It’s one of those feel-good stories of the day—I suppose. In Camaguey, Cuba, reports the Associated Press, Yeti the farm dog has not only fed her own litter of pups but has been “adopted” by fourteen piglets who now run to her to get sustenance in addition to what they are getting from their natural mothers.

Apparently this just happened spontaneously and the dog has gone along with it, as have the farm owners who are now reaping whatever meager rewards they may get from the publicity surrounding the phenomenon. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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Michael Yon, the well-known independently-operating war reporter, has just published a piece on his website about the military dogs of the war in Afghanistan (along with a look at some aggressive poultry aka “veloci-chickens” which inhabit the same country). [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office has released surveillance video apparently taken during the robbery of a smoke shop in Altadena, California. The 21 second clip (below) shows two masked intruders, one carrying a bag and the other a rifle, running into the smoke shop and loudly demanding “Give me your money.” While the bag is on the counter a Chihuahua runs out barking madly, making one robber back up quickly to the exit in obvious fright, pulling the one with the rifle in front of him as if for protection. The rifle is momentarily pointed at the unfazed pooch. The bag is grabbed again—presumably with some loot in it—and the robbers escape, but the flustered criminals are pursued valiantly down the street by the clearly apoplectic Chihuahua. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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Well, so goes the story from UPI, although it doesn’t really sell me on the full 150 feet part. Of-course, anything is possible. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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In the Albany Township area of Pennsylvania, a deputy sheriff named Kyle Pagerly and his trained police dog, a three year-old German Shepherd named Jynx, were part of a task force of law enforcement officers searching for a fugitive named Matthew Connor. Connor had donned camouflage and taken up position in the woods, in what has been described as a sniper’s nest, bearing a semiautomatic rifle. Jynx detected him and gave the alert to his handler. A shootout ensued, in which both the deputy sheriff and the fugitive suffered fatal gunshot wounds. It is reported that after Deputy Sheriff Pagerly was shot, his dog Jynx attempted to pull him to safety by the leg of his pants. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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At a prison in Monroe, Washington, inmates are participating in a program wherein they train dogs who will become service animals. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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Tax deadline day can be stressful. It’s April 18th this year, so there’s a few more days. Billie advocates getting on top of the paper work early.

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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In Duncan, South Carolina, a high drama of life and death played out last Sunday evening. A woman named Chanda Davis was in her backyard, preparing to do some grilling, accompanied by her 2-year old daughter and 12 year-old son. According to her report, two Pit Bull dogs suddenly appeared, approaching her daughter from behind. She told WYFF: “How I got to her so fast is beyond me. I picked her up with one arm and just threw her on top of my car.” Then the Pit Bulls turned on her. [Read more →]

From section: News by Sean Curnyn
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As reported in STLToday.com and elsewhere, a Belgian Malinois bomb-sniffing dog, named Ddaphne (the spelling is a reference to a training program she came out of) has come home to a family in Festus, Missouri. Army Staff Sgt. James R. Ide was a dog handler and trainer, who was killed in action last August 29th in Afghanistan at the age of 32. He had worked with Ddaphne since 2006, and she was with him when he was killed. His widow, Mandy, asked if she would be able to adopt the dog when it had completed its mission, and U.S. Army eventually acceded to that request. Ddaphne reportedly needed medication to manage post-traumatic anxiety after the death of Staff Sgt. Ide. [Read more →]

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