ohmidog!

Art (or more precisely, artists) can take a hit in hard economic times, but dog art — especially of the non-traditional variety — may be escaping the recession’s full impact. In fact, things might even be, like this dog, looking up.

Portraits of cats and dogs have long been a staple, but now “hipper, more affluent pet owners are commissioning more adventurous, less-kitschy portraits that can even find a home on gallery walls,” the Boston Globe reported this week.

“I enjoy trying to catch their personalities or a certain sense of dignity I believe animals have into their portraits,” said Jane O’Hara, who sells prints at www.janeohara.com and donates part of her proceeds to PETA. “It’s quite a thing these days. Pets are big business.”

O’Hara, whose “Dog Looking Up” (acrylic on wood block) is featured above, is one several artists taking part in “Best In Show: Artists and Their Dogs,” an exhibit at Boston’s Brickbottom Gallery.

O’Hara originally painted portraits of people, the article notes, but got tired of “the extra layer of trying to figure out how this person wanted to be seen or how they see themselves.” She’s been painting animals for six or seven years.

The article quotes Brian Henderson, editor of DogBoston.com, as saying many young couples are postponing having children, giving them more attention and disposable income to lavish on their dogs.

Speaking of dog artists, our friend (and designer of our website) Gil Jawetz — painter of dogs and other things — will be part of Talking Heads… Figuratively Speaking, an exhibit opening Saturday at Baltimore’s  Gallery 321, 321 Madison Street. The opening is from 7 to 9 p.m.

A California man who gave his girlfriend a 3-month-old yellow Lab for Christmas has been taken into custody.

Officials say the dog was stolen – three days before Christmas — from a Stanton pet store.

The theft of the Marley look-alike from Pet City was caught on the store’s surveillance cameras, according to the Orange County Register.

The boyfriend – Ryan Rickman, 23, of Orange – returned to the store with the dog to pay for it Tuesday, but instead was booked into county jail on suspicion of burglary and grand theft, officials said. Later, the puppy was turned over to Rickman’s girlfriend, who ended up paying for her own Christmas gift.

Sheriff’s investigators have identified a second man involved in the theft but have not been able to contact him, said an Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

Security video shows two men walking into the store and spending several minutes talking to clerks. After one of the clerks leaves for a lunch break, one of the men distracts the remaining clerk while the other man lifts the puppy from a cage and runs out the door.

Several dogs have died from a rare illness that forced a Brooklyn animal shelter to close for nearly a week, the Associated Press reports.

Animal Care & Control of New York City says the dogs at the Brooklyn shelter are no longer in any danger from contracting the disease known as Strep Zoo. The shelter, closed last week, reopened Monday.

Meanwhile, in Colorado Springs, an outbreak of dog flu citywide has left two dog day care centers temporarily closed. Lucky Dog Resort and Training and Camp Bow Wow both closed their doors to ensure a string of the dog flue was completely cleaned out, according to KRDO-TV.

“If they’re (dogs) around a dog who’s in the contagious period, which is usually the first two to five days of the infection, they can definitely contract it,” said Dr. Susan Bloss of Cheyenne Mountain Animal Hospital.  The dog flu is a respiratory virus with no vaccine. Although it’s rarely fatal, Bloss said, your dog can still get very sick. All it takes is a sneeze from one dog, and a sniff from another to contract it.

TMZ, and virtually all other entertainment news websites by now, are reporting that Ed McMahon and his wife Pamela “sicked (sic) a vicious attack poodle” on a process server that knocked on their door.

According to the reports, when the process server on Saturday attempted to hand legal papers to McMahon’s wife, Pamela, she released the standard poodle, which bit him on his right knee.

The L.A. County Department of Animal Control confirmed the process server did have a dog bite on his right knee and that it was investigating the incident.

McMahon’s spokesman said of the incident, ”Dog bites man is not news. Call me back when it’s man bites dog.”

McMahon and his wife have seven dogs — or at least that’s how many they had last year when their Wheaton Terrier, Gus, was featured on an episode of “The Dog Whisperer” on the National Geographic Channel.

In the November 2007 episode, Millan helps the McMahon’s tackle Gus’s problem of biting people without provocation. Gus, a rescue dog, had developed some severe aggression toward Ed’s assistants and any guests that came to call.

