Labrador Retriever

The forces that drive big American studio movies -- the need for an instantly recognizeable product that transcends age, class and sex barriers; and the potential for ancillary marketing tie-ins -- may have made "The Flintstones" inevitable. But they didn't have to make it so enjoyable.Sure, it's more of a corporate statement sponsored by the stockholders of MCA Inc. and McDonald's than an actual movie. Sure, it's got an IQ of 54, a plot that would have seemed skimpy in the original half-hour TV cartoon format, and enough bad puns on the word "stone" to throw a rock at. But it also yields certain delights unattainable anywhere else on the landscape: John Goodman as Fred Flintstone, giving as much to "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" as Olivier gave to "To be, or not to be: that is the question"; and Elizabeth Taylor, tied up and dumped on a bearskin rug.The best thing about the movie is the movie.

Dr. Anna Marie Chwastiak has returned to Baltimore TV after a nine-year hiatus — switching channels, dropping her surname and presenting her syndicated show on WBAL's digital channel. The former WMAR health reporter, whose news beat focused on the area's medical institutions, has turned executive producer and host of "Your Life with Dr. Anna Marie," a half-hour show in which she offers advice and tips on subjects like exercise, relaxation and maintaining a healthful diet.

It's not a bad way to spend a day at work.Rebecca Dorsey's working wardrobe includes T-shirts and shorts, and her "office" is a 35-acre farm, studded with ponds and ringed by woods, on the Eastern Shore. She can take her dog to work, too: Shad, a chocolate Labrador retriever, dives with gusto in and out of the ponds, and tries to entice a visitor into a game of stick-toss.It was a balmy, sunny Wednesday in May when a reporter drove down a country lane near Cambridge to the Pyramid crawfish farm.

Laugh all you want, but Agnes Muhl has no doubts about what she, her husband and her mother saw in the front yard of their Thurmont vacation home eight years ago."It was a cougar," insists the 57-year-old Catonsville woman. "It was sitting there looking at the smoke coming out of our chimney."Mrs. Muhl isn't alone. Over the past 25 years, dozens of Maryland residents have reported cougar encounters, even though wildlife officials insist that mountain lions haven't roamed the state for at least a century.

Ask patients in some area hospitals which caregivers they most look forward to seeing, and they'll say the ones with hairy faces and bad breath. For Sean Harris, they were his dogs Diesel and Wilson. For Michael Friedman, it was the family pooch, Larissa. "My mother and grandfather had been [at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center & Hospital] before and we brought the dog to visit, so when my father got sick, we knew we could bring her," Brad Friedman said of Larissa, a friendly 5-year-old Australian shepherd.

Volunteers are needed at the Lab Rescue of the Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac to assist with Adopt-a-Lab Day on weekends; to transport dogs to and from vets and shelters; evaluate dogs before accepting them into the system; conduct home visits in connection with adoptions; and provide foster homes. Volunteers also assist in recruiting veterinarians, writing grants, helping with computers and networks, accounting, public relations, posting fliers and more. Information: 301-299-6756.

Name : Louie Owners : Desi Jena and Toni Catterton How they met : While shopping at White Marsh Mall, Desi and her son Daniel went into the Pet Center and saw him lying in a cage. Home : White Marsh Breed: Labrador Retriever Age : 2 Best trick : Unrolling toilet paper from the holder and carrying it upstairs. Favorite Food : Everything including iceberg lettuce Funniest moment : Jumping from the patio onto the grass out back and missing the five steps in between.

The owners of Kooper's Tavern, Katie and Patrick Russell, will open a Baltimore County location in Lutherville's Round Wood Shopping Center. The new location will be called Kooper's North. A new food truck, Woody's Taco Island, is also on its way. The Lutherville location was formerly the home of Roddy Domacasse's Restaurant Sabor, which closed suddenly last summer. The Russells will operate Kooper's North in a partnership with Miles Perman, according to Patrick Russell, who said that he hopes to have the new location open by Aug. 21. In addition to Kooper's Tavern, the Russells own the Thames Street properties Slainte Irish Pub and Woody's Rum Bar and Celie's Waterfront Inn . They also own Kooper's Chowhound Burger Wagon, the first truck in Baltimore's food-truck fleet.

A jury in Frederick County has awarded a family $620,000 after sheriff's deputies shot a pet dog in January 2010. The officers had been trying to serve a civil warrant on the dog owner's son, who no longer lived at the house. Deputy Timothy Brooks and his boss, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, decried the verdict in a story published in the Frederick Post, saying their full story was not heard. Jenkins said the deputies "were doing their job. " But the attorney for the family, Cary J. Hansel, said that "from now on, police officers are on notice that they should think twice before using deadly force against a family pet. " The deputies said the dog, Brandi, a chocolate Labrador retriever, lunged at them as they entered the home.