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I come from a family of dog lovers - my mom, dad and two brothers are all crazy about dogs like me. But while visiting my family last weekend, I realized that nondoglovers put up with a lot from their family members who do love dogs.

Take my grandma, for example, a nondoglover who must tolerate two hyperactive sporting dogs every time she visits her son’s family; three if Ace and I visit! And she does it with no complaints. I would consider my boyfriend Josh a dog lover still in the making, but watching Josh and my grandma interact with the dogs made me think about what nondoglovers have to put up with.

Josh and Grandma tolerated dogs begging for food from from their plates, dogs’ heads in their laps, dogs crying for attention, dogs bumping against their legs, dog hair on their food and clothes, drool flying across the room and lots of talk about dogs from all of us.

By observing from a new perspective, I realized my family and I sometimes cater to our dogs more than we do the humans. More than once, I noticed my dad or mom interrupt Grandma while she was speaking to say something like, “Oh look at Elsie (the golden retriever), she’s so tired,” or, “Aw, Sophie (the Springer spaniel) is so cute right now.” I caught myself doing the same thing a few times to point out something cute my mutt was doing. No matter what the topic of conversation was, sooner or later, it would always drift back to the topic of dogs. That’s just what dog lovers do; we talk about our dogs. Why do you think I write a dog blog?

I also watched as one dog after another wanted inside, then outside, then on the deck, then off the deck, then inside again, and always, someone would give each dog what it wanted. Dogs were jumping in and out of the kiddie pool, bringing us their toys and demanding attention. And I’m not trying to complain about my parents’ dogs here, because my mutt was included in all of this! More than once I put his leash and Gentle Leader on to help him chill out.

I try to be considerate of nondoglovers in the family, as long as they don’t complain about my mutt. I often play ringleader and gather all the dogs on the floor beside me and make them stay. That’s to give the nondoglovers a break. The nondoglovers don’t realize what they are missing, but they will never become dog lovers if they are totally annoyed by dogs.

Don’t forget to enter a caption into my photo caption contest and win 2,000 Entrecredits and a thatmutt.com collar. You have until Sunday.

When violence occurs between family members, pets are often victims of abuse. I read a lot of articles about pets, but one in particular struck me this week because it touched on an issue I have never thought about before - pets battered during domestic violence.

The article in this month’s (June 2008) “O, The Oprah Magazine,” titled “The Battered Pet” told of several cases where abusers tortured or killed a pet in order to remain in control of a spouse. And unfortunately, this is an effective way to remain in control.

Shelter residents interviewed for the article shared stories of delayed attempts to leave an abusive relationship because their pets would have nowhere to go. Women spoke of weighing their pets’ safety against their own, considering most battered women’s shelters do not allow pets. Knowing the amount of loyalty, love and comfort a pet offers, I cannot imagine making that kind of decision.

One example was Susan Walsh, whose border collie and two sheep were purposely killed by her husband. The sheep were shot, and her dog was deliberately ran over with a truck, she said. Walsh said she remained in an abusive marriage partly out of fear of what could happen to her remaining pets if she left.

“Victims of domestic violence may be reluctant to leave an abusive relationship for fear of retaliation upon their pets,” said Joanne Bourbeau, director of The Humane Society of the United States New England Regional Office, in an HSUS news release.

Maine was the first state to allow judges to include animals in protective orders for people seeking protection from abuse, according to “O.” Nine other states have done the same since. I am considering contacting the women’s shelter in my area to ask if any of the residents there have pets that could be in danger.

For more information on protective orders that include pets, search the following web sites: hsus.org, americanhumane.org and aspca.org.

Check out this chick, Nellie McKay. She even promotes homeless dog adoption.