Mayor To Rule Rainbow Bridge

They say only the good die young, maybe that’s why I’m a ripe 16 and a half years old. Here’s the story of an elected official, Mayor Cochran, who died at the age of 12. Yup, a mayor that was elected to office at the young age of eight, serving four years before his death. You can read all about it here.

Junior Cochran, the mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky has died at the age of twelve. A little young for a mayor you might think, but that’s 84 in dog years!

Yes that’s right, Junior Cochran was a black labrador. Junior was voted mayor of Rabbit Hash in 2004 by a landslide victory after receiving over 3,000 votes, and making him only the second dog to ever become mayor of the town.

The high profile Cochran rose to fame convicting O.K. Simpson for the attack and murder of two rabbits. The notoriety he gained from the showcase trial was the springboard to his landslide victory. Read more

Dexter

First off, I’m a big fan of the show Dexter. A vigilante, serial killer with a dry sense of humor, how could you not like it? So this story caught my eye, if only for the fact that the canine involved was named Dexter. Regardless, it’s still a tremendous tail…

A couple told yesterday how their pet labrador plunged over the edge of a 115ft cliff and landed unharmed in the sea below.

Dexter the one-year-old labrador was unharmed by his fall at Old Harry Rocks

The one-year-old, named Dexter, survived the drop without injury and was even able to doggy-paddle to a lifeboat that had been called to rescue him.

The dog was with owners Jonathan and Christine Dodd, who were out for a walk at Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, Dorset, on their eighth wedding anniversary.

Mr Dodd, 40, said he and his wife were about to put Dexter on a lead when the excited dog saw the sea and jumped off the cliff.

Yeah, it was the sea that made Dexter run away and jump off a cliff. Nothing to do with the owners, I’m sure. Nothing to see here, just move along.

“I couldn’t bring myself to look over the edge as I thought he was a goner. There was no way he could have survived that fall, it was a sheer drop.

“There was a party of schoolchildren standing further along the cliff edge and they gave out a shriek when they saw Dexter go over. But then one of them said he was OK and was swimming towards the shore.”
Luckily, Dexter had bounced off the uneven surface of the cliff and the shallow water broke his fall.

But due to the secluded location of the beach the couple could not walk down to fetch him.

Mr Dodd, from Hilton, near Blandford, summoned the emergency services and the Swanage lifeboat crew arrived in a rigid inflatable boat.

Mr Dodd, whose wife is a clinical pharmacist at Salisbury hospital, said: “Dexter normally hates boats but he must have been so relieved to see this one because he doggy-paddled out towards it.

“I met the lifeboat further along the beach and I was amazed because there wasn’t a single scratch on him. He is a very white dog but he is a bit pale now after what happened.”

Becky Mack, from the Swanage lifeboat, said: “Some dogs are just incredibly lucky and Dexter is one of them.”

Some humans are lucky too. Just look at how lucky my parents are to have me.

Mad Max

Another story about dog napping or car theft? Not so…

Doggone it, my truck’s gone!

Police said Charles McCowan parked his pickup in front of a mini-mart Wednesday, leaving his 80-pound Boxer named Max in the passenger seat. When he came out, the truck and Max were gone.

McCowan called police, assuming the truck had been stolen. When officers arrived, they found the pickup across the street in a fast-food parking lot but had no idea how it got there.

Never understimate the power of the munchy. If it was me and I had access to a truck with keys in it, I would have cruised over to Sam the Butcher’s place for some freshly cured ham hocks. Looks like Max was a bit hungrier and opted for something quicker at Burger King instead.

In security video shown Thursday on KCAL-TV, the truck can be seen rolling backward out of the store lot and across the street, threading its way through traffic and out of view.

Sounds like Max got the hang of driving pretty quickly. Heck, he even drove it backwards.

I remember operating an automobile my first, and only, time as if it were yesterday. With that experience I realized why people drive 100 feet down the road instead of walking. It’s not just because they’re lazy, they are, but because they have a couple hundred horses under the hood at their beckon call. Granted, when I was driving, my team of horses was lead by Mr. Ed but it was a great feeling nonetheless. Don’t worry, you’ll read all about that adventure in my book.

Both Max and the truck emerged without a scratch.

Without a scratch, a smile on his face and a belly full of USDA Grade ‘C’ hamburger meat.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

You know I’m not afraid of anything besides needles and blood. That’s why the following story impresses me so.

HOWELL, MICH. - He’s donated blood 20 times and is being honoured by the Livingston County chapter of the American Red Cross.Not bad for a 200-pound, 2-year-old English mastiff who answers to the name Lurch. He’ll receive the chapter’s “Pet’s Best Friend” award at the Thursday event in Howell.

He’ll also receive the coveted Golden Vampire for “Best Giver” in the Budget Blood category.

“We’re doing something different this year,” executive director Diane Serra said. “We’re honouring Lurch because he’s actually donated blood.”

Lurch’s owner, Joni Melvin-Thiede of Gregory, said he donates blood about once every four weeks. He started out an emergency veterinary clinic in Chicago where Ms. Melvin-Thiede worked until moving to Michigan a year ago.

This story isn’t coagulating the way it should for me. Something’s amiss. You think Melvin-Thiede (or is it just Thiede and he goes by Joni Melvin) is donating Lurch’s blood for money? C’mon, once every four weeks? That’s practically one donation a month. Read more

70 Miles To Graceland

Wow…what an amazing story.

