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Maybe it was a snake that caused Rex to take up a pointing stance near a road kill kangaroo. That’s what his owner, Leonie Allan thought as she hollered for her dog to get back to the yard.

Moments later the pointer mix obeyed, trotting back to the yard carrying a relaxed,very much alive baby kangaroo which he carefully deposited at his owner’s feet. Delighted, Ms. Allan, of Torquay, Victoria, Australia, watched as Rex nuzzled the joey who responded to him without fear, cuddling and jumping up to him for licks.

According to Ms. Allan, she and Rex, a 10 year- old German Shorthaired Pointer mix had passed the dead kangaroo earlier in the day while out for a walk but at the time Rex had showed no special interest in the carcass. It was later, as Allan was out front doing yardwork, that Rex wandered back to the carcass where he must have sensed the little roo, known as a joey, and extracted him gently from deep within his mother’s pouch. Kangaroos and other native fauna often fall prey to cars at night, so the road kill was nothing out of the ordinary. Most baby kangaroos whose mothers are killed by cars are killed in the same collision. Those who survive usually suffer shock and are unable to fend for themselves.

The joey, believed to be about four months old, seemed relaxed and completely at ease with Rex, marvelled Tehree Gordon, of Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary. Dogs are often criticized for attacking local fauna, in this case unjustly. “It’s a lesson that dogs can be raised to be familiar and compatible with wildlife,” the UPI quoted sanctuary director Gordon. “You just have to teach them right from wrong.”

If the joey wasn’t panicked by a giant fuzzy dog face peeking into and extracting him from his cozy resting place, it may be because he was still about three months away from his first peek at the outside world.

Like other marsupials, kangaroo babies face a daunting task at birth.

The young is born thirty-three days after mating. The joey is blind, hairless and barely the size of a kidney bean. Nevertheless, it crawls from the birth canal using its rudimentary forelimbs and, unassisted, finds its way into the pouch where it attaches to one of four teats . It will use this teat exclusively until weaning.

A day or two after the birth, the mother will mate again, but the resulting embryo will go dormant until the joey vacates the pouch or dies. At that time the embryo begins to develop a process known as embryonic dipause.

Rex’s joey, christened Rex Jr. has been taken to Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary where he’ll stay until he’s given the green light to be released into the wild which for most joeys is about eighteen months of age.

Introducing an occasional series profiling celebrated figures from the past and the dogs on whom they doted.

And who better to inaugurate this feature than the Iron Chancellor himself, Prince Otto Von Bismarck (1815-1898)?

First Chancellor Of Germany and Prime Minister of Prussia under William I, Bismark came to fame as the unifier of Germany in the 19th century after the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War. A great dog lover, he gravitated toward (what else?) big beautiful black Great Danes, two of whom he called “Tyras,” after the Greek name for the Ukranian river Dniester (which, before World War II, formed the border between Romania and the Soviet Union) .

But, we digress. Tyras I was Bismarck’s constant companion during his studies of law and agriculture at the U of Gottingen. Tyras II, another magnificent black Great Dane, given to him by Kaiser Wilhelm II, was known to be Bismarck’s companion in his old age.

(Ruth Maystead image, from Dogstuff’s notecard collection)

Devoted to his dogs, the Iron Chancellor spoke of the passing of Tyras I:

“A few minutes before the faithful old dog died I spoke to him. He had not the strength to wag his tail; but he opened his eyes, and as he looked at me an expression came over his face that told me—as plainly as if he had spoken—that he recognized me, and wished me well.”

Bismarck’s summed up his attitude toward canines this way ” Great men have great dogs”.

Courtesty of jigzone.com, a dog named “Rusty” makes quite a puzzle……

(Click the Play arrow in the bottom left corner of the puzzle to scramble Rusty and re-assemble him at Jigzone.)

Our longtime staffer, Jacob, offers a hymn of praise to the virtues of a beloved dog

In a world where many look to Brittany Spears or Brad Pitt for some sort of ideal, others continue to ask, “Who, among us, is worthy to be praised?”

“Surely no man!” comes the laughing response.

Indeed, surely no man. And yet I boast that I have encountered an unswerving soul in the earth - a soul of more grace and longsuffering than you or I, my friend.

Some misguided theologians have wrongly concluded that animals have no souls. But the fools have clearly never met Wallace.

You see, Wallace appeared one day, walking methodically on the curb of the street, with neck bent and eyes to the ground as he advanced in the silent countenance of the downtrodden. We saw he was a castaway, or perhaps recently escaped from a life that had become unbearable. He slowed to a nervous halt before us and sat, still gazing at the pavement. He wore no identification, but his unspoken tribulations were as evident in his eyes as pure humility was in his demeanor. Thus, he came into the membership and service of my family. Observing him ever since, I have been continually impressed by his wisdom and prudence, convicted of my own shortcomings in the face of his noble gestures.

