Cross question is quite a puzzle this time - for the first time in my memory we have a three way cross!
Bea is a beauty - but what mix is she? I think we need a clue or two...
One part from Scotland, New Zealand and Canada.
Email your best guesses to comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk - first correct guess wins a book of your choice from Interpet.
Best caption wins a Viziglo collar from Company of animals and Natural Coachies treats for the runners up. You can email comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk before Monday at 1pm or you can enter online at Dogs Today's facebook page.
We still need more dogs who are looking for new homes - 25 slots still left to fill in the April edition out early March.
There are three very simple steps.
1. We need a good photograph (about a 1MB when attached, in focus ideally!)/
2. The answers to these really simple questions.
3. A 100 word statement from the dog that makes people look twice.
Here are the questions:
Name of dog:
Type of dog and size if not obvious:
Approx age: (in years)
Sex:
Neutered?
Housetrained?
With other dogs?
With cats?
Good with young children?
Good with older children?
Location (County):
Contact details:
Foster or forever home?
Email all three of these elements to a new email address
jules@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk (retype this as copy and paste for some reason often will not work!)
and put 'Adopt me' in the subject. Here's what a typical page of the the Adopt me feature looks like.
And here are some excellent 100 word statements to give you inspiration!
Hey I’m Shady! Will you throw my ball for me?
I’ve been in Rescue for over a year now which my carers say they are very surprised about. I love the company of people and get quite stressed if left on my own for long periods of time.
I’d love an owner with a lot of time on their hands; I’ll thank you with my devotion and wagging tail!
My new year’s resolution is to find a loving new home where I can play lots of games of fetch – could you help me make it come true?
I am the busiest dog in the world! I like to train, and play games, and love my obedience classes here in Leeds. I have lived with children with severe learning difficulties in a very busy house, and with another dog. I am much prettier than my photo, but I won’t keep still long enough for anyone to take one – I’m too busy seeing if the photographer has treats! I would love to live with an active family who like to get out and about as much as I do. You can watch videos of me training at the Iron Mountain website.
I’ve been at Battersea over a year – the Home never puts on a limit on how long it takes to rehome a cat or dog – and I’m a real favourite in the offices where I spend a day or two a week chilling out, being good-natured and friendly, well-mannered and very affectionate. For someone who looks like they ate all the pies, I’m actually a delicate and discerning eater – I once said no to a Bonio! Like my namesake Cleopatra, I am very beautiful, with carefully applied eyeliner, and would like to be building my own little homely kingdom soon.
The cat fights are normally reserved for the Oscars, but it's the Golden Collar that seems to have got the claws out this year. Uggie from the black and white movie the Artist has been getting all the pats on the back from the media so far - but director of rival Oscar blockbuster movie Hugo, Martin Scorsese thinks his leading dog is the better actor.
He has a point, Uggie played Jack who is pretty much indistinguishable from Uggie in real life. He's a cute dog that does tricks - not exactly stretching his art.
Female Dobermann Blackie in Hugo gives a powerful and controlled performance as a menacing orphan-chasing sidekick to Sacha Baron Cohen's lame station master.
In an open letter to the Los Angeles Times, Scorsese wrote: "I have been cautioned against speaking out on this issue lest I create the appearance of churlishness. Well, I'm going to have to risk it. One recent morning, I turned on the television, and imagine my surprise when I heard the nominations for the first Golden Collar Awards for Best Dog in a Theatrical Film.
"After all, we had Blackie the Dobermann in our movie. How could she not be nominated? I listened in vain for Blackie's name to be called, and then to all the hullabaloo over a certain Jack Russell terrier named Uggie. Uggie is so adorable that he received two nominations for two separate pictures. Well done. OK, let's lay all our cards on the table. Jack Russell terriers are small and cute. Dobermans are enormous and - handsome.
"More tellingly, Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master's life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorises children. I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at."
Hewent on: "I detect another, more deep-seated prejudice at work. Jack Russell terriers were bred in the 19th century for the purposes of fox hunting by an Englishman, the Reverend John Russell. Dobermans were bred by a German tax collector who was afraid of being bludgeoned to death by the citizenry. But does that mean we must condemn the entire breed?"
