As nearly anyone who has adopted a dog or cat from a shelter can attest, there’s something special about a rescued pet; it’s as if the animal senses he’s been given a second chance at life. That’s certainly the case with Juno, a Belgian Malinois who was rescued from a shelter just days before she was to be euthanized. But since coming to live with her family in Alcoa, Tenn., Juno has taken on the role of rescuer to four-year-old Lucas Hembree.

Lucas suffers from Sanfilippo syndrome, an inherited, metabolic disease caused by the absence or malfunctioning of an enzyme needed to break down long sugar molecules. As the disease progresses, children lose the ability to speak, walk and eat. The disease also causes severe neurological damage that leads to aggressive behavior, hyperactivity and seizures.

“The most catastrophic thing parents hear when they learn their child has this disease is that there’s no cure or treatment available,” says Lucas’ father, Chester.

Unless that changes, Lucas isn’t expected to live past the age of 15 and may be in a vegetative state by the time he is eight. Realizing that every moment is extra precious, Chester and his wife, Jennifer, want their son to experience as much as he can while he still has the capacity to enjoy it.

So when the disease started to take a toll on Lucas’ joints, Chester looked into getting a service dog to keep Lucas steady when he walked. “I was told that a service dog would cost at least $15,000, and that Lucas wasn’t a good candidate because of his deteriorating abilities and his behavior,” Chester says. “I refused to accept this answer.”

A combination of prayer and persistence led Chester to Juno. “I came across a posting about her on a rescue group’s website,” he says. “I had the feeling in my gut that I had to go see this dog.”

The whole family made the two-hour trip to meet Juno, who was being held at an east Tennessee shelter. “She was emaciated, and was days away from being euthanized,” Chester says. “She had been surrendered to the shelter because her previous owners didn’t understand the Belgian Malinois.”

Fortunately, Chester did. He’d gotten to know and love the breed while working as a law enforcement officer years earlier.

“I used to help with the training of police K-9s, and our dogs were Belgian Malinoises,” he says. “I loved their desire to work and their ‘never quit’ attitude.” In addition to being a popular choice for police dogs, the breed is often used in combat. In fact, it’s believed that the dog that helped Navy SEALs take down Osama bin Laden was a Belgian Malinois.

But while the breed has proven its prowess on patrol and in combat, Chester needed to be sure Juno would be a suitable service dog for his little boy.

“I put her on a loose leash and she walked with me and never pulled,” Chester says. “Next came the Lucas test. They took to each other immediately, like kindred spirits.”

The Hembrees brought Juno home and showered her with love and affection.

“I wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to adjust to the family before I started the formal training,” Chester says. Yet, from the beginning there seemed to be something instinctive about their relationship. One day, Chester noticed Juno circling Lucas while he was in his wheelchair. “She was whining and nudging him with her nose,” Chester says. “I checked his oxygen levels and they were very low.” After giving him oxygen, Lucas returned to normal and Juno greeted him with licks and affection.

“That’s when I knew she had the ability to pick up on his neurological changes,” Chester says. “Now she alerts us when Lucas is about to have a seizure or if his oxygen levels drop really low. She has saved him several times.”

Juno has become a literal shoulder for Lucas to lean on when walking, and a calming influence when he’s agitated. And while Chester makes sure that Juno gets time off, he says that it’s hard to get Juno to leave Lucas’ side. “You don’t see one without the other close by,” he says. “It really feels like it was meant to be.”

LOVELAND – Any pet owner will tell you that when you let a dog into your home, you let them into your heart as well.

The McDonald family did that with a 6-month-old German Shepherd named Nala and quickly fell in love with the dog. It made for some difficult moments when the dog became ill soon after.

“Shortly after that we started seeing she was vomiting all over the house,” Christine McDonald, owner of the dog, said.

Nala simply couldn’t keep food or water down, became weak and started running a fever.

Veterinarians couldn’t determine what was wrong until they did an X-ray of the dog’s esophagus and diagnosed Nala with canine megaesophagus.

Animals with megaesophagus have muscles in the esophagus that fail and are unable to propel food or water into the stomach.

Without some form of help, the prognosis for these animals is not good.

“They either starve to death over a long period of time, a slow starvation because they never get the nutrition, or they die of aspiration pneumonia,” McDonald said.

The McDonald family found a possible solution for Nala on a website offering support for dogs with canine megaesophagus: http://www.caninemegaesophagus.org/.

