Never, never, never leave your dog alone with a baby
What a tragic story out of Warren, Ohio. A father left his 3-day old baby alone in her bassinet while he briefly left the room.
Their family dog, a Husky, apparently thought the child was a stuffed animal or toy and picked her up, killing her due to a cardiac arrest.
This highlights the need to constantly supervise your dog when there is a baby in the house. It only takes a second for a dog to make a mistake and harm or even kill your precious newborn.
Below, some expert advice on helping your dog adjust to a new baby in the house.
Continue reading Never, never, never leave your dog alone with a baby
Top Ten Tuesday: Least Destructive Dogs
Last week’s Top Ten Tuesday post was about the most destructive dogs, based on a survey of 3,000 customers of UK pet insurance carrier Esure. This week, we bring you the opposite – the breeds found least destructive by the same survey.
Each of these breeds were responsible for less than $2 worth of damage. I’m sorry, but in my humble opinion, any dog who can’t do more than $2 worth of damage can’t really be a dog!
King Charles Spaniel
Border Terrier
Cocker Spaniel
Old English Sheepdog
Highland Terrier
Corgi
Poodle
Pointer
Saint Bernard
Pug
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
We’d do anything for our dogs… well, maybe not murder
In a bizarre story, a man in Australia has been charged with killing his wife–because she wouldn’t let him cuddle the dog!
Anthony Sherna lived in a remote area of Australia with his wife Suzanne and their Jack Russell Terrier Hubble. They had few friends, no nearby neighbors, and they pretty much relied on each other for their social life. He made it a habit to cuddle and rock his dog to sleep at night while he listened to the radio. Until one day last February when his wife started shouting at him for paying too much attention to the dog.
Apparently her shouting upset the dog so much he was shaking badly and couldn’t be comforted for some time (at the best of times, it took 15 minutes to get the JRT to bed). Anthony was so angry that he snapped, grabbed a dressing gown cord and wrapped it around his wife’s neck. As if this story wasn’t strange enough already, Anthony then took Hubble to a pet spa so that he wouldn’t have to confront his wife’s remains!
So the wife is dead, the husband is in custody–but the dog at least is alive and well.
Survey Saturday: Dogs dialing 911?
We featured a story this week about a dog who had been trained to call 911, and did so when his guardian had a seizure. I’m not so sure any of my dogs would be capable of this – how about you?
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Profits going to the dogs
The Wag, Inc., purveyor of fine leather goods for dogs, recently announced its campaign to raise funds for two dog-related charities: National Service Dogs in Canada and the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation in the US. For every item sold via their internet site, The Wag will donate two dollars to each of the charities.
Dog DNA Scoop
A suburb of Tel Aviv recently announced that it is getting serious about cracking down on those who don’t clean up after their dogs. It seems they will hire people to scoop up any remaining poop, then test its DNA to identify the offenders.
Top Ten Tuesday: Most Destructive Dogs
UK pet insurance provider Esure recently surveyed 3,000 dog owners, finding that up to 66% of pet owners end up filing claims for damage done to their homes by their dogs. The biggest issues were soiled carpets, scratched floors, and chewed door frames, followed closely by clothing and furniture damage.
Owners reported that most damage occured, as you might expect, while their dogs were just puppies, but some have had problems during the whole lifetime of their dogs.
Mars Pet Food Recall
Another batch of tainted dog food. See the below press release from Mars. A complete list of recalled brands is on their website at http://www.petcare.mars.com/.
And thanks to PoetLady for pointing this out!
Dog dials 911 to help owner
An 18-month-old German Shepherd called 911 to summon help when his owner suffered a serious seizure. Buddy used his teeth to press pre-programmed numbers until a 911 dispatcher came on the line.
The call was placed when Buddy’s owner, Joe Stalnaker, who has injuries received during military service, suffered a seizure and blacked out. Buddy can be heard whimpering in a recording of the emergency call.
Buddy was trained to call 911 with his teeth when this situation occurs, ensuring help for Stalnaker arrives quickly.
“He’s my world. He’s my best friend, no question. He’s always there,” said Stalnaker, who was hospitalized for two days after the incident but has since recovered.
