Dog Daily News

The main human behind Dog Daily News has taken a blogging gig with the fabulous doggy website, Dogster. We’re super happy for her, and we promise to post our stuff every so often, but while she’s busy blogging, we’re going to take a lot more time off to run around and just be dogs. We were getting barkal tunnel syndrome from all the typing we had to do. When we get bored running around and digging and sleeping and eating, we’ll post again. In the meantime, check out her cool blog.

We’re all dashing off to our Thanksgiving celebrations with friends and family, and will be taking a few days off, but we wanted to leave you with some sage advice. This time of year we read all kinds of tips about how to keep dogs safe at Thanksgiving. (No undercooked meat, not too much food, no bread dough, no cake batter, yada yada…) But nowhere have we seen this warning:

Keep your dog away from nails. Stainless, aluminum, roofing nails, brads, galvanized, rusty, you name it — nails are not good for dogs.

It’s something we wouldn’t have thought of, except for a Florida dog named Roxie. It seems this basset hound wolfed down more than 100 nails. Luckily, not one punctured anything vital, and a vet was able to remove them all. Roxie is now recovering, and is swearing probably swearing off the hard stuff for a while. The story unfolds on the video below. Enjoy! We’ll see you again this weekend.

Petrol! It's purported to be like giving your dog a can of gas. We're not sure most dog people want this, especially Jack Russell and yellow Lab people. Go dog, go!

OK, we know dogs are hot. Humans are forever creating new inventions to make us happy. We have swanky beds and gourmet foods and organic doodads and even our own videos to entertain us. But until now, we have been lacking one thing that’s utterly ubiquitous in the world of humans: The aluminum beverage can — the great equalizer. Humans (at least American humans) great and meek guzzle about 57 gallons of soft drinks every year, according to EMedExpert. Dogs? We get water.

Enter Petrol. It advertises itself as the “First ‘Dog Drink’ in an Aluminum Can.” We kind of associate aluminum cans with the Budweiser flotsam Uncle Bubba chucks out the pickup truck window, and also with Alzheimer’s disease. But apparently, aluminum is hip. From the Petrol press release: “Discerning dog lovers looking for a healthy treat for their pooches may be surprised they can now find one in the most popular and environmentally-friendly beverage package in the world – an aluminum can.” Who knew?

Petrol gives your dog BIG nutrition, apparently!

The can is admittedly very cute, as you can see in the photo to the left. (Since it’s 12 ounces, we don’t think the scale is quite right…) But what’s inside? The Petrol website states that “Petrol is a delicious dog treat beverage with vitamins and 100% natural flavorings for optimum canine health and wellness. This savory, vet-formulated drink is not only refreshing and nutritious – dogs prefer it 4-to-1 over regular water.”

While perusing the list of ingredients, and lack thereof, we were disappointed to see “no meat or meat by-products.” Is this something the Petrol people should be bragging about? I mean, if I’m going to drink something other than water, I’d like it to have some meat in it! But then again, I’m just a dog.

One ingredient we were relieved not to find listed was gasoline. After all, petrol is simply the British word for gasoline. The product is advertised as fuel for your dog. We put 2 and 2 together and got a little concerned. But nowhere is there a single mention of any petroleum product. In fact, the main liquid is water — and not just any water, but “100% reverse osmosis water for purity and wholesomeness.” Cool! We Dog Daily News staffers often enjoy drinking from toilet bowls and old puddles (truly nectar of the dogs). We’re not sure we need reverse osmosis water. But our humans will like the idea. And since they’re the ones forking over the cash for these cans, that’s what counts.

Cheers!

This is an innocent grey kangaroo. Please note that this is not the kangaroo who attacked Farmer Rickard and his dog. In fact, this kangaroo looks positively indignant at the association. Sorry for the species profiling, kangaroo. Photo: Mark Graham/AP

And a good Monday morning to you, mate! We figure there’s nothing like a little kangaroo gore to get you started with your work week, so we bring you this bizarre tale from across the globe.

Australian farmer Chis Rickard was walking his two dogs on his 20-acre farm earlier today when one of his dogs accidentally disturbed a snoozing ‘roo, according to The Times Online. Rocky, a blue heeler cattle dog, “pursued” the kangaroo as it hopped away, and the farmer’s horses also charged at the animal.

What’s a poor ‘roo to do? This one (whom we shall refer to as “it,” since we don’t know its gender; We Dog Daily News staffers have been called “it” by too many people, so we don’t like calling other animals “it,” but sometimes it’s necessary.) fought back. When the dog went after it in shallow water, the marsupial found that using its forelimbs to hold the dog under water amazingly stopped all errant behavior on the dog’s part.

