ohmidog!

Mack, a much-loved mutt in Michigan, spent this past week as he has spent the last 10 years — hanging out with the regulars at O’Duffy’s Pub in Kalamazoo, enjoying his favorite snacks and the company of friends.

Last Sunday, though, was Mack’s last Sunday — the 13-year-old German shepherd-collie mix is scheduled to be euthanized today after vets found a large tumor on his liver and other complications.

Jamie Kavanaugh, owner of O’Duffy’s Pub/Cosmo’s Cucina, took Mack to the veterinarian Tuesday and received the diagnosis. “His body is shutting down,” Kavanaugh said.

Mack spent most every day of the last 10 years at the Irish pub in Kalamazoo’s Vine neighborhood, according to MLive.com.

“He’s been a big, calm boy for all of his life. He’s very laid back, good with other dogs, people, kids. He’s very tolerant and loving,” Kavanaugh said. “He’s enjoyed being here. He makes his rounds, eats some treats. St. Patrick’s Day won’t be the same without him.”

Since learning of Mack’s illness, Kavanaugh said he’s showered the dog with companionship and treats. On Wednesday night, when Mack stopped by the pub, a customer ordered a filet and gave the first bite to Mack. Kavanaugh planned to bring Mack to the pub last night for a final goodbye.

“The number of people who love this guy, I can’t imagine what the actually number is. It’s people I don’t even know who love him, that come here and enjoy his company. It’s a real testament to the love of this community,” Kavanaugh said.

Kavanaugh lost his wife, Kim, the restaurant’s co-owner, just over two years ago

“When my wife passed away … I was really afraid he was going to follow her. Instead, he stuck by my side, stayed by my side and he’s been with me on this journey ever since,” Kavanaugh said of Mack. “Now, I think he feels his work is done. And he’s tired. All I can do is pass the love on.”

Kavanaugh said he plans to have Mack cremated and may take his ashes to Ireland to scatter off the coast of the Irish Sea.

(Photo: Erik Holladay / MLive.com)

After eight years of living on her own in a field in Kansas, Ditch Dog has come in out of the cold.

Nobody knew where D.D., as she’s called, came from. She didn’t let people near her — not even when one of her legs got looped through her collar, and she limped around on three legs until the collar rotted. Even, then, she kept walking on three legs for another year, apparently having grown used to it.

Ditch Dog did accept the donations of food and water that residents of Buhler, week after week, year after year, provided.

But not until last month did she allow a human to get close, make friends and take her home, according to Hutchinson News reporter Kathy Hanks:

After all these years, the elusive creature …has finally come indoors to the home of Rachelle Cavanaugh, just in time for the cold weather. Cavanaugh believes D.D. was ready … “She didn’t want to live like that anymore,” Cavanaugh said.

The wiry-haired dog, who’s also missing her tail, avoided being picked up for violating Buhler’s leash laws by staying outside town limits, on the county side of the road.

Cavanaugh began trying to get close to D.D. more than a year ago. She began leaving treats with medicine to help the dog with what Cavanaugh suspected was arthritis, and put flea medicine in her food. One night, when Cavanaugh sat by the food dish, D.D. approached and let Cavanaugh touch her.

“She was starving for attention,” Cavanaugh said.

Recently, Cavanaugh was able to get D.D. to jump in her car. She drover her around town, put a leash on her and introduced her to her other three dogs before returning her to her field.

She arranged for a vet to come to the field and give D.D. shots.

And about a month ago, D.D. moved in with Cavanaugh.

“She has some wicked scars,” Cavanaugh said, and she still seems to get anxious at night, at which time she seeks out her pillow.

Cavanaugh left a sign in the field where D.D. once lived, in case people in Buhler start wondering why she’s no longer there. It reads:

“Buhler: Thank you for all the years of care and concern. I have found a home and I am adjusting. God bless you, Ditch Dog.”

(Photo: Lindsey Bauman / Hutchinson News)

When nine-week-old Harper Brousseau stopped breathing during the night, a mutt named Duke woke up her parents.

Jenna Brousseau says Duke jumped up on her bed Sunday night, and woke up her and her husband with his shaking.

That was out of character for Duke, so the couple went to check on their daughter at their home in Connecticut to make sure everything was alright.

In the nursery, they found their daughter wasn’t breathing and called 911.

Paramedics were able to revive the baby, who’s now doing fine.

Roxci, an energetic two-year-old mutt from Michigan, died Sunday after a weeklong battle to survive injuries she received in a freak boating accident.

