Terrier: Warren must put problems in rear-view mirror

By: Daisy

Several weeks ago, my human friends Rich and Laura went food-shopping at the Trader Joe's near Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Mass. While returning to the car in the parking lot, they were surprised to see, in a neighboring car, another Westie, a 6-year-old named Ziggy, lying comfortably in an unusual position -- in the space above the back-seat area, screened by the rear window.

At least Ziggy wasn't strapped atop the car like Mitt Romney once did to the family Irish setter Seamus in 1983. And yet Romney, by finally being forthright on the issue, seems to have placed it in the rear-view mirror of his presidential campaign. This is an important lesson for another candidate with some background problems -- Massachusetts Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren.

Campaigns going to the dogs

By: Daisy
We dogs have dominated the news headlines this week, from the presidential campaign to the Massachusetts Senate race. Time to pick up my pen (metaphorically speaking -- I can't pick up a pen with a paw) and start addressing all the doggy details!
Romney camp dishes out sneak attack
First, I wasn't happy that Mitt Romney's henchmen launched an unfair dog-related attack on President Obama. Admittedly the details made me wince (as much as a dog can wince, anyway). It turns out, from Obama's autobiography "Dreams From My Father," that when he was six years old, his stepfather served him dog meat while they were in Indonesia.
The Romney camp is making much ado over this. And I must say, it makes me feel rather queasy. Yet I should also point out that this happened when Obama was SIX YEARS OLD ... just a kid who hardly could have been expected to politely turn down the, ahem, meal. Today, our now 50-year-old president is a thoughtful pet owner who takes his Portuguese water dog Bo in limo rides and on Christmas shopping trips.
Romney, on the other paw (oops, I mean hand), was in his mid-thirties when he strapped Seamus atop the family station wagon on a cross-country drive in 1983. So I don't think his supporters are right when they say Obama's doggy no-no was as bad as Romney's.

Terrier: MA embraces Mitt, rejects revolutionary spirit

By: Daisy

Lately, I must confess, I've been a bit snappish. I have growled at my human friend, Rich, for daring to try to dislodge me from my sunny perch atop the bed (I think it was probably unintentional) ... and I have stuck my paws in the ground and refused to budge -- even slipped out of my leash -- when he has tried to redirect me on our morning walks on the North Cambridge bike path.
I believe this frustration is a sign of a deeper malaise: That Massachusetts, the so-called Cradle of Liberty, has dared to vote for its former governor, Mitt Romney, in the Republican presidential primary, one of 10 contests in play yesterday on "Super Tuesday."
Have Bay State Republicans forgotten their revolutionary roots? It was only last weekend -- on two occasions, actually -- that I got to scamper across the North Bridge in Concord, where, on April 19, 1775, a brave band of patriots fired "the shot heard 'round the world" against the tyrannic government of King George III of England.
While at the time I was more interested in frolicking in the snow and gazing at the birds near the Concord River, I am now saddened by how far Republicans have strayed from their state's revolutionary heritage. Their forebears rebelled against a tyrant king and Parliament ... yet the Republicans of today embraced an even bigger tyrant, a man who outrageously drove cross-country with his Irish setter Seamus in a crate atop the family station wagon in 1983. Talk about "Intolerable Acts"!
What is even more intolerable is that not only did the Bay State GOP vote for Romney, it did so by an overwhelming margin. Romney earned over two-thirds of the primary vote -- more than 70 percent -- and thus got all of the 41 Massachusetts delegates in play. Truly, Massachusetts Republicans acted like a dog that licked the hand of a bad master. After all, the New York Times reported, Romney "chose not to seek a second term as governor, announcing that decision more than a year before he left office and spending much of that final year outside the state." And the Boston Globe noted that the last time Romney ran for president, in 2008, "he regularly made Massachusetts the punch line in his remarks because of its liberal social culture. He told the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2007 that Massachusetts was 'sort of San Francisco East, Nancy Pelosi style.'"
Sigh ... I guess it's not like there were much better alternatives out there. This Republican contest is sort of like the lesser of four evils. But it did pain me to see Romney voting at a senior center in Belmont, right down the road from revolutionary Concord ... and celebrating his win at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, across the Charles River from my home in Cambridge.
And I leave you with this, faithful readers: If cars had existed in 1775 ... and Paul Revere had one on his famous "Midnight Ride" before the Battles of Lexington and Concord ... and his little doggie wanted to come along ... don't you think Paul, unlike Mitt, would have found a way to put the dog in the car and not on top of it?

