You don't have to be a fan of the First Family to admire this: They are dog lovers.

How do I know? Because you put what you love on your Christmas card — and Bo, the First Dog, has graced their cards two years in a row.

This year's card features Bo in a scarf, standing in deep snow in front of the White House. It was painted by Des Moines artist Larassa Kabel.

If you don't have a dog, I'm here to urge you to consider adopting one this holiday season or in the New Year. Don't do anything rash, but do consider it.

Not only can I say that the adoption of my dog, Gracie, was the best thing I did in 2012 — but it seems there's proof every where I turn that dogs are not only smarter than we think, but enrich our lives in ways we don't even know.

Just this afternoon, I ran across a story about 10 golden retrievers — "comfort dogs" — that were transported to Newtown, Conn., to help aid the grieving.

If you submit a photo of your pet all decked out, you could win $100 in pet food and supplies from Zamzows.

It just takes a minute to enter the Halloween Pet Costume Contest.

With less than a week to go in a national three-month contest for up to $100,000, the Canyon County Animal Shelter is ranked in the top three.

Petco is partnering Saturday, Oct. 20, with the Meridian Humane Society in an adoption event as part of the grand opening of the new store at Meridian Town Center.

The event, which has been dubbed "Howl-o-ween," will feature dogs in costume. Trick-or-treaters are welcome — and they will receive candy.

The festivities start at 11 a.m.

Have you been following the story of Kabang — the dog that saved two little girls from being hit by a motorcycle and had her upper jaw ripped off in the process?

The 2-year-old mixed breed dog was injured in the Philippines, but funds were raised to bring the dog to the University of California, Davis, where she is to receive facial reconstructive surgery. The surgery has been postponed, the Daily News reports today, due to the need to treat an aggressive tumor and heartworm.

Earlier this afternoon, a fellow reporter said she saw a Craigslist posting about a cat that had been stuck on a power pole since Saturday.

The message said:

"Firemen can't help her because of the live power, the power company will just come 'knock her down' (their exact words).

More than 2,800 dogs (and their people) came out for See Spot Walk in Boise last Saturday, according to Andrea Armstrong, one of the event organizers.

She shared this video of the event, made by Harry Davies, a volunteer and photographer.

The event aimed to raise $100,000 for the Idaho Humane Society, which cares for more than 13,000 unwanted and abandoned animals each year. No word yet on how much money was raised.

Jim Romenesko's blog usually offers daily news on journalism-related topics, but a posting on Monday was about the saddest letter to the editor ever.

The letter was written by an 8-year-old girl to the Logan Herald Journal in Utah. She told the truly awful story of how her cat, Toothless, ended up at a local shelter and was accidentally euthanized. It's a three hankie weepie — considered yourself warned.

From time to time, stories hit the news about people willing some or all of their estates to their pets. Oregonian reporter Tom Hallman Jr.
brings us the tale of farmer John Bass, who left a barn to his beloved Kitty Kat.