ohmidog!

Who says dogs have no place at a literary festival?

Certainly not me … or I.

Ace, though he attended last year, stayed home on Saturday when I went to Bookmarks, the annual Winston-Salem literary festival. I figured it would be too hot for him to enjoy it, and, besides, I was serving as a volunteer at the Winston-Salem Writers booth and, even though he’s great at drawing a crowd, I felt it best to go solo.

There were dogs there, though, including these two Boston terriers, who were being pushed in a stroller.

 The booth next to the one I was in was operated by  the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, and it featured a plywood cut-out of the bard into which people could stick their faces to be photographed.

Among the people taking advantage of it were the owners of the two Boston terriers.

The larger of the two Bostons was almost able to fill the face hole when his owner held him up.

The smaller couldn’t begin to fill Shakespeare’s face. His head only took up about half of the hole.

But he had such a great smile, we have to give him equal time anyway:

(An open house is being held by Winston-Salem Writers, starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12 at the Central Library, 660 W. 5th St. I’ll be among the authors selling and signing books (DOG, INC.) at the event, which offers an opportunity to learn more about the organization.)

Police in Florida say they have solved the mystery of how six severed dog heads ended up in a Largo restaurant’s trash bin last week — but they’re not sharing many details with the public.

Attempting to ease concern among dog lovers, police said this week that the heads were used for legal veterinary training purposes by a licensed medical company. But, citing the continuing nature of the investigation, they declined to disclose the name of the company and other details.

That’s a courtesy that wasn’t extended to Tucson’s Southwest Grill, the restaurant in whose Dumpster the dogs were found on March 30, and which has had to suffer through the bad publicity since.

“I don’t want to tip our hand on anything,” Largo police Lt. Mike Loux told the St. Petersburg Times. “Our goal is to ensure that if there’s a violation of law, we enforce it.”

The canines’ heads were legally obtained and were from animals that had previously been euthanized, according to police, who say they are still researching the rules that govern the disposal of biological waste.

Be that as it may, the public deserves to know, and now, both the name of the company and what it was up to — “pending” investigation or not.

Otherwise, the information released by police, whatever fears it might put to rest, only raises more questions, including why the company’s name isn’t being revealed.

“I think it put people at ease that there’s not some crazy person running around doing bad things to animals,” Rick Chaboudy, executive director of the Suncoast Animal League, But he added, “How legitimate is someone if they pull up to somebody’s Dumpster and put in body parts? There’s still something wrong with this picture.”

There is nothing in the world cuter than a dog tilting his head.

Except maybe four pugs, with their furrowed brows and bulgy eyes, doing it together.

The video above features Minnie, Mabel and Max and Monte, whose adventures you can follow on their Twitter page.

If you need something to keep the kids busy on Christmas Eve, or perhaps even simple-minded grown-ups like myself, here’s a website that can provide, if not hours of entertainment, at least enough time to run out for some last minute gifts, or egg nog.

It’s the Mutt Maker, from Animal Planet, which allows you to combine attributes of 20 dog breeds — head, body, tail, legs — and fashion your own mutt. It then shows you a cartoon image of it, and gives it a name.

Example: Take the pug head, put it on a Rottweiler body, add poodle legs and a shih-tzu tail, and you’ve got a “Purotttzuoodle.” In a nice touch, every time you put on a new head, you hear the bark of that breed.

After that, you have the options of entering it in “best in show,” getting a “certificate of legacy” for your creation, or adorning it with accessories, including bonnet, cowboy boots, cape, glasses, pipe and more.

It’s not exactly the same as a puppy under the tree, but it’s free, interactive, won’t soil the carpet, and is relatively quiet — and for the child who’s not quite ready for a living, breathing, responsibility-laden puppy of his own, it’s a good way to learn a little more about dogs.