This being the Memorial weekend holiday, I did a great deal of pet sitting over the past week. As a professional pet sitter and dog walker I see a lot of unusual and sometimes disturbing things when I visit clients' homes. What I noticed this time around, was that a lot of pet parents do not clean their dogs and cats water and food bowls on a regular basis. Some of the dishes that the pets were expected to eat  from were so encrusted with old food, etc. that it took me a great deal of time with steel wool, hot water and non-toxic soap, to get them clean again.

May 19th is Armed  Forces Day and Memorial Day is coming up soon. It is the perfect time to honor our military dogs.  

In order to better recognize the contributions of America's military dogs, the ASPCA has introduced Bill S2134, the "Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act." This Act will reclassify Military Working Dogs as "canine members of the armed forces" instead of "equipment" and will institute programs to assure their health and well-being after retirement from service- all without using federal funds.

The month of May isPet Cancer Awareness Monthand I want to  ensure all  dog and cat owners are making themselves knowledgeable about the scope of this disease. Sadly, I lost one of my kitties to lymphoma a couple of months ago. It is hard to talk to a pet owner these days without them having experienced cancer in their pets lives at one time or another.

Cancer is particularly prevalent in canines. One out of three dogs will get some form of cancer in their lifetime and one out of two dogs over the age of 10, will die from it.

As you all know by now, I am a huge animal advocate and a proponent of adopt, adopt, adopt. Even if you want a purebred dog; even if you want a puppy; please go to the shelters and rescue groups first. It is a fact that 25% of the dogs that end up in shelters are purebreds. However, if you still insist on getting your puppy from a breeder, then for goodness sake go to a reputable one. How will you know? Look for the following:

While volunteering at the San Diego Humane Society's "Walk for the Animals" last Saturday I came across the booth for P2V. I had no idea what they were about and stopped to find out. What I learned blew me away. P2V.org is an organization providing animals to assist military in coping with the emotional stress of deployments, post traumatic stress disorder and other problems many of our veterans and active military encounter.Their mission is "to alleviate the psychological suffering of our nation's heroes and to reduce the number of shelter animals in the U.