There are lots of other things dogs can do to help remind you of the joys of the holiday season. Instead of just raking the leaves, spend a little time playing in them too. Curl up with a loved one by the fireplace. Sleep in. Eat leftovers for breakfast. Give lots of hugs. Chase deer (ok, maybe you won't like the last one). 
[This post is a part of the Pet 'Net Family Event, hosted by the good folks at Petside.com. Be sure to check them out to read other stories from across the blogosphere about the important role that pets play in families! In case you missed it, here is last year's Pet 'Net Safety event, where my snow covered cousin Lucy was featured in a post about winter hiking safety.]
Glenice Bagley would like to clear something up: Sheba, is the worlds oldest dog. That is right, Sheba is over 25 in human years, or 178 in dog years! Glenice is preparing the papers to submit her entry to the Guiness Book of World Records. She was a full grown dog of three years when she was adopted in 1987. That would make Sheba three years older than the current record holder, Piccolo, a Tricolour Mongrel in Farra d'Alpago, Italy.
Dogs are emerging as a great treatment option for autistic children. Earlier this year, I wrote about Kaleb, and the autistic twins that he is helping. And now a study has been released by Université de Montreal and published in Psychoeuroendicrinology that found that dogs "had a clear impact on the children's stress hormone levels." They tested he cortisol levels in the saliva of 42 autistic children before a service dog was introduced, during a visit with the dog, and after the dog was removed. They found a dramatic impact for the time which the dog was present.
Over a year ago I wrote about my buddy Baxter, who was in need of a special home. Baxter was in the custody of Homeward Trails Animal Rescue--the same folks that took me in when I was down on my luck. Not only that, but Baxter's adoption coordinator was Lisa Milot, who also helped me navigate the foster care and adoption process! I was in foster care for six months, and was even returned once. For Baxter, it was well over a year. But Lisa and the team at Homeward Trails worked with him to get help for his anxiety and energy, and much to my delight, I received a comment on my original story to share the news that she adopted Baxter over the summer and he is doing great!
Sit.
Lucky and William are out around Gloucester, England for several hours a day doing more than their part to keep the neighborhood clean. Lucky is now quite popular for his work in the area. William is humble about their contribution, as he tells SWNS.com: "There’s so much litter in the world that maybe it doesn’t make a huge difference but it cheers people up to see Lucky doing his bit in the local area."
That's right--Oscar took a plunge down a 150 foot cliff. Amazingly, he landed at the bottom with little more than a serious startle. The next challenge was getting him back up. Gardener called the coastguard, but there was a canoeist who witnessed the whole thing already on his way over to rescue Oscar. Oscar is pictured here trotting along, hopefully somewhere safer. You can check out a picture of the cliff at Old Harry Rocks here. Oscar is resting safely at home with a sore leg, but is expected to recover just fine. 
Sgt. Chris Duke was wounded in the blast, but had no doubt that he would have died if not for the lookout puppies. When Duke returned to the base after being treated, he and Rufus became buddies, and Rufus even helped him when he was feeling homesick from his pregnant wife. When he was headed home to the States in March, it broke his heart to have to leave his little four legged hero and buddy behind. With the help of the nonprofit organization Robert's Cause and some savvy social networking, arrangements were made to bring Rufus to the States to live with Sgt. Duke and his family. Rufus flew through Manhattan and caught a connecting flight to his new home in Georgia. Target was on the same flight, but is headed to her new home in Phoenix to live with the Army medic who she connected with during the same blast. 
You can find just about anything on Craigslist these days. You could even reunite with a dog that you had to give up years ago--though maybe not on the "missed connections" section. That is just what happened to Sandra Castillo and her dog, Milady. Four years ago Sandra suffered from severe health problems and a six month hospitalization associated with her pregnancy and was forced to re-home her two dogs. She was able to stay in touch with one of the new owners, but lost contact with Milady's new owner. She would occasionally post messages on Craigslist looking to connect with them. She never received a response. Until a few weeks ago. 
A comfortable 82 degree summer day can quickly turn into a 109 degree oven in a closed car. An even cooler 72 degree summer day can turn into a 116 degree oven over the course of an hour, and keeping the windows cracked only slows the heat up marginally. While it is great to take your dog along for fun summer trips, you should avoid trips would require your dog to sit in the hot car for even a few minutes. Heat stroke can begin in as few as 10 minutes at those temperatures. The folks at MyDogIsCool.com have some more resources for understanding the dangers hot cars for dogs.
I have written before about how animals fitted for the latest prosthetics are helping to inform science on human prosthetics. Generally I find the resilience of three legged, two legged, or otherwise special needs dogs to be inspiring. But three legged dogs helping robot research?! Thats a new one! But it is true--A team of researchers led by Martin Groß at the University of Jena in Germany are working to understand the mobility adaptations that three-legged dogs make in order to design robots that can overcome an "injury." Dogs can help because they can demonstrate how to compensate differently based on the loss of a front or rear limb. 
Some dogs could use foster homes because they really need the TLC that would come with living full time with a caring person. Cash strapped shelters with dozens, or even hundreds of dogs, just don't have the resources that some dogs need. Alvin, for example, was not looking so great when he landed a temporary home with Jane, a volunteer with Waggytime Rescue in New York CIty. Jane knew there was a great dog under the dirty matted coat, and she wanted to help Alvin shine. Posted here are the before and after pictures of Alvin-look at that smile and bright eyes, a face full of expression, that you just couldn't see before. I bet feeling clean and cared for has a lot to do with the smile you see in that picture. Jane really has done a fantastic job helping Alvin put his best paw forward as he looks for his forever home. You can see more pictures of Alvin here on his petfinder page. According to his profile, "He loves sitting on laps, flopping over on a comfy couch and "dancing" for chicken treats." Seems like life has really turned around for ALvin since landing in foster care. And YES, he is still looking for you!
Ingrid (pictured here) is a cheery pit bull terrier that landed in the Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Shelter two years ago with a severe heart condition and a variety of other ailments. The good folks at Little Shelter were going to do whatever it took to get this sweet girl back in good health, even if it meant giving her Viagra. Wait, WHAT? 
As we head into the heat of the summer, you might be thinking about taking your dog swimming. If you are like me, I have never BEEN swimming, and my person doesn't even know if I can. FIDOfriendly has some tips on making it fun and safe. Notably--don't just throw your dog in the water because some dogs don't actually know how to swim. Check their website for a full list of DON'Ts, but here is their list of DOs:
