Shortly after his pet boxer passed away, New Hampshire man Jamie Carpentier wasn’t looking to take on another dog. He went online anyway—who doesn’t like to browse?—and looked at pictures on the Humane Society of Greater Nashua website. But then he saw a familiar face: his old basset hound, Ginger.

Ten years ago, Carpentier’s ex-wife got Ginger in the divorce. But, according to CBS Boston, she gave up Ginger a short time later.

The dog was adopted, but 10 years later had become too much work for her elderly owner. (From the looks of this face, it’s hard to imagine Ginger giving anybody much trouble.) The owner surrendered Ginger to the Humane Society—and Carpentier happened to log on to the right site at the right time.

He spoke with Boston’s WCVB-TV about the unexpected reunion. “She seemed like she knew it was me,” Carpentier said about picking up his old/new dog. “It was me and my father who were there, and she just … she just recognized us.” He wasn’t planning on taking another dog, but come on. How could anybody say no to this face?

“She was stuck to me like glue. It was awesome,” Carpentier told the Nashua Telegraph after seeing her again “I have her now, and she has a place to live and stay,” he said. “The end. It’s awesome.”

Story taken from Yahoo News … read story/see video.. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/man-reunited-dog-ten-years-apart-184735986.html

Family members are crediting their dog with waking them up when she sensed a fire, before the smoke detector.

Late Sunday night, the family along Woodchuck Way in Citrus Heights woke up to the 3-year-old pug, and moments later the smoke alarms rang out, Fox40 in Sacramento reported.

Firefighters were able to suppress the fire quickly, to keep it from damaging a large portion of the house. No one was injured.

Investigators say the fire may have been caused by discarded cigarette butts on the back patio, which caused an outdoor fire that reached into the attic of the home.  Story taken from… latimes.com … read story/see video… http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/dog-fire-wakes-saves-family.html

A man who allegedly killed a dog with a shotgun blast in northeast Denver is being held on multiple charges, along with a woman who was involved in the incident.

Todd Sheldon, 29, is being held on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, illegal discharge of a firearm and cruelty to an animal, according to the Denver Jail roster.

The incident involving Sheldon happened at about 1 p.m. Tuesday in the 1700 block of Verbena Street.

Also arrested was 33-year-old Tara Renee Siegfried. Siegfried is being held on suspicion of reckless endangerment, according to jail records.

Dozens of police officers blanketed the block Tuesdayresponding to reports of shots fired.

Police said Sheldon shot and killed his dog.

A motive for the violence has not been released.

An investigation is ongoing, police said.

Story taken from denverpost.com  … read full story… http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22591365/man-who-allegedly-killed-dog-ne-denver-faces

It’s easy to pamper your pet with some table scraps, a few extra treats, and a little too much dog food. Before long, your fit Fido has become a hefty hound. Fujitsu is looking to help dog owners fight the fat with a pedometer and cloud service system.

The Wandant pedometer is based on motion-tracking technology from Fujitsu Laboratories. It measures and records the steps your pooch takes, picks up shivering motions, and monitors temperature changes.

All that data gets uploaded to an accompanying cloud service so you can view graphs and reports on your dog’s activities.

The Wandant sits on the dog’s collar. The data is uploaded through a contactless connection to a smartphone or computer. For a more complete look at a dog’s health, the owner can add information like weight, food serving sizes, and (yes) stool conditions.

Story taken from C/Net … read full story…  http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57556028-1/fujitsu-pet-pedometer-helps-chunky-dogs-slim-down/

Hello there fur-pals.  It’s been ages since I’ve been in.

Things have been busy here and I’ve just lost my best mate, Dylan, so I have been keeping a low profile around the house because everybody is so sad.

I wait by the front door in hope that he will be back and I’m hopeful that maybe I might catch a glimpse of him if I look hard enough.  Mum says that I might if I’m very lucky and concentrate hard enough.

I miss my friend and hope that I see him again one day.

A FAMILY believes their pet dog could be one of the smallest in the world after they realised it was similar in size to other record-breaking pooches.

Tiny Teacup Chihuahua ‘Biscuit’ weighs just 1.4lbs and is around eight inches tall.

His height and weight is slightly bigger than other mini pooches to have featured in the international media in recent months, such as three-month-old minuscule Milly, a 0.37lb chihuahua from Puerto Rico.

But world records only usually apply in such cases to fully-grown dogs, and cheeky Biscuit fits the bill with his grand old age of one.

Owner John Cannon, 58, of Tavistock Avenue in Walthamstow, firmly believes his pet is a serious contender after watching a TV programme on tiny dogs.

He said: “He was so tiny when he was a puppy, but even now that he’s fully grown he is still very small.

“Everytime we walk down the street we get swamped, everyone wants to see him and take his picture.

“Our vet said he hadn’t seen anything like it in his 18-year career, and I’ve had people offering me £3,000 to buy him off me. It’s incredible.”

Biscuit lives on two teaspoons of puppy food a day and was so tiny at birth he could fit into a small cup… story taken from the Guardian… read more … http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/9693962.WALTHAMSTOW__Cheeky_Chihuahua__one_of_smallest_dogs_in_world_/?ref=rss

To anyone else, it’s just a dog’s nose. But to the small boy in Susan Erisman’s autism class, it’s simply fascinating.

Soft and wet, punctuated by puffs of air. He ran his hands over them, sometimes covering them completely until he was reminded that the dog couldn’t breathe that way.

And the dog? She didn’t seem to mind a bit. That is, after all, what Bella is trained to do.

The black Labrador retriever was certified as a therapy dog this summer and now works at schools and nursing homes. Owner Jim McQuinn brings her to Erisman’s class at Seth Whitman Elementary in Belvidere, Ill., each Wednesday, where schoolchildren touch, hug and explore Bella.

“My (students), who have autism, love the feel of her,” Erisman said. “There are so many sensory things about a dog. They love to hug her and squeeze on her.”

Along with another class, the students enjoy the break from their studies when Bella comes to visit. There are 19 students in all, ages 5 to 10, who spend time with Bella each week. They learn about caring for and training a dog, as well as learning to socialize with Bella’s owner.

“The major drive in our class is to form communication and language skills,” Erisman said. “This is a time when they are not doing academics, but are learning to talk to Jim, who is someone new. They have really taken to Jim. He’s a very kind and patient man.”

For McQuinn, a retired business owner, bringing Bella is something he enjoys and a way of giving back.

“I love the kids and I love the dog,” he said. “I love giving back to the community, and this is one asset I have that I can share.”

McQuinn has three Labs but was struck by Bella’s tame demeanor.

“More and more of my friends, including my ex-wife, said Bella is so sweet, she should be a therapy dog,” he said.

So McQuinn researched the possibility and took Bella into the backyard with a list of criteria for therapy dogs. They need to be able to walk past food without touching it, and to walk past other dogs without reacting. They can’t shy away from medical equipment or be intimidated in loud settings.

The list was filled with “things that are stressful to a lot of dogs,” McQuinn said. But Bella “didn’t miss a step. This is a special dog.”

So far, Bella has visited the Seth Whitman children six times, and McQuinn has watched many of the students come out of their shells.

“Some were afraid of her. She’s about 70 pounds,” McQuinn said. “You would be surprised in the change in the six times we’ve been here. Now, 95 percent of the class is right up there, touching her.”

Erisman said this is the first time in her six years at Seth Whitman that she has had a therapy dog in the classroom, though she kept her dog in a basket on her classroom desk when she previously worked in another school district.

She praises the use of animals with autistic children for the way it helps them learn through their senses, and it also teaches them to develop a relationship with an animal.

“This is a sensory event for my kids,” she said. “But it’s also about building a relationship with another living thing and learning to care for it.”…. story taken from… Rockingford Register Star… read full story… http://www.rrstar.com/specialsection/boomers/x1691081992/Therapy-dog-a-touching-experience-for-kids-with-autism

AVIS COUNTY, Utah (ABC 4 News) – A pet dog is recovering from a high powered pellet shot wound.
Roxy is a 7-year-old weimaraner.
The injury brought her close to death and collapsed her lungs.

Her owner rushed her to the Mountain View Animal clinic in Layton. She was in severe pain and shock.

Dr. Josiel Lopez gave her a high powered morphine like drug just to reduce her shock and to keep her alive.

Her X-rays reveal the pellet traveled through her chest area and missed her heart by about one inch and eventually lodged just beneath the surface of her skin.

Several neighbors who know Roxy says she’s lovable.  She doesn’t bite and isn’t threatening.
Her owner, Gary Marchant, wants to know who shot her more than a week ago and why?

“It’s like one of our kids.  It’s like somebody tried to kill one of our family members, trying to kill one of our children.  That don’t sit well with me,” said Marchant

She was last seen wandering a field just south of Love Lane in Davis County before the she was hit September 20.

“She was breathing hard and I turned her over.  I could see some blood on her bottom side there,” said Marchant.
Blood was rapidly pooling into her chest area and she was on the verge of losing consciousness.

“I just scooped her up in my arms and got in my car and hauled her to the veterinarian,” said Marchant.
Now, 11 days later her entry wound is almost healed, but the sting of this injustice continues.

Almost everyone we talked with wants to know who hurt this dog.
“I think they ought to have their pants kicked, really to shoot a dog that’s friendly,” said Gene Clark.

The Davis County Sheriff is still looking for the person who shot Roxy.  If you know anything about this crime call the Davis County Sheriff’s Department.
Roxy finished the last of her pain medications October 31 and ran for the first time since the shooting….story taken from ABC4.com…read story and see video… http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Pet-dog-recovering-from-high-powered-pellet/o7zmcuEt4kqUp5hDq3BYxQ.cspx

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Midge the “chiweenie” — or Chihuahua-dachshund cross — has lived a dogs age and she’s not ready to go any time soon.

The petite pooch has just celebrated her twenty-first birthday. That’s about 100 in dog years.

Her eyes are a bit milky due to cataracts and she’s growing hard of hearing, but her owner Jen Roos, 37, of Abbotsford, B.C., said Midge has no trouble hearing the food drop in her dish at dinner time.

And when the treats come out, Midge is just like any other dog.

“She’s quite the spry old gal. She still occasionally jogs and if there’s food involved she will jump,” she laughed.

Midge loves her walks and going for a car ride, especially when the ride includes a trip to the nearby off-leash park, Roos said.

“She wanders around there and says hello to everybody.”

The elderly dog, who weights just over three kilograms, is a new addition to the family.

Roos and her fiance, Derek Morley, adopted the dog in March when her elderly owners moved to a new home that wouldn’t allow dogs.

Because she’s only owned the dog for six months, Roos couldn’t say why the dog is so long-lived.

“I know that her previous owners loved her very much, it was very hard for them to let her go,” she said. “She’s just a sweet little dog.”

Midge was also welcomed — with great enthusiasm — by their one-year-old miniature pincher-pug cross named Smeagle.

“He tries to play with her and she tells him to leave her alone,” she laughed.

“Smeagle knows that she’s become the boss. He’s OK with that. I think he’s going to really going to miss her when she does pass away,” she said. “He’s become very protective of her and he always checks on her every morning when she gets up. He sticks his head in her crate to make sure she’s still there.”

Angela MacMillian on the board of director with Canadian Dachshund Rescue in Ontario, said small dogs do live longer, but 21 is still very old.

“Dachshund’s typically live to about 15, 16,” she said.

MacMillian couldn’t say if Midge’s longevity came from the dachshund or the Chihuahua side, or perhaps a mixture of both.

“It could be either, again, it is still old, even though the dog is small, that’s old,” she said. “Maybe it’s a one-off situation, a rare situation.”

Roos said her experience with Midge has been rewarding and should be a lesson to others when it comes to adopting older pets.

“There are older dogs out there who need some love and attention, and my heart went out to this couple when I heard of their situation. I met the dog and I thought ‘we’ll why not, she’ll fit in just fine,’ and she certainly has.” …story taken from…. Winnipeg Free Press… read story… http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/midge-the-chiweenie-dog-still-chipper-at-the-ripe-old-age-of-21-129636643.html

On Thursday, a day of deluge, damage and tragedy, a beloved dog fled her Northeast Washington home and vanished. She apparently spent the night amid rain, thunder and lightning.

But for Asia, a medium-size black Labrador retriever/collie mix, the outcome was better than in many of the week’s storm-related events.

After a long chase through Northeast, three D.C. police officers took Asia into custody Friday morning at Gallaudet University.

It was not clear why officers had pursued her, but the chase ended about a mile from Asia’s house, which is at 16th and Rosedale streets. Asia had run out when workers came in. Asia, said owner Chris Maier, is “not used to strangers.”

The workers first looked for her and then called Maier, and he and his girlfriend searched for hours in vain. But after many calls to the D.C. animal control unit, Maier was told Friday morning that “something just came across the police radio” and that “it may have been your dog.”

It was. When they were reunited, Maier said, a tail-wagging Asia was truly excited. But on Saturday, he said, she still seemed “just sort of worn out.”... story taken from… The Washington Post… read story… http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-dog-goes-lost-in-storm-is-found/2011/09/10/gIQAvn5iIK_story.html

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been eight months since Sharalyn Cooper has seen Fadidle, her 2-year-old miniature pinscher, but on Saturday, she held the tiny animal, with its “bat ears” quivering, to her chest and cried.

The two were reunited at the Salt Lake International Airport after the dog turned up in San Diego.

“It’s wonderful,” she said, smiling though her eyes were full of tears.

The slight creature ran off from Cooper’s Roy home last October. Cooper said that wasn’t unusual. Most often, she’d find Fadidle running around with some neighborhood kids down the street, but this time her 1-year-old puppy was gone.

“We had a hard time,” Cooper said. “She’s our baby. It was pretty tough.”

After a couple of months of scouring the neighborhood, posting fliers and diligently checking animal shelters in Davis and Weber counties, Cooper all but gave up hope.

Then, seven months after the dog disappeared, a call came from the San Diego Humane Society letting them now they had found Fadidle.

“I bawled and thanked them an awful lot,” Cooper said. “I couldn’t believe it. We done so much to get her back and hadn’t found her.”

Athena Davis, an employee at the humane society said the dog was brought to them by a “Good Samaritan” and was at first believed to be a stray. They placed the animal on a stray hold, but then discovered she had been implanted with a microchip that linked her to Cooper.

