At seven pounds, two ounces, Kate Connelly (above right) entered this very large world in the midst of one of those “small world” moments.

It was June 21 at University of Maryland Medical Center, where Mary Connelly had gone the night before to give birth to what would be her first child – not counting Argus (above left).

Argus, a chocolate lab, is a playmate of my dog, Ace, and they’ve been wrestling together since puppyhood. They are among the big dogs at Riverside Park – a lab named Yawkey, another named Henry, another named Jake and, biggest of all, a Bernese Mountain Dog named Buckley - all of whom like to have at it, in a playful, rough and tumble way.

About the time Argus stopped growing, Mary started. Every day in early summer, you could see them at Riverside Park, where Mary would stop to let Argus frolic for a bit, then walk laps. By the middle of June - though, with her small frame, Mary never looked particularly burdened by her pregnancy – it appeared it was time for something to happen.

At 9:53 a.m. on a Thursday, it did. At the University of Maryland Medical Center, Mary's attending physician guided Kate’s head out, and then Emelia Argyropoulos, a resident, took over.

"She was a great support while I was pushing, offering words of support and encouragement," Mary said. "Emelia brought our daughter into the world."

To keep things calm during what would turn out to be an hour-long process, Emelia engaged in some small talk between Mary's pushes, and that's when Emelia and Mary realized they lived in the same neighborhood.

When Mary and her husband Mike mentioned their dog, Argus, Emelia, holding the baby that was not yet halfway out of Mary, said she had a dog too, named Buckley.

“I totally know Buckley!” Mary yelled – shouting partly because of the coincidence, partly because of the circumstances.

Mary had talked at the park several times with Emelia's fiance, Jay Bachman, who usually walks Buckley, and said she'd probably seen Emelia there, too - she just didn't recognize her without a 120-pound dog pulling her.

"I'm sure that I had seen her before, but I didn't recognize her in a different setting," she said.

Dog park connections are funny things. Generally, we get to know the dogs before we get to know the people to whom they are attached. Then, even when we finally do learn the human’s name, sometimes we don’t recognize them if we see them without their dog. Sometimes, through our dogs, we make friends. Sometimes, despite our dogs breaking the ice for us, we merely remain acquaintances who nod and say hello.

Either way, though, there is one less total stranger in the world.

Dogs, by bringing us humans together, help make the world a smaller, warmer place.

Welcome to it, Katherine Ann Connelly.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

(Photo by Stew Milne/AP)

You've probably heard by now about Oscar, the deathbed cat -- the one who has a knack for knowing who's going to die next at the Rhode Island nursing home in which he lives.

He's had that ability since kittenhood, and has presided over the deaths of more than 25 residents on the third floor of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, where physicians and staff consider him an almost absolute indicator of impending death.

Oscar  -- though he sounds like something Stephen King might dream up -- was brought to the public's attention by the New England Journal of Medicine, in a piece written by Dr. David M. Dosa, a geriatrician at Rhode Island Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence.

It starts like this:

Oscar the Cat awakens from his nap, opening a single eye to survey his kingdom. From atop the desk in the doctor's charting area, the cat peers down the two wings of the nursing home's advanced dementia unit. All quiet on the western and eastern fronts. Slowly, he rises and extravagantly stretches his 2-year-old frame, first backward and then forward. He sits up and considers his next move ...

You can read his entire piece here.

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Baltimore's Pier 5 Hotel has been named the fourth pet-friendliest urban hotel in America by the travel website Virtual Tourist.

"Your pet won't have a single bone to pick about this top waterfront hotel," the website said of the Pier 5 -- one of three Harbor Magic boutique hotels in Baltimore (all of which bill themselves as pet-friendly).

What the top-ten list doesn't tell you, though, is that -- as is often the case at hotels these days -- you pay a price for dog-friendly. At the Pier 5, it's $49.

Then again, guests with dogs do receive for "free" the Outward Bound Pet Travel Kit. That includes a food bowl, water bowl, a plastic toy, a plastic mat, a brush, a package of treats and a 25 by 37 inch dog bed -- about the size of a bed pillow. Mostly what it consists of are absorbent "housebreaking pads" seven of which are provided.

Most of the hotels included on the  top ten list do not charge a pet fee, said Susan Derby. director of marketing for Virtual Tourist. Pier 5 was among three that did, ranging from $100 at the Chicago Lakeshore to $25 at the Ocean Villa Inn in San Diego.

