Is a dog owner responsible when their ill-trained dog bites a trainer? A North Platte, Nebraska dog trainer is suing the owner of a 2 year old Rottweiler for $11,857.90 because the dog bit her in the face…even though she is the owner of R’Dogs Obedience and Agility Center.
The sum is seeking medical and dental expenses that were a result of the bite. Her facial wound required 70 stitches. The trainer also says that the dog’s owner never warned her of the dog’s aggression.
The owner is blaming the trainer. She’s saying that as a dog trainer, she should have known better than to put her face down in front of a dog.
The American Kennel Club once again has brought us the most popular dog names. An AKC survey showed that “Bear” is the top male dog name and “Lady” is the top female dog name. Dog owners seem to be choosing names for their dogs as if they were naming their children. More and more people however (or should I say owners) are childless, so it makes sense I suppose to give your dog a child’s name. So many people treat their dogs as children anyway… but that’s another story for another time.
Most Popular Male Dog Names
1. Bear
2. Blue
3. Max/Maximus/Maxwell
4. Duke
5. Buddy
6. Jack
7. Prince
8. King
9. Bailey
10. Rocky
11. Harley
12. Jake
13. Shadow
14. Lucky
15. Hunter
16. Dakota
17. Lou
18. Midnight
19. Cooper
20. Buster
Most Popular Female Dog Names
1. Lady
2. Belle/Bell/Bella
3. Princess
4. Mae/May
5. Rose
6. Daisy
7. Grace/Gracie
8. Baby
9. Molly
10. Maggie
11. Sadie
12. Ann/Annie
13. Star
14. Lily/Lilly
15. Angel
16. Coco/Cocoa
17. Sophie/Sophia
18. Lucy
19. Abby/Abigail
20. Marie
Let’s see, I have had a Lady, a Prince & Princess, a Duke, & who hasn’t had a King? Plus other dog names not in today’s popular lexicon. How ’bout you?
Razor, the 14-month-old Broward County Malinois police dog is about to finish training for her new job. She is the first dog trained to find contraband cell phones in prisons in Florida.
A new law banning cell phones took effect on October 1. Razor will finish her training mid-November. If cell phones are found in inmates cells, they could face up to five additional years tacked onto their sentence and a fine of up to $5000. Where inmates are going to get $5000 is beyond me. Don’t they make like 10 cents an hour?
Razor’s name is actually a take off on the Motorola cell phone, the RAZR. She was purchased for $6500 and was paid for by the Animal Welfare Foundation of Winter Garden, Florida.
Operation Baghdad Pups, an SPCA group responsible for bringing stray animals back from the war in Iraq has made a major error. They are bringing back animals (dogs and cats) that have not been sufficiently vaccinated and quarantined before they go into new homes in the United States.
A mixed breed Labrador dog named Crusader had to be put down because he had rabies - something that would have been recognized had he gotten vaccinated 30 days before entry into the United States (which is the norm) instead of just a few days prior. Rabies is relatively rare in domestic pets in the United States, however it is very common across the world - especially with so many stray animals.
Because Crusader had rabies and was in close proximity to 25 other animals that were on the flight, those other animals now placed in people’s homes have to have precautionary measures taken to ensure that they do not also have rabies. Those pets now have to be quarantined for six months.
Sometimes in people’s overzealousness to do good, they take shortcuts which end up hurting in the long run.
By now you’ve probably heard the story of Jake the rat terrier dog being grabbed by a shark while he was out for his daily swim. His owner dove in to save him. Have you seen the video?
Did you know that this month (October) is adopt-a-dog month? Well according to the American Humane Society it is! Too many dogs get put into animal shelters and never leave.
As a kid I lived near the dog pound (as we called it then) & every day after school I’d go down & spend time with the dogs. It always hurt my heart when there would be fewer familiar dogs & more strange ones every day. Many people are irresponsible, they do not spay or neuter their dogs and thus the overpopulation of strays.
Ironically, people go to breeders and spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on purebred dogs, when they could have gone to a shelter and gotten the exact same breed for practically the cost of registration. There are breed specific rescue shelters, so any dog that you just had to have is available on the cheap. So go out there and get a pound puppy.
And check out this page for some humorous reasons why you should adopt a shelter dog.
Speaking of Shelter Dogs
Possible future President Barak Obama & the family are getting a dog. And they have decided to adopt a pound puppy. (Doesn’t every President have a dog?)
Best Friends Animal Society which operates the nation’s largest facility for neglected & abused dogs is stepping in to help.
Best Friends created buzz around the Obamas’ search for a dog in mid-July when it launched the web site, ObamaFamilyDog.com. And within 24 hours approximately 20,000 dog lovers had signed a petition urging the Obamas to adopt their dog from a shelter.
The Obamas have decided to adopt versus buy a dog. I believe that all politicians calculate every move they make to paint them in the most positive light. Do you think it was the petition that swayed them or are they just doing the right thing?
Here’s a “Freaky Friday” video…This story is a bit of an urban legend from the 1920s. A Russian scientist named Sergei Brukhonenko is purported to have actually managed to keep the severed head of a dog alive. The dog’s head was connected to a device that pumps blood into the head. Watch the video yourself and you decide. I am not convinced because in the video, they never show the back of the head where the connection is.
Marjorie Knoller, the woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter when her dogs mauled and killed a San Francisco woman eight years ago was given a sentence of 15 years to life for second-degree murder. The judge rejected her lawyers current plea for probation.
Knoller served several years in prison and was recently released, however the judge reinstated the juries murder verdict.
Knoller owned two vicious 100+ pound Presa Canario dogs - known for their aggressive nature. She inherited the dogs from white supremacist inmates that she represented as their lawyer. She refused to muzzle the dogs, even after people had complained about the dogs lunging at them and attempting to bite them.
Is this sentence fair? She was an irresponsible dog owner, she showed no remorse for what her dogs did, and she had the audacity to blame the victim. Fair sentence? Yes, I think so. Especially since she knew her dogs had the capability of doing what they ultimately did - kill someone.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill Saturday that would have banned drivers from holding a pet in their lap while driving. He said the bill was not important enough to pass… it wasn’t high enough priority.
I think that having a pet in your lap while you’re driving around (particularly a small pet) is especially dangerous. Rush Limbaugh the conservative radio talk show host says the bill is stupid and has dubbed it the “Paris Hilton bill” due to her love of pets - dogs in particular.
I say if it’s against the law to talk on your cell phone while you’re driving, or not put your child in a child safety seat, then dog’s should not be allowed to roam free in your vehicle. They are just as much a distraction as a cell phone, as a child, or as someone putting on makeup or texting while they’re driving.
Gov. Arnold recently passed the state budget after over 80 days of stonewalling and he threatened to only pass certain bills. He held true to his word by vetoing 95 bills and signing 114.
