ohmidog!

 
I’ve seen this sign in a few locations now — and it always makes me wonder.

Are non-exercising dogs — those who plan to just lay around, as opposed to doing doggie aerobics — allowed?

Is “exercise” being used as a euphemism for pooping?

Does someone think saying “No Exercising Dogs Allowed in Park” somehow sounds less unfriendly, hostile and exclusionary than ”No Dogs Allowed in Park?”

Every time I see this sign, I have visions of dogs in Spandex lifting weights, doing doggie calisthenics and admiring their musculature in the mirror. Then I realize that’s what I like about dogs — they’re too smart for any of that.

A boxer named Maggie most likely wasn’t making a political statement Saturday when she peed on a red carpet laid out at the Libyan Mission in New York to welcome dictator Moammar Khadafy.

Libyan officials were forced to cut away a section of the carpet that stretched across the E. 48th St. sidewalk from the curbs to the steps, the New York Daily News reported.

When Khadafy arrives in New York later this week for a UN General Assembly session, he’ll be bringing a 150-member entourage, including his contingent of armed female bodyguards.

We suggest Maggie — lest she feel the need to express herself again — maybe take another route on her morning walk for the next few days.

(Photo: New York Daily News)

“Woof!” — a fetching collection of pithy, poignant and sometimes even puckish essays about dogs  — comes out in paperback this month.

Edited by Lee Montgomery — who also writes about a schnauzer who’s not, shall we say, master of his domain — the anthology presents the work of 20 acclaimed writers who have turned their attention to dogs, most frequently their own.

Original personal essays include Rick Bass’s tale about the week his hunting dog, Point, was given a fatal prognosis. Abigail Thomas writes about the  maneuvering it takes to share a bed with three dogs. And, in my personal favorite, Denis Johnson gives voice to The Colonel, his bullmastiff, who recounts a day in his and Johnson’s lives.

Reading it can be as emotionally tumultuous as living with a dog. Some stories deal with the  happy peaks; some with the sad valleys. Some are heartbreaking, some hilarious.

Published by Penguin Books, “Woof” includes an introduction by renowned dog writer Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.

A Mount Holly K-9 officer and her husband have been charged with animal cruelty in the heat-related death of a bomb-sniffing dog in New Jersey.

Police Officer Kara McIntosh left Patton, a 5-year-old golden retriever, in her personal vehicle on July 7, parking the car across the street from police headquarters and leaving the air conditioner running.

Her husband, Robert, was supposed to pick up the car and dog, but he never came. The dog died of heat stroke after about two hours in the car, the New Jersey SPCA said.

The pair face civil and criminal counts of animal cruelty. If convicted they could face up to a year in prison as well as fines up to $4,000, the Burlington County Times reported.

Police Chief Steven Martin said Friday that McIntosh would remain on active duty until the case is resolved.

This little fella seems to love the feel of water splashing on his head — at least when he’s in control of it.

When you’re not in control of it, it’s an entirely different matter — torture even.

Take my house. (Please.) Recently a new leak developed. After a downpour, water pours in through a tiny slit in the ceiling, directly above the toilet. That’s very convenient — for I can just open the toilet lid and, except for some splashage, all the water goes right in.

It’s convenient up until the time one needs to use said toilet, in a sitting down manner. Then the options are: get very wet, hold a pot over your head (which is harder than it sounds), or postpone the bodily function until the weather clears up.

The landlord is on the case (it’s a complex roofing issue), but until a solution is reached, I’m faced with choosing between letting water that has collected who-knows-what on its trip across and through the roof pour on my head, holding a pot atop my head while on the pot, or gastrointestinal distress. 

To be clear, this is not a drip, but a steady flow, and both letting it land on your head, and trying to catch it in a pot, while in the highly vulnerable squatting position, are more demeaning than you might imagine.

So I went to Home Depot and bought a 10-foot length of plastic gutter, which, if I angle one end against the wall under the hole, allows me to direct the incoming flow into the bathtub.

