Accomplishment-wise, Coco is ahead of most dogs. While I don't like to brag about her excessively lest she develop a swelled head, I had a chance to review some of her many accomplishments today, and I have to say, she could cobble together an impressive resume.

Not only has she reviewed and tested a number of dog toys, gourmet foods and chocolates, but Coco has tested a number of human consumer products and gadgets. Beyond that, she's dabbled in many different fields, including science, politics, diplomacy, engineering, organizing, art and writing. I think she has gone far beyond the normal canine call of duty by any standard.

While her career so far spans less than three years, she has tested a shredder which doubled as fax machine in the heat of litigation, strange cell phones which didn't impress her much, Carlsberg beer and Danzka vodka in solidarity with Denmark (which did).

As a consumer advocate, Coco tested the design of a car trunk, and she unearthed what I initially thought was a buried gas cylinder but which turned out to be deadly WMDs.

A ferocious Second Amendment advocate, Coco believes in standing up for her rights, and actually took on the very nasty James Wolcott in a political debate. While Coco has been known to have nightmares about Democrats, she need not worry. For, despite a size disadvantage, Coco bested Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a political debate.

As an naturalist and environmentalist, Coco has debunked false nature claims on bumperstickers, has dissected owl pellets, conducted ecological research, dabbled in mycology, and as a climatologist Coco actually challenged Al Gore to set an example on the offsets issue, and then decided to go the denial route before working a "coldening" miracle of her own.

In the cultural area, Coco's accomplishments include being a Valentine Queen, a film reviewer, an accomplished artist, a lighting consultant, and accomplished online music critic! Little wonder she has hosted international guests at least twice!

As longtime readers know, Coco has repeatedly tried her hand at blogging, and she was even dragged into Al Franken's Air America war as a product endorser.

And remember, Coco is a dog!

These many accomplishments incline me to forgive the fact that Coco prefers driving to reading, has been known to engage in occasional acts of what might be considered vandalism in a human, and of course there's been the occasional outburst of doggie hedonism -- both online and in person. Aren't we all entitled to a little fun occasionally?

With Coco's credentials firmly established, it's time to return to the subject of an earlier post. I decided to have Coco to test another product today, this time the Laughing Hillary Ring tone which I downloaded and installed in my cell phone.

I am disappointed to report that it just doesn't seem up to Coco's standards.

Take a look at the video (link here) for yourself; it barely got a rise out of her.

After some initial mild curiosity, Coco looked bored, and stared at me as if to suggest that if I wanted to get a rise out of her I could do a lot better than that.

Well, from Coco's point of view, while the new tone is a strange and unfamiliar sound, it replaces the cackling call of a Great Kiskadee that I had installed as the previous ring tone and to which she had grown accustomed.

The Great Kiskadee, by the way, is a "large tyrant flycatcher."

(You don't suppose Coco might be trying to indicate a preference, do you?)

UPDATE (10/05/07): I'm trying not to let Coco read this post from Glenn Reynolds:

PERSONALLY, I FIND THE LITTLE CHUCKLE THAT MITT ROMNEY DEPLOYS when he think he's scored a point more irritating than the Clinton cackle. But the latter gets more attention, perhaps because Jon Stewart has been making an issue of it.

I believe in fairness, and I'd be glad to have Coco check out the Romney chuckle ring tone. I haven't found it yet, but I have to say, the Hillary ring tone does have its limitations. I was in New York yesterday and I could barely hear it when my phone rang, so I switched back to the cry of the Giant Kiskadee, which I'm keeping, because it's much more audible.

There are a lot of things which can be said for or against Hillary Clinton. But I think both Coco and I can safely conclude that as ring tones go, she's no Great Kiskadee.