I tend to trust people and believe what they tell me. I don't think that's so bad. But when it comes to finding a new home for an animal, that is not a good time for trust. That is a time for suspicion and paranoia and extreme fact-checking. Don't ever take people's word for it when they say that they can give your animal a permanent home until you have seen for yourself where the animal will be living. Look how these dogs ended up:

They were handed over to a "no-kill" shelter in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and shunted into this outdoor pen that flooded every time it stormed, forcing them to live in ankle-deep water. The "shelter" is called All Creatures Great and Small (ACGS), inappropriately named after James Herriott's book about the experiences of a rural English veterinarian—because the dogs and cats at this particular facility didn't even get any veterinary care! I'll spare you the photos of all the untreated injuries and diseases that the inmates at this facility endured, but suffice it to say that even a dog with a crushed pelvis and a broken leg was forced to languish in pain all alone in a back room without any veterinary care.

How do we know all this? Because one of PETA's heroic (and I mean that literally) undercover investigators recently worked at this facility for seven months. Prior to the investigation, we had gotten complaint after complaint from people about the extreme crowding, the filth, the lack of access to drinking water, the lack of veterinary care, the lack of shelter from the elements, and on and on over the past decade.

The good news is that today, thanks to a lot of very hard work by PETA staff and many of our members and supporters, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is taking possession of the place and will start transferring the roughly 300 remaining inmates into the arms of reputable sheltering organizations after doing preliminary health and behavior assessments on the animals. (To find out how you can help pursue justice for those who have suffered at ACGS for so long, click here.) For these dogs and cats, the hellish nightmare is over. Finally, ACGS is going out of business!

Make time for the important things in life, like helping others.

“I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
— Stephen Grellet, 1773-1855, Quaker leader

Super Bowl Sunday always gets me thinking about priorities. I still don't understand why everyone gets so worked up over a GAME. Because that's all it really is—a game. A game played by a bunch of strangers whom most people will never meet. What's the big deal? Why do people become so obsessed about it? Well, it just goes to show that humans are very susceptible to obsession.

The big problem with obsessions is that they can take you away from what's important in life. An obsession can suck up all your time. That's OK if it's something worthwhile, but more often than not, it's something silly or meaningless or trivial. And how is that going to play when you arrive at those pearly gates and you're asked to account for your life's deeds? "Well, I spent every Sunday watching football," or "I spent most of my time shopping for clothes at the mall," or "In my spare time, I collected and traded frog figurines," isn't going to go over that well.

I mean, I totally get that we all need to escape the madhouse of life from time to time. (I do it by watching movies that I rent from Netflix.) But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about when the pursuit of happiness revolves around ME, ME, ME, with no thought for the bigger picture and what life is like for others who are less fortunate.

I really hesitated to write about this because I thought, "Everyone is going to think that I'm just a killjoy who wants to make everyone feel guilty" (which isn't true at all), but then, while walking on the beach yesterday (during the Super Bowl!), I met a woman who had all but given up her high-powered corporate attorney job in California to come to Norfolk, Virginia, to spend most of her workweek running a nonprofit organization that encourages literacy in children. She really inspired me! So I'm going to soldier on:

Each of us has only a limited number of days to live on this planet. There is an enormous amount of suffering going on throughout the world. With a little effort, each person can make a huge difference in the lives of needy animals or people. For those of us who were born into circumstances that helped us reach a secure and comfortable position in life, shouldn't we be reaching out to help those who were born into less fortunate circumstances or who have encountered great misfortune during their lives?

Personally, I feel an obligation to help others less fortunate than I am. For some reason, not everyone feels this way. But for those of you who are so inclined, I would ask you to reevaluate your lifestyle and see if you couldn't contribute just a few hours a week (or a few more hours a week) to helping animals or people. This is a dog blog, so I'm going to suggest that you go to your local SPCA or animal control facility and offer your services as a dog walker. You could also hold a yard sale or a bake sale to raise money for your local animal protection group. You could write letters to the editor about dog-related issues. You could help out the neglected dogs in your own neighborhood. There are a gazillion things that you can do on PETA's activist Web site, many of them dog-related.

As my new acquaintance from the beach said, once you start incorporating service into your life, you find that you become much happier. You learn how to recognize what's really important and what's not, so life becomes simpler. I couldn't agree more!

1987: Rogan wears homemade pantaloons to keep him from self-mutilating while his mange clears up.

