Put the sun to your back.

The top photo was taken during Irie and Tiki’s morning romp. The sun is at my back.

As the dogs raced across the yard, I turned and suddenly I was facing into the sun and shot this photo:

Ugh, it’s like suddenly looking into the sun without your sunglasses…all glare!

If you have a photo that illustrates today’s tip, please share it in the comments below by clicking on the + field in the comments box!

Saturday, Feb. 4:

9am ET/PT Dogs 101, Animal Planet.

10am ET/PT It’s Me or the Dog, Animal Planet.

11am ET/PT Cats 101, Animal Planet.

Featuring the American Shorthair, Savannah, Scottish Fold, Persian, Ragdoll, and Sphynx.

12pm ET/PT Cats 101, Animal Planet.

Featuring an intro to Kittens, Birth and the First Four Weeks, Kitten Transformations, What You’re Getting Into, Picking a Kitten, Care and Training.

1pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

Even if you don’t have a cat at home, be sure to watch this new series featuring Jackson Galaxy. This cat behaviorist will be tweeting live during the #RedCarpetCat Twitter party we’re hosting later this month!

2pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

2pm ET AKC/Eukanuba National Championship, ABC.

This massive dog show was held in December in Orlando; highlights air in this broadcast but additional coverage is available online. [Related story]

3pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

4pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

5pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

6pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

7pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

8pm ET/PT My Cat From Hell, Animal Planet.

8pm ET Dog Whisperer, Nat Geo WILD.

“Hounded by Fear” examines Cynophobics, people with an irrational fear of dogs.

9pm ET/PT Pit Boss, Animal Planet.

Shorty and Sebastian are put in danger when dealing with a severely abused pit bull.

9pm ET Dog Whisperer, Nat Geo WILD.

“Homeboys and Hounds” looks at three members of an outreach program called Homeboy Industries, each with a problem dog at home.

10pm ET/PT Pit Bulls and Parolees, Animal Planet.

10pm ET Dog Whisperer, Nat Geo WILD.

“Gotti’s Honor”examines Gotti, a pit bull under the care of the daughter of former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett after her brother suddenly passes away.

1pm ET/PT Pit Boss, Animal Planet.

Sunday, Feb. 5:

All Day: Super Dog Sunday

The all-day photo contest and blog hop that we’re co-hosting with All Things Dog Blog features over $1000 in prizes…get those cameras and canines ready!

3pm ET/PT Puppy Bowl VIII

This gridiron alternative features two hours of cute puppies; the broadcast airs again at 5pm, 7pm, and 9pm.

Every Fido-loving fan’s favorite funny lady, Betty White– who once tickled funny bones on the radio in her own series in the 1940′s– will return to the air waves as a special guest host on Animal Radio.

The A-list animal advocate, who uses her star wattage to shine a spotlight on such organizations as the Morris Animal Foundation, will discuss a lifetime of loving all those with fur, fins and feathers during the broadcast, which can be heard on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 and 100 plus FM/AM stations across the country on February 4, 2012 at noon ET.

For more information:

• visit http://animalradio.com

Photo Credit: Amazon

Four years ago yesterday, we adopted Irie. We’d visited her shelter because we’d seen an Australian cattle dog on Petfinder, but once we arrived at the shelter we realized the cattle dog was just too energetic to be a companion to our then 15-year-old Yoda.

While we were at the shelter, we recognized another dog whose photo we had seen in this Petfinder photo:

The rest, of course, is history! The six-month-old pup in that shelter photo we saw on Petfinder is now our Irie.

Because Petfinder has been instrumental in bringing us three of our family members–Irie, Tiki and Inca–we are so excited to be co-hosting Super Dog Sunday with AllThingsDogBlog.com to benefit Petfinder Foundation.

If you’re not as familiar with Petfinder Foundation as you are with Petfinder itself, we wanted to provide a little more information about this nonprofit. According to their website:

Petfinder.com Foundation works with shelters, rescue organizations and animal welfare organizations across the country to help ensure that no adopt-able pet is euthanized for lack of a good home.

Petfinder Foundation helps shelters and rescues in a wide variety of ways. Recent projects have included assisting The Plain and Fancy Animal Rescue of Pennsylvania when it was devastated by an electrical fire. It has helped SpokAnimal Care and Meadow Gates Farm Sanctuary obtain digital cameras so they could share photos of their adoptable animals on Petfinder. It has joined other charitable groups in providing $150,000 worth of grants to animal welfare agencies impacted by the Gulf oil spill. The list goes on and on with projects big and small.

This weekend, we’ll be working hard on Super Dog Sunday and we look forward to seeing and sharing your photos of your pets and awarding all the great prizes to the winners.

But we’re also so happy to be helping out Petfinder Foundation through the donations of our great Super Dog Sunday sponsors and by encouraging Petfinder Foundation donations from our readers. There’s NO fee to enter Super Dog Sunday but, if you have a moment, we’d love for you to consider a small donation to Petfinder Foundation. You can click on the Petfinder Foundation image at the top of this post or you can text 4PETS and your email address to 20222 to donate $10 to Petfinder.com Foundation!

And, as always, the next time you hear that a friend or neighbor is looking for a dog, cat or other pet to add to their family, please ask them to check out Petfinder.com as they start their search. There are a lot of great dogs like Irie out there looking for their forever home!

