I am home all day with a dog, and I will testify that he spends about 70 percent of the time asleep.

People are weird re: music comment.

Sweet, sweet puppies. I hope they all have found good homes.

I saw a news report on the beagles - they showed them coming out of their crates and walking on grass for the first time. sniff

In regard to the dog - I used to have neighbors who had a dog - a large-ish one - and they always made a big production of how much they loved him and how important he was to them. But most days they'd leave him for 10 to 12 hours and when they did get home, of course he'd had an "accident" and they'd yell at him and hit him. When they had a party - at least once and up to three times a week - they'd put him outside for eight hours or so, tied to a post with no food or water and with a leash so short he could sit or stand in one place - no lying, no moving around. I'm a bitch and I called the Humane Society on them.

But then i sometimes am feeling horrible guilt about how lonely she must feel during the day.

Our dogs sleep ALL DAY. I know because Jason is home with them. We walk them in the morning and then it's naptime. I don't feel bad about leaving them home all day when he is out of town, since I know what is going on.

I'm a bitch and I called the Humane Society on them.

You misspelled "good person." Seriously.

Lifehacker post on pet insurance.

on the brighter side (literally!) the other evening I was walking home from the grocery and a man was walking his dog (little fluffy white one - toy poodle, perhaps) and the dog's collar had a light on it. Very small, very bright - with it getting dark so early, it struck me as a really good idea.

There's a dog asleep on my feet right now AIFG.

Isn't it a little weird, at least in the for-profit sector, to send a conference call invite without a toll free number? This one has a local number and an online audio link. But most people can't use their computer's speakers and mike, because they're cube rats, like me. I'm home, so no biggie, but if I were at work, I'd be a little frowny at spending my company's money for another company's call.

My dogs are rarely left alone for more than four hours at a stretch--and only rarely. Cody the Chihuahua still pees on stuff in the house. Chis are notoriously difficult to house train so he gets crated. And Lola will chew and eat anything that doesn't eat her first, so she gets crated.

I don't scold the dogs unless I catch them in the act. Really, there's no point. The failing is mine, not theirs. I just buy extra Nature's Miracle.

And look how well that works.