We’ve blogged about this issue before but couldn’t resist posting this tool as well. It’s not as fun to watch as the Breed Breakdown, but it yields some surprising results. What kind of breed should you get? Use the bone slider to select a range of attributes and find your perfect dog.
Incidentally, Men’s Health also feels the English Bulldog is a good choice for guys.
The Guiness Book of World Records recently verified that Harbor Wert had the biggest ears on any dog any where in the world. As this news spread through the media and the blogsphere it left a trail of cliches in its wake.
The Denver Post said he was “all ears for owner Jennifer Wert.” And so did People Magazine.
The NY Daily News went with “Hear ye, hear ye!” in its byline.
The International Business Times said he looks more like Dumbo than a dog.
At Pet Side, they wondered if he could even grin from ear-to-ear.
And the BBC claimed he had no excuse for not listening.
We get it. Harbor has big ears. His left ear is twelve and a quarter inches and his right is thirteen and a half. So yeah, they’re big. But spare us the cliches. Harbor might have the biggest ears of any living dog but he falls short of the all-time record. That belongs to Tigger, a blood hound who’s ears weighed in at thirteen and a half and thirteen and three quarters inches long.
I’ve been waiting for this moment on Where’s Pom. The story where Lancaster and the mission of this blog combine. Unfortunately, this post covers some well traveled territory – the ongoing public battle between townships and the local Humane League. It was only last December that Lancaster Online covered the same story – Humane League raises fees and local townships start complaining publicly.
The breakdown of the problem goes something like this:
Just over half of Lancaster’s 60 municipalities have a contract with the Humane League for 2011. Contracts are up for renewal soon, and several more municipalities say they won’t pay due to budget constraints. Back in December, Manor Township reported hauling their strays to Berks County to avoid local fees. Given $3.50-$4.00 gas and the cost of paying an employee to drive a stray to Berks County, this hardly seems like a fiscally sound idea. Moreover, as writer Tom Knapp points out for municipalities, “The cost of doing business with the Humane League is up again this year, and some municipalities are looking at options for 2012. Short of building and staffing their own kennels, there aren’t many.”
Stray dogs and cats fall clearly into the realm of “public” problems–the kind of thing you pay local taxes to take care of. Feral cats are sometimes carriers of rabies, so considering most of the stray animals caught are cats, this is also a public safety issue. Municipalities are, of course, free to consider other shelters, but in the interest of fiscal stewardship, they should also consider the additional costs incurred in transportation and compensation to transport strays.
The Humane League of Lancaster County does an admirable job of caring for and placing stray dogs and cats. The cost of their service includes a personality matching service that helps match owners with animals that will better fit their lifestyle and needs thus assuring the animals won’t be returned. Local municipalities are ill equipped to provide this same service nor should they. This blog hopes the public complaining ends and that municipalities work quietly to resolve their differences with the Humane League and continue their working relationship.
Sources:
Dog Shelter Loses Support
Stray Dogs A Costly Problem
Fudge the Dachshund is a lucky dog, or his owner is a brash 22-year old with a death wish. Either way, we admire her moxie.
In the same year that two people were mauled by bears in Yellowstone, dog mom Brook Collins punched a bear in the face after it grabbed her dog Fudge. The bear wandered into her yard in Juneau, Alaska and grabbed Fudge “like a salmon.”
As she reported to the Juneau Empire, “It was a stupid thing but I couldn’t help it. know you’re not supposed to do that but I didn’t want my dog to be killed.” And neither do we, Brook. You’ve set a new standard for dog parents everywhere.
Read more: [Gawker] [Juneau Empire] [Gaurdian]
Web site blinkdog.com did us a favor and assembled some great shots of people with large dogs on their laps. Owners of large dogs often say things like “oh, he thinks he’s a lap dog,” and these pictures prove it. Enjoy.
Source: Blinky Dog
At Where’s Pom, we love stories of owners inspired by their dogs. We can’t help but love Chewy the Biker Dog, a rescue who rides on the back of a motorcycle with his owner, Butch. Chewy frequently rides in support of veterans and was recently nominated and accepted as an Associate Chapter Member of the American Gold Star Mothers (Dogwood Chapter). As explained on his blog, “I ride with a lot of people to honor our Fallen Heroes, but because I’m a dog, I tend draw more attention to what my driver and I do.”
Have a photo of a biker dog? Submit it to Chewy’s blog below.
Read More: [Chewy’s Blog] [Chewy’s Facebook] [Gold Star Moms]
Author and dog trainer Tamar Geller recently launched an initiative to help injured members of the United States Military. Operation Heroes & Hounds’ allows military personnel to coach and live with shelter dogs. As Tamar explains, “The focus of the program is on personal transformation through The Loved Dog™ method, a playful and nonaggressive approach to canine coaching. Both service members and shelter dogs learn a new set of skills that will make a positive impact on their future.”
Tamar’s program is not unlike many prison-based programs where inmates get a chance to work with shelter dogs training them for service or as pets. Such programs are often praised as a way to provide therapy for both the individual and the dog.
Sources:
http://www.tamargeller.com/outreach-heroes.php
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15014860/ns/health-pet_health/t/prisoners-rehabilitate-death-row-dogs/#.TlE2bjtZbR0
The American Kennel Club made news this week with its report of increased rates of dog theft. If you leave Sam the Retriever tied to a tree while you run in for a latte, there is now a 32% greater chance that he’ll be missing when you return. Dogs have also been reportedly nabbed from yards, cars, and houses.
The AKC reports that dogs are stolen for a variety of reasons including resale and an aversion to paying an adoption fee. As most dog owners can tell you, whatever price you pay for your new best friend is just the downpayment. The ASPCA estimates the cost of down ownership from $580 to $875 a year with large dogs requiring more food and medical care. If you can’t pay the adoption fee, do yourself a favor and adopt a Chia Pet instead.
See the AKC link below for how to protect your pet.
Sources:
http://gawker.com/5830763/
http://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=4468
http://www.aspca.org/adoption/pet-care-costs.aspx
Elliott Erwitt was a advertising and documentary photographer. He was known for his ability to coax oddity from the human condition in an uncritical manner which fostered wide appeal.
Some of his most iconic photographs featured dogs and their owners. He could wait patiently for that moment when dog and owner shared that proverbial look, that similarity between dog and owner. He was particularly fond of jumping dogs.
In conjunction with a retrospective in New York City, NPR asked its Instagram followers to tag their dogs. They posted the result in this slide show called Dogs In Flight.
As first reported by WaPo’s Mike Rosenwald, the bell used during the GOP debates on August 11 was the same one many Americans employ as a door bell causing dogs across the nation to lose it like Rick Santorum on a Log Cabin Republicans’ cruise. As Rosenwald noted, “Twitter is filling up with tweets about dogs similarly losing their minds.”
At the Where’s Pom house, we have no doorbell, but the Pom has been known to freak out at barking dogs, Marcus Bachmann, and random noises generated by the television.
[WaPo]