Wallace, Scottie-Yorkish-American:
Although his ancestry is unchronicled, Wallace is clearly a descendent of European immigrants, doubtless of a noble lord’s house, who, coming to America, exchanged a pureblooded inheritance to embrace the mores of liberal democracy.

Wallace and the English language:
We do not quite know how Wallace learned to understand rudimentary English, but noted early his tendency to sit between people, look into their faces and turn from one to the other as they spoke, lifting his ears in reaction to certain words as he listened. Attempting to choose a language to command him, we quickly discovered he had already adopted ours as a second - just as  immigrants have in the past, embracing English as a cornerstone of our national unity and identity. Thus, we may speak to Wallace in complete sentences.

Wallace and foreign policy:
During visits home, I like to meditate outside with a cigarette before bed. Wallace is keenly aware of this ritual, which to him is an occasion of joy beyond my comprehension. When I, like a commander-in-chief, release him into the front yard, Wallace flies into action, securing our homeland like a tiny, black Stealth Fighter. He seeks an elusive foe, Miss Kitty - a feline who, unbeknownst to Wallace, has established a surveillance stronghold on our roof. Though he cannot see her, Wallace’s tenacity shows that he is rightly convinced of her presence within our borders, and seems intent on maintaining a pre-emptive policy of unilateral defense and aggression to meet her threat.

Wallace and gender roles:
We may never fully understand Wallace’s feelings about being neutered.

Yet his maleness is manifest in his nature, unalterable by surgery or outward cosmetic. He is first to lift his leg in the neighborhood, last to admit defeat when wrestling the strong arm of his master.

Unlike many dogs of his stature, Wallace does not “piddle” when excited, but often chooses to spin his body in violent, premeditated circles to communicate an overabundance of joy, not unlike King David, who gloried in the presence of the Lord.

Wallace and the sinless nature:
He trips along with gentle confidence, on little pads that have ever-trotted upon right pathways. His heart, though compressed within his miniature ribcage, swells with love and loyalty beyond its size. In obeying his inborn purposes, he sins not.

The eternal life of Wallace:
Even so, it seems Wallace has mistakenly guessed that I must be the Christ. That is to say, he looks with eyes of absolute faith upon me, as Lord and Master. He appears to understand that his freedom exists, not despite his boundaries and my authority, but because of them.

A dog’s glory is to follow its master to the end, if only to die at his feet. A wild, untrained dog can survive, but not happily, because it is the dog’s very nature to serve, trust and follow. But alone and without discipline, a dog’s existence proves meaningless, worthless and miserable.

Thank God for Wallace, who sits even now beneath his favorite tree, where there are none to make him afraid. In him there is much to be hoped.

A 2006 study stunned the scientific community when 5 ordinary pet dogs trained for just three weeks were able to accurately detect lung cancer 99 percent of the time. The dogs, who also achieved an 88 percent degree of accuracy (comparable to mammography) detecting breast cancer, were the focus of a study devised by the Pine Street Foundation, a private cancer research foundation based in San Anselmo, Ca.

The extraordinary ability of dogs, who have been shown to be able to distinguish certain chemicals diluted to a rate of one to a trillion, first came to light as a result of a case study in which a dog constantly sniffed a lesion on his owner. This lesion was found to be a malignant melanoma. That led to studies which showed dogs could detect bladder cancer in dried urine samples.

In this study, three Labradors and two Portuguese Water Dogs, (on loan from Guide Dogs for the Blind), successfully sussed out 55 cases of lung cancer and 31 cases of breast cancer using breath samples, differentiating them from the scents of 83 healthy control subjects. The dogs were clicker trained in the manner used to train bomb detection canines. They were cued to to sit when detecting a malignancy.

None of the test subjects had begun chemotherapy and smokers were included in both groups. Breath samples were collected in the same rooms on the same days. The only assistant who knew which breath samples came from cancer patients was out of the room whenever the dogs were working.

In 2007, Pine Street Foundation began chemical analysis on collected breath samples to try to figure out what the dogs are cueing on. Plans are underway to launch a study which should show whether the dogs will be useful in diagnosing early stage ovarian cancer.

TV PREVIEW!

It’s not your average buddy series. Sure, it’s plot-heavy with good looking guys having adventures in the woods; but not a muscle car, or a sheriff, and from what I saw, not a hot babe in sight.

These guys live a dog lover’s dream, spending 24/7 with puppies on 500 acres of in Upstate New York. They are, of course, the Brothers of New Skete, and Animal Planet debuts their weekly show “Divine Canine” April 16. Famous for their training methods which rely on building a bond with the German Shepherd puppies they raise, the monks, led by Brother Ambrose will showcase the pups along with outside dogs brought to their training facility.