So we have four questions: Do you “sick” or “sic” a dog on someone? Did McMahon’s wife actually do that, or is that typical TMZ hype? Might it have actually been Gus the Wheaton, as opposed to an unnamed standard poodle, that bit the paper server? And, if so, might another visit from the Dog Whisperer be in order?

You can see a video of the episode here.

(Photo of Millan walking McMahon’s dog, Gus, the dog on the left, from the National Geographic Channel)

Classic dog names — like Fido, Lassie, Rover and Spot –are continuing to fall out of use, replaced by more human monikers, according to the annual pet name survey by Veterinary Pet Insurance.

The nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance has again analyzed its database of more than 466,000 insured pets to find the most popular dog and cat names.

In 2008, VPI reports, Max, Bailey, Bella, Molly and Lucy were the most popular dog names. It was the sixth straight year Max has topped the list.

Only 13 dogs in VPI’s database went by Fido in 2008, placing the name at No. 2,866. Rover came in at No. 2,534.

In fact, VPI says, the list of most common dog names is beginning to look a lot like the list of most common baby names. Some of the most popular dog names — Bella, Chloe, Sophie and Bailey – also rank among the Social Security Administration’s most popular baby names.

Marley, we were surprised to see, didn’t make the top 10; maybe next year.

“Pets are often viewed as members of the family, treated like members of the family and, as a result, named like members of the family,” said Curtis Steinhoff, senior director of corporate communications for VPI. “Max may sleep on his owner’s bed, eat gourmet food and wear clothes to go out on the town. Rover probably does not.”

Since last year’s results, the most notable increase in any name has been Bailey, which was No. 9 in 2007. Other changes in 2008 include the addition of Sophie (No. 9) and Chloe (No. 10). Jake and Rocky fell off the list.

To view more names on the uncommon end of the list, visit www.wackypetnames.com. As for the most popular names, here are the lists.

      Dogs                    Cats
    1. Max                 1. Max
    2. Bailey               2. Chloe
    3. Bella                 3. Tigger
    4. Molly                4. Tiger
    5. Lucy                 5. Lucy
    6. Buddy               6. Smokey
    7. Maggie             7. Oliver
    8. Daisy                8. Bella
    9. Sophie              9. Shadow
    10. Chloe             10. Charlie

(Photo from pawpottery.com)

One cool thing about running your own website — in addition to the fame, fortune, respect, freebies, groupies and the tingly feeling my elbows get from typing so much — is that through the use of a program called Google Analytics, I get to see not just how many people are stopping by, but where you are from, how long you stay, and what’s on your minds.

I can ascertain with but a few clicks, for instance, that 1,498 of you visited Monday, perusing 1,978 pages; that more than 2,000 of you graced us with your presence yesterday. I also know what towns and states you came from, and what led you here. Don’t worry, though, I can’t see into your bedrooms.

Many of you are led here by search engines. Yesterday, for example, 14 ended up here after Googling “dog and elephant,” two after Googling “dog walking in Baltimore,” two by Googling “Biden dog.”

But there was one that landed here after typing in these words: “1 dog died get another 1?”

Abbreviated as the query was, it made me think. Here was a person, I assumed, undergoing some pain and confusion – someone who, on the one hand, was willing to research the dilemma life had thrown at them, and who wanted to do the right thing. On the other hand, I worried, here was a person who might accept the first answer that came up on Google.

We’re becoming a society that thinks our home computers hold all the answers. Maybe, by now, they do. But knowing as I do that what shows up first in search engine results isn’t always the best — that the cream doesn’t always rise to the top — I worry that some of us put a little too much faith in Google, Yahoo and the like.

Like I imagined this woman was doing, when it came to the decision on whether to get a new dog. Maybe she asked a friend or two for advice, maybe it was conflicting. So she turned to what we all turn to nowadays: Tell me, in my hour of need, almighty Internet Search Engine, what should I do? Read more »

Sheepdogs have proved such perfect guardians for a colony of penguins on a small island off the south coast of Australia that conservationists are suggesting canines can be recruited to safeguard other endangered animals

The project uses Maremmas, a breed of sheepdog from Italy that bond with flocks and protects them from predators, The Earth Times reports.

