A Dog, a Toddler, and a Long, Cold Night

"Family dog kept watch over missing 2-year-old overnight"
WIS News 10 (April 1, 2011, updated April 2, 2011)

"A missing 2-year-old boy in Elgin was found Saturday morning after Kershaw County deputies say the family dog kept him warm and safe all night.

"Sheriff Jim Matthews said 22-month-old Tyler Jacobson was reunited with his family after he was found across the street behind a neighbor's home when someone reported hearing crying in the area.

"Tyler was reported missing around 8:00pm Friday from a residence on Ashley Creek Drive. Matthews said the boy's mother, 25-year-old Jacklyn Marie Jacobson, and her boyfriend Jose Gloria told investigators Tyler went to get some juice and didn't come back.

"Kershaw County deputies used a bloodhound tracking team and a SLED helicopter with infrared capabilities, but called the search off around 12:30am Saturday. The search resumed around 7:45am, and the boy was found shortly thereafter. 'Just thinking that a dog would watch a baby over the night, it's kind of like a movie instead of real life,' said Emily DuBose, who lives in the house outside which the baby was found...."

Overnight temperatures were in the 40s, Fahrenheit: so besides a measure of security, the unnamed dog (unnamed in the article, that is) provided young Tyler with warmth.

As for the situation being "kind of like a movie instead of real life," the Lemming agrees that it's a bit like a premise for the old Lassie show.

On the other hand, dogs are proverbially loyal critters - some more than others, of course.

The Lemming's just glad Tyler had a guardian that night.

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Japan: Sort-of-Good News, the Emperor, and a Dog Story"
  (April 2, 2011)
• "Chaser and 1,022 Toys: The Dog Knows What Each One's Called"
  (December 25, 2010)
• "A Good Dog: Not Bright, But a Good Dog"
  (December 3, 2010)
• "One Cat, One Puppy, 30 Seconds of Cute"
  (June 22, 2010)
• "A Puppy, a Transmission, and a Happy Ending"
  (June 4, 2010)

Japan: Sort-of-Good News, the Emperor, and a Dog Story

Instead of posting six micro-reviews - one is more of a rant - about Japan's difficulties - the Lemming decided to drop all 'Japan' material into this one - divided the post into six sections.

Briefly, folks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant seem to have found where the radioactive seawater is leaking out of the facility. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that they've discovered that pouring concrete in the cracked area doesn't work. So, good news again, they're going to try something else.

Also - a coast guard ship rescued a dog from a floating roof, off Japan's coast. The Lemming's got a photo to go with that story.

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"Workers struggle to plug leak at Japan nuclear plant
CNN World (April 2, 2011)

"A first attempt to plug a cracked concrete shaft that is leaking highly radioactive water into the ocean off Japan failed Saturday, so officials are now exploring alternatives, spokesmen for Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

"Power plant workers had been trying to fill the shaft with fresh concrete, but that did not change the amount of water coming out of the crack, the spokesmen said at a news conference that ran late into the night Saturday.

"Their 'plan B' is to use polymers to stop the leak, the spokesmen said. A Tokyo Electric expert will visit the site Sunday morning and decide what polymer to use before the work begins...."

Looks like Tokyo Electric/TEPCO is keeping folks up-to-date on what's gone wrong, what they've done about it, and what they'll try next. The really good news is that - apparently - folks at Fukushima have found where that broken reactor has been leaking.

Under the circumstances, that's no small feat in itself.

As for what TEPCO could have done, earlier - the Lemming will get back to that.

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"Dog three weeks at sea saved"
The Japan Times (April 3, 2011) (International dateline effect)

"The Japan Coast Guard managed to save a small brown dog Friday from a floating rooftop 1.8 km off Miyagi Prefecture, three weeks after a massive tsunami ravaged the northeast coast.

"The canine castaway was spotted by helicopter at around 4 p.m. by a special rescue unit from the 3rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, operating out of Yokohama...."

The dog has a black collar - and no identification. The critter seems to have a healthy appetite, and "is behaving itself." It's nice to read good news from Japan: and The Kyodo news photo is appealing.

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"Japan's Nuclear Rescuers: 'Inevitable Some of Them May Die Within Weeks' "
Dominic Di-Natale, FoxNews.com (March 31, 2011)

"Workers at the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan say they expect to die from radiation sickness as a result of their efforts to bring the reactors under control, the mother of one of the men tells Fox News.

"The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, are being repeatedly exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to bring vital cooling systems back online.

"Speaking tearfully through an interpreter by phone, the mother of a 32-year-old worker said: 'My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation.

" 'He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term.'

"The woman spoke to Fox News on the condition of anonymity because, she said, plant workers had been asked by management not to communicate with the media or share details with family members in order to minimize public panic...."