He concluded: "In short, I protest the omission of Blackie the Dobermann from the first Golden Collar nominations. Moreover, I encourage all Times readers to make their preference known to the editors of Dog News Daily by write-in ballot and give Blackie the nomination she so richly deserves."
Dog News Daily has caved in and allowed Blackie onto the short list.
My issue lies with the use of plastic surgery to enhance Blackie's appearance. Those ears are the result of surgery - not training.
So which is the better actor?
Uggie or Blackie?
I've seen both films and I much preferred Hugo as a movie - but for me Uggie is the canine George Clooney - always playing pretty much the same part in every film, but undeniably gorgeous and likable - or should that be lickable?
Blackie is the Meryl Streep. A proper old school actor ready to take on difficult and unpopular roles. But Blackie needs to be careful she doesn't get typecast - perhaps taking on the doggie equivalent of Mamma Mia next to show her versatility?
Who gets the Golden Collar?
I say there should be a best male and female award - like there are for two legged actors.
And not a collar, that's all about ownership - the talent of the teacher not the pupil.
Perhaps it should be the Golden Sausage - after all that's what BAFTA said was the canine actors' real motivation when they excluded canine nominations this year.
Mandy was the victim of domestic violence. She lost her home, her family, her job. She became very depressed and had a breakdown. The only thing she has left that she cared about were her pets. Two dogs and a cat.
Sadly, the only council temporary emergency housing she was been offered was not pet friendly. All the existing network of help for people with pets in domestic crisis were unable to assist. She needed to be in London for the Dogs Trust to be able to help her and the local RSPCA initiative weren't keen on the types of dog involved. Luckily a local domestic violence group used personal contacts to find a short term bolt hole for the pets. Mandy contacted Dog sToday via our facebook page and asked if she could ask for some help - she was amazed by the response.
Mandy was offered, very generously, some temporary accommodation where she, her elderly rescue GSD, her young Dobe and her cat could all stay together - but even though it would have been cheaper than the B and B the council had put her in, they refused to fund it and further told Mandy she would be making herself "intentionally homeless" if she moved out of the B & B and she would go to the back of the queue for housing.
Mandy can't drive, and needs to be close to the hospital and her counsellors in St Austell, Cornwall for support and medication. Dogs Today facebook followers again came up trumps and a group of dog lovers in Cornwall started to ask around and a very generous offer of a kennel and cattery space for the pets came in.
Mandy emailed me devastated when she realised the animals boosters had lapsed with all teh upheaval and upset and she didn't have the money to fund them. Without vaccination the pets couldn't got into kennels.
Ancient charity Tailwaggers kicked in and made a call to the vets to say that to please proceed the cost would be covered and the good people who were fostering the pets agreed to keep them a bit longer.
Mandy has been so touched by the support she's received and to be honest I've been inspired by how the doggie world has come to her aid. Really brilliant when folk as far away as Sweden pitch in. The kindness of strangers is really something.
Mandy is obviously much relieved and delighted. If anyone is able to donate to the Just Giving fund we've set up it would be a huge help to cover the costs of the foster and the vets and have some in reserve in case there are any other unexpected turns. And if we are lucky enough to raise more than this case needs we can use those funds to help other emergency cases that arise that do seem to fall between the cracks. See below for more details or click the just giving box to the right.
Tailwaggers Club Trust has set up this fund so that we can help Mandy keep her family together. If you could offer Mandy any other help contact beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk. http://www.justgiving.com/MandyHomelesswithPets
Thank you so much to everyone who has helped so far, you really are brilliant.
I have so enjoyed watching footage of artist Bennett Millers earlier work. Mini golf to get us to think more deeply about Iran... genius.
Here's how to get involved....
email dachshund@wearefierce.org
60 dachshunds from across the West Midlands are needed to participate in a piece of live art.
'Dachshund U.N.' is to be performed in a central location in Birmingham on Saturday 31 March. It is a fun (and often chaotic!) piece, and will be a great meeting of Dachshunds in the city, and dog and art-lovers alike.
