Buddy the German Shepherd near Anchorage, Alaska, ran to get help when a fire started. For his services he’s to be presented with a special award:

Troopers say Buddy and his owner, 23-year-old Ben Heinrichs, were in the family workshop when a heater ignited chemicals. Heinrichs told Buddy: ‘We need to get help.’

The dog eventually found a trooper responding to a call about the fire.

The State Troopers are presenting a special award Friday to the dog. Buddy will receive an engraved silver-plated dog bowl in Anchorage.

[Via Dog Leads Alaska State Trooper To Fire.]

When 3 year old Victoria was lost on a freezing night in Arizona, the family dog, Blue, kept her warm and safe:

“She wasn’t moving when we first came upon her,” Uhl said. “She was kind of just looking face-down on the ground.”

She rose to her knees next. The helicopter landed about 50 yards away, and Tarr, the medic, approached the girl.

At first, Blue seemed apprehensive, as if he was protecting Victoria. The girl smiled, and Blue’s mood changed.

“I think once the dog realized we were there to help them out, he was very excited,” Uhl said. “He ran around while the medic tended to the little girl, and when it was time to go, he jumped right into the helicopter and was ready to go.”

[Via : Family dog keeps lost Ariz. tot safe on cold night.]

The boy was gathering firewood; the cougar was advancing:

Cougar (via Wikimedia Commons).

A family dog saved his eleven-year-old owner Saturday [in Boston Bar, B.C.] when he stepped between the boy and an advancing cougar, according to the RCMP.

[Via : Dog saves 11-year-old from cougar attack.]

The dog received some minor injuries; the cougar, unfortunately, was killed. The boy was fine.

Today’s feelgood moment:

A cross between a fox terrier and a chihuahua, Shyla, a New Zealand dog that has never had puppies mothers a litter of seven abandoned kittens.

[Via : Dog suckles kittens — Discourse & Data.]

Maxine Jones took on Guide Dog puppy walking for a while. She had some interesting experiences with Zebedee, the golden Labrador puppy:

International Guide Dog Federation.

I DON’T PARTICULARLY LIKE dogs. …

I’d resisted my youngest son’s demands for a dog for years, but this was a way of giving it back when it was no longer an endearing Andrex puppy and my son had proved he wouldn’t walk it or pick up poo. …

Zebedee is always pleased to see me. And when I walk down the road, everyone wants to know me. …

Walking back with the dog after meeting [my son] from school, a lanky boy with braces stops his bike to talk to us. “I miss my dog,” he says.”My parents split up and we couldn’t keep him.” I’m moved to silence as he props up his bike to pet the dog.

Old ladies empathise most with the dog. Young mothers are wary, fearing they’ll be besieged with requests from their offspring. “I’ve enough on my plate,” one says, her brusque tone covering up a flash of longing.

Zebedee and I are spotted by a posse of 11-year-old girls who are walking past the post office, where we are in line. In one squealing mass, they make a run for her, and cover her in a cloud of pink. Zebedee loves it, licking their faces in turn. Just as suddenly, the girls take flight and flutter off, regrouping outside to discuss how sweet she is.

[Via : Dog day afternoons - The Irish Times - Sat, Sep 26, 2009.]

Guide Dog puppy walking is a great activity, available pretty well anywhere guide dogs are trained. If you think you might be interested visit the International Guide Dog Federation website to find a local organisation you can contact.

Special note: 27 October to 2 November 2009 is The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind’s annual Blind Week Appeal. Give them a donation to support not only training guide dog puppies, but all the other services they offer to blind people.

How do you hear a timer or a fire alarm if you’re totally deaf? Maybe your dog can do it for you:

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People NZ.

Elvis is Northland’s first official hearing dog and alerts Leanne Platjes to important noises like alarms or people knocking at the door.

Leanne, who is almost 100 percent deaf, says Elvis gives her confidence, companionship and security.

…Elvis responds to sounds like someone at the door or timers by pawing Leanne on the leg.

When she asks where is it? he leads her to the source of the noise.

[Via : Elvis is no hound dog | Stuff.co.nz.]

What is a Hearing Dog?

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People NZ is a charitable trust which rescues young dogs of any breed and trains them to be hearing dogs:

… most Hearing Dogs are rescued from Animal Rescue Centres as pups or young dogs. …

Fortunately pedigree isn’t important — but being friendly, intelligent and responsive to sounds is. Which is why Hearing Dogs come in all shapes and sizes and almost every breed and cross-breed you could think of.

[Via : What is a Hearing Dog - Hearing Dogs.]

Training costs $11,500 for each dog, which is then matched to a deaf person for free.