I will be the first one to admit that dogs can look mighty cute when they are wearing clothing. I mean, just look at the attached photo. Does it get any cuter than that? That's Rogan in 1987. I actually made him that little yellow pantaloon in an effort to keep him from digging at his skin as a result of mange (he came from very unsavory beginnings and had just arrived). And you've already seen the results of our recent thermal underwear Chihuahua photo shoot. The cuteness factor was off the charts.

But these articles of clothing are functional. I do draw the line at uncomfortable clothing and clothing designed to make dogs look silly or otherwise poke fun at them. My colleague Bob sent me an article recently called, "Dog Owners Who Truly Love Dogs Don't Dress Them in Clothing," that includes numerous photos of dogs wearing outfits that are clearly designed to humiliate them. There's a get-up for a dachshund that looks like a hot dog (Get it? A hot dog! Yuk, yuk, yuk!). And there are fancy dresses and pig costumes for bulldogs and an uncomfortable-looking clown suit and on and on.

What is the motivation for dressing dogs in outfits just to make people laugh at them? I mean, the dogs have no clue why we're doing this to them, so it's clearly not for their benefit. I know, I know―I can hear the answer already: "They don't mind at all! They love it! They love being the center of attention!" Sometimes they do, and that's great. But it's much better if they're the center of attention because of their amazing abilities or their beauty or their plain sweetness. And anyway, it's not really so much what effect this mockery has on your dog that's important. It's what effect it has on you. Once you give yourself permission to make fun of your dog, a subtle shift takes place. Your respect for your dog falls a little. And even though "it's all in good fun" and your dog doesn't really even understand what's going on, a door has now been opened―the door to disdain and indifference.

There are other paths leading to this door as well. I often hear people making verbal fun of their own dogs―insulting them ("Oh, quit acting so stupid!"), disparaging them ("Oh, you're such a pain in the neck"), or saying that they'd better shape up or they're going to be sent back to the animal shelter. Why do people say such things to their dogs? Are they afraid to show affection for their dogs in front of other people? Do they really have such a low opinion of their own dog? I suppose it varies from individual to individual. But the one common thread is that these negative comments ultimately have a deleterious impact on the mindset of the human who utters them.

So here's a suggestion: Whisper sweet nothings to your dog, and if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Oh, yeah, and please lose the tight, itchy, scratchy, silly, humiliating, nonfunctional canine costumes. Fido will be ever so grateful.

Roxie: "Mutts are beautiful!"

The following is a guest post by my friend and esteemed colleague Alisa.

Next week, the dog world's biggest shindig, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, will descend on New York City with much fanfare and flying fur. Parts of the show will be broadcast live on TV; expect the camera to spend almost as much time panning to celebrity dog fanciers in the audience as it spends on the dogs. Commentators will breathlessly call the action as if something exciting were happening besides just primped dogs running in circles around Madison Square Garden accompanied by handlers in sensible shoes.

Westminster and other dog shows are simply overblown beauty pageants—nothing more, nothing less. So what if a dog wins. What does it mean? That she or he was having a really great hair day? How silly is that?

As trivial as dog shows are, they have repercussions that are dead serious. They create a culture of celebrity that is actually harmful to dogs. We can only guess how many families gathered around their TV sets will decide that they absolutely must have a dog exactly like the one named Best in Show. How many will rush out to buy a puppy from a pet shop or breeder without stopping to think about how much time, money, and effort puppies require? How many will then dump the puppy at the animal shelter six months later when that puppy cuteness has worn off but that puppy energy is still going full speed?

It is estimated that 6 to 8 million animals are abandoned at shelters every year and roughly half are euthanized. Most of these animals are young, healthy, and friendly (and approximately a third of them are purebreds). There is nothing "wrong" with mixed-breed shelter dogs. They are not "inferior" to the dogs you see prancing around the ring at Westminster—in fact, studies show that mixed breeds are often healthier and even smarter than purebreds. They simply lack Westminster's marketing muscle.

The Westminster Kennel Club, the American Kennel Club (AKC), and the various other kennel clubs are culpable in the deaths of shelter dogs. Not only do they promote and breed purebred dogs—taking away homes from shelter animals with every litter they bring into the world—they also actively fight efforts to combat the overpopulation crisis with spay/neuter legislation. The AKC even brags on its Web site about the role it played in tabling a groundbreaking California bill that would have required most animals statewide to be spayed or neutered (breeders could have paid a modest fee to be exempted) and that had the potential to save 500,000 animals from being abandoned and consequently euthanized every year.

