ohmidog!

It took less than 24 hours for director Martin Scorsese’s plea to be answered.

Fans flocked to Facebook, posted their write-in votes and now Blackie, a Doberman who stars in the movie “Hugo,” is a contender for the newly established Golden Collar Awards.

“Due to the outpouring of love and support from around the world from fans of Mr. Scorsese, his film ‘Hugo,’ and its canine star Blackie, the write-in campaign on our Facebook page to gain a Golden Collar Award has been successful,” Alan Siskind, the CEO of Dog News Daily said.

The Golden Collar Awards are the creation of Dog News Daily.

“Keeping to its promise, Dog News Daily’s nominating committee has formally notified the impartial panel of 14 Golden Collar Award judges that Blackie’s name has been added to the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film category as the 6th and final nominee in that category; and that they should immediately include Blackie and HUGO in their deliberations,” Siskind said.

Scorsese’s tongue-in-cheek, publicity-in-mind complaint about Blackie being snubbed appeared in the Los Angeles Times Sunday.

While Blackie’s star may be rising, Uggie — the canine star who appeared in both “Water for Elephants” and “The Artist,” and got nominated for both — still seems to be Hollywood’s No. 1 darling.

Uggie assisted in announcing the Golden Collar nominations. And now, the Hollywood Reporter says Uggie is rehearsing a skit with host Billy Crystal for this year’s Academy Awards.

The Golden Collar Award ceremony will take place on Feb. 13, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, honoring the canine stars of US and international films, TV shows and commercials.

In Kansas some are swearin’
Cuz there’s no breed that’s bearin’
The title of state dog

To correct this error glarin’
Oh, the answer’s quite apparent
It can only be the cairn

You don’t need to be a wizard, or even have a brain, to figure this one out. If Kansas is going to name a state dog, it’s got to be the cairn terrier — Toto’s breed.

A proposal, and not the first, has been submitted to do just that, so that Kansas — in addition to its state insect, bird, reptile, grass, animal, tree and song (it’s not “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” it’s “Home on the Range”) — will have a state dog.

The man behind the curtain, in this case, is a woman, Brenda Moore of Augusta, who is described as “obedience chairwoman” with the South Central Kansas Kennel Club.

So one should probably do what she suggests.

“I’ve lived in Kansas all my life. I am a middle-aged woman and would like to say I’ve done something great for my state before I am dead and gone. I’m hoping this will go through,” she told the Wichita Eagle

Moore contacted State Rep. Ed Trimmer about proposing a bill designating the cairn terrier as the official dog breed of Kansas. Last week, that’s what he did.

A waste of time? Not in Trimmer’s view: “I realize we have very critical, critical issues at the state level. But our constituents and their issues are very important … and that’s why I introduced it for them … If we are going to have a state dog, I think that is the appropriate choice.”

Before the bill can be passed, the proposal will go to a committee – in this case, the House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The last time Kansas adopted a symbol was 2010 when, after a 3 1/2-hour debate, it declared the official state grass: little bluestem.

Trimmer hopes the state dog bill goes through the committee and passes with a quick vote. “We certainly have a lot of very important issues to deal with, especially in terms of economy,” he said. “I hope we can do this quickly, and I don’t mean for it to be a time waster.”

There was a push to name the cairn terrier the state dog in 2006, but after several thousand signatures were gathered, no elected official stepped forward as a sponsor.

At least 10 states have state dogs. You can take ohmidog’s state dog quiz here, or (though I’m not sure the obedience chairwoman would like it) go directly to the answers here.

Was Blackie snubbed?

And, if so, was it because because of his large and menacing appearance — a case of Doberman discrimination?

Director Martin Scorsese — pronounced “score-SAYS-he” — is contending that the canine star of his movie, “Hugo,” Blackie the Doberman, was rudely overlooked in the nominations for the First Annual Golden Collar Awards.

But, according to Hollywood insiders (and one wonders, are there any Hollywood outsiders?), he’s doing it for laughs, and probably even more for publicity.

Blackie plays a train station officer’s attack dog, and most of his time on screen is spent scaring and chasing the child stars of the Oscar-nominated film.

In response to the void of Academy Awards for animals, the website Dog News Daily created the Golden Collar awards this year and came up with a list of nominees.

Uggie, the Jack Russell, received two nominations — for his roles in “The Artist” and “Water for Elephants” — but Blackie got no respect.

