Thanks to everyone who has let us know to include their dog or cat breed. We've prioritized our list accordingly and are excited to announce that we now have 5 more dog breeds on the site:

• American Eskimo Dog
• Chinese Shar-Pei
• English Setter
• Papillon
• Pekingese

You can see our entire list of dogs here. And of course, if you don't see your breed, please let us know. We plan on adding at least 5 breeds per month until everyone's dog or cat breed (including mixed breeds!) are covered.

According to USA Today,

Almost 6,000 claims have been filed in a class-action settlement stemming from last year's massive pet-food recall.

Pet food makers have already paid $8 million to pet owners affected by the recalls. In May, Menu Foods and other pet food manufacturers and retailers agreed to set up a $24 million fund to compensate owners.

Most of the fund will go to owners of pets who experienced kidney failure, which was linked to a contaminated ingredient from China. These ingredients were "adulterated in China with the industrial chemical melamine to make them appear richer in protein than they actually were."

For more information you can visit www.petfoodsettlement.com. The claims administrator can be reached at 1-800-392-7785.

More colleges are opening up their doors to students with pets. Cathy Rosenthal of Examiner.com says:

Animals can ease homesickness, help students feel more grounded, and even help shy students make friends.

And it's not just cats and dogs, but even ferrets that are making the cut. Some schools that allow pets include:

• CalTech
• Eckerd
• Stephens College
• MIT

As Rosenthal puts it, many students have trouble leaving behind the pets that have been a part of their lives for years. Interestingly, they usually have less trouble leaving behind their parents. I guess it's just a part of the circle of life.

Today we kick off our series of interviews with pet bloggers. Our first guinea pig (pun intended) is Johann the dog over at Raise a Green Dog. Johann (and we suspect his owner as well) has been kind enough to answer some of our questions. Read on for a great interview as well as some helpful tips!

1) When did you start your blog, and what inspired your to get into green pets blogging?

Raise A Green Dog blog began in November of 2007. I had been blogging with my personal blog since I was just a wee pup in 2004; and started my Rescue Me blog in June of 2007. Blogging is a natural for me.

I’m 3rd generation green. My GrandMum was green all her life and raised my Mum in a green environment. Our family has always said that GrandMum was green before green was cool!

Over the life of my personal blog I wrote about green practices all the time because it was a part of my life. I wrote about our organic lawn and garden, cleaning with all natural cleaners, eating natural and organic foods, and more. Many of my blogging buds began to ask my thoughts and ideas about green practices. So I woke up one day and said hey, why not start a blog for current and aspiring green dogs?

2) What's your favorite thing about blogging?

I think my absolute favorite thing about blogging is meeting all the really cool pups I’ve met all over the World. I’ve made friends in South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and throughout the US and North America. I really enjoy the sharing of information among dogs throughout the World that a blog platform can provide. If the information we share together helps just one pup live a healthier, happier life through green practices, then I’ll feel it all worth it.

3) Have you noticed a shift in attitudes towards the environment and its connection to pets?

When I started my blog in the Fall of 2007, I found that overall very few were talking about how the environment affects pets. A few of us were working hard to get the word out, after the big pet food recall.

When the recall hit, dogs and dog lovers all over the World were looking for help, advice and information about their food – what was safe, and what wasn’t? It was a very scary time, and the loss and illnesses of the pups and other pets is just devastating.

After the big recall subsided somewhat, dogs and dog lovers (rightfully so) began questioning all aspects of pups' lives and their safety. They began to ask whether their toys were safe, was their environment safe, where the products used in their home safe and more. Now in 2008, I’ve seen a tremendous and wonderful progression of interest and pro-activity in green practices for pups and other pets. I think it will only continue to grow; and am happy that it will.

4) What are some of your favorite blogs out there?

I check in with over 200 amazing blogs every week. Some are blogs written by my dog friends, some are blogs written by dog lovers, and some are green blogs. Being the agility dog that I am I can’t go a day without reading my friends' agility dog blogs. I just have to see how their trials went over the weekend, or how their training is coming along.

I also love to check in with my green blog friends – one being Eddie over at Pets for the Environment. I frequent many of the major green blogs – like TreeHugger, and Eco Geek (‘cause I’m kind of geeky). And I like to visit my friend Ashley’s blog, Good Being Green, from the Raleigh-Durham area. Her blog gives a great local community perspective of green practices that can be emulated in any community.

5) If there was one green tip that you would recommend that everyone follow, what would it be and why?

That’s a toughie to recommend just one, because everything us pups come in contact with can affect our health and our lives. But I believe one of the most important is to eat the best food you can. All dog foods are not created equal. Do your homework, find out about the company that’s providing the foods, find out how they make it, get advice and recommendations from trusted sources, eat organic if you can, eat raw or home cooked if you can, or eat the highest quality kibble you can - because what goes in is very important to a dog’s health and happiness.

6) You have many types of content on your site – products, tips, news, etc. What articles usually receive the warmest reception?

