ohmidog!

Sometimes the news media is just soooo cynical.

Case in point: Pfizer, the drug company, is extolling the benefits of taking the family dog along when traveling for the holidays. The holidays are stressful times, Pfizer notes. Dogs can help relieve stress. Why leave a beloved member of the family behind?

In an email worthy of Hallmark that was sent to various news media outlets, Pfizer makes note as well of the “tough economic times” and how “the unconditional love from your dog can go a long way toward helping your family manage that extra stress.”

How thoughtful.  Imagine, a multi-national corporate giant like that being so full of holiday spirit that they are thinking about us little people/dog owners when they could be obsessing, Scrooge-like, about profits.

Pfizer even launched a Twitter feed called “Dog On Board” to “help families talk about including their dog in their family holiday.” 

Leave it to the Wall Street Journal, in the newspaper’s ”Health Blog,” to suggest Pfizer might have an ulterior motive when it suggests you pack your dog along in the car or airplane when you make your holiday trip.

Pfizer sells Cerenia, a drug that prevents motion sickness and vomiting in dogs.

But is that so terrible? So what if Pfizer stands to profit more if more dogs are going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house, preferably by winding roads?

Lest that make you — like all the cynical news media and bloggers — question Pfizer’s sincerity and compassion, allow me to remind you that Pfizer is the same company that offered this summer to give away more than 70 of its most widely prescribed human drugs, including Lipitor, Zoloft and Viagra, for up to a year to people who have lost jobs since Jan. 1 and have been taking the drug for three months or more.

Of course, there were cynics when they did that, too — those who speculated the company was doing it for a tax write-off, to gain favor in Washington, or to ensure that those who are hooked on Pfizer’s fine products, maintain their, shall we say, allegiance.

While the news media and bloggers are having a field day with what they see as Pfizer’s awkwardly see-through attempt to drum up business, I, for one, salute the drug company –  not just for bringing relief to the estimated one in seven dogs who get carsick, and not just for ensuring that an unemployed man can get, if not a job or health care, at least a boner, but for being able to fool so many of the people so much of the time.

The bluetick and redbone coonhounds — along with the Boykin spaniel — have been officially recognized as breeds by the American Kennel Club.

The acceptance of the three new breeds brings to 164 the number of breeds fully recognized as such by the AKC.

The Boykin spaniel will join the sporting group while both the bluetick coonhound and redbone coonhound will join the hound group.

The new breeds will be eligible for full AKC registration and competition in their respective groups at conformation shows held on and after December 30, 2009.

The bluetick coonhound gets its name from its coat pattern, which is dark blue in color and covered in a ticking or mottled pattern. The bluetick is noted for its skill in trailing and treeing raccoons and other small animals. The breed has origins in the English coonhound. In 1945, bluetick breeders broke away to form their own slower-working dog that could pick up older scent trails.

The redbone coonhound is noted for its speed and agility and its ability to hunt and swim over a variety of terrain. The redbone dates back to red foxhounds brought to the U.S. by Scottish immigrants in the late 1700s and red foxhounds imported from Ireland before the Civil War.

The Boykin Spaniel, in addition to being the official state dog of South Carolina, is a medium-sized hunting dog with a cheerful, energetic personality. The breed was developed in South Carolina in the early 1900s by L. Whitaker Boykin, originally to hunt wild turkeys.

The road to full AKC recognition requires non-recognized breeds to first gain acceptance into the AKC Foundation Stock Service. After a breed has been in FSS the recognition process begins with a written request to compete in the miscellaneous class from the National Breed Club.  While there is no established timetable for adding new breeds, dogs typically compete in the miscellaneous class for one to three years.  More information on the process can be found at the AKC’s website.

The next breeds in line for full recognition by AKC are the Icelandic Sheepdog, Cane Corso and Leonberger.

(Photos courtesy of American Kennel Club: Bluetick/by Diane Lewis ©AKC; Boykin Spaniel/by Bill Simmons; Redbone/by Christine Smith)

A California man is blaming his dog for the fatal shooting of his wife.

John Aaron Norris, 25, of San Miguel said his dog ran underneath his feet, tripping him and causing the semi-automatic rifle he was holding to fire.