Here's a video of the performance in Melbourne in 2010 http://tinyurl.com/DachshundFierce
Mandy was the victim of domestic violence. She lost her home, her family, her job. She became very depressed and had a breakdown. The only thing she has left are her pets. Sadly, the council temporary emergency housing she has been offered is not pet friendly. Via an earlier appeal on facebook she was offered, very generously, some temporary accommodation where Mandy, her elderly rescue GSD, her young Dobe and her cat could all stay together but even though it would have been cheaper than the BandB the council refused and further told Mandy she would be making herself "intentionally homeless" if she moved and she would go to the back of the queue for housing. The pets are currently in a short-term temporary foster home, but that runs out very shortly and we need to find a plan B. Mandy can't drive, and needs to be close to the hospital and her counsellors in St Austell, Cornwall for support and medication.
STOP PRESS:
We have received a very generous offer of a kennel and cattery space for the pets. But it has come to light that all the pets boosters have gone out of date in all the upheaval. Tailwaggers Club Trust has agreed to fund this immediately and the cost of fostering until they are all good to go into kennels. Mandy is delighted - but if anyone is able to donate to the Just Giving fund it would be a huge help and if we raise more than this case needs we can use the funds to help other emergency cases that arise as it does seem like people like Mandy can find they have no where else to turn. See below for more details.
Tailwaggers Club Trust has set up this fund so that we can help Mandy keep her family together. If you could foster the dogs and cat or help in any other way please contact beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk. The RSPCA and Dogs Trust have all been informed and are unable to assist. Any donated funds not needed for Mandy's case will be used on other Tailwaggers emergency cases. http://www.justgiving.com/MandyHomelesswithPets
Last night's BBC1 Documentary was a depressing affair.
Did it tell anyone anything they didn't already know? Did it move anything further on? What were your feelings after watching the show?
I was disappointed they didn't uncover some more of the facts about the dog that killed the little boy 'looked after' by his Granny. Took me a few seconds on Google to discover that Pit Bulls were being bred in that house, that two of his three dogs had fought - one to the death. One of the two left was heavily pregnant with 11 pups and their owner had just left to join the army leaving Gran in charge of his pack.
Not aware of the DDA? Come on.
Not aware that these dogs could turn - after one had killed it's companion? I think that puts this 'surprise' unforeseeable attack into a completely different context and puts their proposed muzzle-every-dog all-the-time solution into the crazy deluded bin.
We saw a lovely dog dying, people crying about the child they had lost, people and dogs living in terrible conditions, people not coping with life generally and having their innocent dogs taken away to be killed. All in all a very depressing film with not much conclusion apart from society is in a mess. If we were to revisit the same houses and look at every other aspects of those lives we could probably further depress ourselves.
Reminded me of the Big Fat Gypsy Wedding school of documentary - where we take a sneaky look in and see how different some people's lives are. But we're looking in this case at miserable lives made all the more upsetting when the only creature that loves them unconditionally is ripped from their midst by a bunch of storm troopers because a neighbour has told the police it's a Pit Bull not because it's being bad, or is being neglected.
The only dog that had actually bitten anyone was released to the owner with seemingly no behaviour advice - someone who didn't much seem to want it back.
What a wonderful nation we have, what a great legal system and who would do the job of snatching these usually innocent dogs off the streets just to kill them because the tape measure says they're dangerous?
And are the dogs better off dead than returned to homes that neglect their needs? All seems like madness.
You need to stop folk breeding these dog - have the neighbours phone in litters rather than pit bulls - and ban casual breeding. That Great Dane cross that was obviously unwell... and giving away Am Bulldog Great Dane crosses... gulp. Why are people doing it?
Can we stop this at source and stop casual breeding?
Clarissa Baldwin was very good this morning on BBC1 Breakfast. So full of tact and reason. So difficult when the woman sitting next to you has lost her son in a dog incident.
Society is very respectful towards folk who have lost their children.
Apologies if what I am going to say offends anyone. But I need to get this off my chest.
The McCann's are always on our TV screens.