At one point, the kangaroo held Rocky under water for a good 20 seconds. That’s a particularly long time in dog years, trust us.

Farmer Rickard realized he had to rush to Rocky’s rescue. He didn’t realize that he would soon be beaten to a pulp by the mad ‘roo, ending up with major gashes to his face, and a deep, long perforation on his stomach. The Times says the kangaroo “tried to disembowel him with his powerful hind legs,” but we’re not so sure that evisceration was actually the marsupial’s intent. Apparently the kangaroo also tried to drown the farmer.

Farmer Rickard eventually managed to back away and escape with Rocky. (Where was the other dog in this tale? Cowering in the bush? Calling 911?) His wounds were treated at a local hospital and he returned home Monday night. We find this very disconcerting, since it is Monday morning in San Francisco as we write this. We’ll never used to the fact that it’s already tomorrow somewhere else in the world.

Rocky will need to avoid all Winnie the Pooh videos for a while. Here, it does indeed look like Kanga is regaling Roo with her tale of what she did to Rocky in that bit of shallow water. This scene could send Rocky off his rocker.

Farmer Rickard is a little shaken up, and will likely have his girlfriend walk the dogs tomorrow –  while she carries a big stick. But his real concern is how traumatic this was for Rocky. “We are worried Rocky might be afraid of water now, and we hope he’s not going to be terrified of the sight of a kangaroo on the property,” he said.

With mobs of up to 30 kangaroos at time crossing through his property, the future could be a nightmare for Rocky. We suggest hypnotherapy. And at least for a while, he should stay away from all Winnie the Pooh videos. Kanga and little Roo will surely put him in flashback mode.

A toy belonging to one of the children; father, who is not allowed to be identified (nor are other family members), is in the background (Photo: James Glossop/The Times)

In our previous post, about fat dogs being taken away from their owners in Britain, we made a facetious comment wondering if fat human children were next.

Of course, that would never happen. It was just a dark joke. Right? Wrong.

A Twitter follower, doggiestylish, sent us a link to an article that shows our faux prediction had already come true. By now, most likely all of the human children of an overweight couple have been taken away from them. Authorities even absconded with the couple’s newborn baby. A main reason: Fatness. Not the baby’s, of course, but the parents’.

Everyone is heartbroken.

“I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I can’t tell you how powerless I feel,” the dad told The Times. “The other children are devastated too. My wife was told she could stay with our baby for another 24 hours but then she would have to go home alone. She got up out of her bed and left the hospital there and then. I had to wait behind to say my goodbyes to the baby.”

We are heartbroken, too. Dogs need their people. Kids need them even more. Fat or not. This has gone too far. What’s next? Dogs and kids being taken away if their people wear unflattering clothes? (Stay tuned. You never can tell with British courts these days…)

Barney, before and after. Even his spots have shrunk. But did he really need to be wrenched from his person to get a svelte profile?

It was with sadness that we learned of yet another British dog being torn out of the loving arms of a person who had inadvertently made him obese.

According to a BBC report, John Green testified that “he treated Barney as more of a friend than a dog and that he did not set out to deliberately harm the dog.”

As a friend, John shared his chips and chocolate and other treats with Barney. Barney ballooned up to 154 pounds — twice the recommended size for a Dalmatian. We don’t think this is a good thing at all, but we wouldn’t do what the courts did: Not only did they take Barney away from John and put him in the care of a kennel that put him on a strict diet and exercise program; they also banned John from having any dogs for the next 10 years. That seems over the top.

Barney is not the only British dog taken away from his person because of obesity. We recently reported on Fat Bob, a Scottish dog who was far too paunchy for his own good. His person doted on him too much, giving him fish & chips, and lots of tins of dog food. He, too, was taken away from his person, sent to a Fido Fat Farm, and given to a new family.

"Where's my mama? Why are you taking me away?" may be among the frightened cries of the next species of animals who are dragged from their parents for being too portly

Dog Magazine whines that Britain is weighed down by a growing number of obese pets: “As a society it’s time to give a name to the fat dog epidemic sweeping the country.”  OK, maybe Paunchy Pooch syndrome? Corpulent Canine disorder? No, the magazine calls it animal cruelty. And lately, British courts do, too. There’s got to be a better way to trim down dogs and not break their hearts or those of their people.

