Puppy

Raven Torrey Smith made the day of one of Baltimore's needy dogs when he adopted an impossibly cute puppy Wednesday afternoon. Smith, a well-known dog lover who embraces his pit bull Prince on billboards for the "Show Your Soft Side" campaign against animal abuse, adopted his puppy from the Baltimore Animal Care and Rescue Shelter, which just happens to sit in the shadow of M&T Bank Stadium. He chose a black and white one with a bandit eye patch, a very tiny puppy that looks to be a pit mix. "It's official," he Tweeted late Wednesday.

When Princeton opened the season with a 10-7 victory over Hofstra last Saturday, a few familiar names dotted the box score. Senior attackman Jeff Froccaro and junior midfielder Tom Schreiber each recorded two goals and one assist, sophomore attackman Mike MacDonald scored three goals against the Pride for the second straight year, and senior Bobby Lucas won six of eight faceoffs. There were also some fresh(man) faces. Attackman Ryan Ambler posted four points on one goal and three assists, goalkeeper Matt O'Connor made six saves, and midfielder Jake Froccaro and defenseman Mark Strabo also started.

Following on the heels of the shocking shooting death this week of a Maryland puppy, The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward. Here is the release the organization just sent out: The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for killing a 7-month-old golden retriever in Middletown, Md. Frederick County Animal Control gives the following account: On Wednesday morning, a resident in the 2900 block of Station Road in Middletown found his 7-month-old golden retriever puppy, Heidi, dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

The operator of an animal rescue has been charged with neglecting nearly two dozen dogs, including three that had to be euthanized, according to the Baltimore County State's attorney's office. Baltimore County police arrested Anthony Joseph Geer, 29, in Dorchester County Thursday. The Cambridge resident faces twenty-three counts of animal cruelty, after police and animal control officers said they found 18 puppies and five dogs caged in poor conditions at residential home in the 8600 block of Quentin Avenue Jan. 24. The state's attorney's office says Geer operated and advertised the Baltimore Animal Rescue Network.

There are many books that cover much of the same ground as Michele Lowell's "Your Purebred Puppy: A Buyer's Guide" ($22.50; Henry Holt and Company), but few that do it with such refreshing and commendable honesty.When it comes to pet books, some publishers bend over backward to avoid offending pet store owners, who sell both books and animals and are not interested in carrying any book that advises pet buyers to shop elsewhere for a puppy. The furor over pet store puppies also has led to a lawsuit between the publishers of two books on dogs and the law, one that blasted puppy mills and one that did not.Against such a background, Ms. Lowell's book stands out. Her section on choosing the right breeder is the best treatment of the subject I've ever read.

Jasmine the puppy might have perished on the ice on a bitter cold night had it not been for a little ingenuity and a lot of compassion from a couple of Maryland state troopers.Linda Davis of Eldersburg wrote this week to Lt. Roy Neigh, commander of the Westminster barracks, to tell him that she and her 13-year-old daughter, Lisa, are grateful to the officers for saving their dog Feb. 9.Ms. Davis said Jasmine, a 6-month-old bichon frise that had been the family's pet for only six weeks, slid down a steep, icy hill at the side of her house, and neither she nor Lisa could get to the whimpering animal.

Two months after the Japanese "virtual pet" Tamagotchi appeared in U.S. stores, a Hong Kong company has introduced a competing toy that actually looks like a pet.Cooltec's Pocket Puppy, the company promises, will "take virtual nurturing to a whole new level." The pooch -- a small plastic canine with an LCD screen on his belly and a quintessentially dumb-dog expression on his face -- has a sound chip, which means it can bark, yelp, whine, eat noisily and even sing. A mute button is provided.

A 5-month-old puppy, a family Christmas present, was stabbed in the neck several times by a burglar in a Union Bridge home early Monday, state police said yesterday.Emily, a miniature dachshund, was treated by a Mount Airy veterinarian and survived the injuries, according to family members, who requested anonymity.Police said two girls in the family entered their West Broadway home about 8 a.m. Monday, heard the dog barking frantically from behind the closed first-floor bathroom door and saw kitchen closet doors open.

Few things a dog trainer will ever suggest cause more confusion, worry and even anger than a shipping crate.Or, as new dog owners inevitably call it, a "cage," as in "I'm not going to put my puppy in a cage. It's cruel!"Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the fastest, easiest and most humane tool to house-train a puppy could be more accurately described as a "den." That's how your dog sees it, and seeing things the way a dog does is crucial to developing a strategy for getting your point across.