I am sure I can't be the only one at home thinking the same terrible thing.
How can they live with themselves?
Intelligent people, leaving their children alone while they go out to eat in a restaurant.
Who on earth does that?
I'd rather go hungry than leave my kids.
But how few interviewers ever make that point?
No one wants to rub it in. Their pain is so obviously so great in any case.
Everyone makes mistakes, but the consequences of this one were just so huge.
If you make a mistake you admit it and then sympathy follows.
I don't think you'd ever forgive yourself.
I'd feel such terrible shame.
The same is true with this woman on our screens this morning.
A young life ended is a tragedy that few mothers can ever recover from.
Is it a displacement activity to move the blame away from the only family you have left?
Is it logical or just part of grief to blame all dogs, rather than the humans in whom you put your trust?
When I entrusted the care of my son to my Mum she would never have put my son at risk.
She knew that babies and dogs do not mix.
And our dogs were Beardies, not Pit Bulls.
If she wasn't capable of making rational decisions like that one what other risks might my son be confronted by?
Might she not realise that boiling kettles should not have a trailing flex or that the bleach needs to be out of reach. But kids who die from other Granny-related bad judgement calls don't make the news and certainly don't result in campaigns to ban kettles.
How many of these incidents does there have to be before people work it out not to take unnecessary risks with their kids. That you don't leave your kids with Granny and your brother's Pit Bull unless you have an agreement that two are not to meet. And that it's not needed to be stated that you don't leave the child to sleep on the sofa with someone else's dog and then introduce food into the equation.
And as if it need saying - you also don't keep unsocialised Rotties locked outside in the yard all the time if you have little kids the other side who can open the door.
And you don't let your half insane tormented guard dogs kept chained on the roof of a pub anywhere near your newborn baby.
And if you do, you accept that you and/or your family have let your son down and you grieve.
True this dog had not killed a child before, but you know other children have already died in very similar scenarios.
Do you blame all the dogs in the world and or is it time for some quiet introspection?
It makes gripping TV, because no one dares to say what they really think.
Tonight's BBC1 documentary at 10.35pm looks to be 60 minutes of edge of your seat tension wondering how much worse they are going to make life for the Staffies especially.
Especially as dog law maestro Trevor Cooper's balancing footage has already been consigned to the editing room floor.
The press blurb comes with a dramatic photo of a dog who is probably barking but still looks scary. It seems people do like doing these easy to make documentaries that press people's buttons.
Remember 10 million dogs and 99.99% of these behaving themselves. But let's just freak everyone out and get some more knee jerk legislation that does NOTHING to make children any safer.
Slippers and balloons* kill more people than dogs and horses put more people in A&E - but let's not let the facts get in the way of a documentary.
Has anyone asked how many kids die while being looked after by grannies?
I think you'll find that dogs are not the biggest risk when grandparents get left to cope.
But are we ever likely to see a Death Row Grannies documentary? or A Dangerous Grannie Act?
I am a mother.
I am a dog lover.
My son is now 11 but I would never, ever have put my son in that situation when he was less than eight - and I certainly wouldn't entrust him to someone who didn't agree with me. And it wouldn't matter how nice the dog or how well brought up. Stairgates are great at keeping dogs and kids apart.
I do feel very sorry for their loss, but surely it is time to grieve and contemplate how this could have been avoided rather than mount an ill-thought out knee jerk reaction campaign.
Would they put a parent on the sofa at BBC Breakfast whose son had wandered out of the front door and been run over? Would they let that mother say that all cars must be made of sponge so this never happens again? Or would they think perhaps granny should have kept her son from danger when she asked her to babysit and that mum really needed to accept that painful fact and allow herself to grieve.
And would the muzzle-every-dog-all-the-time campaign have resulted in a sofa position today if it wasn't to plug a BBC documentary showing later today?
Using a mother's loss to boost ratings.
It's a cynical old world.
And to have a woman calling for more dog legislation who claimed to have not even known about the already existing Dangerous Dogs Act. If the DDA didn't work why did she imagine her brother would have complied with a muzzling order?
Here's the press blurb...