Daisy is a 9-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass. Her column runs regularly.

Upon reflection, Mitt NYC protest deserves more kudos

By: Daisy

Maybe I was so focused on rooting for my fellow Westies at the Westminster Kennel Club (WKC) dog show in New York City Tuesday that I got a little too hot under my collar at the anti-Mitt Romney demonstrators outside.
Led by the "Dogs Against Romney" advocacy group, 12 courageous people and several dogs (including a bull terrier and a pug) stood outside the show at Madison Square Garden for about a half-hour to call attention to Romney's putting his Irish setter atop the family station wagon on a cross-country trip in 1983.
In my Tuesday column, I didn't give the protestors much love, saying they should go where Romney is (check Arizona or Michigan, as both have GOP presidential primaries approaching) and not disrupt the venerable dog show. Well, the protestors didn't entirely get some love from passers-by either. The AP reported that one man yelled out "Dogs don't vote!" (No, but our human companions do.) Yet the group did get respect from the American Kennel Club.
"The AKC promotes responsible dog ownership," spokeswoman Lisa Peterson told the AP. "Putting a dog in a crate for car travel is the first step toward responsible dog ownership ... The second step would be to put that crate in a car."
So to "Dogs Against Romney," I say, good work yesterday. Even though a Peke won best in show and no Westies placed in the top four for best of breed, I feel hopeful for the future.

Daisy is a 9-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass. Her column runs weekly (and sometimes more, when she has a chance to reflect).

WKC Mitt protest misses the mark

By: Daisy

Let me begin by saying I'm no fan of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Anyone who puts his dog in a crate on the roof of their car on a cross-country drive -- as Mitt reportedly did in 1983 with the family Irish setter, Seamus -- well, Mitt, "you ain't no friend of mine," as Elvis Presley sang in "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog."
But the "Dogs Against Romney" protest planned for noontime today in New York City has picked the wrong location: The Westminster Kennel Club dog show. "Dogs Against Romney" is an advocacy group that says it doesn't endorse any particular presidential candidate ... but it also says today's protest will "serve to complement" the work of another group, "Pet Lovers for Obama." Well, these groups are barking up the wrong tree.
Today, when attention should be focused on who is best in show (I'm rooting for my fellow Westies, natch) the crowd at Madison Square Garden will see the distracting presence of demonstrators. Worse yet, these demonstrators are protesting a cause that has NOTHING TO DO with the dog show.
From the "Dogs Against Romney" website:

The protest is sponsored by Dogs Against Romney - and will seek to focus more public attention on the fact that Romney forced his dog to ride for 12-hours on the roof of his car - and even coldly hosed the dog down with water after he became ill and frightened, soiling himself - before driving for hours more - all while Romney's luggage rode inside the car.

Yikes! Yet from my cozy sunbeam atop the comforter on my bed in Massachusetts, let me offer the following objective observations to my human friends:
First, you might have some company on the barricades out on Seventh Avenue. PETA has protested the WKC show in the past, for a different and more relevant reason. "PETA's beagle brigade made sure that everyone heard the ugly truth about doggie beauty pageants and the dog-breeding industry," writer Lindsay Pollard-Post noted last year. "They kill shelter dogs' chances."
And second, while you're howling at the moon (or the sun, in this case), your quarry is getting away. It looks like Mitt is NOWHERE NEAR NYC. On Monday he tweeted he was soaking up the sun in Arizona. "Great event yesterday in Mesa," his campaign tweeted, "and look forward to being back for more campaigning & the CNN debate."
So I will sum up by telling "Dogs Against Romney" that if they really want to hound Mitt, they should go after the candidate ... and leave the show dogs alone.

Daisy is a 9-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass. Her column appears weekly.

