ohmidog!

Authorities are crediting a three-year-old girl’s dog with keeping her alive during a freezing night lost in a forest in Poland.

“This dog is the most important part of this story, he is a hero,” said firefighter Grzegorz Szymonowski. “It is thanks to this dog that the girl survived the night.”

Rescue workers searched for the girl, named Julia, after she wandered into the forest near her village in southwestern Poland.

Her dog drew the attention of searchers, and also likely kept her from freezing to death, according to Reuters.

The girl’s grandmother, Danuta Balak, says the dog was the girl’s best friend.

“She was with this dog all the time. She didn’t go anywhere without it. When she was with me, when I was looking after her, she constantly said, ‘Granny, the dog needs to come in the house. And she told me to cut bread and she fed it all the time.”

Julia is being treated for a mild case of frostbite.

An Arizona man rang in 2012 with the happy news that the dog he lost a month ago while traveling through Montana has been found.

And, given it’s “National Pet Travel Safety Day” — yes, really — what better time to share that news.

Phil Nichols, 79, was heading back to Arizona from Helena, Montana, on Nov. 28 when he discovered his 6-year-old Lab mix, Buddy, was missing.

Buddy rode in the camper in the bed of Nichols’ pickup — and we won’t debate the safety of that practice here. He was in the camper, Nichols said, when he stopped for gas in Dillon. But on his next stop, Idaho Falls, he checked and found Buddy was gone.

Nichols drove 150 miles back to Dillon and spent a day and a half searching before heading, doglessly, back to Arizona.

In Pocatello, Idaho, Nichols, cut off by another car, hit a guardrail and rolled his vehicle. He wasn’t seriously injured, but the camper was crushed. Nichols wonders if Buddy somehow had a “sixth sense” about the accident and got out of the camper — though he doesn’t know how — before it was too late.

“I think the dog has more brains than I do,” said Nichols, who adopted Buddy from an animal shelter.

One month after Buddy’s disappearance, back in Montana, animal control officers got a  call Thursday about a wounded stray dog in the Buxton area, about 10 miles southwest of Butte, according to the Billings Gazette.

Animal control officer Charlie Dick responded, spending 45 minutes coaxing the limping dog toward him with treats, before snagging him.

The dog was emaciated, had scratches on his face, and a wounded rear foot. In addition to freezing temperatures, and having to survive in the wild, Buddy had been shot with BB’s, X-rays by a veterinarian revealed.

“What a little survivor,” Dick said. ” He was out there a long time.”

Animal control was able to locate and contact Buddy’s owner through a lost dog ad on Craigslist, which had been posted by Nichols’ daughter in Helena.

Nichols said he plans to reunite with Buddy once the vet pronounces the dog ready to leave, but that he may call his dog before then.

“I just want them to put the phone to his ear and let him hear my voice,” Nichols said. “I think that would make him feel better.”

(Photo: Buddy and Nichols before they got separated)

Nala, a pit bull-Labrador mix living at an animal shelter in Washington state, made headlines in December when she helped save another dog — a blind cocker spaniel she found freezing to death in a ditch while on a walk with a shelter staffer.

Despite the publicity and her newfound hero status, no one stepped forward to adopt Nala — who has what the Humane Society of Redmond describes as “some behavioral issues” – and, as of March, her stay at the shelter had stretched to a year.

This month, though, there was one more publicity push by the shelter, which established a Facebook page for Nala — and that helped lead to her adoption this week by Janet Roberts, 63, the Bend Bulletin reports.

A week ago, the Humane Society teamed up with a photographer, held a photo shoot with Nala and created a Facebook page for the dog. Reese Mercer, a board member, provided “first person” updates, from Nala’s perspective, about her hunt for a home.

As a result, Nala had fans from as far away as Finland, all of them rooting for her to find a home — but few of them volunteering to provide one.

Nala’s new caretaker, a court transcriber who lives on 80 acres in Powell Butte, first heard about Nala’s story in December. When she learned Nala was still without a home months later, Roberts offered to take her home for a trial visit. Roberts has four cats, two horses and an older dog. The dog spent the night Tuesday, and the next morning, Roberts decided it was for keeps.

“She was ever so sweet, and fit in really well,“ said Roberts. “She was so respectful of everyone here … She really wants to please people, which is really endearing,” said Roberts.

The official adoption took place Thursday.

“It’s going to be tough to say goodbye,” said Alan Borland, the shelter staff member who was walking Nala when she found the cocker spaniel.

Borland told the Bulletin the couple that the Roberts family has invited him to come visit Nala, but said he probably won’t.

“She needs to get on with her life, and forget about the year she spent at the shelter,” he said.

(Photo: From Nala’s Facebook page)

“All Over Albany” has noticed that dog poop is, well, all over Albany — and they’ve fashioned a helpful flow chart to help address the (fecal) matter.

(Click on the illegible version above to be taken to the full size chart. Then come back, for this isn’t just an upstate New York issue, but a national, nay, global one.)

At my park in Baltimore, and probably your’s, it seems that, when the snow and cold arrive, the manners of some otherwise responsible dog owners depart.

Whether it’s because people don’t want to traipse throught the snow to scoop it up, or because it’s just so darned cold, there are a lot more lingering dog droppings to be seen, and stepped in.

In a perfect world, those not scooping would be the ones stepping in it — but it never seems to work out that way.

