Cuba, US try talking, but face many obstacles

HAVANA (AP) ? They've hardly become allies, but Cuba and the U.S. have taken some baby steps toward rapprochement in recent weeks that have people on this island and in Washington wondering if a breakthrough in relations could be just over the horizon.

Skeptics caution that the Cold War enemies have been here many times before, only to fall back into old recriminations. But there are signs that views might be shifting on both sides of the Florida Straits.

In the past week, the two countries have held talks on resuming direct mail service, and announced a July 17 sit-down on migration issues. In May, a U.S. federal judge allowed a convicted Cuban intelligence agent to return to the island. This month, Cuba informed the family of jailed U.S. government subcontractor Alan Gross that it would let an American doctor examine him, though the visit has apparently not yet happened. President Raul Castro has also ushered in a series of economic and social changes, including making it easier for Cubans to travel off the island.

Under the radar, diplomats on both sides describe a sea change in the tone of their dealings.

Only last year, Cuban state television was broadcasting grainy footage of American diplomats meeting with dissidents on Havana streets and publically accusing them of being CIA front-men. Today, U.S. diplomats in Havana and Cuban Foreign Ministry officials have easy contact, even sharing home phone numbers.

Josefina Vidal, Cuba's top diplomat for North American affairs, recently traveled to Washington and met twice with State Department officials ? a visit that came right before the announcements of resumptions in the two sets of bilateral talks that had been suspended for more than two years. Washington has also granted visas to prominent Cuban officials, including the daughter of Cuba's president.

"These recent steps indicate a desire on both sides to try to move forward, but also a recognition on both sides of just how difficult it is to make real progress," said Robert Pastor, a professor of international relations at American University and former national security adviser on Latin America during the Carter administration. "These are tiny, incremental gains, and the prospects of going backwards are equally high."

Among the things that have changed, John Kerry has taken over as U.S. secretary of state after being an outspoken critic of Washington's policy on Cuba while in the Senate. President Barack Obama no longer has re-election concerns while dealing with the Cuban-American electorate in Florida, where there are also indications of a warming attitude to negotiating with Cuba.

Castro, meanwhile, is striving to overhaul the island's Marxist economy with a dose of limited free-market capitalism and may feel a need for more open relations with the U.S. While direct American investment is still barred on the island, a rise in visits and money transfers by Cuban-Americans since Obama relaxed restrictions has been a boon for Cuba's cash-starved economy. Under the table, Cuban-Americans are also helping relatives on the island start private businesses and refurbish homes bought under Castro's limited free-market reforms.

Several prominent Cuban dissidents have been allowed to travel recently due to Castro's changes. The trips have been applauded by Washington, and also may have lessened Havana's worries about the threat posed by dissidents.

Likewise, a U.S. federal judge's decision to allow Cuban spy Rene Gonzalez to return home was met with only muted criticism inside the United States, perhaps emboldening U.S. diplomats to seek further openings with Cuba.

To be sure, there is still far more that separates the long-time antagonists than unites them.

The State Department has kept Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism and another that calls into question Havana's commitment to fighting human trafficking. The Obama administration continues to demand democratic change on an island ruled for more than a half century by Castro and his brother Fidel.

For its part, Cuba continues to denounce Washington's 51-year-old economic embargo.

And then there is Gross, the 64-year-old Maryland native who was arrested in 2009 and is serving a 15-year jail sentence for bringing communications equipment to the island illegally. His case has scuttled efforts at engagement in the past, and could do so again, U.S. officials say privately. Cuba has indicated it wants to trade Gross for four Cuban agents serving long jail terms in the United States, something Washington has said it won't consider.

Ted Henken, a professor of Latin American studies at Baruch College in New York who helped organize a recent U.S. tour by Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, said the Obama administration is too concerned with upsetting Cuban-American politicians and has missed opportunities to engage with Cuba at a crucial time in its history.

"I think that a lot more would have to happen for this to amount to momentum leading to any kind of major diplomatic breakthrough," he said. "Obama should be bolder and more audacious."

Even these limited moves have sparked fierce criticism by those long opposed to engagement. Cuban-American congressman Mario Diaz Balart, a Florida Republican, called the recent overtures "disturbing."