I'm all for dog friendly hotels, and congratulations to Pier 5 on its honor, but let's be blunt. A lot of places billing themselves as "dog-friendly" these days are really only dog-tolerant. And wouldn't a truly "dog-friendly" place let your dog stay for free? I'm fairly cheap, and $49 is about what I usually pay for a hotel for myself.

And friendship? Well, I usually don't pay, or charge, for that at all.

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We'll have to wait and see how much force they bring to the task, but we're awarding a preliminary wag of the tail to Frederick H. Bealefeld III, the acting city police commissioner, and city health commissioner Joshua M. Sharfstein for creating a task force to investigate dogfighting rings.

 And we won't even ask, "What took you so long?"

While long overdue, the plan to put some teeth into investigating and prosecuting those who engage in dogfighting in Baltimore is a welcome development. Traditionally, it has been a crime that has fallen through the cracks. Police see going after it as a menial pursuit. Animal control officers lack the time and authority to fully investigate.

In announcing the new task force, city officials spoke of the connection between dogfighting and other crime -- like drug dealing and illegal gambling. And Bealefeld was quoted as saying that dogfight investigations can lead to larger busts. As an example, he cited his involvement 15 years ago as a detective in a case that started out as a complaint about dogfighting that led to a "gold mine" of drug arrests.

So we award our wag with a caveat. If you're going to make combatting dogfighting a priority -- make it a priority, not something you may or may not prosecute on your way to looking for something "bigger."

You can read Lynn Anderson's story about the new task force here.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you missed "War and Fleas," the water ballet based real, real, real loosely on the Leo Tolstoy mega-novel "War and Peace," you have another chance this weekend.

The show was held at the Riverside Park pool last weekend, and moves to the Patterson Park pool this weekend, with 5 and 7 p.m. performances Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $8.

For a story I wrote on the water ballet last week (find it here), I attended one of the rehearsals by Fluid Movement, the community performance art group that's putting on the show.

Seeing just a few pieces rehearsed, I was prepared for a silly and disjointed hour of entertainment when I arrived for the real deal Saturday and took a poolside seat -- a little too poolside given the splashing around.

It wasn't disjointed at all. I would go so far as to call it jointed, and pretty darn synchronized to boot.

Sure, there are fleas serving as narrators and a war between dogs and squirrels and a love triangle that includes a pink poodle. But it all came together, umm, swimmingly.

I left both satisfied and with the rear of my jeans drenched from sitting too close to the pool. I blame the squirrels.

For more information about the show, visit www.fluidmovement.org

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Our first official "Snarl" -- no big surprise here -- goes to Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback who has been indicted in connection with a dogfighting ring that operated on his property in Virginia.

What's a "Snarl?" Part of our new recurring feature, "Wags and Snarls" (see previous entry for details) aimed at giving paws up to those people, places and programs that benefit dogs and other pets, and paws down to those who acts and attitudes serve to their detriment. (Your nominations are welcome.)

In addition to our first Snarlie going to Vick, we bestow two more prolonged, teeth-baring growls as well -- one to Nike for not immediately terminating Vick's contract as a celebrity endorser, and one to the Falcons for not immediately suspending him, considering the seriousness of the charges.

I am a firm believer that people are innocent until proven guilty. I'm even a believer that a lot of people are innocent even AFTER they've been proven guilty. So I won't go into proposing some creative punishments that fit the alleged crime for Vick -- not just yet.

For now Vick, shown here in a photo by Sun photographer Kenneth K. Lam, is just accused -- but accused of a heinous enough crime in my view that the proper course would be to suspend him from football, drop him as an endorser, and even keep him in a cage until trial, even though we usually only do that with humans that don't have a lot of money.

You can read the entire indictment -- the details are pretty horrendous -- at thesmokinggun.com

A lot of dog-lovers have been making their feelings known about the Vick case, some of them as a result of an email campaign that encourages them to write to Nike (Nike World Headquarters, One Bowerton Drive, Beaverton, OR 97005-6453) and the Falcons (Atlanta Falcons, 4400 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, GA 30542.)

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Today we debut “Wags and Snarls,” a recurring and soon to be extremely popular feature of this blog that will heap praise on those who do good by dogs and other pets, and dump on those who, through their deeds, attitudes or neglect, do not.

Your nominations are gladly accepted; just click on the comments bar to make one, or email us at mutts@baltimoresun.com.

The idea is, when circumstances merit, to give a thankful wag of the tail to the compassionate souls who help make life better for animals, and acknowledge those who make it worse with a menacing growl.

To start off on a positive note, we’ll award our first “Waggie” today (and wait until tomorrow to debut the dreaded “Snarlie.”)

