
Paralyzed dog discovers amazing human invention called wheelchair
GeoBeats / YouTube, via NTMTOM
Homegrown catnip lotion proves to be an effective mosquito repellent
Phys.org, via Elizabeth G.
And finally: Blueberry! My Old Nemesis!
We meet again at last! (via Dana D.)



Oreo is wise. Blueberries can be tricksters.
Amazing about the catnip! I don’t grow it in my garden because when I did I had a parade of kitties. But that would be better than the swarms of mosquitos I have currently. And – may I just say… “because it cannot be patented” translates to “cannot be monetized for heaps of cash” ๐
I would be very curious to know if cats react to the catnip after it’s been made into a mosquito repellent lotion.
Can you imagine putting on mosquito repellent to go to a garden BBQ and being surrounded by cats LOL!!!
Don’t threaten me with a good time! That actually sounds like a bonus!
Re: Catnip lotion – Here is a quote from a story (linked here) in “The Guardian”:
“Whether or not local cats were more likely to follow lotion wearers was not part of the research, Scofield admitted. ‘We did not conduct any experiments to see if it is attractive to cats, but given that the active ingredient [nepetalactone] has well-known cat-attractive properties, I would expect they would quite like it,’ he said.”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jul/07/catnip-lotion-as-effective-as-deet-at-repelling-mosquitoes-study-finds
So happy that Cinder and Ash were saved. They’re adorable.
I refuse to believe that Oreo is a real dog and not an animated stuffie.
From this morning’s WeRateDogs email (I think you get these, Deb, but for those who don’t):
Happy Friday! This week, we have a dog who blends in with cows, a dog who kinda looks like a Muppet, and one of the prettiest pups we’ve ever come across.
โUnder a video still of Oreo with his head on the left side of the frame, mouth open, aiming for the blueberry:
“Look, I usually try to find a nice screenshot for these little thumbnails, but Oreo is jumping around so much that every one I tried made him look more and more like a Jim Henson creature. So here, please enjoy this little side-chomping piranha look (and definitely click through to the platform of your choice to see his full goofy duel).”
(I haven’t had a chance to watch the week’s top 10, yet. It was posted about 20 minutes ago.)
I DID think it was a stuffy from the screenshot!
There’s one moment in the video where he’s low to the floor and then pops back up onto his feet which reminded me of a video I’ve seen (maybe here?) of a dog meeting a realistic-looking marionette pup.
There’s very little ancestral wolf left in this woofie…
One of my neighbors has a micro-Bernese-doodle puppy who fits that description too. Frankie was about the size of my cats when I first met him. Now he’s nearly up to my knees.
Okay, I watched the top dogs; the prettiest dog wasn’t included, so here she is.
Wow! What a knockout!
She’s a canine version of Jessica Chastain!