ohmidog!

Eye-catching as the paintings might have been, it was their frames that caught the nose of a U.S. Customs drug-sniffing dog on the Mexico-Arizona border.

Federal officials say a man was taken into custody Friday after Customs and Border Protection officers found 90 pounds of marijuana hidden in the frames of six large paintings in his vehicle.

Officers selected the man’s vehicle for a routine inspection Friday at the border crossing in Douglas, Ariz., and their dog alerted to the paintings. An X-ray revealed the marijuana in the frames.

The man was being held pending the filing of charges, according to an Associated Press report.

The agency says the paintings were professionally done and the frames were nicely constructed.

Virginia last week became the seventh state to require antifreeze be spiked with a bitter tasting agent that keeps pets from consuming the toxic liquid.

About 10,000 pets a year, lured by its sweet taste, are fatally poisoned by antifreeze, according to the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Kirk Cox, a Republican who introduced the bill in January, after a constituent told him of two dogs on her postal route that had fallen victim to antifreeze.

Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Arizona, Tennessee, Maine and California have similar laws, according to Zootoo.com.

The law calls for all imported car engine coolants/antifreeze that have more than 10 percent ethylene glycol also contain denatonium benzoate, a notoriously bitter, but otherwise harmless chemical compound.

“For a 25-pound dog, it can take just as much as a few licks for this stuff to take effect,” said Sara Amundson, executive director of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

Oregon first passed a law to make antifreeze more unappealing nearly 15 years ago.

It’s time for an update on Hector — the scraggly and toothless American Eskimo dog who, when we first met him, looked every bit as down on his luck as he was.

Since then, Hector, as we reported, found a new long term foster care home, has been enjoying free K-9 Kraving Raw Diet dog food (easier on the gums), has been checked out by more vets and specialists — with more visits ahead — and got himself spiffed up with a grooming (also contributed by K-9 Kraving) from Kelly at Dogma.

Here’s what he’s looking like these days.

For a video on Hector’s progress, put together by K-9 Kraving, which is documenting Hector’s response to a raw diet, combined with ample portions of love and care, click here.

In addition to the before and after, we’ve gotten some information that predates before. We still don’t know anything about Hector’s life prior to BARCS — though suspicions are he may have had his teeth removed so he could be a bait dog for dogfighters. But we do have new information on how he ended up at BARCS.

Tom Askey, who teaches American Government to 10th graders at Patterson High School, said Hector was found lingering around the door to the school, cold and shaking.

“When I tried to get close to him to see if he was okay, he ran from me towards the ball fields and Lombard Street. He then ran across a busy Kane Street into an area that was fenced in by the City Sanitation facility. He was cornered and super-sweet. Just layed down in a pile of garbage. I called a friend at school who I knew wasn’t teaching and owned a dog while I stayed there and talked to him. He drove over to us, gave me his dog’s leash and we fashioned a leash without a collar…

“But I didn’t have a break till 1:30 and it was only 10:30. I left my car running (a little dicey in that neighborhood and with 1500 high school students there), gave him my lunch, and then had my students go out and periodically check on him. They brought him water and all kinds of love. I brought him down to BARCS and prayed for the best. I called BARCS once, but didnt want to get bad news about him so I kind of let it go.”

Askey continued: “I was so touched by your posts/video on him and the progress videos that are posted on the K-9 Kraving website. The fact that people are doing such great things with him really moves me. In a town full of stray animals and badly-behaving humans, Im still struggling to grasp that this little dog I found is getting so much attention and love. Really really heart-warming.”

Hector was pulled from BARCS by Sallyann Jennings, on behalf of the rescue group Stop Killing Dogs. Since then, a number of people have stepped in to help him out. Tobey McGuinness provided short term foster care, and Hector’s now living in a long term foster home with Dave Adams, owner of FlexPrint Graphics.

Several veterinary organizations have also offered to assess Hector’s issues. He’s a little wobbly on the back end, and may have some hearing problems, which could be related to sinus issues and gaping holes in his mouth from tooth extraction. We’ll keep you updated on those as well in the weeks ahead.

Four months after their cattle dog fell overboard off the coast of Australia, a couple has been reunited with the pooch.

Owner Jan Griffith said her dog, Sophie Tucker, fell off the side of their boat in choppy waters off the Mackay coast in north Queensland in late November.

Apparently, the dog swam five nautical miles to St. Bees Island, where she survived until last week by hunting baby goats. She was returned to her family last week after rangers captured what they believed was a wild dog, according to an Australian Associated Press report.

Ms. Griffith said she and her husband had contacted rangers after friends suggested the dog – who had developed a reputation on the island – might be their long-lost pet.

Last Tuesday the couple met the rangers’ boat as it ferried the dog back to the mainland.

“We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us,” Ms. Griffith said.