Westminster may seem like good, clean family fun, but in reality, its message is that dogs are status symbols to be dressed up and shown off. But dogs are more than just a pretty face—they are our companions, our best friends. Imagine if, instead of fawning over dogs lucky enough to have a really good hairdresser and important-sounding “papers,” we started appreciating dogs for who they are—or who they could be if let out of that shelter cage long enough to strut their stuff. What if Westminster were renamed Westmuttster, and instead of promoting inbred show dogs with complicated hairdos and amputated tails and ears, it showcased homeless dogs up for adoption at local animal shelters? Now that would be something worth setting the Tivo for.

Dexter (not my Dexter) plants a kiss on PETA coworker Ben.

When it comes to love, dogs get it. They incorporate all the most important aspects of a loving relationship with ease:

Unconditional love
Forgiveness
Enthusiasm
Playfulness
Affection
Acceptance
Loyalty

So for our upcoming holiday of amore, Valentine's Day, I'd like to honor our dogs' superior capabilities in the love department by holding a contest. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me why you love your dog and what you do to show it. I will select the best answer (based on my own humble opinion) and announce the winner on Friday. The winner will receive a signed copy of Let's Have a Dog Party! by PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk, which I blogged about in October, and a six-pack of doggie heart toys, which contain both squeakers and crinklers (a big hit with my dogs!) from the House of Dog.

The deadline is Valentine's Day (this Thursday). I look forward to reading your heartwarming comments!

(By commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.)

Los Angelina Sophie: "Yippee! No puppies for me!"

(For those of you of tender years, No Sex, Please—We're British was a British comedy that came out in the early 1970s.) In any case, yesterday marked a very momentous occasion in the ongoing struggle to alleviate our nation's terrible companion animal overpopulation problem and its attendant death toll. The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 in favor of a spay/neuter ordinance that would require that all dogs and cats over the age of 4 months be spayed or neutered. It even comes with thousands of low-cost or no-cost vouchers for people of modest means. Los Angeles is the largest city in the United States to have passed such an ordinance.

It was a hard-fought and hard-won battle, chiefly because of opposition from—you guessed it—the breeders. Even though this ordinance contains seven different types of exemptions, including one for breeders (all they would have to do is pay $100, buy a city license, and have their dog microchipped), the breeding community fought it tooth and nail. Just one more example of how so many breeders really don't care about any dogs but their own (and even the breeders' own dogs don't fare too well when they've got long tails or ears that the breeders feel like chopping off).

Currently, Los Angeles euthanizes about 18,000 dogs and cats in its animal control facilities every year. This is just tragic, and I hope that this ordinance will go a long way toward shrinking that sad statistic. Let's hope, also, that this fabulous new ordinance will set a precedent for other large cities in our country. If you would like to help bring about that idyllic future sooner rather than later, please check out PETA's Animal Birth Control Campaign for lots of ways to help.

Determining the winner of the Valentine's Day contest announced on Monday was really tough! It was both heartwarming and thrilling to read about all the beautiful, loving relationships between dogs and the readers of this blog. But trying to narrow them down to just one winner finally proved impossible. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie! The winners are Nadia and Pal.

I chose both Nadia and Pal because their entries epitomized unconditional love. In Pal's case, she loves her dogs in spite of their infirmities, and in Nadia's case, she loves her dogs in spite of their many misdeeds (mainly chewing!). When I think of all the dogs who are unceremoniously dumped or euthanized for far lesser reasons, I know the world would be a much better place if there were more Nadias and Pals in it who radiate patience and tolerance and who really know what's important in life (love and compassion).

Here is Nadia's entry:

Rocky, Snuggles, and Grizzly―does it get any cuter?

"I love all three of my four-legged companions equally with all my heart: Grizzly (Rottweiler/Labrador), Rocky (golden retriever/Labrador), and Snuggles (tabby). They are the loves of my life as I believe I am theirs! No furniture is off limits! (Thank goodness for sofa covers!) We were meant to be together. They are the reason I checked out PETA's Web site and from the next day became a vegetarian! I love all animals and can't ever imagine what unwanted animals or factory-farm animals go through. I just look at my companions' eyes, and to see their compassion, understanding, and love through their eyes, I don't know how people hurt animals! Between the very expensive vet bills, the one year of clothing destroyed, the three sofa sets I have changed in the last five years, the electronics I had to rewire, the list goes on and on, I will NEVER abandon them for any reason in the world. They help me take care of myself through exercise (I walk them every night for at least an hour and half), and I try to be the best mom in the world! Apparently, I am hard to beat, according to my family and friends! We help each other find our way! I can't imagine my life without them."