Our first WAG goes to the Maryland SPCA, which is a far cheerier place in July — for staff, visitors and dogs — thanks to a kennel decoration program that, this time around, has the pooches wiling away their days in exotic vacation locations.

There’s a dog in the Grand Canyon, another in Egypt. Hawaii, Mexico, Ocean City and Japan are among the other vacation spots depicted, all brightly decorated by shelter staff working under a $2 per kennel budget. It’s so cheery, in fact, that it makes you wonder, why not do it year-round?

As my story this week in the Today section of the Sun points out, it’s because kennels require near-constant cleaning — and the decorations make that a lot harder to do.

Still, one month of playful fantasy is to be commended, and chances are a little bit of that attitude seeps into the other, practical, 11 months of the year, helping to bring a little warmth and individuality to what by definition is an institutional kind of place.

To see a slideshow, of cages decorated for the SPCA’s “Dog Days of Summer,” click here.

                                                           *   *   *

… In other business, we invite you to click the first cat in the shaded rail along the right side of this page — the one with the bad haircut — to see our newest member of Adoption Alley.

Adoption Alley is our video gallery of adoptable pets. Our newest member is Muffin, a cat who needs a friend to bring him out of his funk. He’s available now at the Maryland SPCA.

Our earlier featured animals, two mixed breed dogs named Pooh and Granger, have both been adopted, according to Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)
        

A Chihuahua named Zoey saved a child in northern Colorado from a deadly rattlesnake, by getting in between them, and getting bitten in the process – proof again that size doesn’t matter.

Some of the world’s most fearless dogs seem to be those that come up to about your ankle.

One-year-old Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath at his grandparents' home in Colorado when the snake slithered toward the infant and lunged.

According to wire service reports, Zoey , five-pound Chihuahua, jumped between the rattlesnake and the child, crying out when she got bitten. That alerted the boy's grandfather, who ran to the rescue.

Zoey was rushed to a vet, treated for snake bites and released.

Grandfather Monty Long said: "She got in between Booker and the snake, and that's when I heard her yipe."

Zoey's proud owner Denise Long said: "These little bitty dogs, they just don't really get credit."

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I wish I’d come across this earlier – it would have been a perfect example for my article a couple of Sundays ago about how, more than ever before, we are living our lives, and furnishing our homes, around our pets.

It’s the “Hardwood Hideaway,” a wooden dog crate that’s also an end table.

It was developed by a Seattle family who had adopted a Redbone Coonhound and decided to crate train her. Around the same time, they were remodeling their home, so they decided to build a crate that fit in with their new décor. After a lot of requests from friends, they started making them for the public in 2005.

My dog Ace’s crate also serves as furniture, though not nearly as tastefully. It sits by the window near the front door of my rowhome, and serves to hold all my unopened credit card offers, mail from politicians and Baltimore Examiners until I get around to, uh, dealing with them.

I’ve thought about putting a piece of plywood on top and making the crate my kitchen table, but that would probably be unstable, not to mention torture for Ace, who prefers to watch, from as closely as permitted, every bite of food go into my mouth.

Have you come up with an imaginative second use for your dog crate? Share it with us by clicking the comment button below.

I came across the Hardwood Hideaway crate/tables in the back of Bark, the modern dog culture magazine, which was kind enough to list my blog in its “Online Kibble” section this month.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

A Labrador mix named Pepper got into grandma's purse and gobbled down hundreds of dollars in cash.

According to the Associated Press, Debbie Hulleman's dog -- who has been known to gnaw on lipstick and munch on shampoo bottles -- scarfed down nearly $750 while he was staying with Hulleman's mother in Minnesota.

Hulleman had asked her mother to take care of Pepper and her other dog last month while she and her husband went on a 4-day vacation. Pepper, an 8-year-old black Labrador-German shorthair, apparently removed an envelope of cash from the purse and proceeded to ingest it.

Hulleman's mother recovered some of the money that Pepper spit out. But when Hulleman returned and went to clean up her dogs' mess outside, she found he had made a number of deposits, and saw a $50 bill in one pile.

Some money laundering was then in order. The chore of sorting through dog feces, which involved use of a strainer, netted about $400, said Hulleman, 50. Between that and other bills that Pepper had either vomited or simply chewed on, the family recovered $647, the Associated Press said.

That would leave $103 unaccounted for. An MSN report on Pepper's fund transfer says the dog ate $1,500, all but $200 of which was recovered. In either case, that amounts to a withholding of about 12 percent.

