Next time your dog’s sick enough to need a blood transfusion it’ll probably be a Greyhound that saves its life — in New Zealand, anyway. On 09 October 2010 The programme This Way Up on Radio New Zealand National did a very interesting half hour interview with the folks who run a blood bank for pets:

A greyhound at play.

We visit New Zealand’s only pet blood bank in Manawatu where Neil and Sandy Marshall bleed cats, dogs and the odd alpaca! (duration: 27′17″)

Listen to the interview: streaming, Ogg Vorbis or MP3.

Meanwhile an amazing story of dog survival comes as the Chilean miners are rescued from their underground prison — Dog trapped for eight weeks without food – National – NZ Herald News:

A 16-year-old labrador survived eight weeks with no food trapped in an abandoned tunnel house in the Southland town of Riverton.

Listen to a longer interview for the full story:

Dog trapped for 8 weeks
A 16 year old labrador named Gail has been found alive after being trapped for 8 weeks in an abandoned house. She survived on her own body fat and water from a hole in the roof. (duration: 9′37″)
Download: Ogg Vorbis, MP3

[Via Radio New Zealand National : Programmes A-Z : Afternoons.]

Note: the audio files may not be available forever.

Update: The pet blood bank was featured in the final segment of TV1′s Close Up on Thursday, 14 October 2010. You may be able to watch the segment at TVNZ On Demand. I presume the video will only be available to viewers from New Zealand.

In Wellington, New Zealand brunch is a popular activity. We even have quite a few cafes where we can sit outside.

Dog at brunch.

Here dogs aren’t allowed inside shops or cafes, but it’s not too uncommon to see people at an outside table with a dog nearby.

In fact, when the Chocolate Fish cafe was round in Scorching Bay they provided bowls of water and even the occasional biscuit for client dogs.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a law change in New South Wales to allow dogs to sit with their owners at outdoor cafes:

DOG owners say that new laws to allow allow canine companions in cafes and restaurants are a ”victory for commonsense”.

The [New South Wales] Government has introduced amendments to laws … Business owners will have the discretion to allow dogs in outdoor dining areas, but pets will still be banned from indoors and food preparation areas.… But any pooches panting for a puppychino will be disappointed — the laws state dogs cannot be provided with food, must be kept on a leash and can’t sit on tables and chairs.

[Via Dogs now welcome to join cafe society.]

I hope they’re allowed a bowl of water, even if they can’t have a biscuit!

If you’re in New South Wales take a look at the Dogs NSW website.

At Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, USA, dogs have a very important job: greeting visitors and patients as they arrive —

There are around five therapy dog greeters at Memorial, and most afternoons one of them is on duty.

Renee Langdon volunteers at the hospital with her therapy dog partner, Drew, a 150-pound St. Bernard.

Drew greets a visitor.

Drew, 3 years old, is a Delta Society-certified therapy dog, and has been socialized for this role since he was 5 months old, Langdon explained.

When guests of the hospital see Drew, their faces light up. Langdon greets each guest, asking them if they would like to pet Drew. Even guests who have walked by will come back to pet the dog.

“Drew has a very calming effect for people. You forget you’re in a hospital and you feel better about yourself,” Langdon said.

Dogs — and all pets in general — have been found to lower blood pressure, Langdon said.

[Via South Bend Tribune: Hospitality has a new face.]

I was interested to read that even people who fear dogs find a dog at the entrance way a talking point, as they share their fears.

What a great idea! Good on you, Memorial Hospital.

There are those who do their best to exclude dogs from city centres. In downtown St. Louis though dogs are being welcomed back as an element of revival:

The role of dogs in transforming downtown into a community cannot be underestimated, said loft resident Sarah Hunt, owner of Roxie, an 8-month-old beagle-pug mix.

“The idea is get people out of their apartments, because when you get people out of their apartments, things happen,” said Hunt, a second-year St. Louis University law student.

Not so long ago, residents found much about the neighborhood beyond their doors unappealing, noted Howard Wynder, a Washington University researcher, president of Lucas Park Beautification, owner of Layla, an 120-pound “small” Great Dane and, in the words of Triplett, a “downtown pioneer.”

