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It's hard not to like Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, even harder not to like his French Bulldog, Rambo. People magazine's pet site has a profile of the pair:

"Rambo has good reason to be sacked out in the sun. Like his famous owner who is in the midst of a global media blitz since winning his gold medal in the half pipe, these past few weeks have been hectic times for the laidback hound. No sooner did Rambo catch his breath after returning home from Vancouver where he helped cheer ... er, howl, his 23-year-old owner to victory, but now he’s road-tripping around Southern California, accompanying White as he travels from one photo-shoot to the next."

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You can also find Rambo on the front of a T-shirt White and his brother designed for Target.

Ohmidog! blog has the rundown on the Pawscars, awarded by the American Humane Society in lieu of any real Oscars going to our four-legged friends. (Not everyone is agreeing with me, but I enjoyed what I saw of last night's Oscars. I thought Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were funny and did a good job.) Of the movies mentioned, the only one I've seen is "The Hangover." But seriously, what about "Marley and Me"? That doesn't get a nod at all?

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Winter, I will not miss you...

...until October. Enjoying the sunny weather today. 

(Really amazing photos, including the one above, here.)

Is it me or has Pedigree really stepped up its game recently? I've been seeing some cool branding in lots of different places recently. I noticed their Super Bowl ad - 2009 was the first Super Bowl ad they aired and I guess it was well-received. And then I came across the feature on their site which allows you to upload a picture of your dog to see what he would look like with dentures. I'm tempted to try it with a picture of Rip - I'll post it in a future entry. Promise. And now this ad is making the rounds:

(I found it via boing boing.) People seem to be getting up in arms for its very similar look to a music video by Vitalic. However you feel about it, I just like that the ad led me to this video. It's pretty fantastic. 

(Thanks, mediabistro - and for more on the controversy.)

 Well, the Olympics are over, life resumes...even for Dillie the deer who thinks he's a dog. 

(via mental_floss)

Also from the BBC today, a dog rescued from an ice floe in the Baltic Sea. Something feel good for the weekend. 

Okay, so this isn't a dog story, but it is a really adorable animal rescue story. Knitters of the world unite! For the hens! 

I didn't watch the segment on sled dogs shown by NBC during its Olympic coverage last night, so I just went searching for the segment online. You can see the video here, but I was amused that my search also turned up this article from the Orange County Register, which says, in part:

"When you think about how many Olympic sports don't make the primetime broadcast, is it really necessary NBC devotes time in these medal-round days to the life lessons that can be learned from sled dogs?"

I love the Winter Olympics. I love, in particular, how much attention skiing has been receiving this year. Usually I feel like I'm constantly annoyed at how much figure skating I have to get through in order to glimpse five minutes of the downhill, but this year I haven't had to watch a minute of figure skating to see tons of skiing. 

So do I mind if NBC takes ten minutes to show a segment on sled dogs, or polar bears, or whatever? I don't know; I think it's kind of nice and I think we sort of owe it to the host country to learn a little bit about its culture. I like to think of it as an opportunity to learn a little something more than sports - as much as I love the sports. And that they did a segment on dogs, all the better. I think most people probably assume all sled dogs look the same - I was glad to see different breeds represented. 

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I created a dogbook page for Ripley because I was curious to see what it was like, but I can't say I've kept up with it at all. The sentiment behind it, though, was promising - that you can find other dogs in your area and meet up at the park, or whatever. 

Now you can create Twitter accounts for dogs and a device made by Mattel that attaches to a dog's collar will "read" your dog's actions throughout the day and post what the dog is doing to Twitter. This, by the way, is Mattel's first foray into the pet market. 

 Congratulations, Sadie! Winner of Best in Show at this year's Westminster dog show. 

Apparently she rang the opening bell this morning at the stock exchange, too. That's how you know you've made it. 

Airing tonight on PBS, a documentary about what happened to many of the pets during Hurricane Katrina and their relationships with their owners. I imagine it will be quite moving. (I'll try to sneak it in during commercial breaks at the Olympics. Is anyone else loving these Winter Games?)

Hope many of you get to enjoy a long weekend. In celebration of George Washington's birthday (technically February 22, only a day after my own), I did a little research and discovered Washington used to breed hunting dogs and had 36 hounds. He kept seven as pets: three American Staghounds named Sweet Lips, Scentwell, and Vulcan, and four Black and Tan Coonhounds named Drunkard, Taster, Tipler, and Tipsy. (Is it safe to infer that our first president didn't mind a drink or two himself now and again? And thanks, Wikipedia, for having a page dedicated to presidential pets.)

American Staghound (not a recognized breed but thought to have come from Scottish deerhounds crossed with greyhounds and have been around since the 1700s) (Image)

Black and Tan Coonhound (Image)

 I really can't say how much I'd pay for this. Probably not as much as they're asking. 

 Is it snowing where you are? I'm bracing for a big storm, but I know many have already experienced one or are still in the midst of one. The Boston Globe's The Big Picture has an excellent collection of photos of dogs and sleds today. 

Here are a couple of favorites:

 Apparently all it takes to be a hipster puppy is a weird pair of glasses. 

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The battle continues: cat owners supposedly are more likely to have a college degree than dog owners. Who needs those snobby cats anyway?

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 Adorable. 

via tumblr and the photo series "Kathmandu's Children" by Emmanuel Smague.

 This article on debarking in the New York Times has been pretty popular. Personally, even though Ripley barks whenever someone comes to the house and it can get somewhat irritating, I would never choose to have this surgery for him. Unless it were for health reasons or to save a dog from being euthanized, could I really get behind something like this. Anybody else have an opinion?

 It's tax season again - did you know you can get a tax break for pet health care? Last year congress passed the 'Humanity and Pets Partnered Though the Years (HAPPY) Act' which allows a deduction of up to $3500 each year for qualified pet care expenses. Looking at the bill, I found it particularly interesting that these findings were listed:

The Congress finds the following:

(1) According to the 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey, 63 percent of United States households own a pet.

(2) The Human-Animal Bond has been shown to have positive effects upon people's emotional and physical well-being.

The bill, as USA Today also pointed out last year, is about people more than about animals. The bond between humans and their pets makes humans happier and healthier - this isn't a bill to support animal welfare necessarily, though I suppose that's a convenient by-product if people can afford to spend more on their animals and take better care of them. 

Which isn't to say that's a bad thing! Whatever helps. 

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 We decided that with so many great photos to choose from, we'd pick two winners in our Facebook photo contest. In the category of small dog, we chose Kelly from Gloucester's photo:

And in the big dog category, Barbara and her two American Mastiffs, Bueller and Jazz:

Thank you, everyone, for participating!

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