But the dog then had to go on ringworm watch, delaying her return until Saturday.

“I just want to see my dog,” Cooper said anxiously in the airport. Then came Davis riding down the escalator, a small red kennel in hand and Cooper, her daughter, Darien, and Darin Watkins ran to greet the animal with hugs and tears.

She’s the best little girl,” Davis told them, noting that their pet had held up well, even amid the stress of the airport and having to ride underneath the airplane. “She did so good. She was very quiet and very patient.”

Davis said she only found out two days ago that she would be accompanying the animal back to its home.

“I’m just so excited we were able to do it and make it happen,” she said. “It’s one of the more unusual things I’ve done, but I enjoyed it.”

Davis said that the microchip made all the difference and recommended that everyone with a pet get one. In this case, it led to the “happy ending.”

“We see a lot of different things,” Davis said. “When it works out this way, it’s really touching.”

The family thanked Davis and those in San Diego for bringing Fadidle home. Sharalyn Cooper noted that the animal looked skinnier than when she had left, but was nevertheless happy to see Fadidle had survived the ordeal — even if a little unexpectedly…. story taken from… Deseret News… read story… http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705389499/Roy-family-reunited-with-dog-found-in-San-Diego-after-8-months.html

GRAFTON, Mass. (AP) – Not only are dogs man’s best friend, they might possibly help your child’s reading skills to boot.

According to a pilot study published by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, a group of second-graders who read aloud to a dog experienced a slight gain in their reading ability and attitude toward reading, while another group of second-graders who were paired up with veterinary school volunteers (all adults) experienced a decrease on both measures.

Dr. Lisa M. Freeman, one of the study’s authors and the research mentor for lead author Dawn Lenihan, a third-year veterinary student, said what is statistically significant about the study is no second-grade readers who were paired up with canine-counterparts left the group, while one third of those readers paired up with humans, failed to complete the study.

“For those of us who participated in this reading program, it is very easy to see how beneficial it is for the children who participate, both in their excitement about the reading and their improvement in reading skills over a very short time period,” said Dr. Freeman, professor of Clinical Sciences in Nutrition at the school.

The study was conducted for five weeks last summer at the Grafton Public Library. Children read for a half-hour to an attentive two-legged or four-legged friend. The participating dogs are enrolled in the Reading Education Assistance Dogs Program, a nonprofit organization that encourages children to read through the use of therapy animals.

All of the study’s investigators (including Grafton Public Library’s children and youth services librarian Amanda Diurba and Cummings School Shelter Medicine Director Emily McCobb) are also active in Tufts Paws for People, an animal visitation group at Tufts.

Ms. Diurba owner of Jack, a 5-year-old English pointer-Labrador retriever mix, who was on standby for the study said the enrichment program for beginner or “hesitant” readers started in 2005 at the library. While the study was small, she said it received positive results that children who read with the dogs get higher scores in word recognition and in reading motivation than the children who read to an adult.

“I can see how children are progressing by the degree of difficulty of the book titles they are choosing,” Ms. Diurba said. “At three weeks, something happens in the brain, the comfort level, whatever, and whatever little issues those children are having individually seemed to lessen mightily, go away. It actually ends up going away.”  …story taken from… wwlp.com… read story… http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/massachusetts/MA-study-says-dogs-help-young-readers

MANITOWOC — Four-year-old Erin Borchardt knew she was getting a golden retriever puppy through the Make–A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin.

But she didn’t know it was coming Saturday, and she didn’t know a “king” and his “court” would deliver the puppy to her in a gift-wrapped box.

When the doorbell rang early Saturday afternoon, Erin looked out the window to see the “King of Wishes” and his six-person costumed court. Asking for Princess Erin, the king, portrayed by RJ Skrepenski, presented her with a pink box that was moving a little. Inside was a 9-week-old female golden retriever the Borchardt family already had named Charlie.

The newest member of the family licked Erin’s fingers, causing her to giggle, and proceeded to wander throughout the house, probably unsure of what to make of the house full of people, including relatives who had come to witness the event.

Erin, the daughter of Matt and Kathy Borchardt,knew the puppy she had wished for more than a year ago would be arriving sometime soon because she and her family had been treated to a shopping spree, via limousine, on Friday afternoon at PETCO.

But just minutes before the dog arrived, she asked how many more days it was going to be.

“We have a dog already,” she said as her new pet explored her new surroundings.

Positive prognosis

Erin was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on Sept. 23, 2009, and started treatment two days later, Kathy said. The disease is “relatively common,” and even though it was devastating it’s the “best” form of leukemia to have.

“Her treatment will be done at the end of this month,” she said. Story taken from.. htrnews.com … read full story… http://www.htrnews.com/article/20111106/MAN0101/111060460/1358&located=rss

Farmer David Ferwerda may have dug pythons out of warthog holes and escaped elephant herds in Africa, but it was a pregnant Black Angus that would leave him on the operating table.

Ferwerda, a globe-trotting game hunter, credited his loyal Australian cattle dog Hannah with saving his life after the Angus attacked him on March 14.

“She’s an exceptionally good dog. She never takes her eyes off me. If it wasn’t for the dog I would never have gotten out of that barnyard,” he said.

It was a sunny morning when the 77-year-old bachelor went to do chores during calving season at his farm on 5909 East Buss Road. Little did Ferwerda know when he went to fix a leaky stock tank, that an Angus in the early stages of labor was lurking behind the barn door. The pregnant predator struck Ferwerda in the collar bone, knocked him in the manure and started pummeling him with her hooves.

Ferwerda thought he was dead meat.

“I hoped it would be over in a hurry because I didn’t have any chance to get out. I just gave up,” Ferwerda said.

The Angus didn’t break any bones, but put a nasty gash in his head. As he regained consciousness, Ferwerda saw that his mighty cow dog Hannah had backed off the beefy bully. The farmer crawled out on his hands and knees through the manure as the dog watched his back. Ferwerda said cows are scared of cattle dogs because they can bite their noses.

“The cow was pawing the ground, kicking manure and blowing snot. I got out of the barnyard without getting mauled again,” Ferwerda said. “She’s a wonderful little dog.”

Although Ferwerda was covered in bruises and suffering in pain, he was on such an adrenaline high that he thought he could bounce back from his injuries.

“I didn’t think much of it, I seemed to be OK,” he said… story taken from… Washington Examiner.com… read full story… http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2011/10/cattle-dog-saves-his-owner-black-angus

t isn’t only humans who die from breast cancer.

An area veterinarian wants to educate pet owners about a preventable disease in dogs by launching a national awareness campaign.

Dr. Marthina Greer at Lomira Veterinary Village said mammary gland cancer — the veterinary equivalent of breast cancer — is the most common cancer in female dogs.

And it is preventable if pets are spayed when they are young, she said.

Because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, every pet spayed in Greer’s clinic will go homewearing a pink ribbon bandana that resembles the pink ribbons promoting knowledge of the disease in humans and early detection efforts.

For the next six months, dog owners also are invited to bring their dogs to the Lomira Clinic for a free breast exam.

A set of pink stickers for calendars will accompany pet owners home much like the monthly reminders that accompany flea and tick preventatives.

The stickers are to remind people to perform a monthly breast check on their dogs.

“Since dogs can’t do self exams, we will have to do it for them. We don’t have chemotherapy or radiation for dogs so the best thing someone can do is be aware of what to look for,” Greer said.

Signs of the disease in canines include firm nodules in the tissue around the nipples, lumps, ulcerated skin, swelling and inflammation.

Greer says she sees several cases a week and finds it heartbreaking to see a dog die because owners aren’t educated about preventive care…story taken from… fdlreporter.com.. read story… http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20111011/FON0101/110110315/Campaign-spotlights-breast-cancer-dogs

Hello there old fur-comrades. Good to be here for another installment on the ins and outs of the senior fur-child in the ranks.

I’ve been doing the rounds of the neighbourhood these last few weeks, as the darling of the older-female-dog-lover-set in the neighbourhood. I have to say, I’m a firm favourite with a lot of the ladies around these parts. I might be a bit older, but I’m holding my age well and my devastating good looks haven’t faded a bit. It also helps to be obedient and house-trained. I’m always on my best behaviour when I’m visiting the senior women’s network in these parts, because my reputation for being a senior-lady-fur-killer gets around. This ensures me with more of the best of everything. More treats, more attention, more cuddles, more grooming. Everybody wants to take me home! I can have my pick of luxury at any time. When my senior owner is indisposed, there’s almost a hen-fight to see who is going to get to take care of me.

Oh what a life!

Helloooo fur-fans. It’s great to be back once again, and reporting the latest news in my neck of the woods. I haven’t been touring the island as much as I would like to, and my fans are getting restless. Mum has been in hospital and I have been helping out a little around the house. It’s been wonderful to lay in bed with mum until late in the morning and sample some of the treats she has been getting with breakfast in bed. I try to get as close as I can to the food before Dad chases me off. He’s still hung up on that diet word that the vet mentioned last month, so apparently I’m still on rations.

Mum has been feeling sorry for herself ..so I try to be as sympathetic as I can, which can pay dividends in secret treats behind Dad’s back. He’s wondering why I’m not losing any weight. Mum is telling him it is because I haven’t been for a walk for a while as Mum has been confined to the house post-operatively. But we both know better.

I will be looking forward to the summer season, fur-fans, when I get to strut my stuff and my new summer wardrobe on the beach.

Until next time…

(NBC) – One in 400 children in the United States suffer from diabetes, and while many of them struggle with figuring out when they need their insulin, the parents of one Long Island boy found the perfect solution: Hero, a diabetic alert dog, a specialized breed of Labrador that can detect when a diabetic is in trouble and find help.

Johnny Pion, 8, is a laid back kid that was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes in 2008.

The disease is a death sentence without insulin, and his blood sugar needs constant monitoring. He can’t even go on play-dates without mom or dad fearing he might need help.

With Hero in her new home, Johnny’s parents may worry a little less.

They found out about diabetic alert dogs at a fundraiser for diabetes. The dogs cost around $20,000 and are not covered by insurance.

Through donations from friends, family and the community, the Pions brought Hero home from Warren Retrievers in Virginia, a specialty breeder of service dogs.

Cherri Campbell, Hero’s trainer, says the dogs can detect the slightest changes in blood sugar by their keen sense of smell.

“Humans have 5 million smell receptors; dogs have 5 billion,” she said.

When the dog detects something’s wrong, she’ll warn Johnny by nudging up against him. If he doesn’t respond, Hero knows to look for mom and dad.

Eventually Hero could contact 911 in an emergency.

On their first night, together Johnny was comfortable sleeping in his own bed and not with his parents.

Night time is critical because blood sugar goes unchecked while sleeping. Now Hero stands guard…. story taken from… wsfa.com… read story…. http://www.wsfa.com/story/15448185/dog-smells-low-blood-sugar

A dog in China is playing the role of surrogate mother to three white tiger cubs after the animals were rejected by their birth mother.  Story taken from… You Tube… see video… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OibeXKd5k3k

BENWOOD – A female mixed English setter dog was rescued Wednesday afternoon as it was trying to jump the median wall of W.Va. 2 in Benwood.

Marshall County Animal Shelter Director Cindy Brautigan said all four of its paws were bleeding. She said a volunteer from the Animal Rescue League saw the dog and stopped her car to try and slow traffic.

A man following also stopped and was able to catch the dog and put it into the woman’s vehicle and she took it to the animal shelter.

“The dog was full of burrs,” Brautigan said. “It was very hungry and very scarred. We are hoping someone comes to claim it. We have been trying to win her trust. We have been feeding it small meals several times a day.”

Because the dog was scared it bit the man who caught her, Brautigan said. She does not know who the man was, who caught the dog, or how severe the bite was.

“We normally hold a dog for five days before we release it,” she said, “but we are going to hold her 10 days before we let her go. We are hoping the owner will call or we will put her up for adoption.”… story taken from… The Intelligencer. Wheeling News-Register… read story… http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/559575/Dog-Rescued-From-Highway.html?nav=510

CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) – An happy ending to the story about the missing family dog, Charlie.

Andrea Johnson’s family was heartbroken after the family’s pet dog Charlie went missing. The 8-month-old pup is actually a service dog for Andrea’s 7-year-old daughter Eva, who has Asbergers disease, a high functioning form of autism.

Andrea made a tearful plea during a 3 News broadcast on Wednesday, September 7, 2011, And later that evening Charlie was found. 3 News received a call from a guy named Larry Guerrero. He found Charlie near a restaurant by the Crosstown Expressway.

Guerrero cares for lost dogs, often finding them new homes. When he saw are report earlier this evening, he says he jumped at the chance of reuniting the family: “It just gets you all over man. It’s a good thing. As long as we do one good thing every day. That’s all we need.”

Johnson says, “oh, I’m so happy she is back home. She is back where she belongs. I can tell she missed us. Even if it was that little short of time.”

As you can imagine, in the future, the Johnson’s say they plan to  keep an especially close eye on Charlie… story taken from… kiii tv.com… read full story and see video… http://www.kiiitv.com/story/15421670/lost-family-dog-found

Good things come in small packages, the saying goes. A 19-year-old Utah man learned the truth of those words when he was awakened in the middle of the night last Friday by paramedics, who led him out of the family house, which was on fire. The emergency personnel had been led in turn had to the young man’s room by the family dog, an heroic toy poodle named Ted.

The fire broke out at around 3 a.m. That was when a passer-by noticed flames and called the fire department. The sleeping teen’s mother and two children exited the house before the firefighters arrived, but the 19-year-old was still inside. West Jordan Fire Battalion Chief Reed Sharman picks up the story’s thread. As he told the Salt Lake Tribune:

Two of our paramedics, Don Chase and Erik Andersen, had gone inside to search the structure, and when they opened the door, there was the dog. When they went to grab the dog, though, he ran downstairs.

He stopped on a landing, looked back at our guys, waited for them to catch up and then ran down to the next landing.

Ultimately, Ted led the emergency responders to a basement couch where the teenager was fast asleep. By this point, the house had begun to fill with smoke, conditions that further underscore Ted’s selflessness and bravery.

The two paramedics carried the young man and dog outside. The man was treated at the scene for minor smoke inhalation and released. The dog was uninjured, though Chief Reed Sharman told reporters he was “grumpy.” You would be, too, if you wanted to let firefighters know a family member was trapped inside the burning house but had no language in common with them.

