Agency finds new homes for retired racing breed

By Gina Delfavero – Blairsville Dispatch – INDIANA – Greyhound dogs are known for their superior racing ability. But what happens when their racing careers are over, usually when they are still very young?
That's when adoption agencies step in, taking the dogs in and finding suitable, loving homes for them.
One such adoption agency, Monica's Heart, [...]

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Canine cop in training

By Sarah J. Boggan – Arizona Daily Star – Tucson, Arizona – Oro Valley's newest police officer has flowing blond locks, enjoys squeaky toys and has a nose for explosives.
Jerry, a 2-year-old golden retriever, joined the Oro Valley Police Department earlier this month and is in his third week of training to become the department's [...]

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Support grows for Cranberry dog park

By Lara Brenckle – Tribune-Review – The idea of a park for pooches in Cranberry sounds just peachy to Tiffany Jucha.
"It's good socialization," said Jucha, of Fombell, Beaver County, who owns a 1-year-old German shepherd. "It's just like your kids, you socialized them at that park, now you can do it for your dog. It [...]

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Pet-Groomer Dispute: Clippingdales Accuses Precious Pawz

By Patti Dobranski – Tribune-Review – A longtime Murrysville pet groomer has filed suit against three former employees alleging they confiscated her client list and removed equipment to start their own business in the same municipality.
According to papers filed in the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas, Ellen Sweet, owner of Clippingdales [...]

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Dog show honors: Old Iron Margaret River takes the crystal vase

Dog fanciers and fans take in 67th WPKA show and competitions

Lacy, a 9-year-old golden retriever, snuggles with her owner, Roberta Hockenberry, of Chester, W. Va., during the agility competition at the Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association dog show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, yesterday.
By Linda Wilson Fuoco – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Old Iron [...]

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WPKA dog show winners – Day 2

By Glenn May – TRIBUNE-REVIEW – A loveable little beagle got the loudest applause from the audience as dog show finalists pranced around the ring, but a perfectly sculpted Airedale terrier won top honors Sunday in the Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association show.
Old Iron Margaret River, a 3-year-old female, won yesterday's "Best in Show" after beating [...]

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WPKA dog show winners – Day 1

By The Tribune-Review – Winners in the Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association Inc. Dog Show on Saturday:     

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‘Ruff’ love shown at dog show

By Rick Wills – TRIBUNE-REVIEW – Margaret, a 3-year-old Airedale terrier born in Australia, bested hundreds of champion dogs Saturday to take home the "best of show" title at Pittsburgh's biggest dog show.    

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From Lap to Lap, via Internet and Airline

By TRACIE ROZHON – NYT – If you want something badly enough, you'll find a way to get it. Even a pedigreed dog.
We bought Reilly, our Irish terrier puppy, over the Internet. She was shipped in by Northwest Airlines in a tiny plastic carrier, arriving in upstate New York on a bitterly cold night in [...]

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‘Pets in America: A History,’ by Katherine C. Grier

By ALIDA BECKER – NYT – In 2004, 36 percent of the households in the United States included children. More than 60 percent included pet animals. Is it any wonder, then, that American pet owners, as Katherine C. Grier reports, "now routinely describe their animals as their best friends or as family members"? The word [...]

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A mixed dog in wolf’s clothing

Breeders take a walk on the wild side to create a bloodline that’s both cuddly and dangerous – By Joe Garner – Rocky Mountain News – The eyes track you. Wary, primitive eyes. Luminescent golden eyes.
The eyes of a wolf in the guise of a dog. The animal’s bloodline seems to flow simultaneously cuddly and [...]

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Dog beat dog

By Regis Behe – TRIBUNE-REVIEW – His name is C.H. Rinposhay’s Captain Courageous — the C.H. is for champion — but you can call him Spencer.
A shih tzu, Spencer lives the epitome of a dog’s life: high-quality dog food, an hour of grooming every day and a bath every fifth day that lasts between 2 [...]

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Canine Couture

By Andrew Johnson – TRIBUNE-REVIEW – Linda Urbanek’s Claws-N-Paws Professional Pet Grooming looks like an auto-body shop for canines, complete with slickers, rakes, forceps and a muzzle.
Urbanek, 53, will be entering her 11-month-old Shetland Sheepdog, Carson, in the Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association dog show this weekend.  

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Police dog racket claims investigated

News.com.au – A SENIOR officer with the New South Wales Police dog squad was under investigation over an alleged racket involving the sale of sniffer dogs worth $40,000.

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Animal Cruelty Charged – Pit Bulls in McKeesport

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Two dead pit bulls — one found in the bedroom of a McKeesport residence and another in a nearby alley — died of starvation and dehydration, according to a necropsy conducted by the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society.
A McKeesport couple has been charged with animal cruelty in the death of the dogs and [...]

