ohmidog!

A Boston terrier who was shaken up in a massive freeway pileup in Detroit was carried to safety by a firefighter who knows a few things about dogs in distress.

Matt Schaecher works as a Detroit firefighter two days a week, and as a cruelty investigator for the Humane Society of Huron Valley for the other five.

When Schaecher came upon a woman’s crumpled car at the mile-long accident scene on southbound Interstate 75, he asked if she needed help. “I think my dog might be injured,” she responded.

Schaecher pulled the dog, named Riley, from the car and checked him out while other emergency workers attended to the driver, Heather Ramsey of Ferndale.

“He was shaking almost uncontrollably,” Schaecher said. “Probably a combination of being extremely scared and cold.” As Shaecher cradled the dog in a blanket, Detroit News photographer David Coates took the photo above.

Riley wasn’t injured, and Shaecher placed the dog in the ambulance with his owner. Ramsey has since been released from the hospital, according to AnnArbor.com

Three people, including two children, were killed in the chain reaction of crashes.

Schaecher, who is the lead cruelty investigator for the Humane Society of Huron Valley in Washtenaw County’s Superior Township, said the widely distributed photo of Riley and him served as a positive note amid the lingering horror of the crash.

“Obviously any accident scene or any emergency scene that involves children is extremely difficult,” he said. My heart just goes out to the families of the people that have lost loved ones. I can’t imagine being in that position.”

Here’s the latest ad from Travelers Insurance, which has a long tradition of featuring dogs in its commercials, most often a mixed breed named Chopper.

We loved it when Chopper went to great lengths to find a safe place for his bone. We loved it when Chopper found true love.

In this one, Chopper has a special bone that is the envy of all the neighborhood dogs, and while he seems to be intent on keeping it for himself, and away from the other dogs, he actually has something else in mind.

While Chopper is clearly the star dog in Travelers’ stable, we see much promise in another of the canine actors appearing in this one; namely, the Boston terrier. Check out his smile at the end.

This ad features the song “What I Want This Season” by Orba Squara.

To see all of our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here.

Bruschi, a Boston terrier, has the biggest eyes of any dog in the world.

So says Guinness World Records, which measured them.

Bruschi’s eyes measure 28 millimeters — more than one inch in diameter. Each.

The four-year-old dog’s owner, Victoria Reed, adopted him from a shelter in 2009, according to People.com.

She said she sought out the official distinction after all the comments she’d get on her dog’s bulging eyes – from friends, family and even her own vet.

We won’t diminish Bruschi’s achievement by getting all bogged down in how some breeders attempt to produce caricatures of dog breeds, including pups with bigger eyes — that being considered the foremost factor in how much dogs appeal to us humans.

We won’t question whether, by shining a spotlight on Bruschi,  Guinness is encouraging breeders to create even more freakish dogs.

And we’ll just barely mention that one of Bruschi’s eyeballs popped out of its socket last year, and that he has only peripheral vision in both eyes.

People.com says “the energetic and playful pooch loves to play dress-up and is otherwise in perfectly good health.”

“Some people do make fun of him for his looks,” she told Guinness. “But I feel like he would go up to them and say, ‘Haha, look where I am now, I’ve got a record for my looks!’”

Don’t get me wrong. Some of my best friends are Boston terriers. And I’ve known enough of them to know it would be wrong to paint them all with the same broad brush.

But they do seem to have a way — more so than most breeds — of making you laugh until your stomach hurts.

Here’s a video by a Boston terrier lover that includes her own rescued dog, Manoja, and countless others.

It was posted on YouTube by “Snowy1985,” who explains:

“I made this video to my new favorite song in honor of the rescue that got me hooked on the Boston terrier breed. This video is intended to educate people on the joys of having a Boston terrier by showing them how much fun they are. It is also a parody of the LMFAO song, “Sexy and I Know It.”

Snowy notes that her video was a labor of love, not intended to make money — and she directs those interested in finding out more about Boston terriers in need of homes to Adoptaboston.com.

In response to yesterday’s post — the one that questioned whether dogs really enjoy the way we outfit them for Halloween, and whether all the money we spend doing that might be put to better use — a reader sent along a couple of links to YouTube videos.

The video above features a Boston terrier who has been equipped with a pig nose.

Perhaps I would be anthropomorphizing to assume that he’s humiliated by it all — getting humiliated being a human condition. Boston terriers are, after all, masters of the what-the-hell-is-going-on-here look, even when nothing is going on.

But my best guess is neither the pig-nosed dog, nor the Chihuahua clad in an army tank (below) is thoroughly enjoying the experience.

If anthropomorphization is bad, what about porcinepomorphization? And weaponpomorphization?

Name: Betty

Breed: Boston terrier

Age: 14 years

Encountered: At Heart of Gold, a jewelry store in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: Ace and I were sitting outside a coffee shop when suddenly I felt my seat start moving. I’d looped Ace’s leash over the back of my chair, and he moved it a full inch before I turned around to see what he was trying to get to.

It was a Boston terrier. She did her business in the pine needles and disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

Ace whimpered, insisting, it seemed, that we go find her. He pulled me into Heart of Gold, where the owner was packing up — going out of business after nine months.

Despite the situation, she was happy to talk about her greying old dog, Betty, who comes to work with her every day.

She got Betty as a pup in Florida, part of a litter sired by a pedigreed Boston terrier who went by the name Willie B. Cute.

Betty’s owner, who’s moving to Texas after the shop gets packed up,  happily agreed to me taking Betty’s picture, but — not wanting to be in any pictures herself — handed the dog off to her employee.

The result was a photo that captured — if I do say so myself — both the quiet dignity of old age and the joyful energy of youth.

After our quick photo session, Betty, who’s going deaf, was returned to the floor, where she immediately began scooting her butt across the carpet. She was scolded only mildly and continued scooting. That’s one of the things that comes with the dignity of old age — when you have an itch, you scratch it.

(Roadside Encounters are a regular feature of Travels with Ace. To see them all, click here.)

Ace and I have been avoiding all things Elvis — not easy to do when one is between Memphis (home of Graceland) and Tupelo (birthplace of The King).

Still, I would be remiss if I didn’t pass along this news:  A Boston terrier named Boomer won the Elvis Pet Look-A-Like contest at the 2010 Tupelo Elvis Presley Festival.

Boomer, who has his own website — boomertheboston.com – came all the way from Springfield, Missouri to compete in the contest.

As you might guess, there’s an even more popular human division, whose sideburned entrants came from as far away as Canada, the Tupelo Daily Journal reported.

The weekend event included a reenactment of Elvis’ mother purchasing him his first guitar at Tupelo Hardware.

Boomer donned an Elvis-style wig, sideburns included, and a rhinestone jumpsuit for the Elvis lookalike pet contest, which followed the Elvis parade and benefitted the Tupelo-Lee County Humane Society.

On April 30, the Postal Service will issue a 44–cent, Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet stamp series.

With the 10 stamp designs — five cats and five dogs — the U.S. Postal Service hopes to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter pets.

The pets depicted on the stamps were photographed by Sally Andersen-Bruce near her home in New Milford, Connecticut. All had been homeless at one time; all but one had been adopted when they were photographed.

The stamps were designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC.

In celebration of the new Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet stamps, the Postal Service, together with Ellen DeGeneres and her dog food company, Halo: Purely for Pets, will be donating a million meals to animal shelters around the country.

To pre-order the stamps, go here.

Here’s a closer look at the dogs chosen for the stamps:

Teddy, a wired-haired Jack Russell terrier: The owners of Teddy’s mother were surprised when she gave birth to another litter. They couldn’t afford to raise more puppies, so they gave Teddy and his siblings to a shelter.

Today, Teddy lives with a loving family, their other Jack Russell, and a cat. 

Trevor, a yellow Lab: Trevor and his litter mates were found abandoned at 8-10 weeks of age at a new home construction site.

They were rescued by Labrador Retriever Rescue of CT, Inc. Trevor was adopted by a couple who are a perfect match for his outgoing personality.

Buddy, a golden retriever: Buddy is a pure-bred golden who was purchased from a pet store. At only eight months old, he had such bad hips that his family gave him to a shelter.

Now, Buddy is flourishing with his family who have improved his health through regular exercise and a good diet. 

Bindu Su, an Australian shepherd: Bindi Su’s mother was handed over to a rescue group when her owners found out she was expecting.

Bindu Su was adopted at eight weeks old.

Now she competes in agility events and visits a local nursing home weekly. 

Jake, a Boston Terrier: Purchased at a pet shop on Thanksgiving when he was eight weeks old, Jake’s original family quickly realized that they couldn’t take care of him.

The pet shop had a no-return policy, so Jake was turned over to a shelter.

 
Here in the winter of our discontent in Baltimore — the snowiest city (believe it!) in the continental United States –  we are getting by, getting sore and getting a little tired of it.

Most dogs still seem to be loving it, but I think even among them, all the slip-sliding around might be starting to wear thin. Even these two American Eskimo dogs seemed to think it has all been a bit much.

As of  Monday, 79.9 inches had fallen so far this winter, and more is coming down as we speak. We’ve had more than Rochester, more than Syracuse, more than Binghamton, and more, I think we can all agree, than enough.

The streets are lined with icebergs. Schools have been closed for a good week. Parking spaces are like gold. Getting anything accomplished takes four times as long as it normally does. Our back hurts, and we’re getting a little antsy, perhaps a little cranky.

Pets help us get through the cabin fever — as comforting as an old movie — countering the stress and loneliness and keeping us connected, however cut off from other humans we might feel.

I’m lucky enough to have three this week — my dog Ace, Darcy the Boston Terrier, who’s spending another week with me while her parents tie the knot in Hawaii, and my temporary cat Miley, still available for adoption, should you need a cat to help you through the winter.

All are co-existing nicely, if not as playfully as Ace and Darcy, who are more fun to watch than 90 percent of what’s on TV.

Sure, there is a downside. As we’re not getting to the park as much, my back yard is no longer the blank white canvas it was after the first snowfall, but a series of abstract yellow stains — like those inkblot tests — all punctuated with brown exclamation points.

I will get to it as I will get to most everything else this winter, including shoveling today’s snow:

Eventually!

 
The saint is gone. The sinner remains.

After a four-dog Christmas, I’m down to two — my dog Ace, and the visiting Boston terrier, Darcy.

Cheyenne, the blind Lab, went home today, and with not a single demerit on her record.

Darcy notched up a few, resulting in her serving some time (above) during her stay with me. But she spent most of her days playing with Ace, in my lap, or on the couch with a marrow bone (which would keep her occupied for hours).

She was the pup of my pack — not yet two, and not entirely aware, it seemed, that she’s a dog. She was sort of the opposite of Lucas, the big yellow Lab whose personality seems to shout, “I’m a dog, dammit.”

I tried to convince Darcy that she too was of the canine species, but I don’t think she bought it.

As the youngster of the group, she was everywhere — and she never walked to get there. Instead, she’s always in a speedy little trot, which makes it appear she needs to go to the bathroom, which was sometimes the case. Trouble was, it was impossible to distinguish betweeen her hurry-hurry-gotta-pee-now trot, and her usual trot.

So I’d open the door to let her out and she’d stand there with a look on her face that said “what are you kidding? It’s 20 degrees out there.”

When one dog got attention, Darcy would inevitably run over and demand some as well. And whenever I left my TV-watching chair, she’d hop right into it, refusing to leave when I came back.

Darcy slept in the crate at night. The first night she cried for a minute, and Ace, who normally beds down with me, stayed downstairs with her. Other than bedtime, she only did a couple of other short stretches in the crate — either for disciplinary infractions or during visits from my landlord, who chose this week of all weeks to repair my leaky ceilings.

Darcy, I found out, enjoyed drywall almost as much as the marrow bone, gobbling up the crumbs the landlord left behind.

I yelled at her for that, and for a few other things, but all in all she was a joy to have around. Despite her dribbles and dumps, mostly remedied after the first couple of days, her lack of any visible off-switch and her tendency to enthusiastically explore everything, she brought me more smiles than anything else.

She’s full of personality, a master of the “who-me?” look, and far too cute, with those big bulging eyes, to stay mad at for more than 15 seconds …

OK, maybe 30.

(To read all of the Company for Christmas series, click here.)