Meaning that following Pepper around for the next couple of days, now that the dog is back home in Menomonie -- yes, Menomonie -- Wisconsin, might just pay off.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

 Three months after it happened, Oprah Winfrey says she is still anguished over the freakish death of one of her dogs — but believes it happened for a reason.

And the media mogul believes that the reason was to caution her to slow down, not work so hard and enjoy life.

 “I don't believe in accidents. I know for sure that everything in life happens to help us live,” Winfrey writes in the August issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.

Winfrey, who was voted World's Best Celebrity Dog Owner in 2006, said Gracie, one of her three Golden Retrievers, choked to death while playing with a small “light-up” ball that belonged to one of her smaller dogs.

Winfrey had five dogs and, reportedly, employs several nannies to oversee them. Gracie, who had appeared twice on the cover of Oprah’s magazine, was on a walk with a caretaker when the accident took place. Attempts by a member of her security force to resuscitate the dog were unsuccessful.

"Weeks have passed," she writes. “And the pain has not subsided. Every time I think about it, my heart starts racing and I feel like I just got stabbed in the chest."

Despite the pain, Gracie's death was intended to send her a message, Winfrey wrote: "Slow down, you're moving too fast."

 “Her life was a gift to me," Winfrey writes. "Her death, a greater one.”

I don't entirely follow her logic -- how she gets from point A to point B. The death of her dog is a message to take better care of herself? It seems to me it would be a message to take better care of your dogs, or don't let large dogs play with small balls, or don't let your staff let your large dogs play with small balls.

Maybe it will make more sense to you. You can read Oprah's full account here.

 

Posted by John Woestendiek at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A dog sauntering across the road near Val d'Isere toppled a German rider in the Tour De France yesterday.

Marcus Burghardt of Germany flipped head-first over the handlebars when he struck a spectator's dog that wandered onto the road in front of his bike.

The accident occurred Tuesday during the ninth stage of the race. Neither dog nor rider was injured and Burghardt was able to finish the stage after bike repairs.

To see one of the many videos of the accident online, click here

Posted by John Woestendiek at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I am a sexist. Or maybe that's not the right word. Read this and tell me what I am.

I see a dog and, nearly automatically, I see him as a boy. I say, "Here, boy" and "good boy" without even checking its undercarriage for a gender confirmation, or simply asking its owner what it is.

I see most cats, meanwhile, as girls (and I don't bother calling them because I know, by and large, they won't come.)

Beyond that, I tend to see certain dog breeds as distinctly male and female. Most big dogs I see as male. I see boxers and bulldogs as male and German Shepherds as male and Rottweilers as male. Poodles, even the big ones, I see as female. If I run into a Pekinese, Maltese, a Shih-Tzu, an Afghan, a Pomeranian, a Yorkshire Terrier, a Chihuahua, a Bichon Frise, it tends to automatically form in my head that they are girls.

I know it is wrong, but it is how I am. If it's big and tough, I tend to assume male. If it's small, fluffy or silky, I tend to assume female. (And yes I know the whole ass, you, me thing.)

I'm not entirely unenlightened, I'm not normally quick to judge. I'm not, I hope, otherwise sexist. But I am this way with dogs. And I invite your theories on why I am this way. I assume -- whoops -- I wonder if some of the rest of you do this as well, and what light you can shed on it.

All of this is to help explain -- though it doesn't excuse -- my recent characterization of a bulldog, in a party dress no less, as male.

And it leads me to apologize to Chai, the American bulldog you can often see gracing the front window of The Pretentious Pooch, a doggie boutique at 1017 Cathedral St. in Mount Vernon.

The excellent photo of Chai, above, was taken by Sun photographer Liz Malby (a she).

Photos of Chai and store owner Tom Berger were used to illustrate my story Sunday (click here for it) about how humans, more than ever, are living lives that revolve around their dogs.

Berger called Chai a she, and my notes show that, but somehow that thing in my head that leads me to assume and assign genders to dogs I don't know kicked in and took over. By the time it appeared in print, Chai was mistakenly called a "he."

To my credit, I did not automatically assume Chai was a female just because she was named after a tea, or even because she was in a poofy mauve and gold party dress -- proving I am either a sensitive, non-judgmental liberal, or just plain stupid.

Or perhaps, a combination of the two.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Stop the presses, hold the blogs, this just in:

Britney Spears and Paris Hilton have bought matching dogs.

The former friends, in separate venues, each showed off their new pet Yorkshire Terriers over the weekend.