The dogs are approved by the government to go anywhere with their deaf owner.

I think there’s one thing all dog owners agree on — how happy your dog is to see you:

moar funny pictures.

Image from cheezburger.com, by dEbBiE-o.

A few weeks ago I mentioned in When dogs attack; and what to do about it a woman who had been set on by a pack of 8 pig dogs. It was a horrific attack that left the victim badly injured.

I can’t imagine being subjected to that kind of attack, but if I were I suspect my emotions would rule and I’d be out for harsh penalties and revenge. I’d probably also be terrified of dogs.

It’s heartening to read today that the victim isn’t responding in that way at all:

Mrs Christensen said yesterday she did not want [Tara] Tuhakaraina [owner of the dogs] to be given a jail sentence. “I don’t bear any grudges towards Tara. She has made a mistake and the best outcome would be a monetary fine, and not to be put in prison.”

Tuhakaraina should not be able to own a dog for five years, she said. …

“I haven’t been put off dogs, I’ll just be more careful in the future … I would like to run again but I will take someone with me next time.”

[Via : Dog attack victim wants owner fined, not jailed | Stuff.co.nz.]

That’s courage.

We try to keep the news on this blog upbeat, and reflect on the jobs dogs do, research information, their benefits for our health and welfare, and so on. But we do need to keep in mind that dogs can be dangerous, sometimes extremely dangerous.

In watching the News reports we see far too many incidents of dogs attacking and harming people. Recently in New Zealand a jogger was set upon by a pack of pig dogs — dogs trained to assist in hunting wild pigs:

The eight dogs, aged between 6 months and 2 years, were killed by Animal Control yesterday. The parents of the pig dogs, Sky and Rusty, were taken to the pound as a precaution. The last of the eight pups to be rounded up, called Number 1, fought viciously when captured.

A neighbour said his children were often wary of the dogs, keeping their distance from the property.

“Those dogs are bad news – they are quite intimidating, rushing to the gate when you walk past,” he said.

[Via : Dogs destroyed after mauling - National - NZ Herald News.]

The jogger was severely injured in the attack, and probably only survived because other people nearby were able to help get the dogs off her.

Dogs can be unpredictable too (just like people), as explained in this article about a couple killed by roaming dogs in the USA:

What caused a generally docile pack of dogs to maul a UGA librarian and her husband, a former professor at the university, will never be known, but slight changes to routine may have precipitated the onslaught.

[Via : Dog attacks as unpredictable as they are rare | ajc.com.]

Which doesn’t mean we should generally fear dogs, any more than we fear the kinds of random acts of human violence that take place around us.

It probably does mean though that we should be alert to possible dangers around us, just as in other areas of our lives.

[Just to ward off possible misinterpretations here: I'm in no way suggesting anyone who has been attacked by a dog has in any way 'invited' or 'provoked' the attack. I'm definitely not saying that these victims of such horrific attacks did anything wrong.]

If walking down an empty and unfamiliar street at night I’ll stick to the better lit side of the street and walk assertively and swiftly to my destination.

An even better choice would be to avoid that kind of situation in the first place. My caution comes from the possibility of being attacked by an unknown person.

When it comes to dogs it seems the best strategies are to stay calm and relaxed:

Dog experts say unprovoked attacks are rare, but when they do occur the results can be serious. …

“First of all, don’t panic,” says Dan Abdelnoor, dog behaviourist. “Stay calm. Stay relaxed, and don’t invite the dog to you by looking at it, turning towards it, moving towards it, speaking towards it.” …

“The other thing is to stand up strong, tall, relaxed confident — and just say calmly to the dog, ‘go away’.”

[Via : 3 News > Lifestyle > Story > What to do if you're attacked by a dog.]

While some of us keep dogs as pets and companions, others put them to work guarding, sniffing out items of interest, protecting, guiding, and generally working hard.

In Australia the University of Sydney is carrying out a survey to find out just what working dogs do, how they are trained, which breeds are best suited to which tasks, and just how many dogs are ‘employed’:

dogs of all shapes and sizes are under the magnifying glass for Australia’s first working dog survey, which aims to find how to get the most out of man’s best friend.

The data on various types of canines — from military mutts to sporting dogs — will then be passed on to the Federal Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, which wants to make consistent national policies.

The study quizzes the owners of government, service and sport dogs about how they train, handle, house and care for their animals through an online survey.

Co-ordinator Nick Branson says the study will find out how many working dogs there are Australia-wide and why some training programs work better than others.

[Via : Working like a dog: spotlight on man's best friend - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).]

There’s no doubt that dogs play an important part in our society. It’s good to see this attempt to draw data together.