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Stray Dog Brings Woman a Daily Gift as Thanks

Manners are an important social tool in humans. We say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ have rules about respect and more. A special dog in Thailand seems to have learned to at least say ‘thank you.’

Orawan Kaewla-iat feeds stray dogs near her home, and has been doing so as long as she can remember. One, a pair of dogs, mother and son, came to her door. She would later name the younger dog Tua Plu.

After she fed them, they left. The next day, the came back. This time, Tua Plu brought a gift with him.

“When he’s hungry, he will offer something to get fed,” Orawan wrote on Facebook, as translated by Coconuts Bangkok. “Every day he shows up with an object in his mouth — usually a leaf and sometimes a piece of paper. Before you feed other dogs, you have to feed Tua Plu and his mom.”

gift

Obviously, Orawan fell in love with this adorable dog. She filmed one of their interactions and put it on Facebook.

What’s adorable is that he won’t eat until his present has been acknowledged. This dog cares, and wants to express his love for Orawan.

The video went viral in Thailand, then the rest of the world. It has been viewed over 3 million times.

gift

Thanks to the video going viral, hundreds have offered to adopt Tua Plu and his mom.

Whoever ends up adopting them is sure to be showered in gifts.

Posted by อรวรรณ แก้วละเอียด on Saturday, March 18, 2017

Source: The Dodo

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Dog Saves Pregnant Mom’s Life

As we all know, dogs have an almost supernatural ability to detect things. This is why we train them to detect drugs, bombs, and even cancer. This means they can smell inside the human body. They will know we are sick before we do.

This story should come as no surprise then, although it is still amazing.

Keola is an Akita who lives in South Yorkshire. Her owners, Ricky and Alhanna Butler treat her has part of the family. But their family was growing. Alhanna was pregnant.

The pregnancy progressed, and with it came back pain. Her doctor reassured her that lower back pain is normal in pregnancy and not to worry.

Alhanna was reassured, but Keola was not. Her incredible sense of smell told her something was wrong, it wasn’t just back pain. Keola was acting weird, but her owners could not identify why.

“When the doctors sent me home and said there was nothing seriously wrong, she just sat staring at me so intently that it really scared me,” Alhanna explained to Mercury Press. “I posted a picture of her doing this on Facebook and make the joke about the film Hatchi where the dog also does this and suddenly my friends all started saying I should take it seriously.”

The dog became more nosey. There was no doubt she was trying to say something. “No one really understood how ill I was – but Keola did. She would nudge me and cry and I could never figure out why she had suddenly started doing this. Ricky said she was distraught whenever I went to work, when she had never minded before.”

“Because it was untreated for so long, it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen,” Alhanna described her horrific experience on Facebook. “On top of that I had an antibiotic resistant bug that had only ever affected one other person in the U.K. It was killing me and the doctors told me that if I had left it any longer I would have died and more than likely my son also.”

Her dog’s reaction was so intense she returned to the doctor. After being checked again, she was brought into intensive care. She had been just hours away from death.

Alhanna had a double kidney infection that was causing the back pain. On top of that, she had a rare antibiotic resistant infection. If she had waited any longer, she would have died.

“Because it was untreated for so long, it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen,” Alhanna described her horrific experience on Facebook. “On top of that I had an antibiotic resistant bug that had only ever affected one other person in the U.K. It was killing me and the doctors told me that if I had left it any longer I would have died and more than likely my son also.”

Keola and her nose had saved the day. Alhanna carried her pregnancy to term. She gave birth to a boy named Lincoln, and he and Keola are best friends.

Source: Shareably

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Dog Stories Dogs

Rescued Dog Works at a Gas Station

Negao isn’t your typical gas station employee, and not just because he’s a dog.

But he didn’t always have a job.

2 years ago, Sabrina Plannerer and partner purchased a Shell Gas Station in Brazil. While it was under construction, Sabrina discovered a dog who had been abandoned there. He was too frightened to leave.