In a guest column for the Los Angeles Times Scorcese writes:

“OK, let’s lay all our cards on the table. Jack Russell terriers are small and cute. Dobermans are enormous and — handsome. More tellingly, Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master’s life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorizes children. I’m sure you can see what I’m driving at.”

He urges readers to start a write-in campaign for Blackie, via comments on the Dog News Daily Facebook page.

Dog News Daily editor Alan Siskind says if Blackie receives 500 write-ins by Monday, February 6th, the Golden Collar nominating committee will add him as the sixth nominee in the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film category.

A few hours after having his dog euthanized, soap opera actor Nick Santino took his own life.

Santino blamed oppressive rules instituted by his condo board for his decision to put his pit bull, Rocco, to sleep; and before taking an overdose of pills he left a note saying he had “betrayed his best friend,” according to the New York Post.

“Rocco trusted me and I failed him,” he wrote. “He didn’t deserve this.”

Pit bulls were banned from the building Santino lived in, One Lincoln Plaza, but he was allowed to keep Rocco through a grandfather clause. Since 2010, the condo board has also forbidden dogs from riding in the main elevator or being left alone in apartments for more than nine hours.

Santino had adopted Rocco, about five years old, from a shelter. Rocco was put to sleep on Santino’s 47th birthday. A few hours later, he killed himself in an apparent pill overdose, the Post reported.

A condo board member said the board feels no responsibility for the tragedy.

“I’m sorry the man is dead,” board member Marilyn Fireman told the Post, “but it has nothing to do with the pet policy.”

Relatives of Santino, who had roles on “All My Children” and “Guiding Light,” plan to place Rocco’s ashes beside Santino’s body when he is laid to rest.

A California man was arrested Thursday on charges of killing a neighbor’s Chihuahua — with one swing of a golf club.

Barbara Hitchman said she found her dog, Lily, lying on the ground while driving through her neighborhood in Riverside. A neighbor told Hitchman that she saw another neighbor, 58-year-old Larry Jaurequi, strike the dog.

“She said he lined up as if he was doing a golf shot, and he just whopped her, and she said she went so far in the air, she did three summersaults and hit the pavement,” Hitchman told KABC in Riverside.

Hitchman went across the street to confront the man.

“I said, ‘You’re insane, you’re a psycho, you need locking away,’ and he said, ‘Try it, you better get out of here too.’”

Hitchman said Jaurequi also told her that her dog should not have been on the loose. Lily had escaped sometime earlier that day.

Jaurequi was arrested that night.

“I don’t believe this dog was a threat to this man in any way, he just for unknown reasons attacked the dog with a golf club,” said Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Courtney Donowho.

Lily died at a veterinary clinic Friday morning.

Skechers has released a sneak preview of its upcoming Super Bowl ad, filmed at a greyhound racing park.

“Get a first look at Mr. Quiggly, the tiny French Bulldog with the heart of a champion, in his SKECHERS GOrun 2012 Big Game commercial,” a publicist for the company wrote in an email. “How will Quiggly find an edge to help him race on Game Day? Watch the preview to see his secret weapon in action!”

Meanwhile, the anti-greyhound racing group Grey2KUSA continues to fire away with its own not-so-secret weapon — a boycott of the shoe company, with protest rallies being held this weekend across the country.

Grey2KUSA says the ad glorifies a sport that is harmful to greyhounds, and points out that it was filmed at one of the country’s most injury-plagued greyhound parks.

Skechers vaguely refers to the “controversy” over the ad in its email: “There has been a lot of talk about Skechers’ new commercial… With a four-legged celebrity taking center stage this year, the campaign has definitely stirred up some controversy, but Skechers believes the spirit of the ‘underdog’ will be a big winner on Game Day.”

In the ad, filmed at Tucson Greyhound Park, a Skechers-wearing French bulldog outraces a group of greyhounds. The ad also features billionaire technology mogul and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

The ad will be aired during the Super Bowl on February 5.

Grey2K coordinated a series of protests this weekend, all held in front of Skechers stores and other outlets at which the shoes are sold.

“No Skechers” events were scheduled this weekend in Tucson, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Boston, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City and at locations in Florida, Colorado and Michigan.

“Tucson Greyhound Park’s greyhounds are kept confined in small cages which are barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around. They are fed raw 4-D meat, the meat of downed, diseased, disabled or dead livestock. These conditions were documented in recent inspections by Pima County investigators and by a GREY2K USA undercover video first released in 2010,” the organization says.

