Meet Cisco. He is a 7-year-old Sheltie. He was born and raised in Gainesville, where he attended UF with his mommy. After he received his degree in barking and ultimate frisbee, he moved over to the East coast. He is a very loving boy who makes sure that his family never leaves any food behind. On summer days he likes to chill in the pool, but only on the first step; he doesn’t really like to swim since he sorta just sinks. He does like to chase waves at the beach, but sorta freaks out when the tide comes back in. He likes to take baths, as you can see from this picture:

Cisco’s favorite thing to do during bath time is to surprise his mommy and daddy by shaking off randomly throughout his bath. After his baths he goes buck wild with his little brother Hayden. They like to roll around in their parent’s bed and make sure it is nice and wet for them. Anytime his mom burns food, he likes to go hide in the bathtub since he hates smoke. Some of his favorite memories are hiding from his parents on their wedding day by taking a mile long “walk” through the neighborhood alone. He loves to pull his daddy on his skateboard down the Indian River. However, Cisco’s daddy doesn’t like when he abruptly stops pulling the skateboard to chase a cat. Daddy has lots of skinned knees from that fun prank. He loves to cuddle with his mommy and sometimes humors her and lets her dress him up in silly hats. Mommy is the only one who can get him to howl, he even gets little brother to join. When daddy tries to get Cisco to howl, he ends up chasing his own tail. He is a sweet and silly boy.

Moomers is an extremely friendly, cuddly, loveable OBESE tabby cat once owned by the former artistic director of SAK, James Newport. Her daddy got to adopt her in 2005, from her previous owner, while at a party. There were several people sitting down on couches and chairs. This cat, out of nowhere, walks into the middle of the room and plops herself down on the rug. All the party-goers petted her and loved on her. It was love at first sight for her new daddy! The owner then says (a) he’s moving and (b) they can’t take the cat with them. Jackpot! Moomers had a new home!

She has her own Facebook page: http://apps.facebook.com/catbook/profile/view/648697. Please add her and leave her a message on her cat wall.

Chloe is a four-month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (hey, just like previous “Pet Pulse” spotlight Guinness) that loves to chew, play and most importantly, sleep. She became a part of her family back in May of this year, when she and her siblings were found resting on the sidewalk in Winter Park. (What? She was just left alone in Winter Park?) She was simply too cute to leave behind.

As an AKC-registered puppy, her official name is “Blenheim Orange Blossom”. Blenheim is the name for the red-orange-brown color of the CKCS breed and the orange blossom is, of course, Florida’s state flower (the meaning of the name “Chloe” is “Verdant and Blooming”, too).

Most recently, Chloe has learned to swim in her grandmother’s pool. While she’s not one for swimming laps, she seems to enjoy the cool water on her belly. If nothing else, she loves to be outside and having freedom to run.

Her family is really looking forward to some of the dog-friendly events that take place around town, especially “Paws in the Park” around Lake Eola. As a puppy that loves to be the center of attention, it will be interesting to see how she behaves when thousands of dogs are around.

Judging from her recent completion of puppy class at PetSmart, she’ll probably be happy to let all of the dogs play while she looks around for people willing to pet her.

We’re sorry there was no “Pet Pulse” feature today. I’m sure you were on edge, and couldn’t take the pressure….

We’re looking for more Central Florida pets to feature, so if you have a pet or know of someone that might like to have their pet be featured, please e-mail us a photo and bio to pulseofcentralflorida[at]mail[dot]com.

P.S. Videos are welcome as well!

This is Jinx. She’s just over 4 months old. Her mother got her about a month ago from the Orange County Animal Shelter; she was abandoned by her old owners. The reason she stood out when her mother went to adopt her was because she was so loud! As soon as Mom walked in she started ‘yelling’ at her!

About a week after she came home she got very sick! Right away she was taken to the vet and they said she just had a ‘kitty cold’, most likely left over from the shelter or because of the change in environment. They gave her mom 3 different kinds of medicines to get her better and told Mom that if she got worse it could escalate to pneumonia. Luckily, the medicine made her all better and she’s healthy now.

Her favorite toys are her fake mice! Normally it’s fine, except when she brings them in her Mom’s bed and insists on playing with them. Her other favorite thing to do is sleep – especially on people. She can’t just sleep on a chair or rug by herself….

Overall, the decision to go get her at the shelter that day was one of the best her mom ever made!

This is Zeke.

No one person knows where Zeke came from or where he has been. He was rescued from a shelter in Michigan just before he was going to be put to death. They deamed him too wild and untrainable to be a pet. A woman who trained Search and Rescue Dogs got Zeke from the shelter. She spent a couple of years teaching Zeke obedience and agility. Zeke was a cadaver dog. He was trained to find dead bodies….like in the rubble after an earthquake. They said he was the best at finding bodies. He traveled on airplanes and went to conferences and other events.

Only problem was that Zeke was infatuated with squirrels and rabbits. After he was done searching, he would take off in hot pursuit. They decided to retire him from the SAR team. His handler did agility events with Zeke. She also put a harness on him and used him for skijouring….that’s going on cross country skis with the dog as power. Zeke loved that!

Zeke’s mom knew the handler as she was on a homesteading list together on the computer. She was in Michigan, Mom was in Vermont. They met near Rochester, New York and Zeke became his mom’s best friend and helper. Although he came with something like 4 pages of commands, Mom had little use for “FIND”….the command to search for bodies.

Zeke was retrained and became a service dog and that has been his job for the last 6 years. His mom has myasthenia gravis….which literally means grave muscle disease. She was actually in a wheel chair off-and-on when she got him. Now he steadies her and keeps her from falling. He has a handle on his vest to help out.

(Zeke sounds like an awesome dog!)

I’ve been a pet owner for almost three years now to a great little puggle named Peanut.

Not having family nearby has made traveling a challenge. She’s not exactly a Paris-type dog, so leaving her behind is the best bet.

Prior to this past weekend, I’d always left Peanut at my Vet’s office, since they also do boarding, but I’m quickly realizing that there are few benefits to that. I love having her stay in a familiar place, where they’re accustomed to treating animals, but I don’t love being forced to pay $24 for a bath before she comes home.

I’ll be traveling again in less than two weeks, so I’m considering a new place.

If you have a dog bigger than Tinkerbell, I’d love to hear your suggestions for great dog sitters and boarding facilities in the Central Florida area.

Gertie Kabourek is a-year-and-a-half old. She was born here in Florida and raised here for her first year, and is currently “visiting” her mother’s parents in Omaha, Nebraska for the summer. She enjoys days running in the back yard, afternoons relaxing on the boat and weekends at the puppy spa.

Sophie is a one-and-a-half year old Syrian hamster who lives in Winter Springs, Florida. She is very sweet but has been known to throw quite a temper tantrum when she does not have her Fiesta brand hamster food. Her interests include: running in her hamster ball, climbing up blinds, and hiding food around the house when she escapes from the hamster ball.

Hi. My name is Cirrus. I got my name because when I was a kitten I was all white and fluffy-except for a brown nose. I am eleven years old and have two brothers. I am the middle child, and I have the middle child syndrome. I am always trying to do things to get attention- like laying with my two front feet completely stretched out in front of me. My mother always makes such a big deal out of it and she’s always takes pictures of me when I do it.

I have been spending a lot of time at the doctor’s office lately, I guess I have a thyroid and heart problem. I have to take medicine twice a day, but I am feeling better now-I thought for sure I was a goner, but my mom didn’t give up on me. Phew.