PET NEWS

Good Dog Bad Dog

2018-01-19T07:43:00.001-08:00

Delta Air Lines will soon require owners of service and support animals to provide more information before their animal can fly in the passenger cabin, including an assurance that it's trained to behave itself.

The airline says complaints about animals biting or soiling plane cabins have nearly doubled since 2016.

Starting March 1, Delta will require owners to show proof of their animal's health or vaccinations at least 48 hours before a flight.

Owners of psychiatric service animals and so-called emotional-support animals will need to sign a statement vouching that their animal can behave. But owners will be on the honor system — they won't have to show, for example, that their dog graduated from obedience school.

The new requirements don't apply to pets that stay in under-seat kennels during flights.

Delta's policy change arrives with the number of animals in the cabin increasing.

John Laughter, the airline's senior vice president of safety and security, said there are insufficient rules in place to screen animals for health and behavior issues. He said Delta sought a balance "that supports those customers with a legitimate need for these animals" while maintaining safety.

Delta's new rules are aimed at two categories: service animals, which receive specific training to help blind or disabled passengers; and so-called emotional-support animals, which require no training at all. Both fly for free and are not required to be caged during the flight.

The emotional-support group has been growing rapidly, and it is the target of most of the new Delta procedures. Last June, a 70-pound dog flying as a support animal bit another passenger several times in the face on a Delta plane in Atlanta. The victim was hospitalized.

Federal regulators have interpreted a 1986 access-to-travel law to allow support animals in airplane cabins and in apartment buildings that do not allow pets. That has created a cottage industry of online companies that help people establish their pet as an emotional support animal. The classification spares the owner hefty airline charges.

Airlines must allow support animals in the cabin, although they can require owners to present a letter from a doctor or other medical provider who can vouch that the human traveler is helped by having the animal there. Delta will now ask to see those letters 48 hours in advance.

Delta, the second-biggest U.S. airline by revenue, said it transports about 700 service and support animals every day, nearly 250,000 per year. More than two-thirds are emotional-support animals. That does not include animals for which owners pay a fee to keep in a carrier under their seat during flights.

Although exact figures aren't available, airline employees say dogs and cats are the most common animals on planes, but there have been sightings of pigs, snakes and turkeys too.

Funniest Fish

2017-11-25T07:55:00.001-08:00

World's Biggest Dogs 2

2017-11-24T13:56:00.001-08:00

A Very BIG CAT

2017-11-24T11:51:00.001-08:00

Biggest Dogs 1

2017-11-23T14:19:00.001-08:00

Hurricane Harvey SMART DOG

2017-08-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

This dog was getting ready for Hurricane Harvey

Pets Not Kids

2017-02-18T18:23:00.001-08:00

When they say there are two types of people in this world, cat-people and dog-people, I fall staunchly in support of the pooch. It seems, cat and dog people also tend to self-segregate because in the last year since I finally adopted my own four-legged fur baby I've had five close friends pick my brain about the cost of being a dog mom. Lucky for them, it's not a guess. I know, down to the penny, how much my 8-year-old Jack Russell Terrier mix has cost me.

Considering how millennials tend to be delaying traditional life milestones like marriage, home-buying and baby making, it's no surprise that millennials are adopting more pets: 35% as compared with 32% of Boomers, according to research firm GfK.1 Fifty-seven percent of millennial households own a dog versus 51% of all U.S. households. And we have our reasons for treating our pets like surrogate children.

Reason 1: Money

Dogs are not cheap. Type "average cost of raising a dog" into Google and you'll get hits with American Kennel Club stats like $2,674 for the first year of raising a small dog,2 with its giant breed counterpart averaging $3,536. The ASPCA significantly drops the cost down to $1,580 for a medium-sized dog.3

Both of these estimates are, however, significantly less than I've spent on my admittedly spoiled dog, Mosby. Even though Mosby is a senior rescue, the start-up price just to bring him home cost $400 (much higher than going through ASPCA), then an additional $200 to purchase his New York City dog license, register his microchip and buy some basic supplies. Thirteen months later I've spent just over $5,000 on Mosby's happiness and well-being. He is fed expensive dog food that costs about $35 a month and I've purchased some silly products we’ve never really used – like a paw plunger to clean his feet after walking around on slushy New York City sidewalks. But the big reasons for that hefty number were an unexpected surgery and his many trips to the dog sitter when I'm traveling (or paying for him to fly with me).

