Some wonderful (and weird) ways to remember your pet

 
It's something I don't like to think about but I know it's true, one day I'll have to say goodbye to my furless family. I wish we could all go to that big all-you-can-eat treat buffet in the sky at the same time but no soap.

So I thought I'd help my pack out by researching some of the many ways they can remember me while at the same time help themselves deal with their broken human hearts. Some of these ideas are sweet, some are unique and some are downright weird...

Ways to memorialize your pet

Create a website to honor your pet's life. Great example: My Golden Prince

Create a memorial video yourself or have one made: Dogcacher.com

Create a memory book: Scrapbook.com

Have a portrait painted from a photo: PetsPictured.com

Buy a garden memorial or a memorial stone: Eternal Paw Prints

Make a book about your pet's life: Pet Story

Write a letter to your pet, frame it and display it on your wall: Pet frames

Donate to an animal rescue group in your pet's name: List of pet rescues

Unusual ways to memorialize your pet

Create gold or silver jewelry containing your pet's ashes: Precious Pets

Create a diamond or gemstone from your pet's carbon or ashes: LifeGem

Have your pet's ashes made into fireworks: Angels Flight

Launch your pet's ashes into deep space: Celestis 

Have your pet's ashes made into a vinyl record: And Vinyl

Have your pet’s ashes poured into bullets for one last hunt together: Holy Smoke

Get a tattoo of your pet from ink mixed with her ashes: TattooFinder

Have your pet mummified: Mummification of Transference

Articles & Resources 

A guide to Pet cremation

Adult books about dealing with the death of a pet

Association for Pet Loss & Bereavement (APLB)

Children's books about dealing with the death of a pet

Dear Labby: Advice on grieving for a pet

Dear Labby: Pet mummification?

Do pet's feel grief?

Grief and acceptance of loss

Grieving turns to giving when a family loses a pet

National Pet Cemetery Directory

Pet Rescue Donation Station

Rainbow Bridge Poem

Saying goodbye

The gift of hospice care

Tips about pet cemeteries

Top 10 pet toxins of 2010

Memorial Products and Reviews

Art from Ashes

Morris Animal Foundation sympathy cards

Nelli Designs Memorial Candles

Pet memorials and headstones directory

Pet Urns

River Rock Memorial Stones

Have you memorialized your pet in a way I haven't listed? Do you know of a resource that can help pet owners deal with their loss? Leave me a comment and let me know!

^{Obama's Dog Blog sources: DogTime.com, Oddee.com}

Fascinating Hush Puppies trivia and a vintage dog ads slideshow

 

Remember Hush Puppies shoes and the cute, dopey Basset Hound they used in their ads? While hunting for vintage ads I came across some interesting trivia about the dog and the shoes...

Founded in 1958, the shoes were almost called "Lasers" before the advertising manager, James Muir, heard that farmers often threw hush puppy corn fritters at their hounds to quiet the barking dogs. If I bark long enough, I wonder if someone will throw a hush puppy at me...the corn fritter not the shoe!

Muir quickly made the connection between the commonly used idiom of the day, to call one's sore feet "barking dogs" and the new shoes. He surmised that the shoes were so comfortable they could "quiet barking dogs."  

Dogs in vintage ads, posters and magazines

Hush Puppies shoes are credited with saving the life of Rolling Stones band member, Keith Richards, when his guitar touched an ungrounded microphone at a 1965 concert, knocking him unconscious. Medics believe that the crepe soles of his Hush Puppies protected him from harm by insulating him. Did Hush Puppies save the future of Rock 'n Roll?

 
It wasn't until the late 1980's that the company hired a real live Basset spokeshound, Jason, a perky house pet and "ham" who fit the bill perfectly. The adverting agency put Jason in all kinds of amusing situations, including a recreation of Marilyn Monroe's famous subway grate photo with his ears playing the part of her billowing dress.

 
Jason even sported a birthmark identical to that of Mikhail Gorbachev's for a Glasnost Hush Puppies ad after the company received an invitation from the Soviet leader to be the first American company to do business in the Soviet Union. I'm sure it was Jason's soulful eyes that melted the dictator's heart. 

