New Dog Op Ed Page: Dear Editor, Woof! Signed Rover

Muggins’ dog mom agrees. “Maybe it’s time for humans to roll over and let the dogs have a chance to voice opinions,” says Andrea Rains Waggener, author of Dog Parenting—How to Have an Outrageously Happy, Well-adjusted Canine (Adams Media Corp., 2006) and the creator of Canine Kids Bark Out—an opinion page just for dogs located on the website, http://www.dogparenting.com.

Andrea decided to create Canine Kids Bark Out to give people a place to express opinions they might not otherwise feel comfortable expressing. “After all,” Andrea admits, “the dog opinions really are those of the dog’s human.” Andrea came up with the idea to create a dog opinion page after a controversial situation involving her local community choir. “One person was able to ram her agenda down the throats of the choir’s board of directors because the other board members were afraid to say what they really thought.” Andrea thought that if people had a place where they could speak their minds (while hiding safely behind the wagging tail of their dogs), they could get in the habit of speaking up. “We need more speaking up in this country,” Andrea asserts. “A relatively small number of people are speaking for all the others who are afraid to say what they think.”

Dogs (oh, okay—their humans) can bark out on any or all of eleven topics at www.dogparenting.com: Current Affairs, Dogma/Philosophy, Economy, Fashion/Appearance, Manners, Politics, Relationships, Religion/Spirituality, Sports, World Affairs, and Anything Else Your Dog Wants To Bark About. All dogs (with their people’s help of course), are welcome to bark out.

Muggins has yet to give an interview, but Andrea has been a guest on radio and TV. To help a dog help a human speak up, visit http://www.dogparenting.com/dog-names.html. Although Andrea is more articulate than Muggins (one would hope), Muggins can be quite vociferous and would be happy to speak about her new dog op ed page.