Bark Blog

A Little More Tattoo Attitude

Turtle in Tucson, Arizona, modeled her tattoo (upper left) on a doodle drawn by a coworker during a staff meeting. It doesn’t matter that the simple drawing of a Snoopy-style puppy with a flower and a butterfly doesn’t look a lot like its subject. (See the photo of Ellen, Turtle's Ridgeback/Boxer mix.) “She had many claims to fame, most notably riding across the country with my partner and I on our tandem bicycle,” Turtle wrote about Ellen in an email to us.

Yvette Stayduhar’s tattoo (upper right) was inspired by her two passions: dogs and her bakery. She and her husband own Ann Arbor Biscuit Co., an organic and all-natural pet treat bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her tattoo features a rescued Pit Bull puppy named Millie and a spatula and whisk. One of Stayduhar’s three dogs, Millie works at the shop everyday and is in training for her Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog certificates. (They also have two cats.)

“I wanted to send this photo along to show everyone the brighter side of Pit Bull tattoos,” Stayduhar wrote. “A happy, responsibly-raised and completely spoiled rotten Pit Bull emblazoned on my ankle.”

A realistic portrait of a four-year-old pug named Trinity with a custom bone is how Phil Caseria of New Britain, Connecticut, captured his furry friend (lower left).

Lisa Wogan

Talk to the Paw

I've received a whole new batch of dog-inspired tattoos from BARk readers, which I’ll post today and tomorrow. Paw prints continue to be a central motif. Here are two very different approaches. The first a bold, reversed print, is from Trang Nguyen in Springfield, Virginia. Holly Carrell of Elizabeth, Colorado, pays tribute to three dogs in a laurelled paw. Shown in the photo, from left to right, the butterfly is for Georgia, the flower for Scarlett, and the lady bug for Emma. (Remember to click on the image for a better view.)

Lisa Wogan

Portland Ink

While we've discovered animal-inspired tattoos are definitely the rage, folks at DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland have figured out how to harness the trend for good. During the month of May in the City of Roses, more than 50 area tattoo artists are donating 10 percent of the proceeds from animal-inspired tattoos to the DoveLewis Stray Animal & Wildlife Fund, which helps pay for treating injured critters with no guardians.

I asked Reed Coleman, a spokesperson for DoveLewis, if perhaps BARk’s March story on dog-themed tattoos was the inspiration for Tats for Cats … and Dogs. Nope. Apparently the counterculture fundraiser was the brainstorm of a DoveLewis receptionist back in late 2007. “But, your article did play a part,” Coleman says. “When we saw it we absolutely knew we were on the right track.”

Among DoveLewis’s suggestions for tattoo art is an EKG display of your dog’s heartbeat. I haven’t seen that yet. If you’re ready to wear your heart under your sleeve in the Portland area, may as well do some good at the same time. Check out the list of participating artists.

Lisa Wogan

Dogs, ink

A few more dog-inspired tattoos have made their way into my inbox from readers who enjoyed our story "Indelible Dogs" (BARk, March/April 2008) for very personal reasons. The Rhodesian Ridgeback (upper left) belongs to Deborah Rocco. “My husband and I are owned by five of these wonderful creatures,” Rocco writes. Competitors in the show ring and on the lure course, “I just can’t imagine my life without them.”

Molly Lauroesch’s red merle Australian shepherds, Sydney and Charlie, are memorialized in her tattoo.

Lya Ashley of Woodville, Texas, ran a rescue for years in Florida. To commemorate her work, she had pawprints tattooed on her wrist with the Japanese characters for dog on her outer wrist (upper right) and for friend on her inner wrist. About the turquoise tattoos (lower left), she writes, "I had a dream of a dog walking through a puddle, the paw prints lifted the water and made water paw prints."

Jamie Muston-Townsend recently got a tattoo of her Irish Setter, Finney. The six paw prints on the bandana represent all the cats (past and present) she and her husband have had.