“We are now starting to see some great results,” said Middle Island Maremma Project manager Ian Fitzgibbons. “We have had our best penguin count since we began in 2006 with over 80 birds counted in one night and I think we have about 26 chicks on the island too.”

The numbers of penguins had fallen from 5,000 to just 100 before the Maremmas were recruited.

Fitzgibbon said the project had sparked interest around the globe.

The Maremma idea was suggested by a concerned community member, Alan ‘Swampy’ Marsh, a local free range chicken farmer who has successfully used the Maremma breed to protect his chickens from fox predation.

(Photo courtesy of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment)

Skidboot the Amazing Dog – More free videos are here

For David Hartwig, the joy of showing off dog tricks died in 2007, along with his dog Skidboot — the remarkable blue heeler we’ve shown you before.

Skidboot’s still gone, but Hartwig is back.

Due to popular demand, he’s entertaining audiences with a trio of new dogs – Tiedown, Bois’d'arc and Little Skidboot, the Dallas Morning News reports.

None is as gifted as Skidboot, Hartwig is quick to point out — in his blunt and folksy manner.

“If you had never seen Skidboot, you’d think this was a real smart dog,” he said, talking about one of his new charges. “But compared to Skidboot, this dog has a bad case of dumbworms.”

The newspaper reports that the new dogs are learning the old tricks:

One morning at his Hunt County ranch, Hartwig tossed a stuffed hot dog toy in the dirt and instructed Little Skidboot:

“When I say three, I want you to get that toy, but don’t get it until I say three.”

“Good boy!” Hartwig said.

The American Kennel Club now recognizes 161 breeds of dogs, having announced last week that The Irish Red and White Setter, the Pyrenean Shepherd and the Norwegian Buhund have been added to its list of registered breeds.

The recognition won’t get them valet parking, or tee times, but it will allow the breeds to participate in dog shows, starting this year.

The  Irish Red and White Setter was bred as a hunting companion. The Irish Red and White Setter Association was formed in America in 1997 to preserve the purebred Irish Red and White Setter and to maintain the heritage and unique qualities of the breed as a multi-talented gun dog.

The Pyrenean Shepherd has herded sheep in the Pyrenees Mountains of Southern France for centuries. The breed comes in two coat types — Rough-Faced and Smooth-Faced. It first distinguished itself outside its native mountains during its service to French troops during World War I.

The Norwegian Buhund belongs is a Spitz type breed. It was nurtured in the rainy western coastlands of Norway where they herded sheep, guarded farms and hunted bear and wolf. Buhunds are trained to aid the hearing impaired and perform some types of police work.

Breeds that wish to receive full AKC recognition must first be registered with the AKC Foundation Stock Service. While there is no established timetable for adding new breeds, dogs typically compete in the Miscellaneous Class for one to three year before being considered. More information on the process can be found at the AKC’s website.

The New Yorker reports that a dognapping scare recently hit the city’s Upper West Side — leading to warning posters, email alerts, rumors and panic

“DOGNAPPING attempts in NYC with RAZOR and RANSOM—get dogs ON LEASHES—happening on West Side,” read the subject line of one email warning.

Although there was no mention of police confirmation, the “Talk of the Town” piece said various rumors included a two-man team at work, one of whom goes by on a bicycle, slices the leash with a razor, then pedals away with the dog — no small drive-by feat when you think about it. Later, the second man calls with a ransom demand.

Other theories were that dogs were being taken to supply research labs, or being used for dogfighting dogs to practice on. Most of the dogs, according to the rumors at least, were small purebreds.

“The thinking used to be that a dog would provide security, not require it,” the piece begins. “But this was before Paris Hilton’s Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, went missing, in 2004 … It was before Trouble, Leona Helmsley’s white Maltese, inherited, in quick succession, twelve million dollars, a series of death threats, and a six-figure bodyguard detail. It was before the former Post publisher Ken Chandler and his wife responded to the disappearance of their blond dachshund, Gus, by hiring a publicist and a private detective. And it was before the subject of the Secret Service’s future canine charge became a national fixation.”