Are you a Furparent?

Ever taken your pooch on a "playdate" or referred to housebreaking as "potty training?" If you have, you're among a growing demographic of "furparents."

Sometimes I find myself confusing pet ownership and parenthood. And I think this pets-as-children mindset is so pervasive because of the rapidly growing pet industry (dog masseuse, anyone?) that constantly manipulates child-rearing terms and re-appropriates them to enforce the idea that dogs aren't just pets; they're our babies.

Click here to read an interesting and funny take on the new words of the dog world. And next time you find yourself at a "bark mitzvah," you'll have a little perspective.

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle

In October 2007, Major Brian Dennis of the United States Marine Corps met a wild stray dog while patrolling the Syrian border in Iraq. The dog's ears had been docked by an Iraqi while he was still a puppy, earning him the name "Nubs" from the American soldier. But this first brief encounter quickly turned into an inseparable relationship. Every few weeks, Major Dennis returned to the border fort from his regular station to patrol for a few days. And every time he arrived, Nubs was there to greet him. When Dennis and his team departed the fort in their Humvee for their home base, Nubs would run behind the vehicle for miles, only to fall away in exhaustion. Now, imagine the major's surprise when he saw a bloody and beaten Nubs stumble onto his home base...nearly 70 miles away from the border fort. Major Dennis documented the dog's amazing journey--from the barren Iraqi desert and eventually to the United States--in the children's book, Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle.



For more details on this incredible story, click here.