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We celebrated Greta's birthday over the weekend. She's 6. She has a few more wrinkles under her eyes, is getting a double chin and is set in her ways. But she got an awesome new ball for her birthday. In the interest of full disclosure, we didn't buy it for her. We don't buy the dogs a lot of toys because they generally end up destroyed or eaten. But in my search yesterday under the couch for Cassie's toy that has survived months of knawing, I found a pink rubber ball. We've never seen it before, so it must be Sophie's ball. Sophie is the dog I kept a few weeks ago for our friend Josh.

But now it's Greta's. She spent hours trying to destroy it yesterday, with no luck. She grew so attached to this ball that when the dogs went outside to use the bathroom, she kept the ball in her mouth. I've never seen such devotion. So in honor Greta's birthday, let's continue voting for her in the Cutest Dog Competition, which continues until Oct. 24. Each week, a winner receives $500.

As always, she continues to beat out Fox 8 reporter Roxanna Haynes' miniature schnauzer Layla in the votes every week. That's only one aspect of this competition though. If Greta (or Layla) were to win in week of the competition, we will donate the cash prize to the Guilford County Animal Shelter. 

To vote for Greta, click here.

 To vote for Layla, click here.

Any questions, let us know.

Upon opening my front door the other night, I found Abbey sitting in the front hall, waiting for me. And in front of her, was a bug. A big, black beetle; it was even still alive, it's little legs twitching as it lay on its back. 

She looked at me, looked at the bug, then walked away. As to say 'here, this is for you.'

I've heard that cats leave remains of their kills as gifts for their humans, such as mice or birds. None of mine ever go outside, so they are limited to the bugs that somehow make it into my home. Most of the time I get to the bug before any of the cats can kill the bug, and then eat it. I'm not a fan of them eating bugs. 

I got the impression this is what Abbey was doing, leaving me a gift to show she's helping to provide for the family.

I rewarded her with a treat, lots of petting and some praises. After all, the value of a gift is in the eye of the beholder.

Timon is a playful shepherd mix, about 1 year old and 40 pounds.  Timon has already been neutered and can go home with you today. Please ask for Timon by ID 8091622 at the Guilford County Animal Shelter. The shelter is open 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 each Wednesday and Sunday in the News & Record.

Remember that "Golden Girls" episode when Rose installs the "Bark Bell" to scare people away? 

I suspect some people in my neighborhood have something similar set up at their house. I don't know these people, they just moved in a few months ago, but I haven't seen any indication yet of dogs in their home. The past two mornings when we walked past their house on our morning walk, we heard loud barking coming from their open garage.

Cassie and Greta immediately were taken aback and were put on alert. They've never heard these barks before. I was a little stunned too; it was a really loud bark, so it was an obviously large dog. And the noise wasn't muffled, so it couldn't have be coming from inside the house. I looked as closely as I could without being obvious. Two cars were in the garage and I didn't see a dog or a crate.

This morning Cassie was ready to run across their yard and go after this mystery dog, which made me laugh. I don't have any idea what she thinks she was going to do. She's the least-confrontational dog I know.

So after the second day of this mystery barking, I formulated a theory: my new neighbors have some kind of sensor set up that triggers the sound of a dog barking when people are on their property. Am I crazy for thinking this?

I did some online research and these products are available. I found the RoboDog Barking Dog Alarm, the On Guard Barking Dog Alarm and the Electronic Watch Dog, among others.

So what do you think? Am I just not seeing the dog crate in the garage, or do you think my new neighbors have a barking dog alarm set up at their house? Do you know anyone who has one?

Libby is Bruce's cat. She hangs on every word he says, follows him around, and can always be found in the center of everything when he's home. Either at his feet at the dinner table, or on his lap on the couch. He is the center of her life, so much that when we returned from vacation this summer, she made a beeline to him, passing me without even a look. 

I've known Libby for almost two years now, so it's not like we're strangers. I like her, and she likes me, probably only because she's forced to live with me. While my three cats are my 'kids', she's more like a good friend.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Tuesday night Bruce and I settled in for an episode of the fabulous documentary by Ken Burns, "The National Parks." Like any other night, Libby jumped on Bruce's lap. But this time, she kept walking, right into my lap! Bruce was shocked, and I was just as surprised. She snuggled down, closed her eyes and started purring. 

I'm certain she did this just to annoy my cats. It's clear she knows where she stands in the house. Her against my three. A weaker cat wouldn't have survived, but not Libby. She knows how to play this game, and she won the match point that night. My three looked up at the scene that was unfolding, and left the room. Disgusted that I had turned to the dark side.

In August, we reported that a pit bull-shepherd puppy had been found severely burned in a south Greensboro park. We wrote stories on Aug. 21, Aug. 24, and Sept. 9, chronicling the violence against Susie and her initial recovery.

The Guilford County Animal Shelter has been caring for Susie since then, and set up a Twitter account for us to follow her recovery. You can follow her at http://twitter.com/Susie_GCAS. In an e-mail, Brandon Williams from the shelter says that Susie is doing great. "... her health is great and her skin is healing fine and we see more and more fur returning to her coat everyday," he said.

I've been following Susie for awhile now on Twitter and have really enjoyed the tweets, photos and videos and wanted to share some of them. My favorite tweet was from Sept. 11: "*stretches* Boy my ear feels soo much better today!"

Williams said that yesterday, Susie spent time at the shelter and the 4th annual BNI golf tournmanet, a fundraiser for the shelter. She lied outside in her dog bed and played with her toys and some friends from the shelter. "She lost her first tooth and played until she was just about worn out," Williams said. This picture is of her "sunbathing."

