In the spirit of February and the impending V Day…….here are 10 reasons why having a dog (or cat, bird, lizard, any other pet) is better: 

• They don’t or won’t expect flowers, expensive jewelry, lingerie, what have you…..they don’t expect anything (but a treat or new toy would be sweet).
• They will watch whatever movie you want ........just as long as they are snuggled next to you.
• They are totally happy to see you no matter how you look, whether you are late or if you went out, had a little much to drink, came home and said or did some stupid things.
• They will pretty much like whatever you try to cook, lick their plate clean and won’t tell you if it was awful.
• They won’t hold a grudge (at least not for very long).
• They will listen to you for hours without interrupting and will act like whatever you are saying is the most interesting and intelligent thing in the whole world.
• They will limit their time in the bathroom to a quick drink (if that’s their thing) and will never use all the hot water.
• They don’t really care about previous dogs, cats, birds, animals in your life, or even previous significant other people in your life.
• Their parents will never come to visit.
• And number one, you can see in their eyes they adore you and if they could speak, they would say “I love you!”

1. Gather presents, boxes, paper, etc. in middle of living room floor.

2. Get tape back from younger dog.

3. Remove wrapping from older dog's mouth.

4. Open box.

5. Lift younger dog out of box.

6. Remove tape from older dog's mouth.

7. Take scissors away from younger dog.

8. Put present in box.

9. Grab ribbons back from parrots.

10. Remove present from younger dog's mouth.

11. Put present back in box.

12. Take scissors from older dog and sit on them.

13. Remove younger dog from box and put on lid.

14. Take tape away from older dog.

15. Unroll paper.

16. Take both dogs OFF box.

17. Cut paper being careful not to cut younger dog's nose that is getting in the way as she "helps."

18. Let older dog tear remaining paper.

19. Take younger dog off box again.

20. Wrap paper around box.

21. Remove younger dog from box & remove wrapping paper from mouth.

22. Tell older dog to fetch the tape so he will stop stealing it.

23. Take tape older dog is holding.

24. Quickly tape one spot before taking scissors from older dog & sitting on them again.

25. Fend off younger dog trying to steal tape & tape another spot.

26. Take ribbons and bows from parrots again.

27. Go get roll of wrapping paper both dogs ran off with.

28. Take scissors from older dog who took them when you got up.

29. Give pen to older dog to hold so he stops licking your face.

30. Remove younger dog from present & hurriedly slap tape on to hold the paper on.

31. Take now shredded ribbons and bow from parrots & tape on since the sticky stuff no longer sticks.

32. Take pen from older dog, address tag & affix while younger dog tries to eat pen.

33. Grab present before both dogs open it & put it away.

34. Clean up mess both dogs made playing tug-of-war with remnants of wrapping paper.

35. Hang remaining ribbons & bows in parrots cages.

36. Put away rest of wrapping supplies & tell the dogs what good helpers they are.

 **HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL AND TO ALL PETS A GOOD LIFE**

When I did the story on Chase & Cera (Spot Oct. 09), I knew that all her four-legged babies were girls. Somehow in the editing process, Smokey turned into a “he.”  I heard that Smokey forgives me and is okay with it.  That’s what they do . . . forgive & forget, only one of thousands of tiny qualities that makes dogs so special.  Thank you, sweet girl!

I had the pleasure of meeting Smokey a few weeks ago at the Seaside NW Challenge Championships.  She is 13 years young and beautiful.  Her kisses are precious, so if you ever happen to see her at an event or somewhere, be sure to grab not just one of them.  She will gladly dole them out for as long as you like.  Her kisses are priceless….good enough to be worth any price. 

Cera just got back from the 2009 Dock Dog Nationals with her little E (Elsie May-Chase’s grandpup).  Chase Away K9 Cancer was the beneficiary of this year’s 2009 DockDogs Jump-A-Thon, wherein teams collected pledges for their top jump scores at the championship held October 16-18 in Ohio.  Cera & Elsie May alone raised $10k of the $50k raised over the weekend in one of the biggest fundraisers to date for Chase Away K9 Cancer.   All the donations go to the American College of Veterinary Medicine directly supporting studies focused on canine cancer. 

 Yay!  You rock, Cera & Elsie May!