Norris is accused of involuntary manslaughter in the July 9 shooting death of  24-year-old Tasha Dawn Norris. His preliminary hearing  is scheduled to resume today.

Norris pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge and to a charge of  possessing an illegal weapon at his home — a semiautomatic rifle found by investigators, according to The Tribune in San Luis Obispo.

Sheriff’s deputies testified Wednesday that Norris stated he was standing on the stairs when the dog ran under his feet and tripped him. He told authorities he was holding the gun because he was planning to remove the ammunition before fire inspectors came to his home to examine new sprinklers in the condominium.

Tasha Norris was seated on a couch in the home when she was shot, according to investigators. Medics attempted to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

In this cut and paste world in which we’ve come to value getting it done quickly and cheaply over getting it done with class, style or individuality, maybe it’s not all that surprising that Ohio’s “dog-friendly” license plate features the image of a pooch who’s not from from Toledo, or Dayton, or Cincinnati, or even Cleveland or Akron.

No, Ohio’s steel-stamped icon for dog friendliness hails from … Louisiana … by way of Missouri, and the Internet.

How Mac, a 9-year-old yellow Lab from Monroe, La., ended up as the face of dog-friendliness on Ohio’s license plate is a story that began when J.J. and Mary Linda Huggins sent a photo of Mac to Missouri artist Debbie Stonebraker for the purposes of having a portrait painted.

Mac’s picture joined hundreds of others on Stonebraker’s website.

The good folks at The Ohio Pet Fund, rather than going into their own dog-friendly backyard, went online looking for a dog, browsed Stonebraker’s website, and chose Louisiana Mac as Ohio’s dog, according to an Associated Press story — one that ran in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette  under the headline “Apparently the dogs in Ohio aren’t friendly enough … Louisiana pooch ends up on Buckeye license plates.”

Louisiana Mac is the latest addition to the Ohio Pet Fund’s pet-friendly license plate line. The dog-friendly plate joins a cat-friendly plate and a generic pet friendly plate, illustrated with a cartoon. Proceeds from the sale of the plates go towards low-cost spay and neutering programs.

What happens when an overly affectionate cat takes a special liking to a Texas lawman at a traffic stop?

A. The officer dispenses some street justice.

B. The cat gets arrested, convicted and sentenced to nine death penalties.

C. Something entirely different.

The officer’s dashboard camera caught the whole event. Watch and see. (And don’t worry, this video is neither graphic nor disturbing.)

While a  Delaware police department worried about the fate of one of its police dogs — shot in the line of duty last week — it suddenly lost another one.

Bandit, a 6-year-old German shepherd who had served four years in the K-9 unit of the New Castle County Police Department, was euthanized Monday after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, according to Delmarvanow.com.

The dog had worked Saturday, and became ill Sunday night. He was rushed to the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital — the same hospital where another of the department’s dogs, Diablo, was being treated for two gunshot wounds sustained in the line of duty four days earlier.

Diablo was shot twice last Wednesday in Wilmington while chasing down a suspect who police said had threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend. Diablo, who developed pneumonia at the hospital, remains in stable condition.

Bandit was surrounded by his handler Cpl. Paul Chickadel, family and friends when he died, police officials said.

In 2008,  Bandit sniffed out $32,445 in connection with drug investigations, responding to 389 canine calls and assisting in four arrests. In June, the team was certified in narcotics detection, tracking and patrol work by the National Police Canine Association.

The department said arrangements have not been finalized for a memorial service.

Nathan App was sentenced in Montgomery County Court in Pennsylvania to five years of probation and 60 hours of community service after trying to drown a woman’s dachshund in a backyard swimming pool.

Under a plea agreement, App, 20, of Douglass Township, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals.

“His conduct was disgusting. It was a small, helpless dog. He was basically torturing the dog by repeatedly dunking the dog in water and dragging it by its leash in the water,” Assistant District Attorney Abby Silverman said of the July incident.

Judge William R. Carpenter, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered App to undergo a psychological evaluation, and prohibited App from owning any animals, according to an article in the Delaware County Daily Times.

App apparently has a history with the dog’s owner — a previous court order had prohibited him from having any contact with her. Apparently, her dog was another matter.