Britney spent 30 minutes in a Bel Air pet store – no, the one in California – before plunking down $3,000 for a puppy she named London, according to People magazine. Later, the two went clubbing at a Hollywood nightspot.

Britney, you might recall (though I would probably like you better if you didn't), previously had three dogs – Lacy, Lucky and Bit-Bit -- but got rid of them to appease her estranged husband Kevin Federline. That helped earned her the title of the “World's Worst Celebrity Dog Owner” in 2006, an honor bestowed by The New York Dog and The Hollywood Dog magazines.

Paris Hilton, meanwhile, was also seen toting a new Yorkie over the weekend, and has reportedly named it "Cinderella." The hotel heiress and puppy – both in swimwear – were seen on the beach at Malibu.

Hilton was 2005’s “World’s Worst Celebrity Dog Owner,” and was cited for her tendency to use her Chihuahua, “Tinkerbell,” as a fashion accessory.

We return you now to our normal programming.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)
        

There’s one other example that didn’t get in the story — mainly because it rates a story of its own: Dogs, like humans, are becoming more likely to get through their day with the help of anti-depressants.

I don’t want to run the risk of sounding like Tom Cruise scolding Brooke Shields. Such drugs have their place. But it bothers me when grown-ups turn immediately to pharmaceuticals — before anything else, to the exclusion of other options — to cure, or at least cover-up, what ails them. It bothers me more when it’s to handle what they think ails their dogs.

Giving Prozac to a dog — numbing such a pure and joyful spirit — is, in my opinion, tantamount to clipping a bird’s wings.

But this is where we are now as a society, and I’m sure it’s to the continuing glee of the drug companies: to the point of handling not just our own problems, not just our children's problems, but our dogs’ behavior and anxiety problems with a host of anti-depressants, the most recent of which to hit the market is "Reconcile," the chewable, beef-flavored equivalent of Prozac.

(As drug names go, I’d have to say this one is an instant classic.)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved psychotropic drugs for dogs with behavior problems in 1999, and they are now routinely prescribed by veterinarians — some of the more open of whom will tell you maybe a little too routinely.

Cats that spray furniture, dogs that get freaked out by thunderstorms, even parrots with bad attitudes are now likely to get a prescription for their problem.

Reconcile is made by the same people who make Prozac, Eli Lilly. It was approved by the FDA in April of this year. Two months later, the FDA said Eli Lilly used misleading claims to promote the drug’s success in treating separation anxiety.

In a letter to the company last month, the FDA said company promotions suggested Reconcile was more effective than studies have shown. The promotions failed to mention that all dogs in Lilly’s trials received behavior training, in addition to the drug, and that some dogs improved with the behavioral training alone, according to the FDA.

Among critics of doggie drugging is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Britain, which said giving dogs drugs to treat behavioral issues merely masks symptoms of a deeper problem. Giving a dog more exercise or companionship is often all that is needed.

On the website for Reconcile, these are the symptoms listed for canine separation anxiety — destructive chewing, whining, inappropriate urination and defecation, drooling, trembling, pacing, vomiting.

Meanwhile, these are the most common possible side effects of Reconcile — weight loss, whining, diarrhea, aggression, seizures, lethargy, depression, shaking (which I guess is preferable to trembling), restlessness (which would probably include pacing) and vomiting.

To me, the disorder sounds preferable to the cure. I’m not saying there are not dogs that Reconcile can help. I’m not saying it should never be used. For certain, it is preferable to two other options frustrated pet owners often turn to — abandonment and euthanasia.

I’m only sounding a cautionary note. You know cautionary notes. They are those notes we humans have trouble hearing.

We humans overuse Prozac -– and ours isn’t even beef-flavored.

It would be a shame to pass the habit on to our dogs.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

The Humane Society of Bay County, Florida, has announced that it is teaming up with the company behind “Girls Gone Wild” to raise money for its shelter and increase public awareness about homeless animals. (Really.)

Today, Girls Gone Wild, in partnership with animal activist/fashion designer Ashley Paige, will launch their Ashley Paige for Girls Gone Wild swimwear line with a fashion show at the Raleigh Hotel in South Beach. (GGW sponsoring a clothing line seems a bit like a Krispy Kreme-backed weight loss plan.)

The show will feature two of the shelters newest additions: "Lil John," a Pekinese saved hours before being euthanized and "Serenity," a cute Chihuahua mix who will be walking in the fashion show while hoping to be adopted. (Serenity, watch out for the guys with the video cameras.)