Death Row Dogs looks at the growing problem of illegal fighting dogs and “status dogs” on the streets of Britain. Despite being banned in the early 90s, pit bulls have become the dog of choice for criminals and irresponsible owners; sentences are lower than for carrying a knife or a gun but the results can be just as severe. However the problem isn’t just confined to pit bulls, injuries caused by dogs are at record levels and rising. Sadly fatalities are not uncommon.
Pitbulls were one of the named breeds banned by the 1991 Dangerous Dogs act – but the numbers being bred and crossed with other, legal breeds like Staffies and English Bull terriers is on the rise – making the job of tracking them down, even harder…
This film gains access to the work of the West Midlands Police Dangerous Dog Unit led by PC Keith Evans, as they try to tackle the growing problem. These officers have the unenviable task of rounding up the area’s dangerous dogs and taking them quite literally to dog death row, closely guarded kennels where the animals await destruction. We see raids on high profile gang members, crack dealers, a suspected fighting dog ring and a mother who keeps a pit bull for protection. Under current law the police sometimes have to destroy a friendly sociable dog, as they are prevented from rehoming and let the potentially violent ones go free.
We also follow the tragic story of one family whose toddler son was killed by an out of control dog. How did it happen? Could it have been prevented? And how have the family dealt with the shocking trauma of such a brutal death?
The film explores why dangerous dogs like the fearsome pit bulls are such an issue and what is being done to stop the problem getting worse...and the film illustrates that the current legislation is left wanting…
Executive Producer: Paul Hamann
Filmed, Produced and Directed by: Jon Alwen
* Someone here thought I was joking about slippers and balloons killing more people than dogs. Here's the book if you'd like to read it.
Dogs are dangerous. And they are more dangerous to children than to adults. Not as dangerous of course, as kitchen utensils, drapery cords, five-gallon water buckets, horses, or cows. Not nearly as dangerous as playground equipment, swimming pools, skateboards, or bikes. And not remotely as dangerous as family, friends, guns, or cars.
Here’s the reality. Dogs almost never kill people. A child is more likely to die choking on a marble or a balloon, and an adult is more likely to die in a bedroom slipper related accident. Your chances of being killed by a dog are roughly one in 18 million. You are five times more likely to be killed by a bolt of lightning.
The supposed epidemic numbers of dog bites splashed across the media are absurdly inflated by dubious research and by counting bites that don’t actually hurt anyone. Even when dogs do injure people, the vast majority of injuries are at the Band-Aid level.
Dogs enhance the lives of millions more people than even the most inflated estimates of dog-bite victims. Infants who live with dogs have fewer allergies. People with dogs have less cardiovascular disease, better heart attack survival, and fewer backaches, headaches, and flu symptoms. Petting your dog lowers stress and people who live with dogs just plain feel better than people who don’t.
Yet lawmakers, litigators and insurers press for less dog ownership. This must stop. We must maintain perspective. Yes, dogs bite. But even party balloons and bedroom slippers are more dangerous.
I was struggling to find some new doggie puns for an article I was writing and I asked our friends on facebook and Twitter to come up with their best ones and said I'd provide a prize. But I am struggling to pick the best! Here's our office favourites so far - and this is the short list from an enormous list. More than one person may have supplied the same suggestion, so if picked we will pick the one that came in first.
Angelina Collie
Annette Crossbreed
Arnie Schnauzenegger
Ashton Lurcher
Ben German Shepherd
Benedict Clumberbatch
Billy Great Zane
Brad Pit Bull
Bridget Dogue De Bordeaux.