"Rather than attempting to legitimize the Cuban people's oppressors, the administration should demand that the regime stop harboring fugitives from U.S. justice, release all political prisoners and American humanitarian aid worker Alan Gross, end the brutal, escalating repression against the Cuban people, and respect basic human rights," he said.

Another Cuban-American politician from Florida, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, scolded Obama for seeking "dialogue with the dictatorship."

Despite that rhetoric, many experts think Obama would face less political fallout at home if he chose engagement because younger Cuban-Americans seem more open to improved ties than those who fled immediately after the 1959 revolution.

Of 10 Cuban-Americans interview by The Associated Press on Thursday at the popular Miami restaurant Versailles, a de facto headquarters of the exile community, only two said they were opposed to the U.S. holding migration talks. Several said they hoped for much more movement.

Jose Gonzalez, 55, a shipping industry supervisor who was born in Cuba and came to the U.S. at age 12, said he now favors an end to the embargo and the resumption of formal diplomatic ties. "There was a reason that existed but it doesn't anymore," he said.

Santiago Portal, a 65-year-old engineer who moved to the U.S. 45 years ago, said more dialogue would be good. "The more exchange of all types the closer Cuba will be to democracy," he said.

Those opinions dovetail with a 2011 poll by Florida International University of 648 randomly selected Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County that said 58 percent favored re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. That was a considerable increase from a survey in 1993, when 80 percent of people polled said they did not support trade or diplomatic relations with Cuba.

"In general, there is an open attitude, certainly toward re-establishing diplomatic relations," said Jorge Duany, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. "Short of perhaps lifting the embargo ... there seems to be increasing support for some sort of understanding with the Cuban government."

___

Associated Press writers Christine Armario in Miami and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Paul Haven on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cuba-us-try-talking-face-many-obstacles-062618474.html

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Family seeks answers in death near Hernandez home

BOSTON (AP) ? Family members of the man found slain a mile from New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez's house said Friday they are looking for answers about what happened the night he died.

Police have searched in and around Hernandez's sprawling home in North Attleborough, not far from where the Patriots practice. The Bristol County District Attorney has not released any information, other than saying the death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd is being treated as a homicide.

A jogger found Lloyd's body in an industrial park Monday. Family members said Friday that Lloyd was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend and the two men were friends who were together at some point the night that Lloyd died.

Family members have said Lloyd, a semi-pro football player, was never in trouble and that many things are puzzling about the case. But they also said Friday that they can see progress in the investigation.

"I want the person that killed my son to be brought to justice," said Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward. "That's my first-born child, my only boy child, and they took him away from me. ... I wouldn't trade him for all the money in the world. And if money could bring him back I would give this house up to bring my son back. Nothing can bring my son back."

Hernandez attorney Michael Fee has acknowledged media reports about the state police search of his client's home but says he wouldn't have any comment on it.

Mark E. Sturdy, clerk magistrate of Attleboro District Court, said three search warrants were issued in the investigation earlier in the week, but they have not yet been returned, meaning they're not public. He said no arrest warrants had been filed in state courts as of Friday morning.

Lindsay Lague, a spokeswoman for the police department in Providence, R.I., said officers had assisted Massachusetts police with the Hernandez investigation at a Providence strip club, but she could not say what they were doing there. A woman who answered the phone Friday afternoon at the business, Club Desire, said no one was available to answer questions.

Media have been camped out for several days at Hernandez's home, near the Rhode Island state line. A news helicopter followed along Thursday as Hernandez drove in a white SUV from his home to the Patriots' stadium, then got out and went inside.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said the team had no comment on why Hernandez was there. He said earlier that the team did not anticipate commenting publicly during the police investigation. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is waiting for the legal process to take its course.

Hernandez has already lost an endorsement deal. CytoSport, the Benicia, Calif.-based company that makes Muscle Milk and other supplements for athletes, said in a statement Friday that it was ending Hernandez's endorsement contract, effective immediately, because of the investigation.

The Patriots drafted Hernandez out of Florida in 2010. Since then, he has combined with Rob Gronkowski to form one of the top tight end duos in the NFL. He missed 10 games last season with an ankle injury and had shoulder surgery in April but is expected to be ready for training camp. Last summer, the Patriots gave him a five-year contract worth $40 million.