The fire, meanwhile, was extinguished within 10 minutes. The house had sustained an estimated $30,000 to $40,000 in damage, but the most precious contents were perfectly fine, in no small measure thanks to a determined little dog…. story taken from… Examiner… read full story… http://www.examiner.com/pet-news-in-national/toy-poodle-rescues-owner-from-burning-home

A FAMILY has been left distraught after its pet dogs were stolen from the garden of a home in Great Bromley.

Two Jack Russell terriers were taken after someone entered the back garden of the property in Harwich Road, Great Bromley.

One of the dogs, called Jack, was later found abandoned, wandering the streets near Colchester

Penny, who is brown and white and aged 18 months, is still missing. She was named because of a tan circle of hair on her right flank.

Investigating Officer, PC Dan Heard, said the owners have young children who are all deeply upset by the incident.

He said: “We would urge anyone who saw people acting suspiciously near the main road going through Great Bromley to get in touch.”

The pets were taken at about 8pm on Thursday….. story taken from the Harwich and Manningtree Standard.. read full story… http://www.harwichandmanningtreestandard.co.uk/news/9259344.Pet_dog_stolen_from_garden/?ref=rss

Helloooo fur-fans. It’s good to be back today and experiencing the fine weather we are having on the island of late. I’m out and about of course, meeting and greeting my fans on the island and doing the hard yards for the good of doggy-kind.

I’ve a sad tale to tell unfortunately. My visit to the vet last week has resulted on me being rationed in the kitchen. No treats or extras for me, unless I can sneak a few or look sorrowful at the fridge enough times.

The vet informed Mum that I was fat. FAT!..me!…I don’t think so. Mildly plump, a bit wide-bodied, a little roley-poley..but not straight-out fat. I resent the implication. I’m a little overfed and used to my luxurious surroundings fur-fans..but that’s what it is all about isn’t it? Aren’t I here to please myself and all who look upon me? I should jolly well think so.

Until next time…

Greeting fellow fur-pals. I’m back today with commiserations for myself once again. I’m the best at feeling sorry for myself and have earned the name ‘sook’ from Mum and Dad..especially Dad. He thinks I should be more doggy-manly…but Mum spoils me so I play on this for my own benefit.

My trip to the vet was as traumatic as I could make it. I howled before I got on the table. I howled when I was on the table. I howled to be picked up after I got off the table. I howled on the way home to an anonymous person who was kind enough to offer me a pat. I’m good at howling. I’m also good at finding friendly faces and hands in a sea of people in various locations.

I’m still getting over it all. I got on the lounge when I got home and stayed there until the ding of the microwave dinner bell, and then I was the first in line, howling in hunger for all to hear.

I’m sure to be back to my feisty fit fur-ball self in no time.

A miniature pinscher who went missing was finally rescued after showing up more than 750 miles from her home.

It had been eight months since Sharalyn Cooper, from Salt Lake City, Utah, last saw two-year-old Fadidle – in which time the tiny dog had managed to travel across two states to San Diego, California.

The loving owner was finally reunited with her pet at Salt Lake International Airport this weekend, after Fadidle was handed in to San Diego Humane Society as a stray.

The animal shelter placed the dog on a stray hold but, thanks to a microchip implanted under her skin, they were able to link her back to her owners in Utah, the Dereset News reported.

‘It’s wonderful,’ said a delighted Mrs Cooper clutching the tiny, quivering dog to her bosom, her eyes streaming with tears of joy. She noted that Fadidle looked a bit skinnier than when she had left.

‘She’s just a little tiny thing. We’re just happy they found her. It was definitely a long wait,’ she added… story taken from … dailymail.co.uk… read full story…. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2028732/Missing-dog-turns-state–750-miles-home-Utah.html

CAMAGUEY, Cuba – Yeti the dog already had a litter of pups to care for when the piglets adopted her as a second mom.

Ever since then, the Cuban farm dog has been pulling double-duty, nursing not just her own young but also the 14 swine.

Farmer Mannorkys Santamaria said the piglets also take milk from their mothers, but when they see Yeti, they run to her for a meal. On a recent day the young porkers followed her around the farm as if she were their real mother.

“No one imposed this on the dog,” Santamaria said. “The piglets discovered this on their own and began nursing with her when they turned 15 days old.”

Santamaria, 35, and his wife Eida Fernandes, 40, raise pigs, chickens, doves and turkeys on their small farm in the eastern province of Camaguey. There are also several mixed-breed dogs who have showed up on the property over the years and stayed.

So far, Yeti is the only one to become an adopted mother to pigs. Fernandes said she doesn’t seem to mind. All but one of Yeti’s biological offspring have been given away, and the one pup remaining nurses alongside the swine.

“When the piglets ventured outside their pen, it seems they smelled the dog’s milk and began screaming at her,” Fernandes said. “In the beginning we didn’t think the dog would let them suckle, but they insisted so much they ended up nursing with her.”… story taken from… The Sacramento Bee… read full story… http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/03/3882705/farm-dog-suckles-piglets-in-cuba.html

DALLAS (AP) — Behind Jim and Bettye Baker‘s Seagoville home sits the kennel for Oak Hill Animal Rescue, the pet organization the Bakers founded to save animals from being euthanized.

Since it opened in 2006, the Bakers said they have found homes for at least 500 dogs.

So when a veterinarian called them about an ailing pit bull pup named Chili, the decision to adopt her was a no-brainer.

When Chili was 8 weeks old, someone threw her over a fence onto concrete, breaking her back and cracking her pelvis. A vet told the Bakers she had suffered neurological damage and would never be able to use her hind legs.

Chili grew to be 42 pounds. Her chest is broad and muscular. The Bakers swear she can smile because when Chili pants, the corners of her mouth curl into a wide grin.

Eventually, Chili learned to get around by using her front legs and dragging the rest of her body. But the dragging took a toll on her tail, which is covered in scar tissue.

When she was a year old, the Bakers discovered Eddie’s Wheels, a Massachusetts-based company that makes lightweight aluminum wheelchairs for pets. A padded saddle in the shape of a figure-eight holds their back legs in place.

The Bakers bought one of the wheelchairs — which cost between $325 and about $1,400 — for Chili, who enjoys running around the backyard.

“She just flies in the thing,” Jim Baker said.

Last year, the Bakers were with Chili at a pet adoption event in North Dallas when a woman approached them.

“This dog needs to go to Baylor,” said the lady, a nurse at Baylor Hospital who was familiar with its Animal-Assisted Therapy Program. According to a study by the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University, a majority of patients who suffered from acute psychiatric problems showed lower anxiety levels after interacting with therapy dogs.

But not all dogs who try out make the cut for Baylor’s program.

“Just because your dog likes people or is a friendly dog does not mean that they would make a good therapy dog,” said Linda Marler, the program’s director.

Animals accepted at Baylor must pass a 15-minute test during which pans are dropped, and crutches and wheelchairs circle the dog to determine its reaction. There is also a pain tolerance portion to make sure the dog will not bark or bare its teeth if it is hurt.

Chili and Arlo, a disabled dachshund adopted by the Bakers three years ago, have been a big hit with Baylor patients. Of the 86 dogs making rounds at the hospital, they are the only two disabled ones, and this month marks their first anniversary of bringing smiles to patients’ faces.

At a therapy gym inside the Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation, some patients laughed recently when they spotted the canine visitors. Others stared, wide-eyed.

“Patients just absolutely love them,” Jim Baker said. “There’s something about that contact, seeing a dog in a wheelchair who is so happy and thriving.”

Kristen Hill, an occupational therapist at the institute, has seen the dogs repeatedly boost the attitudes of her patients.

“It definitely makes them smile,” Hill said. “They’re able to relate to the dogs” because most patients use wheelchairs themselves.” … story taken from… Chron.com… read full story… http://www.chron.com/news/article/Therapy-dogs-hearten-patients-at-Baylor-Hospital-2155390.php

A Black and Tan Coonhound named ‘Harbor’, aged 8, from Boulder, Colorado, USA, has earned a spot in the upcoming Guinness World Records 2012 Edition for having the Longest Ears on a Living Dog.

Owned by Jennifer Wert, Harbor’s left and right ears measure 12.25 inches and 13.5 inches respectively.

As a puppy Harbor would struggle with his colossal ears; frequently causing him to trip over them and roll down stairs.

Now at the age of 8 the purebred has grown into his ears (only occasionally tripping over!), the only trouble being caused by the attention he receives from members of the public…. story taken from… Guinness World Records… read full story… http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/video-meet-harbor-the-new-dog-with-the-longest-ears-in-the-world/

WINDSOR, Ont. — Misty, an almost 12-year-old Labrador retriever suffering from arthritis, has gone from aging hound in pain to joyful puppy after stem cell treatments at the Essex Animal Hospital, just southeast of Windsor.

Robert Meloche, Misty’s owner, considered putting her down earlier this year because his pet was miserable. She couldn’t walk up stairs and she was in pain.

Misty had arthritis in her knees and calcification in her front left paw. A month after paying $2,000 for a stem cell treatment, Misty was a new dog.

“She’s up and running,” he said. “She jumps into the pool. She has no problem going up and down the stairs. She’s prancing.”

Misty became so puppy-like she was sneaking off with shoes to chew. The treasured family dog has become so boisterous that they have to watch her more closely to make sure she doesn’t overdo it.

The Essex Animal Hospital, which has one of the province’s largest rehabilitation units, is now offering stem cell therapy to help pooches heal joints and ligament damage. The procedure, which costs up to $2,500, is done at the clinic.

Stem cells are removed from the canine, mixed with plasma and processed at an on site laboratory. The cells are then injected into the dog in the area in need of healing. The procedure takes about three hours. The procedure works best in conjunction with physical therapy.

“It definitely improves the quality of life,” said Dr. Janet Huntingford, a veterinarian who has owned the clinic since 1986.

Stem cells were first used in thoroughbred horses. The treatments are not commonly available and are only offered at a handful of clinics in the province, she said.

While there are some case reports documenting the results of the treatment, there’s nothing proving its effectiveness except observing how the patients react.

“It’s not the owner saying the dog is a lot better, but has the muscle bulk increased?” Huntingford said. “Has the range of motion increased to 140 degrees? That’s a measurable scientific thing.”

The three dogs that underwent the procedure since it was offered in April do physical therapy like walking on a treadmill in a salt water pool to improve fitness and build muscle without jarring tender ligaments.

After the procedure, Misty had physical therapy twice a week until she built muscle mass and then it tapered off, Meloche said.

The procedure is “cutting edge,” said Cathy Carnevale, the clinic’s manager. “We get dogs coming in on stretchers and after therapy they walk after two or three months…. story taken from… Leader-Post.. read full story… http://www.leaderpost.com/health/Stem+cells+bounce+back+Labrador+step/5330537/story.html

MILLIE the springer spaniel had no idea of the trouble she would cause when she went off exploring.

But her owners, the Marshalls, were left frantic when they realised the five-year-old dog had gone missing from their holiday home at the Solent Breezes Holiday Park in Hook Lane, Warsash.

And when they ran off down the beach looking for their beloved pet, she was nowhere to be found.

Luckily the wandering pooch had been found by a pair of ladies out for a stroll, who knew exactly what to do.

They took her to the Stubbington Ark animal shelter where they checked her over and scanned her and soon found the microchip that contained all her details.

Within hours she was reunited with the grateful family.

Deana Marshall said: ‘Millie pushed her nose through our sliding doors to open them and ran off along the slipway to the beach.

‘I had just come out of the shower so couldn’t run after her.

‘When she goes on the beach, people throw stones for her and she runs to catch them.

‘When I did get on the beach some passers-by told me a couple of ladies had gone up the beach with my dog.

‘Despite looking for Millie and the ladies, they had disappeared.

‘I ran back to the holiday home and alerted the manager.’

The Marshalls, who come from Epsom in Surrey, had been staying at the park in their holiday home for a month over the summer.

Mrs Marshall added: ‘My distress immediately turned to relief on hearing Millie was safe – if it hadn’t been for the microchip, I don’t know what would have happened to her.’

Head of fundraising at the Ark Vanessa Eden said: ‘It’s cases like this that highlight just how important it is to get your dogs, cats and microchipped.

‘So many of the animals we receive here each year never get reunited with their owners and we have no way of finding them.

‘Fortunately, this time there was a happy ending. But if the Marshalls hadn’t microchipped Millie it could have turned out very differently and who knows where Millie could have ended up… story taken from… The News.. portsmouth.co.uk.. read full story… http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/east-hampshire/millie_s_microchip_tale_has_a_happy_ending_1_3020386

Does nature warn when a big earthquake is coming? Do animals hear this warning when we don’t? VICKI ANDERSON talks to a scientist who is investigating possible earthquake precursors in the days leading up to the September 4 earthquake.

If your pet goes berserk at an inconvenient time, be inclined to humour it: it might save your life.

That’s the advice from Dr Neil Whitehead who, after the 7.1 earthquake in Darfield on September 4, 2010, researched whether there were real precursors of the event.

A website was set up, and survey categories based on similar previous studies in Kobe, Japan, and Izmit, Turkey, were selected. Kiwis were invited to offer their observations at chchquake.co.nz.

Christchurch people helped with several hundred replies to the internet survey, he says.

“Their detailed time reports allowed statistical tests to be done and establish for the first time that animal responses in particular were real and not just due to selective reporting. Their reporting of earthquake lights was also in unprecedented detail,” Whitehead says.

“The most interesting information was strong statistical evidence that animals, particularly dogs and cats, reacted somehow at varying times before the September 4 quake, this had been only anecdotal for previous earthquakes,” he says.

There was also strong anecdotal evidence of people experiencing a feeling of pressure, or sometimes headaches before the quake and aftershocks.

“There was timing evidence that precursors were not due to foreshocks, and were consistent with electromagnetic radiation, presumably extremely low frequency, otherwise it could not reach the surface from the epicentre.”

Based in Wellington, Whitehead is a research scientist who spent 27 years with Crown Research Institute GNS Science and its predecessors, and four years with the International Atomic Energy Agency (United Nations). He is now an independent consultant. His most recent official post was Visiting Professor at Hiroshima University from 2005-2006.