A 2013 report from the USDA averaged the annual cost of raising a child for a two-parent, middle-income family to be $12,800 to $14,970 depending on the age of the child. If you live in the urban Northeast, make that $282,480 to raise a child to 18—not to mention the healthcare costs attached to pregnancy and delivery as well as the unpaid maternity/paternity leaves many parents face.

Reason 2: Freedom

Dogs need heaps of love and attention, but not constant monitoring like a human child. It isn't considered an abusive (or illegal) practice to leave your pup at home alone while you head off to work. Parents don't have the luxury to do this with a child. Kids need to be watched all the time and the price tag of childcare runs from about $720 per month to $2,230 depending on the type of care a parent selects.4

Not to mention needing a babysitter for date nights, ladies' nights out, or just because you wanted to go do something spur of the moment. A dog affords the self-indulgent option to "just go out," assuming the pup has been cared for first and, yes, there is a clock on getting home before he defecates in the house, but it doesn't have to cost extra.

Then again, those who hire a dog walker for seven days a week or drop off the fur baby at a doggie day care may indeed end up shelling out about the same as the low-end cost of childcare.

Reason 3: Parenting Practice

First comes love, then comes getting a dog together. Raising a dog can help committed couples who are either married or heading towards a future with a baby learn some parenting 101. At the very least, it gives you some insights into how your partner may be as a parent.

My long-term partner and I don't co-habitat, but we do co-raise Mosby. Peach (my boyfriend) often takes Mosby when I'm out of town and always walks and feeds him when I'm working late. We learned to adjust our schedules around making sure Mosby didn't get left alone for too long at any given time. It's been interesting for us to see how the other reacts in tense situations, like Mosby getting hurt, now that a living creature depends on us.

Those who adopt a puppy deal with the sleep deprivation in those early weeks when you're being kept up late with whining and howling during crate training, wake up every few hours to let the dog out to ensure it becomes house broken and deal with the mess of cleaning up accidents or finding expensive shoes have been chewed.

Same but Different

Of course, dogs and babies aren't the same. Many a mother has bristled at those who dare to compare fur babies to humans. However, for those in a phase of life where the thought of nurturing a child seems too stressful or financially cumbersome – a dog is a perfect companion. A dog provides unconditional love, can be great for your mental and physical health, and helps you learn more about your partner if you're headed towards those often-procrastinated millennial life stages of marriage and baby making.

Beautiful Cats

2015-03-27T12:05:00.001-07:00

Cats Love Boxes

2015-02-04T09:48:00.001-08:00

What’s Up With That: Why Do Cats Love Boxes So Much?

1 / 19

Take heart feline enthusiasts. Your cat’s continued indifference toward her new Deluxe Scratch DJ Deck may be disappointing, but there is an object that’s pretty much guaranteed to pique her interest. That object, as the Internet has so thoroughly documented, is a box. Any box, really. Big boxes, small boxes, irregularly shaped boxes—it doesn’t matter. Place one on the ground, a chair, or a bookshelf and watch as Admiral Snuggles quickly commandeers it.

So what are we to make of the strange gravitational pull that empty Amazon packaging exerts on felis catus? Like many other really weird things cats do, science hasn’t fully cracked this particular feline mystery. There’s the obvious predation advantage a box affords: Cats are ambush predators, and boxes provide great hiding places to stalk prey from (and retreat to). But there’s clearly more going on here.

Thankfully, behavioral biologists and veterinarians have come up with a few other interesting explanations. In fact, when you look at all the evidence together, it could be that your cat may not just like boxes, he mayneed them.

The box-and-whisker plot

Understanding the feline mind is notoriously difficult. Cats, after all, tend not to be the easiest test subjects. Still, there’s a sizable amount of behavioral research on cats who are, well, used for other kinds of research (i.e., lab cats). These studies—many of which focused on environmental enrichment—have been taking place for more than 50 years and they make one thing abundantly clear: Your fuzzy companion derives comfort and security from enclosed spaces.

Cotton in a box. Desiree Yip/Flickr | CC BY-NC-ND-2.0 (used with permission)

This is likely true for a number of reasons, but for cats in these often stressful situations, a box or some other type of separate enclosure (within the enclosures they’re already in) can have a profound impact on both their behavior and physiology.

Veterinarian Claudia Vinke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands is one of the latest researchers to study stress levels in shelter cats. Working with domestic cats in a Dutch animal shelter, Vinke provided hiding boxes for a group of newly arrived cats while depriving another group of them entirely. She found a significant difference in stress levels between cats that had the boxes and those that didn’t. In effect, the cats with boxes got used to their new surroundings faster, were far less stressed early on, and were more interested in interacting with humans.