Friday Tattoo Update

A few more BARk readers have shared their parallel passions for dogs and tattoos--just in time to inspire a little weekend canine-inking. This classic paw with flourish is the actual print from a Beagle named Rocky (far left). "The artist made it look like he just stepped on my back," says Rocky's guardian and tattoo canvas Whitney Mayeda of Fresno.

Long Beach resident Laura Menck got a tattoo of her American Bulldog, Dolly, just last month. Her “brilliant” artist was Jef Kopp of Th'ink Tank Tattoo in Denver. Menck writes, “He captured Dolly’s happy face and, in some way, she will be with me forever!”

It's been a real pleasure seeing how tattoo-loving dog folks express their love. Thanks to everyone for gussying up the BARk blog with your self-expression.

Lisa Wogan

New pet-cancer guide

The College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University recently launched an online video guide to cancer in pets. If you're facing this diagnosis in your dog (or cat) for the first time, or have a friend in that unenviable position, I'd recommend this clear, sensitive introduction to diagnosis, detection, treatment and research.

Lisa Wogan

A Few More Indelible Dogs

Our story about dog tattoos (in the April 2008 issue)  continues to spark arf appreciation. Andrea Newborg of Diamondhead, Mississippi, said she was thrilled to see she was not alone in her adoration of tattoos and dogs. Hardly! Otto, her Dachshund’s name, is tattooed on her arm as are paw prints. A calligraphy-style wiener dog is inked on her lower back, and (in the posted photo) on her chest along with yin-yang Dachshunds. She writes that she plans on getting several more tattoos "when cash flow permits, LOL!”

Caroline Ward of St. James, N.Y., memorialized her dog Geri, after she passed suddenly at only four years old from complications of Addison’s Disease. “Getting the tattoo of her on my calf has helped me with closure,” Ward wrote in an email.

When Chris Splendoria’s bulldog Schwarz died of heat stroke in 2003, he got this memorial portrait on his arm. Schwarz was a gift to Splendoria’s girlfriend only two years earlier.

Michele Crouse, a dog trainer and bully lover in Texas, pays tribute to "all 'Pit Bulls' killed by ignorance and fear" with this winged dog. Learn more about Crouse's efforts on behalf of Bull breeds and the disheartening story of a dog named Clutch at her MySpace page/blog.

Tuesday Tattoo Two-fer

Greyhounds are a tattoo theme today. Andrea Dion Jacobs in Boston has been collecting tattoos—including an award-winner—since she was 17. (She’s now “40-something”). The latest of her dog Baci (photo above) is a favorite. "I took the idea from a piece of art I found of an Italian Greyhound as a geisha,” Jacobs writes. Having just returned from Japan, her tattoo artist Cory Kruger jumped on the idea. "It is funny, once people realize it is of my dog they love it!”

Mary Ann Moore of Eureka, Missouri, got a tribute to her Greyhound Roxanne, a few years ago. “She loved to “cockroach,’” Moore writes, “which in Greyhound-language means lying upside down with legs in the air. Then she’d wiggle around like she was break-dancing. She was fun, like this image based on art by Kent Roberts.”

Lisa Wogan

April Showers Bring More Tattoos

Back from a short trip to Banff to discover a half-dozen more dog tattoos in the old in-box. It's so much fun to open the jpegs and discover all the different styles. BARk readers are a creative crowd.

Robie Pedro from Honolulu has a tattoo of his two pit bulls on his lower left leg. They passed away in 2005, when they were 14 years old. “Now they are with me where ever I go,” Pedro writes.

Alan (short for Alan Alda), a Red Heeler-mix proudly displayed on S’rae Russo’s calf, was created by artist-painter-tattooist-vet tech Jen Lee Gallagher in Denver. If you're jonesing for a dog tatt and live near the Mile High City, you might want to check her out: Russo says that Gallagher is starting to specialize in “pet portraits."

Matthew Shields’ tattoo of his dog, Sadie (see photo), was rendered in Alaskan Native art style by his friend Bob Cefalo. The tattoo lives on his hip; he and Sadie (a seven-year-old Labrador-mix) live in Girdwood, Alaska.