That phrase, "to minimize public panic," represents, in the Lemming's opinion, an attitude that can be well-intentioned, self-serving, or a little of both. It's also, again in the Lemming's opinion, not a good idea. Certainly not in a country like Japan, or America. Probably not anywhere.

Caution: Old Coot Reminiscing

This could be a sort of urban legend - but it's solid enough to get into a documentary on the history of weather forecasting. For what that's worth.

The United States weather service, several decades back, had newfangled procedures for predicting tornadoes.

Well and good. Knowing that a destructive storm is coming can save lives.

The government agency, using the new procedures, predicted that a tornado was very likely in a particular area - soon. The twits in charge decided not to tell 'the Masses,' because they wanted to "minimize public panic."

The government weather service doesn't do that any more.

My guess is that word got out, eventually - and 'the Masses' let the feds know that, on the whole, they'd rather know about a deadly storm that might be headed their way.

Japan, Melting Reactors, and Telling the Truth

The Lemming is a bit sympathetic with the folks running Tokyo Electric Power Company/TEPCO: From the sounds of it, they've missed inspections, may not have done adequate maintenance on their reactors, and probably can't tell whether the maintenance was done: because of those missed inspections.

All of which has gotten on international news.

On top of that, they've got a few highly toxic piles of scrap where some of their reactors used to be - and a public relations problem that isn't likely to go away any time soon.

The Japanese government somehow missed what was - or, rather, wasn't - happening at Fukushima: and now they've got folks who have pretty good reason for not believing what they're told about how safe it is to get close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Lemming hopes that workers at the Fukushima plant are overestimating the hazards they're dealing with: and that TEPCO and the Japanese government will take a look at the folks whose "panic" they're worried about.

Japan's adult literacy rate is 99% - same as the United States. The country exports transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, and electrical machinery.¹ And is the home of the only robot snowplow known to the Lemming. (January 1, 2008) Even by Victorian-era European standards, the folks living in Japan are not 'ignorant savages.'

If we can handle tornado warnings here in the upper Midwest, the Lemming thinks the Japanese can handle being told the truth about what's really happening.

Problem is, a reputation seems to have been established by TEPCO - and maybe by the Japanese government - for being excessively optimistic in public statements. That may take a while to live down.

Moving on.

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"Emperor and Empress visit shelter in Tokyo, talk with evacuees"
The Mainichi Daily News (March 31, 2011)

"Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami who are staying at a shelter in Tokyo on March 30.

"It is the first time the Imperial couple has visited an evacuation shelter for those who have lost their homes in the Great East Japan Earthquake.

"The Emperor and the Empress talked to evacuees for about 40 minutes at the shelter, the Tokyo Budoh-kan hall in Tokyo's Adachi Ward....

"...'Are the children alright? I'm sure they will be delighted to see each other when school restarts (in April),' Emperor Akihito said to Kenji Ukido, 34, a teacher at a school for disabled children in Fukushima Prefecture and one of the evacuees at the shelter...."

The article said there were 289 folks staying at that shelter: which meant that, on average, each individual got around 10 or 15 seconds with the Imperial couple. Which is more time than it may seem: time a short conversation, and you might be surprised at how much gets said in a few seconds.

The Lemming's heard that this is uncharacteristically 'hands on' activity for the Imperial couple. It's likely, in the Lemming's opinion, that Emperor Akihito's personal contact with some disaster survivors means a lot to everyone involved in the earthquake/tsunami March 11 recovery. I'll get back to the Emperor.

America doesn't have royalty - although the Lemming's heard it argued that movie industry 'glitterati' serve a similar social function. Generally without, in the Lemming's opinion, as much class as the Japanese Imperial family shows - and that's another topic.

Here in America, it's not uncommon for a state governor, or the president, to personally visit the site of a disaster that's important on a state or national level.

The Lemming realizes that this is expected - but is of the opinion that state and national administrators could do a lot more good by staying in their offices, administrating: instead of getting in the way of folks trying to get a job done.

Japan's Emperor isn't, the Lemming understands, an active administrator like an American president: there's history and long-standing traditions involved. Briefly, Japan isn't America.

But both countries seem to have some administrators who can't seem to get it through their heads that 'the Masses' have a fair amount of common sense - and that we start drawing our own worst-case conclusions when the folks upstairs keep us in the dark.

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"Radiation in Village, Seawater Near Japan Nuke Plant Surge"
FoxNews.com (March 30, 2011)

"The United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Japan Wednesday that radiation levels recorded at a village near the crippled nuclear power plant are over the recommended limits as seawater outside the plant contained 3,355 times the legal limit for the amount of radioactive iodine.

"It is the highest rate yet and a sign that more contaminated water was making its way into the ocean.

"The amount of iodine-131 found south of the plant does not pose an immediate threat to human health but was a 'concern,' said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official. He said there was no fishing in the area.

