For the past day, Ms. Anisonya Siamese has been sculpting up a storm. It's been so hot here that I wish she could literally produce a storm. It is strange that she would choose this awful weather to work in, as she so often feels blocked artistically.

The real surprise came when I went out to do my business this morning (being careful, of course, to place my feet just right, as I'm still recovering). When I got myself sit-uated, I looked up at the sky and saw that the morning clouds were puffy little things quite resembling the shapes Ms. Anisonya is working on. Either the heat's gotten to my canine faculties, or this cat's a genius!

Ms. Anisonya is a California Neo-Synthesist who works in sculpture and painting media, most often in watercolor. Her current palette shows mature restraint and favors the subdued range of early Andrew Wyeth. It has been deemed "quite tasteful."

Even though Ms. A.S. is quite young, she's already being shown locally and is producing works of value to the serious collector of Neo-Synthesist art.

Commenting on the history of couch-derived sculptural motifs in the lovely book Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics, authors Heather Busch and Burton Silver tell us, "The widespread domestic use of upholstered furniture, from the turn of the century on, has had a profound effect on the development of a feline."

Oh woof! Now I understand that both the palette and the palate of the young feline should be carefully nurtured.

Detail from Ms. Anisonya's work in progress.

A week ago, Blue dog's mum wrote: "blue will be six months old on june 22, 2008. i have to believe that she will make it. she is such a sweet, adorable girl. her only want in life is to have her belly rubbed! she loves playing with her momma dog and sister. she just learned to sit, shake, stay, and roll-over! and she loves to chase and fetch the frisbee, although she hasn't quite mastered catching it!"

I met Blue's mum on myspace when I was doo-oogling "dog stuff" over dog-ma's shoulder. That's how I got hooked on Blue's story. All this past week I've been cheering Blue on by sending her pawsitive love.

Now somebuddies are gonna need to send her dog-mum pawsitive funds to help pay for more than $3,000 worth of vet care. We know how this is: Dog-ma's got the same challenge as Blue's mum 'cuz I had life-saving back surgery in May 2008.

Blue's mum goes by "grrl" on myspace. So do a lot of other people, but I think you can find her. There's also a donation website to raise a certain goal amount by a deadline. It's on fundable.com under "our puppy with parvo."

Are you a dog headed for wine country? Read on.

The real poop about dog-friendliness here: It's not easy in summer for a dog traveling in California wine country. Where you gonna hang out and stay cool? . . . You can't go in restaurants or farmer's markets, and relatively few wine tasting rooms. There are very few places that'll let you inside with your guardian/owner. Yet you could die from heat stroke waiting in the car.

I gotta pawse a second to 'splain about wine tasting rooms. If I were the manager or gift buyer, I wouldn't want rowdy dogs wagging merchandise off the shelves. And if I were a winery patron, I wouldn't want to run into big rowdy dogs in crowded tasting rooms.

So what's a friendly dog in wine country to do?

First, get to googly pawing. Find dog-friendly wine tasting rooms, not just dog-friendly wineries — there's a difference. Also look for wineries that have shady outdoor spots for us dogs. Don't forget to look for special dogstinations — you know, dog events like Bark in the Park, Graton Day festival Pet Parade, and Healdsburg Dog House Halloween parade. Always make sure you've got your dog bytes right though: Contact wineries, inns, and events to confirm their dog policies!

Second, make a plan for how you're going to stay cool. That means all day long in summer. Don't worry about evenings; it cools off before sunset. How about getting a professional dog walker, doggy daycare, or dog spa visit along your travel route? (Consider a single-run kennel 'cuz you might get overwhelmed by strangers.) Tell your people to see about advance reservations and other requirements!

Third, pack everything you need to stay cool: your water bowl, plenty of water, your leash and outdoor tie-down, cooling bandana neck-scarf, Body Cooler Pet Mats, Pet Wrap Vest, shade umbrella, and a stack of big towels. Towels soaked in cold water can help you and your people stay cool. Remember, too, to pack your food, treats, travel ID, toys, emergency contacts, vaccination records, and other regular stuff.

Fourth, get a good doggie seatbelt harness. I wear my Ruff Rider Roadie harness and wouldn't do car travel without it. Forget the dog crate! You'll suffocate inside that thing in the summertime here!

