ohmidog!

When dog bites man, that’s not news. But when the president’s dog is doing the biting, and a reporter’s hand is being bitten, well, that comes a little closer — and it’s definitely blogworthy.

Reuters reporter Jon Decker reached down to pet Barney, President Bush’s Scottish terrier, only to have the normally docile dog snap at him and bite his right index finger.

Reporter April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks happened to capture the moment on video.

Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for first lady Laura Bush, said of Barney: “I think it was his way of saying he was done with the paparazzi.” She reported Decker “is being a good sport about it all.”

“I got bit by Barney and unfortunately it bit the skin, and I have to be on antibiotics for the next few days,” said Decker, who was bandaged after yesterday’s incident by the White House doctor.

The heck with cabinet members. Even before President-elect Obama chooses who will help him run America, his family will probably be making its choice for “First Pup” — a decision that’s drawing plenty of attention, and mountains of unsolicited advice.

It started long before his election. When news broke that Obama had promised his children the family would get a dog once the campaign was over, the suggestions began pouring in.

Get a mutt, urged PETA. “There is something deeply wrong and elitist about wanting only a purebred dog,” the organization wrote in a letter urging Obama to adopt a homeless shelter dog.

Best Friends says more than 50,000 signed its online petitions urging the Obamas to adopt a rescue dog. “The Obama family’s decision to adopt will be a great example, and will result in many dogs and cats being saved from euthanasia across the country. This is exactly what we hoped for when we launched obamafamilydog.com.”

During the campaign, Michelle Obama pledged on Entertainment Tonight that the family would adopt a dog — not necessarily a mutt — from a shelter or rescue group.

Despite that, the American Kennel Club, which also held a poll on the Obama family dog, is urging the family to stick with a purebred.

In August, more than 42,000 Americans cast their votes — at presidentialpup.com — in an American Kennel Club poll to determine the right breed of dog for the Obamas. Read more »

     Samson — the biggest dog in all of Britain — has been put on a crash diet after vets decided he was too heavy to undergo a life-saving operation.
    Public donations have poured in to help Samson — who stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall on his hind legs – get the operation, but his vets say because of his weight (280 pounds) he would not recover properly, and might never walk again were the surgery to take place now.
     Samson, a Great Dane-Newfoundland mix, has a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left hind leg.
     His owners Ray and Julie Woods, from Wyberton, Lincolnshire, say the four-year-old dog will begin a regimen of dieting, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy in an attempt to get his weight down.
     “The operation is on hold for the time being,” said Mrs. Woods, “but we have been told that there is a 90 per cent chance that he will need it in the next six months.”

The British government is taking a royal ribbing for distributing a list of pet care guidelines that some see as intrusive, some see as simplistic and still others see as an extraordinary waste of time.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it wanted to remind pet owners of their responsibilities under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act.

The document, which will be published as a leaflet and on Defra’s website, says owners must provide their pets with a “suitable place to live” including “somewhere suitable to go to the toilet.” It also advises cat and dog owners  to provide “entertainment” and “mental stimulation” for their pets.

Owners will not be fined for breaking the rules, but failure to comply may be used in animal cruelty prosecutions, according to a BBC article on the new guide.  (Be sure and check out the comments from readers at the bottom.)

The 26-page document on cat welfare begins with a warning to owners: “It is your responsibility to read the complete Code of Practice to fully understand your cat’s welfare needs and what the law requires you to do.”

Dog owners are given detailed instructions on ensuring their pets do not become lonely or isolated as “dogs are a social species and need the company of people, dogs or other animals”.

Bill Wiggin, the Tory spokesman on animal welfare, is quoted in an article in the Telegraph calling the new codes ”absurd … Defra has missed the opportunity to produce a set of sensible proposals that would protect animals from abuse and mistreatment. Here we have this ridiculous guide which tells people not to walk their dog in the heat of the day or feed it at the table. DEFRA are taking people for fools.”

However, as an RSPCA spokesman pointed out, “A new washing machine or pot plant comes with instructions, currently most pets do not. We think the new codes of practice will improve animal welfare and prevent animal suffering through education.”

What do you think?

It is simplistic, common-sense advice, and perhaps a little heavy-handed, but as anyone who’s viewed a dog overheating in a parked car knows, a lot of people still seem to need it – on both sides of the pond.

Perhaps there should even be a companion volume for raising children.