It makes sense when you consider that the first reaction of nearly all cats to a stressful situation is to withdraw and hide. “Hiding is a behavioral strategy of the species to cope with environmental changes and stressors,” Vinke said in an email.

This is as true for cats in the wild as it is for those in your home. Only instead of retreating to tree tops, dens, or caves, yours may find comfort in a shoe box.

Box (anti-)social

It’s also important to note that cats really suck at conflict resolution. To quote fromThe Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour, “Cats do not appear to develop conflict resolution strategies to the extent that more gregarious species do, so they may attempt to circumvent agonistic encounters by avoiding others or decreasing their activity.”

So rather than work things out, cats are more inclined to simply run away from their problems or avoid them altogether. A box, in this sense, can often represent a safe zone, a place where sources of anxiety, hostility, and unwanted attention simply disappear.

Of course the problem with these explanations is that they make box attraction seem like a symptom of a mal-adjusted, stressed out cats. I don’t know about you, but to me, Maru does not appear to be suffering from high levels of stress in the video below.

The ‘If it fits, I sits’ principle

Astute feline observers will note that in addition to boxes, many cats seem to pick other odd places to relax. Some curl up in a bathroom sink. Others prefer shoes,bowls, shopping bags, coffee mugs, empty egg cartons, and other small, confined spaces.

Which brings us to the other reason your cat may like particularly small boxes (and other seemingly uncomfortable places): It’s friggin’ cold out.

According to a 2006 study by the National Research Council, the thermoneutral zone for a domestic cat is 86 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s the range of temperatures in which cats are “comfortable” and don’t have to generate extra heat to keep warm or expend metabolic energy on cooling. That range also happens to be 20 degrees higher than ours, which explains why it’s not unusual to see your neighbor’s cat sprawled out on the hot asphalt in the middle of a summer day, soaking in the sunlight.

It also explains why many cats may enjoy curling up in tiny cardboard boxes and other strange places. Corrugated cardboard is a great insulator and confined spaces force the cat to ball up or form some other impossible object, which in turn helps it to preserve body heat.

Indeed the same NRC study found that most cats’ housing areas are around 72 degrees Fahrenheit, a good 14 degrees colder than a domestic cat’s minimum thermoneutral temperature.

So there you have it: Boxes are insulating, stress-relieving, comfort zones—places where cats can hide, relax, sleep, and occasionally launch a sneak attack against the huge, unpredictable apes they live with.

Cat Farm

2014-11-07T20:28:00.001-08:00

A Lot of Cats Part 1

2014-10-30T19:40:00.001-07:00

A Skinny Cat

2014-10-23T21:22:00.001-07:00

ANIMAL RESCUE Vlog 2

2014-09-26T12:04:00.001-07:00

ANIMAL RESCUE Vlog 1

2014-09-21T17:41:00.001-07:00

DOG EATS LIGHTS

2012-12-18T09:55:00.004-08:00

PDSA

A British woman is breathing a sigh of relief after veterinarians were able to save her precocious pooch after
he swallowed a foot of Christmas lights.
Sharon Fay of Southampton, England, had to rush her 7-year-old crossbreed rescue dog Charlie to
the city’s People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals PetAid hospital when she noticed that he had eaten
something that certainly wasn’t his dog chow.
“She heard him doing something behind sofa, but he was OK. Then, in the garden,
she noticed some wires in the feces,” Lisa Nickless, spokeswoman for PDSA, a U.K.
charity for sick and injured animals, told ABCNews.com. “They took an X-ray,
and realized, ‘Oh dear, this is much worse!’”
The X-ray showed a “large mass of wires” in Charlie’s stomach.
The dog, whom Fay actually calls the “light of her life,” was rushed into surgery
with PDSA senior veterinary surgeon Sophie Bell.

PDSA

”I hadn’t even noticed that the lights had been chewed at this stage, but it quickly became clear
what had happened,” Fey said.
Bell soon was able to extract the life-threatening lights.
“It would have been fatal,” Nickless said. “It was lifesaving surgery.
That amount of mass wasn’t going to pass through naturally. If [he couldn't] go to the bathroom,
he would have been sick.”
Nickless said that they also found a shoelace – proving Charlie to be a repeat offender.
Bell said that over her years as a veterinarian she has seen animals chew up many items,
including socks and rubber ducks, but this was her first case of Christmas lights.
“Charlie was very, very lucky. He was also fortunate that the glass didn’t cut his mouth or throat.
And he could have been electrocuted if he’d bitten through the wire when the lights were switched on.”
Bell said. “With the Christmas season upon us, I’d advise owners to keep any edible items out of
reach of inquisitive pets to avoid them from becoming ill over the festive season.”