And here is Pal's entry:

The late MillyBully benefited from Pal's kindness after having been dumped out of a car at a busy intersection when she was already at an advanced age.

"I have spinal cord problems that affect all four limbs. I walk on a rolling walker, wear bilateral hand braces and occasionally leg braces as well. My body is covered by numerous surgical scars and my mobility is limited. Humans look at me that way, too―seeing the DISability before the incredible heart. My life revolves around my rescued dogs, most of [whom] are (like me) 'special needs.' If I were in a shelter, I would be a 'throwaway' or the first on the euthanasia list. But in my dogs' eyes, I am disABLEd, I am PERFECT. It doesn't matter if my hands shake, as long as they stroke the fear or pain away. I see perfection when others see blindness, deafness, old age, abuse, or neglect. Every day of their lives, they thank me for giving them a loving, adoring forever home ... and every day, I thank God that I was chosen for them."

Please join me in congratulating our two winners! And for those of you who didn't win this particular prize, there are other contests in the pipeline. Besides, if you love your dogs as much as you seem to, you're always a winner!

Nui and Ellie: "Dogs just wanna have fun!"

(For you youngsters, that was the title of a classic Twilight Zone episode from 1962 in which a book called To Serve Man, owned by a spaceship full of aliens, turned out to be a cookbook.) Anyway, I've received a lot of comments critical of my original blog post about service dogs, which surprised me but probably shouldn't have, since people are always going to defend what they are already doing. Many of the comments were very similar, as if they were all in response to a single e-mail message telling the recipient to send in a comment and "make the following points."

Basically, they were all a variation on the points listed below (I'm including my response below each one):

1. I'm offended.

I'm sorry that I offended some people. That was not my intent. My intent was simply to raise some questions about the ethics of making dogs serve humans.

2. You need to do more research.

No amount of research or personal interviews is going to change my opinion of the basic premise of service dogs: that it's OK to make dogs serve us. I simply disagree with that on a fundamental, ethical level. I think that dogs are like children, in that they should not have to labor or earn their keep.

3. I have a guide dog/I am a puppy raiser/I train guide dogs.

Everyone who wrote in to criticize my blog post seemed either to have a guide dog or to be a guide dog trainer or puppy raiser. Obviously, people are going to defend what they are already doing, and no one who mistreats a guide dog is going to write in and tell me about it. But when someone criticizes the status quo, as I have done, it can be illuminating and enlightening for people engaged in the criticized behavior to take a step back and to try to look at their own actions with an open mind and an open heart, just to see if there may be some validity to the criticism. This is a good opportunity to do that. I've certainly had to rethink my own position on this subject in light of the negative comments that I've received.

4. Guide dogs are trained with positive reinforcement, and handlers are even taught to massage them.

It's great that some dogs are being taught with positive reinforcement. Not all are, though—one of my coworkers visited a school that trains guide dogs for the blind fairly recently, and she said that they were using choke chains to train the dogs.

5. My guide dog leads a cushy life and has lots of toys.

6. My dog doesn't have to work when we're at home.

7. My dog just sleeps when we go to the office or school.

All of those things are excellent. I'm very happy to hear that, and I would be very happy if it were true of all service dogs.

8. My dog gets to be with me all the time, which is way better than most companion dogs have it.

I totally agree with this.

9. I keep my retired guide dogs.

It's fabulous that some people are keeping their retired dogs—I'm all for that. But it sounds like the dog's future is often left up to the discretion of the blind person, which means that some dogs get to stay put while others have to move on. For the dogs who have to move on, this can be a big adjustment, especially for an older dog, even if the new family is very nice and well known to the retired dog, as in the case of my Rowdy, who was given to me when he was 7. He was depressed for months, even though he already knew and loved me.

10. There is a miles-long waiting list of people who want to adopt retired guide dogs or dogs who don't succeed as guide dogs.

