DISASTERS HAPPEN

In case you haven't noticed, us dogs tend to live "in the moment". There is no before. No after. No later. Just NOW. Lots and lots of NOW.

I'm not sure about all humans, but my human is all about before, after, and especially later. She's a huuuuge fan of later (my friend Google says the technical term for this is procrastination). But even my later-happy human knows some things just can't wait. And since she just read a book about hurricane Katrina (and still pretty much bawls her eyes out at the thought of "Katrina dogs") she finally decided the doggie disaster plan she's been thinking about for years couldn't wait another minute.

So now we have an emergency kit and a plan. And along with the plan we have shiny new ID tags with an out-of-area emergency contact number - just in case local phone service fails or my human can't be reached. My human also added a Pet Alert card to her wallet. Clipped to her license, the card tells people like the police that me and brother Dutch are home alone, that someone has volunteered to care of us, and how that person can be contacted.

We also have a special folder in case some really terrible disaster strikes. Like if my human falls off a cliff or gets eaten by a shark. The special folder holds our medical history (ie; Dutch is allergic to bees, I've been known to fake heart attacks), information about our day-to-day care and quirks (I eat rocks - don't be alarmed; Dutch smiles when he's nervous and it makes him look a vicious werewolf - don't be alarmed by that either), plus a general run down of who we are and how we work.

You can download a Pet Alert card for free and learn how to prepare for your own disaster. Oh, and my human says it's a really good idea to print out a clear, recent photo of your pet -- in case you ever need to make a LOST DOG poster in a hurry.

Hopefully, none of your preparation will ever come in handy.