ohmidog!

Dog owners and advocates in Hawaii are rallying in protest of a proposed state law to ban pit bulls.

In the first of several protests planned on Oahu, dozens of dog owners called Sunday for state lawmakers to dismiss a bill that would ban pit bulls, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported.

Hundreds of Oahu residents signed a petition started by several community members at a rally at Magic Island  to protest the bill, as dozens of residents, wearing shirts that protest breed-specific legislation, lined Ala Moana Boulevard to draw awareness to their cause.

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A PETA protest outside the Westminster Kennel Club show — following the same lines as the PETA ad above — drew puzzled gawkers, double takes and complaints as the dog show opened today.

“Welcome AKC Members,” read a banner hanging from the table set up outside Madison Square Garden, with AKC crossed out and KKK written above it. Two PETA protesters were dressed as Ku Klux Klan members, and volunteers handed out brochures that read: “The KKK and the AKC: BFF?”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is protesting the start of the show because it contends the American Kennel Club, through breeding standards that accentuate appearance, is harming the health of purebred dogs.

“Obviously it’s an uncomfortable comparison,” PETA spokesman Michael McGraw said. But the AKC is trying to create a “master race,” he added. “It’s a very apt comparison.”

David Frei, spokesman for Westminster and TV host of coverage on USA Network, said: “I can’t speak for everyone, but the vast majority of the people exhibiting and handling and showing at Westminster are more interested in the health of dogs than anything else. We want to produce the next generation of healthy and happy dogs, not just for the show ring but for the couches at home.”

Most passers-by seemed more puzzled than offended, according to an Associated Press report. The most common reaction was to pull out a cell phone and start snapping photos.

Police monitored the situation from nearby, but — except for one shouting that match broke out during the hour-long protest — the scene was mostly calm, the AP reported.

PETA had sought to end TV coverage of the event, first by asking USA network to cancel the broadcast, then by going to the show’s sponsors and asking them to withdraw.

Ace

Elliot

My dog is not the dog I thought he was.

Some of you may remember that, a year and a half ago, I had the DNA of my shelter dog Ace tested as part of a series I did about trying to determine his heritage.

Rottweiler and Chow were the breeds that showed up, as we reported in the seven-part series for the Baltimore Sun, “Hey, Mister, What Kind of Dog is That?”

We used the Canine Heritage breed test, which had just come out on the market and whose makers said they could, with a fair degree of accuracy, pinpoint which — of the 38 breeds that they were able to test for then — were in your dog.

About a month ago, given the rapid pace of technological improvement in doggie DNA testing — they can now identify up to 150 breeds — we decided to test Ace again, this time with the Wisdom Panel MX, from Mars Veterinary.

The results are in, and they’re different, and — even though I no longer work at the Baltimore Sun – a correction is in order. And, we think, a party.

Seeing as I have lost my identity (after 30-some years, I can no longer call myself a newspaper reporter) and seeing as Ace, has lost his (being no longer a Rottweiler-Chow), and seeing as Elliot (the dog on the right) has never known his, we’re proud to announce the “ohmidog! Identity Crisis and Breed Reveal Party,” to take place this Wednesday night at the Idle Hour Tavern at 201 E. Fort Avenue.

If you’re reading this, you’re invited. Come as you are. (We ain’t exactly purebreds and this ain’t exactly Westminster.) To the contrary, it’s a celebration of mutthood.

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A golden retriever named Buck who ran from his owners last summer after being spooked by a train whistle is back home in Washington state, thanks to several residents of rural Montana.

The 7-year-old dog survived despite spending six months on his own, and most of the winter exposed to heavy snow and temperatures well below zero, according to an Associated Press report.

“I’ve never had a miracle happen to me, so I don’t really know what to think,” said Kim Halter of Bonney Lake, Wash. Halter, her husband and two of their sons were on a family trip to Montana in August when they stopped at a rest stop underneath a railroad track along U.S. Highway 2 in the small town of Chester.

“We were under the trestle when the horn blew. When Buck heard the whistle, he took off like a shot. None of us even saw him,” she said.

