ohmidog!

 
Letting your dog off leash at Patterson Park — if and when it becomes legal — will most likely carry a fee, city officials said at a Thursday night meeting to discuss proposals that range from creating off-leash hours to building a dog park.

Described by Baltimore Sun Unleashed’s Jill Rosen as heated, the meeting drew about 100 people, and resulted in some news: Park rangers will be given the authority to issue citations for off-leash violations, and enfocement will be increased, according to city Department of Recreation and Parks Director Wanda Durden.

But as for what manner dogs might be permitted to play off leash, that, after years of pushing, still seems up in the air.

One suggestion is to build a fenced-in, 20,000-square- foot dog park along Baltimore Street on the western end of the park.  That proposal, drafted by Friends of Patterson Park Dog Park, calls for, rather than full time dog parks, two zones, both northwest of the lake, for off-leash hours — one for small dogs, the other for large ones.

Otheres prefer the idea of designating certain areas to be leash-free during certain hours.

While the city hasn’t figured out the what, when and where, it did have plenty of rules ready, among them:

An annual fee of $20 for those who wanted to use the off-leash area, as well as proof of a city dog license and current vaccinations. A limit of three dogs. Professional dog walkers can’t use the area for business. No dogs in heat. No dogs under four months old. No children under 8 years old. Children 9-15 must be accompanied by an adult. Dog handlers must be 16 years old or older. Dogs must wear a collar or harness with an ID tag, a special off-leash tag and rabies tags.

The city of Baltimore’s only existing dog area is Canton Dog Park, built by private citizens. The first city-funded dog park, in Locust Point, was supposed to open this summer, but with delays, September is now looking like the earliest it might open.

Maybe I’ve been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah …

What brings me to quote Leonard Cohen?

Because – Hallelujah! — I’ve completed my book manuscript,  that major occupier of my time, mind, heart, soul and life for the past 12 months.

Twelve months that, like the once-reclusive Cohen, I became something of a hermit, venturing out pretty much only for book-related research trips, groceries and to walk the dog — totally wrapped up in my own thoughts and ignoring friends and family even more than I normally do.

Not to mention putting off focusing on the one thing I need most — a job.

Anyway, given that listening to Leonard helped me through the final stretch of the book — a non- (and-stranger-than-) fiction account of  dog cloning’s journey from conception to the marketplace —  I thought this song, appropriate on numerous levels, would serve as a good, low-key celebration. (Nobody can crank up the low-key like Leonard.)

Although the song has been covered by many, it’s only right that we bring you the original, sung by the composer, as opposed to a cloned version.

One of the Bauer family’s two Blue Lacy game dogs returned after it went missing in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

But, after nearly ten months, they’d all but given up on seeing the second one again.

Earlier this month, after another resident of the neighborhood spotted the second dog, she was reunited with the family, 14 pounds lighter, covered in ticks and fleas, but in otherwise good shape, the Houston Chronicle reported.

“We were telling the kids all the time that if there’s any dog out there that is going to make it on its own, it’s Daizy,” recalls Joe Bauer, of Clear Lake, whose family owns the two Blue Lacy game dogs.

In September, the two dogs, Daizy and Hank, escaped from a kennel after Hurricane Ike. Hank returned, but despite repeated efforts to track down Daizy, she couldn’t be found. Nine months later, though, she was spotted by another resident, who was able to follow the dog in her car to an overgrown easement area she’d apparently been staying in, near some electrical towers about a mile from the kennel.

LaRocca alerted the Bauers, who were able to track Daizy down.

The Bauers went to the area, whistled Daizy’s favorite tune, and the dog came running. The pet was in good shape according to the veterinarian who examined her Friday.

The Blue Lacy, a hunting dog that was named state Dog Breed of Texas by the 79th Legislature, was developed by three brothers from Kentucky who reportecly began interbreeding gryehounds, scent hounds and coyotes.

A new home has been found for Clyde, the blind border collie, and his guide dog, Bonnie, both of whom were found wandering on a country road in Suffolk, England.