Hernandez said after he was drafted that he had failed a drug test while with the Gators and had been upfront with NFL teams about the issue.

Earlier this week, a 30-year-old man filed a lawsuit in South Florida claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club.

Alexander Bradley's lawsuit accuses Hernandez of negligence, among other things, suggesting that the shooting may have been accidental. Bradley said he lost his right eye and suffers many other lingering effects from the shooting.

Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, said Friday that investigators would need to speak directly with Bradley in order to move forward with a criminal investigation and cannot rely on the claims he made in his lawsuit. She said Bradley repeatedly refused to cooperate in the criminal probe after he was shot in February, telling detectives he didn't know who shot him.

"If he contacts us, we would move forward with the investigation," Barbera said. "He needs to reach out to us and he has not done so."

Hernandez's attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

___

Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in Miami and Michelle R. Smith in Attleboro, Mass., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/family-seeks-answers-death-near-hernandez-home-160343672.html

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3 reasons not to panic about the market _ yet

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks dropping across the globe. Six weeks of gains wiped out in the U.S. The biggest drop in the Dow Jones industrial average in 1 ? years.

It's easy to give into panic and sell along with everyone else. But there is a good case for staying calm.

Three reasons you may want to hold on to your stocks:

? STRONGER ECONOMY: Nothing kills a stock rally like a recession. Four of the five previous bull markets ended as investors sold during a recession, or anticipated one.

Are we anywhere near a recession now? Quite the opposite. The economic recovery seems to be gaining traction.

Americans spent more at stores in May, despite higher payroll taxes. Sales of previously occupied homes last month topped five million at an annual rate for the first time in 3? years.

Better yet, the jobs picture is brightening. Since October, employers have added an average of 196,500 jobs a month, up from 157,000 a month in the previous eight months. And unemployment, still relatively high at 7.6 percent, looks likely to head down. The Fed said Wednesday that it could fall as low as 7.2 percent this year, then down to 6.5 percent next year.

One warning: Recessions are difficult to predict, so anything is possible.

? STOCKS SEEM REASONABLY VALUED: Major U.S. stock indexes have dropped more than 2 percent this month even though corporate profits are at a record high.

All else being equal, investors who buy now could be getting stocks at a good price.

One way to value stocks is to look at their price-earnings ratio. To calculate a P/E, you divide the price of a stock by its annual earnings per share. A company that earns $4 a share and has a $60 stock has a P/E of 15, for instance. The lower the P/E, the cheaper the stock.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is trading at 16.1 times earnings per share over the past 12 months, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, which oversees the index. The average since World War II is 17.5. Translation: Stocks are slightly cheaper than the long-term average now.

To be sure, there are other ways to value stocks, and not all are as encouraging.

Still, it's clear that stocks are not wildly overpriced. And if you believe the economic recovery will continue, earnings are likely to grow, too.

? CASH APLENTY: Don't be surprised if companies launch yet another round of stock buybacks, which could lift stock prices. Fewer shares outstanding means higher earnings per share.

The impact of stock buybacks on the market the past four years has been big.

Nearly every other large player in the stock market ? insurers, brokerages, state and local governments, pension funds ? has been selling. And yet stocks have more doubled from their recession lows. A big reason is that U.S. companies, not counting financial firms, have bought more than $1 trillion of their own stock in the five years through 2012, according to the Federal Reserve.

Depending on your point of view, the outsize role of buybacks is either good or bad.

Skeptics say buybacks show companies don't have anything better to do with their money, a bad sign for future profits. Stock bulls say it shows that the people who know their companies better than anyone else ? corporate executives ? think their stocks are a bargain, and so should you.

Whoever is right, buybacks are likely to continue because companies have plenty of firepower. Companies in the S&P 500 have $1 trillion of cash, according to S&P Dow Jones. The cash hoard has never been higher.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-reasons-not-panic-market-yet-004317521.html

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Taliban offers to swap American POW for five Gitmo detainees

IntelCenter / AFP - Getty Images

US soldier Bowe Bergdahl has been held hostage by the Taliban since his disappearance from his unit on June 30, 2009.

