Obama Presents Global Economic Recovery Plan to a Resistant G-20 While Holding Adorable Puppy

 

In the face of international resistance to the U.S. role in resolving the global economic crisis, President Barack Obama raised his arts of persuasive communication to new heights, delivering his latest comments to the G-20 while cradling the puppy he plans to give to his daughters Sasha and Malia.

“This will be a difficult time for all citizens of our global community,” the president acknowledged. “But if you will look with me into the eyes of this achingly cute Portuguese water dog, I think you’ll find all the hope and reassurance you’ll need.”

At a press conference following Mr. Obama’s speech, a nonplussed international press corps responded with a flurry of forceful questions such as: “Can I hold him, Mr. Obama? Please, please, can I?”

One Russian journalist was particularly aggressive in her questioning: “Pretty pretty please? Can I? Can I? With … how do you say, sugar on top?”

Hey, nice ball!

There's nothing more FUN than a dog with a ball!

 

According to Guinness World Records, the world record for the most tennis balls held in the mouth by a dog at one time is five. Augie, a golden retriever owned by the Miller family in Dallas, Texas, USA, successfully gathered and held all five regulation-sized tennis balls on July 6, 2003.

Dogs Were Man's Best Friend Even 9,400 Years Ago

PORTLAND, Maine -- Nearly 10,000 years ago, man's best friend provided protection and companionship - and an occasional meal.

That's what researchers are saying after finding a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated dog in the Americas.

University of Maine graduate student Samuel Belknap III came across the fragment while analyzing a dried-out sample of human waste unearthed in southwest Texas in the 1970s. A carbon-dating test put the age of the bone at 9,400 years, and a DNA analysis confirmed it came from a dog - not a wolf, coyote or fox, Belknap said.

Because it was found deep inside a pile of human excrement and was the characteristic orange-brown color that bone turns when it has passed through the digestive tract, the fragment provides the earliest direct evidence that dogs - besides being used for company, security and hunting - were eaten by humans and may even have been bred as a food source, he said.

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Winter jacket saves small dog from owl

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL -- An Illinois man credited his Chihuahua's winter jacket with saving the small canine from a great horned owl attack.

George Kalomiris said he was walking the 4-pound dog, Chico, in the early hours Wednesday in Crystal Lake when the owl swooped out of the darkness and tried to grab the canine.

Kalomiris said the owl could not get a good grip on Chico because of the dog's puffy winter jacket. He said the dog suffered scratches to his head and a puncture wound, but quickly recovered from the injuries.

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Poodles in a car

From an excellent collection at Flickr by J Van Noate, Antique Dog Photos

Tuesday - feels like Monday - I could sleep .....

via The Daily What

Baby, it's cold outside!

But Gizzy is nice and toasty (and absolutely adorable!)



via Crocheting in Georgia

Video: Wait for the end - surprise!

Coondog Cemetery

In a small, grassy meadow, deep in the rich, thick wilderness of Freedom Hills, Key Underwood sadly buried his faithful coondog, Troop. They had hunted together for more than 15 years. They had been close friends.

The burial spot was a popular hunting camp where coon hunters from miles around gathered.

Out of one hunter's devotion to his faithful coonhound was born the "Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard," which has became a popular tourist attraction and is the only cemetery of its kind in the world.

Other hunters started doing the same when their favorite coon dogs died. Today more than 185 coon dogs from all across the United States are buried in this spot in Northwest Alabama.

A witness and a member of a local coon hunters' organization must verify the deceased was a coon dog before burial is allowed.

"We have stipulations on this thing," says Janice Williams, the secretary/treasurer of the Friends of the Coondog Cemetery, and caretaker of the Coon Dog Cemetery. "A dog can't run no deer, possum -- nothing like that. He's got to be a straight coon dog, and he's got to be full hound. Couldn't be a mixed up breed dog, a house dog."

website

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Stuck!

An 8-month-old German shepherd named Rebel somehow squeezed his head through a hole in an 18-inch block wall at his Desert Hot Springs home Monday.

Then he got stuck.

Rebel may have been chasing another animal or was just curious about the hole, said Sgt. James Huffman of Riverside County Animal Services. The dog cried and whimpered until a friend of the owner heard him and called authorities. The dog’s owner wasn’t home at the time.

County Animal Services officers arrived about 12:30 p.m. and determined that the dog was not in serious danger. Huffman said they concluded that if the dog was able to get his head into the hole, they would be able to pull him out without damaging the wall, but their main concern was not to hurt Rebel while getting him out.

An officer got on either side of the wall, tucked in the dog’s ears and nudged him back and forth for about 30 minutes before getting him out safely.

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Video: Dogsledding

Doesn't this look like fun?

Dogs Are Santa's Favorites

An AP-Petside.com Poll, conducted October 13-20, 2010, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, found that 53 percent of pet owners plan to get their animals a present this holiday season. Of these, fifty-six percent of the dog owners say they'll buy their pets a gift this Christmas, but only 48 percent of the cat owners plan a gift.

Also interesting: women (56 percent) are somewhat more likely than men (49 percent) to buy their animals a gift. The poll also showed that renters (66 percent) are more apt to pamper their pets than homeowners (49 percent). And while fewer than half of those who attend religious services weekly or more often say they plan to buy their pets a gift, 60 percent of those who never attend services do.

And while we're talking about Christmas gifts for pets, don't forget to get yours, at i-pets.com.

Another celeb Frenchie fan

Ashley Olsen touched down at Los Angeles airport with her adorable traveling companion.

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Very CUTE (& the dog, too)

Actor Gilles Marini and his French Bulldog Mila.

via People Pets

Soldiers and dogs deploy for Afghanistan

FT. LEONARD WOOD, MO -- Families and friends said their farewells to about a dozen military men, women, and dogs Monday.

Ft. Leonard Wood held a deployment ceremony for the Engineer Canine Company, 5th Engineer Battalion.

The group included 5 working dogs and their handlers, plus 4 veterinarian technicians.

The soldiers are headed to Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom.


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Photography by Tim Flach

Photo credit: Tim Flach . . . the best dog photos I've seen in a long time.

Putin Falls in Love

Russian PM Vladimir Putin hugs and kisses the Bulgarian Shepherd puppy that his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov presented to him in Sofia on Saturday, Nov 13.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister has a passion for canine pets and the Bulgarian Shepherd Dog is his favorite breed. He states that politicians should be like these dogs, explaining that a Bulgarian Shepherd is "faithful, strong, fights predators and bad people, and is a very good guard."

Another male puppy of Borisov's is reportedly being secretly trained as a gift for present US President Barack Obama.

Source

Rare New Guinea Singing Dogs Discovered in Pennsylvania

New Guinea Singing Dog is the name of an ancient, rare type of primitive canine that once inhabited all of the island of New Guinea. [wiki]

Why are they called singing dogs? Listen

Until one month ago, only 150 were known to exist in captivity -- most of those in world zoos. But last month, in a small town west of Harrisburg, Pa., about 80 of these unique dogs were discovered living with a hoarder. Randy A. Hammond, 58, obtained his first two NGSD at an Ohio flea market in 1995. A man gave him another pair shortly thereafter, and all the dogs found at his property are descendants from those two pairings of singing dogs.

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via Digg

Ridiculous

Ridiculous