“I spent nearly a year at Osaka University from 2002 to 2003 with the late geophysicist Professor Ikeya and showed statistically for the first time that some publicly reported precursors were valid, though not helpful for prediction,” Whitehead said.

The 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, resulted in unusual electronic precursors being reported, which led several researchers to speculate about the possible role of electromagnetic radiation from the ground.

Ikeya embarked on a programme of interdisciplinary research, with many students and several research colleagues, including Whitehead, during the late 90s and up until 2005… story taken from… The Press.. stuff.co.nz… read full story… http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5559043/Reading-signs-before-a-quake

The dog of a slain US Navy SEAL remained loyal even in death — refusing to walk away from his owner’s casket during the funeral service.

Petty Officer Jon Tumilson, 35, from San Diego, was one of 30 troops killed in Afghanistan when a Chinook helicopter was shot down by Taliban insurgents on August 6.

His funeral was held in Rockford, Iowa, last Friday.

During the service, attended by 1500 people, his Labrador Hawkeye walked up to the casket, heaved a sigh and lay down in front of it for the duration of the memorial.

Tumlinson’s cousin, Lisa Pembleton, photographed the dog resting by the casket.

“Hawkeye was/is his loyal ‘son’… I hadn’t planned on taking any pictures other than with family,” Pembleton wrote in a statement to the military blogHome Post.

“However, from my seat at the funeral, I felt compelled to take one photo to share with family members who couldn’t make it or couldn’t see what I could from the aisle.”…story taken from…. 9 news at ninemsn.com… read story … http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8290197/loyal-dog-refuses-to-leave-soldiers-casket

These dogs don’t just fetch.

They turn on light switches, drag laundry baskets, pull wheelchairs and give autistic children the confidence to visit the dentist.

But before Canine Companions for Independence dogs can fulfill their destiny of becoming service animals to people with disabilities, they need the right start in life. At 8 weeks old, the dogs go from a breeder to a carefully screened volunteer “puppy raiser,” said Melanie Dutcher, president of the national organization’s Utah chapter, Wasatch Companions.

“They are in an important developmental phase,” she said. “If handled properly, you get a confident and safe dog.”

Wasatch Companions has about 100 volunteers, and on Friday, one of those volunteers inspired a $10,000 donation from Wells Fargo. The bank presented a check to the organization through its Volunteer Service Award program at a fundraiser golf tournament in Midway.

That volunteer is Riverton resident Barbara Kronenberg, a property manager with Wells Fargo Corporate Property Group. Last October, after a screening that including an hour-long phone interview and home visit, she began raising a black Labrador and golden retriever mix named Balsa.

It’s a fitting tribute to the dog that became the “office princess,” as Kronenberg put it, as she came into work with her temporary owner every day to help her socialization process. Kronenberg has also taken Balsa into grocery stores, restaurants and ballparks.

“Her favorite thing is to visit with kids,” Kronenberg said. Becoming accustomed to different people, places and sounds without fear is essential to becoming a good service dog, she said…. story taken from… The Salt Lake Tribune… read full story… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52406602-78/dog-balsa-companions-kronenberg.html.csp

A PET dog abandoned at a railway station by an owner who could not afford to care for it has been placed with a loving family thanks to a Maybury rescue centre.

Tyler was facing an uncertain future when he was left tied up at Surbiton station last month with just a bag full of his belongings and a hastily scrawled note.

Anna Read, who works with SOS Dog Rescue in Windsor Way, explained the chain of events that led to Tyler finding a happy home in Woking.

She said: “Tyler found his way to me via a desperate email from a lovely dog groomer.

“She received a call from a person who discovered this dog tied up at a railway station with a bag of his belongings and a handwritten note pleading for help to find him a good home.

“It seems the owner had become homeless and could no longer afford to feed him or care for him properly.”

The handwritten letter, written in broken English, pleaded with onlookers: “Please take my dog, I’m homeless and have nowhere for him or money to feed him. Please help him!”

Anna, who also runs the Guildford dog centre The Dog House, added: “This dog has obviously been very well cared for as he is in fabulous condition, well socialised, has been neutered and vaccinations and parasite control are all up to date.

“I found it extremely emotional to think that his desperate owner felt he had no other choice but to tie his best friend up in a busy location and stand back and hope.”… story taken from… getsurrey.co.uk… read full story… http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2098649_abandoned_dog_finds_new_woking_home

Helloooo fur-fans. Well, I’m really raving today. Raving about the rain and minimal opportunity to go out and about for my usual meeting and greeting tours of the island. It’s been boring, boring, boring, I can tell you. I’ve had nothing to do but lay around on the beds, the lounge, the sofa, the settee, and my plush lambskin.

I’m not one to get my paws wet, that’s for sure, so it’s been a major effort for Mum to get me down the stairs and into the dreaded drenching that ensues. I try to either make a quick dash for the top of the stairs or the carport. I hide as much as possible on wet days so Mum doesn’t remember that I need to go, and then sneak out the back and go on the veranda. Naughty yes, but necessary to survive the stress of getting my do all wet and smelly. A girl has to do what a girl has to do.

I can’t wait for summer and the new puppy fashion trends that are coming. How exciting!

Until next time…

Hospitalized for severe depression, Gayle F. looked forward to spending time with her “therapists,” who coaxed her back to health with non-judgmental support, frisky good humor and occasional wet kisses.

For Rocket, bringing smiles to people in need is her job as a therapy dog.

Owned by Patricia DeMeo of Wellesley, the bright-eyed mini-pinscher is one of 37 dogs providing “therapy on a leash” in MetroWest Medical Center’s pet therapy program.

Discharged from the hospital a week ago, Gayle F., a 30-ish MetroWest resident who asked not to be identified, described those several-times-a-week, half-hour sessions with Rocket, Katie Bear and a giant Great Dane nicknamed Libby as “bright spots that provided light during a really tough time.”

“I was very sick. I felt I was fighting for my life. Just sitting on the floor playing with Rocket and the others was the highlight of my week. I can’t describe how valuable it was to getting back on my feet. Spending time with therapy dogs was instrumental in my ability to pull through,” she said.

About three years ago, DeMeo enrolled Rocket as as a therapy dog at the hospital as a way to return the kindness and support her late parents received at a cancer hospice.

She said therapy dogs must learn at least a dozen task-specific commands, such as leaving treats or potentially dangerous objects they might encounter in a hospital, and moving carefully around patients using walkers or wheelchairs without being startled by sharp noises like dropping bedpans.

Throughout about 200 visits to the hospital and area nursing homes, DeMeo said Rocket has demonstrated an intuitive understanding of patients’ varied needs.

“Dogs sense things humans don’t. One patient might want Rocket to sit in her lap. Someone else might want kisses. Someone else might just want to touch her or talk about the dogs they used to own. Everyone wants something different. But Rocket just seems to know what they need,” she said.

Sherri Hebert, administrative assistant in the behavioral medicine department who coordinates the pet therapy program, said the hospital has been using therapy dogs since 2002 to boost patients’ spirits, encourage interaction and reduce stress.

Accompanied by an owner, therapy dogs visit the hospital’s child development unit and behavioral medicine department, which includes geriatric and adult units. A dog owner who’s enrolled her Pembroke Welsh corgi, Katie Bear, in the program, Hebert said individual dogs might make 30-minute visits to different units four to eight times a week, including weekends and evenings.

Director of Behavioral Medicine Mary Mullany said anecdotal evidence suggests spending time with therapy dogs can elevate patients’ moods, lower blood pressure and relieve stress among patients and staff.

“We’ve seen patients with dementia calm down, and a man, almost immobilized by depression for several years, begin to communicate. With geriatric patients, I think spending time with therapy dogs can promote verbal skills. When therapy dogs come into a hospital setting, it’s a time patients can laugh and enjoy themselves,” she said.

That’s no surprise to Susan Piraino, whose 135-pound Great Dane Liberty – nicknamed Libby – visits several hospital units, cheering up children as well as older patients who have diminishing communication skills.

The Ashland resident is convinced Libby “absolutely senses” the different needs of children, elderly and emotionally troubled patients.

And while Libby reaches her waist, Piraino said her personality is so placid she never snaps with roughhousing children or gets startled by unexpected noises.

Like several other owners, she said Libby becomes excited by the prospect of a hospital visit, signified when a special bandanna is wrapped around her neck. “She’s ecstatic when she gets in the car to come here,” said Piraino.

For several years, Pat Gipp has been bringing Penny, an alert Australian shepherd, to the hospital and hospice where patients nearing the ends of their lives seem comforted by stroking her coat.

The Holliston resident said Penny has entertained young patients by accepting high-fives and playing soccer with them.

Her voice turning serious, she recalled being asked to bring Penny to an area hospice where a dying patient had slipped into a coma. Without prompting, Penny laid next to him.

Three other dog owners nodded.

Stroking her Great Dane, Piraino said, “Love is the best medicine you can give.”…. story taken from… Norwich Bulletin.. read story… http://www.norwichbulletin.com/lifestyles/pets/x1510863501/Canine-Compassion-Therapy-dogs-bring-smiles-to-people-in-need#axzz1UyEKhgSK

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga — This is a story of survival. A dog spent two days in the back of a tractor trailer in temperatures well above 100 degrees. No one saw her get on the truck until she jumped off in a warehouse in Lawrenceville. She was sickly and barely alive.

Gwinnett County Animal Control said the dog is now thriving and waiting for a new home. “The veterinary clinic took it upon them to nurse the dog back to health,” said Cpl. Jake Smith.

On July 19, a tractor trailer backed up the loading dock at the Masonite Door Corporation in Lawrenceville. When the driver opened the back door, the dog ran out and into a corner of the warehouse where it cowered in fear. “When the dog ran out, everyone in the receiving department went to try to round it up and see if it needed help,” said plant manager David Toll.

Veterinarians at a clinic in Lawrenceville who nursed the dog back to health did not want to be identified. They named the dog “Carolina.” Carolina is a 4-year-old shepherd mix and should be healthy enough to be adopted in another week or two.

“That’s fantastic news,” Toll said, adding that when animal control picked the dog up at the warehouse, he thought she was too sick to survive. “The animal control officer thought that they might put her to sleep, which we were pretty upset about. I’m really glad to hear that something good might come out of this after all.”… story taken from… 11Alive.com News… read full story… http://www.11alive.com/news/article/200578/3/LAWRENCEVILLE-Stowaway-dog-survives-hot-journey

Police informed the Great Falls Tribune that neighbors returned a Jack Russell Terrier after it got out. As they were leaving, the neighbors heard the dog yelp and discovered the owner, 49-year-old David Boyken, in the process of cutting the dog’s throat. All the animals you are about to see are happy and healthy. Police say the injured dog suffered serious cuts requiring stitches.

The good news is that the Jack Russell Terrier is expected to make a full recovery. Sgt. John Schaffer says he received an email from the Great Falls Animal shelter stating the dog is in good spirits and being treated with antibiotics.

Boyken is facing up to a $1,000 fine and one year in prison on misdemeanor animal cruelty. Sgt. Schaffer explains the animal cruelty statue is, “any type of mistreatment, torture, mutilation, killing of an animal, other than for humane purposes”. Aggravated animal cruelty is when a person kills or inflicts cruelty to an animal with the intent of terrifying, torturing, or mutilating the animal or if the cruelty is done to a group of animals. A second animal cruelty offense becomes a felony.

Veterinary Michelle Lague with Central West Animal Clinic has not seen many animal cruelty cases in Great Falls since she moved here 11 years ago. However one that has always stayed with her was an owner that admitted to kicking his Pug, breaking its thigh bone. Lague says, “I called the authorities to try and get this guy prosecuted and I actually got nowhere. No one wanted to listen to me. No one wanted to pay attention to me”.

In the last 10 years she believes animal cruelty laws have changed for the better. However, she does feel that the law fails to take into account the severity of abuse. For example, an animal left without food and water is the same animal cruelty offense as someone using a weapon on the animal. Lague says, “I hope we once again look at that law and see if we think we need to tweak it a little bit”…. story  taken from… kfbb.com… read full story… http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/Animal-Cruelty-in-Great-Falls-127286228.html

WASHINGTON – Don’t underestimate the mind of a mutt — at least when the canine in question is one of the smartest breeds and her trainer has painstakingly taught her to identify more than 1,000 objects.

The dog of this day is Chaser, a 7-year-old Border collie who can also distinguish between nouns and verbs. She’s a featured player at the American Psychological Association‘s annual meeting here, where her owner and trainer — retired psychology professor John Pilley today let Chaser bask in the attention at the first of several weekend demonstrations planned.

From the moment this popular pooch entered the room, she was clearly the star, with cameras flashing and people maneuvering for shots of the brainy dog.

“One of the things we learned from our research is that the world loves dogs,” Pilley told the more than 300 attendees at the session.

During Pilley’s presentation, Chaser reclined on the stage. Pilley spoke about the research he co-authored, but mostly he let Chaser demonstrate just how smart a dog can be, with video clips of her perfectly following his directions and illustrating her abilities.

Pilley said he and his wife got Chaser when she was 8 weeks old.

Chaser understands that a noun refers to an object, and is correct 95% of the time; she can also accurately react to random pairings of verbs and nouns, such as “fetch the sock,” according to research co-authored by Pilley, retired from Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.

The research, published earlier this year in the journal Behavioral Processes, adds to a growing body of evidence that dogs are “smart” or at least possess the kinds of skills that can be likened to human intelligence. The study included four experiments that showed how three years of intensive training under controlled conditions allowed Chaser to learn the names of the 1,022 toys piled up in big blue bins at their home. Most are stuffed animals, although some are plastic toys. Each has a distinct name written in marker on the toy, such as Inky (a bright green octopus), Chimp, Circus Bear, Dutch Boy, Sugar and many more…. story taken from… USA Today, Your Life… read full story… http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/pets/dogs/story/2011/08/Research-dog-reveals-canines-cognitive-potential/49833970/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomHealth-TopStories+%28News+-+Health+-+Top+Stories%29

TWO burglars bit off more than they could chew when they were met a householder’s angry dog.

Daisy chased after the criminals, biting one of them on his legs as he tried to steal her owner’s mountain bike.

“We believe the burglar will still bear bite marks from Daisy and would urge anyone who can help identify him to get in touch with police.”

