Editorial

Our 12th year! Wow! Where does the time go? If it wasn’t for the fact of making my son pose for photos for articles from time to time, I might not believe WDJ is so old. But Eli was five when he first posed (with our darling old Rupert) for an article about the benefits of using reusable hand-sized heating pads for massaging muscle-sore or arthritic dogs. And he’s about to turn 17 – too…

Actually, that headline should read “Allow the president-elect’s daughters to pick their own dog!” but it wouldn’t fit. I hate to sound grumpy in the holiday season, but I feel very protective of Malia and Sasha Obama and their wish for a dog. I wish it wasn’t such a big story. Just about every dog magazine or discussion group I’ve seen has asked its readers to “Vote on the breed that Obama should get!” Others are polling on the question of “Shelter dog or purebred?” (As if there were no purebreds in shelters; wouldn’t that be nice!) Celebrity trainers have weighed in. Headlines proclaim “Top Dog Will Have to Watch Step!” and “Doo the Right Thing, Obama, Forget the Dog!” When it comes to dogs – unlike the country’s economic troubles or the wars we’re fighting – it seems that everyone has advice for the next First Family. If the Obama family still doesn’t have a dog as you read these words, good! People should take their time when choosing the next member of their family.

Autumn seems to be having a positive effect on the internal clock of Otto, our new dog, helping him get in synch with a schedule that more closely resembles the one we follow – you know, sleeping at night and being active during the day? More frequently, I am enjoying the pleasure of being woken by the light of day, rather than Otto’s middle-of-the-night barking at feral cats, or his pre-dawn gallops back and forth past my bedroom window with a toy dangling from his mouth.

As the proud, happy, but sometimes vexed owner of a new dog – one who has made a serious dent in the amount of sleep I’m getting – I completely understand that you don’t really know what you’re getting when you adopt a dog. Of course, you do your best to assess the dog’s character and temperament before you bring him home, and try to compare the list of attributes you were looking for in a dog with the traits he seems to display. But you don’t really know whom you’ve brought home for days, weeks, and months.

on the CBS website

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Few people pay attention to their dogs when walking with them, I’ve noticed. I’ve observed this on many occasions, but the point was brought home rather forcefully for me recently. Just the other day, I spent the better part of a warm, late afternoon in an upscale Bay Area neighborhood, in an effort to take some pictures of the many dog owners I knew would be out walking with their dogs. I was hoping to take a good picture of a relaxed person and a well-behaved dog, walking calmly on a loose leash and a plain collar. I wanted the picture to illustrate the article that appears on page 8 of this issue.

wandering with them through our neighbor's orchards or up and down the bed of the creek that flowed by our house

A year ago, I was invited to speak about super premium pet foods" at Petfood Forum

when my friend had called to tell me they were bringing home a rescue dog

having just edited an excellent article about inappetence by Mary Straus (see the next page)

in the past