ohmidog!

A North Dakota woman died trying to save her dog from the Sheyenne River.

Thirty-eight-year-old Jodi Kvien Opatz of Valley City called authorities Friday morning, asking for help getting her spaniel out of the river, near the Little Dam.

Dispatchers told her to wait for help to arrive, but Kvien Opatz said she was going to try to save the dog, said Valley City Fire Chief Gary Retterath.

“It was almost like a family member or a kid to her,” Ratterath told DL-Online. “You risk your life for someone you love, and she loved (the dog). I guess I believe that is what went through her mind.”

While crews were retrieving the woman’s body, the dog managed to pull itself out of the river, Retterath said.

Once the woman’s body was pulled from the river, the dog jumped back in and drowned.

“By the time we got to it, it was too late,” Retterath said. “It got into the undercurrent of the dam.”

(Photo: From the Facebook page of Jodi Kvien Opatz)

Tell your heartstrings to prepare to be tugged.

Paul Wu was pulling his car out of the driveway in Kirkland, Washington, when he saw a small dog.

“He would not go away,” Wu said.

Wu stopped his car and the dog approached. Around the dog’s neck, attached to his collar, was a bone-shaped poop bag dispenser, inside of which was some money and a note.

Here’s what the note said:

“Please take care of Mr. B. He is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. Six years old. My parents got divorced and Mr. B was supposed to go to the pound. I think he has a better chance with you. This is my birthday money for any of his care. He is used to kids, not other dogs. He’s a good boy. I know God will take care of Mr. B – Everyone loves him…especially me. Thank you.”

Wu took the dog into work, where his colleague, Robert Kuchcinski, offered to help, according to KING 5 News in Seattle. Kuchcinski took the dog to a veterinarian, where Mr. B was found to be healthy except for some dry skin, and plugged ears.

Mr B. didn’t have a microchip, and lacked any identification that included his owner’s name or address.

Kuchcinski took the dog home to stay, introducing him to his wife and three children.

“I’d hate to be a kid making that choice,” he said. “It didn’t seem right that it would go to the pound.”

“All I want to do is let this person know, that we found him a good home. That’s the whole message,” said Wu.

Here’s KING 5′s report:

(Photos: KING 5 in Seattle)

Was it an Internet miracle, or a Christmas one? Or does that even matter now that Willis, a Clumber spaniel who went missing just before Christmas last year, is back home?

Willis belonged to Karen Martin, of Portsmouth, Va. Four days before Christmas last year, she went out to her back yard to find him gone. After a year of posting fliers and searching, she’d all but given up hope of finding him.

Little did she know, he was hundreds of miles from home, and had a date with death, metro columnist Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post reported last week.

Picked up by animal control officers in Charles County more than a month ago, Willis had been taken to the Tri County Animal Shelter in Hughesville, Md.  Shelter workers scanned Willis for an identification chip, but, though he had one, it was not detected. Shelter workers put a photograph of the  7-year-old dog on the facility’s “at-risk” list, meaning euthanasia was ahead.

The at-risk list, including a photo of each dog, is e-mailed to animal rescue groups and other dog lovers around the country in hopes that someone might be willing to adopt the animals listed before they are euthanized.

Terry Walker, an office manager for a veterinary hospital in Calvert County, was one of those who received it and recognized the dog pictured as a Clumber spaniel.

After an Internet search, Walker found an organization called Clumber Spaniel Rescue of America, and forwarded the dog’s photograph to the three contacts whose names were listed.

One of them ended up in the spam folder of Sally Day, of Washington Crossing, Pa. — a friend of Willis’ owner, Karen Martin.

She said she was deleting her spam when something told her to open this one.

“A voice said, ‘Open it,’ and the hair stood up on the back of my neck,” Day recalled. “The e-mail was from a stranger, and there was a photograph attached. I instantly thought I recognized the dog. I said, ‘Oh, my God, that’s Karen’s boy.’ ”

Martin called her friend Day, then e-mailed her the photo, and Willis is back home now — a bit the worse for wear from his journey of more than 200 miles. He had an injured eye, a respiratory infection and a skin allergy that had resulted in scratching off patches of hair.

Martin, who now lives in Williamsburg, said she expected this Christmas to be a lot more joyful than last year’s.

(Photo: By Jay Paul / from the Washington Post)

The bluetick and redbone coonhounds — along with the Boykin spaniel — have been officially recognized as breeds by the American Kennel Club.

The acceptance of the three new breeds brings to 164 the number of breeds fully recognized as such by the AKC.

The Boykin spaniel will join the sporting group while both the bluetick coonhound and redbone coonhound will join the hound group.

The new breeds will be eligible for full AKC registration and competition in their respective groups at conformation shows held on and after December 30, 2009.

The bluetick coonhound gets its name from its coat pattern, which is dark blue in color and covered in a ticking or mottled pattern. The bluetick is noted for its skill in trailing and treeing raccoons and other small animals. The breed has origins in the English coonhound. In 1945, bluetick breeders broke away to form their own slower-working dog that could pick up older scent trails.

The redbone coonhound is noted for its speed and agility and its ability to hunt and swim over a variety of terrain. The redbone dates back to red foxhounds brought to the U.S. by Scottish immigrants in the late 1700s and red foxhounds imported from Ireland before the Civil War.

The Boykin Spaniel, in addition to being the official state dog of South Carolina, is a medium-sized hunting dog with a cheerful, energetic personality. The breed was developed in South Carolina in the early 1900s by L. Whitaker Boykin, originally to hunt wild turkeys.

The road to full AKC recognition requires non-recognized breeds to first gain acceptance into the AKC Foundation Stock Service. After a breed has been in FSS the recognition process begins with a written request to compete in the miscellaneous class from the National Breed Club.  While there is no established timetable for adding new breeds, dogs typically compete in the miscellaneous class for one to three years.  More information on the process can be found at the AKC’s website.

The next breeds in line for full recognition by AKC are the Icelandic Sheepdog, Cane Corso and Leonberger.

(Photos courtesy of American Kennel Club: Bluetick/by Diane Lewis ©AKC; Boykin Spaniel/by Bill Simmons; Redbone/by Christine Smith)

A dog walker in England died after being trampled by a herd of cattle in a field in North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire Police said the woman — not yet publicly identified – was walking two dogs on leashes Sunday near the hamlet of Gayle when the cattle apparently panicked and stampeded, according to a Press Association report

“She was surrounded by a herd of cattle and calves, and as a result of dogs being present the cattle reacted in an aggressive manner,” a police official said. Early press reports from England gave no indication of what happened to the dogs, a spaniel and a collie.

Last year, another woman, Sandra Pearce, 45, died in a cattle stampede as she crossed a field in  Suffolk, with her pet dogs.

The SPCA of Texas is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the skinning and killing of a King Charles spaniel named Bonny in Denton County.

Dallasnews.com reports that Bonny disappeared from her Cross Roads’ home June 2. Owner Brian Hunter found her mutilated body in a field across the street, the SPCA said.

“I hope very much that this individual(s) is identified soon because they are obviously in need of help,” Hunter said in a SPCA statement.

Anyone with information about the dog’s death should contact the Denton County Sheriff’s Office at 940-391-7329.