Fifth, tell your people to sit-stay flexible. Be prepared to change the itinerary on super-hot triple-digit days. We have only a few in a row, then it cools off again. On the hottest days, head for wineries and recreation spots in the cooler Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.

If you get desperately hot on the wine road: Ask your people to stop and buy bags of ice to arrange close to you — not directly on you!

Remember, even with ice and cooling mats, you cannot survive long alone in the car. If your people park in the sun instead of the shade, you're done for. Warning: You're taking a risk if you even try to stay in the car, so just don't let your people leave you there.

If you have an emergency of some kind: Your guardian/owner should speak up! Go talk to people at the winery or restaurant or wherever, and get them to let you go inside with them while they take care of the emergency!

You doggehs have more traveling suggestions?

Night of the summer-solstice full moon in the Valley of the Moon . . . Dog bites of domestic, washed-rind cow's milk Muenster cheese accompanied by intense, fruity, young Sonoma Valley Cabernet sauvignon. <sigh> I got to taste only the cheese. But I hear that the bottle was a nice guerrilla vino from wine writer and former Gundlach-Bunschu guru Lance Cutler.

Many palate-educating and palate-educated humans and four-footeds have pawsed in areas around the Valley of the Moon. Jack London's dogs and the author himself pawsed to write his 1913 novel The Valley of the Moon. The late M.F.K. Fisher, author and esteemed pioneer of the culinary memoir, is perhaps the most cherished Valley human. She lived in Glen Ellen and liked cats, you know.

Fisher wrote about "receipts" a lot. That's old school for recipes. A very old term. For me, good recipes are woofable heaven. But my paw-point here is that, to recognize good recipes, you've got to have an educated palate. You get one by trying new things all the time. A young cat, says my vet Dr. Jordan, is very in need of having her pussin palate educated by eating a variety of foods. I think this applies to all of us, pets and people, but it's crucial for cats.

Pawse here. Read that quote again. Think about how smell conjures up memories. The more I sniff, the more I want to sniff everything. But I dog-gress.

I like what author Joan Reardon, expert biographer of Fisher, said of Proust's writings on nostalgia: "In pursuit of vanished time, he found a transfiguring moment in the taste of a madeleine dipped in a cup of lime flower tea."

In purr-suit of vanished time. Eee . . goosebumps.

Ms. Reardon has extensively researched nostalgia and gastronomic writing. She reviewed a nice book entitled The Future of Nostalgia by S. Boym. Reardon wrote, "Harvard professor Svetlana Boym says that the word was coined in 1688 by the Swiss doctor Johannes Hofer to identify the homesickness of Swiss soldiers who reacted physically to the hearing of certain folk melodies and the eating of rustic soups while on missions away from home."

Ah, food and music!

Back to feline palates. There are ways to prevent pussins from being overly fussy eaters. One way to entice pussin to the table that we understand now, thanks to Dr. J, is to make sure to educate the young palate by feeding a variety of good foods. Another way is by making sure the food is FRESH and species-appropriate. Woof? Big concepts. What I've learned from cats — experts would agree with this —is that they're responding to instincts that help nurture and protect them. Cats are merely expressing their need for SAFE, FRESH sources of protein and other nutrients.

I'm sure cats would rather eat the way they did back in the day: whole-prey dining. . . . Ain't that nostalgic? By the way, we dogs have different intestinal ecology than cats do. A cat's digestive system and instincts render her unable to tolerate stuff that we dogs inhale without a first or second thought. I think Ms. Fisher would say, "A pussin always displays good taste."

The last word goes to a recipezaar blog groupie: "MFK Fisher's The Art of Eating contains her most famous 5 novels in one! Anyone who loves food should try and get a copy, it's paperback. My cat scratched the index pages to shreds. . . ."

Ozzy corgi wasn't quite 9 months old when he broke his leg. Playing ball on the stairs, his Wichita, Kansas, guardian/owners told the vet.

Adorable Pembroke Welsh corgi Ozzy came close to not being in Kansas anymore.

In the words of his rescuer, who got help from CorgiAid: "Ozzy [had been] brought in to a vet clinic with a badly broken front leg. His owners were unable to afford the surgery necessary to help him so opted to euthanize. Thanks to two caring vet techs who were able to convince the owners to sign over custody, Ozzy's life was spared. They contacted me and I agreed to help out. He has now had his surgery which was successful. We are on the long road to recovery of 3 to 6 weeks of cage rest. . . ."