My bathroom now has a water feature. And I’m back in control. How do I spell relief? V-I-A-D-U-C-T.

(To see more of Allen Mezquida’s “Smigly” animations, visit smigly.tv)

 
Sweet Jasmine, the former Michael Vick dog taken in by the Baltimore’s rescue group, Recycled Love, was hit by a car last month and killed.

The pit bull that made the cover of Sports Illustrated last year was living in the suburbs with Catalina Stirling, president of Recycled Love. Jasmine was one of three Vick dogs turned over to the Baltimore organization.

No details about the accident have been disclosed.

“Our hearts are heavy with sadness over the loss of our sweet Jasmine,” a blog for Recycled Love reported. “She was recently killed by an automobile in an unfortunate accident. Jasmine touched so many lives in so many ways. Her family is devastated by her passing, but they would like everyone to recognize and celebrate the unmistakable love Jasmine received and the priceless gifts she has given to everyone.”

“Please understand that Catalina, along with the rest of Jasmine’s family, are just beginning to process this loss,” the blog states. “Thank you for allowing time for all to heal.”

One of 51 pit bulls seized from the Michael Vick dog fighting ring bust in 2007, Sweet Jasmine was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated last December. The cover article detailed the ongoing rehabilitation of  the Vick pit bulls that were placed in foster care and adoptive homes.

The Recycled Love website provides few details of what happened, but it does contain a letter of condolence sent to Stirling.

“We will never forget Jasmine,” the letter reads. “She is now and forever the poster girl, who in one glossy photograph, challenged millions of people to question the treatment of animals, to reevaluate their own prejudices and to open their eyes to previously unknown, to them, horrors of dog fighting and rampant animal abuse. The world is a better place for Jasmine having been here.”

 
The Maryland SPCA  held its final “Wine & Wag” event of the season last night, a monthly happy hour for people and their pets that includes Ace’s (that’s not him) favorite new activity — bobbing for hot dogs.

The event featured Jen Carle, signing her book “Finally Winsome,” the unveiling of the 2010 Maryland SPCA calendar and wine, beer and hors d’ouvres h’ors d’oeuvres appetizers for humans, who were not required to bob for them.

Ace also tried his paw at paw painting, romped in the “fun run,” and got to  meet a lot of new friends. It’s a great opportunity to socialize your dog, yourself and help the cause.

The Maryland SPCA’s 2010 calendar is a colorful wall calendar, featuring pictures of dogs, cats and other animals submitted by area animal lovers.

They cost $15.90 each, including tax, and will be sold online, at the SPCA and at local retailers. They will be available for purchase online and at the Maryland SPCA, 3300 Falls Road, starting today

This episode of National Geographic Channel’s “The Dog Whisperer,” recaps Cesar Millan’s Chihuahua conquests, leading up to his experience with El Diablo, described as the latest contender for “America’s meanest Chihuahua.”

Rewards will be offered to pet owners who pick up and properly dispose of their dogs’ waste in Inverness, Scotland.

For the next three months Highland Council enforcement officers will hand out vouchers to “responsible owners,” the BBC reports.

The vouchers, appropriately enough, can be exchanged at a local veterinarian’s office de-worming tablets, aimed at cutting dog roundworm infections.

Most parklands in the city are thought to be contaminated with dog roundworm, which poses a risk to human health, particularly among children, according to the BBC report.

 ”Dog feces are a known risk for the development of disease in people, particularly children,” said Sonia Howell, manager of Crown Vets which is a partner in the project. “But fortunately this is easy to prevent by removing dog waste from public areas and by regular treatment of dogs with an effective wormer.”

Officials pointed out that, though officers will be looking to reward considerate pet owners, they’ll also be prepared to issue citations to the less than considerate ones.

In May, joint police and environmental health patrols were launched in an effort to combat dog fouling and littering in part of Inverness.