ohmidog!

The Houston Astros let the dogs out yesterday — with more than 300 taking to the field, then the stands, for the first annual Bring Your Dog to the Game Day.

Half of the $20 ticket price went to benefit the Houston Humane Society.

Singer Aubrey O’Day says she thinks it’s perfectly OK to dye her dog.

The former Danity Kane singer regularly changes the color of her one-year-old Maltese, named Ginger.

“She likes to have looks,” O’Day, 25, explained to  Usmagazine.com. “It actually seems like such a taboo weird thing nowadays, but if you research online, you will see a whole underworld of dogs who are dyed.”

O’Day says she changes her dog’s appearance “for different occasions,” revealing that she recently dyed the pup green because she “loves the (Boston) Celtics.”

“She sits on my lap, and I have a brush, and I paint it on and use foils.” Ginger, she says, “loves attention and because she’s colored and has different outfits, she gets so much of it. She prefers it.”

I think it’s a safe bet that it’s not Ginger who’s seeking the attention here. And assuming the dog likes being dyed just because she doesn’t object makes about as much sense as O’Day’s if-it’s-on-the-Internet-it-must-be-ok philosophy.

What is it that makes celebrities think that the animal kingdom exists to provide them with fashion accessories?

(Photo: Joe Corrigan/Getty Images, via USMagazine.com)

Dog owners in San Francisco’s Mission District are keeping a tighter leash on their pets in the wake of two recent disappearances — both suspected to be thefts.

“It’s a crime of opportunity,” said Mission police officer Steve Bucy. “Some of these dogs have a high resale value, or they can be trained to fight.”

According to Missionlocal.org — a neighborhood news website developed by the University of California at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism — two recent cases involve dog owners who were momentarily out of eye contact with their pets.

Bill McLoed said his family dog, Lucy disappeared last week  near the tennis courts at Dolores Park. The dog was with his step daughter, who was reading a book in the park when she looked up and saw the dog had vanished.

McLoed thought a homeless person might have stolen Lucy,  an 8 year-old border terrier with a limp who has been visiting the park routinely for the last several years, off leash. “They use them for space heaters or to get sympathy,” he said.

After a conversation with San Francisco Animal Control, however, he’s changed his mind. “They said it’s unlikely that Lucy was stolen by a homeless person, that mostly happens in Golden Gate Park where junkies snatch them for ransom.”

Animal Control staff told him that dogs are sometimes lifted just for being off leash, to teach the owner a lesson. “The Shelter said it happens a lot in the Castro,” he added.

Also about a week ago, Ronnie Salmeron, a bar manager, lost his 3-year old dog, Chirpa. “He had to have been stolen, it happened way to fast,” said Salmeron. “Someone came up to my friend when we were looking, and said they saw someone running away with something in his arms.”

Salmeron has posted more than 600 posters and has launched a Facebook campaign to find his dog.

“A purebred Yorkie, like him, can cost over $2000, and for all I know my dog could be in a fight right now.”

Bosco, a police dog shot twice while on duty in Zanesville, Ohio, is fighting to walk again, and the community is chipping in to help provide his therapy and around-the-clock care.

Bosco and his partner, Officer Mike Schiele, were shot Aug. 23 while Schiele was attempting to serve two warrants on Dominick Conley. Schiele is back home recuperating from his leg wound, but Bosco, who was shot in the neck and chest, remains at the Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital in Columbus.

Bosco has been making progress, according to veterinary school updates. He is beginning to stand on his front legs for a little while, and is working to stand on his hind legs.

Zanesville Police Chief Eric Lambes said the first week of care will probably cost $6,000 to $10,000 and Bosco is expected to remain at the hospital for several weeks, the Lancaster Eagle Gazette reports.

Lambes’ assistant, Linda Highfield, said hundreds of letters a day have poured in, most with checks for Bosco’s care. “It’s just been amazing,” she said. “They don’t stop coming and they’re coming from all over.”

“The story has made our hearts melt,” said Denny Walker, whose car dealership donated $1,200 for Bosco’s care, raising the money in a fundraiser held at Tri-County Chrysler in Heath. “He put his life on the line for his partner, and you just can’t ask for more than that.”

In addition to monetary donations, a former K-9 handler from South Carolina sent a wheelchair that he used for his own dog. “I know how important your dog is to you when you are an officer and that the K-9s are a great asset to any department,” said the donor, Michael Grazioso. “My heart went out to Officer Schiele when I read the story, and I just wanted to do something to help. If Bosco has to have a chair, then he’s got mine.”

Highfield said she has received offers of other dogs for the department in case Bosco is unable to return to work. “Before we even think about accepting another dog, we’re going to see how it goes with Bosco. We’re hoping he’ll be able to make it back.”

Donations so far exceed $5,000, Highfield said.

In addition, MedFlight of Ohio, which transported Bosco to Columbus the night he was shot, decided to forgive 90 percent of the bill. “We have to be responsible to our company, but we also felt that it was very important Bosco get help as quickly as possible that night and this is the right thing to do,” said Todd Bailey, director of the business division for MedFlight.

 
Ace  and a few friends — in honor of his master’s birthday (yes, it’s today) — enjoyed a hike at Gunpowder Falls State Park this week, one that left all involved a trifle muddy and a tad stinky.

Pets, though rules say they must be leashed at all times, are permitted in all areas of the park except for the Hammerman Area. (The dogs in these photos are wearing the new Invisi-Leash, from Fraudco, available only in, uh, my dreams.)

We traipsed the Sweathouse Trail, the trailhead and parking area for which are located where Route 1 (Bel Air Road) crosses the Big Gunpowder Falls, about 5.4 miles north of I-695.