Instead of sending him away, they decided to rescue him.

“We adopted him immediately and got him all the care animals need,” Plannerer tells The Dodo. “We took him to the vet to get vaccinated and de-wormed. We bought him food, a dog house, and a leash to take him on walks.”

It seemed only natural to give him a job when their gas station opened. He even has an employee badge.

Sabrina wasn’t sure how Negao would react to a large number of people coming to his home, but he has proven himself as a model employee.

“Negão waits for people to arrive, and then goes up to say hello, winning them over with his charms,” Plannerer says. “Customers love him. Some people even bring him toys.”

While Negao enjoys his job as official greeter, he also lives a full life. He gets taken on regular walks. The gas station is staffed 24/7 so there is always a co-worker to take care of him.

Negao has become a spokesdog for the local charity group Grupo FERA which tries to pair stray dogs with businesses when they can’t find a family home.

“It’s been sensational, encouraging people to have more respect for animals,” a spokesperson from Grupo FERA tells The Dodo. “And workers enjoy having the companionship of a four-legged colleague.”

Source: The Dodo

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Dog Stories Dogs What's Trending

Do Therapy Dogs Like Their Jobs?

If you love dogs, just hanging out with a dog will make you feel good.

This is the basic idea behind therapy dogs. They work as healing companions for people with cancer, PTSD, and dementia.

There more than 50,000 therapy dogs in the U.S., and they are becoming increasingly popular in other countries, such as Norway and Brazil. Trained and certified by a variety of organizations, their primary responsibility is to go into hospitals to interact with patients.

The benefits of therapy animals are real, as confirmed by research. But what do the therapy dogs think of their jobs? Science considered this question and the results are comforting.

A recent study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science reports that the therapy dogs they studied were not stressed out by their work, but in fact enjoy them. They studied therapy dogs specifically in pediatric cancer wards.

“What made this study unique was that it was multisite—it took place in five different hospitals across the country—and the fact that we visited over a hundred patients and 26 dogs participated, making it the largest of its kind in this field,” says study leader Amy McCullough, national director of research and therapy at American Humane, a Washington, D.C.-based animal welfare organization.

To see if the dogs were stressed, the scientists tested for cortisol levels in their saliva. The swabs were taken while the dogs were working and at home.

The problem is that cortisol can be used to measure both positive and negative stress. “Let’s say we have a dog that loves to play ball—when the ball comes out and the dog starts chasing the ball, that would elevate the dog’s cortisol levels as well,” McCullough says.

To overcome this difficulty, the team also videotaped the dogs and analyzed 26 behaviors they split into three categories: friendly, moderate stress, and high-stress.

There was no difference in cortisol whether the dogs were at home or at work. This means therapy dogs aren’t particularly stressed at work.

The next question is whether the dogs actually enjoy their work. This new study provides a new hint.

Certain dogs seemed happier during some activities. For instance, a child talking to them or playing with them made them happier than brushing or drawing.

“…it’s fair to say that some activities are more fun for the dog,” McCullough notes.

“This is good information for handlers—they can lean toward the activities that they think their dog would enjoy.”

This requires watching the dog for what they like. This will help people choose the best therapy dogs.

“Does the dog solicit attention, or does the dog need to be bribed with treats to interact?” she says.

“It needs to be a mutually beneficial interaction when they are visiting with the client, so it’s important that the dog really loves their job.”

Source: National Geographic

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Dog Stories Dogs

Dog Alerts Family to Toxic Smoke from Burning Hairbrush, Saves Their Lives

Jennifer’s lungs still hurt half a week later. She can deal with it, but if you ask her about what might have happened, she tears up.

Jennifer DeStefani’s friend Marta DeGennaro was attending a wedding and asked Jennifer to watch her dog: Bandit, a Pomeranian-Poodle mix.

The DeStefanis had some pets of their own already, a cat and a Shar-Pei. Jennifer wasn’t convinced the animals would all get along, so Bandit stayed in her room.

