Dogs in the news…and Happy Easter!

There are several rather interesting, but a little depressing dog stories in the news today.  We have yet another story that says the Obamas are close to announcing that they have chosen a dog for their girls.

 

 

Will a Portuguese Water Dog be the future First Dog? Does anyone still care?

Public awaits First Dog news with bated breath

A White House dog announcement is imminent.

The Obama girls are getting a male Portuguese water dog puppy, according to hints dropped by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin during a radio interview in Chicago.

 

Ho hum.  I think we’ll all believe it when (and if) it happens at this point.  They’ve been promising something since the campaign.

 

An Associated Press story reports that tighter standards for commercial dog breeders are being proposed in Wisconsin.

 

Standards for dog breeders proposed

Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. – A group of bipartisan legislators say tighter regulations for Wisconsin‘s commercial dog breeders are long overdue. 

 

Their bill would require dog breeders selling more than 25 dogs in a year to be licensed and meet standards of care.

 

Sorry, but this is also ho hum.  The Humane Society of the United States is promoting similar legislation in over 30 states this year and, frankly, these are bad laws.  Not because anyone likes sub-standard kennels or wants to see dogs (and cats) treated badly.  Of course not.  But these bills are generally poorly written and would harm responsible, ethical breeders without improving care and conditions for mistreated animals.  There’s really not a state in the country that doesn’t already have laws regarding animal cruelty and neglect.  How about enforcing the laws that states already have instead of imposing new laws that would hurt all breeders?

 

I did think this story from the L.A. Times blog was rather unique, if somewhat bizarre:

 

Would you fight over his semen?

Divorced couple go to court over disputed dog semen

A divorced couple brought an intriguing case before Michigan family court Judge Cheryl Matthews this week.  Anthony Scully, who remained in Michigan after the couple’s 2002 divorce, and his former wife Karen Scully, now of Florida, appeared in Matthews’ court yesterday over the disputed ownership of dog semen.

 

Mr. and Ms. Scully, both of whom breed bull mastiffs, divided ownership of the dogs they’d once shared when they divorced: Four stayed with him, and she took the remaining two with her to Florida.

 

Both say they legitimately own the banked, frozen semen of Cyrus, Regg and Romeo.

 

The Detroit Free Press reports:

 

“I asked, ‘Am I being punk’d?’ ” Matthews said Wednesday afternoon. “I said, ‘Is this a ‘Candid Camera’ thing?’ ” …

 

–Lindsay Barnett

 

However, with all of that nonsense out ot the way, here is, in my opinion, hands down, the best news story of the day.  It’s an article on Easter egg hunting with your dog from the Examiner.com:

 

Easter egg hunting with your dog

 

The author recommends buying small plastic eggs and filling them with your dog’s favorite treat.  You can hide the eggs in your backyard or living room.  Place them in places where your dog can find them.

 

The author recommends keeping a map of where you hide the eggs and how many you hide.  Your dog may need some help at first.

 

You may want to skip your dog’s breakfast before the big hunt so he is a little more interested in hunting the eggs.  Then feed small meal after the hunt.

 

The author recommends doing multiple hunts to increase the fun for your dog.  You can start off with hiding the eggs in easy places and make it a little harder the next time.

 

If your dog knows some training commands this is a good time to practice some of them.

 

Don’t forget to take video and photos of the Easter egg hunt with your dog.

 

As the author says, be careful because some dogs may want to eat the plastic eggs.

 

I’ve hidden eggs for my dogs and they have a blast with it.  I have to admit that I never thought about using plastic eggs.  One year my mom showed up at my house with a couple of dozen real eggs and some egg dye so we dyed real eggs for them and hid them outside.  The dogs were quite happy to hunt for boiled eggs and eat them.  But, I have very large dogs so they were all right with eating some boiled eggs without it harming them.  I wasn’t afraid that the eggs would hurt them.  If your dogs have any food sensitivities or if they’re small dogs, I wouldn’t do this.

 

One thing you should not do, of course, is to allow your dog to eat chocolate eggs or bunnies.  Remember that chocolate is poisonous to dogs.  And don’t let your dog eat the plastic grass in Easter baskets.  That can become entangled in their stomachs and cause problems.