On a recent afternoon, I found myself with some spare time when an appointment had to cancel. Since I was in midtown, I decided to drop by Atlanta Pet Rescue to say hello and see if they had enough copies of Critter Chatter. They share a building on 14th Street with a doggie day care/boarding facility, and in front of the building is a fenced area. In it were about 20 small dogs running around and playing together and having a good time. I assumed that they must be daycare dogs because so many of them were purebreds and they were all nice looking, well behaved and seemed to be well-adjusted. It turned out that they were all rescue dogs available for adoption. It was the bestlooking group of rescue dogs I had ever seen.

Have you ever seen that bumper sticker that reads, “The more I know people, the more I like my dog”? That is, apparently, a very real conviction in our society. When it comes to choosing people versus pets, most folks will stick with Fido and send the wife or husband packing. Pet custody suits are on the rise in this country, and people will sometimes go to great lengths to keep their beloved furry friends in a breakup. Here are some examples...

After the winter we have just had it seems silly to say this, but spring is finally here. It seemed as if autumn and spring just ran together this year and what passes for winter around here never bothered to show up. But who's complaining?

With the official start of spring (which comes 3 weeks ahead of the rest of the country down here), there is no excuse for not getting out and enjoying the fresh air. As we are constantly reminded, too many of us are overweight and out of shape, and the same goes for our pets. Now is a good time too dust off those New Year's resolutions and do something about it.

Every year at this time, too many parents get the overwhelming urge to give a kid a bunny for Easter. It all starts wonderfully. The kid is thrilled, the parents are ecstatic, the photographs and memories will last a lifetime, but the sad fact is, it rarely turns out well for the rabbit.

Rabbits can be great pets, but you have
to know what you are doing, and it takes work.

With more people choosing to include the family pet in the vacation plans every year, planning the trip becomes more involved. But it gets easier every year. The travel industry is responding to the public’s desire to bring the pet along, and more places of accommodation are accepting pets. For the most part, they are finding that people who travel with the dog (most of the time it is a dog) are quality guests who are conscious of others and cause no problems.

Before taking a dog on a trip, there are some things that should be done.

When the first dog park opened in Piedmont Park in the summer of 2002, it immediately became so popular that it seemed certain that more dog parks would soon open in other localities. People were coming from the surrounding counties to bring their dogs to the park since it was the only one around. The park was a success, got good publicity, and should have been the first of many. It hasn’t happened yet, but it is gaining momentum.

Four more dog parks have opened recently, and more are in the planning stages or under construction. Of the four new parks, one is in Gwinnett County, two are in Dekalb, and the fourth is in Peachtree City. Dog parks have been growing in popularity for about 15 years and have been opened in cities and towns across the country. Sometimes a part of an existing park, and other times standing alone in a separate area, a dog park is a safe, enclosed area where people can take their dogs and allow them to run and play off-leash.

LITTLE PEEPS ART GALLERY OPENS

A PASSION FOR PETS OPENS ITS DOORS

PET SITTER NETWORK CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY

In each issue we have photos of people and their dogs.
Can you tell who belongs with whom?