June 10, 2007 -- IT'S funny how dogs make friends out of strangers - like my late neighbor Mitch Pressler. A fixture on East 90th Street for decades, he'd sit on his building's stoop, surveying the block. Passersby stopped to hang with him, especially those on four legs: Savory the miniature pinscher, Paco the pug, Paddy the Lhasa apso, Lincoln the beagle, Lola the bulldog and my pack of pit bulls and mutts all gravitated to Mitch because he loved dogs.

Mitch regularly followed this column, too. "Very good article," he'd call out to me from his stoopside perch. Certain stories really got him talking, notably the one about how senior citizens struggle to keep pets in rent-stabilized apartments. He added his voice to the outcry when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn failed to support Intro 13, the Pets in Housing Bill.

Housebroken pet knows enough to do his business in the bathroom

In the fall, we adopted Charlie from a rescue shelter. He was cute, cuddly, and a complete mess. Matted hair. An ear infection. An eye infection. And bathroom habits that would shame any well-behaved animal.

Well, a trip to the vet took care of the infections. And then the groomer, Marianne, had her way with the clippers. Our new little Shih-Tzu/Lhasa Apso mix was bald. And cuter. The only odd thing revealed by the haircut was that his little nose and mouth seemed to be pushed to his right, giving him a perpetually quizzical look.

We took this in stride.

But the house-breaking issue was something else. He peed and pooped everywhere but outside. And we gave him plenty of fresh-air opportunities.

We figured he'd been shuffled around so much that his bathroom priorities had been scrambled.

Pet obesity raising concern

LOGAN - Over recent months, adult and childhood obesity has been a major concern for many people across the nation, and now there is another form of health problem, and it includes our favorite four-legged friends.

Obesity in pets is a growing concern for pet-owners across the country, who sometimes don't even realize their cat or dog is growing larger every day. In fact, a recent study conducted by Pfizer Animal Health said that many owners don't realize their pets are overweight or at risk of health problems. According to the study, 47 percent of American dogs are overweight or obese, yet only 17 percent of dog owners would classify their dogs as being such.

As the No. 1 nutritional disorder in dogs, an estimated 25 to 44 percent of dogs in the United States are overweight or obese.

Editor's Diary: Snowey the Dog

I don't want to write about politics this time around, or journalism or even my life abroad. The only thing really on mind these days is my friend Snowey.

I saw Snowey on a website for Samoyeds that need a home.

Local bulldog is Chicago mascot

Meatball arrived here Friday.

Unless greetings at the Avalon Estates home of Dominic and Bernice Marino count for anything.

By Saturday morning Meatball a 3-year-old, rescued, pure-bred, 52-pound English bulldog was basking in the sunshine with his traveling companion Alice Bean and owner/activist Molly Marino.

The trip from the Windy City was grueling, but not near the pace that Meatball has been living since being named winner of Fans Best Friend.

Meatball, who owes his life to Marino, a 1991 Howland High School graduate and marketing director at a Chicago investment research company, was chosen as the official mascot for Comcast SportsNets advertising campaign that hypes live games broadcast for the Chicago sports teams the White Sox, Bulls, Cubs, Bears and Blackhawks.