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.

Salt Lake County pets of the week

Sadie is a friendly and energetic husky/shepherd mix. She's playful and fun, and she seems intelligent and attentive. She definitely got her pale blue eyes from the husky side of her family tree. We recommend that Sadie live in a home without small children, because she has a lot of energy. Sadie's adoption fee is $95.
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Salt Lake County pets of the week

Sadie is a friendly and energetic husky/shepherd mix. She's playful and fun, and she seems intelligent and attentive. She definitely got her pale blue eyes from the husky side of her family tree. We recommend that Sadie live in a home without small children, because she has a lot of energy. Sadie's adoption fee is $95.
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Dog’s name, River, is becoming an ironic label

It turns out I named a dog that can't swim after a body of water.As a good dog owner and San Marcos resident, I, of course, wanted to take my dog to the river and let her swim, chase tennis balls and do other dog stuff. Too bad that it turns out River may be the first ever dog that doesn't have the doggy paddle ingrained in her DNA.That's why I've found myself, on my last two trips to the river, giving my dog what I think may be the first ever canine swimming lessons. I figured I wouldn't have to teach swimming until I have a kid, and then I can enroll him in proper lessons so he learns not to take shortcuts. Of course, public pools won't take seven-month old Irish Setters into their swimming tutorial programs and I wouldn't pay for it anyway. That left me, River's hefty owner, to handle the process of teaching her how to swim.

Pups parade in the rain for fun and prizes

Kennedy's High School's Ramsey Field from all the wagging tongues and tails there.

As Ralphie & Spike's First Ever Dog Show kicked off on the afternoon of May 26, Saturday, with dog owners and their four legged best friends gathering for the festivities under tents and in a main ring. All types of furry friends made a showing, from little Pomeranian pups to bounding Dalmatians to Chinaman Red Devil pit bulls.

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