Her husband Rich was sterilizing a hairbrush in boiling water. While the pot quietly boiled away, the family forgot and went to bed.

Eventually, the water was gone and the plastic brush began to burn. The kitchen filled with smoke, spreading to the whole house. The family lay sleeping.

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The newly installed smoke alarms were also sleeping, never making a sound.

Bandit, 15 lbs., jumped on Jennifer’s chest, barking. The barking woke Jennifer up.

“I smelled something strange and thought, ‘What the heck?’” she said.

Opening the bedroom door, the smoke made it so she couldn’t see her hand a few inches away.

She rushed to wake her husband and daughter, age 9. The family opened the windows, grabbed the pets, and ran outside.

Stitch, the family Shar-Pei, normally barks at everything. Except smoke, it seems.

Volunteer Fire Company Captain Larry Birch was the first responder. There was a “moderate” amount of smoke in the house when he arrived. The fire crews set up ventilation fans and cleared the smoke.

A firefighter for 11 years, Birch is used to fires. But rescue dogs are not all that common.

“From the years I’ve been doing this, we’ve had two other reports of animals waking up the residents,” he said.

EMS checked the family for smoke inhalation.

The smell of burning plastic still lingers in the house. Scented candles were unsuccessful in obscuring the smell. Even after days of washing clothes, everything still smells like smoke.

The pot is obviously ruined, a purple-green and glittery glob marking a hard learned lesson.

Bandit is back home. All the smoke alarms were returned, since only one went off, and that was after the firefighters were already there.

Fortunately, there was a fluffy little smoke detector staying with them that night.

Life-saving dog

Source: Press of Atlantic City

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Dog Videos Dogs

Landlady Rents ONLY to Pet Owners

If you own a pet, you know how difficult it can be to find a place to rent. Most places don’t accept pets. If they do, there are additional fees to have a pet. Sometimes there are restrictions on breed and size. But there is one landlady in Los Angeles that will only rent to people with pets.

Judy Guth, the owner, doesn’t care if someone is the perfect renter, if you don’t own a pet you can’t get an apartment.

140225-DogsWelcome

Guth’s tenants have lived in her 12-unit apartment building for over ten years. If any of their pets ever die, Guth takes them to the shelter to get a new animal.

If there are no pets, the tenant has to move out. That’s really the only rule.

“My experience has told me you get people with a lot of love in their hearts when you get pet owners,” said Guth.

According to Guth, pet owners move less often and pay on time. For her, only renting to pet owners is a no-brainer.

“I’ve talked to other rental property owners about it, but they just laugh,” she says. “They’re stupid. The only vacancies I’ve had are when people had to move because the economy forced them out of state for a job.”

pets okThink this is illegal? Nope. You see, pet ownership isn’t a protected class under the law.

Tenants are allowed to have up to two dogs or three cats. All animals must be current on their vaccinations and wear ID tags at all times. All pets are interviewed as part of the renting process. Dog tenants cannot be persistent barkers.

There are rarely vacancies, so good luck. We encourage more property owners to think like her.

Source: Life With Dogs

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Dog Stories Dogs

Pizza Guy Rescues Dog During Delivery

Steven Donovan was delivering pizzas when saw a tiny dog run into the road.

“I was about to turn onto a major road and I saw him run across the street,” Donovan said. “I immediately turned around and went back. I couldn’t just leave the dog out there.”

guy rescues dog while delivering pizzas

Donovan tracked him down and brought him into the car. The dog’s name was Mr. Snickers, and he lived a couple of miles from where he was picked up. Donovan was going to bring him home, after he delivered a pizza.

“The dog was really chill,” Donovan said. “He didn’t try and eat the pizza at all.”

guy rescues dog while delivering pizzas

Together they drove to the delivery, and Donovan ran the pizza to the door while Mr. Snickers waited in the car. He explained to the customers why he was late and why he had to go quickly. Instead of being annoyed, they thought it was great.