Following the fashion show, Paige and Girls Gone Wild will be throwing an after party at Club Prive' to benefit the Humane Society. (Joe Francis, the man behind GGW, is currently in a Reno, Nevada, jail awaiting trial on a tax evasion charge and won’t be attending.)

"We are so excited to be working with Girls Gone Wild and their caring management (oh yeah, true saints) and employees. Their commitment to our organization will go so far to help us to rebuild our center, and most importantly save defenseless animals lives," said Mary Sanger, director of the Bay County Humane Society.

Francis, founder and CEO of Mantra Films, which produces the Girls Gone Wild series, was excited, too (but then I’m guessing he is pretty much perpetually in that state).

"We are very excited to be able to use our resources to help the community of Panama City in positive and long lasting way,” said Francis (as opposed to swooping in for a few days and exploiting its teenaged girls). "The saving of animals lives and those abandoned by others hits close to home and we are excited to be working with such a wonderful organization and worthwhile cause. We are hopeful that by embracing this opportunity, we can not only draw attention to this worthwhile cause, but truly help save the lives of cats, dogs and other animals in need.” (Joe may not be quite as good at talking rich folks out of their money as he is at talking teenaged girls out of their shirts.)

The humane society says the campaign will help it upgrade their facilities, raise public awareness and implement a wide ranging list of projects associated with their organization. (And it probably won’t hurt the tom-cattish reputation of Joe, either, whose participation in the event is actually part of a community service sentence stemming from federal charges involving the company’s activities during spring break 2003 in Panama City.)

That’s the story. Send me your headline, and, of course, any other thoughts you have on this turn of events. Just click on the comments button below. I’ll pick my favorite and put it atop this entry. When? At my earliest convenience. Be patient ... Keep your shirt on.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Tonight is the reception for artist Gil Jawetz at the Yellow Dog Tavern -- a new bar at 700 S. Potomac Street that is featuring Jawetz's "Big Dogs" exhibit this month.

The reception and wine tasting starts at 6 p.m.

Jawetz is donating 5 percent of from the sale of his paintings to Recycled Love, a non-profit dog rescue organization in Baltimore.

The works are based on digital photos Jawetz collected over seven years of visits to dog parks in Baltimore and Brooklyn, NY.

The owners of the Yellow Dog -- who are dog-friendly -- regret that they can't allow dogs inside due to state laws that prohibit dogs where food is served.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

My dog Ace isn’t much of a barker. When the mail comes, or there’s a knock on a door he’ll generally just bark once and be done with it.

So when I heard him barking up a storm on a recent weekend – a “ruh, ruh, ruh-ruh-ruh,” as opposed to one clipped “ruff” -- I knew it had to be something big. It was.

Ace was in the backyard, and I use the term loosely. As with many rowhouses, the “yard” is just a slab of concrete. I refer to it as the “cement yard,” with the emphasis on the “SEE,” like the Beverly Hillbillies called their swimming pool the “SEE-mint pond.”

I looked out my kitchen window and saw Ace looking up at the sky. I stepped out to see if he was barking at someone on one of the many rooftop decks looming above my patio. All were empty. I went back inside and, in a few minutes, he was raising a ruckus again.

Stepping outside I looked around, and up, and saw what was upsetting him: not a bird, not a plane, but a blimp -- the “Sanyo” blimp, which was cruising over and around Camden Yards during an Orioles game.

Every three minutes or so, it would pass overhead, and Ace would spend the lulls in between scanning the sky for it, barking when it finally appeared. He has seen birds, and planes, and the police helicopter that seems especially fond of flying over my neighborhood, but never anything like this.

He probably didn’t know what to make of it -- something so big and fat moving so slowly across the sky, disappearing behind rowhouses and church steeples, then popping out again. I went in and grabbed my video camera.

Here, then, for your viewing pleasure, is “Ace and the Blimp.”

Posted by John Woestendiek at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Compared to the rest of the canines taking part in the American Visionary Art Museum’s Fourth of July pet parade, Ace’s outfit was quite subdued – a flag bandana (sorry, Flag Code sticklers) and a gigantic red, white and blue felt Uncle Sam hat.

More than 60 dogs, a goldfish and a hermit crab took part in the 12th annual “Visionary Pets on Parade,” marching around the complex, then taking the stage with their owners to showcase their talents.

To see my personal favorite — Shirley’s Lustek's singing Schnoodle, Charlie — and some other video from the event, click here.

You can also find it in the shaded column down and to the right of your screen -- the second item under "video." 

Posted by John Woestendiek at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

What’s your favorite dog book?