Product or Place I Am Reviewing: Coburn’s Exclusive Elevated Dog Feeder

My Dog’s Name: Daisy

What I Liked About This Product or Place: I love the look of this modern dog feeder. We got ours in red and I did a full review for it on my blog, Woof Woof Mama.

They custom make them to your dog’s specifications if they don’t have one in a standard size that fits your dog’s needs…so cool!

What My Dog Liked About the Product or Place: Daisy loves her food and this makes it even easier for her to scarf it down! It is supposed to also be healthier for dogs to use an elevated feeder.

-contributed by Liz in Florida

To contribute your own reader review to our Fido’s Faves section, please visit the Fido’s Faves online form.

And now we’ve got one more way you can help Petfinder Foundation. PetHub is donating $1 for every $5 spent using this coupon code: SUPERDOG. This code is valid through midnight Pacific Time on Friday, February 10, 2012.

PetHub specializes in QR tags to help your dog or cat get home ASAP if they’re ever lost. Your pet’s QR tag can be scanned by most smartphones when your pet is found, providing access to all the contact (and veterinary) information you’d like to supply about your pet! You can opt for cute QR tags like these…

PetHub™ Link Tags; photo courtesy PetHub

…or PetHub Scruff Tags with the tag built right in like this…

PetHub™ Link ScruffTag Collar; photo courtesy PetHub

…or you can opt to upgrade your free subscription to a paid subscription plan to hold more information about your pet and to send out shelter alerts and provide GPS mapping if needed!

Please be sure to check out the PetHub offerings and, if you decide to purchase any items, to use the special coupon code so your purchase will help benefit the Petfinder Foundation!

The author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible is once again discussing all things dog and cat-related in this week’s DOG TALK radio show. Tracie Hotcher features a diverse lineup in this week’s broadcast:

• Dr. Karen Sueda (a veterinary behavior specialist at the VCA Hospital in West Los Angeles) discusses inter-cat aggression: how to avoid it, identify it, and resolve it.
• If you’ve ever wondered what owning a wolf or wolf-hybrid would be like, Ceiridwen Terrill‘s distressing account of buying and raising a wolf-hybrid puppy will cure you of any such misguided impulse.
• Dr. Annie Forslund (a California vet who specializes in home pet euthanasia) discusses end-of-life issues and how to determine when “the time has come.” (Find more information at www.HomePetEuthanasia.com.)

When to Hear DOG TALK®

DOG TALK® airs Saturdays on NPR on Saturdays at 11 AM in Southampton NY and LIVE at 1 PM Sundays on Robinhood radio in the Berkshires. It is also available by podcast anytime.

About Tracie Hotchner

This is one of two radio shows by pet author and canine nutrition expert Tracie Hotchner, who also hosts CAT CHAT® every Wednesday on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius/XM Satellite. Tracie Hotchner is the author of The Dog Bible: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know and The Cat Bible: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know.

Can you believe it has been almost a year since beautiful Hickory, a Scottish Deerhound, captured the “Best in Show” title at the 2011 Westminster Kennel Club Show? Competing against nearly 2,600 other canines, Hickory claimed the coveted purple-and-gold ribbon and silver bowl in the annual event (taking place this year on Feb. 13-14).

On Saturday, February 11, New York City dog lovers will have the chance to meet Hickory at a personal appearance at the Union Square Petco where she’ll meet and pose for pictures with her dog-loving fans.

All guests who attend will receive a free photo of Hickory, along with other special offers and discounts from Purina® Pro Plan®, official pet food sponsor of the 2012 Westminster Dog Show. Petco store associates and Pro Plan representatives will be on hand to answer questions and provide helpful tips on which products are best for their very own four-legged champion.

WHEN: Saturday, February 11, 2012,  1 p.m. – 3 p.m.

WHERE:  Union Square Petco, 860 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, phone 212-358-0692

Blog Name: The SureFlap Blog

Complete Blog URL: blog.sureflap.com

General category (dog, cat, all, other): cat

Blog description: The SureFlap Blog is aimed at cat owners all over the world offering helpful hints and tips on cat care, cat health and product tips. There’s also fun stuff like contests and crazy cat stories in the news! You’ll also find fun stories from guest bloggers – some are even written from a cat’s point of view!

About the blogger(s): The SureFlap Blog is written by administrators from SureFlap head office and Newton the SureFlap mascot writes posts from a cat’s point of view. Guest bloggers also appear from time to time.

Search for more pet blogs!

The Pet Blog Directory features all types of pet blogs. For an index of blog categories or to add your blog, please visit the Pet Blog Directory home page.

Gabby is spayed, up to date on her shots and is well on her way to being house trained. This special girl will be a wonderful companion when she finds her forever home.

For More Information:

• email Gary at cimarrondogs@yahoo.com
• email the Cimarron Valley Humane Society
• call the Cimarron Valley Humane Society at (918) 223-7787
• visit Gabby’s Petfinder page

About Adoptable Dog of the Day

If you are interested in one of the dogs featured in Adoptable Dog of the Day, please contact the person or organization listed with the dog’s information; they’ll be able to tell you more about this dog. If you would like to list a dog as an Adoptable Dog of the Day, please visit our Submit An Adoptable Dog of the Day page.

If you have a blog, you are free to republish the Adoptable Dog of the Day listings and please feel free to share them on social media. Let’s help find these great dogs homes!