Big Barkin’

My sister’s a dog. Really. After a lifetime of cat ownership, my parents took in a dog named Belle. She’s an English Lab, like a regular Black lab but smaller.

And she’s taken over all of our lives. As a result, I pay a lot more attention to dogs, especially this time of year, when the Westminster dog show airs on TV. Tonight’s the last night: who’ll be best in show?? (And more significantly, how many David Duchovny-voiced ads about shelter dogs will it take to make me cry?)

Closer to home, we have a couple of doggy events coming up. If you act fast (before midnight tonight), you can vote for the Richmond Animal League’s Valentine Dog and Valentine Cat.

And although it’s a few weeks away, the Richmond SPCA Dog Jog is already a topic of conversation in running circles. The March 24 race (we mean that loosely) starts at the Hermitage Road headquarters of the SPCA. It’s a mile. Your dog must be on a leash and behave well around other canines and people, plus follow a couple of other rules, but it’s a fun time, I hear.

If you don’t have a dog of your own, you can call the SPCA and borrow one.