" 'We will nail down the cause, and will do our utmost to prevent it from rising further,' he said...."

No rant this time: the radioactive substance was identified, we've been told how far above "the legal limit" the concentration is - and have an assurance that folks who know what they're doing are finding out where the iodine-131 is coming from.

If the Lemming was living in the late-19th or early-20th century, before "legal limits" for environmental contaminants were set - and set very low - the Lemming might be more concerned.

But this is the early 21st century - and there's a difference between having more than the legal limit of iodine-131 in a volume of seawater, and having the stuff starting to get into the food supply.

Is the contaminated seawater a problem? Yes, in the Lemming's opinion.

Does this mean that Godzilla will attack Tokyo? No, again in the Lemming's opinion.

That's not going to keep a lot of folks from worrying, though.

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"Japan's emperor urges nation not to give up"
Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (March 16, 2011)

" Japan's Emperor Akihito spoke to the nation Wednesday in the first made-for-TV address of his reign, expressing condolences to victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami and urging the Japanese people not to give up.

"Bowing and then speaking solemnly in a gray suit, he also voiced concern about the crisis at a nuclear power plant damaged by the disasters that has led to radiation leakage.

" 'I am deeply concerned about the nuclear situation because it is unpredictable,' he said. 'With the help of those involved I hope things will not get worse.'

"The historic broadcast underscores the gravity of the situation facing Japan. While Akihito makes annual televised speeches to crowds marking the New Year and end of World War II, he has never directly addressed the country on camera, according to the Imperial Household Agency...."

It's moments like these when the Lemming appreciates positions like "Emperor." We don't have anything quite like it, here in America - and that's another topic.

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Related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: 2011: Japan's Worst Earthquake? Yes and No"
  (March 29, 2011)
• "Fukushima Daiichi Plant, Water, and a 'Bad Sunburn'"
  (March 25, 2011)
• "Japan: Missed Inspections, Two Colors of Smoke at Fukushima; Years of Rebuilding Ahead"
  (March 21, 2011)
• "Japan: More People Found, Alive and Otherwise"
  (March 20, 2011)
• "Too Much Radiation is Dangerous: Numbers and Background"
  (March 18, 2011)

More:

• "Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011: Posts"

In the news:

• "Workers struggle to plug leak at Japan nuclear plant
  CNN World (April 2, 2011)
• "Dog three weeks at sea saved"
  The Japan Times (April 3, 2011) (International dateline effect)
• "Japan's Nuclear Rescuers: 'Inevitable Some of Them May Die Within Weeks' "
  Dominic Di-Natale, FoxNews.com (March 31, 2011)
• "Emperor and Empress visit shelter in Tokyo, talk with evacuees"
  The Mainichi Daily News (March 31, 2011)
• "Radiation in Village, Seawater Near Japan Nuke Plant Surge"
  FoxNews.com (March 30, 2011)
• "Japan's emperor urges nation not to give up"
  Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (March 16, 2011)

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¹ Sources:

• "Japan"
  (last updated March 23, 2011)
• "United States"
  (last updated March 23, 2011)
  CIA World Factbook

Chaser and 1,022 Toys: The Dog Knows What Each One's Called

"World's Smartest Dog Knows More Than 1,000 Words"
FoxNews.com (December 23, 2010)


(Mark Olencki, via FoxNews.com, used w/o permission.)
"A border collie named Chaser has learned over 1,000 words -- more than any other animal"

"If you thought Rover or Sparky was smart, think again: Chaser just took him to school.

"A border collie named Chaser has learned the names of 1,022 individual items -- more than any other animal, even the legendary Alex the parrot. But it's all in a day's work for these researchers.

"Psychologists Alliston Reid and John Pilley of Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., wanted to test if there was a limit to the amount of words a border collie could learn, so they taught Chaser the names of hundreds of toys, one by one, slowly and patiently, for three years.

" 'We put in a lot of work on it,' Pilley said in a conversation with FoxNews.com. While border collies are an especially smart breed, he said, the research doesn't allow them to conclusively call it smarter than, say, pit bulls or dachshunds.

" 'We can't say anything definitive about this, but there is agreement among breeders,' he said, citing decades of breeding for herding that makes the dogs particularly attuned to learning words. 'The hypothesis is that they do have a special propensity to language, they listen to the farmer.'

"Chaser the border collie's mountain of toys -- all 1,022 of them -- and a group of Wofford College students.

"Pilley stressed that the training technique more than anything resulted in the incredible skills of the dog...."

"...She learned common nouns that represented categories, such as “ball,” and she learned to infer the names of objects by their association with other objects.

Rico the border collie, from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, was previously top dog — he had a vocabulary of about 200 words. Chaser’s feats are chronicled in the journal Behavioural Processes."