Lisa Wogan

A Few More Dog-Ink Tributes

My story on dog tattoos in the current issue (Mar/Apr 2008) of BARk continues to spark tattoo feedback. I'm loving seeing all the creative images and hearing the stories behind these intimate and public portraits. Here are a few more.

Check out Lisa Berg’s 11-year-old black tri-color Australian Shepherd (in photo and tattoo!). Named Angel, Berg's sidekick is a hospital therapy dog. “I am honored to see the difference she makes in the lives of all the people that meet her,” writes Berg, who lives in Santa Clarita, California. In 2006, Angel was honored by the Pasadena Humane Society for her work and she made the centerfold of the Society's 80th anniversary calendar. It’s not hard to see why.

After his Pooh Bear died of cancer about eight months ago, Joe Raggio got his dog's portrait tattooed on his arm. He also has a cat named Tigger, and a new Boxer-mix named Bella, but no tattoos of either…yet.

A bright yellow profile of a Golden Retriever adorns the ankle of Linda L. Doerksen of Aurora, Colorado.

Cindy Sullivan of San Diego created this paw tribute to her dog Jake, who died at only 17 months of age. “The red heart around his “J” not only symbolizes my heart, but his buddy, our other boy Tank,” she writes. The colors, red and blue, are the colors of Tank and Jake’s collars respectively.

Lisa Wogan

Tattoo Three-Fer

The dog tattoo gallery expands this week thanks to our ink-happy. dog-loving readers. Starting with Bogie, a Miniature Schnauzer, who inspired a tattoo each for Loren and Brandie Brashier of Tulsa, Oklahoma. “After [Bogie’s] death in April of 2006, we both needed a way to have him with us always,” Brandie Brashiers wrote. Her tatt is on her right shoulder; Loren’s is on his upper right arm. On his upper left is a tattoo of their Miniature Schnauzer Atticus driving a pedal car.

Lisa Wogan

Devoted Dog

One reason to smile on Monday morning: praying Chihuahua.

Lisa Wogan

Dancing Girl Tattoo

A white miniature poodle with long hair and ears (see photo) named Jessie inspired this tattoo on the arm of David Marrucco. From David and Donna Marrucco’s report, Jessie inspired more than ink. She was a super-smart member of the family who lived to the ripe old age of nearly 20 by feasting on shrimp, fish, conch and veggies by day and dancing in The Pirate’s Den in Key West by night. “Sometimes the girls would get mad because Jessie would come off stage with more money in her garter belt then them,” says Marrucco, who owned that famous establishment in the 1990s.
Lisa Wogan

Today’s Tattoo Round Up

Wow. The cool tattoos keep rolling in, including the free-hand-drawn portraits of Cody, a Golden Retriever, and Pepper, a Black Labrador, under Nancy Hori’s collarbone. Recently, Cody died at 18-years-old, placing him, according to Hori, among the longest-lived Goldens. “I miss him every day,” she says. “He was the greatest teacher I’ve ever had.” Hori runs Dog Day Afternoon, a dog daycare/cage-free boarding facility in Huntington Beach, California.
Not long ago, Lana Schippers in Des Moines, Iowa, tattooed a Weimaraner and three paw prints on the back of her neck, representing her three “weims,” with the face of her oldest, a blue.
On her lower back, Angela Kaiser of Sarasota, Florida, tattooed a tribute to all her dogs to date. The word Ke’, the name of her first dog, a Golden-Chow Chow mix, is surrounded by three Bernese Mountain Dogs including Cheyenne (bottom), Kaiser’s first and the mother of Teddy, top right, and Bella, top left.

Still more tatts to come. (Remember to click images to see enlargements.)

Lisa Wogan

Paw Prints on the Body Canvas

Sassafras Lowrey, a genderqueer high femme author, artist, activist and dog lover in New York City, was inspired by our story Indelible Dogs (BARk, Mar/Apr 2008) to share hir tattoos. Ze describes hirself as “a heavily modified individual” with many visible tattoos, three of which specifically relate to hir love and spiritual connection with dogs. (Lowrey self-refers with the gender-neutral pronouns ze and hir.)