Wynder calls the addition of the dog run (which replaces a smaller, temporary space for canines on the east side of the park) part of a larger initiative to make all of downtown more inhabitable for residents who live in homes and those who don’t.

[Via : Going to the dogs viewed as big step toward downtown revival - STLtoday.com.]

Dogs are always a talking point. Even strangers who don’t stop to pat a dog out for a walk often smile as they go past. Dogs are likely to brighten a day, get people chatting and bring a smile to the weary.

It seems that every day we read about someone somewhere suffering from a dog attack. Often it’s children.

Doggone Safe.

That’s not too surprising as kids’ faces are often at the same level as dogs’ faces, and kids are seldom aware enough or able to ‘read’ a dog’s body language. They just don’t know when a dog is ‘saying’ “back off”.

And we adults don’t always understand too well either. Even after living a lot of my life with dogs, I still misinterpret sometimes.

The Doggone Safe organisation, based in Canada, wants to change that:

Doggone safe is a non-profit organization dedicated to dog bite prevention and dog bite victim support.

Doggone Safe’s mission is to promote education initiatives for the purpose of dog bite prevention and increased child safety around dogs and to provide support for dog bite victims.

The Doggone Safe Blog also has a lot of useful information, such as one recent post with some “do not” rules like these:

1. Do not hug a dog, put your face close to his face or lie on him. Do sit beside your dog, rub his chest or scratch him on the side of the neck.
2. Do not play chase-me games with a dog. Do play hide and seek – where the dog has to find you or an object that you hide.

Then there’s also the Be a Tree Dog Safety for kids programme:

The Be a Tree ^TM Program is a fun and interactive presentation for children that teaches them how to read dog body language and be safe around dogs. The program is administered by Doggone Safe, a non-profit organization dedicated to dog bite prevention through education, and dog bite victim support. The program is supported by a Teacher Kit produced by Doggone Crazy! that contains photos and games to teach kids how to "Be a Tree" and act safely around dogs.

The Be a Tree program is available across North America and around the world. Approximately 500,000 children have benefited from the lessons learned in this program. Presenters include dog trainers, humane educators, pet sitters, groomers, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, teachers, childcare workers and others interested in community service and child safety.

Have you used the Be a Tree programme? What results did you have?

In Nizamuddin East in India there were 18 stray dogs found poisoned:

Local dog lovers have filed a police complaint, alleging the animals, most of whom were vaccinated and fed regularly by the residents, were deliberately poisoned.…

Sumita Mehta, another resident, said, “I have been repeatedly asked to stop feeding the dogs. I feel the colony is safer when there are dogs to guard us. Due to their presence, no monkeys come to the area anymore to bother us.”

Jack O’ Lantern.

There are plenty of times of the year when we go out and about celebrating noisily. Around late October and early November some places go all out for Halloween, while in others Guy Fawkes brings fireworks.

Noise, costumes, party lights, pumpkins, fireworks, chocolates and sweeties or candy all have their hazards.

Fireworks warning.

This is a good time of year to take a bit of extra care of your dogs. There’s excellent advice in the InsideToronto Article URBAN ANIMAL: Tricks and treats not fun for all dogs, cats, as well as some specific information about how dangerous chocolate can be:

Chocolate contains a chemical called “theobromine” which is toxic to dogs, but how dangerous is it?

Baker’s chocolate contains the highest amount of this chemical at 390mg per ounce. Semi-sweet contains 150mg/oz. and milk chocolate contains the least at 44mg/oz. Just 2 oz. of Baker’s chocolate would pose a serious health risk to a 15lb. dog.

Signs of chocolate toxicity include vomiting, diarrhea, trembling and in severe cases, seizure and death.

Watch out for all your pets at this time of year, or any time there’s a festival or party. Keep them safe from firecrackers, electric cables, chewable items and scary things:

Not just humans, dogs too had to be taken to hospitals in the past couple of days due to Diwali-related injuries. Many pet owners complained of behavioral changes in their dogs, which are usually sensitive to loud noise.

