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 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?

Why can't we all get along like this? (The hound's curled lip is likely just a stuck dry lip -- it's so embarrassing when that happens to us dogs. It's not a snarl. And we don't think he's saying "God, ANOTHER photo with this smelly beast?!")

We are hankering to give you another video today. That’s two days in a row for videos. It must be the influence of Jasper, our illiterate staff member. He is beside himself. “Finally, something I can sink my teeth into,” he gleefully exclaimed this morning when he saw we were fixing to show another video on Dog Daily News.

This video is spectacular. Our jaws are still on the floor. It’s a look at the formation of a deep and fast and lasting friendship between an orangutan named Surya, and a stray hound dog, who came to be known as Rosco. It’s almost like they knew each other in a past life (and that’s as esoteric as we get on Dog Daily News).

Dogs, get your people. People, get your dogs. This is one to be watched with a best friend at your side, if possible.

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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Does he deserve to be called a pig? We think not, Vicki!

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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Persian Gulf War veteran Chris Kornkven and Rainbow, who helps veterans with PTSD

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!