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You can have a chocolate dog, but please don't give chocolate to your dogs! EVER! Chocolate is bad for dogs. It can even kill them. For real.

So this Halloween, feel free to dress your dog up but keep the candy to yourself. (Speaking of dressing up your dog, be sure to check out the winners of our Costume ComPETition right here on this blog! See dogs as pirates, bananas, bumblebees and other zany characters. Cats joined the contest, too. Unwillingly, of course.)

For more information on why chocolate is a no-no for Fido and what the signs are of chocolate toxicity, follow this link: Leave Chocolate out of Rover's Celebrations by the Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Have a happy and dog-healthy Halloween!

When The Pet Shop bloggers launched our first Halloween Pet Costume Contest a few weeks ago, we didn’t know quite what to expect.

As entries started to trickle in from the Greensboro area (and across the country), giving us daily laughs, it became clear that this was going to be a tough contest to judge.

There were seafaring dogs and kitty pirates, giant squirrels lurking in bushes, bumlebees and flying monkeys, and even a headless horseman.

The expressions were priceless. Some pets really owned their costumes, embracing it for the camera and making you believe they really are pirates in their daily lives. Others stared down their owners with scorn, shame or a look of “why are you doing this to me?”

In the end, we had more than 50 entries. And after much deliberation and various tie-breakers, we finally have our winners.

Check out the slideshow below to meet our winners. (The results were also published in the Life section of today's News & Record.)

And here are all the entries:

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The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — It's one thing for shoplifters to hide plunder in their pants. But a live ferret?

Police say a homeless man in north Florida did just that. And he made it out the door before being challenged.

Thirty-eight-year-old Rodney Bolton is charged with theft over the $129 animal that police say he took from a pet store in Jacksonville Beach.

A 17-year-old witness confronted Bolton in the parking lot and was bitten by the animal after the man allegedly shoved it in the teen's face.

That confrontation makes the ferret a "special weapon" under Florida law. So Bolton also faces battery charges for dangerously wielding the animal.

Calls to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department to see if Bolton has a lawyer were not answered early Thursday.

Name of pet: Aja (sounds like Asia)

Age: 5 years

Resides in: luxury in Browns Summit

Breed: Yorkshire Terrier

Male or Female: Female

Owner: Simoniz Family

How owner and pet came together: Wedding gift

Best trick: Dancing for food

Favorite activity: Waits outside the nursery room door every morning for her little master, Fisher, to wake up so she can kiss him and have breakfast with him.

Is there anything else we should know about this pet? (i.e., likes/dislikes, act of heroism, quirk etc.) She is very protective of 17-month-old Fisher and they love each other like best friends!

Credit for photograph? Melissa Simoniz (Fisher and Aja riding in their Radio Flyer)

What a great way to start off my morning. If you have three minutes to spare, you need to check out this video:

Southern Tails is a dog training school in Randleman, N.C. Their Canine Players acting group starred in the video. This is their first dogs only (no humans) video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoBtSJdEH38

I had never been much of a cat person until we got Jet.

I had wanted a pug, like what my sister has. I love their cute, wrinkly faces. But I was scared off by the price tag. They can run upwards of $400 if you buy from a reputable breeder. So I figured feline was the way to go, for the time being anyway.

My wife Lana had a cat, a gray tabby named Chancey, for 17 years. He died of cancer in 2004. We had talked about getting another pet since getting married in 2007, but I was in the process of looking for another job at the time. In 2008 I was hired at the New & Record and we moved from Beaumont, Texas to Greensboro.

For her birthday that May, I told Lana I would give her a cat. She just had to pick one.

We checked out several adoption fairs over the next month. Toward the end of June we saw a Feral Cat Assistance Program booth at PetSmart. In a wire cage was a gray tabby kitten with big yellow eyes named Jet. According to the women staffing the booth he and his siblings had been found with their mother at a trailer park. Lana asked if she could hold him. He was serene, didn’t make a fuss when he held him. We just felt a connection and filled out the adoption forms that day.