There's a 10-minute video embedded in the FoxNews.com article, showing part of Chaser's training:

"Chaser responding to the combination of verb noun phrases071410.mpg
pilleyjw, YouTube (July 12, 2010)
video, 10:28

"Chaser responding to commands to match three verbs with three nouns, thereby demonstrating combinatorial understanding and the independent meaning of verbs and nouns in the verb noun phrases."

No question about it: Chaser is a smart dog. Still, like the researcher said, it was "the training technique more than anything resulted in the incredible skills of the dog."

That, and working with a breed of dog that's been developed to be particularly interested in what one of us says. In the Lemming's opinion.

Still: the experiment had impressive results. Particularly since what Chaser did was apparently more than a simple 'one sound/one response' trick. The trainers used simple sentences: a noun and a verb. And Chaser apparently understood what was said.

Dog owners won't, the Lemming imagines, be all that impressed - although that is a large vocabulary. Folks who work around dogs, or most animals, learn that they're smart. Although many aren't quite as frantically eager to please a person as dogs are.

And that's another topic.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Otters, Snow, Ice, and Fun"
  (October 20, 2010)
• "Monkey, Cat, Norwegian, Hands, and the Lemming"
  (October 19, 2010)
• "Caboodle Ranch, and a Man Who Didn't Like Cats"
  (October 12, 2010)
• "Mice Feel Pain (We knew That) - And Show it Like We do ('No One' Knew That)"
  (May 11, 2010)

More about Chaser:

• "Border collie takes record for biggest vocabulary"
  Jessica Griggs, New Scientist (December 22, 2010)

A Good Dog: Not Bright, But a Good Dog

"Dog"
Hyperbole and a Half (July 6, 2010)

"A lingering fear of mine was confirmed last night: My dog might be slightly retarded.

"I've wondered about her intelligence ever since I adopted her and subsequently discovered that she was unable to figure out how stairs worked.

"I blamed her ineptitude on the fact that she'd spent most of her life confined to a small kennel because her previous owners couldn't control her. I figured that maybe she just hadn't been exposed to stairs yet. Accepting the noble responsibility of educating this poor, underprivileged creature, I spent hours tenderly guiding her up and down the staircase - placing biscuits on each step to lure her and celebrating any sign of progress. When she still couldn't successfully navigate the stairs at the end of her first week with me, I blamed it on her extreme lack of motor control. This dog is uncoordinated in a way that would suggest her canine lineage is tainted with traces of a species with a different number of legs - like maybe a starfish or some sort of primitive snake...."

"...With so many years of experience behind me, I was sure that training this new dog would be a very simple task.

"I was wrong. Not only is training my dog outlandishly difficult, it is also heartbreaking. She wants so badly to please me. Every fiber of her being quivers with the desire to do a good job...."

Allie does a good job, with text and cartoons, of relating her struggle to train this lovable canine dimwit.

Another sample. She's been putting 'this dog' through a sort of intelligence test.

"...In the second test, I had to put a blanket over my dog and time her to see how long it took her to get out. I threw the blanket over her and started my stopwatch. She made some cursory attempts at freeing herself, but as the seconds ticked by, it became clear that she was not going to pass.

"Still, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed that she just enjoyed being under there and could get out if she wanted to. I added an extra couple points to her tally for faith's sake...."

That picture is the last in a series, about the blanket test.

Then there was the time 'this dog' was told to find a treat - that Allie had shown him, when she put it under a cup. He couldn't - or, anyway, he didn't.

The post has over a dozen drawings in it - the Lemming thinks Allie has a good dog. Not a bright dog, but a good dog.

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A tip of the hat to , on Twitter, for the heads-up on that post.

Dyson "Groom Tool" - A Little More Than a Brush and Vacuum

"Dyson answers dog hair problem with the Groom tool"
Paul Ridden, gizmag (November 5, 2010)

"Just when you've got the sofa or carpet clean, the dog appears and sheds a few pounds of loose hair all over the place. It's a problem faced by dog lovers the world over and one which the folks at Dyson UK have been considering for the past year. The result is a vacuum attachment for medium to long haired dogs which sucks up loose hair and dead skin before it gets anywhere near your new clean floor or prized upholstery.

"While some dogs shed their coats a couple of times a year, others leave a constant stream of discarded hair in their wake...."


(from gizmag, used w/o permission)
"The Dyson Groom tool has been designed to help prevent the mess associated with dog hair loss by sucking any loose hair into the vacuum before it gets the chance to hit the floor"

That photo is a smaller version of one of five in this gizmag article's gallery. My guess is that they're from the Dyson company.

Here's one I found on the Dyson website, that does a pretty good job of showing the grooming tool.