^{Bo Obama's Dog Blog sources: HushPuppies.com, Jason's Page, Wikepedia}

Were the Canary Islands really named after dogs?

I learn somethin' new every doggone day! I always thought that the Canary Islands were named after those pretty yellow birds but come to find out, the island's name, Islas Canarias, is derived from the Latin term Insula Canaria, meaning “Island of the Dogs.”

The Canary Islands were named by the Ancient Romans who came upon them during an expedition in which they were exploring the African coast. Some say the Romans named the islands after the wild dogs they saw roaming the islands in abundance, while others theorize that the "dogs" were actually a species of Monk Seals. I'm going with the wild dog theory myself.

And those cute little wild birds who are native to the islands? They were named after the islands! So here's how it shakes out: 1. Wild dogs are living on the islands 2. Greeks find the the islands and name them Islas Canarias, after the wild dogs 3. The island's native birds, Canaries, are named after the islands. 

However they got their name, the Canary Islands sure look like a place I'd like to visit. Check-out this amazing time lapse video of the skies over the Canary Islands. It's muy relajante! 

 

El Cielo de Canarias / Canary sky - Tenerife from Daniel López on Vimeo.

^{Obama's Dog Blog sources: ReyGladiador.com, RingNeckDove.com, the best thing I learned today,  Wikipedia}

Bo weighs-in on pets who are dyeing to be different

 
There are some things humans do that I don't believe I will ever understand, like dyeing their pet's fur. Seriously? Could you possibly do the animal kingdom a favor and focus your creative energy on something like crocheting a dog collar or assembling miniature dog houses in tiny bottles?  

Okay, maybe some of my furry friends actually dig the attention they get from the absurdity of looking like Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's cartoon or perhaps a zebra (I have to admit the ninja turtle is kinda cool).

But trust me, most of us would rather lead a simple life with, say, the fur we were born with. Go figure. Try putting yourself in our dog boots for a minute...imagine you don't speak your caretaker's language nor they yours and they decide to dye your skin and trim your hair to make you look like a poor imitation of a rooster.

Then they take you for walks in very public places where onlookers gawk and laugh, post your photo on Facebook, Flickr and for good measure, upload a video of the entire humiliating dyeing process on YouTube. Sound like fun to you? Personally, I'd rather have a root canal. 

2011 Petties Awards | Vote for your favorite pet blogs thru July 29th

 
And the winners are...shoot, even with all my highfalutin connections I haven't a clue as to who will walk away with the coveted Petties statuettes tucked in their treat totes at this years Petties Awards ceremony.

However, my men in black have informed me that DogTime's Petties Awards are the only awards nominated by, voted for, and presented to individuals in the pet blogging community. Gotta love that! Who could better appreciate the blood, drool and whiskers it takes to put together a first class post than those who actually "get" what you do and the reason that you do it?

Now's your chance to spread a little critter luvin' to those hard working pet bloggers who share your passion for pets. You have until July 29th to submit your vote for your favorite blogs in 8 categories:

• Best Dog Blog
• Best Cat Blog
• Best Cause-Related Blog
• Best Overall Pet Blog
• Best Designed Blog
• Best Individual Blog Post
• Best Social Integration Blog
• Funniest Blog or Blogger

And the gravy on this kibble-kool contest? The winners are honored with a $1000 donation to the shelter of their choice! 8 winners = $8,000 to dogs in need. Hot dog!

The Petties ceremony  will be broadcast via YouTube on August 26th.

Earn some kritter karma points by giving a shout-out to your favorite pet bloggers and vote! Be sure to pass the link along to your crew, they'll appreciate the good vibes they'll get from participating in a worthy cause.

 

Complete Bo's 4th of July puzzle and become our new Puzzle Master!

 

How quickly can you complete Bo's 4th of July puzzle?

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment with your time!

Could you be the new Obama Dog Puzzle Master?