The website provided information about a contraption called a Bailey Chair, which puts dogs in an upright position for them to eat. Gravity helps the food and water move to the dog’s stomach.

The McDonalds built a chair based on the Bailey Chair and Nala has been eating in it for the last three years. Nala is now very healthy, energetic and weighs 80 pounds.

Nala does have to stay in the high chair for 25 minutes after she finishes eating to allow the food to reach the stomach. She is so comfortable in the high chair that she typically falls asleep during this time.

The McDonalds say it is a small inconvenience for the love and enjoyment they get from Nala’s companionship.

“I think anyone who has an animal, if you choose to have an animal we fall in love with them and they’re part of your family,” McDonald said. “I mean, you’d do anything to keep a family member alive and it is the same thing with her.”

Human head found by dog near Hollywood sign.

Los Angeles police detectives are investigating the slaying of a man believed to be an Armenian American whose head rolled out of a plastic bag discovered by a dog off a trail below the Hollywood sign Tuesday afternoon.

Two women were hiking with the dog in the rugged hills near the 3200 block of Canyon Drive, when the dog found a plastic bag in the brush containing the head, according to law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation but who asked not to be identified because the investigation was still unfolding.

The sources said the head was believed to be that of an Armenian male in his 40s with salt-and-pepper hair. Police also believe that the slaying was recent based on the condition of the remains.

Sources said investigators are trying to determine whether there are additional body parts in the area. Neither the circumstances nor the cause of death were immediately known.

The case is being handled by the LAPD’s elite Robbery-Homicide Division. In addition to combing the area for evidence, investigators will seek help from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office to identify the victim through dental records.

Trouble and the cloned dog, Double Trouble.

Would you pay $50,000 to clone your beloved dog? What if it cost less? So many questions arise as technology and science get cheaper and cheaper.

– Kenn

Lucy, a therapy dog from South Jersey, is quite the handful.

Actually, she’s about half a handful.

And as of Saturday, the 3-year-old mini Yorkshire terrier is the newly crowned “world’s smallest working dog” by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Just 6 inches long, 5.7 inches high and 2.5 fluffy pounds, Lucy was unfazed by the huge honor and heightened attention, says owner Sally Leone Montufar.

“She gets a lot of attention already,” Montufar said. “She stops traffic.”

Lucy snatched the title away from a 6.6-pound dog in Japan.

“I didn’t want Lucy to unseat him because he’s employed by the Japanese police as a search-and-rescue dog,” she says. “But she’s a different kind of working dog.”

Homeless and out of work two years ago, Lucy now works as a therapy dog through the Cherry Hill, N.J., program Leashes of Love, visiting hospitals, nursing homes and special schools often in dog dresses and bonnets.

Montufar contacted Guinness in November and learned of the diminutive dog’s admittance in December.

“I said I bet she’s not the tiniest, but I’m sure she’s the tiniest therapy dog,” recalls Montufar, who also owns a Cockapoo.

And not every dog is cut out for employment, or certification as a therapy dog.

“She had to be trained to sit for long periods, lay for long periods, not be flustered when there’s wheelchairs and walkers all around,” she says, “And she has to be able to walk for me and be nonaggressive.”

But it’s not all work for Lucy. According to Lucy’s Facebook fan page, her many interests include “food, chasing cats who are 10X her size, cuddling by the fire, twirling for treats.”

But Lucy’s life could have been far from fancy had her trip to the pound not been sidetracked by a stop into Paw Dazzle.

A woman entered the pet boutique with several dogs hoping someone would claim them before the shelter did.

But Montufar was more focused on the woman’s Juicy Couture dog carrier, specifically the nose poking out of it.

“(The designer tote bag) was very beautiful,” she says, “and out came this peanut.”

“This peanut” was a freakishly small, skinny pup by the name of Lucy. Along with medical help, Montufar knew to give Lucy a home, and then a job.

“She was so pitiful and lethargic,” Montufar said. “I couldn’t leave her. I didn’t know if I could save her or not. And kind of as a mother would, I said I’m going to help this one. I’m not going to turn my back. The others looked pretty healthy, she didn’t.”

Elena Zahkarova (right), holding her dog, Umka, with attorney Susan Chana Lask (left).

When Elena Zakharova looks into the eyes of her puppy as it suffers from bad knees and achy hips, she does not see a defective product to be returned to the store for a refund.