And here's a video of her playing. She looks so happy! 

Susie is being treated through “Cindy’s Fund,” a tax-free fund set up at the shelter for abused animals. The fund is named after Cindy, a dog who was thrown from a car window and hit by another car and suffered a broken back. Money raised for Cindy allowed her to be treated and later adopted into a home. Donations can be made to: United Animal Coalition; P.O. Box 8; Jamestown, N. 27282 or by stopping by the shelter at 4525 W. Wendover Ave.

Name of pet: Max

Age: 3 1/2 years

Resides in: luxury in Greensboro

Breed: Mini Schnuazer

Male or Female: Male

Owner: Bill and Samantha Davenport

How owner and pet came together: We purchased him from an AKC breeder

Best Trick: We open his treat holder and he runs to get into his crate.

Favorite activity: Loves to play soccer. Can dribble and shoot.

Likes: To be brushed and loved.

Is there anything else we should know about this pet: (i.e., likes/dislikes, act of heroism, quirk etc.) He dislikes delivery people.

Credit for photograph: Bill Davenport

If you would like your pet to be considered for the weekly My Pet feature, fill out this form.

While stepping into the shower recently, I stepped on what I thought was a piece of dry cat food. We've been feeding our kitten, Galileo, in the bathroom to keep the adult cats out of his food.

Reaching down to throw it into the trash, I noticed it wasn't food, but appeared to be a tooth. Feeling like I was back in first grade at show-and-tell, I put the tooth in a small container and took it to work the next day to show my co-workers.

Most of them have pets, and many of those are cats. Still, several were surprised to learn that kittens lose their teeth just like humans do.

So, in my quest to educate the masses, or at least the readers of this blog, I asked a photographer to take a photo of the tooth and e-mailed it to a few local veterinarian offices to verify that's what it is and get a little information.

Dr. Mark Brigham of Greensboro Veterinary Hospital was kind enough to send me this reply:

This appears to be a feline deciduous premolar (baby tooth). A few weeks after birth, kittens (and puppies, too) start to cut-in baby teeth. These deciduous teeth help the newborn transition from solely drinking mother's milk to eating solid foods. Since the skull is still growing, these baby teeth need to fall out over the first 6 months of life. As they loosen and fall out, they provide a pathway for the adult teeth to follow. If the deciduous teeth don't properly fall out by 1 year of age, then they should be extracted by a veterinarian. Retained deciduous teeth can interfere with the proper alignment of adult teeth.

So the next time someone says they stepped on a kitten's tooth, you might want to believe them.

Kenwyn Caranna, a copy editor for the News & Record, is looking for her next big find for show-and-tell at work. She can be reached at 373-7004 or kenwyn.caranna@news-record.com.

In tomorrow's Life section, there's a story about Cesar Millan, aka the "Dog Whisperer," launching a new magazine. To me, this man knows everything about dogs, and no one can tell me any differently. I have his first book and have read it front to back. I plan on reading it again, now that I've had Greta and Cassie for a few years, to see what I did wrong and how I can correct those mistakes.

In tomorrow's story, it outlines some of the things you'll find in the new magazine, called Cesar's Way. Here's an excerpt from the story: "In a section called Tips & Whispers, the magazine offers the yappiest apps for your iPhone and debunks some dog myths such as this one: A wagging tail is a sign of a happy dog. Fact: Not necessarily. A wagging tail can be a sign of affection. But it can also be a sign of competitive dominance.”

When I read that, I immediately thought of Greta. When we take her into a situation where there are a lot of other dogs, say at a dog park, sometimes we encounter problems. I'm always watching her tail, and it's always wagging, so I think, "She's happy, she's playing." But then a situation might get a little tense with another dog. Greta is very dominant. And when she encounters another dominant dog, well, they might not be BFFs.

After I read that, I started thinking back to all the dogs we've had over to our yard for doggy playdates. There were never incidents with any of those dogs. But none of those dogs were dominant. Greta was queen every time. The only times we've had issues with her were at a dog park and more recently at the Burlington Dogsplash. There were dogs everywhere, playing, having fun, including Greta. And without notice, two happy, tail-wagging dogs were growling.

I thank Cesar for giving me this knowledge now, that a wagging tail isn't always the sign of a happy dog. But now I need him to come help me fix this competitive dominance issue. Hmm.

If your votes in Week 4 of the competition are any indication, you're getting tired of this competition. Saturday morning when I voted for Greta, she had only 119 votes. That's not going to help us win any cash for the Guilford County Animal Shelter. I understand we've been going at this for awhile, but I'm not asking a whole lot of you guys. Just one click of the mouse a day.

One piece of good news is that we're still way ahead of Fox 8 reporter Roxanna Haynes' miniature schnauzer Layla in the votes every week. Keep at it, Pet Shop blog readers. Let's stay ahead of Layla.

Week 5 of the competition is now underway and closes Saturday night. You can vote every day (and please do). Pass this on to all your friends and family. The All American Pet Brands' Cutest Dog Competition continues until Oct. 24, and each week a winner receives $500. If either Layla or Greta wins, we will donate that money to the shelter.

Oh, the competition judges are cracking down on what they are calling "fraudulent" voter accounts. That would be people using multiple e-mail accounts to vote more than once. Even though it's not spelled out in the rules that you can't do that, apparently it's a no-no. So you can only vote once a day. But please do!

To vote for Greta, click here.

 To vote for Layla, click here.

Any questions, let us know.