My Dog, Daxter

By Mira P. 

Time for another more personal blog post, mostly because I just am so braindead today that I couldn't think of anything to write. So, how about I tell you guys about my dog?

"Dogs are man's best friend" - that's a quote that everyone knows. Dogs are wonderful creatures, and popular pets. They're affectionate or independent, fun or lazy, they can be your best friend or your worst enemy (but mostly your best friend!) Who wouldn't want a dog?

We got my dog, Daxter (named after Jak and Daxter, my dad's favorite video game) a few years ago, at a no-kill rescue shelter. Daxter was going to be put down because he was so shy before the no-kill group rescued him. Which is weird, because he was quite nice and not too shy when we adopted him (maybe the people at the shelter he was in before were scary).

We took a walk with him before we decided whether or not we were going to bring him home. He was really nice and pretty cute! We adopted him (only about $100) and brought him home. The first few weeks, he was pretty much silent - didn't make a peep.

We considered calling him Galaxy for the longest of any name we'd thought of before - thank goodness we didn't name him that, though! Everyone always confused "Daxter" with "Dexter", I guess because of the show "Dexter" (which my mom still won't let me watch!)

Daxter, my crazy-looking dog.

Daxter's a really great dog, and I'm glad to have him as the fifth family member! Our family wouldn't be the same without him. He isn't perfect - like, when he's barking at the door, he won't shut up, and he'll never do anything if he doesn't get a treat, but his good qualities rule out the bad ones!

Does anyone want to share anything about their dog?

Guinea Pigs!

By Mira P

We've (my family and I) had two pairs of guinea pigs, the first, a pair of girls named Kiki and Whiskers and our current pair, two girls named Sugar and Charkie (like charcoal). Guinea pigs are a great pet. I, unfortunately, am allergic to them.

As much as I hate to admit it, my gut reaction when someone tells me they're getting a guinea pig is "no! Don't get a guinea pig!" Mostly because most people I know (not most people in general) don't really know how to take proper care of a guinea pig; they are oftentimes seen as an over-sized hamster.

This myth that a guinea pig is a big hamster can be deadly. Guinea pigs are actually rather complicated to take care of, and aren't the same as hamster at all. The first and most important thing - cage size. People commonly get the wrong sized cage for a guinea pig. Guinea pigs need a lot of space, because they like to run around and popcorn. (visit Cavy Cages for more info on cage size) I have never seen an appropriate sized cage for a guinea pig at a pet store - never.

I once read a book where the author most likely mixed up "hamster" and "guinea pig" or "rat" and "guinea pig". It included a scene where the "guinea pig" ran away and got lost (guinea pigs are not small and would likely be found moderately quickly, but of course, they could also get lost. My guinea pigs have never shown an interest), where they picked the guinea pig's cage up (a cage shouldn't be small enough that you can pick it up) and one of them said "close the top or she will climb out" (a guinea pig could jump out if their cage is low enough, but they can't climb out).

It was a minor mistake, but it just shows that guinea pigs and hamsters are too easily mixed up. What do you guys think?