After two days of unsuccessful searching and putting up posters, the Halters continued their trip without him.

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(Behave! is a monthly column on dog training and behavior, written for ohmidog! by Lauren Bond and Carolyn Stromer of B-More Charming School for Dogs. To see all of the columns, click on the Behave! tab on the rightside rail.)

While dogs bring lots of wonderful things to our lives, they can also bring muddy paws, dog breath and, sometimes, enough noise to drive you ,or worse yet your neighbors, crazy.

Incessantly barking dogs can, and have, led to full-fledged war between neighbors. But as with much bad behavior — not just canine — the key to stopping it is understanding why it’s taking place.

First, let’s debunk some myths: Barking is not the dog version of conversation. Dogs don’t communicate that way, they use body language for most of their “discussion” with us, and with other animals. Dogs don’t have a barked vocabulary. Nor do dogs speak English, so you can’t reason with your dog to be quiet.

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KANAB, Utah — There are the perky, high-energy sorts like Lucas, all wagging tails and let’s-go-play vivaciousness.

There are the runners like Curly, who never saw a fence line or dirt trail they couldn’t wear down.

And there are the divas like Georgia, who go on publicity junkets and stay at the Beverly Hilton, wearing rhinestone-studded collars and hot pink tank tops that say “Biscuits are a girl’s best friend.”

They could be your dog, your neighbor’s, even one of those you see in a magazine being doted on by a celebrity owner.

These, though, are Michael Vick’s dogs.

Fourteen months after some experts left them for dead — in fact, said they should die — they are alive and thriving at the Best Friends Animal Society in the rocky red hills of Utah, rewriting the book about what pit bulls really are and what they can be.

Yes, it’s yet another story about Michael Vick’s pit bulls – but this one in the Detroit Free Press is so well done, we can’t help but direct you to it.

(Photo courtesy of Best Friends)

Hundreds of dogs have converged on New York for the annual Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Gardens, including this one — of a breed that wouldn’t have qualified in years past.

Darco is a Dogue de Bordeaux, or French mastiff, one of three new breeds recently recognized by the American Kennel Club.

About 2,500 dogs from some 170 breeds have been registered for the event which starts Monday and culminates with the Best in Show competition late Tuesday.

The Dogue de Bordeaux is believed to have originated in France six centuries ago for use as a guard and hunting dog, is massively built and has a heavily wrinkled face.

Kara Hammond, who brought Darco to New York from Pennsylvania, said that, as intimidating as he might look, he’s very gentle. “Smaller dogs? Oh, they scare him,” she said as the slobbering behemoth tried to pull her under a table. “He’s pretty laid back.”

A dog in Oregon has become the first confirmed canine victim in the nationwide salmonella outbreak.

The dog, a 3-year-old mixed breed in southern Oregon named Levi, got sick late last month after eating Happy Tails multi-flavored dog biscuits, said Emilio DeBess, the state public health veterinarian. DeBess said tests on the biscuits showed they were tainted.

The outbreak that has sickened at least 575 people nationwide and been linked to eight deaths.

DeBess said the biscuits — one of the brands that have been recalled — tested postive for salmonella, according to the Portland Oregonian.

In a related development Friday, The Associated Press reported that Peanut Corp. of America’s plant at Blakely, Ga., knowingly shipped salmonella-contaminated products as far back as 2007, according to inspection records released Friday.

In Oregon, DeBess said Levi’s illness is the first time since the outbreak started in September that health authorities in the U.S. have confirmed a case of a sick dog, and the first time that salmonella has been found in dog biscuits.

With the potential for cross-contamination, DeBess said, people should be especially diligent about washing their hands after touching a dog with bloody diarrhea.

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Here’s a dog that’s figured out a way to get a free back scratch without all that squirming around it normally requires. What does the ground get in return? Ummm. Fertilizer?

Mike Hasenei says a police raid on his home left him with a sprained wrist, a bullet hole in his bed and a dead dog.

“They shot three times. Two hit the dog, one hit the bed,” Hasenei told the Howard County Times.