And while, granted, solidly frozen poopage won’t despoil your footwear, neglected droppings, amid continued freeze and thaw, can come back to haunt us.

“We’ve thought a lot about this issue,” Alloveralbany.com reported in a piece last month. “And we finally came to the conclusion that winter somehow impairs the ability of some people to make good decisions about whether they should pick up their dog’s poop.

“So, we’re here to help. We’ve constructed a flow chart to assist citizens of the Capital Region in their decision-making process on the all important question: ‘It’s winter. My dog has pooped. What now?’”

After seven days missing in the frigid mountains of west-central New Mexico,  67-year-old hiker Robert Sumrall was found semi-conscious with his dog, a black Labrador mix named Zulu, lying atop him.

Two ranchers found Sumrall, but they inadvertently scared away his dog — who many now believe may have saved his master’s life by keeping him warm.

Sumrall, of El Paso, has regained consciousness, but hasn’t been able to talk, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News, and the search for Zulu continues.

Sumrall’s wife, Jan Sumrall, a former El Paso city council member, said her husband, though frostbitten, and voiceless from a tracheotomy, is slowly recovering. Meanwhile, his family and dog lovers in several states aren’t giving up on the search for Zulu, who is being called a hero.

A reward fund has reached $3,500, according to the El Paso Times, and has led other hikers to join El Paso’s Animal Rescue League in the search for the dog.

The Animal Rescue League  installed live traps and took food and clothes from Robert Sumrall to the search area last week. They have also posted flyers around the area.

When Karen and Anthony Scully filed for divorce, determining custody of the six dogs wasn’t too difficult. He got four, she got two. The sticking point came later — with a feud, still going on five years later, over who should get the dogs’ semen.

The matter –  or perhaps issue is a better word — landed before Family Court Judge Cheryl Matthews Wednesday morning.

Karen Scully, who lives in Florida, and her ex-husband, Anthony Scully of Oakland County, Michigan, are feuding in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac over who has the legal right to the semen belonging to Cyrus, Regg and Romeo, all AKC-registered bullmastiffs.

Bull mastiff pups fetch $2,000 each in the marketplace.

The Scullys were hobby breeders in Oakland County until their divorce in 2002, and they had banked sperm from their mastiffs in a freezing center in Sterling Heights. Both still raise bullmastiffs.

Anthony Scully, through his attorney, said the semen is his — or rather, is property that should belong to him — and that his ex-wife, in moving to Florida, gave up claim. Karen Scully, who appeared in court via teleconference, claimed she has ownership, since the dogs that provided the semen once belonged to her.

Judge Matthews said she thought the case was a prank at first. “I asked, ‘Am I Being Punk’d … Is this a Candid Camera thing?” she said.

Matthews ruled that it was not a divorce matter and told the couple they would have to fight it out in civil court, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press.

The case has been assigned to Oakland County Circuit Judge Leo Bowman.

(Photo: Anthony Scully with Romeo, family photo)

A seven-week-old puppy found frozen to a tree in Hagerstown, Md., is being nursed back to health, and the Washington County Humane Society is investigating how he ended up alone in the woods.

The puppy, a German shepherd mix named Duncan, was found Friday behind the North Spring Apartments, according to an ABC2 News report. Neighbors said they heard whimpers and went to see where the sounds were coming from.

Paul Miller, Executive Director of the Washington County Humane Society said that, other than the loss of fur that occured when the pup was freed from the tree, and a skin disorder, Duncan is in good condition and should be ready for adoption in about two weeks.

Miller said the society is getting three times as many calls as they normally do from from people concerned about animals out in the cold with no shelter.

“This is a very disturbing situation,” he said.  “Any young animal should never be left outside for any length of time. This puppy very easily could have died from exposure and hypothermia.”  The puppy is now being taken care of at the Humane Society on Maugansville Road. 

Miller added, “If someone is having problems training or taking care of a young animal please call us and we will see if we can help you work through training issues.  If you would prefer to remain anonymous our website at www.hswcmd.org has a Trainer Talk section that can offer guidance on how to constructively correct behaviors that may be causing problems with your pet.”

The HSWC is asking anyone who may have information about the dog or the incident to contact their Field Services Division at 301-733-2060 extension 203.

A 3-year-old lost in the Virginia woods was back home Sunday thanks to two puppies who kept him warm through a night of freezing temperatures.

Jaylynn Thorpe wandered away from his baby-sitter at 4 p.m. Friday and was missing for 21 hours as hundreds of friends, family and law enforcement officials searched for him in the thick woods of Halifax County, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Officials said the lost little boy and the two family puppies wandered up to a mile in the dark, even across a highway, but it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that members of the search team found him sitting by a tree, the two puppies nestled against him.

When I first saw him, he was like, ‘Momma, I got cold. I slept in the woods last night. The puppies kept me warm.’ He told me that … the dogs slept up against him. And I’m sure the body heat kept him warm,” said his mother, Sarah Ingram.

The boy’s father, James Thorpe, said temperatures that dropped into the teens Friday night added to their worries.

Upon his rescue, the boy didn’t say anything, according to searcher Jerry Gentry; he “just opened his arms up like, ‘I’m ready to go.’”

Close to 300 people from North Carolina and Virginia joined in the search to find Jaylynn.