Specially trained dogs prevent seizures IL A new study verifies that seizure-alert trained dogs reduce epileptic attacks by 50 percent. Dogs recognize seizure precursors that even their owners themselves can't sense. ... [Seizure]

Internet helps connect rescue dogs to new homes OK In the Oklahoma animal shelter, small dogs are being euthanized for lack of adoptive homes. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, there are at least 20 people applying for each small dog ready for adoption. When Fred Acker, a Connecticut shelter worker, found out over the internet about the surplus of small dogs in Oklahoma, it was a no brainer to driver over 1,500 miles to pick up the surplus dogs for their adoptive homes waiting in Connecticut. Acker and his crew of shelter helpers would like to return every month  ... the Oklahoma shelter is grateful... [KFOR-TV]

Last Tibetan Mastiff disappears India "The Tibetan Mastiff (sheep dog) is a magnificent pure breed of dog belonging to the nomadic ‘Dokpas’ or Tibetan grazers in trans-Himalayan Sikkim. Thanks to cross-breeding, the number of Tibetan Mastiff had been declining over two decades or so." The last pure Tibetan Mastiff disappeared some time last month... [The Statesman]

Emaciated dogs give away criminals' hideout "Maybe they should have gone out for dog food" Police tracked a couple and a stolen vehicle to a residence with two extremely malnourished dogs in the yard. Animal control removed the dogs for treatment and forced the door to locate another barking dog inside. The couple was also found inside and arrested.... [Vallejo News]

Gwen Steffani's wedding hosts dog as guest of honor "The couple's Hungarian sheep dog Winston, was decked out in pink and purple flowers." [People Weekly]

Man who beat dog gets juvenile detention PA "The teen, whose name was withheld by prosecutors because of his age, had previously pleaded guilty to cruelty to animal charges for attacking a 1-year-old pit bull on the street, then chasing him inside a self-service laundry where part of the beating was videotaped by a security camera. The dog was later euthanized..." His defender said  "He is sorry. He's certainly sorry that he's brought this kind of attention on himself and on his family." [Nepa News] (that's nice, but is he sorry for the poor dog...  August 22: Police arrested a man who brutally stalked and beat a docile pit bull. "Security video at the laundromat shows the dog, Rakim, limping in, leaving a trail of pawprints in blood, stalked by a man carrying a wooden bat who then brutally hit the dog another 15 times. SPCA says the dog had no behavioral problems..." [KYW NewsRadio] )

Police Dog Killer Gets 9-Year Jail Sentence WA A man who tried to shoot a police officer and killed a police dog instead was sentenced today to more than 9 years behind bars... [Bremerton Sun]

San Francisco dog trial cost taxpayers over $700,000 SF Ouch! Bills mounted during and after the dog mauling trial and took a big bite out of the city's budget. At least "the public didn't pay for private defense lawyer Nedra Ruiz (whose bill was picked up by Knoller's family), although her down-on-her-knees courtroom manner was the best show in town..." [San Francisco Gate via obscurestore.com]

Adventures with the pet psychic CA  Many people find it hard to believe that a human can actually talk with animals and it's understandable. After all, in the past, the word 'psychic' has become synonymous with phoney and charlatan. Sonya Fitzpatrick hosts her own television program where she showcases her own talent with animals. In a  one-on-one test of her abilities, a columnist put Fitzpatrick to the test with her pet tabby, "Mark McGuire." [LA Times]

Triumph, the insult dog, releases "dog poop", er.. dog rap record Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (dog hand-puppet correspondent on "Late Night with Conan O Brien"]  is releasing a rap record... His publicist said: 
The hand-puppet correspondent for "Late Night with Conan O Brien" drops "Songs in the Key of Poop" sometime this winter... (censored) ... Says Triumph: "This is going to blow the roof off the whole dog world." [NY Post: Page Six] (sorry, our dog is sensitive to this stuff: he won't watch violent tv either)

Bomb sniffing dogs standard in security sweeps US Bomb detective dogs are no longer a novelty in the global war on terror; instead, they have become a standard part of the arsenal in anti-terrorist weaponry. It takes about six months to train a qualified dog to successfully detect explosives and training involves adapting a dog to the climate it will work in as well as getting used to the handler who will work with the dog. The security dog training firm "Global Training Academy trains specialty dogs such as search and rescue, termite control, chemical searches and tracking. It has deployed 415 dogs for drug detecting, 270 for mine detecting, and 75 for explosive detecting..." [Cybercast News Service]

Dog 101: when training meets stubborn doggy CA Marjie Lundstrom, columnist, shares her humiliating moments when her dog starts basic training: This is a cautionary tale about dogs and obedience training and a brochure that promises: "Anything is possible with a good education." Maybe they should have left it at "anything is possible..." [Sacramento Bee] (A funny tale about the ability of a dog to humiliate his/her caretakers (PC for owner). I swear the only time my dog ever barked was when I was talking on the phone to his trainer, and saying how good he was. Dogs seem to have an ironic sense of humor about human fixation on dog training.

 Cody, newfoundland, wins "longest drool competition" AK The city of Anchorage, Alaska, feted its Fifth Annual Big Dog Olympics with some unique doggy contests and newcomers beat out old timers for dog honored wins. "Cody, a year-old Newfoundland, relied on natural talent to win the "longest drool" competition, beating out juicy jowled St. Bernards with years more experience..." Dogs also competed in ice cream eating, down/stay, t-shirt relay, musical placemats and weight pulling.[Alaska Daily News]

Dogs and cows get their genome day The National Human Genome Research Institute announced it will sequence the genomes (genetic blueprint) of dogs, cows and a single-celled predator called Oxytricha trifallax (say what?) after it finishes with the rat, mouse and human sequencing projects next year. "Man's best friend shares some of man's worst maladies. Researchers hope the dog genome will shed light on heart disease, cancer, deafness and even narcolepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder..." [Nature]

Spay/Neuter Stamp debuts at US Post Office DC It sounds silly, but it's as serious an issue as you can have: pet overpopulation. "According to the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in just six years, one intact female dog and her offspring can be the source of 67,000 puppies. In seven years, one female cat and her young can produce 420,000 kittens..." When you buy the new stamps featuring puppies and kittens, you increase the awareness of the desperate conditions our pet overpopulation has wrought nationwide: At least "Six [6] million unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized annually in the approximately 6,000 shelters across the country, simply because there aren't enough homes for them..." [New York Post]