is having none of it:



Awww.

HUMAN FELINE ALLERGIES ARE CAUSED BY A PROTEIN SECRETED BY CATS ONTO THEIR FUR; PHOTO BY KEVIN STEELE

Good news for allergic cat lovers (I'm one!): researchers in the U.K. have developed a vaccine they are calling "ToleroMune Cat" that "provides long-term protection against the itching, sneezing and watering eyes that cats cause in up to one in 10 people... Early trials suggest the product is safe, effective and lasts longer than current treatments, which can also have serious side-effects." Unfortunately, at the moment it seems that the vaccine will require four to eight injections a year, though scientists hope to develop a longer-lasting alternative. Here's Science Daily's article on the vaccine.

One thing that hasn't been revealed about this study: cats independently developed this peptide immunotherapy solution decades ago, but never told us, despite it obviously being in their best interest to do so. Why not, you may ask? This may help explain: Why Cats Are Not Doctors. It's true. They just don't make good doctors.

PHOTO VIA SANDYPAWSSLEDDOGCLUB.COM

What a great idea for owners of Siberian Huskies and other sled dogs! The Sandy Paws Sled Dog Club of Tampa Bay is a social group that meets on the third Saturday of the month from 3-5 pm usually at Freedom Lake Park for all sorts of activities -- including sled pulling.

According to an article in the St. Petersburg Times, the group uses a wheeled practice sled to accomplish its no-snow mushing: "[Club coordinator Peggy] Wright bought the harnesses and ropes from a sledding equipment store and bought the sled used. In colder climates, people use the wheeled practice gig to train during the summer. Wright uses the sled throughout the year and organizes events, such as dressing up on Halloween or taking pictures with Santa for Christmas. She also collects donations for shelters at meetings. Wright's Siberian huskies, Minka, 7, and Bear, 3, and many others in the club were rescued. Most are from the Siberian Husky Rescue or Heidi's Legacy Dog Rescue."

The club includes over 100 members and their Siberian Huskies, Malamutes, Alaskan Sled Dogs, Akitas, Klee Kais, mixes, and more, and its members describe themselves as "a group of sled dog lovers interested in meeting other sled dog lovers in the Tampa Bay area for doggie playdates as well as getting involved in our surrounding communities by volunteering to offer education and a helping hand to schools, shelters and rescues and each other." You can view more photos of the group on their site.

The schedule at MeetUp.com shows all the club's upcoming gatherings. Tomorrow (Sat., March 12), for example, the crew will be participating in the Seminole Pow Wow Parade, so it's a good chance to spot them in action in a fun setting, but otherwise, join them at Freedom Lake Park, 9990 46th St. in Pinellas Park on each third Saturday afternoon. (More info about the Pow Wow Parade and Festival here.)

Yes, it's one of those Some-Arbitrary-Number-of-Things posts! We love those, right? Or maybe we just have short-attention-span syndrome? Either way, here are some things I saw, and their number is 7:
Have you ever felt guilty about putting a silly hat on your pet? Observe New, Improved Guilt-Free Kitty:



Posted the Friday before the Super Bowl: 6 Animals Pick Predict Super Bowl Winner. Turns out they were nearly unanimous. Did they pick correctly? Hint: Yes!

And speaking of Bowls ... the most hilarious water bowl EVAR:

Sadly, it's sold out at the moment. I'm not a bit surprised. But it's billed as a Refilling Water Bowl, so perhaps they'll refill this product, and bring more joy to thirsty dogs and goofy owners everywhere.

Forbes on What Your Dog's Name Says About You (If you chose one of these 11 names, anyway; otherwise just assume your dog's name says you're super cool.) Also, Time looks at Westminster's silliest dog names, and their number is 6.

Winnipeg Humane Society's wonderfully zany Kitty Midnight Madness ad takes a tried-and-true approach to reducing inventory.

In an online conversation about the recent Westminster Dog Show (NYT photos here), someone linked to this rather amazing collection of images: Dog Breed Historical Pictures, with nearly 2,000 photos and illustrations, and pointed out how different the 1895 Poodle was from today's breed standard.

And finally, perhaps my favorite cat video of all time, the fearsome Stalking Cat:

SCOTTY VALENTINE VIA CALSIDYROSE ON FLICKR

♥ If vintage valentines make your heart sing (or mew or bark), you might want to go have a peek at some cute dog and cat themed cards from the Vintage Valentine Museum blog. ♥ And from Jacque Davis on Flickr you can get this cute, easy origami puppy valentine, either colored or black and white to color in. ♥ For all sorts of cute pet valentine photos, Flickriver's virtually endless stream should keep you well entertained today.

♥ From Catsparilla, you won't want to miss the insanely adorable 21 Cats with Fur Hearts, ♥ or this Youtube video of way-cute Heart-Kun, the famous Japanese puppy born with a heart-shaped birth mark on his fur.

♥ Plus, one very loving thing you can do for Valentine's Day:

Send Hugs ($5) and Kisses ($10) to the homeless pets at the Tampa Bay Humane Society. 

♥ And since February is Pet Dental Health Month, show your pets your true love by scheduling them for a dental checkup, and get them started on a home dental cleaning routine. This video from the American Veterinary Medical Association shows you how:



I love this guy -- I wish he were my dentist. :)

♥ Finally, in case you didn't know, the Westminster Kennel Club 135th Annual Dog Show takes place today and tomorrow in Madison Square Gardens; info for broadcast viewing is here. If you heart dog shows, you should love this.

SUBTITLED: Yes, This is Really How I Spend My Time


So, I came across this British site selling gift cards called "Famous Faces," with pets standing in for a variety of pop cult figures, but without saying which pop figures they are ... which, of course -- irresistible, right? (no? just me?) Most of them were pretty easy to decipher, but I was completely stuck on this guy, titled "Magic," and not 100% sure of the last one, titled "Wag." So I started searching around. I figured that if I was intrigued, other people would be, too ... which led me to this Live Journal site in Russian that shows many of these "famous" pets alongside their real life counterparts, which is where I found the Amy Winehouse combo above. However, since my Russian is a little rusty, I didn't gather much more information except that I was seeing a lot of images that weren't included on the original gift cards page. So, I searched some more, and came across a site in Portuguese featuring some of the pics I saw on the Russian site. Sadly, my Portuguese is also a little rusty, but I did recognize the word "calendar." A breakthrough!

Armed with the name of the site selling the gift cards, plus the word "pets" and the word "calendar," I discovered that the shop had created a great "Pets Rock" 2010 calendar featuring pets as famous rock stars, and I found all 12 photos in this Telegraph gallery. Way cute, no? And I love that all the photos were shot in a relaxed atmosphere right in the homes of the featured furkind. To solve the mystery of the fez fellow (and any other of the "famous faces" you might not have recognized), plus hear about an odd coincidence, read on...

Meet Jilli, the cutest little interactive doggy ever! Type in your commands, and Jilli will perform them -- if she knows how. She even understands different words for some commands, and will never puke, bite, or do her business on the floor (even if you ask her to -- guess how I know). Try all the commands you can think of, and see how many you can get. My favorite is a word that is also the name of a famous outrageous rock band of the 70s that always wore full-face black and white makeup. There are also at least a couple of "secret" tricks Jilli knows. Once you've exhausted your doggy command lexicon, click through to see if there were any you missed (or any that I did), and find out two more cute tricks Jilli knows...