ohmidog!

Shame on dogshaming.

If you haven’t heard of it, dogshaming is being described as a “new sensation sweeping the Internet” — though we see it as more evidence that the Internet needs a good sweeping.

Humans — supposedly a sentient species — are posting photos of their misbehaving pets, along with a sign outlining what bad behavior their dog participated in.

It’s all in good fun, of course, though we have our doubts whether the dogs being depicted would think so — any more than, say, your son or daughter  would if you posted a photo of them and recounted their misbehaviors.

Apparently, rather than train their dogs, some people find it a better use of time to  photograph them with a sign stating the pet’s misdeed, and post in on the Internet.

The Dogshaming Tumblr site displays those submitted — no matter how foul the offense.

Most often they are things like humping, puking, farting, pooping, burping, groin-scratching, furniture destroying or vicious behavior.

All things — we’d note — that human males get away with regularly.

Dogshaming had more than 115 posts within a week of its creation, according to the “Today” show website, Digital Life.

One report describes the site as “payback” — a chance for dog owners to get even with their dogs for whatever it is they did. In those rare cases where that’s really a pet owner’s motivation  — as opposed to trying to be funny — we’d suggest maybe you’re not ready for a dog, or for children, or for seventh grade.

“If there is not a shaming element of your dog rehabilitation program, then it is doomed to failure, science has proven this,” they wrote in a post. That, too, is likely a joke.

Given the site’s popularity, it will probably get to the point, if it hasn’t already, where it’s humiliating dogs for profit.

Proving once again that no animal has more to be ashamed of than man.

My very doggie Christmas continues, with the arrival of my final holiday guest — Lucas, an old yellow Lab and my most vocal visitor yet.

Perhaps its just his Christmas spirit, but he has broken into song several times since his owner dropped him off this morning. They generally last three to four minutes, then he plops down on the floor, exhausted from all the caroling.

His barking sprees get Darcy started (Lucas is an alto, Darcy a soprano). Ace, after trying to figure out what Lucas is barking about,  goes upstairs. Cheyenne, the blind dog, sits calm and trance-like in a corner, seemingly realizing that the other dogs aren’t barking at anything in particular — but just for the sake of barking.

Lucas brought a stuffed toy with him, but Darcy immediately sexually assaulted the unsuspecting Gingerbread Man, then began pulling out his cotton stuffing. He has been removed from circulation, and is listed in critical condition, pending treatment from a seamstress.

We opened stockings — Cheyenne seemed to enjoy sporting the antlers that were in hers — and chowed down on a smorgasbord of treats, maybe too many treats, as someone (and I’m not pointing any fingers) pooped on the floor.

Lucas is just a day guest, and will be picked up tonight. Darcy and Cheyenne will both be staying a few more days — so expect a few more updates on my canine Christmas.

Until then, allow me to thank my guests for making my Christmas a lot more lively; my dog for so graciously sharing his couch and home with visitors; and Febreeze for helping me mist away the lingering odors left by whoever it is that’s farting.

Thanks also to all the readers of ohmidog! Happy holidays, and best wishes to you and your dogs  for a happy new year, from me and my Christmastime crew — from left to right, Darcy, Cheyenne, Ace and Lucas.

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

“Walter the Farting Dog,”  the children’s book soon to explode on the big screen, originated in Canada, when author William Kotzwinkle told his friend Glenn Murray a story about a dog whose flatulence was so objectionable it once cleared out an entire stationery store in Fredericton.

The malodorous mutt, the main character in the series of children’s books co-authored by the pair, will be featured in a new Fox Studios film, starring the Jonas Brothers, slated to begin production next year.

“It has been amazing,” Murray, of New Brunswick, said of the Walter phenomenon in an interview with the Canadian Press. Since it was published in 2001, the book and its four sequels have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Murray says the stories grew out of tale that Kotzwinkle once told about meeting a dog in the 1970s whose farts were especially malodorous.

The movie will be produced by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, with a screenplay written by Alec Sokolow (“Toy Story,” “Garfield”) and Joel Cohen (“No Country For Old Men,” “Fargo,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”).

Murray says he still can’t believe that a story about a chronically flatulent dog could become such a media sensation.

“It seems to me the post-9-11 world needed some innocent laughs,” he said. “It’s like the world needed a farting dog.”

The Walter books are more than bathroom humor. Instead the focus is on how Walter always manages to transform his embarrassing flaw into a virtue. Murray says he has heard many stories about children who have laughed their way through the book while facing terminal illnesses and other personal tragedies.

Last week, Murray received a series of emails from St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, where children undergoing cancer treatment use the book to take their minds of their painful ordeal.

“These kids are going through a lot of stuff,” he says. “The procedure room where they go through this is totally decorated with pictures of Walter.”

Of farting, Murray says. “Science tells us we all do it 17 to 23 times a day. … Everyone can connect with it on a certain level.” He once spent 90 minutes on a radio calOl-in show talking about dogs that pass wind.

The fifth book in the Walter series, “Walter the Farting Dog: Banned From the Beach” (Penguin), was published last year.

Like the other books, Murray co-wrote it with Elizabeth Grundy and Kotzwinkle, who also wrote “E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial.” The books, illustrated by Audrey Coleman, have been translated into at least 16 languages.

Murray has already talked about farting-dog mugs, lunch boxes and — say it ain’t so — a new line of scratch-and-sniff books.