DOG TELLING YOU

2012-12-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

8 Surprising Things Dogs Can Tell About You

woman and her dogBy Kim Tranell

Perceptive Pooches

Your dog might not be able to talk to you about your bad day at work, but when he lays that little snout on your lap, you sense he just gets it. How much do we really know about what's going on behind those puppy-dog eyes? "A dog's mind is roughly equivalent to that of a human two-year-old's," says Stanley Coren, PhD, author of The Intelligence of Dogs. "But dogs also have the social consciousness of a teenager." Put that together with a keen sense of smell, and dogs might be getting a basic read on everything from simple emotions to serious changes in your body chemistry. Read on for eight fascinating facts about the human-dog connection. Photo by iStock.
1. Dogs sense sadness.
You swear your dog acts extra-tame and attentive when you're down in the dumps. Is it all in your head-or are your emotions registering on his radar? In a study published in the journal Animal Cognition, dogs did, in fact, approach people who appeared to be upset more often than those who weren't-whether it was their owner or a stranger. Scientists are still a few steps away from saying dogs have true empathy for humans-it's possible they'd react the same way to an equally strong emotion, like raucous laughter-but they're optimistic. "The dogs in the study would lick all around sad people's hands or faces, and some sweetly brought over toys," says study author Deborah Custance, PhD, a psychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London. "They behaved in a way we would've expected if we interpreted it as empathy."
Related: Discover 7 instant mood boosters.

2. They know when you're being unfair-to some extent.

If you play favorites with another pet, your dog might notice, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers found that when dogs saw other dogs getting treats for a trick they'd been performing unrewarded, the uncompensated dogs became visibly distressed-scratching themselves, yawning, licking their mouths. "Dogs are attentive to different amounts of attention and can react to it," says study author Friederike Range, PhD, Co-Director of Wolf Science Center in Vienna, Austria. Don't chalk it up to a more complicated, human-like sort of envy or sense of equality, however. When both dogs in the study received treats, both were happy-even when one was given sausage and the other got a less desirable piece of bread.

3. They can tell when your priorities shift.
When you bring a baby home from the hospital, your pet probably won't be the focus of your undivided attention anymore. And guess what: He'll pick up on that pretty quickly. (It can even lead to depression, says Dr. Coren.) But there are ways to make your dog feel loved-and love your baby, in return. "We always tell people to bring an extra swaddling blanket to the hospital," says Dr. Coren. "Wrap the baby in that, then put it where your dog sleeps-that way, the scent from the very beginning is associated with something he already likes."

4. They understand when you're mad.
You know that puppy-dog look you get after giving him some discipline? He definitely senses you're annoyed, says Dr. Coren. "If you're angry at your dog, he'll act submissive-crouch down, whine, whimper," he says. "If it gets bad enough, he'll make a puddle on the floor." But don't mistake this behavior as showing remorse. In a study published in the journal Behavioral Processes, researchers had dog owners scold their pets, whether or not they had acted up-and found that the "guilty look" didn't necessarily correspond to the dogs who had actually been naughty.

5. They sense your fear.
Let's say there's something menacing in your home, like a rodent or an intruder. As soon as you start giving off scared vibes, your pup will pick up on them. "Dogs read the world by reading us," says Dr. Coren. But here's the catch: Unless you have a guardian breed, like a Doberman pinscher or Boxer, your dog will likely be just as scared as you are in that frightening situation. Research shows they're reading your emotional response-and watching your behavior-to figure out how they should react. In other words, if you act cautiously and back away, they probably will, too.

6. They can tell if you're generous.
Believe it or not, dogs are watching and listening to your social interactions with other humans-and taking note, according to one study out of the University of Milan. Researchers had dogs observe two actors: one who kindly shared his cereal and sausage bits with a beggar, and another who shooed off the beggar harshly. Scientists found that, more often than not, dogs approached the more generous person when prompted-and it seems that a friendlier tone of voice made a difference. So beware: Your dog may judge your personality while you yell at your husband or kids.
Related: Check out the 9 fights to have with your husband.

