Active Canines

Top 10 Items Surgically Removed from Dogs' Stomachs

VPI has some advice to dog owners: stop leaving your clothes on the floor, but I must say, I don't feel like the rocks and sticks found in dogs' stomachs are our fault!

From K9 Magazine: Dogs Like Eating Underwear, It’s Official. 2007-Oct-25, by Ryan O'Meara: VPI, the oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance in the US, has reimbursed policyholders for a lot of swallowed socks in its 25 years insuring America’s pets. Just take a look at the top 10:

1. Socks
2. Underwear
3. Panty Hose
4. Rocks
5. Balls
6. Chew Toys
7. Corn Cobs
8. Bones
9. Hair Ties/Ribbons
10. Sticks

Sniffers Continue to Amaze

The Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington has one of the oldest and most prestigious programs for dogs in wildlife conservation. They started by training narcotics detection dogs to find wildlife feces, but they continue to find new ways to let the dogs help. Dogs Can Replace DNA Analysis: Most recently, we trained dogs to match samples from the same individual, reducing or eliminating the time and financial costs of DNA analyses. These dogs are able to reliably match samples from individuals whose low genetic diversity may prohibit DNA discrimination at the individual level—a common problem among endangered species. They can also accurately match samples that would otherwise have to be discarded because they are too degraded for DNA analysis.

Role Models for Animal Protection

It all started when a kitty cat wandered onto a baseball field in 1991. Tony La Russa, then manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, rescued the cat, and he and his wife have gone on to rescue thousands of companion animals through their Animal Rescue Foundation: ARF saves dogs and cats who have run out of time at public shelters and brings people and animals together to enrich each others lives. ARF strives to create a world where every loving dog and cat has a home, where every lonely person has a companion animal, and where children learn to care. The ASPCA recently honored them with the 2007 Henry Bergh Award. Read more about how Henry Bergh changed the world for animals and founded the ASPCA. Then read about the numerous ways you can help at ARF.

Your Dog, the Model Traveler

Every year, the American Automobile Association puts out a new edition of their guide to traveling with your pet. Could your dog be on next year's cover?

AAA.com: Photo Contest: You’ve taken some amazing photos of your pet while you were on vacation. Now what? Well, send the picture in to our contest. Your buddy can be a star! The winning entry in AAA’s PetBook Photo Contest will appear on a cover of the next edition of Traveling With Your Pet: The AAA PetBook. The winner also will receive a $250 AAA VISA Gift Card, five complimentary copies of the book as well as a year’s supply of Milk-bone dog snacks. The second place entry will appear on the book’s spine and will receive a $100 AAA VISA Gift Card and 2 complimentary copies of the book. Deadline is November 30 each year.

Progress Toward Safer Pet Food

PetProductNews.com: President Signs Pet Food Safety Legislation. 2007-Sep-27: As expected, President Bush signed the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 into law yesterday, Sept. 27. It includes a mandate for the establishment of pet food safety standards and the creation of an early warning system that identifies pet food contamination. The Secretary of Heath and Human Services, in conjunction with the pet industry and veterinarians, is allotted a two-year timetable to come up with the pet food standards and one year to put the pet food recall alert system into place.

Better Dog Beds

Michele Hedges has founded the fast-growing company Bella Creature Comforts. Houston Chronicle: Deluxe canine beds will be made in El Salvador , 2007-Oct-13, by Jenalia Moreno: Hedges learned dogs have a burrowing instinct and prefer to have a recessed area for nap time. That's why they scratch at their beds. So she designed cave-shaped beds to support the musculoskeletal system of the pet.

When Dogs Bite Kids

Young children exploring the world and nervous dogs with food and territory to protect will always be a dangerous combination. A recent study at the University of Pennsylvania found that when dogs bite young children with whom they are familiar, they are usually guarding food. But it's also important to note that if the dog had additional areas of stress, such as a thunderstorm outdoors or health issues, biting is even more likely. We should try and educate all parents to protect their young children from the natural guarding behaviors of dogs. LiveScience: Why Dogs Bite Kids. 2007-Oct-2, by Andrea Thompson: Children familiar to the dog were more likely to be bitten while the dog was guarding its food....Unfamiliar children were more likely to be bitten while the dog was protecting its territory....These behaviors were seen in many different breeds of dogs....Three quarters of the biter dogs studied exhibited anxiety, either by being left by their owners or being exposed to some loud noise, such as a thunderstorm or fireworks.

Dock Dogs on TV

In the fast-growing "Dock Dogs" sport, trainers throw a toy off the end of the dock and the dogs can win by jumping the highest or furtherest into the water. Learn how your dog can participate at www.DockDogs.com.

DockDogs will be televised exclusively on Outdoor Channel beginning in October...featuring head-to-head competition between North America's top dock jumping teams in both the Dock-Diving (long jump) and the Extreme Vertical (high jump) competition. Top qualifiers in each region will be invited to compete in the National Championship finals. This seven-part original series featuring America’s fastest growing canine dock jumping competition can be seen Thursday evenings at 9 PM.

Not Just for Baby Seals

IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare) is usually associated with the protection of white-coated harp seals, but they also support numerous programs for pets and companion animals under their Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW) campaigns. In South Africa Cora Bailey organized veterinary services for the poor communities, and eventually realized that dogs can make contributions to the community far beyond mere companionship. As part of an effort to keep them out of prison, young offenders were helping with kennel maintenance on the weekends. When officials realized that these undisciplined young people would accept a lot of responsibility for the privilege of training the dogs, a new rehabilitation program was born--for the dogs and the kids.

Wallace the Pit Bull, Champion Disc Dog

Andrew Yori maintains a wonderful site for dog athletes, especially Pit Bulls. WallaceThePitBull.com: With the help of some others, my wife and I were able to pull him out [of the shelter] before he was put down. The negative comments kept on flowing even after we had pulled him out though. However, after qualifying for the 2005 Skyhound World Finals in pairs freestyle 9 months after we brought him into our house and having a full page article in the local paper, the talk didn't have a whole lot of validity and stopped.