I knew I wanted to provide well-rounded information on the blog, but I also wanted to know the biggest concerns of dogs and dog lovers. So, when I first started the blog I put a survey on the sidebar to help me better understand what my readers needed and wanted to know.

The survey shows that my reader’s top interest is related to what foods are safe for us dogs. Tied for 2nd are what toys are safe, and where can they buy safer products. Thirdly they want to know more general information about the environment and the affect on their pups, and how they can keep their pup’s environment safer.

So I’ve geared the blog content over the year to provide answers to those big questions (and others in the survey) in the hopes that I can best serve my readership.

Secretly I think they also love it when I talk about how to get rid of the doo. :)

A San Antonio police officer was reprimanded for an August 5 traffic stop. Officer Paul Stephens of the San Marcos police department pulled over two college students as they tried to rush their dying teacup poodle to the vet.

The story has received much media attention, including segments on Good Morning America and Inside Edition. The reason for the attention is Officer Stephens' unsympathetic comments. The traffic camera shows Stephens telling the car's driver, "It's just a dog. You can buy another one. Relax." See the video of the traffic stop here.

photo via Houston Chronicle

Concerned citizens have started petitions to get Stephens fired, and have also reached out to the poodle's owners, Michael Gonzales and Krystal Hernandez. The poodle, Misty, had choked on some food and gone limp. Misty didn't survive the trip.

The word "natural" gets thrown around a lot on pet food labels. But what exactly does it mean? Well, according to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), "natural" is:

A feed or ingredient derived solely from plant, animal or mined sources, either in its unprocessed state or having been subject to physical processing, heat processing, rendering, purification, extraction, hydrolysis, enzymolysis or fermentation, but not having been produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process and not containing any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic except in amounts as might occur unavoidably in good manufacturing practices.

Confusing, isn't it? It's also open to a lot of interpretation, given that "natural" products can also be subject to "physical processing, heat processing, rendering, purification, extraction, hydrolysis, enzymolysis (?) or fermentation."

Perhaps we should be glad there's any definition at all. Terms like "human grade" still haven't been defined by the AAFCO, allowing pet food manufacturers to use them even more loosely.

And the human food definition of "natural" isn't set in stone yet either. As of January of this year the FDA had no plans to further define the term "natural." The FDA does hold to its 1993 policy definition of the term:

FDA has not established a formal definition for the term 'natural', however the agency has not objected to the use of the term on food labels provided it is used in a manner that is truthful and not misleading and the product does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances. Use of the term 'natural' is not permitted in the ingredient list, with the exception of the phrase 'natural flavorings'.

At least I can understand this definition. Why doesn't the pet food definition of "natural" make any sense? The moral of the story: don't rely on pet food marketing to make a decision. Make sure to read the labels. All things "natural" aren't necessarily good. For some great information on what to look for visit Dr. Remillard's PetDiets.com.

Maryland prisons started using dogs to sniff out cell phones that have been snuck in from the outside. Cell phones can be very valuable to prisoners and have been used to manage operations "inside the walls," and even (allegedly) order hits.

Photo via CNN.com

Cell phones can be thrown over fences or hidden in food, storage cases and outside deliveries.

The program started in June and already the three cell phone sniffing canines have found about two dozen phones. Not bad! The three dogs involved are a German Shepherd mix, a Belgian Malinois and a Springer Spaniel.

I'm always amazed at what dogs can be trained to do. I wonder if we could train a dog to start blogging?

If you live in California or Nevada and use Pedigree dog food, double check your label. A limited amount of food is being recalled because of possible Salmonella contamination. From the article:

The FDA said the recall of Pedigree Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites was limited to bags sold in Albertsons stores in Southern California and the Las Vegas areas. The recalled pet food might be contaminated with Salmonella and should not be fed to pets.

The 20-pound bags of recalled dog food carried UPC 23100 14719, lot code 830BFCAT02 and had "Best Buy Date: 07/2009" printed on the back of the bag.

Pet owners can return the bags to the place of purchase for a refund or contact the company at 877-568-4463 for further information.

UPDATE: Turtle stolen! It should be easy to spot. Look out for the turtle with two heads.

As one might guess, two-headed turtles are a rarity. Sean Casey, animal rescuer and owner of a Brooklyn pet store, knows first-hand. He's been displaying a two-headed turtle rescued from Florida in his window and has gotten a lot of response from passerby's and patrons alike.

photo via NY Daily News

Usually animals with genetic mutations such as this die soon after birth, but Casey thinks his new favorite turtle may last awhile. Of course, caring for a turtle with two heads isn't without complications. Casey has to feed each head by hand or else they'll fight over pellets. He also keeps the water in the turtle's habitat shallow, as the two heads have a tendency to argue over which way to turn if the turtle gets flipped over.

All in all, the turtle heads sound to me like an old, disgruntled married couple. They're closer than perhaps they'd like to be to each other, but they've learned to cope. Here's hoping they'll be coping with each other for many years to come.