Seven paw prints across hir upper right arm “represent a dog who has touched my heart and who my life has been intertwined with," Lowrey writes in an email. On hir calf is an elite agility course map—a memorial to early, difficult years in which dog sports played a significant role in building inner resources. That tattoo is ringed with the words: I could have missed the pain, But I’d of had to miss the dance. Tattooed on Lowrey’s left bicep is a portrait of hir service dog Mercury, a Chihuahua-Doxie mix, transformed into an angel statue/gargoyle.

“For me tattoos and dogs are both very important,” Lowrey writes. “Dogs have and continue to change and guide the way I see the world around me, and tattoos are a medium with which I have used to transform my body by rendering it a canvas upon which I can show different aspects of my life and journey to the world, through these permanent inked monuments to beings and moments.”

Learn more about Lowrey at Pomo Freakshow.

Lisa Wogan

Tattoo Love Continued

There is a universe of funny, quirky, beautiful and heart-felt dog-sparked tattoos out there, and thanks to our readers we’re seeing fine examples of pups-on-skin and hearing the touching stories behind them. Rescuing Huskies inspired Liz Beiter of Siberian Husky Club of Greater New York to ink a pair of blue-eyed sled dogs onto her body last May. The Dachshund on Kathleen Eddy’s ankle celebrates all the Dachshunds of her life; they've brought her 53 years of joy so far. Currently, Eddy lives with Bailey, the wirehaired boy, in Elk Grove, California. Tammy Stevens pays tribute to a standard poodle named Bianca with a stylized illustration. Three days after her dog Buddie died, Kim Johnston created a rainbow-bone heart memorial at a tattoo parlor appropriately called Love Dog Tattoo in Santa Cruz, California.
Still more tattoos to come. And, remember, you can see enlarged images by clicking on the tattoo photos.

Lisa Wogan

With a dog ON her side, forever

Amelia Walker of Seattle sent us a photo of her dog-inspired ink--tattooed on her ribs (ouch!). Max was her first dog, one of three Cocker Spaniels with whom she now lives. "I got him two years ago at the age of 27," she wrote. "Coming to know the love of dogs late in life has completely changed me.  Max will always be by my side!"

Lisa Wogan

More Canine Ink

Unfortunately not all the tattoos I wrote about in Indelible Dogs (BARk, Mar/Apr 2008) made it into the issue, and that just seemed like such a shame. So here are tattoos from folks you read about but didn’t see. From left to right: DeAnna Miller’s portrait of her Pug, Puglsey Ann, was the first dog-inspired tattoo I’d ever seen. Kelly McGuire got a tattoo of Geisha as part of the grieving process after her pug died. Tamara Sellers celebrates her three dogs in the colors of Shaggy Pines Dog Park in Michigan where she works. Karen Mountain, the owner Bark Natural Pet Care in Seattle, pays tribute to her dogs, Boone and Bubba, with their names framed in bone shapes. (Click on any image for a better view.)

Lisa Wogan

Tattoo You

I’d never seen a dog tattoo--that is, a tattoo of a companion animal on a person--until last winter. That Pug was the inspiration for my “Indelible Dogs” story in the April 2008 issue of BARk (on newsstands now). But once you know to look for them, canine tatts start turning up everywhere. Most recently for me on the bicep of a woman named Christa DeLano (above; click on the image for a better view). She sports a lovely portrait of Ramone, a black standard Poodle she trained, along with other shelter and rescue dogs, while an inmate in the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor. Christa was released about three years ago just as Ramone was ready to be paroled to a forever home. Now, they live happily ever after together in northern Washington, where Christa works in a veterinarian’s office. (You can read more about the Prison Pet Partnership Program and Christa DeLano in the May issue of BARk.) In the meantime, I’ll keep sharing images of dog tattoos on the blog and hope you’ll let us know about yours.