Ace, below, and Fanny, above, have decidedly different approaches to hiking — Ace’s being somewhat restrained perhaps I’ll dip my paw in this water before I continue plodding along; Fanny’s being more pinball- like, kamikaze-on-speed, plunge on in and figure out what you’ve plunged into later.

It was only a 1.7 mile trail, but Fanny probably logged at least eight miles in her roaming. (The Invisi-Leash, I forgot to mention, is infinitely extendable.)

It was a lovely evening jaunt, but now, before the birthday festivities resume, Ace — the Gunpowder running quite muddy and pungent this time of year — really needs a bath.

If you’re wondering what to get me, I could always use another Invisi-Leash.

A one-time school board president who in less than two years lost his wife, home and then his dog, appeared in federal court in Dauphin County Thursday to try and get his dog back.

But no testimony was heard in the case of Miles Thomas and his seized collie, Baron.  Instead attorneys were given 30 days to work the matter out amongst themselves, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reports.

“I would feel very badly if we couldn’t resolve this,” said District Judge John E. Jones III. “There is a very reasonable path to a reasonable agreement. … I am very hopeful that this conundrum can be worked out.”

Baron was picked up by the Humane Society of the Harrisburg Area in July after a police officer found the dog alone in Thomas’ car. The windows were slightly rolled down, but the Humane Society says the dog was panting, without water and covered with feces. Thomas was eating lunch at a restaurant nearby.

The Humane Society, while it says its actions were justified, has offered few other details, and Thomas’ attorney has said that Thomas, 73, though he was briefly homeless, deserves his dog back.

” I can’t get into the detail of how it’ll be worked out. I hope in the next 30 days, we can put this litigation behind us and move forward,” Andrew Ostrowski, attorney for Thomas, told CBS21.

Thomas, a former stock broker, once served as president of the Harrisburg School Board. In the past two years, he lost his wife, Anna, to Alzheimer’s, and later his home, after going into debt trying to cover her medical bills.

The federal judge ordered Ostrowski and Amy Kaunas, the executive director of the Harrisburg Area Humane Society to reach an out-of-court agreement in the case.

“I’m going to follow the judge’s orders and not comment on the case,” said  Kaunas. Kaunas left the courthouse with security, and the Humane Society told CBS 21 News that they had to hire protection after receiving threats in connection with the case.

The hearing ended with Thomas announcing that he would be able to visit Baron, who he hasn’t seen since July 26.

 
The story of a Royal Navy officer disabled in the Gulf War and the service dog who helped him is headed for the big screen.

Producer Simon Brooks bought the rights to the story of Allen Parton and his dog, Endal, after watching a TV documentary about them, and has commissioned a script based on the Partons’ book, “Endal: How One Extraordinary Dog Brought a Family Back from the Brink.”

Parton suffered severe head injuries in the war, which left him confined to a wheelchair.

In 2001, when he was knocked from his wheelchair by a passing car, Endal covered him with a blanket and barked for help.

Endal, a Labrador retriever, was trained to understand sign language, unload the washing machine, and use a bank machine. If that weren’t enough, Parton and his wife, Sandra, even credit him with saving their marriage.

Endal was given a peacetime Dickin award – described as its equivalent of the Victoria Cross – and was named Dog of the Millennium by Dogs Today magazine.

According to the Yorkshire Post, filming could start next summer.

“I am absolutely delighted,” Allen Parton said. “When I came back from the Gulf war, I had lost my memory, I couldn’t read, write or walk, and our marriage went through hard times … Then Endal bounded into our lives and the rest is history.”

Endal died in March, at age 13.

There are those who say psychiatric service dogs aren’t “real” service dogs — that, unlike guide dogs for the blind, they merely make their owners feel good and provide nothing more than comfort.

Iraq war veteran Jennifer Pacanowski sees it differently — especially after,  unaware she was going 85 miles an hour on the freeway, a wet nose nudged her elbow, bringing her back to reality.

The wet nose belonged to Boo, a 110-pound Bull Mastiff who warns her when her anxiety levels are rising. Pacanowski slowed down, and lived to tell the story, which is recounted in an article on psychiatric service dogs in U.S. News & World Report.

The article reveals that the U.S. Department of Defense is starting a 12-month study to find out exactly how the dogs help — by comparing soldiers with PTSD who have dogs with a similar group of soldiers without a dog. Researchers will measure changes in symptoms and medication use.

“We want to provide evidence for something we know observationally and help create a movement towards the use of psychiatric service dogs,” said lead investigator Craig T. Love, senior study director at Westat, a research corporation in Rockville, Md. “It’s time to make a change.”

Pacanowski is one of dozens of veterans and others who already know what the study seeks to substantiate.  Boo, only a year old, has been helping her deal with her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — a result of her experiences as a medic in the war — since December.

“Sometimes I forget where I am and will go back to the war in Iraq. He brings me back to reality and makes me realize that I can’t run people off the road. It’s a frequent thing with PTSD to have road rage,” said Pacanowski, who lives in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Boo is one of a team of “psychiatric service dogs” being used to help people with various mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and, perhaps most notably, PTSD.

“If a dog observes when a person with PTSD is escalating, the dog will be able to signal that they are escalating and, given it’s so early in process, the person can manage and even prevent the escalation,” explained Joan Gibbon Esnayra, president and founder of the Psychiatric Dog Service Association.

The dogs have been in service for about 12 years and while patients and professionals alike know they work wonders, there has been no real empirical evidence of their value — and, as a result, they often receive neither the respect or funding opportunities of guide dogs.

“A recent survey showed that 82 percent of patients with PTSD who were assigned a dog had a decrease in symptoms, and 40 percent had a decrease in the medications they had to take,” added Dr. Melissa Kaime, director of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), who spoke at a telebriefing last month. “I fully expect this will be positive trial.”

You can learn more about psychiatric service dogs at the Psychiatric Service Dog Society website.