I love this photo.

(Photo credit: Sharon Cantillon, Buffalo News)

To me, it captures perfectly the ideal human-pet relationship: a healthy, happy, bright-eyed animal with a loving owner.

That’s Christa Lombardo in the photo, with her border collie Sam. Thing is, when Christa first met Sam at the animal shelter, his name was Mollie:

Lombardo and her mom took the dog into the fenced exercise area, where the happy dog wagged her tail and frolicked around and squatted several times to urinate, the typical female posture. [...]

After completing the paperwork and paying the adoption fee, Lombardo took Mollie to her grandfather’s house in Clarence, to show her off and give her a good bath.

And there Lombardo got a surprise. “I was washing her, and I said, ‘Wait a second! This is clearly not a female!’” His secret out, let loose in the yard, the dog immediately started lifting his leg to urinate. Lombardo says, “I was laughing, saying to him, ‘You squatted to pee, you hid your parts, all to get adopted!’”

Lombardo called the shelter and said, “I was there just about an hour ago, and adopted Mollie — and it’s not Mollie anymore.” She says, “They offered to take him back, but of course I was already in love with him.” So City Hall was called, his paperwork straightened out, and Sam was legal and properly registered under his correct gender.

Clearly, Sam’s subterfuge didn’t do him any harm. Just look at that picture.

Jimmy Stewart, on the Johnny Carson show, reads a poem about his dog Beau.

Available at Dogstuff

John Kelly’s column in the Washington Post has a collection of anecdotes from readers about their dogs.

There’s Chloe the Labrador, who punished herself after misbehaving; Fred the stealth dog, whose contortions allowed him to be both on the floor and on the (forbidden) bed; and more.

Reading them reminded me of the first dog I ever knew, Lassie, who was a German shepherd/golden retriever/collie mix. (One of my older brothers insists that I was responsible for her less-than-imaginative name. I have no memory of this, but if so, I was only 3 years old at the time, so I plead the ignorance of youth.)

The first house we lived in with Lassie had a long hallway that we kids used for races. Each race was preceded by the classic “Ready-set-go!” and followed by Lassie barking excitedly as she followed us. We only lived in that house for a year before we moved; but years later, any one of us saying “Ready … set …” would be enough to get her barking again.

What about you, readers? Any favorite dog tales you’d like to share?

Ricochet was born into a program that trained service dogs. She was great at learning to turn on lights, open doors, pull down zippers, and so on.

But there was a problem … one that ultimately led through sadness, to a new, joyful direction for Richochet’s life.

Baltic being rescued

The dog that became a celebrity after floating 75 miles down Poland’s Vistula River into the Baltic Sea will make his new home with the crewman who rescued him.

After Baltic’s rescue, six people came forward claiming to be his original owner, but Baltic, despite being a friendly dog, showed no signs of recognition toward any of them.

So Adam Buczynski, the ship’s mechanic who pulled the shivering, frightened dog from the ice floe, has adopted Baltic as his own.

Cheers to Baltic and Mr. Buczynski, and may they have many happy years together.

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.

Buddy went from 35 pounds to 19 during his ordeal

Nobody’s sure how he managed it, but he did, and now Buddy’s back home. NBC News has the details on the beagle’s story of survival.

Melissa Joseph and Baxter

Please read Janet Kinosian’s beautiful post about Baxter, a certified therapy dog. At 19.5 years, Baxter was the world’s oldest therapy dog, working — at the end of his own life — with end-of-life patients at a hospice.

This video shows Baxter with some of his patients:

A book about Baxter will raise money for various rescue charities. Baxter died not long ago, but even in death he will bring comfort to others.

Koda with rescuers

When a young family went camping in the rough terrain of the Yukon, they encountered a yellow dog with porcupine quills in its face. They helped pull the quills out, little knowing that the dog would soon repay their kindness beyond measure.

Not long after, as they set up camp, their two-year-old boy disappeared into the heavy brush. When search-and-rescue teams finally found him, nearly 25 hours later, the dog, Koda, was still with him.

Searchers said it was remarkable that the boy, dressed only in a T-shirt, had survived overnight without going into hypothermia, and that Koda had doubtless helped him stay warm and calm.

Koda’s owner, who had been one of the searchers, said that she had rescued the dog from the streets several months earlier. Koda was clearly “meant to be there at that time,” she said, and so she gave him to the boy’s family.

Koda will no doubt spend the rest of his life a most beloved pet.

Card from Dogstuff

A woman shares fond reminiscences of a special Golden Retriever who touched the lives of all she met.

Kujo escaped with only minor injuries

Kujo, a 120-pound Presa Canario, went under his family’s deck to get away from a storm. But he broke through a piece of rotting plywood and fell 30 feet down an abandoned well. After several hours, and a lot of teamwork, he was safe above ground again.

MSNBC has the rest of the story, including video.

PWD picture frame from Dogstuff

ABC News has a recap of First Dog Bo’s early days in the White House.

The media storm has resulted in a Bo baseball card, complete with factoids (for instance, though he’s a Portuguese Water Dog, he can’t swim). There’s also video at the link of Bo’s close encounter with a reporter’s microphone.

Magnet from Dogstuff

An 89-year-old man who was stranded for two days after his ATV overturned was protected from circling cougars by his “big black dog,” Jake.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has the details.

Traveling in style (card from Dogstuff)

An Israeli woman couldn’t bear the thought of putting her boxer in the cargo hold while they flew from Paris to Israel. So she paid for the entire business section of an El Al flight so the dog could be with her.

The UPI article doesn’t explain why the woman was unable to purchase a single seat for her dog. Perhaps the airline was concerned that other passengers would object.

Jewel basks in the sun

We know that dogs’ olfactory abilities are amazing, so much better than humans’. Dogs’ keen sense of smell even has health care applications.

And we know that dogs sometimes demonstrate extraordinarily nurturing traits with people and other animals.

Jewel is a special dog. Her person, Oakland, CA resident Charlotte Cook, shares Jewel’s story.