It’s summertime and the weather is beautiful here in Portland.  But, I recently underestimated the harmful potential of even a mild summer day, on my dog.

Last weekend I ran into the store, leaving Maisey in the car. It was only about 74 degrees outside, and I left the windows cracked. I returned less than 15 minutes later to my love, panting. The second I saw her I felt horrible. The car was warm (not hot) and she was uncomfortable. I didn’t think for a second that the car would get so warm on a cool, breezy afternoon with the windows down.

I learned my lesson, fortunately not the hard way. You may not realize exactly how hot a car can get. Check out the numbers at mydogiscool.com, a program of United Animal Nations. When it’s 72 degrees, a car in direct sun can reach an internal temperature of 116. Even in the shade, a car can be 10 to 20 degrees hotter than outdoors, and cracking the window has almost no effect.

According to Veterinarian Cate Rinaldo, a volunteer with United Animal Nations, dogs don’t have sweat glands all over their bodies like humans do, so the main way they can cool off is by panting, which isn’t very efficient.

Once a dog’s body temperature gets over about 106 — normal temperature is around 101 — the result is “everything from nerve damage, heart problems, liver damage, systemic organ failure, and it happens fast, within a matter of minutes,” she says.

Even indoors, it can get too hot for some animals. MSNBC.com tells of an elderly, overweight beagle that died of heat exhaustion in his own home; sadly, the house did have central air conditioning but the owners hadn’t left it on since there were no people home.

I am very protective of my dog. I would never to anything to put her in harms way, and yet, I made this very simple mistake.

Please remind your friends and family that even on a nice day, being left in the car is not only dangerous for your pet, but could be deadly.

Health Magazine confirms what dog owners already know–that owning a dog is good for your health. In addition to the companionship, unconditional love and the joys they bring to our lives, studies show that dog ownership is bound to lower your cholesterol, blood pressure and increase your life expectancy.

“The breadth and depth of what dogs do to benefit humans’ happiness and longevity is pretty remarkable,” says judge Marty Becker, DVM, author of The Healing Power of Pets.

Part of this could be attributed to the fact that dogs make get up off our butts and play, move around and exercise, but I think dogs also reduce our stress and anxiety levels; they show us how to just be happy with what we’ve got.

Add to that the role dogs play as service companions and the ways that they are contributing to medicine—from detecting cancer, providing hope for autistic children, and comforting psychiatric patients—and there’s really no argument that owning a dog has a positive impact on your health and your quality of life.

My favorite part from the article?

What kind of dog is best? Dr. Becker especially sings the praises of small, mixed-breed shelter pups.

Um, hello? That’s Maisey to a T! Not that I needed a doctor to tell me that she’s the perfect dog, but the small shelter mutt shout-out sure is amiable.

Maisey helped me through a difficult transition in my life. What exactly her presence did for me is indescribable, but I’ll never doubt the power and beauty of having a dog in my life.

We’ve had a rough week. On Monday evening, I came home to a sick Maisey who wouldn’t stop throwing up. After I realized she was trying, but couldn’t go #2, I got scared something more serious might be going on. So 10:30 at night we rushed to the emergency room.

I cried as I rushed into the emergency room, I’d convinced myself something was seriously wrong. After I told the technician her symptoms, their reaction did little to calm my fears. She was rushed into the back and I was left standing there, worried sick.

After $400 of care, it turns out everything is OK. The technician was even surprised she was going to be going home that same night. I left the emergency room armed with antibiotics, anti nausua medication and instructions for a strict 3-5 day diet.

I have no idea why this pup has such a sensitive stomach. Perhaps during her homeless stint on the streets she was eating things not ideal for a sensitive chihuahua tummy. Perhaps her previous owner didn’t feed her well, I don’t know.

I do know that our frightening Monday night reminded me just how much she brings to my life, sensitive tummy or not. I can’t imagine my life without her.

So I’ve spent the rest of this week keeping her comfortable, hiding pills in cheese, watching her detect the undesirable taste and managing to spit it out and still get all the cheese, and mixing up a tummy coating medication and injecting it into her mouth (much to her distaste).

But I’m her mom, so this is my job. It may seem thankless, but that’s what being a mom is all about, right?

Today is The Humane Society’s 15th annual Spay Day USA, so if you haven’t already, get out there and Spay or Neuter your pet!

Did you know that more than 3 million cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters every year? These are often the offspring of cherished family pets, even purebreds. Maybe some one’s dog or cat got out just that one time or maybe the litter was intentional, but efforts to find enough good homes failed. 

Spaying or neutering your pet is the only 100-percent effective and proven way to reduce the vast numbers of animals who are born only to die prematurely and without a family who loves them.

The program must be working because Spay Day 2008 saw 32,509 spay and neuters and over $200,000 raised to support spay and neuter programs.

You can also enter your pet in the Spay Day Online Pet Photo Contest! Visit photocontest.humanesociety.com through Feb. 27 to enter.

Smoking is gross. It drives me crazy to be in a public place and have to smell some one’s cigarette smoke. I get it, it’s a public place, but with all known dangers of the effects of secondhand smoke, not to mention the fact that it’s just plain rude, why do people do it? Now I have another reason to despise cigarette smoke.

It may seem like common sense, but do smoking pet owners consider the harmful effectsof second hand smoke on their pet?

According to msnbc.com, 28% of smokers would try to quit based on the knowledge that secondhand smoke could cause harm to their pets. I guess knowing that smoking can kill you isn’t enough of a reason?

Well, if for no other reason, do it for your four-legged friends!

Update: The New York Times wrote a blog post today regarding the harmful effects of cigarette smoke on our pets. Perhaps they were inspired by my post!

Recently, a Florida couple spent $155,000 to clone Lancelot, their Labrador Retriever after he passed away. Six years prior, the couple froze Lancelot’s DNA, which they used to have Lancelot reborn. 

Loss is apart of life. Loss breeds courage, creativity and growth. There are dogs in need of a good home, dogs are being put down everyday because they aren’t adopted. A wealthy couple with 12 acres of land in Florida should consider adopting another companion or even donating some of that money to an animal shelter. And while I’m sure the clone looked like Lancelot and maybe he did instintively recognize his owners, could this new dog really be what his owners missed about the original Lancelot?

I like to think that Maisey’s charm comes from her experiences. I believe she is such a loving and appreciative dog because she was rescued from a shelter. Those characteristics aren’t hard wired into her DNA, they are the result of her life experiences. A clone of Maisey would look like her, maybe smell like her, and probably share some of her characteristics, but it wouldn’t be the Maisey I know.

One of the joys of getting a new dog is watching their personality traits develop and discovering the strange quirks they have. Some of these characteristics are based in their DNA (hence the differences in behavior bewteen breeds), but just like a person, personalities are largely the result of our experiences.

I realize I’m on the edge of the highly debatable nature vs. nuture argument here, but I think that proves my point. A human being cannot be fully duplicated. The nature and nurture cocktail is simply too complex to reproduce – and the same thing goes for our dogs.