If everyone on that list were to instead adopt a shelter dog, they would make a significant dent in the homeless dog population. Just because a dog has had guide dog training doesn't make the dog better than a shelter dog—any more than going through Army boot camp makes a human better than a person who hasn't had military training.

11. I know lots of people with guide dogs and they all treat them wonderfully.

That's great, and I'm happy to hear it. But I don't think anyone can vouch for the entire industry.

12. Your idea about enlisting people instead of using dogs is really stupid.

In 1993, I sustained a very serious neck injury and almost became a quadriplegic. By the time I had disc surgery, I was having trouble walking and using my arms. I was in a neck brace for seven weeks, preventing me from driving and from walking my dogs. But people helped me. My coworkers walked my dogs for me. A friend took me Christmas shopping. My ex brought me groceries and work from the office. And even if the disability had become permanent, I would never have dreamed of forcing a dog to serve me. People seem to think that they would not be independent if they had a human aide but that they would be independent if they had a dog. To me, this sounds like they're viewing the dog as something akin to a wheelchair or a cane rather than as a living being. I don't really understand why it would be so horrible to depend on another human being but not horrible to depend on a dog.

13. The relationship between the guide dog and the blind person is a "partnership," and the guide dog enjoys working and isn't being forced to work.

A partnership can be defined as "a cooperative relationship between individuals or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving some specific goal." The problem with calling the relationship between the guide dog and the blind person a "partnership" is that the dog never got the opportunity to agree to it. There's no way of knowing whether a dog would have chosen such a lifestyle, so it's a bit patronizing to call it a partnership. Even though it's true that many dogs enjoy working—I've even written about this—dogs are also known for their stoicism, patience, tolerance of less-than-ideal situations, and eagerness to please even abusive owners, so I don't know that dogs' behavior is necessarily a good barometer of their true feelings about their lifestyle.

14. There may be some rare cases where dogs are mistreated.

Numerous people commented that there are some blind people who don't handle their dogs well and some guide dog training facilities that don't use good methods. I don't think we're going to hear from people who are mistreating guide dogs, so we may have a skewed picture. I'm told that applicants for guide dogs are carefully screened, but do they get screened for anger management issues? Also, what about blind people who will never be good at dog training? In my experience, most people aren't very good at it—they may have lousy timing or be inconsistent or too heavy-handed. Will they still get a dog?

I guess what bothers me the most about service dogs is that the main reason why blind or disabled people adopt them is primarily a selfish one—to get the assistance that they need. Their primary reason is not to give a dog a good home. Many of these people might not even like dogs or respect them. So it all goes back to my basic argument: When dogs are being used to perform a service, their needs are going to be secondary to the needs of the person who requires the service. It's much, much easier to exploit a dog than it is to exploit another human being because dogs can't talk, so the dog is in a vulnerable spot, completely at the mercy of the handler. You may say that all dogs are in that position, including companion animals, but the difference is that companion animals are normally adopted in order to provide the dog with a good home (or they should be), whereas service dogs are adopted first and foremost for the purpose of performing a service.

Finally, I'd just like to say that my misgivings about the breeding and genetic manipulation of service dogs have not been alleviated one iota by the comments that came in on this topic. Quite the contrary. I find it repulsive that people would even look at dogs that way—as organisms that can be shaped and molded into the perfect servant. People who work toward that goal are treating dogs like commodities, not living, breathing, feeling fellow Earthlings.

Chained dogs need belly rubs too!

The following is a guest post from my esteemed colleague Amanda.

Every winter, PETA sends staffers who volunteer their time into low-income neighborhoods in our area to provide creature comforts for lonely, forgotten "outside" dogs. Each weekend, we load up our cargo vans with straw, tie-outs and harnesses to replace heavy chains, food, and other necessities. Since Southeastern Virginia isn't the only place chained dogs are suffering, I hope those of you who have the time and the resources (it doesn't take much of either) will consider doing the same in your own neighborhoods. Here's how:

Identify an appropriate vehicle. PETA's rescue vans are ideal, but SUVs, trucks, and minivans will also do the trick. If you don't own a vehicle with lots of room, rent or borrow one for the day.

