Check out these working dogs in Italy! They are trained to be lifeguards and are out there saving lives. The dogs are trained for two years before working the beaches with their human counterparts. The dogs are mostly Newfoundlands, Labradors, and Golden Retrievers, all natural swimmers. They are trained to notice signs of drowning and can even rescue a drowning person on their own. These dogs can pull up to three people at a time! Italy's National Civil Protection Agency runs the program with a league of 70 dogs.
The very first story I wrote was about the strays of Moscow that have learned to ride the subway. Apparently the strays of Moscow are pretty famous. MoscowTimes.com has a great slideshow about these smart but homeless mutts getting by on the street. They estimate that 30,000 dogs live on the streets of Moscow, so they are a staple in the scenery. They have learned to ride the metro, and even wait for a green light to cross the street! Somehow they even survive the cold winters. Lots of them live in packs, but some have buddied up with a homeless human and work the begging circuit together. Check out the whole slideshow linked above--25 pictures of the city-savvy mutts!
Raymond Orr, who is 89 years old in people years, was in a car accident with his dog. He was hurt pretty bad and was stuck outside for two days. Luckily, his dog Jake was there to look out for him. When cougars (yes COUGARS) showed up, Jake fended them off to keep his person safe. Paramedics were a little skeptical when they heard the story, until they discovered cougar tracks all over the place. Jake is very brave! 
David Blouin, a cultural sociologist at Indiana University South Bend decided to study the relationships that people have with their pets. He found that pet owners fall into three categories: humanist, protectionist, and dominionist. The humanists treat their dogs like four legged people, protectionists place a high value on animals generally, not just as pets, and the dominionists view animals as less important but useful for working purposes. 
Thunder doesn't really bother me, but a lot of my dog friends get really nervous during storms. What can you do? It is important not to scold your pup because that wont help at all! 
Last week, I hope you read the great article about the "underground railroad for dogs." Baltimore's Humane Society is an example of this movement. They recently arranged for the transfer of 31 dogs from a rural shelter in Tennessee, where the pups were scheduled to be euthanized. The transfer was largely of small breed dogs and mutts, which are more popular in northern states and in cities. 
Terrie, the 4-year old Rottweiler in England just gave birth to 18 puppies! Woah, Mama! 
Jeff Bennett is no ordinary pilot. A lifetime dog-lover, he is now flying them to safety. Bennett is a volunteer for Pilots N Paws, an organization that connects pilots around the country with overcrowded shelters in need of help transporting dogs to places with extra space. It costs him a few hundred dollars per trip, but that is a small price to pay for saving the lives of these pups. Bennett has saved 86 dogs so far and has no plans to ground his plane anytime soon. 
Gibson, the current record holder for the "World's Tallest Dog" sadly passed away this week. But lets reflect on what made him so notable. He was 43 inches at his shoulders, and over 7 feet tall when standing on his hind legs. At 180 pounds, he had quite an appetite too--eating 8-10 cups of kibble and over 2 pounds of wet food every day! That makes for one big dog!
Puppies Behind Bars is a great program that allows inmates to train puppies to be service animals. The dogs get the chance to help the people in prison learn about responsibility along the way. A lot of what I read about service dogs doesn't tell this part of the story. Training a puppy to become a service dog is a lot of work, and it is very rewarding for a family doing it, but it is amazing that this work can also help to rehabilitate prisoners. 
Hello my fellow canines. It's Riley with another tip for your human. I just learned this cool new trick called "focus." It was so easy to learn and the treats were awesome. All my human did was take a piece of yummy deliciousness and put it close to my nose. Once I smelled it I was hooked. Then she raised the tasty morsel to her eye. I looked at that treat the whole way. She said "focus" as she did it and I just kept on staring. Well, I thought, "you can't get any easier than that, follow the treat, get the treat, simple." Little did I know there was a little more involved because the next time we tried this game she took the treat from my nose out to the side of her head. She said "focus". Well of course I did not let the treat out of my sight but for some reason she didn't give it to me. So I stared harder and harder at the scrumptious bit but that did not work either. Finally I looked her right in the eye to make sure she was paying attention, and she said "good boy" and gave me the treat. Well, you can imagine my surprise. As it turns out, I get the food when I look at her, Not when I look at the treat. Go figure. Pass the news around.
