Oh, it happens far more often than any of us are willing to admit. You go out one evening and have a few drinks too many, and the next thing you know, you wake up to find a strange beagle in your bed, wagging its tail, and a credit card receipt from a pet store. Dog? What dog? You never wanted a dog…at least, not when you’re sober. This scenario is enough of an actual problem for some Manhattan pet stores located near bars and clubs that they will turn away customers who have clearly been drinking. [More]
dogs
Your Dog May Not Be Welcome On Summer Flights
By 7.13.11
You might have read that you can take your pet on a Continental Airlines flight, but that’s no guarantee that your buddy will actually be allowed on the plane. That can depend on weather, but mostly depends on how full the flight is. You’re shelling out extra money to travel with a creature you consider a family member, but to the airline, your pet is furry cargo that can be left behind. If you stubbornly insist on traveling together, you’re stuck with the flight change fees. That’s what happened to Steve when he tried to fly with his dogs down to his new home in Ecuador. His advice: Don’t fly with pets during the summer. At all. [More]
Keep Your Dogs Away From Gum With Xylitol So Their Organs Don't Bleed
By 7.6.11
Icebreakers gum may be a great way to “break the ice,” but you wouldn’t want to use them to help your dog freshen his breath. Many pet owners aren’t aware that the artificial sweetener inside it and many other products, Xylitol, can be acutely toxic to dogs if the canines eat it. KCBS has the tragic story of one corgi who suffered acute liver failure after he got into a bag of Icebreakers. [More]
6 Ways To Tame The Costs Of Having A Pet
By 7.5.11
As nice as it is to have a furry, feathered or fishy companion around the house, between food, medicine, the vet and other expenses, it can sometimes add up to a lot of red ink in your checkbook. [More]
Aldo Sends Free Pair Of Shoes After Dog Eats One
By 6.6.11
Reader Dan was hoping Aldo would sell him just one shoe after his roommate’s dog ate one, but they ended up sending him a whole new pair for free. Regular customer service told Dan that they don’t sell shoes in singles but after sending his note to the folks at the top of Aldo, his story starting making the rounds internally and they shined down on him with rays of benevolence. [More]
Delta Offers Refund, Explanation For Dog Cargo Confusion
By 5.27.11
This is Scruffy the dog. Last week his human, Evelyn, wrote to us about her problems with Delta shipping Scruffy as cargo instead of baggage, not letting her know where he was, and charging an extra $391 at the airport to fly 50-pound Scruffy from New York to Los Angeles. In her letter to Delta, Evelyn said that she would be informing everyone she knows not to use Delta, since it is “most certainly neither a safe nor convenient carrier for pets.” Now, at least, Delta has explained to Evelyn what went wrong, and she’ll be receiving a refund for the full $591 in dog-shipping fees. It doesn’t sound like Evelyn and Scruffy are in a hurry to fly Delta again soon, though. [More]
Delta Charges Extra $391 To Fly Your Dog, Then Misplaces Him
By 5.19.11
Evelyn’s father booked a ticket for her and her dog to fly from New York to Los Angeles on Delta Airlines. Being a regular Consumerist reader, she was nervous about trusting Delta with her beloved pet, but notes that “[she] thought the horror stories must be rare enough that we should take the trip.” Delta staff told her that her dog, who weighs about 50 pounds, needed to fly as cargo at a cost of $591, instead of the quoted $200. The ostensible reason was severe weather on the ground in Los Angeles. What this extra $391 got Evelyn was a missing pet for an hour, then an upset and dehydrated dog. [More]
Create An Emergency Kit For Your Pet
By 5.4.11
If you had to leave your home on short notice due to a natural disaster or other emergency, would you have a bag of emergency supplies ready to go? While adults and older children can handle packing their own bags in a hurry, members of your family who don’t have opposable thumbs can’t. [More]
Los Angeles County Battles Puppy Mills With Law
By 3.17.11
In an effort to make it tougher for breeders to crank out dogs as though they were on an assembly line, Los Angeles County passed a law that’s meant to curtail puppy mills. [More]
People Are Paying Farmers To Let Pet Dogs Herd Sheep
By 3.2.11
I’m a cat person but I have a soft spot in my heart for Border Collies. I would never own one in the city, however, because dogs that are meant to herd sheep don’t mix well with one bedroom apartments. That doesn’t stop some people, however, and according to Marketplace, some bewildered owners of herding dogs are now paying farmers to let their dogs do what they were born to do. [More]
Are Any Luxury Dog Items Worth The Price?
By 2.8.11
Most dog owners try to do everything they can for their pooch without crossing the line into heiress-with-poodle-in-her-handbag territory. But with pet shops and online specialty stores flooded with indulgences for your dog, it’s tough to determine what is worth buying and which are superfluous. [More]
Accused Puppy-Mailer Wants Dog Back
By 2.4.11
The woman who tried to ship a four-month-old puppy from Minneapolis to Atlanta in an airless box using Priority Mail earlier this week reportedly would like the dog back. Will her request be granted, or will the puppy be made available to the numerous people all over the country who actually know how to keep an animal alive and have inquired about adopting him? [More]
Woman Charged With Animal Cruelty For Mailing Live Puppy
By 2.2.11
“This is for your 11th birthday. It’s what you wanted,” was written on the outside of an Atlanta-bound Priority Mail box in a Minneapolis post office. It caught postal workers’ attention when it started moving on its own and making loud panting sounds. They got permission to open the box and found… a four-month old poodle-schnauzer mix puppy who was very, very happy to be free. The woman who mailed the box was charged with animal cruelty, then went back to the post office to try to get a refund for the $22 in postage she paid. [More]
Do You Love Your Dog Enough To Buy It A $32 Aromatherapy Candle?
By 1.25.11
Feel like you didn’t do enough holiday shopping for the canine companion on your list? Here’s your chance to atone for your stinginess by pampering your pooch with pricey candles catering to the canine nose. [More]
Did Banfield Mislead Dog Owner Into Expensive Pet Care Contract?
By 12.30.10
Beware any service that’s sold to you with the promise that you can “cancel at any time.” Brian claims that he was misled into buying a $29/month “wellness plan” for his dog. He was told that he could cancel the plan after the first year with no early termination fee. That’s apparently not what the actual contract says, and now he’s stuck paying either a fee, or for another year of the plan. [More]
Delta Lost My Dog, Too
By 12.23.10
Alisa tried to fly two dogs from San Diego to Atlanta, with the intent of continuing on to Germany, where she’s moving with her husband. She says Nala, a German Shepherd who is pictured here, is on the loose thanks to Delta’s mistakes in corralling the pooch. The airline says it’s in touch with Alisa and is doing “everything we can” to help her find the dog.
U.S. Airways Flight Grounded After Dog Bites Passenger & Flight Attendant
By 12.6.10
In spite of all the advanced screening technology and techniques being used at airports these days, terrorists are still able to sneak on board planes and disrupt the flight — in the form of dogs. [More]
It's Sort Of Like A Flowbee For Dogs, Except Not
By 11.4.10
My dog thinks that I’m always looking for new and innovative ways to torture her, such as toothbrushes, ear drops, and baths. She should be grateful that I don’t have a Dyson vacuum, since the company is launching a carefully designed pet-vacuuming attachment, which will go on sale in the U.S. in January 2011. [More]