7. They sniff out sickness.
Nope, it's not an urban legend. A slew of fascinating research shows that many diseases, like lung cancer and prostate cancer, cause the body to give off odors that dogs are able to detect. How, you ask? "Depending on the chemical substance, a dog's nose is between 1,000 and 10,000 times better than a human being's," says Dr. Coren. And while dogs were trained to pick up on the scents in the studies, that doesn't mean your own pup can't provide some clues about your health. For instance, if he's sniffing that mole on your leg every day, it could be worth it to have your dermatologist check it out. "We're not sure dogs know something's wrong, but they know something's different," explains Dr. Custance.

8. They know when you are (and aren't) paying attention.
Before you leave a low-lying steak on the counter while you dash to the bathroom, consider this: Your pet is probably sneakier than you suspect. In one study, researchers placed treats on the floor in front of several dogs, forbidding them to eat the food. The dogs behaved as long as the person watching them stayed in the room-but when the treats-keeper left? The canines gobbled them up within five seconds. So no matter how disciplined your dog is, exercise caution in the kitchen, especially with items that could be toxic for your pet, like grapes, chocolate and raw meat.
Related: Learn about the 8 most ingenious cooking gadgets.

Original article appeared on WomansDay.com.

ANIMAL RESCUE THEFT

2012-12-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

MORIARTY, N.M. (AP) — The cases were often heartbreaking: Families coming home to find their dogs had vanished from inside houses, behind locked fences and outdoor kennels in rural communities east of Albuquerque.

But with the recent arrest of a woman accused of stealing two pit bulls — then throwing them from her moving car as the dogs' owner gave chase — officials think they have confirmed longstanding suspicions that the animals were victims of an overzealous animal rescuer turned serial dognapper.

"It really cracked the case," Edgewood animal control officer Mike Ring said of the Nov. 16 arrest of 59-year-old Debbie Swenerton.

Authorities believe she stole dogs and then took them to shelters and said they were strays in need of adoption. Ring said he suspects Swenerton could be part of a larger network of local activists who are concerned about the treatment of animals in rural areas, where many dogs are tied up, live outside or are allowed to roam freely.

No one else has been arrested, and authorities said they are investigating other missing dog cases.

One of the pit bulls Swenerton is accused of trying to steal and throw from her vehicle suffered road rash, but the dogs were otherwise uninjured, according to the Torrance County sheriff's department. Swenerton was charged with cruelty to animals, burglary and false imprisonment.

Swenerton's attorney, Quinn Kirby, called the allegations ridiculous.

"Debbie cares deeply about animals and dedicates a great deal of her time and resources to animal welfare," she said in an email. "It is outrageous to suggest that someone like her would do something so heinous as to throw a dog out the window of a moving car. Debbie has not committed any crimes and we are confident that she will be exonerated."

Barbara Tellier, a friend of Swenerton's who runs the Alliance Against Animal Abuse Inc., said she believes Swenerton is being set up by officials in a county where animal abuse is rampant and officials don't care.

"Debbie is making waves," Tellier said. "She is emailing everybody trying to get help for these animals who are locked outside without enough shelter, or not enough water in the summertime, or running loose to get hit by a car ... and nobody is doing anything."
Tellier said Swenerton is "one of the most humane people I know" and that she and her husband build doghouses and pens for people so they can take their dogs off chains. They also take bales of straw to families to put in doghouses in the winter.

Ring estimated as many as 60 dogs have gone missing in the area over the last few years.

"It's a sad story when people are calling to report their animals are missing," he said. "You can hear the emotion in their voice. Some of them have children. These are family pets. It's heartbreaking, some of these cases."

Torrance County sheriff's officials say they have had a flood of new calls since news of Swenerton's arrest broke. One woman, approached at a hamburger stand, seemed startled to hear of the case.

"My dog is missing. A lot of dogs are missing," Melissa Crozier said. She said her dog, Simba, recently disappeared from inside her home, behind an unlocked door. "I came home and he was gone. I have no idea how he could have gotten out" unless someone opened the door.
Torrance County Undersheriff Martin Rivera said that's how most of the cases came in: "People get home from work and their animal is missing."
Rivera said authorities had long suspected Swenerton, who is known by law enforcement and animal control authorities in Torrance, Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties for calling to report suspected animal abuse. In most cases, he says, the animals were fine, with food, water and proper shelter. In most cases, they were also outside.
"I think she is thinking if they are not inside, they are being abused," he said.
He said authorities believe Swenerton took the dogs to shelters in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Edgewood and other communities, possibly even other states, to be adopted. Additionally, he said, Swenerton had 20 dogs at her home in the mountain community of Tijeras, where she has a licensed dog rescue facility. Authorities say the animals were well cared for, and all were registered to the woman except one.
A microchip in that dog was traced back to a Bernalillo County family, whose shepherd mix, Alfie, went missing after the family was approached several times by a woman concerned about its care, authorities said. Swenerton told officers she had been given the dog.
No one appeared to be home at the address where the alleged pit bull thefts occurred on a recent afternoon, and the phone number that the resident, Senica Sanchez, gave police had been disconnected. The residence is an older mobile home with pulled curtains. A variety of vehicles and motorcycles were in the yard on the street last week, and two young pit bulls matching the description of those in the Torrance County sheriff's department incident report were tied up in the front yard.