You can usually count on dogs to lighten the mood, but this dog is helping his person get on stage to make people laugh. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Lots of people have been asking me what I think about Michael Vick now that he has been accepted back into the world of professional football. My person taught me "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." But I sure don't like the guy.
interest in dogs into constructive activities that include positive reinforcement and agility training. Click here to see an adorable slideshow of the community dog ambassadors. This is progress, but so much more needs to be done. 
Lots of wags go out to this very special North Carolina firefighter, Jeff Clark, who has shown a knack for rescuing dogs. Ten years ago he rescued this doberman from a burning building. You can see him pictured here with the dog, who is returing the favor with some special kisses. 
Recently I have read a lot about the increase in dogs ending up in shelters because of the economy. But there is some good news: for the 76 million dogs still in US homes, lots are still getting good treatment. The pet industry is apparently "recession-proof." 
Daizy's family had to put her in boarding while they were doing major home repairs in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. It sounds like Daizy just did not like the kennel so much, so she escaped, but did not find her way home. 
Do you have some free time to kill this summer? Well, Martha Stewart, who recently expanded her enterprise into the pet-industry, has some crafty tips for you. Check out her website to learn how to make the bowls pictured here, collapsable travel bowls, customized poop bag holders, and more fund stuff to pamper your pooch. 
There is always lots of good news coming from the good folks at Best Friends Animal Society. Because of their amazing work in rehabilitating the dogs seized from Michael Vick's dogfighting eneterprise, the US Justice Department's Organized Crime Task Force has recognized their work. They recently received the "2009 Asset Forfeiture National Award" from the Justice Department for “outstanding work with the dogs on the Bad Newz Kennels (the Michael Vick case).”
Max, a terrier mix, just turned 26 years old! That means that he was born in 1983..can you believe that? What makes it even crazier is that is 182 in dog years! Max is in surprisingly good health for his age--with cataracts just setting in and some arthritis. 
Sometimes dogs just "know" when something is wrong. Take the case of hospice nurse Mary Phillips. She had a terrible headache and was lying on the floor in her office. She resisted pleas from coworkers wanting her to get checked at a hospital. When a coworker's dog, Jacqee-Pierre, made her way to the office, she started licking Mary's temple and acting nervously. 
A very mean person threw his dog Oreo off of the roof of a 6-story building. He is going to jail, but Oreo is a survivor! She has some serious injuries--including 2 broken legs and a bruised lung--but is expected to make a full recovery. She is already walking on her own and eating normal food. She cannot be adopted yet because she is still healing, but the shelter has received an outpouring of support and interest in her, so she shouldn't have trouble finding a good home. 
Gipsy was out hiking with her person when he sprained his ankle. To make things worse they were on a precarious ridge, and the weather was getting ugly. That might have been the scariest part for him, but Gipsy was the one who got scared when help arrived. When the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue’s helicopter arrived, it sounds like Gipsy was pretty spooked. Her person was put in the rescue basket, and they tried to put Gipsy in the attached bag--but she did not like that idea so much. Her person did not want to leave her below, so they waited until got some ropes to harness her into the basket. Even that didn't go so well at first, but they managed to get her tied up and get her to safety. Poor girl was just scared of the helecopter, but it sounds like she was one happy pup once it was all over.
Lots of individual dogs come from shelters or breeders, but what is the heritage of the modern dog? 
This poor guy, ET, has been called Britain's Ugliest Mutt. He has been stuck in a shelter for three months because everyone seems to judge him on his looks. The folks at the shelter say that he has a great personality and temperment, but just doesn't look like most dogs. In fact, one shelter worker even said that ET probably thinks that the other dogs are funny looking! 
Dogs make great soldiers and police officers, in fact, trained dogs are one of the most effective bomb detection systems available. But Iraqi soldiers are hesitant to add them to their ranks. In their culture, dogs are considered dirty, so the Iraqis are not keen on offering the affection that bomb sniffing dogs work for. Americans and Iraqis are working together to help the Iraqi police develop a more general acceptance of dogs. Read or listen to this NPR story on progress that is being made with this project.