Purchase some heavy-duty garbage bags and several bales of straw from a feed 'n' seed store. You will only need about one-third of a bale to fill a doghouse, and your outreach will be much easier if you divide the bale into thirds and stuff them individually into garbage bags before you load them into your vehicle. Bonus: No messy cleanup of the interior of your vehicle! (The reason why straw is better than blankets is because blankets absorb moisture and can get soggy or even frozen. Also, dogs love to make nests in straw by digging in it and fluffing it up.) Other helpful items include shovels and rakes, large containers of water, bowls, treats, toys, and tie-outs. What you bring with you will depend on how much money you can spend. If you're on a budget, don't feel bad—a neglected dog will appreciate any effort on your part.

Identify a target area. You might even consider calling your local animal control officers to ask if they know of any neighborhoods with a high number of chained dogs. Drive your rescue vehicle very slowly (with the windows down and the radio off) through these areas so that you can see and hear the dogs. When you find one, pull over and knock on the front door of the house. Explain that you are giving away free straw for outside dogs and ask if they would like some. If they say yes, offer to put it in the doghouse yourself (as long as the dog isn’t aggressive). That way, the straw will definitely make it into the doghouse (people have been known to just let it sit, unopened). Take your rake or shovel with you so that you can clean up any feces or debris in the animal’s living space.

A Few Helpful Tips

•Ask an animal-loving friend or family member to join you.

•Be friendly to the dogs' owners. You may not feel like being polite and smiling at someone who treats a loving dog like a piece of trash, but if you knock on someone's door with a chip on your shoulder, you will be asked to leave—without being allowed to help the dog.

•Don’t trespass. If you get permission to visit with the dog, that's ideal. But if no one is home, you can leave a bag of straw on their front porch with a note (or a preprinted flier to save time) explaining what it's for. Don't put the flier in their mailbox—that's a felony.

•Always ask if a dog is friendly before approaching.

•Remind people that outside dogs need to take in more calories in the winter because they're burning more to stay warm.

•Carry a cell phone and call animal control if you see an animal whose neglect borders on cruelty. Write down the address and provide as much information as possible so they can respond quickly.

•Keep a record of all the addresses you visit with a description of each animal’s situation so that you can recheck later if possible.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll find that this kind of "extracurricular activity" is extremely rewarding. The gratitude on dogs' faces when they get some warm straw to snuggle in or a toy to play with is enough to warm your heart for a very long time.

When their mom passed away, Sophie and Ernie found themselves without a home. They were lucky, though―their mom's granddaughter-in-law came to their rescue and adopted them.

Life is short, unfortunately, but worse yet—we don't know how short, and there's no way to know for sure. You can adopt a "Que sera, sera" attitude, but if you have any dependents, including dogs, you may want to think long and hard about what might happen to them if you should suddenly keel over or be in a fatal car accident.

There's no point in being morbid about it—but it does pay to be prepared. Just the thought of an animal control agency scooping up my beloved pooches and placing them in a home that I might not approve of or separating the ones who love each other gives me a panicky feeling. But there's no need to worry about it at all if you plan ahead for the worst-case scenario.

Luckily, PETA's got you covered. We just launched a new Web feature that gives you all the ins and outs of planning for your animals' future on the off-chance that you happen not to be in it. It's called "Planning for Your Beloved Animal Companions." Through this site, you can order a comprehensive "Companion Animal Planning Packet" that includes a booklet with more detailed information, an emergency wallet card with space for information about your animal companions, three emergency animal care instruction sheets for friends or neighbors who could come and take care of your animals in an emergency, and "Please Save Our Animals" stickers for your front and back doors.

Approaching friends or relatives to ask them to become your dog's guardian in case of your demise is something that you can't do after you're dead, so you want to get this done in the present moment. You also don't want to just secretly name them in your will as your dogs' new guardians and hope for the best, because even good friends and close family members might not be able to accept that enormous responsibility. And if they refuse it, you won't be around to come up with a Plan B. So make arrangements now. And put them in writing.

Wills aren't just for rich people who can afford to leave a lot of money to someone. When you're gone, your dogs are going to need a new home no matter how much or how little money you had, and now is the best time to figure out where and with whom that home should be and to include that information in your will.

Also, write down all the things that Fluffy loves and hates and is accustomed to. That way, her new guardian won't have to start from scratch. She'll continue to get to eat her favorite foods, enjoy scratches in all the right places, and engage in her favorite activities and games. This will go a long way toward easing the transition.