Burt Lancaster Healer
Catherine Akita Bones
Clint Eastwoof
Colin Feral
Colin Furth
Cybill German Shepherd
Dandie Dinmont Nicholls
Dawn French Bulldog
Denise Welch Corgi
Edward Fox Terrier
Elizabeth Tailor
Eric (Great) Dane
George C Scottie
Gerard Dogue de Bordeaux
Glen of Imaal Close
Gwyneth PAL-trow
Hugh Grrrrant
Hugh Jackalman
Jack Black Labrador
Jack Russell Brand
Jack Russell Crowe
Jack Russell Nicholson
Jamie Foxx Terrier
Jennifer Grey-hound
Joan Collie
Jude Paw
Kim Basenji
King Charles Bronson
LabraDora Brian
Lassie Mannelli
Leonberger Dicaprio
Linda Greyhound
Lindsay Lowchen
Marilyn Mongrel
Megan Fox Terrier
Michael Canine
Michael Dog-less
Michael J Fox Terrier
Mini Schnauzer Driver
Mutt Damon
Pawl Newman
Reece Whippet Spoon
Rockweiler Hudson
Saint Bernard Breslaw
Samoyed Neal
Samuel L Jackapoo
Sandra Bulldog
Sarah Lancashire Heeler.
Sidney Pointer
Sigourney Woofter
Simon Pug
Spaniel Craig
Spaniel Day Lewis
Spaniel Radcliffe
Spinone Weaver
Staffonie Powers
Terrier Hatcher
Terrier Thomas
Timothy Westie
Tom Baker’s complete
Uma Furman
Vanessa Red Setter
Vinnie Bones
Waltervuren Matthau
Weimaraner Ryder
Whippety Hedren
Woofy Goldberg
And some sent us people who weren't actors, but they were still good!
The Music business:
Akita Harris
Britney
Collie Murs
David Greyhound
Elkhound Brooks
Gracie Field spaniel
Husky Springfield
Kanye Westie
Lady Galga (female Spanish greyhound)
Lady Grrr Grrr
Maremma Carey
Mariah Corgi
Shirley Basset
Sports
Bark Cavendish
Eddie The Beagle
John Terryier
Lewis Hamilstonstovare
Kenny Dogleash
Mark Finnish Spitz
Paul Bleu de Gascoigne
Famous people generally:
Airedale O'Hanlon
Cavalier Prince Charles
Cindy Pawford
Collie Willoughby
Dalmatian Hurst
David Barkham
Great Dane Bowers
J K Growling
Jack Russell Grant
Jeremy Beagle
Jerry Springer Doodle
Kerry (Blue) Katona
Larry King Charles Cavalier
Michael Flatcoat
Vicpawia Stillwell
Victoria Barkham
Virginia Wolfhound
People who don’t to change their name at all:
Clare Danes
Goldie Hawn
Robert Wag-ner
Sam Shepherd
Which are your favourites? Who should win the prize as the funniest dog pun? You tell me!
Domestic violence meant that this lady has lost her job, her home, her family. She's had a breakdown and took an overdose and needs to be close to the hospital and the domestic violence support team. She can't drive so she gets the bus. She's on a very limited budget. The council have put her in a b&b until her name comes up for somewhere to live where she can be reunited with her pets.
Her pets are all she has left. Her pets are in foster care and the funding for that ends on Friday and then she's into the unknown. Her 8 year old GSD was a rescue and he's not coping well with being apart. And that is further stressing her, obviously. She's afraid that if he was assessed now he'd fail as he's been so stressed out of late and she's scared he'll get PTS. Her other young dog is a Dobermann and she has a male cat she hand reared.
She has to be in St Austell and she'd prefer to be with her pets as she's worried about them and they're all she's got - quite literally.
RSPCA have a pet retreat in Cornwall but as the dogs are what they called, "traditionally dangerous breeds" they'd be unlikely to be able to help. And she's worried that they'd be separated if they could and that the GSD would end up getting so stressed he'd be put down.
Dogs Trust Freedom and Hope projects couldn't help.
So, we're looking for a miracle!
Anyone got a holiday cottage she can borrow? She will get granted somewhere to live eventually, but people fleeing domestic violence with kids take priority.
She'd even accept somewhere to pitch a tent, but I'd worry about her freezing to death - but that's how desperate she is to stay together with her family.
I've forwarded her the phone number for the tourist board so she can approach holiday lets.
If you can think of a solution please email me: beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk
Pets really do mean such a lot and I'm thinking this woman could really do with a bit of good fortune so she can start putting her life back together. Just knowing we all care is a start.
Good luck!