Additionally, the state of Arizona documented nearly 1,000 injuries in the last reported years of 2007- 2009, including broken legs, sprains, dislocations, muscle tears and strains, lacerations, a cracked skull, broken backs, heat stroke, puncture wounds and paralysis.

“Instead of promoting such cruelty, companies should be asking for it to end,” Grey2K says.

More information can be found at boycottskechers.org.

Six new AKC-recognized breeds will be competing at Westminster this year, including a hairless Mexican dog known as the — I can spell it, I can spell it — Xoloitzcuintle.

The AKC announced the acceptance of three new breeds in January of last year — the Entlebucher Mountain Dog, the  Norwegian Lundehund and the Xoloitzcuintli.

In June, three more new breeds were recognized — the American English Coonhound, Finnish Lapphund, and Cesky Terrier

The six new breeds bring the number of AKC recognized breeds to to 185.

By comparison, in 1990, there were 142 eligible breeds.

Here’s some background on each of the newly recognized breeds, provided by the AKC.

The American English coonhound is a descendent of the English foxhound and evolved from Virginia hounds. Originally used to hunt fox by day and raccoon by night, they were once called the English fox and coonhound.

The breed is pleasant, alert, confident and sociable with both humans and dogs. The modern version of the dog is a speedy, durable and wide-ranging hunter.

The Entlebucher mountain dog is a native of Switzerland and the smallest of the four AKC Swiss breeds. Prized for its work ethic and ease of training, this dog can easily switch from high-spirited playmate to serious, self-assured dog with a commanding presence.

This is not a good dog for the casual owner because it needs so much socialization and will remain active and energetic all its life.

The Finnish Lapphund is a reindeer herding dog from the northern parts of Scandinavia. It is thought that this breed existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years as a helper dog to native tribes. Today, they are popular as family pets in their native Finland. Devoted to their family, they are friendly with all people, highly intelligent and eager to learn. They are strong but very agile.

The Norwegian Lundehund is also called the puffin dog. It spent centuries on the rocky cliffs and high fields of arctic Norway hunting and retrieving puffin birds, which was an important meat and feather crop to local farmers.

This dog has at least six toes on each foot so it can handle the almost vertical areas where puffins nest. It also has a flexible skeletal structure that enables it to squirm out of tight spots or go spread eagle to prevent slips and falls.

The Cesky terrier is a well-muscled, short legged hunting terrier that can be worked in packs. With natural drop ears and a natural tail, it is longer than it is tall and has a long, soft, silky coat that can be any shade of gray from charcoal to platinum.

Lean and graceful, the dogs are reserved toward strangers but loyal to their owners and always keen and alert during a hunt.

The Xoloitzcuintli , or Xolo, for short, is the national dog of Mexico and was previously known as the Mexican Hairless. It comes in three sizes and there is a coated version seen only in the United States and Canada. These dogs are descendants of the hairless dogs prized by the Aztecs and revered as guardians of the dead.

Living in the Mexican jungles, they were shaped by their environment. Their intelligence, trainability and natural cleanliness have turned them into unique and valued pets.

(Top photo from Vetstreet.com; other photos courtesy of American Kennel Club)

A Florida man will serve 40 days in jail for tying a 30-pound dumbbell to a dog’s neck and tossing him in the river.

Willie T. Bell, 41, of Palmetto, told police he was trying to make the dog stronger.

He pleaded no contest to the third-degree felony earlier this week, the Bradenton Herald reported.

Police in April spotted the two-year-old pit bull mix, named Blackie, in the Manatee River, not far from where Bell was fishing.

According to Palmetto police officer Micah Mathews’ report, the dogs snout was sticking up as it tried to tread water.

“Mr. Bell said he was trying to make the dog stronger,” Mathews wrote.
“The dog was unable to touch the ground and was not able to move the weight,” the officer wrote. “When I arrived I could see only the nose of the dog out of the water.”

On the officer’s request, Bell brought the dog to shore. Bell told the officer the dog had been swimming in place for about 15 minutes.

Mathews asked Bell the same question that’s probably running through your mind right now: Would he like to be anchored to a dumbbell and left in the water like that? Bell replied, “Hell no,” the police report states.

Bell was not the dog’s owner, animal control officials said.

The dog was returned to its original owner and animal control officials said it suffered no lasting physical damage.