“I told them, ‘I’m sorry your pizza is late; I just had to rescue this dog first,'” Donovan said.

guy rescues dog while delivering pizzas

Mr. Snickers lived way off the delivery route, but Donovan took him home anyway. He knew he could get in trouble, but helping Mr. Snickers was more important.

“I wouldn’t mind getting fired over this,” Donovan said. “I mean, it’s a dog running in the street. I had to help him.”

guy rescues dog while delivering pizzas

As soon as they entered the neighborhood, Mr. Snickers knew exactly where he was. He became very excited.

“He perked up and noticed this was his neighborhood, and he was wagging his tail and getting all excited,” Donovan said.

guy rescues dog while delivering pizzas

It turned out Mr. Snickers owner had moved, and his tag still had the old address on it. Donovan met some of his old neighbors who said they would take Mr. Snickers to his new home.

It’s possible Mr. Snickers got out and tried to return to his old home.

Fortunately, he is now off the streets thanks to the nicest pizza delivery man ever.

Source: The Dodo

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Dog Stories Dog Videos Dogs

Dog Saves Life of Boy Trapped in Dryer

Teddy the cockapoo came to the rescue of 5 year old Riley as he was sent spinning inside the family dryer.

Riley Gedge-Duffy, who has Down’s Syndrome, was going to die. He had climbed into the dryer and shut the door. Then the machine started a cycle.

Teddy immediately knew something was wrong, and so started a commotion. Barking, growling, and dashing up the stairs, he alerted Riley’s mother Gillian that he was in danger.

Mrs. Gedge-Duffy said: “We immediately started looking for Riley and it was our eldest son Freddie who spotted Riley’s iPad in the tumble dryer through the glass door.

Freddie screamed and I quickly opened the door, dragging Riley out of the dryer. We started dousing him with cold water.”

Just then, Riley’s father Aaron arrived home. He helped rinse Riley in cold water to minimize the burns.

Rushed to the hospital, Riley was treated for burns as well as being x-rayed and having a CT scan to ensure he had no other injuries. He made a full recovery.

Riley owes his life to Teddy, says his father.

dog saves boy

Riley’s mother said: “Teddy has always been a special dog – she’s very intelligent, attentive and she loves the children, but I am totally in awe of how she acted that day.

“I know if Teddy hadn’t have done what she did, we’d have been planning a funeral. We owe her everything and I’m so proud of her.”

Teddy was honored by the veterinary charity PDSA with the PDSA Gold Medal. This award is given to civilian animals for life-saving bravery and devotion to duty.

This medal is recognized as the animal equivalent to the George Cross and has only been awarded to 26 other dogs.

Presenting the PDSA Gold Medal, the charity’s director general Jan McLoughlin said: “Had it not been for Teddy’s actions, the incident could have proved fatal for Riley. 

“She displayed unwavering devotion when she saw Riley in trouble and we are proud to recognise the actions of this very special little dog and the bond she shares with his family.”

Source: Express

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Dog Videos Dogs

Would You Rent a Drug Sniffing Dog to Raid Your Kids Room?

This is the decision parents have before them in Kansas City, MO. The local station (WDAF-TV) recently featured a unique business called Metro K9 Detection Services. They specialize in providing drug sniffing dogs to “cost effectively” detect the most common drugs in your home and other residential areas.

“They try to associate us with law enforcement and we’re not. My dog just happens to know some very expensive tricks,” says founder Ray McCarty.

Metro K9 allows clients to rent one of their dogs by the hour. McCarty was inspired by the K9 sweeps at his son’s school. He saw how many kids were being sent to juvenile detention centers.

“That’s getting kids in trouble that day and that’s not what we are about. We’re about being a deterrent,” McCarty tells WDAF-TV.

Metro K9 will work with alternative schools, like Shelterwood Academy in Independence, MO. Shelterwood helps students with substance abuse problems.

