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I came across this amazing photographer on Flickr. What brought me there was one of her gorgeous landscape shots, but what struck me the most was the pictures of her adorable hamsters. Awww.

I still need to find my camera, so here’s a picture of my mom’s dog, a veteran of being boarded.My grandmother passed away on Sunday, so at the end of this week we are traveling to Indiana to have her funeral. Whenever we go out of town, I always have to think of what to do with the pets.

Usually, it’s not a problem to just have my dad drop in a couple of times a day to walk Tiny and feed him and the cats. But obviously my dad’s going to be gone as well this time, so I had to decide what to do. Tiny would not be able to stand being boarded. He is terrified of cages and most other dogs, and he does have a tendency to bite when he’s upset, so boarding is not really an option for him. Luckily, I have a good friend who lives close by who will be able to come by and walk him and feed the cats while I’m gone.

Kitty, on the other hand, cannot be alone that much. So I called the vet’s office to see about boarding her. Luckily, they have space and it seems they will take really good care of her while I’m gone. Everyone at my vet’s office is enthralled with the cuteness that is Kitty, so I think she’ll be fine. My 8 year old daughter echoes the irrational concerns in my mind though: What if they lose her? What if she gets scared or sick? I mean, the vet’s office is the best place in the world for a dog to take sick, but the thought still echoes irrationally in my head.

I wish I could take her with me, but funerals aren’t a good place to bring your puppy.

Photo: Newscoma

In today's Daily News Journal, there's an article I read with some interest- people are lobbying at the state Capitol to get some Tennessee laws changed to better help animals. These primarily are aimed at puppy mills and dogfighters.

One of the comments is the one that interested me the most- they said it should be illegal to sell puppies in store parking lots. I cannot agree more. In Murfreesboro, where the article was written, there are at least 2 different places where people gather to sell puppies- the WalMart parking lot and the Target parking lot. I doubt it would be that hard to pass a city ordinance disallowing these sorts of sales.

Of course, one of the other things I wonder is why the owners of these lots don't call the police and make them get off the lot- wouldn't it already fall under loitering? If for no other reason, really, than it slows traffic and makes these lots a pain to navigate. The real reason, however, is because we should be sending a message to these backyard breeders and puppy mills that selling unhealthy, overbred animals is simply not okay.

Will the city pay attention and consider an ordinance against this? Time will only tell.

It's funny to watch Kitty as she learns more about having puppy manners and how to deal with the people and animals in our house. She hasn't quite figured out that the big cats are not her friends and do not want to play. BabyCat loves her and will play with her all day, as long as she's not interrupting important things, like naps and eating.

Tiny avoids her. He is not the sort of dog to play with other dogs, or people, or anything else. Kitty is beginning to figure this out and is starting to leave Tiny alone. Poor girl, I suspect she thinks she's some kind of dog pariah, since my mom's dogs do the same whenever she comes over.

Still, she's doing well in her training. She's learned how to sit, stay (kind of, ha), "beg pretty", and to sneeze on command. (Most of the time) She's learning that outside is the place to pee and poop, and she's learning "go get it", "bring it", and "drop it". She's a smart dog and picks up on things quickly, luckily.

Well, she's quick to learn everything but that the big cats aren't her friends. Spike is sort of warming up to her and might actually play with her someday. Simon probably never will.

Since I can't find my camera to give you all pictures of my puppy, here's Newscoma's puppies. More here.

Head over to Home Ec 101 where I'm looking for puppy cleanup tips, and any housebreaking hints you happen to want to give. Long story short, I'm cleaning up a lot of puppy pee and I needs help. Comment here or there and let me know what you think!

Kitty went to the vet today to get her second set of shots and a general checkup. She's doing great, she's up to five and a half pounds, up from the 3 pounds since the last visit. It does seem like she grows every day. I really need to get better about taking new pictures of her, since I've gotten lazy about that lately and she's growing so much.

She does 2 tricks, she'll "beg pretty" by sitting up for a treat, and I totally stole the idea of the video I posted awhile back and taught her to sneeze on command. She does it, most of the time, although she wouldn't do it in the outer part of the vet's office today. She did do it for the vet and his assistant though, so I was glad she did it for someone, ha.

It's such a joy to watch her grow up like this. All the other dogs I've had have been rescues and they've had lives before they met me that I know nothing about. Kitty, I've known since the day she was born and it's amazing to watch her grow up right before my eyes.