(from Dyson, used w/o permission)
The grooming tool is that brush arrangement that fits on on the end of a vacuum cleaner hose. As the product description puts it: "The Dyson groom tool can be used with most Dyson upright and cylinder vacuums. However, it is not suitable for motorhead machines or handhelds." (Dyson groom tool part number 921001-01)

The Lemming wasn't too impressed with this thing: a quick skim of the product description and photos made it look like something anybody could cobble together from a vacuum cleaner and an ordinary dog brush.

This YouTube video shows that there's a bit more to this "Groom Tool" than that:

"The Dyson Groom tool in use"

dysonteam, YouTube (November 4, 2010)
video, 0:25

"For more information visit www.Dyson.co.uk/groom"

That isn't the most riveting sales copy the Lemming's ever seen: but the 25-second video does a good job of showing what this gadget will do.

What impressed me is right at the end - where we see the mat of dog hair that's accumulated on the bristles. With what looks like a very simple movement, the brush pushes the hair mat off the bristles. Then the vacuum hose inhales it.

Looks good. Although, at the $64 USD price mentioned by gizmag: If I had a dog, I'd probably stick with a cheaper brush and my household's shop vacuum.

But, like I said, it looks good.

Four Insistent Puppies and Their Mother

"No more milk guys!"

maxie363, YouTube (January 24, 2007)
video, 0:51

"Puppies chasing for more milk while mommy teases."

Judging from how active they are, my guess is that those puppies are being taken care of quite well.

That barrier - low enough for the mother dog to pass, too high (at this point) for the puppies - is an ingenious way to give her some breathing space.

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A tip of the hat to "No More Milk! Mom Needs a Break!"
Shezael, Daily Squee! (October 22, 2010).

One Cat, One Puppy, 30 Seconds of Cute

"Cat and dog...Best friends for ever..."

michkouros, YouTube (December 3, 2007)
video, 0:30

"Cute cat and dog"

More of a puppy, I'd guess - but they are cute.

Enjoy

A Book Narrated by a Dog: a Micro-Review of a Review

"The Art Of Racing In The Rain"
Animals That Give Pause (June 3, 2010)

"This is a book about dogs. Thus it goes on Missouri Books and Animals That Give Pause too. The Art of Racing In the Rain is by Garth Stein. I'd give it a 9 out of 10 or maybe an 8, not the most intellectually stimulating read I've had but it's a dog talking, gimme a break...."

Sounds like a pretty good book, based on what's in that review. Which is short, slightly autobiographical, and very readable. Also with a link to Amazon.com, in case you want to buy the book.

Which isn't the worst idea I've read about lately.

Me? The Lemming isn't buying it, not now anyway. I blew my book budget on Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" and Mccloud's "Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels:" for personal and professional use, respectively.

What are you waiting around here for? Go read that book review!

A Puppy, a Transmission, and a Happy Ending

"By the Way, You're a Quart Low"
Not That Mike The Other Mike, via Cute Overload (June 2, 2010)

"While most pups respond to the words 'car ride?' with unhinged glee, here's one who may think twice: A cute black lab who took a 30-mile drive while trapped under the hood. Warning: You may wince a little, but the video has a happy ending (and bonus cute rescue-y guy; maybe not Jamin-level cute, but in the ballpark)."

The little lab likes to stay on cool spots, like concrete floors. Considering what she went through, that's understandable. She's okay, now - but got wedged over the transmission of a car, burning her belly before she was discovered and extracted.

""

kurtavish, YouTube (June 01, 2010)

"A little 8 weeks old puppy found in a car engine and survived a 30 mile drive near the hot engine. http://wp.me/ponKy-1Xh"

The video's narration has a bit of pronoun trouble, here and there - but the endearing story is worth it. I think so, anyway.

The little lab's been treated - and was 'adopted' by a friend of the fellow who helped get her out.

When to Take Your Dog to the Vet, and When Not To

"Should I Take My Dog to the Emergency Room?"
PetLvr Blog for Pet Lovers (January 20, 2009)

"There’s lots of instances when a dog owner may wonder, “Is my dog sick? Should I take him to the 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic?” Making the decision to take a pet to the emergency clinic can be a difficult one, especially since most emergency vet clinics charge $100+ just for an exam. So monitoring your pet’s vital signs at home can be a great way to determine how sick your dog may be.

But unfortunately, few dog owners know how to check a dog’s vital signs. In fact, many dog owners still believe in the myth of checking the dog’s nose for wetness or temperature...."

The rest of the post is a pretty good introduction to how to check your dog's vital signs - and what they're supposed to be. For starters, if your dog's temperature is around 101° Fahrenheit: that's probably normal (that's oversimplified: read the post for more). For a human, that's a fever. But dogs? Well, they're not human.

Just as well: they probably wouldn't fetch sticks, if they were.

I'm getting off-topic.

Don't know how to take your dog's temperature? This video should help.