The dog was on a paddle boat on Duck Lake with her owner, Ashlee Johnson, when a speed boat crashed into them.

Johnson and her younger sister received only cuts and scrapes, but Roxci was thrown from the boat, suffering a severe gash to the head and nearly drowning.

The dog was taken an animal hospital at Michigan State University, where she was kept on a ventilator in hopes she’d recover.

Ashlee, who adopted Roxci — her first dog — from a shelter about two years ago, visited twice a day for a week, and was encouraged when she saw Roxci’s eye twitch, a sign her brain might still be functioning.

“To me, she’s not just a dog,” Johnson, 28, told the Battle Creek Enquirer. “She’s a part of my family and you can’t really put a price on a member of your family.”

On Sunday, doctors told Johnson that Roxci’s heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen and that there was nothing more they could do.

After Rocxi passed, Ashlee gathered with the rest of her family at her mother’s home in Battle Creek.

They read poems and the comments of friends and strangers who posted on a Facebook page dedicated to Roxci.

“I know it’s not my fault,” she said, “but I feel kind of responsible. I’m supposed to protect her.”

Through donations, about $1,800 had been raised towards covering Roxci’s medical bills, which could end up costing as much as $10,000. 

The family is continuing to accept online donations. They can also be made through the mail (12954 11 Mile Road, Ceresco, MI 49033).

The driver of the speedboat, though sheriff’s department officials said he had been drinking, did not test above the legal limit. He was cited for reckless driving and not having valid registration.

Another dog guru debuts this week, joining the ranks of televised trainers who straighten out the bad behavior of dogs, usually by straightening out their human owners.

“Dogs in the City” follows New York City trainer Justin Silver, who in the premiere episode confronts a celebrity bulldog who doesn’t seem to like his owner’s new wife; a Bernese mountain dog with a weight problem; and an office mutt who doesn’t get along with strangers.

The hour-long summer reality series will air Wednesdays on CBS, at 8 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific time).

Silver, a dog trainer, behaviorist and owner of a pet care company, is also a comedian and founder of Funny for Fido, a nonprofit organization that raises money for homeless animals by producing a yearly stand-up comedy event.

According to the show’s press release, Silver “has a creative and instinctive ability to connect with his canine customers while solving dilemmas for their two-legged masters. In each episode, he meets with clients who present a range of relationship problems, lifestyle changes or domestic issues. Justin gets as imaginative as necessary to reach a satisfying resolution, often finding that the owners can be a special breed themselves.”

Acquaintances held a memorial service this week for a homeless woman and her dog, both found dead in a wooded area behind a Vallejo, Calif., car dealership on Sunday.

Johanna Dilag and her dog Muggles were given a quiet send-off Tuesday, the Vallejo Times-Herald reports.

“We held a little memorial for her,” said Maria Guevara, founder of Vallejo Together, who knew Dilag and her dog through a program that feeds the homeless. “We said a prayer and read The Rainbow Bridge — a poem about deceased pets reuniting with their owners — for the dog, and we had a moment of silence for her as a soul living on the planet; someone we cared for.”

The 37-year-old woman and her dog, an orange and white mixed breed, had not been seen for several days before their bodies were found.

Vallejo Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jeff Bassett said the deaths remain under investigation, though there were no signs of foul play or suicide at the scene.

Other homeless people in the area said Dilag was fearful and kept to herself, constructing a fort-like structure in the woods out of leaves, sticks and old tents.

Wagner said Dilag was found laying under a blue tarp, pulled up to her chin, and the dog was tied up and laying at her feet.  In recent days, flowers have been left near a dog bowl at what remains of her encampment.

Dilag is believed to have owned a nail shop before she fell on hard times.

Four months ago, Bobby was dragging himself through the streets of Nicaragua.

The big white and tan dog would use his front legs to get from one place to another — not that he had any place to go.

Now, due to an inspiring chain of events, he’s getting treatment in Florida, before moving to a forever home in Oklahoma.

“A perfect storm of generosity helped by social media” is how the Florida Times-Union describes it.

First, Bobby was taken to Casas Lupita, a shelter that is part of a project called Building New Hope. There, his backside was fitted with a cart that restored his freedom of movement.

They contacted World Vets, a nonprofit group that brings veterinarians to impoverished areas, which posted information about Bobby on its Facebook page.

Patti Snyder, a veterinarian at North Florida Neurology in Orange Park, Florida, saw the story and pictures, and World Vets was contacted with an offer.

