Code word became pet name

Dear Heloise: I saved your article from last year on unique pet names. I wanted to tell you about our Boston terrier -- we called him Snapper Lon Moore.
We needed a lawn mower and wanted a dog. My grandpa and I used the code word "lawn mower" when we looked at the pet ads in the newspaper so Grandma wouldn't know our plan! Dogs and lawn mowers were about the same price. When we found the perfect one, we bought him! We still needed a real lawn mower, though! Lisa Stephens, Meridian, Miss.
We received such tremendous response about unusual and sometimes really funny pet names! Readers, do you want to see this column with new names again? Just let me know. Heloise
Dear Readers: Linda from Circleville sent in a photo of her daughter Emily Clark's Chihuahua, Chaps, deciding on a toy from his toy rack. Linda says: "My daughter came up with a great idea for her wine rack. She puts her Chihuahua's favorite toys in each slot. It's easy to pick out a toy at playtime."
Visit www.Heloise.com and click on Pet of the Week -- you'll find Chaps' photo there. Heloise
Dear Heloise: Ever since I got my dog as a young puppy, whenever I needed to give him a pill, I would take a fingerful of softened butter, tuck the pill into it and offer it as a treat. This has worked well for more than nine years -- he still thinks his pill is a treat.
I was recently adopted by a cat who noticed the dog's treat and demanded some for herself. Now she will come into the kitchen and beg for her treat. Lucille Mockel, Florida
Dear Heloise: I recently purchased an automatic feeder for my cats that has an ice pack to keep canned food fresh. I needed a spare ice pack to be freezing while the other one is in use. Being winter, it was hard to find any in the stores, and what I could find didn't fit the space in the dish. I took a sponge that was slightly smaller than the space and saturated it with water, sealed it in a sandwich bag, folded the top over and sealed that in a second bag and froze it. This worked perfectly. Susan G. Price, Reading, Pa.
Dear Heloise: I enjoy feeding the wild birds in my area and often buy 10- or 20-pound bags of feed. I store the feed in emptied coffee cans to discourage rodents and insects in my garage. Also, it is a lot easier to fill the bird feeder from a 2- or 3-pound can than it is to pour the feed into it from a 10- or 20-pound bag. Barbara of Texas
Barbara, instead of having 10 to 20 1-pound coffee cans, consider a small metal trash can with a tightfitting lid or a clean, metal popcorn tin. Heloise
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate