ohmidog!

Five students in a communications class at the University of Texas were hoping to get 1,000 YouTube views when, for an assignment, they put together a video of a chocolate Lab going through a decidedly human morning routine.

As of today, after less than a month online, the video is nearing 1.5 million views.

Entitled “Ruff Dog Day,” the video shows a dog named Dudley waking up, brushing his teeth, putting on a shirt, eating breakfast and heading to work — all with the aid of human hands.

Dudley belongs to Charli Kilpatrick, who made the video along with four fellow students — Jacqueline Hesson, Sally Ngo, Carolyn Volk and Alison Herschap.

“We sat down one night and uploaded it and were fretting over how to get 1,000 views,” Kilpatrick told the Austin American-Statesman.

The assignment – for a communications class on celebrity culture – was to create a video and learn about the value of circulation, said Kilpatrick.

We’ll assume they got an “A.”

Cool Hand Luke, a chocolate Lab, was shot and killed by police officers responding to a burglar alarm in Georgia.

His owner wants an apology.

“I don’t want anything else out of this,” said Robby King of Smyrna. “This is life changing for me. Luke was such a big part of my life and I didn’t realize what all I did with him until now.”

The 6-year-old chocolate lab was shot by a Cobb County police officer Sunday, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.

A spokesman for the Cobb County Police Department told the newspaper that, while he could not discuss the incident, the two officers involved “followed proper protocol.”

King, 45, says he accidentally triggered the burlgar alarm at his home Sunday afternoon, and couldn’t remember the password required to turn it off.

Two Cobb County police officers, identified as  J.P. Gibson and G. M. Roach, responded.

Roach, in his report, said that when he opened the back door of the home and announced he was a police officer a “large brown dog” came running toward him, “barking aggressively.”

According to his report — and we’ll admit to not understanding this part – he didn’t close the door because it would have put him in “immediate risk of danger from the unknown that was inside the residence.”

He continues: “While quickly retreating out of the patio, the large brown dog continued to charge toward me in an aggressive manner while continuously barking at me as he advanced on me. The large dog closed the distance between me and him in less than three seconds. I fired one round at the large dog and it continued charging me in an aggressive manner as if the dog’s main focus was attacking and harming me. I fired one more round at the large dog and it immediately collapsed falling to its left side in the grass.”

Did he mention it was a large dog?

Gibson’s report described things more briefly: ”A dog began to bark and came at Officer Roach. Officer Roach shot the dog.”

King says he never heard the officers announce their presence.

“… I heard Luke bark and I said, ‘Luke come,’ as I was headed through the house … I heard a pop, pop and as I was headed out the door, I said, ‘Oh God, please don’t shoot my dog,’ and Luke was laying there, gasping for air.”

King said Luke always barked when someone was at the door.

“… If the officer had just stopped, Luke would have gone up to him and just sniffed him and probably would have gone and gotten a ball to fetch. I know the (officer) didn’t know that, but my point is that he didn’t have to shoot my dog. He could have shot up in the air, maced him, kicked him, whatever he wanted to do. He wouldn’t have bit him.”

Police also said they were told by a neighbor that Luke had bitten her.

The neighbor, though, who is also King’s sister, told the Daily Journal that police apparently misunderstood her. She said she told them she’d recent been bitten by another dog, a Chihuahua.

“The reason I said that was because I was trying to point out to them that this little dog bit me and Luke never even bit nobody,” she said.

King, who adopted Luke when the dog was six months old, buried him near the garden in his backyard late Sunday night.

“I haven’t been able to stop crying. This was the hardest thing I ever had to do,” he said.

(Photo by Todd Hull / Marietta Daily Journal)

Name: Burger

Age: 3

Breed: Labradoodle

Encountered: At Washington Park, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Backstory: This eye-catching boy drew a lot of attention when he sauntered into the dog park with his owners, mainly because of his silky coat the color of chocolate milk.

Make that chocolate milk that you haven’t quite finished stirring.

His fluffy, curly coat, in varying hues of silvery-brown, made me wonder why he was named Burger, and not Milkshake.

It was only around his eyes that you could clearly distinguish one of the breeds within — a chocolate Lab.

Burger was the first chocolate Labradoodle I’ve met, and I found myself coveting not just his hair color, but his aura — at once distinguished and goofy.

That’s what I want to be when I grow up.

You can find all our Roadside Encounters here.

We did it. We managed to do what I suspect no other dog blog pulled off — we got through Halloween 2011 without running a single picture of dogs in costume.

I am not strictly opposed to dressing dogs up for Halloween.

But I wonder whether we’ve gone overboard. I question how much dogs enjoy it, and why and how, with the economy we have, Americans were willing and able to fork over an estimated $310 million to decorate their dogs for the holiday.

As noted in The Village Voice:

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend $6.68 billion on Halloween this year. Included in that sum is an astounding $310 million spent on costumes for people’s pets. Give Americans credit: We can suffer through a recession, gross economic turmoil, a foreclosure epidemic, and a tepid stock market, but we sure as shit aren’t skimping on the dog costumes.

What if, even just for one year, we declared a moratorium on doggie costumes and instead used that $310 million to make America, or the world, a better place for dogs — used it on dog parks, or spaying and neutering, or  emergency veterinary treatment, or furthering adoptions, or more humane alternatives to the gas chambers many animal control departments are still using for euthanasia?

Too scary?

“Halloween is my favorite holiday because it makes me infinitely happy to see dogs in costumes,” Nikki Moustaki writes on her blog, MUTTerings. “It’s the time of year when passionate dog owners let their dogs’ inner ballerina, bumblebee, or princess shine.”

Nikki’s infinite happiness aside — and on top of the hazards some costumes can pose – there’s something to be said for letting a dog be a dog, even on Halloween, as opposed to ballerina or bumblebee.

Much as it makes us smile, chuckle and go awwwwww, Humans should not get their kicks at the expense of a dog’s suffering, or even discomfort.

I’m sure most responsible pet owners are careful, ensuring that what they’re dressing their dog in/as is a safe costume that won’t constrict their pet’s breathing, or contain little pieces that can be chewed off or choked on.

But the increasing trendiness of dog costuming ensures that there will be an increasing number of pet owners who aren’t thinking things through.

And physical hazards aside, there’s also the stress factor. Some dogs may relish the attention, and happily tolerate a costume, but many only get stressed out when festooned with an elaborate get-up.

Ironically, one of the biggest promoters of costuming dogs — after the companies that sell costumes, and the websites that thrive on presenting pictures of dogs as something other than dogs — are local shelters and humane societies.

Rare is the fundraising event that doesn’t feature a doggie costume contest, which is understandable, given they are such crowd pleasers.

I’m not a total party pooper. Putting a dog who doesn’t stress out about it in a simple and safe costume, for a short while — long enough to get your laughs, snap your pictures and post them on Facebook — is fine.

But leaving them in it for hours, leaving them in it unattended, leaving them in it when they are clearly upset about it? That’s where it all enters the arena of, maybe not animal cruelty, but animal disrespect.

The hazards of Halloween, for dogs, go beyond the costuming. It, like the 4th of July, is a prime times for dogs to get loose and run away. In Rochester, N.Y., police fatally shot a Rottweiler who was scaring trick-or-treaters.

And then there are the treats. Chocolate, as we all should know by now, can be toxic to dogs, and xylitol — an ingredient found in gum and other treats — can sicken and kill them as well.

Other than all that, Happy Halloween!

This year’s tips on how to ensure your pet has a safe Halloween are brought to you by PETA — the scariest animal welfare group of all.

Keep your cats inside. For cats — especially black cats — the days leading up to Halloween can be dangerous. Pranksters often go on the prowl for roaming kitties. In fact, many animal shelters refuse to adopt out black cats during the entire month of October.

Keep your dogs indoors too. Some kids think that letting dogs out of their yards, or otherwise harassing them on Halloween is a great trick. Dogs can also get spooked by the noise and all the strangely dressed people.

Put animals in a secure room. Cats and dogs might try to sneak out when the front door’s constantly being opened. It’s best to keep animals inside a bedroom or family room, away from all the commotion.

Don’t take dogs trick-or-treating.  Dogs can easily become frightened by the endless stream of laughing and screaming children and run off.

Keep candy out of reach of animals. All candy can cause animals to become sick, and chocolate can be poisonous to dogs. Give them a pet treat instead, and make sure children understand that, too.

Be careful with candles and other decorations. Jack-o’-lanterns lit up by candles can burn animals (and children) or start fires if tipped over. The ink that is used in some brightly colored decorations, such as orange streamers and paper pumpkins, is toxic to animals, and swallowed balloons or party favors can block an animal’s digestive tract.

Remember that animals aren’t party props. Many animals become upset if they are forced into clothing, and many pet owners sometimes take the concept too far. Costumes that are kept in place with tight rubber bands can cut off circulation.

PETA goes on to suggest using only cruelty-free make-up for your costume, and passing out vegan candy, or, in lieu of candy — and here’s where they really lose us – stickers with information on tooth decay.

A veterinarian says a dog trapped in a car on a 90-degree day in eastern Pennsylvania honked the horn until he was rescued.

Nancy Soares said the 11-year-old chocolate Labrador — named Max — was brought to the Macungie Animal Hospital last month after he had been in the car for about an hour.

She said Max’s owner, Donna Gardner, of Upper Macungie Township, had gone shopping, returned home, unloaded her packages, but forgot that Max was still in the car. The owner later heard the horn honking, checked outside, then went back in. When she heard the horn honking again, she went outside and saw Max sitting in the driver’s seat, WFMZ reported.

Soares said the owner immediately gave Max cold water to drink and wet him down with towels before rushing him to the clinic, where — though he was warm and panting heavily — he was determined to have suffered no lasting injuries.

When Hudson, a 10-year-old chocolate Labrador was diagnosed with cancer, the Piper family of Irvine, California, put together a “bucket list” of his favorite things — from eating popcorn to riding in the car with his head out the window.

Their vet had predicted the dog had only a month to live, but Hudson survived three more months — long enough for the Pipers to check off every item.

Jenny and David Piper got Hudson the day they moved into their first home. After that, they moved on to children — four girls, including a set of twins, according to a story in yesterday’s Orange County Register.

After notifying their children of Hudson’s pending demise, the family came up with a plan to make the most of the time he had left — a bucket list.

The first item on it was a popcorn movie night, Hudson got his own sleeping bag on the floor with the kids to watch “Hotel For Dogs” and eat a bowl of buttered popcorn.

Next came a pancake dinner – a bowl of cheerios and pancakes. They would check off the list as they went. He had the car ride with his head out the window, more walks around the neighborhood, and extra hugs and kisses.

On the night it became clear that the end was near, the family all said their goodbyes,  and the next morning David Piper stopped and got Hudson some doughnuts on the way to the vet’s office, where he was put down.

In addition to fulfilling all the items on the bucket list, the Piper family left a gift in his name for canine cancer research.

Daughter Maggie, 8, after hearing a story at school about Terry Fox, who attempted to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research — and decided to something similar.

She asked the school if she could sell bracelets on campus for animal cancer research.  In all, she earned $1,300. The family dropped the money off at the veterinary school at UC Davis  last week.

Cody, the chocolate Labrador we showed you a video of last week — the one who jumps up and greets customers at the drive-through window of a Florida gas station — has been declared a health hazard and ordered to leave the premises.

The dog was featured last month in a St. Petersburg Times story, along with a heartwarming video of Cody in action that has been seen widely on the Internet.

Apparently state officials didn’t find it as heartwarming as everybody else.

Inspectors — from the health department according to some reports, agriculture department according to others — stopped by Karim Mansour’s BP station and convenience store in Clearwater and issued a warning. Unless the dog was removed, all of Mansour’s food products would be declared unfit for consumption, the St. Petersburg Times reported yesterday.

That most everything Mansour sells at his shop in Clearwater is packaged — bottled sodas, candy bars, chips and the like — didn’t matter to the Grinch-like bureacrats, who apparently feared the wholesome goodness of the store’s Slim Jims, Twinkies and Marlboros might be tainted by a deadly pet hair.

Mansour, who adopted 6-year-old Cody three years ago, accepted the warning and plans to start leaving his dog at home.

Most readers, judging from the comments the Times has received on the story, see the state’s crackdown on Mansour as a ridiculous case of overkill.

We couldn’t agree more. Once again, it appears, bureaucracy has prevailed, accomplishing its mission of  making the world a safer, far more boring, smile-free  place.

Those who know him say a homeless man named Tim — despite his living conditions — took good care of his chocolate Lab, Pudge.

“No matter if it was five degrees below zero or if it was really hot, he had water for the dog and he took care of that dog before he took care of himself,” said Cheryl Munro.

For reasons unexplained, a Detroit police officer notified Animal Control and Pudge was picked up, according to a report by Fox 2 News in Detroit. She spent a week in the a nimal shelter because Tim lacked the money to pay for the license and vaccinations needed to get his dog back.

It looked like things were headed for a cruel end when those familiar with Tim and Pudge learned what had happened and began raising money.

“My co-workers and I, we work at Detroit Edison, and we went around and collected some money… to get this dog out of the pound for him,” Munro said.

Even the city Health Department, of which Animal Control is a division, helped pave the way for Tim to get his dog back.

“That’s his only companion. That’s his friend for life, and when you’re out here in the cold, you need some comfort,” said Detroit Health Department Spokesperson Mike McElrath. “We understand that at the Health Department, and what we’ve done, at this point, is we’re trying to reunite them. But because the gentleman is homeless, we know there has to be a legal residency, and so, we’re going to transfer it over to a friend.”

While the friends are having trouble locating Tim, one, Sharon Maceri, offered to take Pudge in until he can be found.

“I can’t imagine what this dog is going through with not being with Tim right now,” she said.