Puppy reunited after 100-mile journey UK A puppy that travelled nearly 100 miles from its home and missing since November  has been reunited with his owners. An anonymous person turned Bouncer over to the Blue Cross animal shelter who were able to identify him via his microchip implant...  [Ananova]

Raw meat-based dog food company offers free food to chronically ill dogs  'Steve's Real Food for Pets, a specialty pet food manufacturer in Eugene, Oregon, is offering dog owners all over the country some free relief from chronic canine ailments. The program, called Give us your Worst Dog will showcase to veterinarians at the Western Veterinary Conference opening this week in Las Vegas...' [biz.yahoo.com]  Related: Barf: raw dog food diet, About.com's Veterinary Sources: Dog Food and Nutrition, Dog food and nutrition information

Dogs ... good for the heart

• The angel by my side: the True Story of a Dog Who Saved a Man . . the story of  how a dog saved his owner from depression and from heart disease... 'Dakota not only warned his owner of impending angina attacks, he also warned three co-workers of imminent life-threatening heart conditions...' [Oregonian]
• How taking the dog for a walk can lead to love [telegraph.co.uk] 'The way to find your perfect partner and lasting love is to take your dog for a walk in the park, scientists said yesterday. Academics at Warwick University claimed that people who walked their dog in a park were more likely to meet a future partner there than anywhere else..'
• 'how we broke up' stories (including one over a dog) 'He walked right past me to the porch, called for the dog and went back to bed. With the dog! He slept with the dog instead of with me! I left him that morning, packed up and left. But I didn't go far: The very next night, I snuck back and took the dog...' [Anchorage Daily News] (smart move)

Family jailed after dog-bite spat with cop ZA 'A family of four - including an 11-month baby and his seven-year-old brother - spent more than 18 hours in cells after the parents were involved in an argument with a policeman neighbor...' The argument started when a mother asked the policeman to pay for injuries from his dog's biting her son.... [Cape Argus]

Pet law: changing the legal status from property to companion CO Some would argue that changing a pet's legal status from property to companion only benefits tort lawyers... [Fort Collins Coloradoan] (I disagree, but I can see politicians registering 'companions' to vote... )

Tennessee cops learn 'how to read dog' TN  Tennessee Highway Patrol Officers attended a dog safety training session taught by the Humane Society, so they could identify friendly versus attacking dogs:

'The eyes, ears and body are better indicators [than tail wagging] of whether a dog might bite... In aggressive mode, the whites of a dog's eyes will be more visible, his ears will stand up straight and the body will be tense. .. A safe dog is a dog that is wagging from the neck back. If he's not, then watch out. When an [unknown] dog is on the scene, officers should 'stop, drop and roll,' ... Stopping means taking time to scan the dog for evidence of aggressive posture. Dropping means lowering your eyes below the dog's and breaking eye contact. Rolling is turning sideways to the animal... more  [The Tennessean]

Playful dog bite kills woman NZ Authorities have decided that an elderly woman had probably been playing with her dogs when one of them accidentally nipped a major artery in her leg. The woman, an Alaskan Malamute breeder, lost up to four pints of blood before she died. The recent spate of dog attacks in New Zealand have prompted citizens to call for dog law revisions... [The Age - Australia] Related: In June, 2002,  Dog kills family member Canada A single deep bite to a man's leg settled his fate."Clarence Francis Martel, 46, died in the northern Alberta community Saturday afternoon, after suffering a single bite to his calf from the family's German shepherd-Rottweiler cross, cops said".... [Edmonton News]