Fast forward several weeks: X-rays showed that the surgical pins are doing their job and the leg is mending. Ozzy gets to have short, calm walks on leash several times a day. Poor Ozzy has probably been going bonkers being crated. His rescuer says, "He has gotten really good at unstuffing Kongs and treat toys. He has also started hydro-therapy and is quite a good swimmer and it wears him out. He feels great and would like to run and play but is still not allowed. He will go in for another set of x-rays in three more weeks and if he continues to progress as he has then he can resume normal activity at that time.

"I am looking forward to hearing that he is allowed to play like a puppy again. . . . Ozzy has a sweet temperament. He is just a goofy pup. . . . I suspect he is a dog that loves to fetch as he drops a ball and assumes to 'ready to fetch' position, but we are not allowed yet."

Thanks to his kind rescuer, Ozzy corgi will be available for adoption once his orthopedic vet releases him from care. He'll be available through ForPaws rescue.

Pawnotes: A rather long time ago, I too was a rescue corgi. And like Ozzy, I recently needed emergency surgery. . . . I wonder how many dogs and cats go through similar experiences.

Visit these websites:

* CorgiAid ~ www.CorgiAid.org ~ a small volunteer-run operation that depends on donations to help fund rescuers like Ozzy's who provide wonderful care to dogs in need.

* ForPaws Corgi and Corgi Mix Rescue ~ http://www.forpaws.org/ ~ a small, ethical rescue organization run by knowledgeable volunteers.

I went for a check-up at Dr. Jordan's office today. I was happy to see Dr. J. It made me feel good that she's pleased with my progress. I overheard her and dog-ma talking about my foot placement and leg movement, but I'm not going to worry about it as long as I'm getting around.

Dr. J told me I look great. I don't think she meant my hair style. But Kyrana, one of my favorite vet techs, really liked my shaved-back hair style. She called it a reverse mohawk. Dog-ma laughed when she heard this and said she calls it that, too.

We believe the reverse mohawk should become one of dog grooming's trendy summer styles. It's sure a cool cut for wine country summer. . . . "Get yore revmo on and go tastin' some fine wine." But of course you don't have to remove as much hair as I had to for my back surgery.

I didn't set out to make a political statement with my reverse mo, but it could be interpreted that way. Today's mohawk styles come from the practice by warriors of the Mohawk Nation, whose hair was grown long and cut only when they went off to war. The cut style was to leave just a narrow strip about three-fingers' wide down the middle of their scalp from their forehead to the nape of their neck. If the original Mohawk style was about going to war, then I guess the reverse mohawk symbolizes keeping the peace.

To be safe, watch out you don't get a bad sunburn trying to be political or cool. If you're post-op like me, that'd be a bad thing, as would getting chilled sleeping in a cold spot at night or in the A/C.

My dog-ma says she grew up near Mohawk Nation territory. She remembers that they're one of the Iroquois Nations and are known as "keepers of the Eastern door." I hope nobody minds my spin on their warrior hair style.

I've been going to blog about what to do when disaster strikes . . . then I read the news about the Iowa floods and the northern California "Martin fire" — near Bonny Doon Vineyard.

Re. the Martin fire: "Todd Stosuy, the manager of Santa Cruz Animal Services, said [they sent] out all their Animal Control Officers into the field, go door to door, and see if everyone is okay. What Todd said they needed at this time is people to care for all the evacuated animals at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds and they will divert some of the volunteers to some of the other temporary holding areas. They are also in desperate need for all types of feed for horses and livestock and dogs, cats, etc."

Thirty Martin fire evacuees spent one or more nights at San Lorenzo Elementary school, and fifteen slept in their cars. Most people in their cars wanted to be with their pets — their lucky pets. Another lucky pet is Molly-Moo, a cat rescued from the fire by Animal Services' Stosuy (just after she'd given birth to a litter of kittens, by the way).

How many unlucky pets are there in Iowa, where thousands of people have had to evacuate terrible flooding?

I realize how much we all need to prepare BEFORE disaster strikes.

Imagine, animal friends, you're home with your family one minute, and the next, you're home alone in a terrifying situation: Your guardian/owners have been forced to evacuate — or worse, they're no longer with us — and you've got little food and water. You've got to get out of the house before you starve. Maybe you've got to get out immediately because everything's on fire, or because your home is disappearing under rising flood waters.