As my story in today’s Ideas section of the Sun points out, there has never been a shortage of them, least of all now, after the phenomenal success of 2005’s Marley & Me.

 But which dog books — be they classics or newer releases — would you recommend?

Here are my five:

 Call of the Wild — Jack London’s classic tale of a fully domesticated dogs reversion to life in the wilds of Alaska.

Where the Red Fern Grows – No matter how crusty you might be, this 1961 novel by Wilson Rawls about a boy and his two redbone Coonhounds is guaranteed to pluck your heartstrings.

Travels With Charley —John Steinbeck’s insightful travelogue on his 10,000 mile roadtrip across 1960’s America with his aging poodle.

Animals in Translation — Celebrated animal scientist Temple Grandin, who has autism, brings together her research and perceptions to offer a new understanding of how animals think and feel.

 Amazing Gracie — The heartwarming true tale of a deaf and partially blind albino Great Dane who turned around the life of the man who rescued her. By Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff.

And now one more list … for no other kind of book makes use of truly bad puns — usually in the title — more often than the dog book.

The Dogfather — A woman becomes a dog trainer for the mob. By Susan Conant.

 Twas the Bite Before Christmas — Ouch. A kennel-owning ex-cop investigates the slaying of a housemaid and the kidnapping of a Dalmatian. By Lee Charles Kelly.

Diamond in the Ruff — The third in a series about a woman who died and came back to life as a Welsh Corgi with a knack for matchmaking. Seriously. By Emily Carmichael.

As Dog is My Witness -- The third in a series about a screenwriter/amateur detective, this time investigating the murder of a man shot while walking his dog. The accused killer has a form of autism known as Asperger’s Syndrome, as does the main character’s son. Despite a pun surplus, this one’s actually pretty good.

PAWS and Reflect -- A book, according to its subtitle, "exploring the bond between gay men and their dogs." (The same name has been used as the name for a dog-friendly rental cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a pet humor website, a consulting firm, a holistic animal healer's company and a pet crematorium.)

OK. Your turn. What are your favorite dog books? Click on comments, below, to post one.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (2)
        

Maybe he was fleeing the forest fires, maybe just trying to escape the 104 degree heat, but a bear climbed about 100 feet up a utility pole in Lancaster, Calif., this morning.

Click here to see video of the bear up the pole, an incident that led authorities to shut down the road while animal control officers pondered what to do.

Click here to see the happy ending -- he returned to earth unshocked and unassisted and scurried off.

The bear was believed to have left his habitat in the Tehachapi Mountains because of forest fires there, ending up on Highway 138 in Lancaster, near Los Angeles.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A drunk guy walking a bicycle stops in front of a bar -- bar and very nice restaurant, actually, the Metropolitan on Charles Street in Federal Hill.

There, dining al fresco, are a couple in their 50s, and their border collie mix – Jack, Jake, something like that.

The drunk guy, smitten with the pooch, stops to pet him, totally forgetting about his bicycle, which crashes to the ground. He picks it up, leans it against a tree and pets the dog some more.

Eventually, he sits down at the table with the couple, even though he hasn’t exactly been invited, and keeps petting the dog, which the couple is glad to tell him about. They debate what breeds might be in the dog and talk about border collies in general.

After 10 minutes or so, the drunk guy leaves, a little wobbly on the bicycle, but apparently he just circles the block. Three minutes later he is back, petting Jack, or Jake, some more while he straddles the bike in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing passersby to detour.

He asks if he can give the dog something to eat. The couple, finished with dinner by then, has nothing to offer, so the drunk guy takes off again, saying he’ll be right back. He heads for the convenience store two blocks away.

Three minutes later, he’s back again, takes a seat at the table with the two previously complete strangers, and, with their permission, starts feeding their dog a Slim Jim. Then another Slim Jim. At one point, he breaks off a piece and holds in it his mouth, letting the dog tug it loose.

By then, the upscale-looking couple has ordered a round of shots, one for each of them, and one for the drunken, slightly less upscale-looking, dog-lover.

When last seen, they were talking away, hoisting those drinks – the husband and wife and the drunk guy, with Jack, or Jake, finishing off his Slim Jims, at their feet.

And that is why I love Baltimore.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Tina Patael of Baltimore plans to wake up bright and early today, buckle a dog collar around her neck, go outside and chain herself to a doghouse for six hours.

Ninety-eight people in 31 other states will be doing the same on and around Independence Day as part of "Unchain the 50," an event sponsored by Dogs Deserve Better, a non-profit animal rights organization fighting to toughen laws against keeping dogs chained for long periods.