Veterinary doctors said they faced the biggest rush of the year. Helpless people who saw their pets undergo the changes due to loud explosions rushed the animals to hospitals. Most dogs stopped eating. Others suffered from palpitation, shivering, loose motions and vomiting. A few were allergic to smoke.

[Via : Vetjobs.]

Pumpkin photo credit: Jack O’Lantern, carved and photographed by image uploader, circa Halloween 2007.

Research suggests that walking your dog may bring more benefits than simply walking with other people:

Walk a Hound.

In 2008, [the Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction] sponsored the “Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound and Stay Fit for Seniors.” In the preliminary program, a group of older adults were matched with shelter dogs, while another group of older adults were partnered with a human walk buddy. For 12 weeks, participants were encouraged to walk on an outdoor trail for one hour, five times a week. At the end of the program, researchers measured how much the older adults’ activity levels improved.

“The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent,” Johnson said. “They had more confidence walking on the trail, and they increased their speed. The older people who walked with humans only had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities. The human walking buddies tended to discourage each other and used excuses such as the weather being too hot.”

[Via : A Pet In Your Life Keeps The Doctor Away.]

It’s very rare that a dog doesn’t want to go for a walk, and it’s very hard to turn down that pleading look.

I like that they matched the walkers with shelter dogs too. I’m sure those dogs appreciated the attention and one-on-one exercise, and I imagine the seniors would have felt pleased to be able to offer a useful service.

Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound

Walk a Hound Lose a Pound is working for good health — of both dogs and people:

Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound in Indiana, USA, is working to impact the growing rate of obesity by increasing physical activity through a creative and fun approach to physical fitness: dog walking. Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound is also working to address the plight of homeless animals and increase their adoptability through provision of exercise and socialization as well as increase community awareness of the issues related to animal welfare.

What a great idea!

Have you taken part in a programme like this? Tell us about it in the Comments.

In Taranaki, New Zealand, a couple of dogs have suffered the ill-effects of a poisonous plant. Sally, a Bichon Frise died after eating the shrub:

Poisoning was dose-related, meaning it was only lethal if dogs ate a lot of the plant.

“If they only eat a little we can pump their stomachs and give them a sedative, but in Sally’s case it was just too much.”

The yesterday, today, tomorrow plant – brunfelsia latifloria – is a fast-growing decorative shrub popular for its leaves which fade in colour from purple to white in the days after it blooms. It is particularly common with people doing ‘garden makeovers’.

The plant’s principle toxin is brunfelsamidine, a neurotoxin.

[Via : No more tomorrows for tragic dog Sally - national | Stuff.co.nz.]

See what else is poisonous to dogs — there’s quite a list.

Living next to a barking dog is annoying, that’s for sure. But is surgically altering a dog’s larynx the right way to go about solving the noise problem?

Dogs are having their barks surgically silenced for no reason, a vet warns.

Christchurch vet Ian Ross said … “It’s easy in Christchurch to have a vet surgically alter the larynx of a dog to make its bark quieter. It’s a real shame …”

Some dogs were debarked because constant barking angered owners and neighbours.

“It’s much simpler to drop the dog off at the vet for surgery than it is to increase his exercise and train him not to bark. But why does this dog bark all day and all night?

[Via : Surgery barking up the wrong tree, says vet | Stuff.co.nz.]

In New Zealand the Animal Welfare Act 1999 pretty much prohibits debarking dogs:

Restricted surgical procedures may be undertaken only by a veterinarian, or veterinary student under direct veterinary supervision, who must first satisfy themselves that the procedure is in the interests of the animal (section 17(2)). Therefore, this places a higher ethical test on the performance of the procedure. These procedures are: debarking a dog, declawing a cat, docking the tail of a horse or any procedure subsequently declared to a restricted surgical procedure.

[Via : Guide to the Animal Welfare Act 1999: Table of Contents | MAF Biosecurity New Zealand.]

A search on Google provides plenty of results for “how to stop a dog barking“, including articles, videos and even official leaflets.

Techniques include praising a dog for being quiet, non-punitive aversion techniques such as a citronella collar, understanding why the dog is barking and working with that information, toys, training and exercise, and even professional intervention.