[ad#left-336]Six-year-old Beagle Cross, Patch, was 4st 7lb (28.45kg) when he was brought to the Dogs Trust re-homing centre in Glasgow at the end of 2008.
After a year of dieting and exercise under the care of the MacLean family in Motherwell he weighs 2st 13lb (18kg).
Patch is now within sniffing distance of his target weight of 2st 6lb (15kg).
Vets had warned that a rapid weight loss would put strain on Patch’s organs.
‘Shining example’
So the Beagle Cross has been following a strict diet and his exercise levels have been built up gradually, with careful monitoring by veterinary staff.
Claire Kelman, assistant manager at Dogs Trust’s re-homing centre in Glasgow, said: “When Patch first came to us he was so obese he couldn’t even walk and needed a sling to be moved from one place to another.
“Now he’s lost the weight he can run around and properly enjoy his walks like any other dog.
“It just goes to show a good diet and careful exercise can make a real impact, so maybe he can be a shining example for everyone feeling a bit bloated after the Christmas break.”
]]>The toxin which killed several dogs and left others ill after being walked in Nottinghamshire woodland was not man-made, tests have confirmed.
[ad#left-250]During the autumn, up to eight dogs died after being walked on Forestry Commission land near Sherwood Forest.
Natural England investigated four cases and quickly ruled out common pesticides but further tests have found no artificial poisons.
No definitive cause has been identified but infection from ticks is suspected.
In September, owners were advised to keep dogs on a lead in Haywood Oaks, Blidworth Woods, Sherwood Pines and Thieves Wood.
Owners upset
A Natural England spokesman said that while no direct proof had been found, ticks or mites were the most likely cause.
Claire Goodear, a vet who treated some of the ill dogs, said: “The dogs I saw had vomiting, diarrhoea and breathing difficulties but there are several diseases and poisons which can produce these symptoms.
“Tick-borne diseases are quite rare in the UK, they are more common in warmer countries but we do see a couple every so often.”
Sherry Fern from Sutton-in-Ashfield, who lost one dog in the incident, said it was difficult not to know the cause.
“When we had the initial report back it was actually quite upsetting, because while we don’t want to find that someone had been deliberately leaving poison-but the frustrating thing is we don’t know why the dogs died.
“It was not just the dogs that were affected, it was the other wildlife and we don’t know how to stop it happening again.”
]]>[ad#left-336]If you live in Gozo, you can apply for a voucher through the Gozo SPCA. The vouchers will be available at the Gozo SPCA Christmas Fair and Open Day, being held at the Victoria bus terminus, tomorrow, from 10am onwards.
Even if you don’t own a dog, please mention this to neighbours and friends who might be interested.
Scooter is always excited to go to school. The 5-year-old waits by the window for his ride to show up and is eager to see all of his new friends at Louisa-Muscatine schools.
“He’s such a good dog,” Valerie Vineyard-Gipple said of Scooter, her yellow Labrador, which recently became a certified therapy dog.
Scooter was introduced as L-M’s school dog about three weeks ago and he visits three or four days a week. Much of his time is spent in the classroom of Diane Vineyard, Valeries mother.
Vineyard teaches students with learning and behavior challenges and Scooter is there to bring a smile to the students.
“When someone is having a challenging day he picks them right out of the classroom,” Vineyard said. “There was a student that didn’t want to learn and he kept taking his nose and nudging his arm.”
Just having Scooter around comforts students and they respect him and are nice to him, she added.
Scooter will be 6 on Christmas Day. He was chosen as a family pet as a puppy by Valerie and her husband, Seth, of Wapello. He is loving and docile, which inspired Valerie to train him for certification through Therapy Dogs International. Therapy Dogs International is a volunteer, nonprofit group with many handlers and testing facilities across the United States, Canada and some other countries.
Through training, Valerie learned of the Tail Waggin Tutors reading program and took on the initiative to bring it to L-M. She volunteers by taking Scooter to L-M Elementary School twice a week, allowing students to read aloud to him in a one-on-one setting. The sessions are helpful to students who need encouragement or practice reading and as a reward for good behavior.
“I thought being a therapy dog would be a good way for him to share his unconditional love,” Valerie said.
The love he gets back is evident in the halls of L-M schools. It seems that anyone who passes Scooter cant help but smile, call his name or reach down to pat his head.
Studies have shown that therapy dogs promote healing, increase well being and improve the quality of life for those they serve, according to Therapy Dogs International.
