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While shopping at Sprouts today, I had a guy in the next checkout lane actually whistle at Frankie. WHAT?! He whistled to him like he was calling the hounds back from the barn. Then he went to reach for him. I actually placed my hand on this guys chest and said: "He's not a ranch dog, you shouldn't be distracting him, he's working." Mr. Cowboy didn't even apologize... but he got schooled! Oy.

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of. He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.' The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: 'He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

Toby the Labrador Toby suffered a punctured lung as he fought off the intruder A Labrador who fought to protect its owners from a knife-wielding burglar has been honoured for his bravery. Toby was stabbed four times in the chest and legs by the intruder but still managed to chase him out. The Morton family, from Barnoldswick in Lancashire, had been staying at Leconfield Barracks in East Yorkshire. They awoke to find their pet in a pool of blood. But the eight-month-old survived and has been awarded by the animal charity, PDSA. The armed burglar, who attacked Toby with three knives taken from the kitchen, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years for the offence. Toby suffered a punctured lung in the attack, in June 2007, as he fought to stop the offender going upstairs to the sleeping family. After succeeding in chasing the offender out of the building Toby then woke his owner, Jonathan Morton, by barking. Had it not been for Toby's determined barking and lunging at the intruder, Mr...

Russian scientists say that Moscow stray dogs became much smarter. The four legged oldest human’s friends demonstrate real smartness such as riding the Moscow metro every morning to get from their suburban places of living to the fat regions of Moscow center. Once they arrive to the downtown they demonstrate different new, previously unseen for the dog skills. Those skills can include “the hunt for shawarma” for example, the popular among Muscovites eastern cuisine dish. This hunt scene can be seen as this: Regular Moscow busy street with some small food kiosks. A middle-aged man buys himself a piece of hot fast food and walks aside chewing it without a rush. Then just in a second he jumps up frightened - some doggy has sneaked up on him and barked out loudly. His tasty snack falls out from his hands down to the ground and the dog gets it. Just ten minutes later, on the same place, the teen youngster loses his dinner in exactly the same manner. The mo...

When Jan Griffith's beloved dog, Sophie Tucker fell overboard from her family's yacht she feared her pet had drowned. But Sophie Tucker, a grey and black cattle dog, wasn't going to give up that easily. The determined pet swam six miles through ferocious shark-infested seas to an island, where she survived for more than four months by hunting wild goats for food. Sophie Sophie Tucker fell overboard in rough seas and swam through shark infested waters to safety The extraordinary story of the castaway hound emerged today when Miss Griffith was reunited with her beloved pet. 'I thought I'd never see her again, but she's proved to be a dog who can really look after herself,' said Miss Griffith. Sophie Tucker, named after the American vaudeville comedian, fell overboard from the family's yacht when they ran into bad weather off the Queensland coastal town of Mackay. Miss Griffith and her friends searched the area, putting their own lives at risk in the rough ...

Man's best friend serves as model for understanding human social behavior Chimpanzees share many of our genes, but dogs have lived with us for so long and undergone so much domestication that they are now serving as a model for understanding human social behavior, according to a new paper. Cooperation, attachment to people, understanding human verbal and non-verbal communications, and the ability to imitate are just a handful of the social behaviors we share with dogs. They might even think like us at times too, according to the paper, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Advances in the Study of Behavior. While there is no evidence to support that dogs and humans co-evolved their laundry list of shared behaviors over the past 10,000 to 20,000 years, the researchers believe adapting to the same living conditions during this period may have resulted in the similarities. Lead author Jozsef Topal explained to Discovery News "that shared environment has led to th...