What’s next – taking fat kids away from their parents?

Kellan Lutz and his best friend, Kola

The male stars of The Twilight Saga: New Moon are positively balmy for dogs. Yesterday we reported on Robert Pattinson’s desire to become a dog. And today, on the eve of the movie’s release, we find out that co-star Kellan Lutz’ dog is the world to him. “My dog is my life,” he said in an interview with  Doggie Aficionado Magazine. He and his dog, Kola, are the cover stars of the winter edition.

Yesterday, on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Kellan melted the audience when he told of how he came to get Kola (who apparently scores more fan mail than most actors could ever hope for). He’d been through a painful breakup, was pretty new to Los Angeles, and wanted a friend.

The refreshing news is that he didn’t go hunting for a purebred. He wanted to adopt. He visited 12 shelters in pursuit of his soulmate dog. When found her, she was cowering in the back of the cage. “Dude, she’s polar,” he said the attendant warned. But there was something about her. The audience particularly liked the part when she buried her head between his legs (the dog, not Ellen). You can watch the interview below and see for yourself.

And if you just can’t get enough Kellan Lutz, below the Ellen segment we bring you a taped interview from the Doggie Aficianado photo shoot. Ironically it’s less about dogs than the Ellen interview. We’d like to know what he is doing with his right arm for the first half of the interview. It’s a little disconcerting.

Here we go again. This trend is becoming bit disturbing.

We reported a few days ago on a woman who was charged with murder after blaming her dog for shooting her husband. (It’s a long story. Read about it here.)

Now we bring you the story of a California man who claims his dog tripped him while he had a semiautomatic weapon in his hand. The gun went off, and his wife went down.

The man, John Aaron Norris, is pleading not guilty to manslaughter charges, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Unlike the woman we wrote about the other day, he has not been charged with murder. (So maybe the dog has already testified on his behalf?)

But we wonder if something larger is at work here. Is there a dog who is going around doing treacherous things? Could the above gone-toting pooch have anything to do with this disturbing trend? Are these just cases of people conveniently blaming the creature who can’t deny anything, as they do for things like excess gas? Or were these simply two freakily tragic incidents where the dog just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Whatever the case, we’d like this trend to stop before it gets any worse. If you have a gun of any kind, do not point it at anyone. Assume it’s loaded at all times. And if you see the dog in the above picture, contact the police immediately. He or she (hard to tell from this angle) can be identified by a red ribbon and the smell of cigar smoke.

Look at that scruff. We'd say he's well on his way toward his dream!

Robert Pattinson would very much like to be a dog.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon actor feels a “deep connection” with dogs, reports Monsters and Critics. When asked what he’d become if he could truly transform from being human, he did not say a vampire. No, he said what any brilliant, wonderful person would say: “I think I’d be a dog…There’s a deep connection between me and dogs.” Since we are an all-dog staff, Robert has just shot up to be our number-one big-screen idol.

“The lifestyle of a dog has always fascinated me: You sleep, sit around, get stroked, eat and get walked from time to time. That’s great!” he said.

I hate to remind him, but the “eat” part of the equation often involves kibble. But far be it for me to discourage him, and we’re pretty sure he gets plenty of strokes as it is. What’s important is that this man, who is the reason many tween and teen girls get out of bed every morning, wants to be one of us. He wants four legs and a tail, and all the good stuff that comes with it.

A little sentence in a 12-page Vanity Fair spread about the star this month confirms his love of dogs: “All that he really wants is a home, so he can get a dog, since the West Highland white terrier he had since the age of five and ‘who was like my sister’ died last Christmas.”

And here’s further proof that he’s at one with dogs. The below video is apparently of him singing Stray Dog. It’s not really a video. It’s a picture, with him singing the song. Try as we might to find a video of him actually moving his lips and singing, we could not. Since we couldn’t understand most of the lyrics, we assume he truly was moving his lips. But maybe he sang this with his vampire teeth in. That’s always difficult. If it sounds more like he’s saying “Stray Door” than “Stray Dog,” you’re not alone.

This is one of the coolest “dog” videos we’ve seen in a long time. Meet Chuck. He’s a steer who thinks he’s a dog. And with good reason: Dogs helped raise him from calfhood. Chuck even used their ears as pacifiers. We just hope Chuck’s people didn’t give him this name because of the cuts of meat he might provide in the future. Nah, that would be too macabre for a critter who plays soccer with their son, chases around with the “other” dogs, and lives to eat bananas…Wouldn’t it?