Dear Miss Fifi:

Hi, I have a 3 year old Chihuahua whom is very loving—but she occasionally goes through a stage where she shakes. I think that it has something to do with her tummy. I have noticed that when she comes into heat, she acts like this. She also carries a stuffed toy and pretends that it's her baby. She has not had a litter and is not fixed. Any advice? She is up to date on shots and is a good eater.

- Marcie

~~~

Dear Marcie:

Those Chihuahua's are always shaking ... but if it seems your poor pup is shaking more than "usual," then Miss Fifi thinks you definitely need to take her to the vet. Just like with human children, you mom's are the most observant of the behavior your kids are displaying. As to the not being fixed part, Miss Fifi always goes back to ol' Bob Barker who encourages his viewers to spay and neuter their pets.

Good luck. Woof!

Dear Miss Fifi:

I'd like to know how the owners of "handsome kitty" got a sweater on their cat and lived to tell about it? Yikes!

- rah-rah-rita

~~~

Dear Rah-Rah:

Yikes! is right. I had to ask ol' Dilettante Dilly about that one, and she agreed with you: handsome's humans are probably minus a couple of digits. Glad Miss Fifi doesn't have to worry about wrangling and outfitting the cat, huh?

Dear Miss Fifi:

Where can I find a picture of the puppy born with green fur?

- Laura

~~~

Dear Laura:

Oh, my! Green fur ... Miss Fifi had to investigate further. My faithful feline assistant, Dilettante Dilly, hit the Internet for me right away and found some coverage of the poor puppy born with a green tint to its fur. Hoax or holy cow, you decide: WCCO.com or YouTube.

I'm no expert, but your Dr. Seuss has extensive medical documentation of a culture called the "Who's" who all have crazy fur. Perhaps the owners could get in touch with him?

Dear Miss Fifi:

My husband and I have recently adopted a new puppy. We are the only human family members—we have another dog and several cats. Ever since the new puppy, our family seems off-balanced ... the cats are terrified of the puppy and our dog is very jealous. What do we do?

- AB

~~~

Dear AB:

Hmmm ... get rid of the cats.

(Psst: that's a bit like asking a dieter if they'd prefer the chocolate or the carrots.)

Oh, what an interesting pair of pooches we find as this week's Pet Photo of the Week winners. Toby, the yellow lab/golden retriever mix, is four months old. Tucker is the black lab and is only three months old. Toby has two cat brothers, and they all live with Allison Miller in Raleigh. Tucker lives with Allison's parents across the street.

"Tucker has started his training to be a 'working dog' for my mother, who has limited movement due to severe arthritis," said Allison. "He will be trained to assist her with things like picking up items off the floor and retrieving items for her."

These pups are active, like Allison—a paramedic and RN with crazy hours (those are her words). "Toby already knows 12 tricks and commands and Tucker is up to eight. I'm doing the initial training with them now," she said, "but later Tucker will have advance training with a specialized trainer."

It sounds like Toby and Tucker have a terrific