“If someone can get him to Jacksonville, we’ll treat him.”

Jill Murray, a veterinary technician in Stillwater, Oklahoma, saw the post too, and offered to give the 70-pound dog, estimated to be about 5 years old, a forever home.

Money was raised to send Bobby from Nicaragua to Jacksonville, and other offers of help were made and accepted, including one from a volunteer with The London Sanctuary, a Jacksonville-based large breed dog rescue group, which offered to provide Bobby with transporation once his plane landed.

Diane Meyboom, a caretaker from Casas Lupita, accompanied Bobby on the flight and went along Tuesday for tests conducted at North Florida Neurology.

“We’re so happy,” said Meyboom. “We don’t even know if surgery is possible, but even if it’s not, we just know he’s going to get the best treatment.”

Vets are awaiting the results, and say they will do what they can to try and restore feeling and movement to Bobby’s rear legs before sending him to his new home in Oklahoma.

(Photo: Diane Meyboom sits inside an enclosure with Bobby at North Florida Neurology in Orange Park; by Kelly Jordan / The Times-Union)

Darak, a white, mixed-breed dog who took three bullets and was run over by a car while living as a stray in Afghanistan, was reunited with one of the men responsible for sending him to the U.S.

“Hey, buddy,” Kyle Huttenlocker, a 30-year-old security company employee just back to Indiana from Kabul said. “Remember me?”

Darak, it appeared, did,  according to a story published in the Greenfield Daily Reporter.

In late 2010, Huttenlocker was in Kabul, Afghanistan, working for a security company hired by the State Department to protect the U.S. Embassy.

“There was a stray dog that lived in an alley right behind our camp that we were all very fond of,” said Huttenlocker, a Bloomington native who previously spent a year in Iraq as a member of the U.S. military.

Darak, who Huttenlocker and others named after the neighborhood they were in, was scrounging for food, and doing his best to avoid those who mistreated him. Given the affection he received, and bologna, he started calling the camp home.

“Afghans don’t treat dogs very well,” Huttenlocker said. “They throw rocks at them and hit them with sticks … Darak would hang out with us behind our camp, and bark at the Afghans whenever they walked by.”

One day Huttenlocker heard that Darak had been run over my an Afghan motorist. He and friends rushed to the area and found the dog hiding in a ditch.

Huttenlocker and his friends pooled their money and gave $400 to a dog rescue kennel in Kabul, which housed Darak for three weeks. The kennel contacted the Puppy Rescue Mission, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to help American soldiers bring dogs home.

The mission raised more than $4,500 to transport Darak to a veterinary clinic in Pakistan, then to the U.S. for more extensive treatment.

Three months ago, Huttenlocker’s mother, Beth Sherfield, picked up Darak at the Indianapolis International Airport.

Sherfield took Darak to a Bloomington veterinarian, who found he had a fractured spine, and that his abdomen contained three bullets. She then dropped him off at Wayport Kennels, where, as she hoped, another family that had heard his story came forward to adopt him.

“We needed another dog like we needed a hole in the head,” said Kathy Headley, who along with her husband, Steve, already had three dogs and three inside cats. But, she reports, they are all mostly getting along.

The Headleys paid $4,000 to an Indianapolis veterinary hospital to have Darak’s broken spine repaired and the bullets removed.

Upon seeing  Huttenlocker, who stopped by for a visit upon his return to the country, Darak limped over to him and began licking his hands.

“How you doing, Bub?” Huttenlocker said, scratching Darak behind the ears. “It’s good to see you again. You’re one lucky dog.”

(Photo: From the Chip-in page for Darak)

I suppose, if you are intent on understanding men — not that they’re that hard to figure out – one of the best ways is through their dogs.

So, for Valentine’s Day — even though we’re not personally celebrating it this year — we pass along some advice from Wendy Diamond, author of the 2006 book,  ”How To Understand Men Through Their Dogs.”

Diamond believes the type of dog a man shares his life with provides some clues to his personality characteristics.

(And we interrupt here to point out that if a man doesn’t have a dog, just avoid him entirely. If he has cats, run even faster.)

But back to Ms. Diamond, who says much can be read into the breed a man chooses.  The Akita owner, for instance, may lean toward being over protective of those he loves; the poodle man might be too sophisticated for his own good; and the Pomeranian owner isn’t likely to be highly affectionate.