Mitt victim of 'vast four-legged conspiracy,' terrier says

By: Daisy

My human friends tell me that when Newt Gingrich was the big dog in Washington, DC, in the mid-1990s, he and his Republicans hounded President Bill Clinton so much that an expression entered US politics: "A vast right-wing conspiracy."
Now another Republican, Mitt Romney, looks set to win a dogfight against Newt for the GOP nomination, and Mitt is facing overzealous attacks from what I call "a vast four-legged conspiracy."
On Tuesday, the Boston Herald reported on an Alabama man, Scott Crider, and his business, "Dogs Against Romney." Crider takes Mitt to task -- justifiably so, in my opinion -- for driving cross-country with his wife and five children in the family station wagon in 1983 ... with their Irish setter Seamus in a crate on top.
If you visit the "Dogs Against Romney" website, you can see that Crider has a bit of Mitt's business sense. He is marketing not only T-shirts and hoodies, but also ballcaps and buttons ... even doggie tees and bandanas. They come with slogans such as "Dogs Aren't Luggage" and "Never Forget Crate Gate." And part of the proceeds go to animal welfare groups, the site says.
The Herald describes Crider as "a political independent," but someone in the pack of Republicans must benefit from the attacks on Mitt, and I'd say that someone is Newt. Indeed, the Herald mentions a Newt attack ad that lists Mitt's howlers ... including defending driving with Seamus on the roof, and a rendition of "Who Let the Dogs Out?" (It reminded me of my own "I want to go out!" bark to my owners.)
Gingrich himself has a "Pets With Newt 2012" website, which lets supporters share pictures of their pets and themselves. But Newt comes across less like a pet person and more like someone who prefers seeing animals cooped up in cages. We learn that "(as) a teenager, Newt wanted to be either a zoo director or a vertebrate paleontologist," and we get a list of his top zoos (big surprise: they include the San Diego Zoo and Bronx Zoo). And the main photo on the web page is Newt not with a cute Westie like me ... not even with a cat ... but holding what looks like a pair of monkeys! Who has monkeys for pets???
I have criticized Mitt for his dog-on-the-roof decision -- it certainly showed poor judgment -- but I believe in second chances. (Good thing my owners do, too, after all the times I've wiggled off the same leash!) Crider's designs are cute, and Newt's schemes are creative, but I'm starting to feel some sympathy for Mitt. Why, Mitt even referred to himself as "a rodent and rabbit hunter." That warms my heart much more than any T-shirt ever could.

Daisy is a 9-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass. Her column appears weekly.

Doggie Seat Puts Mitt in Hot Seat

Mitt-Dog on Roof Cartoon, a photo by rbtenorio on Flickr.

Mitt Romney's GOP rivals are dogging him with hard-hitting accusations, namely, that he makes too much money, and that he once drove cross-country with his dog on the roof of the family station wagon in 1983. The Political Pets ask Mitt if he would re-think the latter decision, in the latest episode of "Capitol Hill Canine"!

Terrier analyzes Mitt's dog-on-roof decision

By: Daisy

Even though I wasn't born yet in 1983, when Mitt Romney decided to drive cross-country with his Irish setter on the roof of the family station wagon -- a move that is being attacked by his rival Newt Gingrich -- I can sure weigh in on it.
First of all, we dogs just love riding in cars. It's great to look out the window, and not just because we get a change of scenery. Yesterday, when my co-owner Rich pulled into a gas station and rolled down the window to talk to the attendant, I could hear the chirping of the birds outside and my mouth started watering. Yum!
But when Rich takes me on a car trip, I have the whole back seat of his Toyota Corolla to stretch out on (including a red doggie blanket). Mitt actually put the family dog, Seamus, on top of his car. Now, OK, he didn't do something totally ridiculous like tie him to the roof like a Christmas tree. He used his CEO ingenuity to put Seamus in a crate and even improvised a windshield. But c'mon, the poor fella (Seamus, not Mitt) still ended up getting so scared he had what an LA Times writer called "digestive trouble."
Now, I'm not saying that what Mitt did was on the level of Michael Vick. There were seven people (Mitt, his wife and their five children) in that station wagon, and space was at a premium. Mitt even argues that Seamus liked being up on top, as opposed to inside a cramped car. I have to admit, I start to feel claustrophobic when there's just three people inside our Corolla!
But the fact is, the best place for us dogs in cars is in the back, and the less outside exposure we get, the better. "Don't allow your pet to ride with his head outside the window," the ASPCA warns. "He could be injured by flying objects. And please keep him in the back seat in his crate or with a harness attached to a seat buckle."
So to Mitt, I say this: If you really want to be President someday, I hope that in your political career, you don't improvise any more shortcuts like this, and take the time and expense to do things more responsibly. And to Rich, I say this: If you ever get the idea to put ME in a crate on top of the car, even with a windshield, I'm baring my incisors and staying home.

Daisy is a 9-year-old West Highland white terrier living in Cambridge, Mass.