Aiden “A.J.” Sears, 5, has a special bond with Scooter. When he saw the dog in the library Thursday he ran to Scooter, squealed his name, and gave him a big hug.
Sears told the story of how he was upset one day, which sometimes happens in kindergarten, and Scooter was there at just the right time.
“I was crying and I was walking down from the library. I was having a bad day,” Sears said. “I pet him and it made me feel better.”
Another student who cant get enough of Scooter is second-grader Gabe Hayes. He reads aloud with the dog once a week. Gabe brings books about dogs and Scooter lies nearby providing company.
“It’s fun to read to him and he’s really calm,” Hayes said, adding that reading with Scooter has encouraged him to keep trying to become a better reader.
]]>[ad#left-250]Titan’s owner Diana Taylor has said that Titan’s win is awsome and that she has been ‘ amazed at the response he’s gotten from people.” After been crowned the ‘Worlds Tallest Dog’ Titan’s website, Titan & Friends, received so many hits that it exceeded the bandwidth and was temporarily shut down.
Taylor hopes to use Titan’s newfound fame to help the public learn more about Great Danes and especially those that are all white. “Unscrupulous breeders will sell these all white dogs as ‘exotic and beautiful’ without telling people that the dogs are often deaf,” says Taylor, who has another blue-eyed, all white rescued Great Dane named Ari, who who had been given up by the original owner. “The shelters are full of dogs like Titan and Ari.”
Taylor adopted Titan through Petfinder.com, the largest online database of adoptable animals at shelters and rescue groups across the country. He was three months old and already weighted 55 pounds. “I had no idea Titan would be so tall,” says Taylor. “But he just kept growing.” (See Titan’s puppy pics in the slideshow, below.) Titan stands a towering 42.25 inches.
[ad#left-250]Wildlife Ranger Ally Macaskill is using two German shorthaired pointers to help him track breeds such as black grouse at Perthshire’s Schiehallion estate.
The dogs wear GPS collars as they track the birds. Their precise location is then relayed to a handset carried by Mr Macaskill on the estate.
It is also being used to track breeds such as Hen Harriers and Ptarmigan.
The John Muir Trust, who overseas the estate, has employed two dogs, Max and Gus, to monitor bird breeds in the area.
‘Very impressed’
Mr Macaskill estimates there are about 25 male grouse on the periphery of the trust’s property.
The birds are among the most rapidly declining breeds in the UK, with numbers in Scotland falling sharply in the past two decades
Max and Gus monitor the grouse by sniffing them out and standing still (on point) for long enough for the ranger to get up next to them.
Man and dog then gradually work alongside each other until the bird is flushed out of the heather, allowing Mr Macaskill to identify the species.
He said: “I’ve been very impressed with these GPS collars, which I saw used during trips to Scandinavia.
“They indicate whether the dogs are on the move or on point. When they get on point the collars mean I can get there quickly, with more chance of seeing what the dogs have found.”
As well as the mapping function on the GPS collars, the ranger can also download their movements later on to a computer to work out what pockets of ground have been covered.
]]>[ad#left-250]Pc Mark Johnson appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court earlier to deny the charges. Johnson is alleged to have left Jet, 10, and 18-month-old Jay-Jay outside his force headquarters as temperatures hit 82.5F (28C).
He is accused of cruelty to the animals, whose deaths in June caused a public outcry. He failed to show up at
Nottingham Magistrates’ Court for two previous hearings but was told by a district judge to attend to enter his plea yesterday.
The Nottinghamshire police officer spoke only to give his name, age and plea, watched by his supporters crammed into the public gallery. PC Johnson’s solicitor, Damian Kelly, successfully applied to magistrates yesterday for a pre-trial review next month when, he said, two psychiatrists, a psychologist and PC Johnson’s wife would give evidence.
Temperatures on 30 June, the day the dogs died, reached 29.3C (84.7F).
Pc Johnson, who has been suspended from the Nottinghamshire force, will go on trial before a district judge at the same court on 22 February.
The dogs were found in the back of Pc Johnson’s car at Nottinghamshire Police headquarters in Arnold.
It is understood that Jet, who was 10 years old, came third at last year’s National Police Dog Championship and that 18-month-old Jay-Jay was being trained to replace the older dog.
Following the incident Nottingham- shire Chief Constable Julia Hodson said: “We have had a lot of emails, calls and letters from members of the public, most of whom want the officer involved dealt with most harshly.”