"Emergency Dog Health Care : How to Tell if Your Dog Is Sick"

expertvillage, YouTube (October 22, 2008)
video, 3:10

"Learn the proper way to take your dog's vital statistics and tell if your dog is sick in this free pet health care video, with tips from a veterinarian. Expert: Dr Adrienne Mulligan Bio...."

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A tip of the hat to PetLvr, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this post - and for directing me to the video. Thanks!

Your Dog Won't Whiz in the Snow? Here are Some Reasons

"Why Won't My Dog Go to the Bathroom in the Snow?"
PetLvr (March 27, 2009)

"Many dogs, particularly small dogs and those with short coats, refuse to do their business in deep snow. When Spring blizzards like the one blanketing my city with over a foot of the white stuff hit, that can make life very difficult for dog owners. Pooch scratches at the door, you go out, Pooch sniffs the snow and scratches to go back in...."

This is a new one to me. But then, I'm not all that familiar with dogs. And the ones I've known tend to be like my son-in-law's: around 65 pounds of sheepdog, fur included.

Turns out, it's not just the cold. Odor and texture make a difference to dogs, as cues that it's time to take care of their business.

The post is fairly short, but there's a fair amount of information and advice there.

Like "...Remember to put a waterproof jacket on thin-coated dogs for walks in the cold, and consider using booties if your dog will keep them on...."

Waterproof jacket? Booties?? Well, not everybody has dogs the size of my son-in-law's. Actually, in town, I think it's a good idea to have a dog that can get an afternoon's exercise by taking a brisk skitter up and down the hall.

Which is another topic.

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A tip of the hat to PetLvr, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this post.

A Feel-Good Video About Comet, the Dog With Wheels

"Wheelchairs helping disabled pets get around"

foxprovidence, YouTube (May 29, 2008)
video, 2:04

"One lucky dog has a new set of wheels to get around. For the first time since his back legs were paralyzed, Comet, a Golden Retriever, is walking around with the help of his new wheel cart."

As the reporter said, this is a "feel-good" story. And, a case-in-point of how people can care for their pets. A class of Oklahoma fourth-graders, the Rhode Island SPCA, and a New Hampshire company that specializes in devices for handicapped pets, handicappedpets.com.

A wheelcart for a dog costs between $200 and $400, depending on how big the dog is.

Sure, the resources that went into Comet's cart could have been used to get food to the hungry, or some other worthwhile cause. But there's no indication that any people were harmed - or neglected - in the making of that prosthetic.

Me? I like animals: and people. Sure, there are some in both categories that I've found difficult to get along with: but that's individuals. Provided that a person doesn't slip into the "I love animals - and hate people" mode, I don't see anything wrong with giving critters a leg up. Or, in this case, wheels.

I discussed why people should be nice to animals in "Animals: Yeah, the Catholic Church has Rules About Them, Too" A Catholic Citizen in America (August 17, 2009).

What can I say? The Lemming is "apathetic" only in a narrow, cultural sense. (September 9, 2007)

Related post:

• "Dolphin with a Rubber Tail, Tortoise on Wheels - Animals with Prosthetics"
  (August 17, 2009)

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A tip of the hat to irish_brigid, for the heads-up on that video.

Posts about Dogs, Dog Hair, Puppies, and All That

Nina Rotz, via Associated Content (November 06, 2009):

• "How to Keep Furniture Free of Dog Hair"
  • "A dog can be a faithful companion that will greet you happily at the door even on your worst day. Having a dog means dealing with massive amounts of dog hair, and having to clean it up! Keeping your furniture free of dog hair is not only good housekeeping, but it also makes life more comfortable for everyone in the household. You cannot shave your dog and you cannot knit sweaters out of pounds of dog hair laying around your house. You can, however, use simple methods to keep dog hair off your furniture...."
• "13 Steps to Puppy Proofing Your House"
  • "Puppies are cute, awkward and entertaining. They fall over, trip on their own feet and can shred a roll of paper towels into the smallest pieces. A puppy needs a safe environment where potentially dangerous and hazardous items are unreachable. Puppy proof your home by organizing, cleaning
    and keeping hazardous objects away from your dog...."
• "Household Items that Could Harm Your Dog"
  • "As a responsible dog owner, you know not to feed your dog chocolate or chicken bones. You take your dog to the vet regularly and give it plenty of attention. Your home is cozy and has everything the dog may need. You may not know, however, that some of these common household items can be
    harmful to your dog. ..."

This trio of posts look like a pretty good set of advice for dog owners. You should bear in mind that I've never owned a dog: but the author's ideas seem to be common sense.

About furniture and dogs: There's a whiff of Martha Stewart some of the advice. "The covers can be removed once a week and washed", for example.

After looking over that post, I got the impression that the best, easiest, option for a dog owner would be to limit the home's furniture to steel, concrete, and the more durable synthetics - and hose the place down from time to time.

Or, accept dog hair as part of the decor.