Dogs Deserve Better has held its annual "Chain Off" around the July 4 holiday for the last 5 years in order to raise awareness about dogs who are kept chained or penned for long periods, sometimes their entire lives.

"Unchain the 50" kicked off Saturday in Atlanta and Seattle and runs until July 8.

"Living chained to a doghouse for 24 hours will be grueling and unimaginable for those of us who are so used to coming and going as we please," said Susan Hartland, organizer of the Atlanta and Seattle events and a Dogs Deserve Better area representative.

For Patael, 42, a long time independent animal rescuer, this will be her first chaining.

"Chaining dogs is unnatural and inhumane. We should have anti-tethering laws," said Patael, whose own dog spent the first year of its life chained to a tree -- until she talked the homeless man who owned it into giving it to her.

Patael said she will be joined by a friend, nurse Elizabeth Ackerman, who will also chain herself to the doghouse in Patael's yard on East Lake Avenue in Baltimore.

Last year, California became the first state in the country to pass a statewide law specifically limiting the amount of time a dog may be tethered to a stationary object. Over 100 local governments across the United States have passed legislation in recent years that either bans or limits how long a dog may be chained, the Pennsylvania-based organization says.

Dogs Deserve Better founder Tammy S. Grimes will travel from Pennsylvania to live chained in Atlanta for 29 hours. The event will also have representation in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia,
Washington, Wisconsin, and British Columbia.

Long-term chaining of dogs has proven hazardous to humans as well. According to the organization, 143 children have been killed or seriously injured by chained dogs in the last four years.

Patael said prolonged chaining, in addition to posing choking hazards, can also lead to a dog's collar becoming embedded in its skin. She has come across cases of that in the 20 years she has been rescuing abused and neglected animals.

"I'm very excited to be able to do this and draw attention to the need," she said. "If I just open one person's eyes, its worth it."

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)
        

Whether you’ve got a dog, cat, lizard, hermit crab, or something else entirely, you and your pet are invited to the American Visionary Art Museum's “Visionary Pets on Parade” 4th of July celebration.

Participants are encouraged to outfit their pets, and themselves, for that matter, in patriotic garb, or otherwise, for the 12th annual parade, which starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday. (To register, show up at 9:30.) It is free.

If that weren’t excitement enough, we are pleased to report that, during the event, the documentary “Hey, Mister, What Kind of Dog is That?” will be showing — over and over again — in the Visionary’s Tall Sculpture Barn.

The movie -- you can also find it to the right of your computer screen -- recounts my efforts to trace the heritage of my dog Ace, a mutt of once-questionable origins adopted from Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) two years ago.

AVAM welcomes pets of all varieties to the event, as long as they are leashed or carried. Owners are responsible for their pet's behavior and bodily functions.

The parade, which circles the AVAM complex, will be followed by a pet talent show, in which all are invited to show off their tricks, talent, or lack thereof.

In past years, according to an AVAM press release, “hermit crabs have re-enacted Revolutionary War battles and cicadas have performed circus tricks” along with more traditional -- and far more believable -- attempts to “sit, speak, roll over, high-five, fetch, catch, eat corn off the cob, maul chew toys, etc.

Trophies will be awarded in these categories and more:

Most Patriotic, star-spangled, Yankee Doodle Dandy Pet Award: To the pet who best represents Mom, Apple Pie, Uncle Sam, and the American Way.

Ready-for-Prime-Time-Pet Talent Award: To the pet who exhibits an abundance of raw talent, exuberance, and stage presence.

The Owner & Pet Look-Alike Award: Self explanatory.

Best Pet Haute Couture (Best Costume): To the pet whose visionary costume radiates with style, flair, and, of course, vision.

Best Visionary Pet Hair-do: To the pet whose hair-do best represents Baltimore as the “Hair-do Capital of the World and the Animal Kingdom."

Heinz 57-Variety Award: To the pet whose lack of pedigree serves only to enhance the charm and overabundance of style and class that we treasure so deeply here.

The Peoples’ Choice Award: To the pet who who did his or her utmost to charm the crowd and win the peoples' hearts.

Pet Congeniality Award: To the pet who played nicely, and sniffed the least inappropriate places.

GRAND PRIZE: The Ellis Rosen Most Visionary Pet 2007 will be awarded to the pet most “overflowing with the charm and grace that we hold so dear in our city,” and who best embodies the spirit of Ellis Rosen, AVAM Volunteer and pet whisperer.

AVAM is at 800 Key Highway. Its website is www.avam.org

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)