When Swenerton was arrested, Rivera said, she was upset "because she felt she was doing the right thing. ... I think she just wanted to save these animals."

Dog Yawning News

2012-10-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Bone Tired: Study Shows Yawning Dogs Empathizing with Owners

We’ve all heard that a dog’s bark can be worse than its bite, but what about its yawn?
It turns out that aspect of canine behavior may provide evidence that dogs really are man’s best friend. A study out of Lund University in Sweden found that our canine companions often yawn in reaction to seeing a human do the same thing.
The phenomenon, known as contagious yawning, is prominent among many groups of animals, humans included. However, the process, which is believed to indicate empathy and help contribute to group mentality and social structure, has been less studied between species.
Elainie Madsen, a doctor of psychology at Lund University who co-authored the study, told ABC News dogs were chosen because “they spend so much time with us, and we spend so much time with them.”
“For those of us who have dogs,” she said, “we often feel this very close connection with them, and we feel that they must understand or sympathize with our emotions and our emotional states.”
The study took 35 dogs between the ages of 4 and 14 months and exposed them to various yawning human beings. Madsen found the results fascinating.
“We showed that the dogs were yawning contagiously – not just yawning but they also took on the emotion that yawning usually signifies, which is usually sleepiness and tiredness,” she said.
As with humans, age proved to be a significant factor in whether or not a dog exhibited contagious yawning.
“They go through what seems to be an empathy development that somehow mirrors humans’ empathy development, so it’s just obviously on a very different time scale,” Madsen said. “Human children don’t begin to yawn contagiously until they’re about 4 years old. Below that age, they seem pretty immune to others yawning at them. In dogs, this happens when they’re about 7 months old. Dogs below that age don’t seem to yawn, either.”
So what does this mean for dog owners?
According to Madsen, it’s a reason to rest assured that your dog really does love you as much as you love it.
“Dogs really have a close emotional connection with people,” she said, “with owners as well as with other people.”

Dog Saves Brother

2012-10-11T10:06:00.003-07:00

Dog rescues brother trapped in Cape Cod woods

SANDWICH, Mass. A golden retriever who was trapped with his brother for two weeks in the woods on Cape Cod managed to find his way back home and lead his owner back to his sibling.

Baxter and Bailey were tied together with a double leash in front of their owner's Sandwich, Mass., home when they got loose on Sept. 26.

Owner Penny Blackwell put up flyers and appealed for help on Facebook, but after two weeks passed with no sign of the dogs, she began to lose faith that she would find them.

"I had pretty much given up hope that they were going to come home," Blackwell said.

Then, when Blackwell was out of town on business, she received a text message from a friend saying one of the dogs had been found. A family who had seen Blackwell's Facebook posts spotted Baxter wandering near their home.

And when Blackwell took Baxter back to where he'd been found, the golden retriever seemed to be on a mission to save his sibling.

"Baxter kind of led me off the side through the woods. I had twigs in my eyes and leaves in my hair," Blackwell said.

The dog led his owner right to Bailey, whose leash had become ensnared in bushes.

"I could hardly get him untied because he was jumping on me and jumping on Baxter because he was so happy to see us," Blackwell said.

The dogs each lost 8 to 10 pounds while they were missing but are otherwise in good health. And their owner is grateful to have them back.

"Baxter's a hero for taking me there," Blackwell said.

THAT DOG REALLY IS A RETRIEVER!!!!

Pets and POT

2012-10-02T17:35:00.001-07:00

‘Stoner dog’ epidemic sees dramatic rise in number of hospitalized pets

By Eric Pfeiffer

Getting your dog high on pot may be more akin to abuse than entertainment. (CBS4)Colorado veterinarians have a message for medical marijuana users: Don't get your dog stoned. Marijuana is toxic in a dog's system, they say, and has even resulted in some canine deaths.

