Dog Gives Birth to 17 Puppies

A dog in Germany gave birth to 17 puppies in September, and thanks to her devoted owner, all eight females and nine males have survived, reports AOL News.When Ramona Wegemanns Rhodesian Ridgeback, Etana, delivered 17 puppies in 26 hours, Wegemann knew she was in for a challenge. Normally, with that large a litter, several pups die within the first week because the mother is unable to keep up with the demand, but Wegemann stepped in to help.Wegemann told the Associated Press that she slept only a few minutes at a time for close to four weeks in order to bottle feed the plentiful puppies. According to AOL News, she took a break from her work as an animal psychiatrist and her husband used his vacation days in order to help out.Six of the puppies have already been sold; four of those are already in their new homes. Wegemann and her husband plan to sell most of the puppies, but will consider sending them only to family homes, not breeders.The puppies were given African names in homage to the Rhodesian Ridgebacks African heritage, reports AOL News. The females puppies are called Bahati, Binta, Bahya, Bashima, Batouuli, Binki, Bora and Bisa; the male ones are Baakir, Banjoku, Belay, Bruk, Bundu, Bayo, Bukekayo, Biton and Bulus. Wegemann admits that she has trouble telling them apart sometimes.

via Dog Gives Birth to 17 Puppies in Germany – Paw Nation.

Your family dog may not be so easy going

As much as we write about the wonderful attributes of dogs and cats, we are sometimes reminded they’re not always angels.

This isn’t really news to me, but Fido needs to be supervised around young children, according to a new study.
The study, done by Vikram Durairaj of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, found that dogs usually target a child’s face and eyes and most often it’s a breed considered “good” with children, like a Labrador Retriever.
“People tend to think the family dog is harmless, but it’s not,” said Durairaj, associate professor of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. “We have seen facial fractures around the eye, eye lids torn off, injury to the tear drainage system and the eyeball itself.”
The study says the likelihood of a child getting bitten in their lifetime is around 50 % with 80 % of those bites involving the head and neck. If a dog bites once, it’s likely to bite again with the second attack often more brutal than the first.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and 885,000 require medical attention. The total cost is estimated at up to $250 million.
The study looked at 537 children treated for facial dog bites at The Children’s Hospital on the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus between 2003 and 2008. Durairaj found that 68 % of bites occurred in children 5-years-old or younger with the highest incidence in 3-year-olds.
The dogs were not breeds usually associated with attacks. Mixed breeds were responsible for 23 % of bites followed by Labrador retrievers (13.7 %), Rottweilers (4.9 % ), German shepherds (4.4 %) and Golden Retrievers (3 %). The study was done in the Denver area where Pit bulls are banned.
He says the first time a dog bites it should be removed from the home: “The onus is on parents to recognize aggressive breeds as well as behaviors and never allow their young children to be left unsupervised around any dog.”
READERS: Do you leave your young children alone with dogs? In my opinion, any little soul shouldn’t be left alone in the world unsupervised. They could hurt themselves or something else, right?

Pit bull murders newborn baby – WALB.com News, Weather and Sports for Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville. Leading the way for South Georgia. |

 

JACKSONVILLE, FL (CNN) – The family of a newborn boy is grieving after he was attacked by the family dog.

 

 

Investigators said the newborn was alive for just four days before it was mauled by a pit bull Sunday night in his Jacksonville, Florida home.

 

 

The Department of Children and Families is now investigating the parents for possible neglect.

 

 

The baby’s mother said she only left the child alone for a few seconds when the attack happened.

 

 

“It’s sad,” said neighbor Michael Shannon.�”It’s really sad.”

 

 

Shannon is a father too, and said he can’t imagine what the parents are going through.

 

 

But he’s also a pit bull owner and worries this attack will continue to give the breed a bad name.��

 

 

“I have a pit bull,” he said. “He’s the sweetest dog in the world. I have a two-year-old. He plays with it. It really depends on who raises the dog.”

 

 

Now as investigators are trying to figure out what happened, Shannon said parents just need to be more cautious with young children and pets.��

 

 

“It’s sad. I mean, people need to raise their dogs better.”

 

 

The child’s father said animal control put down the dog Monday morning.

 

 

via Pit bull murders newborn baby – WALB.com News, Weather and Sports for Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville. Leading the way for South Georgia. |.

 

via Pit bull murders newborn baby – WALB.com News, Weather and Sports for Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville. Leading the way for South Georgia. |.

Family dog butchered, sawed in half

 

A mutilated dog was found behind a Northeast Philadelphia home Monday and it has raised questions if the dead Husky was put there to send a message.

 

 

Sherri Verdon discovered the remains of a full-grown Husky mix that had been sawed in half on the back porch of her Somerton-section home Monday afternoon.

 

 

“It’s just frightening, it’s creepy,” she said.

 

 

It also devastated the owners of three-year-old Chico.