Detective Constable Nev Price

The incident happened as the victim, a woman in her mid-30s who does not want to be identified, returned to her home in Lewes Road, Darlington, with her daughter and the family’s two pet dogs.

She spotted two youths in the lane behind her home and saw that one was carrying a man’s silver and red mountain bike over his shoulder, which she recognised as her own.

She shouted at them to stop and they ran off, one of them still carrying the bike.

Daisy then chased after the youth with the bike and bit him on the upper left of his leg and then on his right calf.

The thief then turned, threw the bike at the dog, before also swinging a kick at her, before making his escape.

Daisy was unhurt.

On returning to her home, the victim discovered she had been burgled, with the thieves taking money, mobile phones, cash and cigarettes.

Detective Constable Nev Price, of Darlington CID said: “Due to Daisy’s intervention, the victim got her bike back, but, unfortunately, when she returned to her home it had been burgled, and money, mobile phones, cash and cigarettes had been taken.

“We believe the burglar will still bear bite marks from Daisy and would urge anyone who can help identify him to get in touch with police.”… story taken from… The Advertiser… read full story… http://www.theadvertiserseries.co.uk/news/9181682.Burglar_bitten_twice_as_Darlington_victim_s_dog_gives_chase/?ref=rss

Clio — After a year of dealing with a gut-wrenching tragedy, four children and their mother finally got some good news: The family dog is coming home.

Monica Benson, 30, was riding with her husband, Gary, their five children and dog Caesar on June 15, 2010, on a remote stretch of Interstate 40 near Tucumcari, N.M., when their 2001 Chevrolet minivan overturned.

Gary Benson and daughter Emily died from injuries in the crash. Son Benjamin suffered serious injuries and was placed in intensive care at Amarillo Hospital.

Caesar, a white Maltese, was nowhere to be found.

“The dog was probably thrown from the car,” said Monica Benson’s father, Lee Harris. “The accident happened out in the desert; there’s nothing out there but wilderness.”

Then, Friday, they got a call they never expected: Caesar was located at a New Mexico animal shelter.

“I called Monica, and when I told her the dog was still alive, she started crying,” Harris said Wednesday. “She told the kids the next day, and they were so happy.”

Long before the call, little Caesar figured into then-18-month-old Benjamin’s recovery.

“While Benjamin was in the ICU, we placed pictures of him and Caesar on the walls,” Benson said. “When he woke up, he would point at the pictures and say, ‘Caesar.’”

The family returned to the accident site and tried to find Caesar, to no avail.

“We figured he must’ve ran away,” said Harris, one of those who rushed to New Mexico after the accident.

“I went to the hospital and some lady called and said she found the dog,” Harris said. “So she brought this dog to the hospital, but it wasn’t Caesar. She tried to give it to us anyway, but we had too much going on to take on a dog that wasn’t Caesar.”

After Benjamin recovered, the family returned home, resigned to never seeing their dog again.

On Friday, a volunteer for the Tucumcari Animal Rescue Group was looking for adoptable dogs at the local animal shelter and spotted a furry white Maltese. It was among seven dogs that were taken to the veterinarian’s office to be scanned for a microchip, which Caesar had.

The volunteer, Christina Flemming, called the chip company and was given a Michigan phone number, but the number was disconnected. Benson had moved and changed phone numbers, her father said.

But Flemming didn’t give up. She looked online and found a newspaper article about a family from Clio, north of Flint, who had lost a dog during a fatal car crash.”She got a hold of the funeral home in Grand Blanc where the funerals were held, and they were able to get a hold of me,” Harris said.

The dog is en route by plane and auto, and will likely come home Saturday, Harris said.

“The kids are really excited and looking forward to seeing their dog again,” Harris said. “It’s been a really long year, so it’s nice to see them so happy.”

Harris marveled at the dog’s determination.

“It’s just a little Maltese; it’s so small … to survive where it’s been the past year is really an amazing thing,” he said. “It was out in the desert, in the middle of nowhere, and it somehow made its way out.

“That little dog must’ve been really determined to get back to Monica and the children.”…. story taken from… The Detroit News… read story… http://detnews.com/article/20110811/METRO/108110420/1409/rss36

There are lucky dogs and then there are really lucky dogs.

Count Billie, a 7-year-old boxer-pit bull mix, among the latter. Lost for 34 days, she was little more than skin and bones when a Palo Alto Animal Services officer rescued her in the wilds of Los Altos Hills on June 25.

Billie’s normally 65-pound frame had shrunk to 35, owner Angella Tai said Thursday.

“I actually couldn’t hold her,” said Tai, 32, recalling her joyful reunion with Billie, who is a healthy 57 pounds now and climbing. “I was scared I was going to hurt her.”

Billie’s ordeal began on May 23, when painters working at Tai’s home in Los Altos opened a door to the garage the pup was left in for the day. The workers needed to use an outlet in the garage and the sound of noisy equipment firing up sent the typically skittish Billie running.

“I get home at 4:30 and I ask the painters, ‘Where’s my dog?’” Tai said. “They said, ‘She ran away.’ What do you do at that point? Get angry or accept it?”

While Tai and her girlfriend of two years, Lillian Jungleib, 25, accepted the explanation, they were far from ready to write Billie off. The pair canvassed Los Altos, made hundreds of fliers and visited every shelter from San Mateo to San Martin…. story taken from…. Mercury News … read full story… http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_18570606?nclick_check=1

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When yoga goes to the dogs, they call it doga.

And while doga may not measure up, fitness-wise, to a game of fetch or a run on the beach, experts say practicing yoga with your pet can soothe the not-so-savage breasts of both person and pooch.

“I consider it partner yoga,” said Suzi Teitelman, a Florida-based instructor who has been teaching doga to man, woman and beast since 2002. “It’s my lifelong passion.”

Teitelman stumbled upon doga because her dog liked to lie under her while she practiced.

“When you feel good, they feel good,” she said. “They want to be around your goodness.”

Classes, DVDs and a training manual followed. Teitelman said she’s trained more than 100 people around the world in doga, some from as far away as China and Japan.

Disco yoga, kid yoga, beach yoga, spin yoga and yogalites are but a few of the trendy hybrids saluting the sun at fitness centers these days, all takeoffs on the 5,0000-year-old practice that coordinates movement and breath.

But Teitelman insists she teaches a traditional yoga class, even if the downward facing dog is flesh and blood.

“We chant together to feel the vibrations, then we start moving into twists and turns,” she said.

Traditional poses such as warriors, triangles and backbends follow, possibly enhanced by a little dog balanced at the belly or waist.

“The person takes dog deeper into a stretch, and the dog takes the person deeper,” she said. “If you have a dog on your arm in a standing posture it helps balance and strength.”

Teitelman believes the rewards of yoga accrue to human and animal alike… story taken from… The Baltimore Sun… read full story… http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/sns-rt-us-fitness-yoga-dogstre7701us-20110801,0,1003754.story

Pet dogs could serve as ‘biosentinels’ for monitoring human exposure to toxic compounds present in shared households.

Marta Venier and Ronald Hites environmental scientists from theIndiana University believe pet dogs could help sense these compounds, thanks to the presence of chemical flame retardants in their blood at concentrations five to 10 times higher than in humans, but lower than levels found in a previous study of cats.

Dogs may be better proxies than cats, they say, because a dog’s metabolism is better equipped to break down the chemicals, reports the journal Environmental Science & Technology…. story taken from… The Times of India… http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-30/pets/29761577_1_pet-dogs-compounds-pbdes

Layla, a pit bull in southern Colorado may have saved her 3-year-old human brother’s life this week. While playing unattended with the family dogs in the backyard, the toddler saw Layla rush to the fence and start digging. Then he heard a noise that sent him inside to get his dad. That noise turned our to be a rattlesnake.

Although rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal (less than 1% according to the American International Rattlesnake Museum), they can be incredibly dangerous, especially to young children. While the child was unharmed, Layla, as well as 2 of the families German Shepherds were bitten. They were taken to an emergency veterinarian and are recovering well…. story taken from… examiner.com… read full story… http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/pit-bull-alerts-family-to-rattlesnake-saves-3-year-old-from-being-bitten

Rescued With Love Inc. is a fully registered, not for profit organization.  We are a group of foster carers who help rescue unwanted dogs from Pounds and Shelters. We have all their vet work done and then care for them in our homes, and teach them how to be a loved well mannered pet.  We then find the best possible home suitable for their needs… go to website… http://www.rescuedwithlove.org/

BARKIN’ BUDDY is the new must have mobile application for dog lovers everywhere. This social networking app allows owners to build profiles, add buddies, make new friends to play with, locate dog friendly location and ultimately better manage their pet’s relationships. The app is an innovative concept from the Radical Ideas Group. All you have to do is download BARKIN’ BUDDY from the App Store, head outside with your dog and start making friends.

BARKIN’ BUDDY is a dog-to-dog relationship management app, set to improve your pet’s social life. Once downloaded, simply create a pet profile, add a photo of your pooch and you’re on the way to creating your dog’s very own social network. Let others know when and where you’re heading, share information on hot spots, locate buddies and use it to make new doggy friends.

Radical Ideas Group CEO and dog lover Alexander Bagg, came up with the idea after recognising the disconnect between the sheer number  of dog owners worldwide and the advent of social networking. “Being a dog owner, I felt there was a need to effectively combine the two” Bagg says “pet profile pages on other social platforms can only do so much in terms of actual functionality but with BARKIN’ BUDDY, the focus is on the pet and not the person.”

The BARKIN’ BUDDY app is a fun and modern way to develop your pet’s relationships and is simple and easy to navigate. In particular, the Map page displays various icons representing the location and status of your dog and those of other pooches nearby. It can show how many dogs you are walking, which buddies of yours are out and about, those who are yet to become a buddy, and those who are offline. BARKIN’ BUDDY will enable dog owners everywhere to better manage their pet’s relationships just by ‘barking’ to their dog’s buddies to let them know where and when to catch up.

Visit the official website http://www.barkinbuddy.com for step-by-step details on how to manage the app and updates from the world of BARKIN’ BUDDY.

BARKIN’ BUDDY is available now from the App store:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/barkin-buddy/id441400702?mt=8

BEN AVON, Pa. — Authorities said a Ben Avon woman responsible for fostering a service dog for special-needs children reported the animal missing and kept it for herself instead.

Police said they learned the dog, named Christmas, had been taken after Elizabeth Flaherty took the animal to the vet for an exam last month.

Investigators said Flaherty fled after Dr. Ken Fisher’s office checked the dog’s microchip and learned it had been reported stolen a year ago by 4 Paws For Ability. The Ohio-based group trains service dogs.

While Fisher was on the phone with the original owner, Flaherty took the dog, ran outside and down the street, police said.

“This is something that never happened to us before. So, obviously, we were pretty surprised by it,” said Fisher.

Flaherty was arrested Friday on theft charges.

Authorities said they’re still searching for the $20,000 dog… story taken from… wpxi.com… read full story… http://www.wpxi.com/news/28579605/detail.html

Juan Bablo watches Winnie the Pooh on the TV in his hospital room, holding his blue lightsaber, when he senses something.

He doesn’t know what it is, but it’s close. He can sense it, like Winnie the Pooh senses honey.

The 2-year-old slides off the chair and walks over to the doorway in his red “Cars” sneakers, peeking into the usually silent, sterile hallway of linoleum floors and medical equipment.

There sits Brit, a golden retriever, waiting, tail wagging shortly after passing through the double doors of pediatrics at University Medical Center.

Another boy is on his way too but in a toy car, urging it forward like Fred Flintstone, feet to the floor from the driver’s seat.

“Brit is something different that they don’t expect to see in a hospital. It’s something normal,” Cynthia Jones, manager of pediatrics intensive care, says as Brit walks over and sits next to Juan.

The dog, one of two currently volunteering at the hospital, gives sick children an incentive to rise out of their beds and move around, which helps recovery, Jones says. That’s the point of Brit’s weekly visits with owner Karen Andrew. But there’s much more to therapy dogs than to get children’s blood flowing.

“The touch is supposed to be the magic, the connection,” says Andrew, watching Juan kneel on the floor and stroke Brit’s paw. “They have an innate ability to get better.”

Brit will even go into intensive care units where children are on breathing machines, their eyes closed.

The child’s hand will be placed on Brit, and they’ll start petting, intrinsically knowing the feel of dog’s fur, Jones says.

“Go to work,” Jones tells Brit.

Like a nurse checking on patients, Brit makes her rounds, room by room.

Brit’s first stop is 9-year-old Juan Morales, wearing a yellow shirt down to his knees with the face of Spongebob Squarepants on the front.

He has been here for nine days because of a ruptured appendix and wants to go home, his mother says.

But, for now, he is fixated on the dog… story taken from… Las Vegus Review-Journal… read full story… http://www.lvrj.com/news/pet-project-helps-patients-126102263.html

To anyone who is familiar with the eerily human-like qualities of man’s best friend, the news that dogs can read your mind shouldn’t come as any surprise.

The latest research adds to growing evidence that dogs can interpret both human body language and general behavior, and use it to their advantage.

“Dogs and (human-raised) wolves are capable of distinguishing between a person looking at them, someone who’s paying attention and someone who’s not,” said Monique A.R. Udell, lead author of a study published recently in the journal Learning & Behavior. “They’re more likely to beg (for food) from someone paying attention to them.”

Researchers have been learning more and more about the surprising capabilities and intelligence of Canis lupus familiaris, better known as the domestic dog.

One recent study found that dogs have the developmental abilities of a human 2-year-old, with the average dog capable of learning the meanings of 165 words.

“Over the last five years or so, we’ve been trying to understand how dogs and relatives of dogs such as wolves respond to social companions,” explained Udell, who was a researcher at the University of Florida in Gainesville when the study was conducted.

“The idea behind this particular study was to try to understand how it is, for example, that dogs can use cues of attention to predict what we’re going to do next and use that information to decide to beg for food from one individual and not another?” she continued. “How is it that dogs make us feel that they know what we’re thinking?”

The study involved groups of pet dogs, stray dogs from a shelter and hand-raised wolves (named Tristan, Miska and Marion, among other monikers) who were comfortable around humans.

Two people stood about 6 meters apart, one of them looking directly and continuously at the dog or wolf. The other person had their vision blocked, either with a bucket over their head, a book obscuring their face or because their back was turned. Both humans held a piece of food.

