Charges dismissed against police officers MD "A Circuit Court judge yesterday threw out the most serious charges against two Prince George's police officers accused of beating a burglary suspect with a baton and releasing a police dog on him without justification..." [Washington Post]

Lucky dogs of Italy bask on the beach  In the U.S., in summer's hottest days, when a family goes on vacation, they don't normally take the dog to the beach resort; dogs usually stay in kennels.  Not so for some lucky dogs of Italy who can romp on up to 24 different beaches: "For a 10 euro ($10) season pass and five euros a time, dogs at Bau Beach get just about all the benefits of regular beach goers, including an umbrella and a towel. They also get a dog bowl and their owners are handed a shovel..." [Yahoo News via Chloe of Watermelon Punch] (slide show of dogs sunbathing from Yahoo)

We've tried to take our dog on vacations to the beach and we found ourselves banned until the tourist season was over. In Rehobeth, dogs are not allowed on the beach for much of the summer. And even the boardwalks are verboten for dogs until the tourist season is over; disobedient owners who insist on taking their dogs to the beach in banned seasons can receive hefty fines. So we took our dog for a beach vacation in October and had a fabulous time. (There are some beaches which accept dogs on the East Coast, but many do not).

Owner rescues road tar-stuck dog UK When Syd, the terrier, got stuck in road tar, Alan Bannister had to wade in and pull his little feet free. "Syd was off the lead at the time because it's a large common area. He ran straight into the [road tar] bitumen. He stopped and looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. I had to wade in to try to get him out. It took 45 minutes to get Syd even remotely clean. My trainers and jeans are ruined and it's all over my carpet..." [Lancashire Evening Telegraph] (another reason to keep a dog on leash; freshly repaved roads can also burn their feet)

Helping the shy dog "Everybody thinks that dogs are naturally friendly, but that's not quite true. About 15 percent of all higher animals are shy, including horses, cats, dogs and humans." That translates into about 9 million dogs... [Center Daily Times]

Our dog was shy when we got him and would not even make eye contact, although he was well behaved. We learned that he was socially withdrawn because he had few interactions with people. It took time for him to trust us. We took him to training, to daycare (where he played with other dogs); on car rides and to parks. Before we knew it, he blossomed into a confident, friendly dog.

Lost dog: kidnapped or rescued? PA Michael Keefer suspected his neighbors of taking his dog, Hope, so he searched and found what might be the only evidence of the dirty deed (or 'rescue' as some neighbors have called it). ' "Pulling a caper from the pages of a novel, Keefer began rummaging through his neighbors' trash. That's when he found something surprising: three pages of discarded e-mails between Kate M. Beschen, 28, who lives directly in back of Keefer, and an animal-rights activist, in which the pair discuss taking and "rescuing" Hope.' The owner has posted a reward of $2,500 while denying  accusations: "Keefer, they say, sometimes left a crying Hope tied up all night in the rain, allowed her to wallow in her own poop, even at times hit, kicked, yelled and cursed at her..." [Philadephia Inquirer]

Scientist proves dogs can count Brazil Robert Young, a  scientist at Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte,  has proven that dogs can count. He used a technique which also proved that 5 month old infants can count:

"He placed treats in a bowl, hid it with a screen and let the animals watch as he removed or added some. The dogs studied the contents longer when the screen was taken away if a trick had been played leaving more or less treats than expected. He tested 11 mongrels and found they paid little attention when one plus one resulted in two treats. But they looked more closely when one plus one left three." [Ananova.com Quirkies from newscientist.com] Related: Old dogs learn new tricks

Pupwardly mobile: luxury pet stores take off CA "...A trend in high-end pet stores stems in part from pet owners' overwhelming love for animals. But it began with women pet owners themelves, who saw a gap in the $30 billion industry. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 82 percent of dog owners are female, and they are proving to be a profitable niche..." [The Sacramento Bee]

Dog knocks down policeman; policeman shoots dog and dog owner dead  Russia "A police officer who was knocked down by a Rottweiler shot and wounded the dog and killed the owner, according to police in Moscow..." [CNN Europe] (Wow ... another dog leash incident)

More: Policeman who killed dog owner charged with manslaughter Moscow, Russia "A criminal case has been opened against the policeman who fired his gun at attack dogs and killed their owner in Moscow on Wednesday evening." [The Moscow Times]

(noticed: headline for this story on CNN Europe: "Policeman shoots dead dog owner"   Say What? The dog owner was dead when the policeman shot him... oops, a headline blooper)

Officer Says Dog Was Released on Suspect Twice MD "A Prince George's County police officer testified in court yesterday that a county canine officer followed instructions to take his police dog off a burglary suspect who was trying to comply with police commands, but then the canine officer released the dog a moment later..." [Washington Post]

Dog walker killed when dogs drag him "A 64-year-old dog walker died from severe head injuries after being dragged to the ground by his two dogs when they were startled by a bolting horse ..." [Shropshire Star]

Preventing accidents when walking your dog are difficult if the dog is stronger than you are and very willful; unexpected events like a horse bolting can startle even the best trained dog. The man who was killed might have lived had he been using a special leash to give him more control of his dogs: these leashes go by the name of "gentle leader," "haltie," "companion leader," etc.  There are special double leashes designed for the "gentle leader" so you can safely walk two dogs together.

We had a special head halter custom made for our dog by Training Unlimited's Miriam Fields who has written a number of books on dog training and one book on how to train your dog with a head halter. I've also used the "gentle leader" available in Petsmart and Petco and it works well too. Because our dog has a very large head and short jaw, he needed a halter which wouldn't slip off and which would be comfortable. We used the "companion leader" when he was recovering from hip replacement surgery and we found it invaluable because he never tugged when we used it. He didn't mind it at all once he got used to it.

 Amother kind of leash wraps a harness around the dog's chest and discourages it from pulling. We have one of those and it worked well too, but it was just a hassle to put on him.

The drawback of using a head halter is that the dog may be more intractable when you don't use it, ie, he may tug more; you'll spend some time retraining when you don't use a halter. And people may criticize you for using one. We take the time to explain how it works and that it doesn't impair a dog's ability to eat, drink, sniff or even (heaven forbid) bite. Some people (even some trainers) think that it's somehow 'bad' to use a head halter on a dog.

In another freak accident, a man walking his dog in a graveyard during torrential rains was sucked into a pit while trying to rescue his dog from the same fate. The man is missing and feared dead.

British cemetery allows people and pets buried together UK 'A Lancashire cemetery is allowing people to be buried with their pets. They can buy a burial space at the Ribble Valley Remembrance Park in Whalley with a plot at their feet for their pets. There will be separate sections for pets, one for people, one for people and pets together and one for natural burials ...' [Lancashire Evening Telegraph via Ananova.com Quirkies]

Earlier this month, Dog News reported on a man who was buried with his K-9 dog. In another case, a woman in Kentucky wanted the dog buried near her parents in a human cemetery  moved.

Do dogs talk? Well, they do bark. "According to Sophie Yin, of the University of California, has proved dogs use different barks for different situations. She found dogs isolated from their owners use high-pitched single barks, longer 'superbarks' are used for strangers and high-pitched cluster barks are used during play..." [Ananova Quirkies] Related: Dogs smarter than people think 

(Our dog is so smart, he's a television critic (or should be); if he sees any news that shows people crying, he will jump up and whine until we change the channel. He can't stand violent TV shows either; he seems to empathize most with the real emotions of people on the news. And yes, he definitely watches TV; when he sees an unusual animal, he'll sit up and watch intently. He used to go up the screen and nose the TV to see if he could interact with the animal, but he soon figured out it wasn't real and stopped that behavior.)