Did you know that an estimated 4 million dogs in the US suffer from seizures? Neither did I, but tipster Holly (pictured right), found me on twitter and emailed me at Scoop@dailydogscoop.com to tell me about some research that is going on in the San Francisco Bay Area that could help out these dogs. Seizures sure sounds scary, and I bet it is scary for their people too! Glad to hear that vets and scientist are working towards solutions. 
If you stay up late you probably have seen the infomercial for the Snuggie--the blanket with sleeves. Snuggies now have a cult-like following. To capitalize on this popularity, the creators designed a Snuggie for dogs. Seriously. 
Dogs sure know how to help each other out. Bonnie and Clyde are best buds, but their relationship is extra special. Clyde is blind, and very shy and anxious on his own. When Bonnie is with him, he has a lot more confidence and you might not even know he was blind! 
My name is Riley and I am a 5-year-old chocolate Labrador Retriever. I used to jump on my human because I really wanted to get her attention especially when she first came home. I jumped so she would look at me and pet me and maybe even throw the ball. Sometimes I even jumped to demand she acknowledge me.
Of course we dogs know these are the reasons we jump, but most people don’t know that. Well do you know what she did? She did just the opposite of what I wanted. Every time I jumped on her she turned away and crossed her arms. She would not even look at me. So, I would walk around to see her face and when I jumped she turned away again. Well of course I became frustrated and barked at her, “hey don’t you see I want you to play!” but she just ignored me. I was so upset that I sat down and do you know what happened next? For some reason she turned around and pet me. Just like that! Well I got so excited that I tried to jump up and show her how much I loved her. Again, she turned around and ignored me.
After a few times I began to realize that when I was calm and not jumping she would look at me, pet me, and sometimes even throw my ball. It was pretty amazing!
My friend Lincoln’s human tried to do the same to him but he kept on jumping anyway. Those shepards are pretty persistent. Finally his human put on his leash and stepped on it to prevent him from jumping. He did not realize this at the time and continued to try and jump until he was pooped. He finally sat down and just then she looked at him and told him what a good boy he was. How cool is that?! My person tells all of her friends to ignore me if I jump. When I sit calmly in front of them they give me attention and sometimes I even get a treat!
Life is good when you don’t jump on your human. Spread the word.
Riley
CEO (Canine of Extraordinary Obedience)
AnytimeK9, LLC
PS: If you live in the DC or NYC area and are interested in training classed or private lessons by Anytime K9, please visit our website. Be sure to tell them that Scoop sent you!
Tequila, a Rottweiler /pit bull mix was already a new mom. Then these piglets showed up asking for help! Now she is nursing her pups and the piglets. The amazing part is that until recently, Tequila was helping her person hunt wild pigs! But now it looks like she is taking extra special care of these little suckers. 
Petside.com just released its list of the top 10 beaches for dogs in the US. Check out the full list here, along with some great photos of dogs enjoying the beach! 
This man-dog duo is competing in the Doggy Dash, a portion of the NYC Triathlon. Spencer, an energetic coonhound, was in a shelter for 7 months before being adopted by Oliver Rajic. Since adopting Spencer, Oliver has lost 20 pounds thanks to his regular runs with Spencer. 
It took me a while to get adopted because I was not always on my best behavior--but no one ever taught me what that meant! When my person adopted me, she hired a trainer, Tonia Woods-Wilson, founder and CEO of AnytimeK9, to help me control my enthusiasm. Tonia really knows dogs, and she is graduate of the Animal Behavior College. Just goes to show that just because a shelter dog isn't perfect, it might be because no one ever taught them the right way to behave. 
Rachel Bickford is a one-time veterinary hopeful turned pastor. Faced with lagging attendance at her church, she decided to try something new--Woof n' Worship--where she invited church members to bring their dogs along to the service. It was a tail-wagging success! Sure sounds like a good opportunity for people and dogs to socialize. They have biscuits and tennis balls in the church yard afterwards-sounds like fun to me. She even has a new church member that howls along to Amazing Grace!
A German company is developing a new treatment for dogs and other animals with severe cataracts: contact lenses! The lenses come in different sizes to treat everything from cats to rhinos. I haven't been able find info on exactly how this solves cataracts, but the idea is sure taking off, causing a major expansion at S & V Technologies. Vets need special training to perform the procedure, so it is not widely available yet. But S & V offers training for vets around the world. 