“On average, both dogs and wolves were significantly more likely to be begging from the person looking at them when the other person’s back was turned,” said Udell.

But levels of sensitivity did vary by how domesticated the dog or wolf was.

“Domesticated dogs were more likely to beg from someone paying attention to them, but shelter dogs and wolves who don’t often see a person reading books were not likely to get that cue,” Udell related. “So it does seem like specific life experiences really do matter in this context.”

The findings, said Udell, are “important because previous research suggested that something happened to dogs during genetic domestication that made them begin to think like humans. This shows that wolves are capable, if reared with humans, of (picking up human cues).”

“Animal people in the scientific community have known for some time that dogs are pretty smart and very good at reading our body language,” said Adam Goldfarb, director of the Pets at Risk Program of the Humane Society of the United States. “This shows that something about dogs or wolves inherently allows them to read humans far better than other animals can.” … story taken from… news10.net… read story… http://www.news10.net/rss/article/146952/339/Dogs-adept-at-reading-peoples-minds

The lucky dog plucked from the water by cops 2 miles off the Brooklyn shoreline was back in his grateful owner’s arms Tuesday.

“It’s not like he’s just a dog,” said Irina Frid, 38, a stay-at-home mom, as she kissed and petted her German shepherd, Charlie. “He’s a family member.”

Frid’s last German shepherd, Ciro, died at age 12 in February, leaving a hole in her life.

“I’m a crazy animal lover,” she said.

Two weeks ago she went on vacation to the Czech Republic with her husband, a real estate developer. Part of the purpose of the trip was to find a new German shepherd.

“They’re the best breeders,” she said of the Czechs. “We needed a family dog.”

Trying to decide between two dogs, they chose Charlie when the breeder told her his birthday was Aug. 1 – the same date her husband was born. The dog will turn 2 next week.

Charlie had to remain behind a week for immunizations and paperwork. Frid met him at JFK Friday.

The pet owner blames Charlie’s disappearing act on his rattled nerves from the long voyage.

“He was trying to swim back to Czech Republic,” she joked. “He spent about 14 hours in a cage. New home, new property. It still smells like the old dog. He was a little confused, with the jet lag and everything.”

Charlie slipped out during a rain storm as she was closing the front gate to her seaside home in Manhattan Beach Monday evening.

“I started calling him, ‘Charlie, come home, come home,’” she recalled.

The pooch was about to come back through the gate when a beeping from a nearby fire truck startled him.

“He got scared,” Frid said. “He ran in a completely different direction.”

Frid asked a neighbor to help search for Charlie. The pair split up and the friend called her with scary news.

“I’ve seen Charlie. He’s in the water very far away from the shore,” he said, according to Frid.

Frid raced to Manhattan Beach but by then the castaway canine was just a speck on the horizon.

“He was going down in the water, up, down in the water, up,” she said. “I was speechless.”

As she stood on the shoreline, she saw two police boats far out at sea approach Charlie.

Eagle-eyed harbor officers Benjamin Reiver and Edward Carr, on routine patrol in a small boat, spotted the struggling pooch about 7 p.m., police said.

Charlie had been doggie-paddling for about 40 minutes.

“We started waving and screaming,” she said. “I was so relieved when I saw police pick him up. A few more moments he would have been gone.”

The cops were about to end their patrol early because of the stormy weather, they later told her. The patrol boat pulled near shore and the officers aboard yelled for her to meet them at a dock at Kingsboro College.

She raced there, leashed the frightened dog and then pulled him from the boat. She showered her dog with kisses… story taken from… New York Daily news.com… read full story… http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/07/26/2011-07-26_dog_saved_after_being_stranded_at_sea_reunites_with_owner_after_dramatic_rescue_.html

Greetings old fur-comrades. In the next few weeks I will be reporting on my progress on Blackmores PAW (Pure Animal Wellbeing) range, Osteosupport Joint care Powder for Dogs, and Osteocare Joint Health Chews.

I’m pretty fussy fur-comrades, so it’s going to take a lot to get past my k9 taste quality control checks, I can tell you. I’m also looking forward to reporting my progress in regards to outdoing my senior owner, who is on some osteo supplements of his own.

Until next week…

ROGERS, Ark. (AP) — A dog that went missing seven years ago in northwest Arkansas soon will be reunited with her original owner after living under a pseudonym for all that time with another family in the same town.

Andrew Navarette told animal control officers that he let his Shih Tzu, Mimi, out in the backyard of his Rogers home seven years ago but that when he went to retrieve her she had disappeared, the Rogers Morning News reported Thursday. Navarette was unable to track Mimi down, even though she had a microchip implanted in her neck containing his contact information.

It is not clear what happened to Mimi that day, but some time later, Kim Rafter of Rogers acquired the animal from someone in good faith, renamed her Gizmo, and has cared for her ever since, KHOG-TV reported.

Meanwhile, Navarette relocated to Woodlake, Calif.

On Saturday, Mimi showed up at an animal shelter in Rogers where officials found the chip and called Navarette, who had kept the same cell phone number through the years. Rafter did not explain to KHOG how she lost the pooch at the weekend.

“As far as I know, it was just running loose,” the shelter’s manager, Bud Norman, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “It was picked up and brought into the shelter.”

Assistant shelter manager Matt Colston said Navarette was clearly excited that Mimi had been found and immediately said he would pay for the Shih Tzu to be shipped to his home in California.

Norman said Mimi is in good health and has been well-cared for. He said Rafter called the shelter Wednesday after losing the dog, and that was how she found out that Mimi has another owner.

Rafter said it will be difficult to say goodbye to the animal her family has known as Gizmo for the past seven years.

“We’ve loved Gizmo for all of those years and taken care of her,” Rafter said. “She’s a part of our family and it would be devastating for us to lose her.”

Rafter said she had no idea that the dog’s real owner had been looking for her. “They told me she had been a gift to this man’s wife from her dad and then he passed away,” Rafter said.

“I’m a sympathetic person and I wouldn’t want to take anybody’s dog away, but I’m sure that, as little as she was when we got her, I’m sure we’re the only ones she’s bonded with.”

Norman called the dog’s saga “bittersweet” because while one family is thrilled, another is sad.

“It just amazes me when this happens,” he said. “I’m hoping people understand the power of a microchip, if they love their animals.”… story taken from usatoday.com … read story… http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2011-07-09-missing-dog-arkansas_n.htm?csp=34news

A Beaverton family calls their dog a hero for saving them from a teenaged fire starter.

The golden shepherd, Marcus, woke his owners up with barking as their apartment building, the Birchepointe Apartments on Northwest Cornell Road near 179th, began to burn.

Several families can thank Marcus for saving their lives because the fire that started just after midnight Thursday was moving up the building when Marcus’ owners discovered it. They were sound asleep when Marcus starting acting unusual, which is something Kelli Landis said she and her husband had never seen before.

“Had he not been barking and just sounding different than he usually did, we could have just still stayed asleep,” Landis said. “But the thing was that he was being so loud. And he even came into the bedroom and was growling and just making a lot of noise. And that got us up.”

Her husband ran outside their apartment and found the side of the building on fire which had been set right where a fire extinguisher was located. He got the attention of neighbors and together they used pots, pans and trash cans full of water to douse the flames.

Firefighters were particularly concerned the fire was set at an exit point and at the location of the fire extinguisher. Had the teenager, who has been arrested, been more successful, residents would have had a very difficult time getting out of their apartments.

“It was definitely a little disturbing and unnerving to think that somebody would deliberately do this and deliberately set a fire extinguisher on fire so that we couldn’t put it out,” Landis said.

Landis and her husband just moved to Beaverton from Hawaii where they adopted Marcus from the Humane Society. They contemplated leaving him behind because of the expense but they couldn’t bring themselves to say goodbye. It was a decision that may have saved their lives.

“He was a rescue dog. “We rescued him and now he’s rescued us,” Landis said… story taken from… beaverton.katu.com… read story see video report… http://beaverton.katu.com/news/news/dog-hero-after-saving-apartment-residents-fire/441756

The formerly unwanted dog beaten with a chain on the streets of Darby in June was adopted out of the Delaware County SPCA on Friday, and is now living a life of love on the Main Line.

Bryn Mawr resident Meg Kauffman said she and her two adolescent children first met the dog formerly known as Skyye at the shelter on Thursday. The family, including Kauffman’s husband Jon, had been discussing the possible addition of a new, four-legged family member for several years.

That discussion came to an end Thursday, when 15-year-old Jesse Kauffman and his 12-year-old sister Catie took the trek down the long concrete corridor lined with dogs waiting to be rescued from the shelter.

The two stopped in their tracks when they saw a 1-year-old pit bull-shepherd mix named Skyye.

The next day Skyye had a home. The dog was renamed Skye by Catie because the youth liked the looked of one “y” better, Kauffman said.

“It’s a little like bringing home a new baby,” said Meg Kauffman, who works as a lecturer teaching cell biology at the University of Pennsylvania… story taken from… delcotimes.com … read story see video… http://delcotimes.com/articles/2011/07/07/news/doc4e1512b012eb2633529717.txt

An animal rescue organization and the police said Tuesday they will bring charges against whoever abandoned an emaciated dog outside the front door of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Officials named the dog Indi, for Independence Day.

“This was a cowardly act. A cowardly act to drop the dog off on the Fourth of July between 11 and 5 when you knew there were going to be fireworks at India Point, right here. This dog was all alone, didn’t have a leash. They didn’t have any identification. They just dropped him off at the front door,” said Dr. E.J. Finocchio, president of the RISPCA.

Indi was treated and examined at the RISPCA, which is trying to save him. He had cuts down to the bone, overgrown nails, and severely matted hair. He cannot stand up.

Finocchio said the dog’s condition didn’t get so bad overnight.

“But to let a dog to remain in this condition for months — and see it and live with It — that’s what’s very disturbing to me,” Finocchio said.

Finocchio is working with East Providence police to build a case and work on leads.

“I will do the best of my ability to prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Full extent of the law for a person who subjected to this dog to this for months,” Finocchio said.

East Providence police have the authority to make an arrest. They’re building a case now.

“Charges will come forward” Lt. Rae Blinn said.

Blinn said cases of pet neglect are common.

“Unfortunately, we see it on a regular basis. Thankfully, it’s not as bad as we see here today with this animal but unfortunately it does happen on a regular basis,” Blinn said.

Finocchio called it a case of pet dumping. He said the owner should have surrendered the dog before his condition deteriorated to this point.

Anyone with information about Indi should call East Providence police… Story taken from… turnto10.com news… read story and see video… http://www2.turnto10.com/news/2011/jul/05/9/east-providence-police-investigating-case-animal-a-ar-587129/

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two stray dogs found comfort and companionship with a company of U.S. Army soldiers at a remote firebase in eastern Afghanistan. But as the unit prepared to return to Fort Campbell, the soldiers didn’t want to leave the dogs behind.

So their spouses back at the installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line have raised about $6,000 to fly the dogs from a war zone to their new homes.

Sonya Luedeman, one of the wives, says she was surprised by how quickly the donations came in after posting information about the dogs on Facebook.

They have enough money for one of the two dogs to fly back, but the spouses are still raising money. Both dogs remain in Afghanistan, but they are trying to get them home before the soldiers return this summer… story taken from Seattlepi.com… read story… http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Army-wives-raise-money-to-bring-home-Afghan-dogs-1451995.php

To anyone who is familiar with the eerily human-like qualities of man’s best friend, the news that dogs can read your mind shouldn’t come as any surprise.

The latest research adds to growing evidence that dogs can interpret both human body language and general behavior, and use it to their advantage.

“Dogs and [human-raised] wolves are capable of distinguishing between a person looking at them, someone who’s paying attention and someone who’s not,” said Monique A.R. Udell, lead author of a study published recently in the journal Learning & Behavior. “They’re more likely to beg [for food] from someone paying attention to them.”

Researchers have been learning more and more about the surprising capabilities and intelligence of Canis lupus familiaris, better known as the domestic dog.

One recent study found that dogs have the developmental abilities of a human 2-year-old, with the average dog capable of learning the meanings of 165 words… story taken from… Drugs.com… read full story… http://www.drugs.com/news/dogs-adept-reading-s-minds-32530.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Drugscom-DailyMednews+%28Drugs.com+-+Daily+MedNews%29

TEWKSBURY, Mass.—It’s Thursday morning at Tewksbury State Hospital, and patients are buzzing with excitement, already starting to line up.

UPPER PROVIDENCE — A young dog beaten with a chain Wednesday is healthy, affable and available for adoption, the Delaware County SPCA said Monday.

SPCA Director of Community Relations Justina Calgiano said Skyye, a 1-year-old pit bull-shepherd mix, was officially turned over to the shelter by her owner Monday. Skyye aced all of her adoption tests, Calgiano added.

“When we do these evaluations, she is tested for food aggression, aggression with other dogs and kids,” Calgiano said. “She passed with flying colors. She had constant tail-wagging.”

After speaking with Darby police, SPCA Humane Officer Bill Vernon tracked Skyye’s previous owner to Philadelphia, Calgiano said.

According to police, the dog’s previous owner told her stepson, Antique Benjamin, to get rid of the dog. Darby police arrested Benjamin after witnesses allegedly saw him beating Skyye in the head with a chain in the vicinity of 9th and Main streets. He was charged with cruelty to animals and related offenses, police said. Benjamin’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday in front of Magisterial District Judge Leonard V. Tenaglia… story taken from… delcotimes.com… read story… http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2011/06/28/news/doc4e093326be381750088533.txt

PARIS — A three-story town house on Paris’ exclusive Place Vendome, with sumptuous interiors hung with plush red velvet and gilded chandeliers — it’s an address fit for a king.

Or his dog.

The property in question is actually a miniature poodle-sized replica of a tony Paris townhouse, handmade for discerning pooches with deep pockets and a taste for the finer things in life.

The 4-foot-tall dog house — complete with a canopy bed and velvet-lined drawers for storing Rex’s accessories — is the jewel in the crown of Puppy de Paris, a new luxury line crafted by French artisans.

Other offerings in the line by Karin Fainas include “Le Canape Place de la Madeleine,” a velvet bed painted with scenes from Parisian bakeries and fitted with lion’s paw feet in hand-cast silver, and a doggy bowl in gold-dipped bronze that looks more like a crown than something you’d fill with dog chow.