Puppy proofing: "A puppy is much like a baby, they do not know that bathroom time is done outdoors or that mom's new shoes are not chew toys." That could be a one-sentence summary of the post. There's more detail, of course.

Household items that are harmful to dogs: Some animals, like dogs, are carnivores. Their diet consists almost entirely of meat. Some are herbivores. They eat almost nothing but plants.

Human beings are opportunistic omnivores. We can - and do - eat just about anything organic. A few things will poison us - and some, like wood, we can't digest. But by and large, if we can arm-wrestle it down our throat, we can digest it with little more than maybe a touch of indigestion as a consequence.

Each culture has a list of things that are "food" and other edible substances that are considered unpleasant or inappropriate - but won't actually hurt us.

Dogs, on the other hand, are a trifle more fine-tuned. As the post says: "Certain human foods such as chocolate, onions, macadamia nuts, walnuts, grapes, raisins, tomatoes, raw eggs, nutmeg, salt and sugar can be toxic and extremely dangerous to dogs."

Like I said, I've never owned a dog - but I've known people who do. And one of those dogs had gotten at chocolate - repeatedly - and lived to bark. Of course, that might have been a fluke - or the amount was below some critical threshold. It was a big dog.

And then there are electric blankets.

Bottom line? These three posts aren't the last word in how to care for a dog and your house - but they look like a pretty good resource.

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A tip of the hat to writingdivas, on Twitter, for the heads-up on these posts.

Blogs About Dogs - Not BAD

The blogosphere's gone to the dogs!

Well, no: but there are quite a number of blogs about dogs out there. I picked a few two years ago today, and these are still there. There's something to say for a blog that lasts that long. Even if posts aren't made all that often, its continued existence hints that someone's interested enough in the subject to keep the thing around - or at least that it's not so bogus that the hosting company deleted it.

Not all dog blogs are created equal, of course.

That shouldn't be all that surprising. Over the last fifteen millennia or so, we've gotten Chow Chows, Dachshunds, Basenji and Whippets from the the basic model. Starting with such a diversity of dogs, it's only natural that blogs about dogs would be a mixed lot. Like these:

• Dogster: For the Love of Dog Blog "The Dogster Dog Blog is committed to tracking every story related to all foods recalls. You can count on us to keep you completely in the nose of every detail."
• Bosco Dog Blog "...A Dog's Life in the City of Minneapolis, MN & now... Austin, TX"
• A Dog Blog tales of two dogs and their battle against canine cancer and megaesophagus. Bubba and Pinche and gone, now, but the blog continues, with stories from other dog owners, and information about these diseases
• Celebrity Dog Blog for those whose day isn't complete without seeing pictures of Jessica Simpson and Daisy, Mischa Barton and Charlie, and other celebrities with their dogs
• Dog Gone Blog "handling out opinions like they Were kibble"
• Funny Dog Pics the title says it all

Lemming Tracks: The Lemming isn't Going to the Dogs

All three posts today were about dogs. The Lemming doesn't do 'themed' days as a rule, although I've done it before: "Lemming Tracks: All Betelgeuse, All the Time," for example.

I rather hope you like the Apathetic Lemming's habit of presenting an eclectic assortment of posts each day: because I'm not likely to change.

"Eclectic assortment" - sounds fancier than 'unorganized mess,' doesn't it?

Today's three 'dog' posts, and another one:

• "Wendy: a Canine Conan"
  (September 1, 2009)
• "World's Smallest Dog - Almost"
  (September 1, 2009)
• ""The World's Tallest Dog" - Gibson's Gone"
  (September 1, 2009)
• "Pabst's Blue Ribbon: That's One Ugly Dog"
  (June 29, 2009)

Wendy: a Canine Conan

"Bully Whippet: Double-Muscle."
DogForum.org (March, 2007)

"Many of you may remember an earlier report we covered about the amazing toddler, Liam Hoekstra, with superstrength and superspeed. Just like the buff combination of Superman and his best friend Krypto...."

This is a quite short post about Wendy, a bully Whippet with a mutation called myostatin related muscle hypertrophy. For everyday use, it's called double-muscle.

There's quite a bit of information, with six photos (not all of Wendy), a mention of some ethical questions about this mutation and dog breeding, and links to more detailed discussions of the mutation.

Like an earlier post today, this one started out with my second-oldest daughter seeing part of a documentary. I gather that she and her husband-to-be had been watching something on Animal Planet. He left, and she left the television turned on.

According to her, Wendy - although she may be fast, as the post says these dogs are - isn't particularly maneuverable. Looking like a canine Conan the Barbarian, I'm not surprised.

On the other hand, the double-muscled Whippet seems to be comfortable.

