ohmidog!

When it comes to being petted, cats and dogs have different standards, as illustrated by this helpful graphic we came across at Humor Train.

You don’t know the face, but you may know the leg: A khaki-clad hunk of it often shows up — generally from the knee down — in photographs of Bo Obama.

The leg belongs to Dale Haney, who, when the First Family is too busy to walk the dog, assumes the duty.

As a keeper of the White House grounds for nearly 40 years, Haney has managed to cultivate  relationships with the presidential pups — all the way back to Richard Nixon’s Irish setter, King Timahoe.

“They heard about me and they called me to come over here for an interview and I came and here I still am,” he told the Associated Press  during a tour of the gardens on a rainy morning when first lady Michelle Obama — Bo’s primary walker — was out of town.

“I have him a little bit more” when she’s traveling, said Haney.

Before Bo came along, Haney had walked and played with President George W. Bush’s Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley. But he says he was most fond of Spot, an English springer spaniel whose mother, Millie, belonged to Bush’s father, President George H.W. Bush.

“I do have a soft spot for Spot,” he said in an online chat in 2003. “I was there when she was born and now she’s back.” Millie gave birth to Spot at the White House in 1989; the younger Bush and his wife, Laura, put Spot to sleep in 2004 after she’d had several strokes.

Haney began at the White House as a gardener, then was supervisor of grounds maintenance and lead horticulturist before becoming superintendent of all the grounds last fall.

Besides helping out with Bo, Haney tends to the nearly 19 acres of lawns, trees and gardens around the White House.

A Massachusetts man told police he killed his bulldog Spot with a hammer because he could not afford to pay a veterinarian to put it down.

Charles Berube, 53, of Methuen, who had owned the dog for ten years, told police the dog had been sick for weeks, according to the Associated Press.

Spot had lost weight, had trouble walking and his legs were swollen, Berube told police. He said he couldn’t afford a veterinarian and didn’t want to burden a shelter with the animal, and that he didn’t want to see Spot suffer. The home euthaniasia took place last July.

Berube, of Methuen appeared in court Thursday on animal cruelty charges, and a jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 20.

Classic dog names — like Fido, Lassie, Rover and Spot –are continuing to fall out of use, replaced by more human monikers, according to the annual pet name survey by Veterinary Pet Insurance.

The nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance has again analyzed its database of more than 466,000 insured pets to find the most popular dog and cat names.

In 2008, VPI reports, Max, Bailey, Bella, Molly and Lucy were the most popular dog names. It was the sixth straight year Max has topped the list.

Only 13 dogs in VPI’s database went by Fido in 2008, placing the name at No. 2,866. Rover came in at No. 2,534.

In fact, VPI says, the list of most common dog names is beginning to look a lot like the list of most common baby names. Some of the most popular dog names — Bella, Chloe, Sophie and Bailey – also rank among the Social Security Administration’s most popular baby names.

Marley, we were surprised to see, didn’t make the top 10; maybe next year.

“Pets are often viewed as members of the family, treated like members of the family and, as a result, named like members of the family,” said Curtis Steinhoff, senior director of corporate communications for VPI. “Max may sleep on his owner’s bed, eat gourmet food and wear clothes to go out on the town. Rover probably does not.”

Since last year’s results, the most notable increase in any name has been Bailey, which was No. 9 in 2007. Other changes in 2008 include the addition of Sophie (No. 9) and Chloe (No. 10). Jake and Rocky fell off the list.

To view more names on the uncommon end of the list, visit www.wackypetnames.com. As for the most popular names, here are the lists.

      Dogs                    Cats
    1. Max                 1. Max
    2. Bailey               2. Chloe
    3. Bella                 3. Tigger
    4. Molly                4. Tiger
    5. Lucy                 5. Lucy
    6. Buddy               6. Smokey
    7. Maggie             7. Oliver
    8. Daisy                8. Bella
    9. Sophie              9. Shadow
    10. Chloe             10. Charlie

(Photo from pawpottery.com)