Dog Daily News

The best canine news and features, paw-picked by our staff of intrepid news hounds

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A fun little video we found on the LA Times blog today made us howl. In it, Rabbi Benny Zippel demonstrates the shofar, an animal horn that plays a significant role in Rosh Hashana celebrations. (The holiday starts Sept. 18 this year.) The Utah rabbi is surprised by what happens as he starts tooting away. Zulu, our worrywart reporter, says this would not go over well where he celebrates the holiday. “If I tried what that dog did, the congregation would turn me into a ram’s horn,” he bemoaned.

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While the humans who help us in our office every so often seemed to enjoy Vicki Iovine’s latest little piece of writing, about her divorce and how much she despises her dumpy little dog, the dogs in the office were rather taken aback. The article, which we came across today at Huffington Post, is entitled “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce: I Hate Dogs, Especially Mine!” Nice! That was a great way to start our day, Ms. Iovine. Or may we call you Ms. “I wrote all these books on babies and toddlers and getting your groove back but it has all ended in divorce.”

And no wonder! If this is how she feels about her poor, sweet, innocent little doggy, imagine how she felt about her hubby. Read how she describes her Puggle, a combo of beagle and pug. (Above is a photo of a generic Puggle — yes, it is a real breed and there is a real website.)

“I, however, have a ridiculous looking Puggle who is too humiliating to be seen with in public. He’s got eyebrows like Groucho Marx and his backside is almost identical to a horsehair footrest. Oh yeah, and his tail curls exactly like a pig’s. He is so not me!” (Staff comment: You wanna bet?)

She continues: “Yesterday I caught him as he was lifting his leg on the new curtains and I screamed so loudly that he retracted his penis all the way up into his intestines. He snores like a chainsaw, he has sleep apnea, which makes him gag until he stares down death by suffocation, and in spite of his diet, he’s getting fatter with every day.”

She says she wants to euthanize him because he spilled some ink. And yet, somehow through all this, the Puggle has become her guy. “And I guess this time, it’s for better or worse,” she writes.

All we can say: Run, Puggle, run! Email us! We’ll give you our address and you can stay with us as long as you need to. We’ll even help you write your book, “The Puggle’s Guide to Escaping Moody Divorcees.”

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And a final note before the holiday weekend kicks in. (Fear not: We’ll be here every day to give you the best dog stories to talk about at your barbeques and picnics.) A wonderful article in the Kansas City Star by one of our human friends, Alan Bavley, tells how dogs may be able to greatly help veterans suffering from post-trauatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s not as far-fetched as it may sound. Here are a couple of examples of how the article describes their potential:

“…they can sense when someone with bipolar disorder is becoming manic and give an alert by barking or nuzzling. The dogs also can provide a reality check to people experiencing hallucinations; if the dog does not react to voices, it is assurance that no one else is in the room,” the article states.

A lot more research needs to be done, and to that end, the Defense Department is funding a $300,000 study that pairs troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with dogs who have been trained to sense  when their people are about to have a panic attack. The dogs then give their people a calming nuzzle, which may be all it takes to prevent a full-on attack. Good dogs! Good Defense Department! (It’s not often we say that around here.)

Have a great weekend! And be sure to check in for your latest scoop on dog stories soon!