Whether you’re Catholic, Presbyterian or just plain gullible, you might have seen and fallen for this series of photos that seems to capture two neighboring churches having a theological debate, via their church signs, on whether dogs go to heaven.

But nay, my friend. Do not be decieved. See the light, which, you might notice, is exactly the same in each shot, as is the cropping, as is the background — including one car that is parked in the same place the whole time the alleged sign debate is going on.

Fall not for nefarious pranksters, for they are evil. Either that or they have idle time on their hands, and we know what that leads to, because we read it on a real church sign once.

Yea, verily, the devil’s workshop (now available online).

This particular one — the place where these false images are fashioned — is called Church Sign Generator. You can find it on the Internet, should you care to venture into that sinful rat’s nest of temptation, deception and pop-up ads. (May God strike me down if I ever resort to them.)

There, sheep-like, we (by which I mean humans) flock to get the wool pulled over our eyes, failing to recognize false idols, fraud and, sometimes, jest.

We (by which I mean me) are not truly bothered by Internet-generated church signs, though we’d argue that being able to put any words you want on one takes away some of the thrill of spotting real church signs that contain humor, wisdom or interesting typos. (Like seeking kudzu dogs, that’s one of my hobbies.)

Some of the Cumberland Presbyterians — especially since they seem to come out on the losing end of the debate — are less than thrilled with it though, calling the text that appears on the signs “inappropriate.”

The misleading series of photos is most often passed along via the forwarded email — forwarded emails being the Internet equivalent of swarming locusts.

“This forwarded e-mail continues to rear its ugly head time after time,” writes editor Pat White in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church newsletter, “so I am resurrecting this message that explains that this is not a theological issue for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.”

“These signs are a prank,”  he adds. “If you receive one of these forwarded e-mails, please respond to the sender to be sure they understand that this is not a true Cumberland Presbyterian church sign.”

Alas, his remarks are too little, too late.

As with with locusts, once forwarded emails go viral, the damage is done, and the Presbyterian Church, or at least the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, or at least the Beulah Cumberland Presbyterian Church – if there really is one — is left looking God-fearing but dog-hating.

White does not address whether all dogs go to heaven, but we are quite certain they do.

We read it on a church sign once.

It was 50 years ago today that this classic episode of The Twilight Zone, called “The Hunt,” originally aired.

The clip above shows the last third of the episode.

Hyder Simpson has just about realized, by then, that he is dead.

Him and his dog, Rip, had left the house long about supper time, and the dog, he picked up a coon trail, you see. Rip plunged into a creek in pursuit of the raccoon. When Rip didn’t come up, Hyder went in after him, and he didn’t come up neither.

When next we see them, they are awakening in a meadow. It slowly dawns on Hyder that no one can detect his presence, or Rip’s for that matter. After seeing his grieving widow, and the casket holding his earthly remains, Hyder sets off for the great beyond — not sure what that’s going to be, seein’ as as he never went in much for hymns or scripture.

He and Rip start walking, first coming across what bills itself as heaven.

He’s told he’s welcome there, but that dogs aren’t allowed.

Needless to say — Rip and Hyder havin’ them a right powerful bond — Hyder declines to enter, and he utters the following lines, all of which you can use next time a motel, restaurant, park, shop or other establishment devilishly declines entry to your dog:

“I don’t reckon in there is any place for me … any place that’s too high falutin’ for Rip is too fancy for me.”

“What kind of outfit you runnin’ don’t allow no dogs?”

“A dog’s got a right to have a man around just like a man’s got a right to have a dog around.”

Hyder and Rip hear out the man who describes himself as St. Peter, but (and note how Rip detects something isn’t right) they decide not to go through the gate. Instead, they press on.

Eventually they come across an angel who offers to usher them into the real heaven.

“Ain’t gonna set foot in heaven without Rip.” Hyder tells him.

But in heaven, of course, dogs are welcome. And what of that first place they stopped? Well, as Rip’s discomfort there might have attested, that was hell.

It’s the angel who utters this classic line:

“You see, Mr. Simpson, a man, well he’ll walk right into hell with both eyes open, but even the devil can’t fool a dog.”

The episode was the first of eight that Earl Hamner wrote for The Twilight Zone — and 50 years later, we tip our hat to him.

Hamner went on to create ”The Waltons” (That’s his voice you hear narrating the episodes, should you happen to stumble across John Boy and family in a repeat.)

Should you happen to stumble across Hyder or Rip, well, you’ll know you’re in the right place.