I WANT A PUPPY FOR CHRISTMAS. I know it is against all the rules of good sense, but I want a puppy with a red ribbon around his neck to jump out of a box and lick my face on Christmas morning. Animal welfare people hate Christmas because of people like me. We want a puppy on Christmas morning -- but not for the other 364 days of the year. Our puppies and kittens are usually neglected or abandoned or returned before Valentine's Day. But I swear, that wouldn't be me. If I had a puppy, I would love it. Because it would love me. That's what I am going for here.

Baltimoreans will be cheering for their beloved Ravens during Super Bowl XLVII this Sunday, but you can cheer on another local celebrity earlier in the day during Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl . That's when cheerleader Valkyrie will enjoy her big moment in the sporting spotlight, and she'll be easy to spot--she's a hedgehog. Jennifer Smith of Columbia adopted her three-year-old, three-legged (Valkyrie lost a leg to an infection shortly before she was adopted) pet in October 2011 from Tru Chance Hedgehog Rescue & Rehab.

The newspaper ad promised Boston Terrier puppies and there they were, gamboling about an Annapolis breeder's kitchen, five or six of them, squirmy, sweet and wild. Tom Boeke knew which one it would be after only a minute. The one that sashayed right over, sat down and gave him some heart-melting puppy eye. "You know how you just know sometimes?" says Boeke who a few days later fixed a red bow onto the pup's collar thinking he was giving his friend Michael Muller a dog for Christmas.

Raven Torrey Smith made the day of one of Baltimore's needy dogs when he adopted an impossibly cute puppy Wednesday afternoon. Smith, a well-known dog lover who embraces his pit bull Prince on billboards for the "Show Your Soft Side" campaign against animal abuse, adopted his puppy from the Baltimore Animal Care and Rescue Shelter, which just happens to sit in the shadow of M&T Bank Stadium. He chose a black and white one with a bandit eye patch, a very tiny puppy that looks to be a pit mix. "It's official," he Tweeted late Wednesday.

Happy National Puppy Day to all my two-legged and four-legged friends. My name is Krishana Davis and I'm an intern at the The Baltimore Sun . Although I have a knack for fashion and politics, I never turn down a chance to pay homage to my four-legged friends. Rachel Martin, another features intern, and I will be your newly collared correspondents for Unleashed . Today is National Puppy Day so grab a little sunblock and check out some great ways to celebrate in the Baltimore area.

So you want to get a puppy. Great! Now where should you go and what should you do? I would imagine that the owners of the new store in Columbia called "Charm City Puppies" would want you to immediately walk through their doors. Or the folks who manage "Today's Pet" would want you in their store. But are there other, better options? If you were to ask me the question of where you should get your puppy, my answer would be to head to Columbia's animal shelter — the Howard County Animal Control and Adoption Facility (HCAC)

Dog lovers were in paradise Feb. 11 at the annual Cupids and Canines Adopt-A-Thon, held this year at Clipper's Canine Cafe, at Historic Savage Mill. Held every year around Valentine's Day and sponsored by Camp Bow Wow Columbia, part of a national chain of day- and overnight-care facilities for dogs, the event featured 36 adoptable dogs in a wide variety of breeds and sizes. It also attracted some 150 people - some of whom also brought their own dogs, according to Camp Bow Wow spokeswoman Denise Harris.

Players can gauge their popularity by the particular custom of the locals. Some get statues in their honor, others get a key to the city.For West Virginia sophomore tailback Amos Zereoue, the spoils of his burgeoning fame have been less grandiose, but no less heartfelt."

Sardines were the secret ingredient for a winning horse in bTC "The Reivers," William Faulkner's charming story of horse-racing, hero-worship and growing up. But when you watch the Preakness Saturday, it could be the jockey who's fired up by a secret ingredient.That's because guys like Frank Douglas (5 wins on Capt. Bodgit) and C.H. Marquez (Concerto), among others, are fans of "Puppy's Fire," the mustard sauce that valet Harold "Puppy" Douglas developed to heat up palates in the Jockey's Room at Pimlico.

The opening of Charm City Puppies, a store in Columbia that sells purebred and other boutique puppies, as well as pet accessories, has prompted an online protest by some area residents. The family-owned store, which displays expensive puppies in cribs, has galvanized a local movement against puppy shops. The shops, opponents say, help keep "puppy mills" in business at a time when an overabundance of dogs at shelters is forcing those animals to be euthanized. The owner of the store says the animals he sells have been bred and handled humanely.

Oh holy snuggly, cuddly, chubby, Swiss mountain cuteness! This Saint Bernard puppy is playing with its mother Phybie at the Saint-Bernard kennel in Martigny, Switzerland. The kennel is the oldest breeding center for the Swiss dogs. The puppy is one of four born on December 18.