I found this wonderful little clip today that reminds us all of how wonderful dogs are and how much they enrich our lives. In it, Ben Stein tells why the answer to every problem is a dog. Your dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, and all he wants is to love you and be your best friend. No truer words have ever been spoken.

Enjoy this clip while I take some time to hug my dog, Rufus:

In this blog, you'll see lots of references to my fabulous dog, Rufus. He's my 10-month-old collie puppy and he has excellent taste in toys. Some of his very favorite toys are Kong toys. They're resilient, they can hide tasty treats and they give us many hours of fun together. Here are some of the ones we enjoy together regularly.

First is the perfect "frisbee" style flyer Kong toy that looks like the '60s favorite, but is soft enough that it won't hurt his mouth to catch it. It's one of his favorite outdoor toys and he's getting quite good at it. He's so good that I think I'm going to start looking into agility equipment for us to learn with this summer.

Then there's the Wubba toy. It may look funny at first, but it's the most amazing toy for playing tug-owar and fetch with. It holds up to vigorous games and is cheerfully colored too. Rufus loves his.

And the most important Kong of all is the original or puppy kong. It comes in many sizes and we've gone from the smallest to the large size over the past 8 months. It's perfect to fill with peanut butter and give to him when I want to keep him occpied for a while. It's always amazing to watch him get the very last bits of peanut butter out of the middle.

If your canine pal is in need of a new toy, try out some of the Kong toy options and see if it doesn't get a happy response. Rufus gives them four tail wags! (His highest praise.)