Lisa Wogan

Sponsor A Dog, Save A Cheetah

In the south African country of Namibia, farmers have been caught between cheetah conservationists and and keeping their livestock safe from the spotted predator. So the non-profit organization The Cheetah Conservation Fund initiated a win-win solution. The Livestock Guarding Dog Program provides the farmer with an Anatolian Shepherd puppy who is raised with the livestock and will defend them as an adult. The large, barking dogs deter cheetahs from preying on domestic animals and farmers no longer feel the need to shoot the big cats to protect the herd. You can learn more by clicking on Adopt an Anatolian.

Julia Kamysz Lane

Taking Care of Dog Business

The aphorism, "a picture's worth a thousand words," may be a cliche, but it's also true. For anyone who's ever read instructions on how to, for example, trim a dog's nails or give a dog a massage and was still confused, hang on! Help is on the way.

At Wonderhowto.com, you can choose among 365 dog-specific short videos (that's today...tomorrow, the number may be higher) and watch people who know what they're doing do something useful. The website describes itself as a "community-fueled search engine and directory for free how-to video," which means that there are many sources and points of view behind the clips, but we were pretty impressed with those we spot-checked. Seeing is sometimes believing!

Susan Tasaki

Dog Power!

Bored with the same old walks? Then you and your pup might like to try the Dog Powered Scooter and the Dog Powered Trike. They're similar to mushing, except the dogs are harnessed from behind the human driver so he can steer without worry. Architect Mark Schuette of Bend, Oregon, invented the dog scooter and trike as a way to spend more time with his dog and give him enough exercise. For a cool video demo with a Husky and a Rottie, click here.

Julia Kamysz Lane

Chicago Tribune Loves BARk!

To those of us who love dogs, the success of BARk magazine makes perfect sense. Who wouldn't want to read a smart periodical dedicated entirely to our cherished companions? But it's always nice when non-dog people (or entities) admit that they find it fascinating, too. So thank you, Chicago Tribune, for congratulating BARk on its 10-year anniversary in today's editorial, "That's 70 in dog years."

I especially like the dare at the end, in which the editors "defy anyone -- dog-haters and cat-lovers included -- to thumb all the way through BARk without grinning like a border collie. It will make you want to get a dog. Or be one." BARk readers, how do you feel after you read the magazine? Are you compelled to give your dog a big hug? Does it inspire you to try something new with your dog? Or add another pup to the pack? Let us know!

Julia Kamysz Lane

Not a Hallmark moment

I’m a sucker for a lost-dog reunion story. I want my free shot of feel-good, but have you ever noticed how in most lost-and-found stories there is usually some weird detail that gets in the way of true misty-eyed pleasure. The case of Luke in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today is a perfect example.

First, the woman who “found” the three-year-old shepherd-beagle mix, actually lifted him out of an off-leash area where she said she thought he’d been abandoned. Why she didn’t ask around or try to find the guardian somewhere in the park is never explained. But you can cut her a little slack because Luke was, after all, naked. At the end of the story, his guardian reveals that he wasn’t wearing a collar. Duh. (Oh, and we learn something about microchips, too: The vet didn’t scan for one.)

Lisa Wogan

Decoding Doglish

Researchers in Hungary have created software that can identify the context and the "speaker" based on a dog's woof. It should be said, with widely varying degrees of accuracy. According to lead researchers, early results challenge the common idea that dog barks originated as a by-product of domestication. Brian Hare at Duke University in Durham, N.C., told New Scientist:

“This is animal behavior research at its best. You see a pattern that no one else knew was there because we can’t hear the difference ourselves.”

The story ran in many publications, I think because editors couldn't resist headlines such as, Bytes that give away a dog’s bark and Dog barks translated almost arf the time! I first read about the bark-o-meter in The Vancouver Sun, in a piece that also reported on a study that determined kids are afraid of clowns. We needed researchers to figure that out?

Lisa Wogan

A disappearing breed

There’s nothing like local news, even when it’s 3,000 miles away. I had to share this little gem of a story from the Myrtle Beach Sun-News. In a simple, short piece on the Hope Mills Fire Department dog, we get a melancholy tribute to the firehouse Dalmatian and learn some interesting facts, including the original role of these distinct black-and-white canines at firehouses. (This link requires registration.)