The New York City resident believes Umka, her 1-year-old Brussels Griffon, is a living soul who feels pain and emotion. Now her attorney aims to prove it in court.

Zakharova has filed a civil suit in a New York court against the Upper East Side pet store that sold her a puppy who went on to develop numerous medical complications. The suit seeks to hold the store liable for the dog’s pain and suffering, as well as its medical bills, as if it were a person rather than an inanimate product.

Under New York law, pets are considered “property,’’ but the complaint is trying to change that definition. The ultimate goal is to help shut down the puppy mills, many of them based in the Midwest, that often mass-produce the animals sold in boutique pet stores like Raising Rover, where Umka was purchased.

“Don’t call them property anymore,’’ Zakharova’s attorney, Susan Chana Lask, told TODAY.com. “They’re not inanimate objects. They’re not tables. They’re not chairs. You don’t just throw them out.’’

“Umka is a living soul with a heart,’’ the suit reads. “She feels love and pain.’’

The ownership of Raising Rover has changed since Zakharova purchased Umka.

“I know nothing about the sale [of Umka]. The prior owner has all the records. We are very careful about where we get our puppies,” Raising Rover owner Ben Logan told the New York Daily News, which first reported the story of Zakharova’s unusual complaint. Logan declined to provide any information about the prior owner.

Zakharova is seeking compensation for past and upcoming surgeries and other medical treatment involved with Umka, which totals at least $8,000. She also wants a full return of the dog’s sale price plus interest since the date of purchase in February of last year. If Zakharova is awarded the money, she will donate it to an animal charity or animal-rights program, Lask said.

New York state currently has a “Puppy Lemon Law’’ that allows buyers to return a sick animal to a pet store within 14 days for a full refund. One objective of that law is to slow down puppy mills’ mass production of dogs that end up having heart conditions and other ailments. However, in a case like Umka’s, the medical issues did not become apparent for months after Zakharova purchased the dog. The suit claims Umka will never walk or run properly again after several surgeries.

“Umka suffers a disorder causing her pain, her legs hurt, she cries when she is in pain, she drags herself with her front paws, [and] she cannot run like other puppies,” the suit reads.

“The Puppy Lemon Law doesn’t cut it,’’ Lask said.

If the definition of a pet is changed from that of property to an animate being with feelings, it could substantially change the amount of damages that could be awarded when an owner buys a defective dog born in a puppy mill, according to Lask. That could, in turn, have a chilling effect on pet stores buying animals from puppy mills out of fear of getting slammed with large payouts from lawsuits.

“It’s going to put a number on my dog’s broken hips that you created because you’re negligent, you’re greedy, and you’re mass-producing these puppies,’’ Lask said. “Right now, even if you return it, they just kill it, which is so inhumane.’’

Lask is an animal lover who owns a Chihuahua named Lincoln who was found to have a hole in his skull months after her purchase. That discovery led her to investigate the practices of shady puppy mills. She has waited six years to bring a case of this nature, fielding calls from other pet owners in the past, but felt Zakharova is the perfect client to help correct a larger issue.

“It’s much bigger than this case,’’ she said. “I am looking to shut down the puppy mill world.’’

The main issue will be proving to a judge that pets are living souls who experience feelings of pain and emotion.

“It’s a leap,’’ Lask said. “Human beings themselves have treated other humans as property in history before recognizing it was wrong. People will say this isn’t a human being, but they have a heart, so it’s not too much of a stretch to ask the courts to change the definition. Then we’ll see how quickly pet stores think twice before buying from puppy mills.”

“It’s already a felony to abuse an animal. If I kick my Chihuahua and beat it, I’m getting arrested, so that animal has rights. If they have criminal rights, why not put rights on a damaged leg or a heart condition? If we’re not equating [an animal] to a human being, and we’re not equating it to a table, there has to be something in the middle.’’

Whether the suit is successful or not, it brings to light the practices of puppy mills and their damaging effects on animals and their human owners, animal rights advocates say.

“I don’t know where this case is going to go, but it’s good that it brings awareness that pets are not just a commodity and that we have to take this seriously,’’ said Sandra DeFeo, executive director of The Humane Society of New York. “We feel that animals are living, breathing beings, not a piece of furniture or inanimate object. People develop relationships and bonds with these animals, and you see how distraught they are when the animals pass away.’’

A 2011 investigation by The Humane Society of the United States revealed that Raising Rover, where Umka was purchased, was one of 11 upscale pet stores that purchased animals from Midwestern puppy mills with horrendous conditions.

