ohmidog!

PETA has withdrawn its offer to televise an anti-dogfighting public service announcement with former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick after his release from prison, saying it will now do so only if Vick undergoes a brain scan to prove he has changed his ways.

In an e-mail to Vick’s attorneys, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk urged that Vick undergo a brain scan and a full psychiatric evaluation before being eligible to return to the NFL.

“If he passes the test, everyone can truly have hope that he has the capacity to change, and indeed has changed, not just in word but in heart, mind and deed,” the e-mail read. “If that’s so, we will be overjoyed and look forward to having Michael record the spot in July in which he tells dogfighters to get out and explains that cruelty to animals is wrong.”

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OK, so we said there would just be three Obama dog recommendations.

But then we heard about this girl, currently lodged just up the road from the White House in Prince Georges County, Maryland.

Sydney is a 7-month old Ladradoodle who’s keepers say she is both beautiful and well-behaved, great with kids, cats and other dogs, housetrained, and already a skilled doggie door user.

She’s also crate trained, leash trained, knows her basic commands, has been spayed and has all her shots, according to Tamela Terry, president of the SPCA/Humane Society in Prince Georges County.

Sydney was surrendered by her former owners because they couldn’t take care of her any longer. She’s reportedly great in the car — she sits like a princess and gazes out the window.

“Sydney is a wonderful, easy-going dog and whoever adopts her will be lucky, lucky, lucky,” Terry wrote. “This beautiful girl could be the best thing to happen to the Obamas all year!”

Karma was a stray, a small white dog hit by a car and left to die on a Denver roadside.

She was scooped off the street by Denver Animal Control officers and taken to Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a broken leg.

A rescue organization, Hope for Animals, took her in and Karma ended up, after surgery, with Mary Monnet, a volunteer and foster care provider. Monnet has cared for Karma, who’s no longer in the movement-restricting cone, for the past seven weeks.

It was Monnet who decided Karma would be the perfect dog for the Obama’s and, in Karma’s name, launched a letter-writing and public relations campaign to bring the dog to the first family’s attention.

She also started a blog that tells Karma’s story and includes the letters written to Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia — at least three so far. In those, she can get pretty poetic: ”Mom says having her arms around me is like hugging a cloud.”

Monnet knew Karma — being neither Labradoodle nor Portugese water dog — would be an underdog. The best guess is she’s a terrier mix. But Monnet decided to get her name out there anyway.

She’s gotten some TV coverage and hopes to enlist Denver’s mayor in getting word of the pup to the Obamas.

A 4th grader in Farmington, Pa., has offered Malia Obama his choco-doodle.

Zachary William Shiley, a student at Wharton Elementary School in Farmington, is offering a 6-week-old female Labradoodle puppy (emphasis on the labra) to the First Family.

The puppy, born Nov. 26, was the only offspring that survived the litter of an 11-year-old chocolate lab named — of all things — Hillary.

The father is a 1-year-old Labradoodle named — appropriately enough — Bullet.

Zachary Shiley told the Herald-Standard that the family has been calling the dog “Vegas” because his mother was in Las Vegas when Hillary became pregnant.

Apparently it wasn’t an intentional breeding, but, be that as it may, Hillary got her groove back, and now, the result of what happened in Farmington, if the Shiley’s have their way, won’t stay in Farmington, but head instead to the nation’s capital.

Zachary describes the puppy as full of energy, a little shy but “very smart and friendly.”

“We want her to have a good home, and what could be better than the White House… A dream come true,” Zachary wrote in his letter to Malia. “I almost forgot, the puppy is free,” he added. It was his mother’s idea to offer it to the Obamas, he said, but he’s all for it.

Included with the letter are two photographs — Zachary and the puppy, and the puppy with an American flag.

You gotta like this choice. Not only is it a gift from another nation (Canada), but it’s also a pup whose mama was rescued from a puppy mill.

The Winnipeg Humane Society seized about 50 Labradoodles from a puppy mill in southwestern Manitoba in December. The dogs were found living in their own feces, with urine burns and intestinal diseases. Of those 50, two have since given birth.

Humane Society Executive director Bill McDonald hopes that one of the Labradoodle pups — all of which are recovering nicely — will soon become part of the First Family.

McDonald  sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking him to consider offering Obama the puppy on his first visit to Canada.

McDonald thinks it’s a great idea, and we agree. In addition to all it would do for U.S.-Canada relations, it’s about as politically corrrect a choice as there could be, likely to appease all the animal welfare organizations that have urged Obama to get a shelter or rescue dog. This one is both — and a Labradoodle.

The province’s animal protection officers raided the puppy mill on Dec. 5. The dogs were taken from the owner and placed in an animal-care facility northeast of Winnipeg. Two of the rescued dogs were pregnant and recently gave birth to 11 pups.

Dear President Obama,

As one who has both contributed to and been bugged by the amount of publicity garnered by the dog you haven’t gotten; as one who believes the decision on what kind of dog your family should get is up to the Obama family alone; as one who finds all the unsolicited recommendations for First Dog annoyingly presumptuous, I have done my best to avoid falling into that trap.

Up to now, we at ohmidog! have stuck with just the facts — you going public while on the campaign trail with the decision to get a dog for your daughters once the election was over; you saying a shelter or rescue dog would be the family’s first choice; you announcing that, because of daughter Malia’s allergies, your family had narrowed the choices to two “hypo-allergenic” breeds, Labradoodle and Portugese water dog.

