Puppy

Year of the Dog reinforces what dog owners already know: In a world where things are not always what they seem, the love of a good pooch is one of the few things we can count on. It's also a film about how pets bring out the unexpected in all of us, a notion riffed on by writer-director Mike White to comically poignant effect. The result may be too calculatedly smug for some tastes, a deadpan version of the old "Happiness is a Warm Puppy" wall plaques. But dog lovers will laugh, cry and rejoice that they're in the presence of a filmmaker who understands.

dailypuppy.com What's the point? -- Prepare to be killed by cuteness. Professional-quality, reader-submitted puppy portraits are posted every day. What to look for --From forums to photos, daily puppy.com is a dog lover's paradise. The site invites readers to submit portraits of their dogs along with short biographies and, sometimes, videos. Readers can rate each canine's cuteness quotient on a scale of one to 11 dog biscuits. The site offers a widget so readers can add puppies to their own blogs and share the daily fix with friends.

NEW YORK-- --Champion mastiff George Bailee rests his massive head in a pool of jowls. His brow is furrowed. His eyes, in their deep pink pockets, stare straight ahead. He appears unimpressed by the yappy pomp of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, ignoring the schnauzer braced against the gale-force winds of his groomer's blow dryer, and the toy fox terrier whose thighs have recently been polished with a toothbrush. Only when a piece of hot dog pokes through the bars of his cage does the Cockeysville mastiff stir.

A woman who accused a county police officer of strangling his puppy has vanished, apparently to avoid testifying against the officer -- who happens to be her son-in-law.This has left frustrated prosecutors and investigators with a misdemeanor case in limbo and no way to force the officer or his wife to produce the woman in court.Prosecutors have gotten the Circuit Court to issue a subpoena for Delores Guy, 65, to guarantee a court appearance."It's definitely a very bizarre case at this point," said Assistant State's Attorney Shelly A. Stickell.

WASHINGTON -- Finally, a local boy in the Oval Office. And he even comes when you call him.President Clinton's new dog, a chocolate Labrador retriever, is a Marylander, born and bred by the bay. An Eastern Shore original.No native of the state has ever been commander-in-chief. But if a Marylander can't be president, at least for now he can sit on one -- all thanks to Tony and Hope Harrington, Easton residents who brokered the dog deal for their pals the Clintons.The dog's mission: to cheer his masters now that their only child, Chelsea, has left them for college.

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.

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.

WITH A DOG, a cat, two rabbits, four fish and a hamster in our house, I thought we were past the animal requests on Christmas wish lists.But no, my children joined millions of others this season by asking for a puppy. They didn't ask their father or me directly; I found their requests on school work sheets listing their hopes and dreams for the holiday."A puppy with soft fur," our second-grader wrote on her wish list. Our kindergarten student drew a beautiful picture of a puppy beside a wrapped package on a work sheet titled, "What Should Be in Santa's Box?"

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."

Here are the three key elements to this story: A 10-year-old girl, a Labrador retriever puppy on the auction block and a former Oriole with a major league soft spot in his heart. The 10-year-old girl, one Libby Sheain of North Baltimore, finds herself becoming smitten with this puppy, fresh from Belquest Kennels, during the buildup to the auction at Saturday night's Ducks Unlimited banquet in Ruxton. She holds it, she pets it. "The pup starts to look like a growth on her" is how Libby's father, Charles "Buzz" Sheain, put it. The auction commences.

President Barack Obama fulfilled a campaign promise to his daughters with their new puppy, but the decision to forgo a shelter dog is sure to leave some animal activists growling. Bo, a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog, will make his public debut at the White House on Tuesday after months of intense speculation about his arrival. The first pooch is a gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who owns three Porties and wanted the Obamas to follow suit. The housebroken puppy, which has been undergoing extensive training in recent weeks, was named Charlie by his original owners, but first daughters Malia and Sasha rechristened him Bo in honor of their cousin's cat of the same name.

* Frustrated about the difficulty of keeping their hands warm while texting, two British designers devised the Etre Touchy gloves - with only the tips of the thumb and index finger exposed. They're billed as "part normal pair of gloves, part fingerless pair of gloves," which cover your middle, ring and little fingers completely. They're available for about $22.50 at etretouchy.com. * Kidthing.com, a learning and entertainment platform for children ages 3-11, is another reminder that kids are growing up in a world much different from their parents'.

President-elect Barack Obama has promised change. He has also promised his daughters a puppy. With the right dog, he can make good on both. From Thomas Jefferson's briards to George W. Bush's Scottish terriers, the White House doghouse has been stuffed with austere purebreds. The 44th president appears destined for a different kind of dog. Perhaps he'll choose one from a shelter, where there are "mutts like me," he said yesterday at his first news conference, addressing both the weighty family dog issue and the economic crisis.

Year of the Dog reinforces what dog owners already know: In a world where things are not always what they seem, the love of a good pooch is one of the few things we can count on. It's also a film about how pets bring out the unexpected in all of us, a notion riffed on by writer-director Mike White to comically poignant effect. The result may be too calculatedly smug for some tastes, a deadpan version of the old "Happiness is a Warm Puppy" wall plaques. But dog lovers will laugh, cry and rejoice that they're in the presence of a filmmaker who understands.

dailypuppy.com What's the point? -- Prepare to be killed by cuteness. Professional-quality, reader-submitted puppy portraits are posted every day. What to look for --From forums to photos, daily puppy.com is a dog lover's paradise. The site invites readers to submit portraits of their dogs along with short biographies and, sometimes, videos. Readers can rate each canine's cuteness quotient on a scale of one to 11 dog biscuits. The site offers a widget so readers can add puppies to their own blogs and share the daily fix with friends.

NEW YORK-- --Champion mastiff George Bailee rests his massive head in a pool of jowls. His brow is furrowed. His eyes, in their deep pink pockets, stare straight ahead. He appears unimpressed by the yappy pomp of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, ignoring the schnauzer braced against the gale-force winds of his groomer's blow dryer, and the toy fox terrier whose thighs have recently been polished with a toothbrush. Only when a piece of hot dog pokes through the bars of his cage does the Cockeysville mastiff stir.

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.

Howard County police have charged a 21-year-old Waldorf man in last month's theft of a $1,600 purebred Pomeranian puppy from a pet store inside The Mall in Columbia, authorities announced yesterday. Police still are investigating whether Eric Wilson Donovan played a role in the original theft from the Today's Pet store, or only received the dog after it was stolen. According to police, Donovan gave the puppy as a gift to a 19-year-old Waldorf woman, whose father suspected that the puppy had been stolen after his sister gave him a news article about the dognapping.

$1,600 puppy recovered by Howard police Howard County police have recovered a purebred Pomeranian puppy that was swiped from the back of a pet store at The Mall in Columbia after a Waldorf man reported that his daughter might have the dog. The man, whom police would not identify, contacted authorities after his sister showed him a news report about the missing orange-and-white female, which is valued at $1,600. He then reported to police that his 19-year-old daughter had brought home a dog matching the description two weeks ago. At the request of police, the man took the dog to the Charles County Humane Society to confirm its identity, using the code on a microchip implanted under the dog's skin.

Howard County police are looking for a dognapper who swiped a purebred Pomeranian puppy from its cage in the back room of a pet store in The Mall in Columbia and then slipped out a nearby service entrance. The orange-and-white female puppy, which weighs two pounds and is valued at $1,600, was being medicated for hypoglycemia, a condition common in young so-called toy dogs because they demand a lot of sugar and are not yet capable of regulating it, according to petplace.com, an informational Web site.