If you're not prepared for emergencies like these, you're sh** out of luck.

You're aware of what can happen from the news during and after the Katrina disaster. You remember how hard it was to witness the initial suffering and death of people and animals, then in the aftermath how hard it has been to stomach news about homeless pets, lost pets, and adopted pets caught in legal battles over ownership rights.

What lessons have I gleaned? For starters, let's dash through a few impawtant points today: Microchipping (collars and ID get lost and even thrown away) . . . guardian/owners networked to outside help for pets (have PET GODPARENTS!) . . . written proof of pet ownership and attorney-in-fact for pet care . . . copies of your photos and all pet records (local vets not available during disaster!) . . . phone numbers and web addresses for local animal shelters, humane society, petfinder, pet rescue orgs, relatives, friends . . . survival kit at hand and paw!

As a dog, I can only take a small bite out of all this. But you people out there can make all the difference. Please.

Agnes is a name that comes from Greek and means "pure." Dog-ma and I feel that the two women named Agnes whom we admire are pure — purely wonderful!

Agnes of Sonoma lives in Oakmont, California, an over-55 community in Sonoma Valley wine country. Agnès of Paris, whom we know through film, lives in France, a place too far away for me, un vieux chien, to visit. (C'est dommage, because I long to go sit with French people and les chiens at café tables. I picture myself blogging and talking to cute poodles while dog-ma sips wine and talks politics.)

Agnes of Sonoma is a dog and cat lover. Her husband, Frank, is too. Frank is turning 96 this month (and having surgery — we pray for the best). But Agnes does not reveal her age. We met Agnes and Frank in 2003 in the parking lot of Whole Foods in east Santa Rosa. Agnes introduced herself to us because she wanted to meet me, charming corgi that I am. Before we went our separate ways that day, Agnes had charmed us into letting her be my dog-sitter during the winegrape harvest season. Unbelievable. Though dog-ma liked the idea of my having fun with Agnes and Frank while she worked long harvest hours, she has never allowed me to be anywhere other than safely at home or out with her. I got to have a great time all summer and fall with Agnes and Frank. I know Agnes liked the way I patroled her backyard for predators, and her cat liked having me around, too.

Agnès of Paris (born in Belgium) is a cat lover and a filmmaker, and probably a dog lover 'cuz I can't imagine her not loving all of Nature. Mme. Varda turned 80 this past May 30. She has been called the mother of New Wave cinema, but some call her leader of Rive Gauche cinema. I don't know because I haven't asked her. Dog-ma said Agnès Varda has made many great films, but her film we watch repeatedly is one of the greatest documentaries of all time: Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (documentaire de 82 minutes, filmé en 1999/2000; en anglais The Gleaners and I). I'm not going to do a canine review here. You must get this amazing film and watch it yourselves! Watch it because the people in it, and also the dog, will touch your hearts. Watch it because it conveys an impawtant message about recycling and about society's wastefulness.

Big woofs out to Agnès Varda and Agnes of Sonoma. We think the world of them and wish them the best toujours. Wooo-woof!

I've discovered that Anisonya Siamese, my fast young feline, is a fierce fly shredder. And she has a pawtner in crime: Jack-be-nimble, Pembroke Welsh corgi buddy.

Nature's way, is this? . . . Nature's way for flies to be in a house? . . . Nature's way for a pussin to fly at window panes and across counter-tops? . . . Nature's way to cause me to constantly be distracted from blogging and sleeping?

Oh howl! Why don't Anisonya and Jack go bug dog-ma for a while? They don't realize that a dog like me who's recuperating from surgery needs rest, not a couple of crazy fly shredders jumpin' around.

Paul and daughter Nell Newman chose to donate all of the charity money generated by the sale of Newman's Own Organics pet food products to organizations that support animal well-being.

Sources say that Paul Newman has quietly turned over to charity the entire value of his ownership in Newman's Own. Over a two-year period in 2005 and 2006, the amount of his donations to Newman's Own Foundation Inc. is said to be more than $100 million.

Imagine the pawsitive effect that this will have on man-in-the-moon marigolds and on the rest of us.

Big love woofs to you, Paul Newman. You deserve all the best!

Big love woofs and thanks for the organics, Nell Newman.

Big love woofs to you, Joanne Woodward. Thanks for being a lifelong dog lover.