More than 500 people came forward to offer a home to Bonnie and Clyde,  who the Meadowgreen Dog Rescue center insisted not be separated, according to a BBC report.

It is believed Clyde lost his sight because of a degenerative disease.

The border collies were taken yesterday to start a new life with an unnamed owner at home in South Norfolk, the Eastern Daily Press reported.  Apparently the original owner never came forward.

But Cherie Cootes of the rescue center said there was overwhelming interest in the two dogs.

“It’s been bizarre to say the least,” she said. “We’ve had calls from America, Australia, a Brazilian TV station who want to come down and do a bit of filming, and a German television station.”

The dogs were found running through Blundeston, near Lowestoft in Suffolk, during a storm three weeks ago.

Neither Clyde, believed to be about five years old, nor Bonnie, estimated to be around three, had identifying collars or microchips.

That glob to your left is a stem cell — the type that’s been used to treat more than 1,700 arthritic dogs in the U.S.

“Adult” stem cells and are found throughout the body — in dogs and humans — and can be harvested from fat tissue, expanded and then injected into the area of injury or disease.

Robert Harman, a veterinarian, stem cell specialist and biotechnology entrepreneur who is CEO for the California company Vet-Stem, discussed the treatment in a recent article for the San Diego News Network.

In the U.S., he says, more than 1,700 dogs and 3,600 horses have been treated for tendon, ligament and joint problems over the last six years with their own stem cells, harvested from fat.  Published results in dogs and horses indicate that more 70 percent of have significantly benefitted. Only a few veterinarians have been authorized to offer the service

The treatment has not been approved for use in the U.S. on humans yet, but at least one American has undergone it, through a company in Korea that harvested his fat tissue, isolated its stem cells, then injected them into him in  China. It’s the same company — one of two — that is offering dog cloning. The patient, John Cullison, a California artist, was visiting RNL Bio in Seoul the same time I was there to research my book on pet cloning.

RNL Bio posted this video of him discussing the treatment on YouTube:

(Photo courtesy of Vet-Stem Inc.)

A World War II veteran who was held for a year in a Nazi prisoner camp has made it his mission to help supply wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with service dogs.

Irwin Stovroff, the subject of a recent Fox News report, has raised nearly $2 million dollars to help train and match up service canines with wounded combat vets.

The 85-year-old resident of Boca Raton, Fla., is also pushing lawmakers for federal funding to finance the program.

“It is a shame.” Stovroff says about the lack of an official federal program that pairs up battle-injured veterans with guide and therapy animals that can greatly improve their rehabilitation. “I wanted to do something about it.”

Stovroff, the recipient of a Distinguished Flying Cross, was shot down behind enemy German lines on his 35th bombing flight. He threw his dogs tags away before his plane crashed to hide his Jewish faith from his captors.

Stovroff says dogs can help the injured soldiers in a number of ways.

“The dog can become his eyes. He can become his legs. He can bring him anything he needs.” Stovroff said.  “A dog is probably the best thing that can happen to these soldiers … They need a guide (but) they need the help and love of a dog as well.”

(Photos courtesy of Intimesofwar.us)

It started with a chicken sandwich, offered to a stray dog on the streets of Islamabad.

What happened next was recounted in Washington Post piece yesterday by correspondent Pamela Constable, who took the dog into her home and cared for it while reporting from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“I almost missed her at first, a small dusty dog curled up under a taxi in a crowded airport. But when I whistled, she poked her head out and looked up with a faintly hopeful expression. She had a slender face and huge brown eyes, like a doe …

“I bought her a chicken sandwich near the taxi stand and watched her gulp it down. As I started to walk away, pushing a trolley full of luggage, she raced after me and clung to my legs like a child. It was an act of rash, desperate trust I could not bear to reject.

“And so this tiny, graceful creature came out of the void and into my life. Within a few days we were inseparable. She was a slim white-and-brown hound, perhaps 2 years old. I named her Ahu, which means “deer” in Afghan Dari.