It should be said, though, that for a very old, very ill, very nervous, or very unsocialized animal who would likely suffer a lot going through such a transition, euthanasia might be a kinder option. I don't say that lightly, because I always tend to hold onto hope and try to be optimistic. But I don't think it's fair, looking at it from the animal's point of view, to force a dog into a frightening new situation in which there is very little chance of a successful adjustment and a strong likelihood of prolonged and intense grief. There is nothing on this Earth more heart-wrenching than a grieving dog.

Rogan, Druzhok, and Koro chow down (circa ~1989).

What are you having for dinner tonight? Spinach-mushroom lasagne with garlic bread? Pesto sauce served over angel hair pasta? Grilled Cajun portobellos with avocado crème? Japanese eggplant skewers with red curry coconut sauce? Mmmm! Or maybe you're going out to eat at the Olive Garden or PF Chang's or TGI Friday’s. Yum! … And what about Fido? What's he having for dinner? Oh ... dry kibble. The same kind he had yesterday? Hmmm. I bet he's thrilled with that.

I'm not really enamoured of kibble―I can tell you that much. I haven't fed my dogs kibble in more than 15 years. With regard to the nutritional value of kibble, it's denatured, overly processed, often full of fillers, and just plain dry. Plus, as soon as you open that bag, any oils in the food start to go rancid, so about 48 hours later, you've got important fats that are turning against Fido instead of benefiting him. But there's another reason to ditch the dry food: It's just so excruciatingly boring, night after night, day after day―the same old same old. Don't believe it when so-called "experts" tell you that you have to be cautious about varying your dog's diet. It's just the opposite. Dogs who eat the same thing year after year often develop an allergy to the protein in the food or some kind of deficiency. Variety is the spice of your dog's life just as it is yours. You can give Fido something different at each meal. I've been doing this with my dogs for the past five years, and I can vouch for the fact that not a one of them has suffered any dire consequences―not even gas.

You can accomplish this either by buying dog food in cans, which allows you to select a wide variety to have on hand, or by making your own dog food (there are oodles of recipes online as well as entire dogfood cookbooks).

I know, some people are feeding their dogs a "special" diet. But that special diet was formulated as a single product for the mass market―that doesn't mean that there can't be other versions of it. Do your homework. Go online and find out what's in it and why it's "special" and how you could replicate it using other types of food. Be sure to check with your vet to make sure you're on the right track.

At the very least, you could spice things up by offering your dog some fun, delicious, and nutritious side dishes or "desserts." Here are a few suggestions just off the top of my head:

•Veggies sautéed in olive oil

•Chunks of baked yam

•Mashed bananas with a little flaxseed oil and spirulina mixed in

•Raw veggies processed in a food processor with a little water and nutritional yeast

•Steamed green beans mixed with shredded coconut

•Some whole wheat pasta mixed with a little tomato sauce

•A bowl of salt-free vegetable broth with peas floating in it

•Steamed veggies drizzled with coconut oil

•A small bowl of brown rice and chick peas sprinkled with ground-up peanuts

•A bowl of steamed broccoli or cauliflower

•A whole carrot (or a baby carrot for the tiny dogs)

Your dog will be delighted!

(Do stay away from onions, avocados, chocolate, grapes, and raisins, though, which are all harmful to dogs. And please leave out the junk―sugar, salt, hydrogenated oils, white flour―the same things that are junk for you.)

Former foster dog Chandler is completely comfortable in his booties now and loves not having to get his feet wet.

It's always something, isn't it? The latest way that we're poisoning our planet (that I've heard of) is by spreading toxic road salt all over our snowy roads. We all know that when our dogs come indoors after walking on salted wintry sidewalks or roads, we had better wipe their feet or they'll do the job with their tongues, and this could give them an upset stomach. But it turns out that that road salt usually contains a potent deleterious ingredient that can do much more harm than that―like cause cancer. It's called "ferrocyanide" and it's used as an anti-caking agent. The problem with it is that it breaks down into various other forms of cyanide, which can promote cancer by activating carcinogens.

In 2004, three dogs on one street in Ottawa who often walked together all died of lymphoma quite suddenly probably as a result of ingesting this toxin, according to their veterinarian. One of the people whose dog died, Mark Watson, decided to make it his business to come up with an alternative to toxic road salt, and that's exactly what he did. He formed Earth Innovations, Inc., and researched and traveled around until he was able to find a safe alternative to conventional road salts. He calls his product Ecotraction, and it's made from a harmless green volcanic mineral. Rather than melting ice, Watson's product creates a "traction zone." In addition to preventing the tragic deaths of unsuspecting dogs, his nontoxic product will also spare wildlife and plant life that suffers from the conventional salt applications. In fact, it's so good for plant life that you can grow plants in it or even spread it on your lawn. An added bonus: It doesn't cause cars to rust.