Lisa Wogan

My Dog Can Do Laundry

You know that saying that we only use 10% of our brains? Well, the more I learn about dog behavior and training, the more I realize how very little we ask of our dogs despite their clear ability to learn and do more. Connie the Newfie is the perfect example. When her owner, British animal behaviorist Hazel Carter, was stricken with arthritis in her back, she taught Connie how to do everything from untying her shoe laces to doing the laundry. I'm not suggesting we turn our dogs into personal maids, but teaching a dog a new trick can give them the mental stimulation they crave. And if it helps keep my house tidy in the process, what more could you ask for?

Julia Kamysz Lane

Very Last Minute Gift Idea

OK, it won’t arrive in time for Christmas but it’s a groovy gift just the same: NPR Driveway Moments 5: All About Animals. With quirky tales of parrots, cats, hummingbirds, puppies, and more—including The Dog Who Loved to Suck on Toads and Turtle Holds On in Center of Vietnam’s Capital—this is a great gift for NPR-loving animal lovers.

If you’re at home wrapping, listen to the stories at NPR’s online archive—a gift for the giver. (Don’t miss the photos that supplement The Boy Who Ran Like A Deer.)

Lisa Wogan

More Fun With Names

As a follow up to Julia’s post about Veterinary Pet Insurance list of the top ten dog names, check out the 100 most popular dog names over at the newly redesigned Dogster.com. My husband wasn’t thrilled that his name—Charlie—is the fourth most popular male dog name, after Buddy, Max, and Jake. I think he should take it as a compliment. For the females, top names are Lucy, Daisy, Molly, and Bella.

Lisa Wogan

Green Holiday Tip

For the dog people on your gift list, why not wrap presents (whenever possible) in compostable pet-waste collection bags? I like Business Bags. Made of corn, they take only 45 days to biodegrade. Plus, they're a seasonally appropriate and environmentally correct green, and each bag is inscribed with the memorable message: "There's no business like dog business."

Lisa Wogan

What's The Most Creative Dog Name?

Companies are getting too good at marketing ploys! Veterinary Pet Insurance recently (and smartly) released a list of the top 10 dog names and cat names using its database of 450,000 clients. The #1 name for both dogs and cats is ... drum roll, please ... Max! That's a safe, solid choice, and the other names follow suit, from Buddy to Rocky. Well, what do you expect from a group of people who bought health insurance for their pets? I imagine they're not gonna take many chances!

If you want to see some truly intriguing dog names, go to an agility trial. Some blazing fast dogs have obvious names like Bounce, Blur, Quick and Spree. Other dogs answer to Mayhem, Rebel and Riot -- perhaps a clue to their um ... exuberant personalities. But would you name your dog Rage? Or Chewbacca? Does your dog have a particularly creative or unusual name?

Julia Kamysz Lane

Happy Dogs Day

Have you honored your dog today? On this, the second day of Tihar, the Hindu festival of lights in Nepal, dogs are specially honored for their role as guardians of the home (and the underworld). Across Kathmandu, pets and strays alike are adorned with red tikas on their foreheads and marigold garlands around their necks. They also enjoy special meals and sweetmeats. Check out these wonderful BBC photos.

Lisa Wogan

Double Dutch Doggies

Don’t miss this quirky footage of dogs jumping rope on a Japanese television show. I gotta teach my girl how to do that (without the pink ear dye). Nods across the Internet to the Active Canines blog for digging up this little treat.

Lisa Wogan

The $40 billion question

Worth a read, even a month late, is Ginger Strand’s skeptical review of the Global Pet Expo for Orion magazine. In What’s the use of pets?, she attends  the country’s largest pet expo and asks what the $40 billion pet products industry reveals about our relationships with the animal world. I don’t agree with everything she says--it’s a little tidy--but her conclusion is thought-provoking. Here’s a taste:

There’s an element of enigma in our relations with animals, even the most familiar. The diamond-collared pug being toted in a Louis Vuitton bag is still, in the end, a beast, as inscrutable to humans as a giant squid. Yet a human takes that pug into her home, feeds him, perhaps lets him sleep in her bed. He will never unfold the secrets of his heart; he will die, in some sense, a mystery. That mystery trumps every anthropomorphizing human accessory, every impulse to interpret or explain. It locks us out.