The RSPCA is bringing the prosecution, accusing Pc Johnson of “unnecessarily confining them in an environment that was detrimental to their well-being”.
]]>[ad#left-336]The dog’s handler, Griffin police Cpl. Chad Moxon, and his family had already put up $1,000 so the reward now stands at $6,000 with the Humane Society’s offering.
After getting home from the firing range on Monday, Moxon discovered Jimi and his dog Yeager missing from their kennel at his house on a dirt road in Lamar County.
“The gate looked like it had been tampered with, and there were tire tracks leading up to the gate, going across my back yard,” Moxon said Friday. “I can’t say for 100 percent that someone came in there and took the dogs, but I do believe that’s what happened. ”
Moxon said he searched all Monday night and most of Tuesday night for the German Shepherds. He handed out about 300 flyers and followed up on several false alarms from people who thought they had spotted them.
Moxon got a call Wednesday morning that Jimi may have been found in a ditch on Rock Quarry Road near the Monroe County line. Moxon said there was little blood at the scene so he suspects the 3-year-old dog was dumped there after he was shot in the side. The vet found buckshot in the wound.
“I just sat down in the ditch for the next 30 minutes. I didn’t have the energy to get him out,” Moxon said.
Shortly after he got home a neighbor called with the news that Yeager was in his yard.
“I almost didn’t recognize him,” Moxon said. “He was badly beaten.
“Hes still at home recovering,” Moxon said of his 2-year-old dog, also a German Shepherd. ” I’m hoping he’ll recover in the next few days.”
Jimi was a “multi purpose” dog, trained at detecting drugs and explosives and tracking people. It’s a common practice for police handlers to take their assigned dogs home even though they belong to the departments.
“This is the first time I’ve come to work without him in two years,” Moxon said.
Anyone with information should call Lamar County Sheriff’s Office at 770-358-5159 or 770-358-8881.
]]>[ad#right-336]The woodland in Stockton was chosen as one of 10 parks across the UK to host the national event.
Richard and Melody Dixon-Oliver, from Salters Lane in Stockton and Melody’s four-year-old godson Ashton were at the woods to take their dog Lola out for the day.
Melody a 27-year-old teaching assistant said: “Our dog Lola was a rescue dog and so the Dogs Trust is one of those charities we support, to give dogs like her a chance.
“If it wasn’t for groups like the Dogs Trust then little dogs like Lola wouldn’t be treated properly, and wouldn’t get proper homes.
“It’s the first time we’ve been here and we are really enjoying it.”
Richard, 33, an actor, added: “It’s more important than ever at the moment especially in the last year or so when you hear about people giving up their dogs because of the credit crunch.”
Sarah Shreeve, support relations officer for Darlington Dogs Trust said: “The aim of the day is to raise pounds for hounds. It’s to create awareness about responsible dog ownership in the community as a whole as well as raising money for the loss and abandoned dogs that the Trust looks after.
“It’s also about having a good day with their dogs and a bit of fun.
“It’s lovely to see all these dogs out and about, being so well socialised and getting on.”
]]>[ad#left-336]Members of the public are able to watch the dogs, five male and four female, during their first few weeks before embarking on training.
The puppies are based at Durham Police’s kennels under a joint scheme.
Their father Jack, three, is one of the largest and tallest dogs in the force, weighing in at 41kg.
His handler Sgt Jason Leith, said: “This is the first time we’ve tried using a webcam to film the dogs like this and we’re sure it will prove a big hit.
“Heidi has already had two litters which have gone on to become successful police dogs and we’re hoping this time will be no different.”
The webcam will operate whenever the kennels are staffed.
]]>[ad#left-336]While most dogs might aspire to the odd extra biscuit on the big day, Bo was treated to a party appropriate to his status. The world may be in economic turmoil, America might be fighting two wars miles from home and Barack Obama may have suffered the steepest fall in presidential approval ratings in 50 years, but that clearly does not mean that Bo has to lead a, er, dog’s life too.
Bo – named after the blues guitarist Bo Diddley – was a six-month-old puppy when given to the Obamas in April by Senator Teddy Kennedy, the most liberal of Democrats, who died in August. A pedigree breed reared in Texas, Bo was a far cry from the rescue dog Mr Obama had promised his children Malia, 11, and eight-year-old Sasha when he was elected president.
Turning one, he was feted at a birthday party earlier this month in the White House’s Rose Garden that….
Read The Rest Of The Story HERE
]]>