IRAQ — Their friendship began half way across the world in Iraq, when St. Petersburg native Major Brian Dennis encountered a mixed breed dog in Anbar Province. The dog had been savagely abused and his ears cut off.
The marine decided to call him Nubbs.

Nubbs? That’s like calling Captain Hook…uhmm…Captain Hook. At least he wasn’t named Shep Spot…you know…two first names just like his owner.

In e-mails to his mother, Marsha Cargo in Tierra Verde, Major Dennis wrote how he was “dumbfounded” when he learned Nubbs’ ears were cut off purposely by an Iraqi to make him tough and more alert.

Any dog will tell you floppy ears, although cute, only serve to provide a safe haven to extremist bacteria. Once the ears were cut off and put on a key chain, Nubbs never had a single ear infection. Now, Muhammed’s Veterinary and Culinary Clinic has one less patient. Read more

Big Trouble In Little China

I don’t really have much to say about this article other than to point to the sheer brevity of it. I’ll post it in its entirety here.

Dog brings home buns

(China Daily)

Updated: 2007-11-10 16:33

A fair-haired dog has become well known on a housing estate in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province.
The dog, called Er Bao, not only goes to the shop and buys buns for its master, surnamed Fang, but also looks after a litter of puppies by taking them out for walks.
Fang said her one-year-old dog could sense what she wants and claimed she turned down an offer of 30,000 yuan ($4,000) from someone who wanted to buy the hound.

(Dongfang Jinbao News)

This sounds like a truly amazing dog. Certainly Er Bao is worthy of more than 79 words, no? Either the China Daily is a very small newspaper or it has a lot of stories in it. Either way, it looks like journalism has a way to go in China.

On a side note, I used to shop for my mother but lost the privilege when the buns I went out to purchase came back with teeth marks in them. That, and the fact the store always seemed to be out of hamburger revoked my grocery getting rights.

Holland Days Sauce

As most of the regular readers here know, I always wanted to work in law enforcement. This article on two, green card carrying members of the University of Texas Police Department makes me more jealous than ever that I’m stuck patrolling the perimeter of my humble yard.

At the front lines of UT’s sometimes volatile crime scenes, two canines named Robby and Maatje trot, sniff for bombs and prepare to apprehend anyone who may pose a danger.

As recently as Monday, when a bomb threat was placed at the University Teaching Center, Robby was there, diligently smelling each and every classroom for one of 18 explosive odors he has been trained to seek. Robby, a 75-pound Belgian Malinois, found no bomb, and the building was eventually declared safe for classes to resume.

A little known fact that Maatje and Robby shared with me: the most dangerous bomb is the one his handler, Officer Jason Taylor, let’s loose in the patrol car.

Read more

Thumper Saves The Forest

Yup, we’ve done it again. This time saving a man, a wife and a grandson. Oh yeah, and a cat too.

GREENVILLE, Maine - Thumper, a black Labrador retriever, is getting credit for saving a Greenville man when a fire swept through his home.

Roland Cote said his wife and their 7-year-old grandson were away when the blaze started early Sunday in a converted two-story garage. He said Thumper grabbed him by the arm to wake him, leaving just enough time for him to dial 911 before fleeing the fast-moving fire.

While the dog is the hero, a cat is the bad guy in this story.

Cote said the fire marshal investigator believes the blaze was started when Princess, the family cat, tipped over a kerosene lantern. Cote says he and his pets escaped safely, but he says Princess did get her tail singed by the fire.

… and cats wonder why people prefer dogs 3 : 1 over them.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Chalk up another life saving act by a dog.

Emmett Hawley had just slipped into bed at about 11 p.m. when Sparkles, his 6-year-old schauzer-terrier mix, started barking furiously.

At first Hawley didn’t pay attention. But when he began to be nudged and scratched by Sparkles, Hawley knew something wasn’t right.

In my world, nudging and scratching just means I want a treat not that I want to save your life.

“I told her, `What’s wrong, girl? You sick?”’ the 84-year-old Augusta resident recalled. “I had no idea why she was acting that way. She’d never been like that before.”

So Hawley got out of bed, entered the living room and plopped down on the couch to see if Sparkles would calm down.

And that’s when he knew why she was acting so strange.

“I ain’t got as good a smeller as she does, but I did smell something funny,” Hawley said.

So he called Consumers Energy. When a worker arrived, he smelled it, too, went down to the basement and found a natural gas valve leaking.

“There’s something in their smellers that can smell things we can’t,” Hawley said of dogs. “If it wasn’t for (Sparkles), I might not have been here today.”

At 84, I’m thinking not only does Hawley not have as good a smeller as Sparkles, but he probably doesn’t have as good a bowel movement either.

Al Qaeda Tastes Like Chicken

Who better to serve in the War on Terrorism than us canines? This interesting article talks about the recruitment of flunky dogs and their journey to becoming dog heroes.

There are struggles in training canines to become great additions to society as noted here.

Many of the Labradors have been dismissed from guide-dog schools. “We have dogs that are bouncing off the wall, wild-horse dogs. If you have a handicapped person with him, it’s going [to] look like a chariot race,” Bohan says.

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, that was a funny line. I know Ben Hur would have approved as would the British Wheelchair Racing Association.

Pucci [a prisoner] threw a party for “my baby girl” [Mary Jane] who was leaving to fight al-Qaida. “I may be a criminal, but I’m an American criminal,” he said. His voice caught. “A little piece of me goes out to fight for the American way - to keep the Yankee games going.”

When he was young, had Pucci made the right choice to become a Mets fan, he may have been president today.

Ricky Bobby and Mary Jane … thank you for your service.

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