ohmidog!

Between flight delays and her dog, it’s a wonder Kim Rhode, a member of the U.S. Olympic shooting team, made it to London at all.

Her poodle Norman ate her airline ticket — and that was the least of her problems.

Rhode, seeking to become the first American to win individual medals at five Summer Games in a row, went to the airport in Los Angeles on Friday intending to fly to Copenhagen for training camp.

Flight cancellations forced her to miss training camp, and instead she later flew directly to London — after being reissued a ticket because her four -month-old dog, who she referred to as “hell on wheels” ate the first one.

She finally arrived in London Tuesday, AFP reports.

“My dog ate my ticket,” said Rhode, 33. ” … I know that sounds crazy but I can honestly say and I have the pictures to prove that really happened. It’s not just an excuse.”

Rhode, who is taking part in women’s trap and skeet, said she was looking forward to the arrival of her teammates on Wednesday.

“Some of them sent me some well wishes on Twitter and Facebook. I know they’re having a blast in Denmark. They’ve gone and seen ZZ Top and have been training really hard — a lot of team-building going on there. I’m kind of bummed that I missed that,” she added.

Rhode is seeking her fifth straight medal and her third gold overall.

(Photo: AFP)

A state representative in Tennessee has removed a video from her YouTube channel that showed her holding her dog outside the window of a moving car and laughing as it went “air swimming.”

State Rep. Julia Hurley took the video down two days after posting it, but insisted — sounding a little like Mitt Romney talking about Seamus — that Pepper, a Chinese crested, enjoys being held out into the wind, outside of a fast moving car.

Hurley, who’s seeking a second term, said she removed the video because she “didn’t want to deal with” criticism she calls politically motivated. “I think it’s a liberal ploy to take the attention off the bills and the legislation I’ve passed and the positive things I’ve done, to make me look like a bad person,” the Lenoir City Republican said.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Hurley’s short video titled “Pepper Air Swims” was pulled two days after being posted on YouTube.

The newspaper wrote about the video after being contacted by the Rev. Peggy Blanchard, who criticized the video in an email. “I find Ms. Hurley’s behavior to be extremely unkind and irresponsible. While Ms. Hurley and her friend are laughing and having fun, the dog is clearly terrified.”

“This sort of behavior exhibited by a person who has a position of leadership sets a very poor example of behavior for both adults and children,” Blanchard wrote.

Hurley countered, “My dog obviously enjoys it. She’s very happy.” Still, she said, the backlash could lead her to stop posting social media updates.

“People say they want a legislator they can relate to, they want an open-door policy and know everything that’s going on,” she said. “But you try to give them that, and they use it against you to try to make you look like a bad person.”

Pepper was the subject of previous media attention when the lawmaker was thrown out of the Roane County courthouse for bringing her dog along in March. She argued that the 11-pound dog is classified as a service animal, though she brought the pet along as a companion.

Upon her election to the House in 2010, Hurley drew national attention for crediting her success to the time she spent working at Hooters restaurants, in a two-page article for the chain’s magazine.

She was the subject of another embarassing video, as well, when a state trooper pulled her over in 2011 for speeding, and a dashboard camera recorded the hard time she gave the officer about the ticket she received. Here’s that video:

(Photo: Erik Schelzig / Associated Press)

Not everybody who uses dogs in their advertising is out to make a quick buck. Some of the best commercials starring dogs are produced for animal welfare organizations to promote adoptions, like this one for LAAnimalServices.com.

It’s subtle, understated, well-acted and well-conceived. Rather than grab for your heartstrings, it reaches for your funny bone. We especially like the tagline:

“If only everyone saw you the way your dog does.”

All of our “Woof in Advertising” selections can be found archived here.

An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a neighbor’s German shepherd Monday, claiming the dog was preparing to attack her.

The officer said she was walking her dog, described as pug, when the neighbor’s dog escaped from the backyard, attacked her dog and then threatened her.

When police arrived after the shooting, they issued a ticket to the owner of the dead dog for not having a license.

“Like killing my dog wasn’t enough?”  the neighbor, Laura Bravo, said.

The shooting happened as Bravo’s three children were heading to school. They let their dog, Malachi, out into the backyard, heard gunfire, and then saw the dog bleeding on the sidewalk.

After the Chicago Sun-Times inquired whether the officer had a license for her dog, the department checked and discovered she didn’t, a police spokesman said. The unidentified officer, a female who has been with the department about three years, was then issued one as well.

The tickets carry a fine of up to $500.

A woman in Australia who received a $200 citation for unregistered dogs thinks the inspectors who cited her may have been barking up the wrong tree.

The two dogs in Mishka Gamble’s front yard are fiberglass.

Gamble does have a dog, a 15-year old shih-tzu who rarely goes outside, and then only uses the backyard. She thinks the inspectors mistook her fiberglass dogs — a Staffordshire terrier and a blue heeler — for the real thing.

Gamble told The Cairns Post she was shocked when she received a notice saying she had seven days to pay $200 for the registration of two dogs. “I certainly don’t have two dogs,” she said.

“I’ve got a fiberglass pig and sheep. Do I need to register them too?”

Earlier this month, the Cairns Regional Council came under fire for its dog audit after issuing 61 advisory notices to homes that, it turned out, didn’t have dogs. One resident was given a notice for having a cat bowl in the yard.

Gamble said she had since registered her “real” dog.

(Photo from The Cairns Post/CHRIS HYDE)

The San Marcos police chief has reprimanded the officer who delayed two college students as they tried to rush their dying dog to a veterinarian, the San Antonio News-Express reported today.

Officer Paul Stephens, who said, “It’s just a dog,” as, he held the pair beside Interstate 35, received an oral reprimand and counseling, Police Chief Howard Williams said Tuesday.

“We sustained the complaint that was filed,” Williams said. “We made him watch the tape with his supervisor and he was counseled on how to improve his performance.”

But Williams said he believed his officer’s assessment that the dog was not alive when he pulled over Michael Gonzales for going 95 mph on the highway after midnight Aug. 5.

Gonzales and his girlfriend Krystal Hernandez, both Texas State University students, were rushing their teacup poodle, Missy, from San Marcos to an all-night vet clinic in New Braunfels after the dog choked on her food and went limp.

The couple pleaded with Stephens to allow them to get the dog to the clinic and then turn themselves in later, or to let Gonzales stay and get his speeding ticket while Hernandez completed the trip alone. Instead, they were kept at the scene for almost 20 minutes waiting for Stephens to issue the ticket as he chatted with two other officers who arrived.

The students say the dog died while they waited.

Gonzales said Tuesday he thought an oral reprimand was not sufficient.

“That’s not really a punishment at all,” he said. “I don’t feel a person like that should be working in law enforcement.”