“I used to work in fine jewelry, and my clients would inevitably have little dogs in tote,” said Fainas, a 41-year-old with elegant features and close-cropped hair. “They were always telling me, ‘What about my dog? You should make beautiful things for him, he deserves them just as much as I do.’ ”

So Fainas set about doing just that… Story taken from… Detroit Free Press… read full story… http://www.freep.com/article/20110627/FEATURES01/106270309/Puppy-de-Paris-label-offers-luxury-dogs?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

Naki’o was just a puppy when he was found in the icy cellar of an abandoned home.

“His mom was dead in the house. He was the only one that was frozen into a puddle,” said Christie Pace, a veterinarian assistant.

Naki’o lost his paws and the tip of his tail to frostbite.

Homeless, injured and struggling to walk, he was just the kind of dog Pace was looking for.

“I have a soft spot for rescue animals in general. I was looking for something different, unique. I wanted to make more of a difference than a regular dog. I knew I could help him out,” she said.

But she didn’t know how until she saw a dog in a knee brace at her clinic.

That sparked an idea: she raised the money to pay for prosthetics for Naki’o's two rear legs.

Then the maker of the artificial legs offered to make two more for free – for Naki’o's front legs… Story taken from… abcnewsgo.com… read full story… http://abcnews.go.com/Health/bionic-dog-walks-losing-paws/story?id=13926420

PETALUMA, Calif. – Yoda’s short tufts of hair, protruding tongue, and long, seemingly hairless legs were enough to earn it the World’s Ugliest Dog title at a Northern California fair.

The 14-year-old Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix won the honor Friday night at the 23rd annual contest at the Sonoma Marin Fair.

Owner Terry Schumacher of Hanford, Calif. says the 2-pound dog has come a long way since she was found abandoned behind an apartment building. Schumacher says she first thought the pooch was a rat.

Yoda’s distinction comes a year after a one-eyed Chihuahua named Princess Abby claimed victory. A pedigree Chinese crested won in 2008 and another Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix was the ugliest in 2007.

In past years, the winner’s owner has received a $1,000 check… story taken from… The Sacramento Bee… http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/24/3726706/chinese-crested-chihuahua-mix.html

EL PASO, Texas — A dog on the verge of starving to death was turned in to the El Paso Humane Society on Tuesday. The woman who dropped the animal off claimed to have found the dog wandering on Fort Bliss. But shelter workers don’t believe the animal is a stray. Instead, they believe someone is responsible for the worst case of animal malnutrition the El Paso Humane Society has seen.

Shelter employees are affectionately calling the 3-year-old Boxer “Bones.” The dog weighs just 22 pounds, half of what he should. “The condition he is in did not happen overnight; it’s been progressing for about a month,” said Betty Hoover, the shelter’s executive director.

Bones showed no signs of being a stray. The dog is extremely well socialized, very friendly and shows no fear of other animals or people. The woman who dropped the dog off at the shelter left her name, address and phone number. But when shelter workers said they tried to reach her, the phone number she left was a non-working number. That is more reason for employees to suspect the dog had not been wandering the streets, rather belonged to someone. “It makes me sick. It makes me very, very angry. I really hope that with the coverage this guy is getting in the news, maybe someone out there knows something about him,” said Hoover…. story taken from… kfoxtv.com… read full story… http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/28246649/detail.html

Naki’o has the rambunctious spirit of most dogs — he loves to run, jump and play fetch, but one thing is different about this red heeler cattle dog –his four bionic paws. OrthoPets, a Denver company that specializes in pet prosthetics, outfitted Naki’o, who lost his paws to frostbite after he was abandoned in the Nebraska winter.

When Naki’o was adopted, his legs had healed to rounded stumps, making mobility a struggle. He had to crawl on his stomach to move, but he was determined.

“Even though he was hobbling, he was still just trying to enjoy life,” said Martin Kaufmann, the founder of OrthoPets, who outfitted Naki’o with his new paws.”Naki’o's personality was great.”… Story taken from… abcnews.go.com… read full story… http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dog-prosthetic-paws/story?id=13916859

By the time summer school starts in early July, Caleb will probably walk into class with a golden retriever at his side.

Caleb Ciriacks is a 7-year-old severely autisticboy who for the most part doesn’t speak. He shrieks and paces when he gets anxious, and on occasion he pinches and scratches others. Eddy is Caleb’s service dog, tethered to the boy by a red strap. The dog keeps Caleb from running off into crowds or darting into traffic, and he knows to intervene when the boy starts to feel anxious.

When Caleb entered first grade last year, school officials in Cypress refused to let him take Eddy to school. Caleb’s parents sued in federal court, alleging that the district was discriminating against their son based on his disability.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Santa Ana ruled that Frank Vessels Elementary School must let Caleb take Eddy to school and that the boy was probably a victim of discrimination. U.S. Department of Justice attorneys filed a “statement of interest” in the case, saying the school district was violating the boy’s civil rights and misinterpreting the Americans With Disabilities Act…. Story taken from… the Los Angeles Times… read full story… http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-autism-dog-20110615,0,1727974.story

The Luzerne County SPCA is trying to find out who would beat the little dog then stuff her in a garbage bag and abandon it, especially in this heat.

The case is troubling to humane officers who said the dog survived but needs special care to bring her back to health. Veterinarians are working to help the abused female puppy recover from what appears to be a vicious attack.

The cage at the SPCA is covered with notes warning of a head injury. She receives painkilling medication while those treating her ask who is she, and why would someone hurt her in such a cruel manner.

“She was in critical condition when she arrived. She was in a stupor or in a coma,” said veterinarian Dr. Sharon Finster.

Rescue workers with the Luzerne County SPCA will only say she was found in a high-traffic area, perhaps dropped off by her attacker.

The person who found the dog found it in a large, dark trash bag. The dog inside had a cracked skull. The dog’s attacker left her for dead.

“You just can’t do this to animals. It’s not right,” said Cary Moran of the Luzerne County SPCA… Story taken from… wnep.com… read full story… http://www.wnep.com/wnep-luz-puppy-was-beaten-stuff-in-trash-bag-20110608,0,788783.story

** Newzhoundz believes that there is a special place in HELL for people that abuse animals.. if you could call them people…they are lower than the beautiful animals that they are suppose to care for.

Boo and Riley are more than affectionate, protective family pets. To their owners, the specially trained dogs are a furry layer of security to sniff out peanut products and other life-threatening allergens.

The dogs’ Connecticut owners are among many people nationwide turning to allergy-sniffing service dogs, who accompany their handlers to detect allergens and their residue at school, during social events and in other everyday activities.

As their popularity grows, though, some owners are having mixed success in convincing businesses, schools and those in charge of other public venues that the dogs must be accepted as service animals, just as dogs whose handlers’ disabilities are more readily apparent.

They’re already specifically recognized as medical service dogs in recent updates to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, but some parents are taking it a step further by lobbying their local and state officials to update their regulations, too.

“The dog is just one way we can help our daughter have a more normal life,” said Pam Minicucci of North Haven, whose 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, is constantly accompanied by her allergy-sniffing St. Bernard named Boo…. story taken from… The Seattle Times… read full story… http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015270160_apusallergysniffingdogs.html

After a disabled dog’s “wheelchair” was stolen from the front yard of his owner’s West Roxbury home Sunday, a New Hampshire-based company that aids handicapped and injured pets has donated a replacement cart.

“The disaster that happened yesterday is now turning out to be a wonderful experience,” said David Feeney, the owner of 12-year-old “Lucky,” a Belgian Malinois. “It’s been overwhelming the support I’ve been given.”

Feeney, 63, believes his beloved dog’s “wheelchair” was stolen from the front of his Temple Street home in West Roxbury after Lucky had his usual Sunday morning playtime outside of the cart. The wheelchair elevates the dog’s hind legs.

“Somebody must have grabbed it right away,” he said. “Who knows why this happened.”

Realizing later in the evening that the cart was missing, the owner called police, who helped him search the neighborhood using a spotlight.

“They were fantastic, very compassionate,” he said of the police. But, the chair was nowhere to be seen, and Feeney said he does not believe police have made any progress in tracking it down.

After hearing the story of dog’s stolen chair, which was first reported by WBZ-TV, Nashua-based HandicappedPets.com donated a chair to Lucky, who is unable to use his hind legs to hold himself up. The company fitted Lucky in a new, fully-adjustable chair Monday afternoon. That chair type can retail between $400 and $500, the company said.

“We wanted to do anything we could to right a wrong,” said HandicappedPets.com spokeswoman Lisa-Marie Mulkern, who said the company was notified of the theft Lucky’s chair by a former customer from Jacksonville, Fla. who called after reading media reports online.

Feeney said Lucky’s former, custom-made chair cost only around $100 less than his monthly income — $638 through Social Security. Mulkern added that custom-made chairs often take two to three weeks to make.

“It certainly didn’t appear that anyone was going to return Lucky’s chair and we didn’t want him to have to wait,” she said.

Feeney, a Boston native, rescued Lucky several years ago while teaching and doing humanitarian work in Bogotá, Colombia. The dog had been hit by a car.

“He was just lying there in dying in the street. No one wanted to help him,” said Feeney recalling how a doorman to his apartment told him not to worry about the dog; that the garbage men would take the animal away the next morning.  Story taken from… Boston.com… read story… http://articles.boston.com/2011-06-06/yourtown/29686447_1_cart-lucky-wheelchair

MONSON —  A state trooper saved a puppy that had been trapped for three days under the roof of a home that had been destroyed by last week’s tornado.

On Saturday, Trooper Brian Pearl, who works out of the state police barracks in Sturbridge, was on patrol in Monson. He turned onto Stewart Avenue, one of the town’s hardest hit areas, and saw a woman waving him down.

“She said, ‘We found a dog hiding or trapped under a collapsed roof,’ ” Trooper Pearl said in a news release from the state police yesterday. “You could hear the dog barking but you couldn’t see it. He was way, way, way under there.”

Trooper Pearl retrieved an animal pole he keeps in his cruiser — a long pole with a loop at the end used to capture reluctant animals — and climbed into and under the rubble on his hands and knees toward the sounds. There, under the remnants of a home at 20 Stewart Ave. that had collapsed Wednesday evening, he saw the dog.

Three times Trooper Pearl got the pole’s loop near the dog, and three times the dog slipped out of it, according to the state police news release.

Finally, on the fourth try, he snagged the dog and pulled it to him and then out of the rubble to safety. It was a dark brown puppy, a Shar-Pei-Chow mix, weighing about 25 pounds. The puppy appeared hungry and tired, but not hurt… story taken from… Worcester Telegram & Gazette… telegram.com… read full story… http://www.telegram.com/article/20110606/NEWS/106069887/1116

SALINAS, CA (KION/CNN) – Most dogs like to take a walk, but one dog originally from Colorado managed to travel 1,200 miles all the way to California after getting lost.

Buster Brown’s owner, Samantha Squires, was worried, but she never gave up hope.

“He was with me 24-7, slept with me, ate with me, we ran together, we… everything,” Squires said.

Squires said the story began on a Wednesday morning in November, when Buster went missing.

Six months later he was found in Salinas, CA on Tyler Street.

“She had no idea how he got here. Neither do we. He’s the only one that knows, and ask him, he’s not telling us,” said Cindy Burnham, Animal Services Manager.

His family, 1,200 miles away, never forgot about him.

“I still have his collars with all his tags, I still have everything,” Squires said.

It was a letter in the mail from Salinas Animal Services and a phone call the dog owner will never forget.

“And, uhm, she said ‘He’s Brownie.’ Brownie was his adopted name and Buster Brown was his name, you know, that I gave him afterwards. So I knew it was him, with the Brownie part,” Squires said.

Buster is a bit itchy from allergies, nothing his medicine back home can’t heal.

His journey, though, isn’t over and he will travel inside of a crate on a Frontier Airlines plane from San Francisco, CA to Denver, CO for a big family reunion.

“I can’t even think about him without starting to cry, so I know I’m going to be bawling. It really is like your child that’s coming home, you think that they’re gone, and they’re not,” Squires said.

Frontier Airlines offered to fly Buster Brown back home free of charge, and he should in Colorado sometime this weekend… Story taken from… wdam.com… http://www.wdam.com/story/14838282/lost-dog-travels-1200-miles

Roll over, Nintendogs + Cats: there is a new 3D dog in town. Meet Wappy Dog, a robot dog that you interact with through a Nintendo DS game that was jointedly developed by Activision and Sega Toys. This game bundle is sure to be on many Christmas wish lists when it hits the stores this fall.

Wappy Dog pushes the virtual pet genre by creating a real toy that reacts to the virtual interactions that take place in the DS game, which can create a more visceral bond between toy and gamer than a traditional video game. The goal of this game is for the player to learn to raise a dog from puppy to adulthood, so it begins with naming the robot, to teaching it tricks, playing mini-games and conversing with it through the DS game (it can understand 18 questions and responds with over 350 different “barks”). The robot will in turn bark and move, mimicking the real thing… Story taken from… zdnet.com… read full story… see robot dog… http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/wappy-dog-the-robot-dog-and-nintendo-ds-game-youve-always-wanted/25312

ATLANTA — A Grant Park couple spent Tuesday posting flyers around their neighborhood desperately seeking help in finding their small dog, Socks, a terrier mix.

Josh and Allison received a call from their security company around 5pm on Monday alerting them their alarm system tripped.

“When I got home police officers were there.  They told me that our door had been kicked in and electronics were missing from the home, but our dog was okay.  That’s when I panicked,” Allison said.

That’s because Allison and Josh have two dogs.  While the thieves picked up Socks in his crate and carried him away they left a small poodle mix named Boots, also in a carrier.

Both of their pets are rescue dogs of no monetary value, so the couple wonders why the burglars took Socks.

Neighbors of Allison and Josh are helping to spread the word about Socks and offering a reward for the dog’s safe return.

“We just want to know she’s okay.  She had a good home and a companion who misses her very much.  We do too,” said Josh… Story taken from… 11alive.com… read story, see video of Socks… http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/194484/3/Heartless-Burglars-Swipe-Family-Dog

Some animal cruelty cases haunt even the most seasoned animal advocate.  The story of Nitro is one of those cases.