On the other hand, she says, the German shepherd owner is likely to be mysterious and intriguing, if you’re into that sort of thing.

And it’s a safe bet, in her view, that the guardian of a bichon frise  is “great with children.”

If you are looking for a husband, though, Diamond recommends you consider the man who has a Doberman pinscher, rottweiler, collie, beagle or Chinese crested.

The mutt owner makes a good mate, too, she notes — he’s typically a happy-go-lucky sort who’s good with children and “not concerned about pedigree.”

We’re not about to argue with any of her recommendations (we’re too happy-go-lucky); but we would add only this, for men or women who want to factor dogs into the courtship equation:

Far more important than the breed they’ve chosen — whether it is hairless and scrawny or big and mysterious – is how they treat their dog.

A book may help, but when it comes to understanding men, that speaks volumes.

I base this report mostly on advertisements shown during the first half of last night’s Super Bowl — for I began to tire during Madonna’s BRIDGESTONE halftime show.

In the first half of the game, I kept track of ads, and according to my tally — and in accordance with my predictions — dogs were theme No. 1 in this year’s Big Game commercials, topping that perennial favorite, sex.

By halftime, we’d seen the controversial SKECHERS greyhound racing ad — mildly funny, at best — VOLKSWAGEN’S “Bark Side” and a DORITO ad featuring a Great Dane (above) who gives his owner some chips to buy his silence regarding the family cat’s mysterious disappearance.

Dogs played smaller supporting roles in two other ads by then, so at halftime I had it scored this way:

Dogs five, Sex three.

While sex seemed to be gaining in the second half, it scored only three times in the first, with GO DADDY’S body painting bit, David Beckham promoting either underpants or himself (I’m still not sure), and an ad featuring model Adriana Lima for the flower delivery outfit, TELEFLORA. Lima, once she is dressed, explains to us that, on Valentine’s Day, and perhaps all other days, men must give to “receive.”

Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

To me, that one was far more offensive than the Skechers ad, which an anti-greyhound racing group was protesting because it was filmed at a greyhound park with a poor safety record, and because they thought it would glorify a sport it finds cruel to animals.

In it, Mr. Quiggly, a French bulldog wearing athetic shoes, bests a group of greyhounds at a racetrack, winning by such a large margin that he pauses and then moonwalks backwards across the finish line — sort of like the Giants final touchdown, that touchdown they didn’t really want.

Still, scoring is everything, as the Teleflora ad tells us: Spend money on a female, perhaps in the form of a nice bouquet, and you will get you some.

Running just behind dogs and sex was the theme of death, destruction and other matters apocalyptic, including ads for several doomsday movies and one for cars that, along with their owners, survived the end of the world.

In fourth place were cute babies. Both DORITO and ETRADE ran baby ads in the first half — the latter featuring the now famous market-savvy talking baby, the former featuring a baby fired from a sling to grab a bag of chips.

DORITOS — though its dog-related ads often have a bit of a mean streak (like last year’s of a taunted pug smashing  through a door) — scored with a second dog ad in the second half, depicting a dog park where humans perform tricks and line up for a salty treat.

Our pick of the litter? Weego, the rescued mutt who, whenever he is called – “Here, Weego!” — responds by fetching a BUD LIGHT for the caller. That’s not exactly new ground in beer advertising, but this time, the star was a rescued mutt, a scrawny little dog who oozed far more personality than any of the personalities in the Super Bowl ads, like Mark Cuban, Donald Trump and Clint Eastwood. Better yet, the ad included a pitch for rescuing dogs — and referred viewers to a Facebook page where they could learn more.

Also making a strong showing were “inspirational” ads from GE, celebrating the American worker, and at least two beer ads that seemed to be celebrating the end of prohibition, nearly 80 years ago.

The most powerful, and curious, advertisement shown during the Super Bowl was Clint Eastwood’s pitch for CHRYSLER (or was it for America?). The ad shows dismal-looking footage of Detroit as Eastwood tells us, “It’s halftime in America.” Then he goes on to talk about the resilience of Americans — how, via our bootstraps and given our inner strength, we can pick ourselves up and overcome anything.

It was a moody, somber but hopeful, piece — and maybe a tad ironic given the government bailout Chrysler received decades ago.

It was not an ad I wanted to hoist a celebratory drink to — after all, if it were truly halftime in America, that would mean we’d only have 235 years left – but it was definitely one that made me want to drink.

“Here, Weego!”

(For all our “Woof in Advertising” posts, click here.)