World's Smallest Dog - Almost

"4-inch Lake County Chihuahua may be world's smallest dog"
Orlando Sentinel (April 27, 2007)

"Meet tiny Dancer, a rust-colored, long-haired Chihuahua that may just be the world's smallest dog, weighing 18 ounces and standing not much more than 4 inches tall.

"Dancer's owner, Jenny Gomes, said the diminutive Lake County canine may be on his way to being named the world's smallest living dog by Guinness World Records.

"And Dancer may have a legitimate claim to the title. The last smallest dog -- measured by height -- was Danka Kordak of Slovakia, which stood 5.4 inches high, according to Guinness officials...."

I checked: Dancer didn't get the "world's smallest dog" designation. His owner entered him for consideration as world's smallest therapy dog, but as far as I can tell Dancer didn't measure down to that standard.

More about Dancer: "tiny chihuahua world's smallest therapy dog" famous chihuahua (February 27, 2008). Despite the headline, the article doesn't say whether or not Dancer got the 'prize.' On the other hand, it tells a bit about the chihuahua's training.

Dancer had some trouble getting trained: some of the people didn't think he was big enough to be a therapy dog.

"The World's Tallest Dog" - Gibson's Gone

The World's Tallest Dog

"Gibson passed away on Friday, August 7 from bone cancer. To learn more about Gibson’s recent passing click here.

"Visit www.k9grass.com to make donations to help with Gibson's medical bills and funeral expenses. Also, www.remembergibson.com has been established to promote Three Paws for the Cause and honor Gibson's memory...."

My second-oldest daughter told me about Gibson today: The K9Grass® spokesdog had been on some sort of documentary. This outsize Harlequin Great Dane was 42.6 inches at the shoulder: or a bit upwards of seven feet, standing on his hind legs.

Besides being a spokesdog, Gibson was a certified therapy and special needs training dog. According to this website, that's what his owner, Sandy Hall, is most proud of when it comes to the Great Dane.

Paraphrasing another famous Dane, "He was a dog, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again." ("Hamlet")

One more thing: Click on the paw icon, toward the bottom of The World's Tallest Dog's home page, and you'll hear a recording of Gibson saying "I love you." Sort of.

Scooby Doo was a bit more articulate - but then, the animated dog had a human doing his voice.

One more thing: The Guinness Book of World Records website has a video of Gibson meeting the world's smallest dog: <

"Tallest & Smallest Dogs Meet"

Guinness Book of World Records (2007)
video, 1:43

The smallest dog in this video is Boo Boo. More about Boo Boo in this press release: " 'WOOF, WOOF, GRRRR!
WELCOME TO THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS FAMILY
BOO BOO!'."

Continued from Yesterday: A Cat, a Dog, and a Pet Door

I've moved that cat-and-dog video from yesterday's post here:

"Cat Blocks Dog Intrusion"

andavid21, YouTube (July 25, 2009)
video, 0:15

I'd take that video's YouTube title with a grain or salt. I've known cats, and dogs: and neither was very serious during that 15 seconds. Still: it's cute.

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I don't generally re-arrange posts like this, but for reasons that I still don't understand Google blocked this blog yesterday evening - something in their system flagged it as a 'spam blog.' Since it's possible that one or more of yesterday's posts was responsible, I'm editing them.

When I went back, I saw that they were noticeably different than the 50th percentile of posts here at Apathetic Lemming of the North.

Besides, I like this video.

Pabst's Blue Ribbon: That's One Ugly Dog

"NorCal Boxer Mix Wins World's Ugliest Dog Contest"
cbs5.com (June 27, 2009)

"A boxer mix with a wicked underbite won Friday's annual Ugliest Dog Contest. The world-famous staple of the Sonoma-Marin Fair for 21 years was held at the Petaluma Fairgrounds, as part of the Sonoma-Marin Fair.

"The winner, Pabst, was a first time entry and was the first mutt in seven years to win the contest. The Chinese Crested breed has dominated recent contests and represented more than half of this year's field, according to contest organizers...."

This year's ugly dog contest was more of a regional affair than some year's: probably thanks to economic conditions. Still, Pabst seems to have had some tough competition.

This news article does a pretty good job of discussing the contest, Pabst's background as a rescuee from a pound, and the Sonoma-Marin fair. The Fair's news release/article pointed out that the dogs in the contest are healthy - they're cleared by a vet. It's just that they don't fit our idea of canine beauty.

A parting thought: As my oldest daughter said, "I've seen uglier dogs than that." Still: congratulations to Pabst and his owner.

More:

• "WORLD’S UGLIEST DOG CONTEST BREAKS THE TRADITION"
  Sonoma-MarinFair.org (June 26, 2009)
• " Boxer-mix named world's ugliest dog (+ photo)"
  NZ Herald News (Jun 29, 2009)
• "Citrus Heights Pooch Named World's Ugliest Dog"
  News10.net (June 28, 2009)