Puzzle from Dogstuff

Merry Christmas, Dogblog friends! All of us at Dogstuff wish you a wonderful holiday season.

One family in Tupelo is especially thankful this Christmas. Their 16-year-old dog, Nick, who is both blind and deaf, is back home after disappearing on December 5.

Nick, a Westie/teacup poodle mix, is actually named for St. Nicholas, because Brian and Debra Hill got him just before Christmas one year, and he was in their wedding the following December.

When he didn’t come back from a trip outside, the Hills and their daughter Lauren searched everywhere, knocking on neighbors’ doors, combing the woods, and walking, biking, and driving through surrounding neighborhoods.

They had given him up for lost, taken their Christmas picture without him, and bought a commemorative ornament. And then, a week and a half after Nick went missing, a woman tapped on their door to ask if they were looking for a little gray dog. She had found him in a ditch on the side of the road, cleaned him up, and given him to a friend, who still had him.

Nick’s spending lots of time sleeping and being pampered since his return home, and the Hills are grateful to the women who took care of him.

This year has been a tough one for most of us; may we all have things to celebrate, all the same.

Just in case you didn’t get the email, Dogstuff is now offering 10 percent off gift certificates of any size.

Dogstuff gift certificates never expire and are good for anything in our extensive catalog of over 11,000 gifts in about 150 breeds. They can be sent around the world via email, or you can print one out to present in person.

Be sure to order during Dogstuff’s business hours, so we can apply the discount. You can order online by 3 p.m. CST on Christmas Eve and still receive your gift certificate in time for Christmas Day.

And as with everything else you buy online at Dogstuff.com, every gift certificate purchase creates a donation to rescue.

So don’t wait — order now, save for the holidays, and give your dog-loving friends and family members the perfect gift.

These shaggy beasts can weigh as much as 180 pounds

USA Today has the details on China’s craze for Tibetan Mastiffs.

Sabi waits to be reunited with her handler

A few weeks ago we mentioned Sabi, a bomb-sniffing dog who’d been missing in Afghanistan for 14 months.

Well, it turns out she wasn’t exactly missing.

Faith

Faith was born without any front legs. She was rescued by a 17-year-old boy, Reuben Stringfellow, who took the puppy home to his mother, English professor Jude Stringfellow.

Faith learned to walk on her hind legs, and now she walks everywhere that way. She’s gone on tours around the country, and currently spends a lot of time with soldiers, either just returning or about to head out. Reuben, now an E-4 specialist in the Army, looks forward to seeing her when he finishes his tour of duty.

Be sure to watch the video at the link and read the full story.

A different kind of K-9 story, now at Dogstuff

The Israeli Defense Forces have the only K-9 special forces unit in the world. After retirement, many of their dogs go on to work with police departments, including some in the United States.

Miky, who sniffed out explosives in Israel, is now working as a police dog with the Helena, Montana department. There was only one problem when Miky came to Montana — he was trained in Hebrew, and didn’t understand English commands.

A local rabbi stepped in to help and taught Sgt. John Fosket, Miky’s partner, how to pronounce the unfamiliar words. “Once I learned the correct Hebrew commands, our relationship changed and our bond intensified,” Sgt. Fosket said. The team were even called in by the Secret Service on a recent presidential visit.