That may be their highest use, in the end. The pug’s diminutive size and bugged-out, injury-prone eyes are signs of years of human tampering, his plaid coat and booties tokens of the human drive to humanize everything. But the love heaped—even lavished in commodity form—on his warm animal body suggests a human attitude toward the nonhuman world that, for once, is not about mastery. Even in its consumerist drift, it short-circuits market logic by giving without a guaranteed return. There must be some real value in that.

Lisa Wogan

Taboo Treats & Chocolate Chart

Do you give your dog a grape every now and then? How about the occasional chocolate-chip cookie? If so, pick up the October issue of National Geographic and get the scoop on why these seemingly harmless treats can be dangerous. The feature story, "Canine Taboos," focuses on foods toxic to dogs, such as grapes, chocolate, coffee, onions and more. You might be surprised to find what's on the list.

Unfortunately, I have first-hand experience with this kind of food scare. Several months ago, I came home to discover an open bag of semisweet chocolate chips on my kitchen floor. One of the dogs had managed to open up the pantry door and get into my baking supplies. At first, I wasn't too concerned because we have four dogs and I figured the chocolate was divided among my entire pack. But then I realized that if only one of them ate all of the chocolate, s/he would be in trouble. I called my vet and she recommended we make all of the dogs vomit. Turns out that one dog -- our Dalmatian, Darby -- did indeed eat the entire 8-ounce bag of chocolate chips all by herself. Fortunately, she was fine but it was frightening nonetheless.

If you're concerned about the effects of chocolate on your dog, National Geographic also provides an interactive "chocolate chart." You can adjust the weight of the dog and the amount of chocolate ingested to determine the real-life symptoms. It can also help you determine if a vet visit is in order.

Julia Kamysz Lane

Ken Foster's Pit Bull Party!

Best-selling author and pit bull lover Ken Foster kicks off a series of bully-themed events in New Orleans to celebrate his latest book, "Dogs I Have Met and The People They Found." Foster's handsome brindle pit bull, Brando, is featured on the cover.

Oct. 3: Join the Hot 8 Brass Band at Sound Cafe (2700 Chartres St., New Orleans; 504-947-4477) from 7-9pm to celebrate the pit bulls of New Orleans and Foster's new book. Special bully guests include Dag, the inspiration for Belladonna owner Kim Dudek's latest venture, Dag's House; Trap Jack, a former desk-duty dog from the Louisiana SPCA; Lola, special assistant to Gloria Dauphin of the Louisiana SPCA; and Animal Rescue New Orleans's director Robyn Beaulieu's beautiful blue pit bull.

Oct. 4: Foster reads from and signs copies of "Dogs I Have Met" at Octavia Books (513 Octavia St., New Orleans; 504-899-READ) at 6pm.

Oct. 6-7: Pit bulls are eligible for free vaccinations and spay/neuter services at clinics throughout New Orleans. Enjoy panels of historic images of the pit bull compliments of Animal Farm Foundation.

For more info about any of these special events, call 504-613-7370.

Julia Kamysz Lane

Let's Play

Revisit the amazing photos of a sled dog at play with a polar bear, taken by Norbert Rosing, at American Public Media’s Speaking of Faith website (link to the SoundSeen slideshow “Animals at Play”). It’s part of a presentation by Stuart Brown, director of the National Institute of Play, which promotes pleasurable, purposeless play for it’s own sake. Brown and others at the institute believe that play, like nutrition and sleep, is a central element in determining your health, well-being, creativity and intelligence. Since living with a dog is an open invitation to play, it’s just one more way they make our lives better.

Thanks to Active Canines blog for this tip.