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

The Afghan Taliban has offered to hand over the only known American prisoner of war from the conflict in Afghanistan in exchange for five senior operatives held at Guantanamo Bay, Taliban sources told NBC News.

U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 27, from Hailey, Idaho, has been held captive since 2009 after going missing from his base in Afghanistan. His whereabouts are not known, but it is believed he is being held in Pakistan by the Haqqani network.

?Bowe Berghadl is very well and is treated like a special guest,? a top Afghan Taliban commander told NBC News. ?For us he is an important bird as it is him whose capture has paved the way for the release of our former five top commanders from Guantanamo Bay.?

Berghdal?s father said last year that he felt like his son?s captivity at the hands of the Taliban ?is not being addressed,? according to Reuters.

The five Taliban fighters the group has demanded in exchange for Bergdahl include Mulla Fazal Akhund, Noorullah Noori, Abdul Haq Waseeq, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mohammad Nabi, Taliban sources said.

?I feel that I have to do my job as his father,? Bob Bergdahl said at the time. ?I?m working toward a diplomatic and humanitarian solution.?

The Bergdahl family is ?encouraged by the recent news,? Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard, a spokesman for the family, said in an email on Thursday.

The family released a statement on June 6 saying they had received a letter through the Red Cross that they were ?confident? had been written to them by their son.

?Our family is greatly relieved and encouraged by this letter, which gives us hope that Bowe is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances,? the family said in the statement. ?We hope Bowe?s captors will again consider his parents? plea to release him, but in the meantime, we ask that you please continue to keep him in good health and allow him to keep corresponding with us.?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that he would suspend his government?s involvement in talks between the US and the Taliban on Wednesday, barely 24 hours after Obama administration officials announced that they would hold talks in the Qatari capital of Doha.

The Taliban announced that it would open an office in Doha for what an administration official called ?milestone? talks, but a senior official for the insurgent group said ?formal? discussions would not begin without the release of Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo.

Secretary of State John Kerry called Karzai twice in 24 hours after the Afghan president accused the US of a ?contradiction? in agreeing to talks with the Taliban, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

The Taliban office in Doha ?must not be treated as or represent itself as an embassy or other office representing the Afghan Taliban, as an emirate government or sovereign,? Psaki said.

Kerry is expected to travel to Doha this weekend to meet with Qatari officials in advance of talks on the deteriorating situation in Syria.

The Taliban commander told NBC News that they would either turn Bergdahl over to the US or a third party if the five Guantanamo prisoners were released and transported to Qatar.

Related:

This story was originally published on Thu Jun 20, 2013 3:21 PM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2d91b156/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C20A0C190A556340Etaliban0Eoffers0Eto0Eswap0Eamerican0Epow0Efor0Efive0Egitmo0Edetainees0Dlite/story01.htm

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Daycare may benefit kids of depressed mothers

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children of depressed mothers are less likely to have emotional problems if they attend daycare, a new Canadian study suggests.

Researchers have known that depressed women are more likely to have kids who also develop depression and anxiety disorders, and that those problems can extend through the teenage years.

"It's interesting to think of this as a possible type of intervention and a way of supporting mothers in general, but especially mothers who are at risk," said Catherine Herba, from the University of Quebec at Montreal.

The researchers followed close to 1,800 children born in Quebec in 1997-1998 and their mothers through the child's fifth birthday.

Women were regularly surveyed about their depression symptoms and reported on their child's emotional problems and separation anxiety, as well as the type of childcare they used.

About 19 percent of mothers had depression symptoms during the study period. And as previous research has suggested, their children were almost twice as likely to develop emotional problems and separation anxiety before age five, Herba's team wrote in JAMA Psychiatry.

However, being in childcare seemed to mitigate that effect. The association was particularly strong for group-based childcare, as opposed to care provided by a relative or babysitter.

Among children with depressed mothers, attending daycare was tied to a 79 percent reduced risk of developing emotional problems, compared to kids who stayed home with their moms.

Across the study, between nine and 31 percent of preschoolers had emotional problems depending on whether their mothers were depressed and where they received care.

How many hours a week kids spent in childcare did not seem as important as the type of care itself, the researchers found. They said the structured setting of group-based care, having care provided by a trained professional and spending time with children of a similar age may all be benefits to that type of childcare.

