The photo at left is my dog, Miguel. He’s a 9-year-old collie and, other than loud bouts of barking when he knows he’s going for a walk, he’s the perfect dog. Sweet, calm and loving with soulful eyes. His little sister, Frankie, (pic at right) is a handful. She’s a 10-month-old golden retriever, rescued from a puppy mill. She was malnourished when we got her after living the first six months of her life crammed in a crate with her five sisters. In spite of this, she has a typical golden’s mischievous, fun-loving spirit. In other words, she loves to chew and shred stuff and antagonize our three cats. Last week, as I was cleaning up one of her messes, she jumped up excitedly, bumping her head into my chin, giving me a horrible black bruise. Who knows what trouble lurks in coming weeks with the pending holidays.

As a refresher, I found a holiday pet safety list at PawRescue.org and thought I’d share it with you. My favorite tip is one called hi-tech shooing, which refers to Contech’s StayAway canister. It’s a motion-detection device that senses when a pet approaches some off-limits area then activates a burst of compressed air and a one-second warning screech. I don’t have one of these, but can imagine the world of fun one could have with it. Perhaps I could wear one around my neck to prevent further chin bruises and to keep editors at bay.