With the upcoming Olympic Games, the world’s attention is focused on Beijing and our four-legged friends are (at least temporarily) benefiting from this attention…dog is off the menu in Beijing for the duration of the Games!!

But dogs in Beijing aren’t quite celebrating yet - a long-standing Beijing law prohibiting dogs taller than 35 centimeters (1.1 feet) is still being enforced.  A friend sent me this really interesting article about the law and its origins.  Apparently, historically dogs in China were primarily kept as pets by the wealthy.  During the rule of communist leader Mao Zedong, dog owners were “scorned as bourgeois timewasters” and strict laws were enacted that still are enforced today.

It’s ironic that a country that has given us so many varied breeds of dogs has become so unfriendly to canines.  The Shar-Pei, Chinese Crested, Pekingese, Chow Chow and Shih-Tzu are just a few of the popular breeds that have originated in China.

Local dog lovers are hoping that the attention focused on China for the Olympics will force officials to address their outdated dog-UNfriendly attitude.  With registered dog ownership in Beijing up a staggering 17% from 2006 to 2007 (~600K –> ~704K), there is certainly a huge dog-friendly contingent growing in the capital city - keep in mind that only dogs meeting the 35cm or less rule can be registered!!

Two bizarre dog-related stories in the news this past week…

First a girl in Queens is reunited with a dog that she lost 5 years ago.  He turned up in 850 miles away in Georgia!! 

More cute pics of Natalie & Rocco can be found in the Post Photo Gallery.  I really need to get Oscar micro-chipped…

Next, a scary story from the Bronx…a pitbull was bitten by a rattlesnake on Tuesday in a public park near the Bronx Zoo.  Stone (the dog) was rushed to the hospital and treated with anti-venom.  The parks department is searching for the snake, which they believe is probably someone’s escaped pet. 

We wish Stone a speedy recovery and hope Natalie & Rocco enjoy their second chance!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Best Friends Again dog cloning auction that was held in mid-June .  (Click here if you missed the first post.) Still no word on how much bidders were willing to pay for each of the 5 doggy cloning slots - bidding started at $100K.  But there is some news on the cloning front…

I don’t know how I missed this (because I surely would have entered Oscar), but there was an essay contest to find the most “clone-worthy dog” with the winner receiving free cloning of their dog. 

I guess it’s just as well that I didn’t spend too much time working on my “Why Oscar Should Be Cloned For Free” essay, because it sounds like there was some stiff competition.  As WONDERFUL as Oscar is, I’m not sure that he could compete with Trakr…

Trakr is credited with finding one of the last survivors at Ground Zero after the Septermber 11th terrorist attack.   The 15-year-old German Shepherd suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder, which experts believe could be related to exposure to toxic smoke from Ground Zero.

Will be keeping an eye out for Trakr II…

When we leave Oscar home alone, we always try to leave the radio on…I would say that the purpose is two-fold.  First, we want him to be calm and relaxed, but we also want to drown out the city noises so that every truck going by and person ranting incoherently doesn’t drive him crazy.

Or at least those are the reasons that I leave the radio on for Oscar.  I normally leave the radio on low-volume and tuned to some easy-listening station.  But somehow it always manages to get cranked up and turned to the classic rock station…okay, it’s not a mystery how it happens - my husband says that Oscar “likes rocking out to the Classics”.  Of course, once again…I’m proven right (by a vetrinary neurologist, no less).  According to Susan Wagner, dogs are calmed by music with slower tempos, fewer instruments and simpler melodies.  Maybe it doesn’t seem like rocket science, but this article from the Worcester Telegram is all the evidence I need to make my case.  

Apparently many animal hospitals and shelters have been reaping the benefits of music therapy to calm the animals in their care.  The Telegram article specifically mentions our very own ASPCA, as well as two county shelters in California that installed a continuous Muzak system.

Continuing on the music in shelters theme, a recent article from the Downtown Express talks about how music is used at two different shelters in downtown Manhattan - Animal Haven & Pet-I-Care.   While I’m very familiar with Animal Haven from meet-ups and training classes we’ve attended there, I don’t know very much about Pet-I-Care.  I love that they provide free lifetime surgery to all animals adopted from their shelter, but maybe they need to rethink their music selection…

There has been a lot of dog news in the last few weeks…most of it very sad.  If you haven’t been paying attention, here’s a quick update…

First we had another dog electrocuted by stray voltage (in Queens).  Then a dog was killed by a street cleaner and a dog fighting ring was busted in the Bronx.  And finally, poor Trouble got her inheritance chopped from $12 Million to $2 Million!

Okay, that last one isn’t exactly in the same league as the first three, but nonetheless…this is not turning out to be a fun summer for the four-legged residents (or previous residents, in Trouble’s case) of New York City.  Let’s hope all the sad doggy news is behind us…

On June 19th, more than 9,000 dogs from across America illuminated the Reuters/NASDAQ Digital Tower in Times Square as part of the Purina Dog Chow promotion “Picture Your Dog in Times Square.”