 

 

“Why my dog, why,” said an emotional Gabriella Ovadia.

 

 

Chico disappeared from the Ovadia’s family home — which isn’t close to Verdon’s home — on Sunday. On Monday the family identified their beloved pet dog at the SPCA.

 

 

“It was horrible — the mutilation,”�Ovadia said.

 

 

“The dog was literally cut in half,” Pennsylvania SPCA spokesman George Bengal said.

 

 

The horrific image of a dog cut in half�was also�something Verdon couldn’t get out of her mind.

 

 

“I just became hysterical crying,” she said about the gruesome discovery. “It was just very disturbing.”

 

 

Verdon says that the same man who vandalized her home nearly a half-dozen times recently could also be responsible for this gruesome act of animal cruelty.

 

 

The SPCA confirmed Tuesday that they questioned a person of interest but it wasn’t clear if it’s the same man. They were also hunting for a second person who could possibly be responsible for killing and dumping Chico, according to the SPCA.

 

 

The reward fund for information leading to Chico’s killing was growing as of Tuesday afternoon. Anyone with information should contact the PSPCA.

 

 

via Family Devastated After Their Husky Is Sawed-in-Half | NBC Philadelphia.

 

 

Quaid’s Dog — left in limbo

 

Doji the doggie is about to escape the clutches of death — TMZ has learned a friend of Evi and Randy Quaid has contacted the City of Vancouver in an effort to recover the innocent pooch from a shelter in Canada.

As we first reported, Doji was placed in an animal shelter after Evi and Randy were arrested in Canada last week on an outstanding warrant in Santa Barbara … and under Vancouver law, dogs that go unclaimed after several days for more than a week could be put to sleep.

 

 

But a rep for the city of Vancouver tells us they received a call today from someone on behalf of the Quaids who informed them that someone will be “coming to the shelter in the next couple of days to pick up the dog.”

 

 

Doji seems to be holding up well — we’re told, “The dog is in very good health.”

 

 

via Quaid’s Dog — Help Is On the Way! | TMZ.com.

 

 

Dogs Help Children With Autism

 

A new study has indicated that specially trained pet dogs can be beneficial to the emotional and mental health of children with autism syndrome disorders (ASDs).

 

 

Work undertaken at the University of Montreal measured the incidence of cortisol awakening response (CAR) present in the saliva of 42 youngsters with ASDs. This is a hormone produced by the body in relation to stress and was monitored regularly, while the children were each introduced to a canine taught to respond to them.

 

 

The parents of the little ones were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding their offspring’s emotional behaviour before, during and after the study, and, together with the other results, scientists collated a paper that states the pooches helped minimise emotional distress in their new masters.

 

 

“Until now, no study has measured the physiological impact. Our results lend support to the potential behavioural benefits of service dogs for autistic children,” Sonia Lupien, senior researcher and a professor at the university’s Department of Psychiatry and director of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress at Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital, said.

 

 

People with autism are often thought to be affected positively by the presence of animals and many different creatures – including horses – are used in therapy.

 

 

As one of the biggest independent dog insurance providers in the UK, Animal Friends Insurance products are available to buy online or the phone ( 0844 70 50 300 ). We offer a wide range of affordable dog insurance options to suit all budgets from accident only policies to full lifetime cover

 

 

via Pet dogs may help children with autism.

 

 

Pfizer’s Doggy Weight-Loss Drug side effects

 

Not only have we in the U.S. made ourselves fat, we’ve dragged our dogs along with us. Hence, Slentrol, Pfizer’s FDA-approved drug to help pudgy pugs lose a neck roll or three.

 

 

But the FDA says a preliminary analysis suggests a “potential correlation” between the breed of the dog and certain side effects of the drug, Dow Jones Newswires reports, citing an agency document. The FDA is planning to study genetic data on dogs that have taken Slentrol to see if certain breeds are more susceptible to problems. It didn’t specify which adverse events it’s tracking.

 

 

Pfizer disagrees with this plan, DJN reports. The company says side effects listed on the label, including vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy, are usually mild, and that specific breeds don’t seem to be disproportionately affected.

 

 

The breeds most commonly associated with adverse events with Slentrol — Labrador retriever, beagle, golden retriever, dachshund, pug and Chihuahua — are also very common, and some are predisposed to obesity, Pfizer says.

 

 

Meantime, there’s been lots of action on the diet-drugs-for-humans front. Last week Abbott pulled Meridia from the market at the FDA’s behest, on concerns of cardiovascular side effects. Three experimental drugs are up for FDA consideration; an advisory panel has voted not to recommend two of them, Arena’s lorcaserin and Vivus’s Qnexa. Orexigen’s Contrave comes before the panel late this year. (The FDA doesn’t have to follow the advice of its advisory panel, though it often does.)