The dog’s owner, who rushed the dog to a veterinarian for treatment after the incident, told police she was alerted to the attempted drowning by her neighbors who had witnessed the cruelty.

Two neighbors reported they observed App pull the dog by a leash into the pool area and then throw the dog into the water, according to the arrest affidavit. One witness claimed App tossed the dog into the air and watched the dog land in the pool, then repeatedly dunked the dog under the water.

Neighbors yelled at App and he pulled the dog out of the water, police said.

The dachshund survived.

(WARNING: This video is graphic and disturbing)

A man in Lithuania who arranged to have himself filmed throwing a dog over the side of a bridge — and then posted the video online — was forced to turn himself in today after internet groups tracked him down and outed him.

The video, posted on Lithuanian websites, quickly spread across the Internet, prompting Facebook groups and others to call for him to be brought to justice.

The film, which appeared to have been taken from a mobile phone, showed the man carrying the dog to the side of the bridge. He speaks to the camera, making jokes about the videotaping, and how it will prove dogs can fly, while the dog rests calmly in his arms. Then he nonchalantly drops the dog over the side of the bridge.

The dog survived the fall and its whimpers can be heard on the video.

Outraged viewers on Lithuanian websites and international sites such as Reddit.com chased after the man’s identity, and police, with help from web users, determined the dog was dropped from a bridge in the Vilkija district in the city of Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania.

Police said a website they identified as www.15.min.lt was instrumental in identifying the man as Svajunas Beniuk.

The dog was rescued, received treatment for multiple fractures and internal injuries and was expected to survive. Beniuk was expected to be charged with animal cruelty, according to MailOnline.

(Note: The dog, named Pepper, later died. The updated story can be found here.)

Kelly Reeves at the website Urlesque believes she has stumbled upon dogs’ favorite song: It’s “The Sweet Escape,” by Gwen Stefani, featuring Akon, who sings the “woo-woos.”

Stefani’s 2007 single, “appears to be the favorite song of dogs across the world,” she says “From Huskies to Dachshunds, something about the ‘woooo wooooos’ in the tune cut to to the core of pooches, leading them to tilt their heads in wonder and sing along with Gwen and Akon.”

She presents as evidence not two, or even five, but 11 Youtube videos of dogs singing along with the song and reports that — wouldn’t you just know it — that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

You can see the entire compilation at Urlesque.com.

Some of the dogs seem to have the tune down better than others, and I got woo-wooed out by around number six. But, no doubt, you would like to see at least one more.

The operator of the Almost Heaven dog kennel has withdrawn his guilty pleas to animal cruelty charges, choosing instead to stand trial in Lehigh County Court in Pennsylvania.

Judge Robert L. Steinberg, who was scheduled to sentence Derbe “Skip” Eckhart , instead approved his request to withdraw guilty pleas that had been entered in court on Sept. 22. The judge ordered Eckhart’s bail increased to $25,000 and ordered him to stop working as a dog groomer pending the outcome of the trial, according to the Allentown Morning Call. “Your employment involving animals is now at an end,” the judge said.

Eckhart’s, who has prior animal cruelty convictions from 1988 and 1993, is facing four new counts in connection with the  operation of Almost Heaven Kennel in Upper Milford Township. The kennel was shut down in June following mounting complaints and dog law violations, and more than 200 dogs were seized.

When the trial does take place, it’s a safe bet the American Kennel Club won’t be testifying on his behalf.

According to a letter the AKC sent to the Lehigh County Probation Department, the non-profit organization has suspended his membership — three times.

The letter, as reported by columnist Bill White in his blog for the Morning Call, recounts that the AKC initially suspended Eckhart in 1988 after his conviction animal cruelty conviction, then extended the suspension to 25 years after learning in 1994 of another conviction in 1991. In May 2002, the AKC received information that Derbe Eckhart had sought the AKC seal of approval under the name ‘Skip’ Eckhart.

Upon learning he had managed to circumvent the suspension, the AKC took Eckhart to court, where an order was issued prohibiting him from claiming any affiliation with the AKC.  He was also ordered to pay AKC $8,910.21, but has not done so, the letter said.