Max always makes eye contact.

In a new study, dogs who were spoken to or who had direct eye contact with a person were more likely to follow that human’s gaze as it moved across the room than if the person didn’t make direct eye contact with them.

The skills are equivalent to what is seen in 6-month-old human infants, say researchers, who published their findings online Jan. 5 in Current Biology.

“These results support the notion that dogs are sensitive to the cues signaling humans’ communicative intent in a way that is analogous to preverbal human infants,” said study author Jozsef Topal.

“Dogs were domesticated for the purpose of working with people, so it’s essential that the two species are able to communicate,” said Adam Goldfarb, director of pet care issues at The Humane Society of the United States. “Even though most dogs have transitioned away from their work of herding or hunting, they’ve retained their communication tools.”

More and more research is illuminating the uncanny human-like qualities of Canis lupus familiaris, better known as the domestic dog.

One study in the July 2011 issue of Learning & Behavior found that domesticated dogs were more likely to beg food from a person looking at them as opposed to someone who wasn’t paying attention.

And canine-intelligence expert Stanley Coren has found that dogs have the developmental abilities of a human 2-year-old, with the average dog capable of learning the meanings of 165 words.

In the new study, 16 pet dogs watched videos of female actors turning towards a plastic pot.

In the first experiment, the actor gazed directly at the dog and said in a high-pitched voice, “Hi dog!”

In the second experiment, the actor said “Hi dog” in a low-pitched voice but didn’t make eye contact.

Using eye-tracking techniques, which are already commonly used to study infant behavior, the researchers determined that the dogs were more likely to follow the human turning toward the pot when they had both been spoken to and received direct eye contact. Saying “Hi dog” in a low-pitched voice without the direct gaze didn’t cue the dogs in to the human’s intent.

Eye-tracking techniques are also likely to be useful in studying other aspects of dogs’ cognitive processing, such as memory skills and reasoning abilities, said Topal, who is an associate professor in the Comparative Behavior Research Group at the Institute for Psychological Researches, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in Budapest.

“The [dog's] gaze was only triggered when preceded by communicating intent. It does seem to be that dogs do look at humans and follow gestures,” said Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton, Mass. “This is intuitive to anyone who owns a dog, that dogs seem to be more in tune with us than some scientists believe.”

“This should reinforce that if we want our dog’s attention, we should be clear about it,” Goldfarb said. “For those people who talk to their dog in a baby-talk voice, they should keep it up. Your dog knows that you’re talking to him or her and will pay more attention.”

While researching her incredible book about Rin Tin Tin, (the Dog Files highly recommends it), Susan learned that Rinty received the most votes at the very first Oscar ceremony, but the Academy, thought that no one would take them seriously, so they awarded it to a man, Emil Jannings.

Check out the entire story right here.

The Dog Files supports Susan Orlean. We hope the academy is listening. If not, we want then to hear us. The Dog Files has stated a petition to get Rin Tin Tin his Best Actor Oscar! Check it out right here! Please share this with all your friends!

Thanks!
Kenn, Max & Remy

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still reportedly trying to pinpoint the cause of an illness outbreak affecting an increasing number of dogs all over the country. According to a recent warning issued by the FDA, dog owners need to be aware of the source of their pet treats. Many chicken jerky treats imported from China have been making dogs severely ill.

A few weeks ago, 70 dogs becoming severely ill or died from chicken jerky treats imported from China. But that number has spiked to more than 350 after the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine issued a new warning to pet owners to beware of the Chinese imported pet treats.

“FDA is advising consumers who choose to feed their dogs chicken jerky products to watch their dogs closely for any or all of the following signs that may occur within hours to days of feeding the products: decreased appetite; decreased activity; vomiting; diarrhea; increased water consumption and/or increased urination,” says the FDA warning.

At this point, regulators have been unable to identify a specific brand, or even a specific contaminant, that may be responsible for causing the illness. However, the warning follows several others dating back to 2007 and 2008 when the FDA issued similar warnings about chicken jerky treats that were making dogs ill, an anomaly that remains to be solved.

Many popular pet treats and pet food products are questionable to begin with, as the source of their ingredients are typically undisclosed. Even pet food products manufactured by domestic companies may contain ingredients sourced from other countries, and sometimes contaminants slip in undetected, as was the case in 2006 when Diamond Pet Foods recalled 19 varieties of dog food that was contaminated with aflatoxin.