 

 

Humans on the hunt for new options shouldn’t steal Fido’s Slentrol, however. The FDA has said that Pfizer tested the drug in a small number of people and it produced swollen abdomens, stomach pain, diarrhea, flatulence, nausea and vomiting.

 

 

via FDA Sniffing Around Pfizer’s Doggy Weight-Loss Drug Slentrol – Health Blog – WSJ.

 

 

Dog bites candidate

 

MUNCIE, Ind. — Some door-to-door campaigning became painful over the weekend for a candidate in Muncie.

 

 

Steve Fields was treated at a hospital Saturday evening after a dog he believed to be a pit bull broke its leash and bit his lower right leg. The Republican candidate for Delaware County clerk tells The Star Press he started moving toward the street on the city’s south side when he saw the dog, but that quickly got him after getting off the leash.

 

 

Fields says the dog let go of his leg once the owners yelled at it and that the owners politely gave him their insurance information.

 

 

Fields says he’ll have to walk on crutches for the next few days as he recovers.

 

 

via Dog bites candidate during Muncie campaigning – chicagotribune.com.

 

 

Pet Poisoning Alert

MANTECA, Calif.—Authorities say someone is poisoning pets in a Central Valley neighborhood with antifreeze.

Over the past few weeks, at least seven dogs and cats in Manteca have died from ingesting food laced with the chemical used to protect engines from freezing or boiling temperatures. Animal Control officials say someone is throwing poisoned meat wrapped in foil into backyards.

Police say they have no suspects.

Officers have stepped up patrols of the neighborhood, and the homeowner’s association has increased security

 

Halloween Dog

Tips for a safer night

The ringing of the doorbell at our house incites a ruckus greeting from our crew of four-legged friends. Come to think of it, you don’t even have to ring the doorbell to get them wound up. Just somebody new at the door means that five mastiffs (six if our deaf foster sees the others heading for the door) assume that person is here just to see them. Throw in a bunch of kids wearing costumes saying “trick or treat” and you can have one long night

This is one of the most exciting times of the year for kids, but it can be one of the scariest – and potentially dangerous – times if you are a dog. Halloween doesn’t have to be the worst day of the year for your dog. A few simple tips can make it an enjoyable experience for your dog as well.

If your dog is staying home to “help” you hand out treats, even the most laid back dog can get anxious when kids dressed in a costume are at the door:

1. Keep your dog in another room during trick-or-treating hours. As I noted above, if I let ours greet every kid for three hours, they would be so tired they probably wouldn’t get up the next morning.

2. Turn on a television or play music to drown out the sounds of trick-or-treaters.

3. Give your dogs a new treat or toy to occupy their time; you don’t want the dog to feel like they are being punished.

4. If you have a lot of trick-or-treaters, you may want to sit on your porch and pass out candy; this way the dogs don’t get excited every time the doorbell rings.

If you are dressing up your dog in a costume, it can be fun for you, but make sure it isn’t torture for them:

1. Just like a collar, make sure you can slip two fingers around the neck and arms if the dog has to step into the costume.

2. Make sure the dog’s vision is not impaired while wearing the costume.

3. When a dog has a costume on, they should be able to walk without any interference to their gait. This also means you need to be able to put a leash on the dog. You have to watch that the costume doesn’t interfere with the collar or leash area.

4. If your dog doesn’t normally wear clothes, try the costume on several times before Halloween; this will allow your dog to get used having something on.

5. Also take into account your dog’s body temperature in a costume. I recall a few years back, it was still in the upper 80s one Halloween. Several hours of walking in a costume could overheat your dog (and your kids, too, for that matter).

If you are taking your dog out trick or treating:

1) If you normally walk your dog and he or she is friendly, Halloween might not be a big deal.

2) If you don’t normally walk your dog, then Halloween might not be the night to start walking them with all the activity.

3) Make sure you watch your dog so they don’t ingest any dropped candy or that people don’t feed your dog candy. Aside from the fact that chocolate is toxic to dogs, the wrappers of even candy without chocolate can be harmful if ingested by your dog.

4) Having current tags is crucial if you are taking your dog out with you. If they get separated from you, the chances of their safe return increase greatly if they have identification on them. Additionally, your dog should be micro-chipped in the event they were to lose their collar.

Halloween treats for your dogs or for dogs that come trick-or-treating:

1. Halloween candy can be tempting for dogs. They are just like kids: it always seems they want things they can’t have, only twice as bad. Make sure your dog doesn’t have access to any candy. That goes for not only the candy you are giving out, but also the candy your two-legged humans bring home from their outing.

2. Keep dog treats on hand for any trick-or-treaters who come to your house with a dog. It is a nice gesture, and I am sure the dogs will appreciate it after they were such good sports to dress up like the kids.

Halloween can be a stressful time for dogs. But if we do a few simple things to ensure their safety (and sanity), it can be a fun and rewarding time for the family and dog alike.