Watson is trying to promote the use of Ecotraction by both consumers and government agencies. So far, he has all the Home Depot stores in Canada selling it. The wheels of government turn slowly, but at least in 2001 Environment Canada and Health Canada's assessment report stated that "road salts that contain inorganic chloride salts with or without ferrocyanide salts are 'toxic' as defined in Section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999)." So the Canadian government does officially consider the road salts toxic even without the ferrocyanide salts in them. Yet almost seven years later, there are still no regulations prohibiting the use of these toxic salts on the roadways.

We're in the same boat in the United States, only worse. We use even more road salt than the Canadians do―about 10 million tons per year to Canadians' 5 million. If you'd like to find out how you can order Ecotraction in bulk for your own home or neighborhood use, call 1-888-293-3406 to speak with someone at Earth Innovations or e-mail info@earthinnovations.ca (and include your postal or zip code).

In the meantime, I ran across another article featuring a different danger to pooch paws. This one is about police dogs in Düsseldorf, Germany, who often find themselves at risk of having their paws bloodied as a result of broken glass on the streets. In certain parts of town and on certain holidays, outdoor beer drinkers carelessly drop their empties on the pavement, resulting in dangerous glass shards. So the police department went online and did some shoe shopping for their canine "partners." Similar boots are available in the U.S., too, as well as online, so if you live in a part of the country that puts salt down on the roads, you might want to consider having your dog don a four-pack of booties before you go out.

I bought booties for my dog Rowdy last summer for a very different reason. He had developed a sore on his foot that he couldn't stop obsessively licking and it was getting worse and worse. Seeing no improvement after a couple of rounds of chiropractic adjustments and holistic topical treatments, which normally do the trick in short order, I went to my neighborhood conventional vet for the "big guns." There, I was told that Rowdy had to wear an Elizabethan collar if his foot was ever going to heal.

In an Elizabethan collar, Rowdy would have been unable to use the doggie door. Plus, when I first put one on him, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights―so pathetic and terrified that I instantly took it back off and apologized to him. "There's got to be a better way," I thought. And there was: Although he did rip through a number of booties (I had to buy two four-packs), he kept them on long enough to give his foot the time it needed to heal.

Molly in one of her many quiet moments

The following is a guest post by my friend and colleague Liesel.

A few weeks ago, I was at a party where many of the guests were trading stories about their dogs. It was a fun conversation until one of the guests said he was considering using shock collars on his dogs in order to quell their barking. They were indoor dogs, and apparently the slightest noise outside would provoke a barking spell lasting for several minutes.

I politely expressed my disappointment that he was considering using pain to fix a situation that could be remedied by pleasure instead.

I told him about my experience with my dog, Molly, and her penchant for "protecting" my officemates and me. Normally, she would just chill out and keep us company during the workday, but whenever anyone walked through the office hallway past our door, she would bark loud enough to wake the dead.

Fortunately, I found a solution that worked beautifully. Molly loooooooooooves food. So I kept a small cup of kibble on my desk, and whenever I heard someone walking down the hall, I immediately tossed a handful of kibble to Molly. As soon as she stopped barking and started eating the kibble on the floor, I would say, "Good quiet girl!" It only took one day for her to catch on. From there on out, whenever someone walked past our door, rather than shouting to the rafters, Molly would trot quietly over to my desk to receive a tasty morsel and praise for being a "good quiet girl."

Now that I work from home, Molly has a new barking trigger: Sada, the dog next door. Whenever Sada starts barking, Molly feels the urge to join in. But with a few modifications, the problem has been fixed using the same concept.

I took some lidded containers that make a loud noise when filled with kibble (or other treats) and shaken. Empty margarine tubs or round oatmeal cartons work well. I keep a container in each room so that no matter where I am in the house, when Sada starts barking I can quickly grab a container, shake it, and prevent Molly from joining in by distracting her. As soon as she hears the shaking noise, she comes running for a treat. Quiet Molly―happy me!

I made this suggestion to the person at the party, and I hope he gives it a try. Why punish our four-legged friends for doing what comes naturally?