One lucky dog, (Sassy, a two-year-old Yorkshire Terrier) and her owner also won a 5 day, 4 night trip to our fine city.  As part of the promotion, Purina also awarded grants to a number of organizations seeking to improve or create dog parks.

Congratulations, Sassy!

Sadly, another dog has died recently in NYC as a result of stray voltage.  Sebastian, a 7-year old Siberian Husky, was electrocuted over the Memorial Day weekend in Queens.  Last June, Mushy, a 5-year old Bull Mastiff died as a result of stray voltage in Harlem.  The issue of stray voltage was elevated in 2004 after the death of a 30 yr old woman, but 4 years later it’s still a frightening problem.

According to what I’ve read, the problem usually occurs when frayed underground wires come in direct contact with a metal plate or manhole cover, but sometimes wet concrete itself becomes electrified.  Dogs fall victim to stray voltage more often because they don’t have shoes to insulate against the electricity.  I normally try to keep Oscar away from walking on metal surfaces, but it sounds like that’s not enough to keep him safe.  Very scary stuff… 

As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one real problem with dogs - they leave us far too quickly.  With normal life spans between 8 and 15 years (depending on the breed), a dog lover will have to suffer the loss of his/her best friend far too many times in a normal human lifetime.  Since Oscar is my first dog, I have yet to go experience the sad reality of losing a beloved pet.  And since Oscar is only 2 and 1/2, I hope that I won’t have to face this reality for at least another 10 years or more.  But it’s really scary how quickly the first few years have flown by…and it makes me unbearably sad to even think about the day when Oscar’s smiley face won’t be the first thing I see every morning.  I can’t even read stories about wonderful pets passing away without tearing up…

So, what if a company could clone your elderly or deceased pet and give you a perfect genetic match so that you could start all over again?  Best Friends Again is looking to do just that.  They claim to have successfully cloned a family dog named Missy 3 times.  Tpday they are auctioning off the opportunity for 5 people to clone their dogs and I CAN’T WAIT to see what people will bid for a 2nd chance with their dog.  Bidding for the first auction starts at $100K (!!), and the starting bid increases by $20K for each subsequent auction.

I joked with my husband that fortunately we have 10+ years for the price of cloning to come down, but assuming I had money to burn, would I really spend $100K for Oscar II?  My first reaction is…absolutely.  I would pay any amount of money for another 12-15 years of Oscar - adopting Oscar is the best decision I’ve ever made and I can’t imagine having to fall asleep every night without him curled up beside me.

But on the other hand…just think of all the animals in shelters and how many wonderful dogs could be helped with the money that will be spent on this first commercial cloning opportunity.  I have no doubt that the 5 cloning slots will go like hot cakes.  Even if the bidding never goes above the opening bid, that will be $700K spent to create 5 dogs.  Imagine how many dogs lives could be saved with $700K…when I think about it that way, I know I’ll never be able to justify Oscar II, so I will just have to do my best to enjoy every second with Oscar the 1st!!

What do you think?  Would you clone your current or childhood dog?

A few months ago, I wrote a post about Poisonous Foods for Dogs.  I mentioned some of the more well-known poisonous foods for dogs (chocolate, grapes, onions, etc.), but I didn’t realize that sugar-free gum containing the sweetener Xylitol can also be fatal to dogs.  It’s particularly scary because most people have sugar-free gum in their homes and don’t even realize that it’s poisonous to their dogs.

This article from the Burlington County Times drew my attention to Xylitol, but once I started looking I found tons of heart-breaking stories of pet owners losing their dogs to Xylitol poisoning.  The article also talks about other common household products that are commonly ingested by pets.

If your dog ingests a potentially poisonous substance, you can call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center hotline.  The ASPCA APCC charges $60 per case, with no extra charge for follow-up calls and can work with your vet through the entire treatment process.   Their toll-free, 24-hour hotline number is (888) 426-4435, which handled more than 130,000 calls in 2007.

Think you know what’s bad for your pet?  Take this quiz to test your knowledge.

Yikes!!  This wcbstv.com article is pretty scary…almost 7,000 reported cases of bed bugs in NYC in 2007. 

I continue to be amazed at what dogs can do with their sniffers!  From drugs, to cancer and now bed bugs!  Pretty amazing stuff.  If anyone is missing some TREATS, I have a dog who can find them…

Anyway, the article is pretty interesting, but it also reminded me of a time that I saw a couch on the sidewalk in my neighborhood with a sign on it that said “BED BUGS”.  Whoever was dealing with that nasty problem was kind enough to not want to share it with anyone else, but now I’m always wary of furniture, clothes, etc. left on the sidewalk.  Oscar always wants to sniff and check out everything on the curb, but I won’t let him near any kind of clothing or cloth furniture because I’m paranoid that he’ll get bed bugs (or fleas).

We’ve been lucky on the bed bug/flea front so far (knock on wood), but our little Oscar is a tick magnet.  Every time we take him in the woods, we have to check him from head to toe and usually end up pulling 4-5 ticks off of him.  Yuck…