FCAP paid to get him neutered, and several weeks after we had first seen him he arrived at our apartment.

I think he may have been a canine in a former life. He likes to play fetch. He’ll bite your ankles if you’re walking around without socks. He’ll even make barking noises at the ceiling fan – literally barking noises, not meows. So I guess in that sense it’s like having a little dog around. Except I don’t have to take him outside to go to the bathroom.
 

I received the sweetest e-mail this weekend from an 11-year-old reader, Mallorie. Here's what Mallorie wrote:

"I loved reading about your dog, Greta in the paper. I came across it reading the paper looking for items that have to do with math. Our teacher gave us all newspapers (which happened to be the News & Record, my favorite). so I started looking and I saw your section. It was amazing. My favorite part was when you were looking under the couch and found the ball for your dogs to play with. I loved your section and I would love to hear more stuff like this. I love your writing and sometimes all I have to do when I'm having a bad day is just read that story. Thanks alot. Mallorie"

I'm so glad that my story about Greta's pink ball meant to much to Mallorie. There are plenty more stories where that one came from, stories about Greta and about my other dog Cassie. Mallorie, if you're reading this, I hope you visit our blog, The Pet Shop, at news-record.com/blog/thepetshop to read more about my dogs, and our other bloggers' pets. Carla has a dog named Yoshi and a cat named Buckley; Margaret has four cats, Julian, Abbey, Apple and Libby; Faun has a dog named Harpo; and soon staff writer Robert Lopez will join the blog to share stories about his cat Jet.

Excerpts from the blog also print on Tuesdays in the Life section of the News & Record.

I was brushing Apple this morning, and I noticed a gray hair. At least I think it's a gray hair. 

Apple is all black, except a small batch of white on her stomach, and about four white hairs on her neck. So when she rolled on her side, the one gray hair was very noticeable.

When I adopted her, she was aged at 3 years. That was a year ago. The staff at the SPCA of the Triad took an educated guess based on her teeth. But, like I said, it's a guess. So she could be much older than we think.

I've never known a cat to turn gray. Julian, my oldest, is a gray and white cat. So I'll never know with him. Libby is my second oldest at 8, but she's a gray tabby, so it may be just as hard to notice on her.

I know a number of dogs who have gone gray, mainly on their muzzle. It can come with age, or, from what I've heard, stress in their owner's life. Maybe that is where Apple got her gray hair.

I'm turning 30 in March. And the thought of me entering a new decade is turning me gray. Maybe she has sympathy graying.

BeBe is a 1½-year-old beagle mix who weighs about 40 pounds. He gets along well with his kennel mate. BeBe is neutered, so he can go home with you today. Please ask for BeBe by ID 7306201 from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Guilford County Animal Shelter, 4525 W. Wendover Ave., Greensboro. Information: www.adoptshelterpets.org or 297-5020.

For more available pets, please see the Records in the Wednesday and Sunday News & Record.

I didn't walk the dogs this morning. And I'm OK with that.

Any other day, I wouldn't be OK with that. I'm a rain, snow, sleet or shine kind of girl. If it's raining, we'll all put on our raincoats and head out. If it's snowing, we'll bundle up and take time to snap some pictures while we're out. Sleet, well, honestly, I'm not sure that has ever happened, but I'd imagine we'd put on our raincoats and bundle up, too. The coldest it's ever been one morning was 19 degrees. And we walked.

But not today. For me, yesterday was one of those days. One of those days that carried into this morning. I needed some time to myself so that I could face today. And that meant no walk.

I fed them, gave them some hugs and kisses and even a special chew treat before I left for work.

Tonight, I expect two hyper dogs to greet me when I get home. We might take a walk, but we might not. We could just settle in and watch TV and start over in the morning. The good thing about dogs is, they don't have memories, so they won't remember tomorrow that I didn't walk them today.