Lady Margaret Flack contacted me today to notify me of a petition she has started on the Downing Street website. You can find it at this link http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Puppy-Farming/

There is a lot of change going on in the British dog world at the moment, and for the most part people hold wildly differing and strongly voiced opinions. Surely the one thing that unites all dog lovers is wanting the best quality of life possible for dogs. One of the key things we need to do to achieve that goal is to stamp out puppy farming.

This weekend’s episode of DogCast Radio – episode 76 – is now available. It includes the interview with Lady Margaret Flack that I talked about in the post, “Puppy farming in the UK”. It also includes an interview with David Frei, (http://www.davidfrei.com/) co-host of the National Dog Show sponsored by Purina. (http://www.nationaldogshow.com/)

They say politics is a dog eat dog business, but for President Bush’s dog Barney, it became a dog eat reporter affair.

You can see what happened on You Tube (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BQOG969hElQ&feature=related) when the Scottish Terrier decided he had had enough press attention. I don’t know about you, but when I watch that video what I see is a dog clearly giving off, “Don’t come near me signals.” The reporter ignored these at his peril.

I recently met my young niece’s boyfriend for the first time. I felt protective and wanted to establish that this young man was a suitable escort for my niece, but I didn’t want to come over as heavy handed and intrusive. What conversation could I have with him to set my mind at rest? What question should I ask to gain the measure of his character?
And then it came to me in a moment of inspiration.

“So,” I asked, “are you a dog person or a cat person?”