"There are huge spikes in the frequency of marijuana ingestion in places where it's become legal," veterinarian Dr. Debbie Van Pelt told local CBS affiliate WTSP. "They basically have lost a lot of their fine motor control, they have a wide-based stance and they are not sure on their feet."

Before medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado, local vets say they saw only a handful of cases of dogs exposed to the substance per year. But now, those numbers have more than quadrupled.

The vets say most of the dogs are getting high from medical marijuana edibles left out in the open by their owners. Marijuana edibles are cookies, brownies and other foods prepared with a butter laced with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot.

And while some pet owners may think it's funny to get their dogs high, the vets say pot is actually toxic to a dog's system. Cats are similarly vulnerable to negative effects from inhaling second-hand marijuana smoke or eating edibles. Cat experts say many owners inaccurately believe that marijuana will have a similar effect on their cats as catnip.

"I just want dogs, kids to be safe. It needs to be treated like any other drug. If you came home with a prescription of Vicodin from your doctor you wouldn't just leave it sitting there," veterinarian Stacy Meola told the station.

In fact, Dr. Meola said that two dogs recently died after ingesting a lethal amount of marijuana. Such deaths are rare, but even in cases in which a dog's life is not threatened, the dog may still be subjected to painful symptoms, including vomiting and even comas.

"We need people to realize it is potentially toxic and potentially fatal to their pets," Van Pelt said.

PET EXPENSES CUT

2012-09-24T16:24:00.001-07:00

The Dog Ate Your Wallet? How to Cut the Costs of Pet Ownership

By Jean Chatzky

In 2012, Americans will spend $52.87 billion on their pets, the American Pet Products Association calculates.

To put that figure in perspective, let's break it down: The average dog owner spends about $248 a year on routine vet visits, $407 on surgical vet visits, $419 on food, treats and vitamins, $274 on boarding, $78 on travel expenses and $73 on grooming.

Add it up, and you get $1,251. That's close to what we spend on electricity to run our homes ($1,413), telephone services ($1,178) or household furnishings ($1,467) each year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest Consumer Expenditure Survey.

If you're surprised, you must not own a dog. Or a cat, fish or turtle. Keeping one of these friends under your roof adds up fast. Trust me. I've been to the emergency vet in the middle of the night, and my wallet has the battle scars to prove it.

I don't think there's a pet owner out there who isn't looking to cut costs. Here's how to do it:

• Don't pick a pricey pooch. For some of you, it's too late, so file this away for next time. But if you're in the market for a pet and you're undecided about what to get, remember: As a general rule of thumb, the bigger the animal, the more expensive it is to shelter and care for. So, if your budget is tight, a cat or small dog may be your best bet.

According to APPA's latest survey, cats are cheaper than dogs in nearly every category, including boarding, vitamins, grooming, food and routine vet exams. Large dogs come with large expenses: They cost more to feed. They cost more to board. You may have to pay a heftier pet deposit if you rent, or more in homeowners' insurance if you don't. Consider breed, as well, says Dr. Douglas Aspros, a Westchester, NY-based vet and president of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "It's worthwhile to do a little research and find out what problems the breed you're interested in is prone to. Breeds that have more arthritis, for example, may mean x-rays, anti-inflammatory drugs, even new hips."

• Fido doesn't need the fanciest food. Of the expenses that come with owning an animal, food is one of the biggest. And feeding your pet high-quality food may save you money on medical care down the road. But don't be fooled by shiny packaging and flashy slogans. "It's important to be critical here; some brands spend a lot more money on marketing than they do on the food itself," explains Aspros. Pick one that is made by a manufacturer you trust, and lists animal protein high on the list of ingredients. Then save some cash by clipping coupons and stocking up when the brand your pet likes is on sale. Finally, don't overfeed. It will save you money on food now, and on pricey medical bills due to obesity later.

• Put preventative care in your calendar. This can really cut costs in the long-run. Spay and neuter early on, shell out the cash for necessary vaccines, and subscribe to regular check-ups. And you can save here, too, mainly by calling around and comparing prices among vets. Other tips: Keep an eye on the calendars of local animal organizations -- many host events with free or low-cost shots. And ask your vet if her or she has samples of medications or manufacturer's rebates.

• Consider pet insurance. I like Aspros's rule of thumb: "Pet insurance makes the most sense for people who know that when a problem occurs, they're going to want to do the best thing for their pet, and yet they're going to have a hard time saving enough money to handle that calamity when it happens." In other words, if you would drain your bank account and max out your credit cards to save your pet's life, it's probably worth getting insurance.