At this time the network hasn’t detailed the storyline of each episode, but the ensemble cast includes:

	Brother Ambrose Brother Ambrose has had many different jobs including photographer, dishwasher, vocations director and kennel assistant!   Brother Christopher Brother Christopher runs the dog training program and has helped author several of the monastery’s dog books.   Brother David in addition to working with the dogs, Brother David has worked in New Skete Farms since his arrival at New Skete in 1977.   Brother John In addition to many other duties, Brother John is responsible for the breeding program at New Skete.   Brother Luke As an allergy sufferer, Brother Luke did not come to New Skete as a dog-lover. His opinion of dogs has definitely changed.   Brother Marc Meet one of the founders of New Skete who also designed the monastery buildings.   Brother Stavros Brother Stavros oversees the liturgy and general order of things pertaining to New Skete’s churches, including ringing the bells.

SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON’S DOG AND OTHER E-DOG NETWORKING TALES

Toronto Cockapoo Annabelle took social networking to a new species with the introduction of Facebook add-on Dogbook last June. Designed by her assistants Alexandre and Geoffrey Roche, more than 91,000 dogs have personal listings which allow them, with a little help from their humans, to send meet, greet, and pet one another.

Facebook, as you may know, is a place to meet and greet. Surpassing My Space as the college and high school internet networking spot of the moment, Facebook is the sticky cyber black hole that sucked this house into its vortex about eighteen months ago . Lured into building a profile by my son Gavin and his brother-for -a-year, our wild Siberian exchange student, Edik, I found Facebook an easy way to send and receive photos from relatives and keep up with the travels of our foreign student friends, as well as check out the latest postings from LOL Cats. After a year on Facebook, my list of friends is a big fat twenty-two.

Last summer, shortly after Dogbook went live, I posted five profiles for our pups and within a week, they were getting friend requests from every continent. Searchable by geographic area, breed, and name, our Malamute -cross, Cootie Bug was in contact with Rocky Balboa (Rottmann, Norway), Hagrid (Husky-Wolf, Canada), Face ( Rottie, Turkey) and twenty other dogs in a few weeks

Invited to be a friend of British Border Collie Pippin, our recent addition, Boo Radley ( Border Collie-Great Dane) was a conduit for me to the British short coated Border Collie subgroup where I learned helpful breed-specific health information.

One particularly appealing feature of Dogbook is the instant notification feature which allows lost dog information to be circulated instantly to everyone registered on Dogbook. Whether this would be very useful, I don’t know, but a quick check of the “dogs nearby” feature, showed fifty-four Dogbook registered dogs within a 2.5 km distance. Who knows how many people would pay attention to the posting, but I would certainly take take advantage of the service.

Dogbook crested the 1 million member mark only nine months after signing on. Scrolling through online albums posted by their ardent caretakers, it’s evident that this puppy networking spot has touched a warm spot .

If you’d like to learn more about Facebook and its Dogbook application, go to: http://www.facebook.com/home

You can add the Dogbook application after you register for Facebook. For help setting up Dogbook, EHow.com has a helpful article : http://www.ehow.com/how_2154793_use-dogbook-application-facebook.html

When your dogpack is registered come over and say Hi!  Just browse for Cootie-Bug, Boo Radley, or Pansy. They like to get mail.

(That’s Pansy)

Nearly 75 years since appearing among the top ten, Bulldogs have replaced Miniature Schnauzers on the American Kennel Club’s annual list of the most popular breeds in America based on 2007 registration figures. The Bulldog’s climb into the AKC’s top echelon has been steady. From a 26 ranking in 1997 to the 18 in 2002, 12 in 2006 it’s clear that something about that face makes the Bulldog a 21st century darling. The Labrador Retriever continues to hang on to the top spot where it has been since 1991.

Most Popular Dogs in the US - 2007
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Dachshund
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10. Bulldog

While 16 years is a long time at top, Poodles hold the record for longest consecutive term as America’s dog, with Cocker Spaniels leading the list as the top breed for 25 years, though not consecutively. Historically leading the number one list, Boston Terriers, German Shepherd Dogs and Beagles.

The list reflects registrations from across the country, but a look at the city by city listing of leading dogs is often counterintuitive. Dobies and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels make the list in Atlanta, while Bulldogs, the ubiquitous mascot of the University of Georgia remain out of the top group.

In Austin, Dogstuff Central territory, Golden Retrievers are second rather than fourth place (are we surprised)? Pugs and Chihuahuas edge out less portable breeds.

In Seattle, Bulldogs show up at eighth here, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are fourth. Nationally, this breed has increased in popularity more than any other of AKC’s 159 breeds in the past decade (up 406%) but is twentyh-fifth overall.

Orlando is one of the few cities where the Labrador is not numero uno. Holding that position is the Yorkie, with Labs at number two. For some reason German Shepherds are enjoying tremendous popularity - rocketing from ninth position in 2006 to third place in this year’s ranking.

Here at Dogstuff East, the list holds a few surprises. Bulldogs don’t make the Washington DC Top Ten despite being Georgetown University’s mascot. I can attest to the popularity of Boston Terriers, number eight on the local list. They seem to show up everywhere with their Pug buddies (number nine locally). And, while Rotties slide in the rankings nationally, here they hold down the tenth spot.

See listings for America’s 50 largest cities here http://www.akc.org/reg/topdogsbycity.cfm