"Center-based care can really serve as a buffer for children of depressed mothers," said Catherine Ayoub, who has studied Early Head Start programs at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

"As those mothers are paying some attention to their own depressive symptoms, as they're struggling with depression, the children can be buffered from the effects of depression on their development," Ayoub, who wasn't involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.

Her research has suggested programs that reach out to both children and mothers themselves can be especially beneficial for families over the long run.

Ayoub, also from the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, said women should know that they can still be good mothers if they are depressed, and also that there are many ways to treat depression - so they can get better.

"Yes, you may be depressed, but you also can really move toward resilience," she said. "It's okay to find the best possible care for your child that's also a way to take care of yourself."

Herba said that doctors should be looking for new mothers who are depressed and speak to them about the potential benefits of using childcare and getting help for themselves.

"It's quite important that we give good support to these mothers and try to facilitate this as much as possible," she said.

SOURCE: JAMA Psychiatry, online June 19, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/daycare-may-benefit-kids-depressed-mothers-201023984.html

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Obama, Putin to sign new deal on reducing nuclear threat

By Roberta Rampton

INNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they would sign an agreement on securing and destroying nuclear material to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, replacing a 1992 deal that expired on Monday.

Obama and Putin met privately at the G8 summit to talk about pressing security issues and agreed to work together to protect, control and account for nuclear weapons.

"I think it is an example of the kind of constructive, cooperative relationship that moves us out of a Cold War mindset," Obama said after meeting with Putin.

Ben Rhodes, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Russia had been reluctant to extend the agreement, which was signed after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was known as the Nunn-Lugar agreement after former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn and former Republican Senator Richard Lugar.

Rhodes said the Russians' concerns were "well founded in some respects," noting the Nunn-Lugar agreement had taken a "very aggressive and intrusive" approach to securing nuclear material in Russia.

On Monday, Nunn applauded the new deal, although he noted that some parts of the old one focused on chemical and biological weapons would not continue.

"We must find ways beyond this agreement to work together on these critical issues," he said. "I believe that we will."

(Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-putin-sign-deal-reducing-nuclear-threat-001209609.html

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Dog Jaunt : Backpack and pet lounge: Casual Canine Ultimate ...

As is so often the case, I owe this one to a reader. Heike wrote and asked if I?d seen a carrier on overstock.com that she was considering,?and I told her no, and I likely wouldn?t pursue it because Chloe?s roughly twice as large as the Chihuahua pictured in the carrier?s photo. However, I liked how the side of her carrier expanded, in the same way the Smart Space carrier does, and I was still gazing at it when I noticed an ad in the sidebar for another expanding carrier?? and it was holding a Westie (like Chloe, a larger small dog).

Now that I?m looking at a REALLY BIG version of the picture, I?m no longer convinced that?s a Westie. Never mind ? I think a Westie could fit, and Chloe certainly does, so no harm, no foul. [Photo by Tops Pet Products]

Since it?s a backpack, the Casual Canine Ultimate Backpack Carrier has a whole different purpose in life than the carrier Heike originally pointed me to, but I?ve had only mixed success with the dog backpacks I?ve purchased, so I was thrilled to see it. (The Creature Leisure Carry Den XT is a quality item, but has a structural beam that will clobber your lower back on a long walk; and the Timbuk2 Muttmover, also a quality item, is just a hair too small for Chloe.)

Long story short, I bought the Casual Canine backpack, loved it, and now Heike?s got her finger hovering over the order button too. I liked it so much that I bought a second one to give away. Remember how I said I?d be offering special giveaways to Dog Jaunt newsletter subscribers? This will be the first one, to celebrate the newsletter launch. Hurry and subscribe, using the button at the top of the sidebar or this link, and then keep an eye on your in-box over the next couple of weeks.

The backpack, under the microscope

With both of its gussets zipped closed, the backpack measures 16.5? long (about 1.5? of which is a side pocket), 11? wide (at the base, tapering to about 8? wide at dog shoulder-height and 4.5? wide at the very top of the backpack), and 17? tall. It weighs 2.36 lbs. It?s made of a sturdy nylon twill, in navy and robin?s egg blue. Completely zipped closed, the ventilation comes from the mesh entry door on one side, and a set of 8 huge grommets (located in the robin?s-egg-blue vertical panels).