Lisa Wogan

Doggie Da Vincis

Necessity IS the mother of invention! When Mary Stadelbacher of Salisbury, Md., needed to raise money fast to keep her service-dog training business afloat, she got creative ... or rather, her dog did. She figured that if her Foxhound mix, Sammy, could learn to open doors and pick up objects for disabled people, he could learn to pick up a brush and paint. Two years later, paintings by Sammy and fellow "Doggie Da Vincis," are popular for fundraisers as original works and notecards. As far as Stadelbacher knows, her dogs are the only dogs that hold paintbrushes in their mouths to paint at an easel. To see videos of the dogs painting or purchase their work, go to Shore Service Dogs.

Julia Kamysz Lane

Tuxes and Tails

OMG! Check out these runway photos from Pet Fashion Week in New York (Aug. 18 and 19). OK, I’m a little behind on my news reading, but I felt that with Walmart’s secret recalls and Michael Vick’s guilty plea, we all could use a little diversion. Of course for my money, dogs in the coats they were born with make the best fashion statements by far.

Lisa Wogan

What's a Pibble Doing on the Radio?

If you read my article, "Disc Drive," in the July/August 2007 issue of The Bark, you're already familiar with  bully-breed advocate Andrew "Roo" Yori and his disc-dog world champion, Wallace the Pit Bull. Roo now hosts a monthly radio show, "Pibble Talk," and his next show is at 9 p.m. central time this Sunday, August 26, 2007. Tomorrow's guests include Jon Bosak, author of a graphic novel for young readers, Demo: The Story of a Junkyard Dog, and Diane Jessup of Law Dogs USA, a non-profit group that provides trained narcotics- and explosives-detection Pit Bulls to law enforcement for free. Listeners are welcome to call in with questions and comments. 

Julia Kamysz Lane

Dog Feels Just Ducky!

If you need a reason to smile, click on this funny grooming video featuring a persistent Mallard duck and a patient (though tad confused) Staffordshire Bull Terrier. I guess the Staffy was pretty dirty! And for anyone who doesn’t understand why breed-specific legislation is unfair, direct them to this American Pit Bull Terrier with her fluffy friends. I must warn you; there are a TON of dog vs. cute creature videos on You Tube, so you could be watching them all day long if you’re not careful!

   

Julia Kamysz Lane

Roadside Assistance

Three cheers for Lynnette Miller. Not only did she miss a wedding reception to retrieve a lost, hurt pup from the edge of a Kansas highway, she spent weeks nursing Koda back from the brink. But that's not all. For those of you who enjoy a good woman-saves-dog story (I know I do), check out the details in the Kansas City Star.

p.s. Looks like the Kansas City Star link has expired. The ever-helpful Lynnette saved the day again by sending the full story in a comment.

Lisa Wogan

Good Genes, Part II

In the spring, I wrote a story for Bark (May/June 2007) about the new Canine Heritage Breed Test, which is designed to help people with mixed-breed dogs learn their dog’s genetic origins. In the spirit of the thing, I sent in a cheek swab of my dog’s saliva for testing. I’ve always figured Lulu is a mix of Husky and Labrador Retriever. But her DNA did not match up with any of the 38 most common breeds to any statistically significant degree. There was a smidge of Siberian Husky “in the mix,” along with Chow Chow, Chinese Shar-Pei and Akita, but not enough to certify her heritage.

In May, when I blogged about these inconclusive results, I received a note from Charlie Passantino, a vice president at Mars Veterinary. In September, his company will offer the Wisdom Panel, a mixed breed DNA analysis (identifying up to 130 breeds) based on a blood sample drawn by a vet. He offered to test Lulu for free. Within days, a little vile of her blood was at the lab.

Last week, I received a four-page report. According to this analysis, my dog is part Labrador but she is also German Shepherd and, to a lesser extent, Brittany Spaniel. These results jibe with her physical appearance, and, based on breed profiles supplied with the results, the temperaments and behaviors line up as well.

Obviously, I can’t say why the results were different in the two tests, or that one is definitively better. Pasantino suggested that a blood sample yields more DNA for testing,