“When the kids know that there is a drug dog on campus, it lets them know that we are on top of things and that we are taking care to know what’s going on,” said Chad Smith, Shelterwood Academy program director.

As the company’s Facebook page describes, the K9s are “carefully trained to safely and reliably work in a wide array of locations, including, homes, schools and workplace environments. When a sniffer dog detects an odor (residual or otherwise), it is trained to let the handler know with a passive signal. This allows drug discovery to be managed at our client’s discretion.”

Their website gives a bit more detail: “Metro K9 Drug Detection Services  provide a confidential and discreet drug detection service for your home. Our narcotic detection dogs will professionally perform a thorough inspection of your entire property and vehicles. We recommend searching the premises when the suspected drug user is not present to avoid possible conflicts with the animal. This can also reduce family stress. If the dog picks up a scent, it will alert our handler, who will mark the location. The client can then decide how to handle the discovery.”

Generally parents will have the dogs sweep while their kids are not home, according to McCarty. Many flush the drugs and “never say anything.” McCarty says he never contacts the police.

“It makes them feel better. We aren’t going to say anything because it’s none of our business. We are just there to do a job. We do it, and we leave.”

Not all parents agree however.

“If I feel like my son is doing drugs, I’m going to do what I have to do to find out,” said Shelly Parker, a metro mother of nine.

“What about the trust in your kid after that? Would your kid trust you again?” asked Ted Overman, a father of four teens.

The dogs, Phoenix and Coco are trained the same way police dogs are. McCarty has a license to use drug scented toys to train them.

Metro K9’s services start at $200. Another company is training dogs to detect weapons.

Source: via

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Dog Stories Dogs

Lost Dogs Return Home After Owners Cook Sausages

The owners of a pair of miniature Schnauzers were upset when they disappeared into the fog while on a walk.

They thought they would never see Charlie and Theo again.

Liz and Graham Hampson starting a search for the dogs, contacting mountain rescue teams, their friends, and their families.

In total, more than 120 people (as well as a couple of drones) were looking for the stranded dogs on the Red Pike fell in Cambria.

After searching for 96 hours, they had almost given up. Then they decided to cook sausages where the dogs were last seen.

Miniature schnauzers Charlie and Theo were missing for four days after vanishing in thick fog as they were out for a walk

The owners had even camped out overnight, calling the dogs and hoping they would show up.

They were shocked and thrilled when, moments after they started cooking the sausages, Charlie and Theo appeared.

Mrs. Hampson said “When they first appeared it was like a mirage. I could not believe it was them.

“My husband ran up the hill to grab them as I was just shaking and crying. I could not function.

“The dogs are just gorgeous, and they are part of our family. It would be horrible not to have them around.

“They absolutely love sausages. They have them every Sunday for breakfast, so if there was one food they were going to come back for, it was sausages.

“One of our friends had the intuition to work out roughly where they would be and we started the barbecue there. It’s like the ending of a film that it worked.

“My son is in the navy and we rang him first to tell him. A huge cheer went up on his ship.

“Charlie and Theo are actually dad and son so we’re now joking they had a father’s day weekend.

“And they’ve told us nothing about what happened. I guess what goes on tour, stays on tour.”

Caters

Their son John was walking the dogs on top of the Red Pike fell. When the weather turned in the middle of the day, a thick fog rolled in and the dogs were able to get away from him.

He called his mother immediately to let her know what had happened.

Liz said: “I was beside myself when John called. The dogs walk off lead when there is no livestock around and are used to being on the fells.

“It was a horrible phone call. We called our family and messaged friends and put out an appeal for people to look out for them on Facebook and Twitter.

“I also have a few friends who are part of mountain rescue groups so I asked if they could keep their eyes peeled if they were called out to a rescue.

“An awful lot of people responded. Groups of extended family and friends went out, and people from the local community who know the dogs.

“It was really nice, and Charlie and Theo are almost little celebrities now.”

Source: The Telegraph