A stiff board with soft fleece on one side gives the backpack a fairly solid and stable floor, and provides a little (a very little) softness. There is a tether sewn in, but it can be tucked under the board ?floor,? if you prefer it to be out of chewing range.

Unzipping the first gusset adds another 2? to the carrier?s width, from base to top of bag, and about half of that is mesh, so the ventilation is increased too. We will be keeping this gusset permanently unzipped, because a dog Chloe?s size requires it. I?d say that a dog 10 lbs. or under wouldn?t need it, but Chloe, at 13 lbs., does. The label says that the backpack will hold a pet up to 22 lbs., but I?d guess that 15-18 lbs. would be a more likely upper limit.

Here?s Chloe, getting a (gentle) push:

Our cat Otto looks on as I encourage Chloe to enter the bag, not just stand in the door and eat the treat I tossed in

And here she is, fully inside:

She looks a little put-upon, but that?s because she has to bend her head down a bit to see out the door ? I promise you, she fit comfortably in the backpack

Here?s the carrier on my back with Chloe inside:

Still looking put-upon, and yet I am unconcerned

As Heike points out, ?What I like about the backpack (beside the big expand-a-space) is the fact that the ventilation screens are on the sides, so nobody can ?mess? with your dog behind your back so to speak. But the munchkins can still look out and see what?s going on.?

And then here?s what happens when the second gusset is unzipped ? the front of the backpack folds down to create a substantial mesh tent your pup can lounge in:

Chloe is passionately devoted to her Pet Ego Pet Dome (now discontinued in the large size I prefer), and, fully extended, the Casual Canine backpack offers her a similar experience. The enclosure is 23? long (including the basic backpack), about 8.5? wide (extension only ? as you can see in the picture, Chloe keeps most of her body in the main backpack area, then sprawls her chest and head into the extension area), and a variety of heights (from about 6? at the lowest up to the full 17? of the basic backpack area).

Chloe was perfectly comfortable in the backpack-as-tent, and even when I finally unzipped the entry door, she chose to remain inside:

Chloe, zonked out ? you can see her nose tucked into the front left corner of the mesh tent

Another view from the side ? she only woke up and left the bag when I headed downstairs and she recalled that her treats are also downstairs, and mightn?t those things be related?

The backpack is very comfortable, and I look forward to using it for visits to farmer?s markets. I also plan to bring it on short hikes, so that I can carry Chloe if and when she decides her dogs are barking. It?ll do a fine job of carrying my own light hiking gear (jacket, snack, water, emergency supplies), and I?ll also pack a light day pack like this Flash 18 pack from REI, so that when Chloe goes into it, my gear can go out, and onto my husband?s back.?It would also carry Chloe on my back while I was biking, though I wish (as I did with the Muttmover) that it came in a light, sun-reflecting color. It does have plenty of ventilation, but on a sunny day, keep part of your mind on your dog and check to make sure she?s hydrated and not heating up too much.

The lounge feature would work at work, or at a caf?, if you wanted your pup to be secure without fussing with a leash. Like I say, Chloe finds this kind of soft crate comforting, so it?s easy for me to come up with scenarios where it?d be useful.

Please note that this carrier would?not?work as an in-cabin carrier except for a very small dog: The back, which would become the floor when you tipped the carrier to go under your seat, does have a certain amount of waterproofing but no padding, so you?d have to bring along a separate pad for the back ? and only a small dog would work, because the bag tends to collapse towards its back (there?s no way to keep the middle ventilation gusset propped up).

One last picture to show you the side of the backpack opposite the entry door:

The side pocket is a substantial 6? x 9? x 1.5?, and has a mesh outer pocket that could hold a small water bottle

I bought my backpacks at overstock.com for $76.99, but the carrier is currently available at a slightly lower price on Amazon (and at a significantly higher price through Brookstone).

Amazon link: Casual Canine Ultimate Backpack Carrier

This entry was posted on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 5:00 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.dogjaunt.com/posts/backpack-and-pet-lounge-casual-canine-ultimate-backpack-carrier/

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