Tango - Tale of an Island Dog - Yorkshire Terrier

Meant for kids, but I liked it!

Tango, a Yorkshire terrier owned by a wealthy model, is swept overboard in a storm and miraculously washes up on Prince Edward Island, barely alive. But his silver ID collar has fallen off. Desperate to return home, Tango meets a foster child who has no home and a lonely widow who does have a home but no one with whom to share it. Then a loyal, elderly fox and a band of vicious feral cats join the mix. Filled with thoughtful observances and lyric descriptions of the island, the writing is a treat. The sympathetic story has soul and substance.

You don't need to be a dog fan to love Tango.

Yorkies are Our little Babies

PETS OUR ARE CHILDREN

Most humans treat their animals just like

part of the family. In a new book by Stanley Coren,

The Modern Dog: A Joyful Exploration of How We Live with Dogs Today
he talks about how dogs especially have changed us.

Dogs, he writes, made human existence possible, aiding us as we

developed civilization. But dogs have

changed more than our lifestyle -

they've profoundly changed how we see the world. There's no better

example of this than Hurricane Katrina.

Before the disaster, Coren writes, the U.S. Federal Emergency

Management Agency head Michael Brown dismissed questions about

evacuating companion animals, saying, "They are not our concern."

But as New Orleans drowned, a new and different attitude emerged.

The nation watched, horrified, as people died with their pets or battled

the elements trying to save them.

One elderly lady's Yorkshire terrier was taken away by a

soldier as she boarded a rescue helicopter.

"I got nothing and no one," she said, crying.

"He's all I got left!" An officer from the medical corps intervened.
"That's not a dog," he told the soldier. "That's medicine.

Medicine for the mind."

They are our little babies!

Small Miniature Dogs are not Accessories - Small Dogs, Big Hearts

"They're small, they're cute,"

"People want little dogs. Celebrities carrying them around make

them look like they're accessories.

They are not wrist watches or wallets. They are dogs."

"There are a myriad of health problems with many of these dogs,"

emphasizes Darlene Arden, author of the book

"Small Dogs, Big Hearts."

Our breed, though undeniably "precious," has a temperament

that can be high-strung and, thanks to overbreeding,

is often beset by health problems that may require expensive surgery.

The likelihood that a casual buyer will become

disenchanted when the growing Yorkie — or any purebred,

for that matter — makes increasing demands concerns

Darlene Arden.

Ms. Arden urges prospective dog owners to do

extensive research before purchasing a dog, and to make sure

that they have the resources and time to devote to the animal.

(THIS IS VERY GOOD ADVICE!)

She also emphasizes that the dog should be a good fit with the

owner's lifestyle: A towering great Dane is not a good choice

for someone who lives in a small,

cramped apartment. "I would like to see people pay more

attention to the characteristics of the dog, instead to what breed

is 'the flavor of the month'

or the one being carted around by some celebrity," she says.