“I had rescued other dogs in other foreign lands, but Ahu seemed more like a long-lost friend. She was grateful for a bath and unfazed by a trip to the vet. When I came in the gate of my rented home, she leapt up and pirouetted for joy. When I worked at my desk, she rested her muzzle on my lap. When I went to bed, she curled up nearby.”

While Constable was off an an assignment, though, Ahu escaped, and her new owner would get to see a whole other side of the city as she tried to find her.

We’re not going to give the ending away, but you can find the full story here.

(Photo by Pamela Constable/Courtesy of  The Washington Post)

Doreen Houseman is headed back to court to gain custody of Dexter, the pug that a New Jersey court awarded to her ex-husband, deeming the dog merely another piece of property.

Today, a second trial beings on the custody of the nearly six-year-old dog, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In March, a three-judge appeals panel ordered the new trial, saying Superior Court Judge John Tomasello should not have treated Dexter as just another piece of furniture during the first trial, in Gloucester County, in 2007.

Gina Calogero, Houseman’s attorney, said the appeals paned issued a “landmark decision” on pet custody. 

Tomasello originally ruled Dexter was simply property and should go to the person possessing it. “Dogs are chairs; they’re furniture; they’re automobiles, they’re pensions. They’re not kids,” he said. “Canine affection” is irrelevant, he said.

Houseman’s ex, Eric Dare, a Williamstown police officer, was awarded the dog, and would compensate Houseman $1,500 – the pedigree dog’s purchase price – the judge said.

Houseman says she is happy she won another chance to prove she should be reunited with her dog.

“I hope he remembers me. I keep hearing that a dog never forgets your scent and your voice,” she said, with a nervous laugh.”

An unwanted pit bull who was thrown off a bridge and into the Ohio River survived the 80 foot drop and was showing no ill effects other than a swollen belly.

Now Sunny, as she’s been dubbed, is temporarily lodging with Kelsey Westbrook, a server at a nearby Joe’s Crab Shack, who was one of those who coaxed the plucky dog towards shore.

Witnesses said a white Chevy Malibu had stopped on the bridge moments before the dog was tossed, according to a report in the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Westbrook, a University of Louisville senior, said it appeared the dog had recently given birth.

Workers at Joe’s Crab Shack said the dog made a loud smacking sound as she hit the water. Westbrook and two other servers ran to the riverside, encouraging the dog to swim to shore. As the dog got within 20 feet, Louisville firefighters at the river for dive team training launched a boat and pulled her to safety.

“I wanted to give her some hope, to let her know somebody was waiting for her,” Westbrook said. “I was afraid she would give up and drown.”

Diners erupted into applause as the dog came ashore, then wolfed down three three hamburgers before going home to Westbrook’s  apartment.

The dog, which Westbrook named Sunny,  appears less than two years old. The red pit bull quickly became friends with her  two-year-old German Shepherd mix. Westbrook said she hoped to help the dog find another home.

“I took the dog because I just wanted to help her,” the English literature major said. “I don’t ever want her to feel pain again.”

(Photo: By Scott Utterback, The Courier-Journal)

The baby in Kentucky who was injured when dragged outside by the family dog is slowly improving, and his condition has been upgraded to critical.

Alexander James Smith, A.J. for short, was pulled from his bassinet, which makes more sense the original reports that he was removed from his crib, by the family dog, Dakota, at the family’s home in Jessamine County. The dog dragged him about 200 yards into the woods behind the house.

The baby suffered collapsed lungs, a fractured skull and broken ribs among other injuries. His father , Michael Smith, said the dog won’t be coming back to their home, but that he hoped it might be able to find a new one.

The dog is still under quarantine at the Jessamine County Save Center, which reports having received hundreds of calls have flooded the Jessamine County Save Center wanting to adopt the dog.

“I appreciate the concern and the outpouring of support, even from complete strangers,” Smith said. “It has been overwhelming and really comforting and helped us get through this difficult time.”