• Shear the grooming expenses. When it comes to grooming, it goes without saying that I'm for DIY. Regular brushing will cut down on visits, and when you do visit the groomer, get their fur cut short -- it will take longer to grow out, thus pushing off your next visit. And if you board your dog, it's time to make friends with other pet owners, so you can swap care instead: They watch your pup while you're out of town this summer, you return the favor when they travel for business in the fall.

• Don't buy supplies new. Both Craigslist and yard sales are overflowing with leashes, bowls, collars and other items you need for less.

Dog Killing in Russia

2012-09-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

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Moscow police probe suspected mass dog poisoning

A muzzled dog plays in a Moscow park where dozens of dogs were killed in a mass poisoning, in this Thursday Sept. 20, 2012 photo. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

(AP) MOSCOW - Vera Lesovets held up photographs of her dog, Yasha, a spunky 5-year-old corgi, nipping playfully at the heels of a German shepherd twice her size.

But Yasha's life was cut short this week: After snacking on something in a Moscow park, she fell into a seizure at Lesovets' apartment and began foaming at the mouth. The family rushed her to a nearby animal clinic, where the veterinarian said this was the sixth case he had seen that week, and there was nothing he could do.

On Friday police opened a criminal investigation into what they suspect are poisonings by dog killers. Cruelty to animals is common in Russia and animal protection laws are rarely enforced, but reports of as many as 70 dead dogs this week have spurred the police to take action.

While some residents suspected that a vigilante matriarch, wary of her children being bitten, might be the cause of the attacks, Lesovets was quick to suspect a more malicious culprit: dog hunters, a kind of deadly hobby gaining ground in the Russian online community.

Dog hunting forums — the most well-known of which are Vreditelyam.net and Pest.net — are populated by those who call themselves "volunteers" and provide graphic photos of their trophy killings. The sites require extensive registration and identification processes for participants.

"It's a whole community. They have websites," said Lesovets, an event manager. "They write how they kill them, post photographs, tell you which poison is better and where to buy it."

In the case of this neighborhood's dogs, the poison of choice was amanita phalloides, also known as the death cap mushroom, which has no known antidote and is dangerous for both animals and humans.

Before the attacks, the Pyatidesyatiletya Oktyabrya park in southwest Moscow — named to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution — allowed residents to give their dogs a moment's respite from cramped city living and frolic without a leash in the grass or in the snow.

Owners no longer feel safe to do that, as the number of slain dogs keeps growing. Police estimates have ranged from 40 to 70 killings, based on complaints filed by owners. According to the website of one nearby veterinary clinic alone, they had received about 20 cases that week, 14 of them fatal.

The police were first notified of the poisonings early this week and formally opened a criminal investigation on Friday.

Masha Beshina was out walking her dog on Thursday when she discovered some pieces of ham suspiciously scattered in the part of the park where she usually walks her dog.

"Unfortunately the police don't take measures," said the middle-aged teacher. "Because for them a dog is not really something that exists."

Russian law calls for a prison sentence of up to two years for those who kill or abuse animals, but animal rights activists say it has been rarely enforced.

"We need investigative bodies, the police, the courts, the judges to start working," said Darya Khmelnitskaya, director of Virta, a charitable fund for animal welfare. "The legal clause already exists."

She said that one way to target dog killers would be to track IP addresses of the users who spread information about it online or shut down the sites completely. While some of the sites have been closed, information is still easily spread by individuals through websites such as Vkontakte, the largest Russian social network.

According to Khmelnitskaya, only nine cases against dog hunters in Moscow have made it to court since 2011, with just one ending in a conviction.

On the site Vreditelyam.net, now moved to the domain vredy.org, the owners state in their manifesto that they consider themselves keepers of the peace: Since Soviet times, the population of stray dogs, which now reaches an estimate of 25,000 in Moscow alone, has ballooned, and fear of bites and attacks has grown as well.

But just as the population of strays has grown, Muscovites also have long been a friend to many of the shaggy mutts. Dog hunting has touched a nerve in a society where stray animals have traditionally been ignored by the state and instead taken in by big-hearted citizens. One group established on Vkontakte in opposition to the dog hunters has attracted almost 4,000 members.

Most of the local residents said their dogs were former strays found either on the streets or in Moscow's overcrowded, underfunded shelters.

"I took these dogs off the street from homeless people four years ago," said Oleg Maksimov, a middle-aged man who said he works for a construction company.

"How can I wait for someone to poison these dogs, these dogs that I saved from a likely death?"

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