Up to now, we’ve kept our opinions, and our advice, to ourselves.

Today, though, in the interest of serving our country and its dogs, and because we figure you have other demands on your time, we break that policy and present three dogs we think are worthy of a shot at the White House – not breeds, mind you, but actual dogs.

They, I suspect, may be among dozens if not hundreds of dogs that have been or will be offered to the First Family.

I wish you the best of luck both in your family’s dog choice and in your presidency, and — because I believe your family dog is your family’s decision — I will leave it at that and withhold my advice, which would be to get all three.

Your friend,

ohmidog!

How is Baltimore’s taste in dogs different from the rest of the country’s?

Going by AKC registration figures, released today, we’ve got a thing for smooshed in faces — the boxer, bulldog and pug all make our top ten list.

We’re most fond of big lugs — Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, German shepherds all make our top five. But we have a place in our heart for the little guy as well. The Yorkshire terrier is No.2 on both the national list and the Baltimore list. The Maltese and Chihuahua rank in our top ten, but not the nation’s.

We don’t give a shih-tzu a position in our top ten, unlike the national numbers, and we don’t seem as crazy as the rest of the nation when it comes to beagles and dachsunds.

Here, according to the AKC, are the top 10 registered breeds in Baltimore:

1. Labrador Retriever
2. Boxer
3. Golden Retriever
4. German Shepherd Dog 
5. Yorkshire Terrier
6. Bulldog 
6. Pugs (tie)
8. Poodle
9. Chihuahua
10. Maltese

The fastest riser on the Baltimore list is the bulldog, as was the case in the rest of the nation. The bulldog jumped from tenth to sixth most popular breed in Baltimore.

For a look at the AKC’s city by city rankings, click here.

Labrador Retrievers are still No. 1 in America, for the 18th straight year, but bulldogs are moving up fast, according to registration statistics released today by the American Kennel Club.

More than twice as many Labs were registered in 2008 than any other breed.

Also growing quickly in numbers is the bulldog, which made it to the AKC’s Top Ten list last year for the first time in 70 years. The new figures show it has advanced two more spots, to eighth place.

Here is the full list:

1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Dachshund
8. Bulldog
9. Poodle
10. Shih Tzu

The AKC is celebrating its 125th Anniversary during 2009. In 1884, the year it was founded, the AKC registered only nine breeds, versus the 161 it recognizes today.

They were the Pointer, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, English Setter, Gordon Setter, Irish Setter, Clumber Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, Irish Water Spaniel and Sussex Spaniel.

These original breeds are all current members of the Sporting Group — dogs bred to help man find and retrieve game.

“I think the comparison of our original nine to the current top 10 illustrates the different needs that dogs fill today,” said AKC spokesperson Lisa Peterson. “In the 1880′s most breeds served a specific purpose or function. Today dogs still serve man and in even more diverse roles — from guide dog to bomb detection K-9 — but most of all, dogs are now companions that ground us to nature in a busy and increasingly technological world.”

As promised, here’s a quick lesson on doggie CPR — a four-minute investment of your time that, while we hope you never have to use it, might pay off someday.

In the video above, Elaine Acker, CEO of Pets America, demonstrates the proper technique for performing CPR on pets.

Here, in a nutshell, is the drill:

If your dog is not breathing, use a finger to clear any mucus or other objects from the mouth. Tilt the head back to straighten the airway passage. Hold the mouth shut with one hand, and place your mouth over the dog’s nose and mouth, making sure the seal is tight.

Blow into the nose while watching to see if the chest expands.

If the chest does not expand, check and clear the dog’s mouth again, and start the procedure over.

If the chest does expand, release your dog’s mouth, allowing it to exhale.

Repeat the breathing procedure once every five seconds until your dog is breathing normally.

If your dog is not breathing and has no detectable heartbeat, and no other forms of help are available, cardiac resuscitation can be attempted.

To do this, put your dog on its right side and place the heel of your hand on the ribcage just behind the elbow. Put your other hand on top of the first hand. Firmly press on the ribcage in quick, smooth movements three to four times, using both hands. The compression should last no longer than half a second. The smaller the dog the fewer inches of compression and less force are needed. At all times take care not to damage the ribcage.

Repeat this procedure a total of 10 times. Then, if your DOG is not breathing, perform mouth-to-snout resuscitation again, alternating between 10 chest compressions and one breath into the dog’s nose.

Thanks to Pets America for the information.

Guard dogs that protect sheep and goats on African farms from attacks by cheetahs and leopards are also helping out the cheetahs and leopards.

With their livestock safe from attack, farmers no longer feel the need to hunt or poison cheetahs and leopards, according to a BBC report.

Anatolian Kangal dogs are used in the program, started in Namibia and recently launched in Kenya.

“We have had amazing results,” Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund said.  “Since the dogs were imported, the cheetah population had increased by a third.” 

Anatolian Kangal dogs are extremely loyal and are ready to fight to the death. The puppies are given to farmers when they are just eight weeks old and grow up with the flocks of goats and sheep they are to guard in order to bond with them.

If a predator approaches, the dogs bark loudly and the flock gathers round them. For most predators, the barking alone is enough to keep them from approaching.

The Conservation Trust began importing the Kangal from Turkey in 1994 and since then has provided around 300 dogs to farmers.