In 2008, Nitro was a beloved family member; a family’s Rottweiler who was loved and cherished.  Nitro’s guardians found themselves faced with a family situation that required they be in and out of town frequently, and Nitro, being typical of the Rottweiler breed, was very protective of his family and home and could use a little extra training.  Nitro had been toHigh Caliber K-9 facility in Youngstown, Ohio previously and his guardians felt like the owner, Steve Croley, was a gifted “dog whisperer”, with a summer camp program that they felt was just the answer to their situation.

They decided to enter Nitro into the summer camp program so they could take care of their family matters without worry or concern.  After all, Mr. Croley had a 2-1/2 year successful track record at his High Caliber facility and was well respected.   He lived on the premises, which was another plus in the family’s eyes, knowing that Nitro would be supervised around-the-clock.  The family paid Mr. Croley a substantial amount of money for Nitro’s training and care.  They had no reason to even think anything would go wrong, but what happened next was devastating.

On October 22, 2008, the High Caliber facility was raided.  What was found there is without a doubt an advocate’s and dog lovers’ worst nightmare. Inside the facility were 19 dogs who had been cruelly and heartlessly starved, 8 of whom died and the rest emaciated.  One of those who died was Nitro.  It’s inconceivable how any human being could stand by day after day and watch as these dogs slowly and painfully died right in front of his eyes.  The pictures included here are graphic, but this was the horror that was found the day of the raid.  This was what their beloved Nitro had been reduced to.

It wasn’t a question of money.  The guardians of all of the dogs had paid him well, with more than enough to pay for the food needed for the dogs.  No one can crawl into the sick mind of this monster and glean any kind of comprehensible understanding about why he would do this, but he did.  Mr. Croley still to this day has not shown an ounce of remorse, and his excuses for why this happened have run the gamut of every conceivable ridiculous one after another.  It’s believed at the heart of it all was drugs… Story taken from… the Examiner.com National… read continued story… http://www.examiner.com/animal-advocacy-in-national/nitro-s-law-part-1-the-crime

Greetings fur-pals. It’s good to be here once again for my usual bites and pieces. I’ve been having a ball the last few days. Mum took us on a holiday to another island and I was in my element, meeting and greeting – although I wasn’t too taken with the young pup that kept chasing me around trying to nip my nether-regions. Gave her the old one-two chase and scare tactic, which worked for me, but not for Mum who scolded me for picking on puppies. Not my fault I say! Not me doing the chasing, but must uphold my tough-doggy image and defend my boundaries, and those include my nether-regions.

Have to say I was glad to get home to my boss-dog position once again.

Until next time…

Exactly how Buster Brown, a 7-year-old blend of beagle, pit bull and golden retriever, got from Colorado to Salinas appears a mystery known only to Buster.

And he’s not barking.

But he should be howling with joy today after a flight from San Francisco to Denver and a reunion with owner Samantha Squires, a Boulder, Colo., resident who figured Buster was lost to a mountain lion six months ago.

“I can’t wait. We’ll knock each other over,” Squires said Thursday by telephone.

Buster’s unlikely journey home started May 20 when a Salinas police officer found the dog wandering on Tyler Street and dropped him off at the city shelter.

Shelter workers scanned Buster and discovered he had a microchip, but manager Cindy Burnham said the phone numbers the chip company provided were wrong. So the shelter sent a certified letter to the last known address for the microchip.

Squires received the letter Tuesday — the last day to call before Buster would be put up for adoption, or worse — and started making “a gazillion calls” to get him home.

“I thank every star in the sky,” she said. “I don’t open my mail or pick up my mail every day.”

Buster vanished from Squire’s home outside Boulder in November. She left him in her fenced yard when she drove off to take a run. When Squires, 42, a business consultant, returned home with her 4-year-old son, Buster was gone… story taken from… Monterey County ‘The Herald’… read full story… http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_18197868?nclick_check=1

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – Missouri leaders say everyone reported missing since the massive tornado in Joplin on May 22 are now accounted for. The death toll is at least 134, but nearly 270 people had been listed as “unaccounted for” after the tornado. We learned that a rescue team from Kentuckiana helped confirm those numbers.

Sometimes, it’s amazing how something so small, can mean so much, to so many. Scout, a Parson Russell Terrier commonly used in England K-9 Search and Rescue, was with her handler Jennifer Jordan Hall at a training session in Arkansas. The two were with some Missouri emergency workers when they received the devastating news of the Joplin tornado.

“They were driving back when the tornado hit,” said Jordan Hall about the Missouri team.

So Jordan Hall and Scout went straight to Joplin to help their new friends look for the missing.

“Without the dogs, it’s such massive destruction they wouldn’t even know where to begin to look for people,” Jordan Hall said…story taken from… ‘wave3.com’ … read full story… http://www.wave3.com/story/14824192/little-dog-helps-make-big-impact-with-rescue-workers-in-joplin

A blind woman was forced to leave her guide dog at home when an ambulance arrived to take her to hospital for cancer treatment.

Susanne McCafferty had expected to take her guide dog Garner with her to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. But the paramedics refused to allow her lifeline labrador onto the emergency vehicle.

They said her dog would need a special harness which could be bolted to the floor, in order to be seemed safe to accompany her.

Mrs McCafferty, a retired nurse from Peterhead, then spent six hours in ARI alone without her dog. She could not even get a cup of coffee or a sandwich as she was unable to move without her dog.

She said: “After I was feeling particularly unwell my doctor asked me to go and see a surgeon. My GP organised patient transport for me and my guide dog Garner to get to ARI.

“On the day of the appointment Garner and I were all ready to go; when the ambulance crew told me I wasn’t allowed my dog on the vehicle. They then made such a fuss about it.

“The told me that they could take me but that they were in no way taking Garner. Obviously I got upset because Garner is my eyes and I asked them to get in contact with control but they still refused.

“I’m disgusted. Garner is my eyes. For me to go anywhere he is my safety. I can’t go anywhere without him. There are stairs at ARI and I was worried about bumping into people. I was so vulnerable. I felt badly treated.”  …story taken from… ‘stv.com’… read full story and see video… http://news.stv.tv/scotland/north/253865-blind-woman-refused-guide-dog-in-ambulance/

Ernest Vasquez was walking his dog Taz this morning when he heard something in the bushes. Vazquez didn’t think much of it, guessing it was probably just a cat.

“Come on boy let’s go and he kept growling,” he said.

Suddenly the two-year-old pit bull started to push extra hard on his leash.

“At that point the hair in the back of his neck stick up he got in a real protective mode, so I looked again and turned I saw a head go up and it was a fox,” said Vasquez.

He tried to pull his dog back home but Taz firmly stood his ground.

“The fox lunged towards us and he just had to do what he had to do,” he said.

The fight was broken up, Suffolk Animal Control was called, and the fox will be euthanized and tested for rabies.

Vasquez says he regularly sees foxes on his morning walks with Taz, but he’s never seen one lock eyes with his dog.

He says they’re all around the neighborhood, hiding in bushes, he guesses the area around his house is the perfect home for a fox.

Vasquez hopes the fox population doesn’t become a problem in Suffolk, though he knows his dog will be able to handle it.

“He used his instincts, he was protecting himself and I guess protecting me,” he says.  Story taken from… ‘News Channel3′… http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-su-fox-attack,0,769013.story

It doesn’t take long for Sandy the dog to feel at ease with a stranger.

A few soothing words, a good scratch behind her ears, and the 32-pound mutt drops and rolls onto her back. Her soulful eyes and swishing tail seem to say — á la Dug, the talking dog from the film “Up” — “I have just met you, and I looove you.”

“My friends call her a hussy when she does that,” joked her owner, Toni Nelson. “She is very well liked by the people in this building.”

It was about a year ago, following a rough period of hospitalizations for depression, when Nelson thought about getting a dog.

But she had no idea that the bond she would develop with the sweet pooch would be her lifeline — her reason to live.

“I think she thinks that she’s here to please me and to take care of me,” Nelson said.

From the recliner in her tiny apartment at a well-kept senior housing complex in Staunton, Nelson stroked Sandy as the dog snuggled on her lap, her head resting on Nelson’s chest.

“I believe very strongly that Sandy was meant to be with me.”  …story taken from… ‘newsleader.com’… read full story… http://www.newsleader.com/article/20110522/NEWS01/105220343

LA GRANGE, Ky. (AP) — His arms covered with faded tattoos, his neck tomato red from the prison yard sun, Robert Butterfield’s home is cell No. 226 of the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in La Grange, where he’s doing 13 years for robbery and stealing drugs.

Nine-year-old Celia Dutton lives in Floyds Knobs, Ind., with her parents and two brothers, where she helps take care of the family’s horses and reads four books a week.

Butterfield and Celia have never met — and probably never will — but they have one thing in common: Mickey, a 60-pound, black-and-white pointer mix who has, in different and separate ways, rescued both of them — Butterfield from the dreary isolation of prison and Celia from her nightly anxiety about seizures.

Butterfield trained Mickey through a 2-year-old program at Luther Luckett called Camp Canine that has resulted in adoptions for around 140 dogs. Celia’s family adopted Mickey in June after a doctor suggested sleeping with a dog could calm her at night.

Programs similar to Camp Canine are operating at 11 of 13 state prisons and two private facilities in the Kentucky Department of Corrections system, said department spokeswoman Lisa Lamb. … story taken from… ‘NecN.com’… read full story… http://www.necn.com/05/08/11/Dog-adoption-program-changes-lives-behin/landing_nation.html?&blockID=3&apID=e62697780de4459a9ae6abfd94fcc182

Patrick the dog, who has attracted plenty of media attention and a following across the country—including some celebrities—is making great strides towards recovery, according to those who are caring for him.

“Right now, his progress is good,” said Bruce Sanchez, the director of the Association of the Humane Societies of Monmouth County (AHSMC) in Tinton Falls. Sanchez said that Patrick’s weight has stabilized at around 39 pounds from the emaciated 20 pounds when he was found starved and dumped at the bottom of a garbage chute in Newark.

While Patrick’s progress is looking up, the fate of the person who allegedly abused the pit bull is uncertain and may be determined on Friday, May 6. That’s when Kisha Curtis is expected to appear in a courtroom in Newark to face charges relating to alleged abuse of Patrick.

Detractors have indicated on Facebook and the Internet that they plan on showing up outside the courthouse, en masse, to call attention to animal cruelty.

As for Patrick: “He’s doing great, doing absolutely wonderfully,” according to his physical therapist Susan Davis who donates her time to work with the dog. While Patrick still has “deficits,” including weakness and muscle atrophy in his left hind leg, therapy should help to correct it, said Davis.  Story taken from… ‘LittleSilver Oceanport Patch’…  read full story… http://littlesilver.patch.com/articles/patrick-the-miracle-dogs-progress-good-but-health-issues-remain-2

Dogs respond to human body language and verbal commands, but what exactly they are reacting to is unclear. For example, how do dogs know to preferentially beg for food from attentive people, and to behave badly when people are not looking?

According to new research published in Springer’s journal Learning & Behavior, dogs (Canis lupusfamiliaris) can predict human behavior based on specific cues, context, and learning from experience.

Monique Udell and colleagues at theUniversity of Florida set out to understand this complex social cognition, and determine whether species and the animal’s rearing and living environment (shelter or human home) affect performance by comparing behavior in pet domestic dogs, shelter dogs, and wolves.

The researchers looked at how the three different types behaved when allowed to beg for food—either from an attentive person or someone unable to see the animal.

They found that wolves beg successfully for food from attentive humans, just like dogs, and both species rapidly improve with practice.

“Here we provide the first evidence that non-domesticated canids, grey wolves (Canis lupus), are also sensitive to human attentional state under some conditions,” write the researchers in the study abstract.

The team also found that dogs have varying sensitivity to different visual cues of human attention, with pet dogs reacting more to stimuli they have learned, while those with less human exposure are not very successful at begging. Story taken from… The Epoch Times… read full story… http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/canine-telepathy-can-dogs-read-peoples-minds-57514.html

A 72-year-old man has told how he wrestled with an alligator to save his pet dog from certain death.

Gary Murphy leapt on to the back of the six ft-long beast in a desperate attempt to save his pet West Highland terrier named Doogie.

He threw himself on the to back of the alligator and began punching him on the head to force the gator to release the terrified dog from its jaws.

After a few blows to the head the gator released its prey and slid back into the water in Palm City, Florida.

Mr Murphy said: ‘I hit the back of that gator. It was like jumping on a pile of rocks.

‘But when I did, I caught him right behind the head, his mouth opened and Doogie took off and the gator turned around and went under the boat and out he went.’  story taken from… dailymail.co.uk… read full story and see video… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389879/Man-rescues-pet-dog-Doogie-jaws-alligator-punching-beast-head.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother.

Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in eastern China says four cubs called ligers were born to the lion and tiger earlier this month.

She said Tuesday the tiger mother fed the ligers for four days but then abandoned them for unknown reasons. Two died of weakness.

Cong said staff at the zoo in Shandong province found a dog who had just given birth to feed the surviving cubs.

She said the two cubs had trouble at first drinking milk from the dog but are now used to it… story taken from… Timesunion.com… read story… http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Dog-nurses-ligers-after-tiger-mom-refuses-1392892.php

A golden retriever named Yogi was honored yesterday as the Humane Society of the United States 2011 Valor Dog of the Year.

Yogi, in true Lassie form, ran to get help after his master fell of his bicycle and was seriously injured.

Paul Horton, 58, of Austin, Texas, was riding his bicycle with Yogi jogging alongside when he hit a curb. While he was unconscious, the dog remained at his side. When Horton, a 58-year-ol retired mechanical engineer, regained consciousness he couldn’t move.

According to the Associated Press, Horton urged Yogi to get help. Yogi went back to the road and encountered Horton’s neighbors, and barked at them until they followed him back to Horton… story taken from.. ohmidog.com… read full story… http://www.ohmidog.com/2011/05/25/yogi-named-2011-valor-dog-of-the-year/

After surviving two attempts to put him to sleep, WALL-E has been placed with owners who live out of state and want to remain anonymous. The shelter spent months trying to find the right home for the animal, said Amanda Kloski, veterinarian technician at Arbuckle Veterinarian Clinic in Sulphur…story taken from NewsOk.com … read full story… http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-dog-thought-euthanized-gets-new-home/article/3572439?custom_click=pod_headline_usnational-news