I was about to write you a lovely, glowing review on Pig’s Ears. “Pig’s Ears RULE!” I was about to gush. “Jack loves them and they keep him quiet for HOURS!” They cost us fourteen dollars for a pack of five, but they seemed worth every penny. And it was fun to watch Jack react to his first pig’s ear experience. Clearly they brought out something quite primal in the little guy.

Alas, a quick spot of internet research has revealed a strong argument against giving pig’s ears to your dog. Firstly, like all bacon-like products, they’re high in fat. Secondly, they’ve been blamed for a salmonella outbreak, which means that a lot of people are recommending that you don’t use them at all.

I’d been advised to keep Jack on a bland, no-fat diet and felt Very Foolish Indeed when I read all this.

Jack’s had blood in his stool and diarrhoea for a week now. I’d thought I was doing all the right things, but there I was, feeding the poor little fella a pig’s ear every few days.

I just saw them as a Chew Toy and I don’t really know what I thought when I saw half of each pig’s ear go missing. I guess I assumed they just went to Heaven or something, rather than into Jack’s already troubled digestive system.

I guess another piece of commonsense advice would be not to leave them lying around half-eaten if your little Fido doesn’t gobble them up in a day. And be sure to wash your hands after you handle them.

And, obviously, if you do choose to give them to your dog, don’t do it all the time, like I was. I’d be willing to bet there are puppies out there growing fat on pig’s ears even as I write this.

I won’t rate this product as I don’t have enough information to tell me whether the whole Pig’s Ears Are Dangerous thing is real or not.

But as for poor little Jack – no more pig’s ears for him for a while. Oh well. At least the pigs get to be happy.

Gizmodo Gadget Guide is, by its own definition, so much in love with shiny toys, it’s unnatural.

And yet I can’t look away.

Some of the gadgets under the “dog” category are geeky, others junky and others playful. But there’s a whole bunch of other doggy gadgets out there that I found downright disturbing.

Click here to see exactly what I’m talking about while I go and take a shower. (I feel so unclean.)

With its warm, insightful stories, funky layout and gorgeous colour photography, “Adore – a new breed” helps me believe that I am in fact the stylish, well informed Good Samaritan I’ve always claimed to be.

This Australian-based online and print magazine devotes the bulk of its articles to advocating for the welfare of animals. It also puts its money where its snout is by supporting a whole range of Not For Profit animal welfare organisations.

While the website is still a bit like my dad’s hair (thin in some spots) and I found the online credit system kinda confusing, the magazine itself is rich and entertaining.

The current issue of Adore has some beautiful photographs of Bengal Tigers, an intriguing article on the spiritual powers of animals and an up close and cosy feature on the advantages of animal adoption.

Check it out here.

RATING:

BUY IT:www.adoreanimals.com

ONLINE COST: AUD$$6.95
OFFLINE COST: AUD$32.00 for annual subscription (quarterly printed magazine)

My friend Miss C is the Goddess and Guru of all things domestic. A walking example of the Great Right-Wing Paradox, she stuffs her home to the rafters with children, pets, orphans and various four-legged waifs she picks up off the streets (“Who’s going to look after them if I don’t?”). It works beautifully for her, so when I noted the great success she’d had in bringing not one, but TWO new puppies into her somewhat cramped household, I sat up and took notice.The key to her success seemed to hinge on a combination of a sense of humour and a baby gate. As we had a back room that we could keep clear for Jack, and The Perfect Kitten arriving in less than a month, we felt this would be a sound investment for us.

Three tips I learned from Miss C:

Don’t get a wooden gate. She learned that one the hard way when she game home to a demolished gate and two Very Pleased Puppies.

Don’t get a gate that’s less than a metre high – puppies grow and they can jump, as anyone who has ever shelled out for a too-low fence will tell you.

And don’t get a gate that has a gap in the handle region at the top. This is a common design feature that may be easier on your hands, but puppies have a habit of sticking their little heads through any gap they can find. Miss C spent many patient minutes unthreading her wriggling puppies, like the proverbial camel through the eye of a needle.

After shopping around various Sydney furniture stores and calling every Salvation Army in town, we settled on the only high gate we were able to find – the Dreambaby Extra High Security Gate from K-Mart. It was marked at AUD$130 but we got it on sale for $99. It sits neatly in our kitchen doorway without the need for screws or extendables, and although the handle mechanism took a little getting used to (child proof… Miss-D proof) so far it’s done the trick nicely.

It’s probably the single best training tool we’ve got yet as far as Jack is concerned. As I mentioned before, it gives us a tool for escalating our response to whining and carrying on. If he’s quiet, the door stays open and he can sit at the gate and watch us come and go through the kitchen. It he starts to act up, we can just close the door and, because he can’t see us, he usually quietens down in moments.

I’ve also found it useful for teaching “Come in” and “Outside”. After just a few days, he completely understands the difference (although of course he occasionally develops selective deafness).

All up – very happy with the baby gate. I do appreciate that this is an expensive item, but it you take care of it, you can ebay it later in the puppy’s life, or even wait for the day when you have some actual babies, I don’t know…

I’m sure it’s going to come in even more handy for us when the Perfect Kitten arrives.

RATING:
BUY IT:www.kmart.com.au
COST: AUD$99.00

Okay, so today I managed to get hold of a decent sized newspaper (no tabloids that are easy to read on the train for me, oh no) and gleefully laid it down in Jack’s room.

With poor Jack’s upset tummy, it’s harder than I thought to Not React to his toileting. I even made the mistake yesterday of picking him up and rushing him outside when I caught him in the act. This came back to haunt me later because the next time he needed to go, he sneaked off to a corner of the kitchen when I wasn’t looking.

I knew it was a mistake to punish him for going, but I guess I’d hoped he wouldn’t see The Giantess swooping down on him while he was doing his business as, you know, punishment.

Calm. Calm.

Okay. So I laid a few layers of the paper down on the floor of his room, feeling far more elated than a normal person should in this situation. No more stinky floors! No more you-know-what falling into the cracks of the floorboards! No more harrowing cleanups involving industrial strength anti-bacterials and a space suit!

Jack, who picks up my moods like a furry little radar, immediately joined the party and started scooting around on the paper, picking it up in his mouth and tearing it to shreds.

“Uh-Uh! NO!” Bloody hell.

So here’s where we get to the paper training tip bit. I taped it to the floor with masking tape. I’d gotten the idea from this book.

And just an hour ago, oh happy hour, there was a little present for me, neatly desposited on the paper. And cleanup involved tearing up a single sheet of paper and transferring it quickly and quietly to the bin.

I rang Irish at work: “Jack pooed on the newspaper!” I cried.

“Um…. Ok-aay.” He replied in a distinctly unimpressed tone.

But not me. I’m extremely impressed. If there was a fine Cuban cigar anywhere around here, I’d totally be smoking it.