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It’s a dog’s life for pampered pets

April E. Clark – Glenwood Springs Post Independent Staff – There’s an aging golden retriever in the valley with a dye job to die for.
And that’s just a sampling of the lengths some pet owners go to when pampering their babies – yes, “babies.”
Today, Fido stays dry with a water-shedding raincoat, and warm with a [...]

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So You Think You Can Just Adopt a Dog?

By ANNA BAHNEY – New York Times – Almost as soon as Michele Pusateri and her two daughters chose a black-and-white terrier at a humane society shelter near their home in South Pasadena, Calif., they were told they did not qualify to own the dog.
Mrs. Pusateri took her daughters, Mira and Zoe, back twice more [...]

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Electronic Dog Collars, Cruel Or Not?

By Jon Dunkerley – DogFlu.ca – Electronic collars, doing more harm than good?
For extremely hard to handle dogs, the electronic shock collar has been used to administer corrections to the dog without physically needing to come in contact with it. The collar works by administering a shock to the dog that will very in intensity [...]

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Jeannette police dog bites suspect

By Paul Paterra – TRIBUNE-REVIEW – A Jeannette man was arrested after being caught with suspected cocaine and marijuana in the city Tuesday night, police said.
He also received a couple of bites from the city's police dog after trying to flee.

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Offering unconditional love, pets are special to clergy, religious

By Claudia Mathis – Catholic News Service – SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Paddy, a 12-year-old black Labrador retriever, works in public relations at St. Joseph’s Church in Endicott, N.Y., in the Diocese of Syracuse.
“Paddy’s always there to greet people as they enter church,” said Father Jim Serowik, the pastor. “She’s also a four-legged alarm – she [...]

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Third-grader, purebred dog hunting for kennel show honors

By Linda Wilson Fuoco - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – At her Upper St. Clair home, she is simply Frances, the loyal and loving pet of the Ritchey family.
Although she’s a rather big dog, weighing in at a bit more than 70 pounds, she’s gentle and calm and cute, in a different kind of way. She has a [...]

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K-9s in training for explosives detection at All-Star Game

By Jill King Greenwood – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Pittsburgh police will have six new canines trained in explosives detection ready to hit the streets in time for this summer's Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
The dogs, purchased for $10,000 each with a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, are training at a facility in [...]

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Blind author shares message about overcoming challenges

By Sandy Trozzo – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Many of the children filing into the auditorium at Hance Elementary School pointed and commented about the "doggie" lying on the floor.
But Handley, a guide dog, was there to work, and her owner, author Sally Hobart Alexander, was there to talk about how she gets her story ideas [...]

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Courthouse dog helps kids relax

The Associated Press from The Cleveland Plain Dealer – Delaware, Ohio – A juvenile court judge has come up with a way to help ease the concerns and tension for upset youngsters who come into his chambers to talk about grown-up things such as custody battles or child abuse.
The judge's big yellow Labrador retriever helps [...]

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Dog flu outbreak taking bite out of pet businesses

By Amy Bryer – The Denver Business Journal - Doggy daycare centers, boarders and groomers are feeling a financial bite since an outbreak of canine influenza first appeared in Denver in January.
Some have lost thousands of dollars after having had to shut down for days or weeks at a time to disinfect their facilities and prevent [...]

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Never mind the mutt, how about a pugahuahua?

By the Albany Times Union – Where the word “mutt” once sufficed, pop-culture aficionados and dog-lovers alike are uttering “labradoodle” and “snorkie” and “puggleBreeders are embracing the idea — once anathema — of combining different purebred dogs. They have produced the taco terrier (Chihuahua + toy fox terrier), the bullmatian (bull mastiff plus dalmatian), the [...]

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Webster Beagle Club

Rostraver, PA — The Webster Beagle Club is sponsoring a rabies clinic from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Rostraver Central Fire Co., Fells Church Road. Donation is $6, and inoculations for lyme disease, parvovirus and distemper are available for additional fees. Participants receive free hot dogs, coffee and gifts from Dad’s Dog Food. [...]

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Del Monte Foods bulks up on pet food

Del Monte Foods Co. is bulking up its Pittsburgh-based pet foods operation by buying the Milk-Bone brand from Kraft Foods. Recent adverse publicity surrounding the popular Greenies®  treats highlights the opportunities available in the Pet Treats/Snacks business. It is ripe for competition.   

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Castle Shannon Scouts to finance protection for K-9

By Margaret Smykla – Tri-State Sports and News Service for the Post-Gazette – A week after Nitro, Castle Shannon's newest police dog, started on the job, he and handler Officer Jeff Recker were called to neighboring Whitehall. They were asked to find a man who had run into the woods after breaking into his former [...]

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Local veterinarian takes his expertise on the road

Kristy Graver – North Journal Staff Writer - When it comes to veterinary medicine, Dr. David Ruble is on a roll. The Allison Park resident operates Vet to Pet, a mobile clinic that services ailing animals throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area.
“I enjoy helping people,” he says, “and my days are a lot more eventful.”
For seven years, [...]

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Army Dogs

DAVID DISHNEAU – Associated Press – FORT MEADE, Md. – An Army dog handler accused of abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq with his unmuzzled canine said he had a commander's approval to use the dog during interrogations if it wore a muzzle, a witness testified.

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Conservationist campaigns to keep Tibet’s mastiffs mean

By Blythe Yee – The Wall Street Journal – GUJI VILLAGE, YUNNAN PROVINCE, China — Wong How Man is rounding up the toughest puppies he can find. For the past two years, he has spent weeks at a time scouring the Tibetan plateau for mastiff puppies with bushy tails, big heads and very bad dispositions.   [...]

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A dog’s life has its better moments: A day in the park mixing with peers perks up pups

By Margaret Smykla – Tri-State Sports and News Service for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – It’s all about the dogs at the fenced-in Allegheny County leash-free dog park in South Park.
“This must be what doggie heaven is like,” said Joanne Hahey, of Bethel Park, as she brought Czar, a boxer, to the roughly acre-sized canine paradise [...]

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Donated bloodhound enlisted to sniff out crime

By Al Lowe for the Post-Gazette – His name is Rocky, but he doesn’t want to fight. He wants to hunt.
Veterinarian Marybeth Kline is waiting to see how Rocky, the bloodhound she donated to the Dormont police department, fares at his new home.

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Dogs bite babes and toddlers more often

Child Health News – According to a new study, dog bites in children occur frequently and the breed of dog, behaviour of dog owners, children, and parents are all influencing factors.
Dogs bite very young children more often, and the researchers say that children 1 year of age or younger have the highest risk of being [...]

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Training programs build business skills among the blind

By Seth Sutel – The Associated Press – Losing his sight in a car crash 11 years ago didn't stop Danny Novielli from going to college to study business. With the help of various "adaptive technologies," such as a Braille note-taking device and software that reads text that appears on computer screens, he wound up [...]

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Cultivating a Golden Retriever’s nose for mealybugs

By JULISSA McKINNON – The Napa Valley Register – A litter of week-old golden retrievers look more like big hamsters than canines. But these nine tiny balls of fur are a big source of hope for Napa Valley growers whose vineyards are blighted by infestations of vine mealybug.

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Post-Gazette Editorial: Dog’s delight – Animal Friends makes its suburban move

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – With nary a complaint, or a bark or a snarl, Animal Friends moved into its sprawling new shelter in Ohio Township on Wednesday. Though it won’t have its public opening till March 18, motorists for months have taken note of the handsome complex nestled in the woods across the creek from Camp [...]

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EBAY DOG FUR SALE STOPPED

By Jeremy Armstrong – UK Mirror – INTERNET auction giant eBay removed a Korean dog fur coat from its site yesterday – thanks to the Mirror.  

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K9 Unit for Jeannette

By Marjorie Wertz – FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW - The Jeannette police department now has a K-9 unit thanks in part to the state drug forfeiture law.

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Against all odds: in dire need of woman’s best friend

By NATASHA SURLES – The Pitt News - My cousin’s dog, Rambo, was the closest I’ve come to owning a pet.

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BioVision hopes pet project will help people

by Kristen Kunz – The Denver Business Journal – Amid beeping heart monitors, bright lights and doctors in scrubs, 1-year-old Aeowen lies sedated on an operating table. Her belly is shaved, her tongue hangs from the side of her mouth — and her furry ears flop backward.
The Papillion dog is having a surgical procedure called [...]

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Animal Friends finds new home

By Linda Wilson Fuoco - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Imagine trying to move 49 cats and 37 dogs, all on the same day. The staff and volunteers of Animal Friends did that yesterday, using 40 of their own cars and vans and one commercial delivery truck to move animals from the old shelter in the Strip District [...]

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Beaver County Humane Society still seeking site

By Brian David - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – In high school, the closer the prom gets, the better the prospective dates start to look. The same dynamic is in play for the Beaver County Humane Society. The official deadline for it to vacate its Center Township home passed in December and it is just waiting for the [...]

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Abandoned dog recovering

Washington County – Post-Gazette – A school bus driver in Avella, Washington County, found a deformed, emaciated dog huddling under a bus in an apparent effort to get warm.

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Parvo: For dogs, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

By Linda Wilson Fuoco - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious disease that is especially dangerous for puppies. While the incredibly hardy virus thrives year-round, veterinarians see more cases in the spring and summer when people and their dogs are out and about more because of the nice weather.The good new is that [...]

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