Two Dogs

THE MID-ATLANTIC German Shepherd Rescue has made a difference in the lives of many abused or abandoned German shepherds since it began operating in September 1999. The Sykesville organization has placed about 350 dogs, according to Libby Marquardt, president of MAGSR. The nonprofit group operates with about 30 volunteers. A recent rescue involved four sibling German shepherds that were kept in sheds with an occasional deer carcass thrown to them for food. Marquardt said MAGSR took possession of the abused dogs and, after care from a veterinarian, began placing them in homes.

I behaved oddly when the lights went out. On Thursday afternoon, Aug. 14, I was sitting in a conference room in midtown Manhattan as the power flickered and died. I immediately asked the two other people in the room, "Are you OK?" -- an inane question they chose to ignore as they moved to the windows overlooking a now-dark Times Square. In the next hour I continued to act, well, peculiar for someone who likes a snow day as well as the next person. I dashed into my office, closed the door, and, anxiously, dialed the number of a single car service over and over, trying to line up a ride out of the city.

When Dr. Carl E. Rogge got to Alaska for his first Iditarod race in 1988, he found the rough-and-tumble sled dogs weren't much like the nice little doggies he was treating back home in Severna Park."

James A. Buck gladly accepted the package at his Parkville office from the deliveryman wearing a UPS uniform. But minutes later, police swooped in to arrest Buck, 54, and seized the parcel, which had contained three pounds of marijuana he sent to himself from California, according to court records. Buck pleaded guilty to a possession charge, though he said in a recent interview that the drugs were for medicinal use. Buck's case and search warrants unsealed last week offer a glimpse into a long-standing — and growing — smuggling practice: mailing drugs from California to Maryland.

After reading a recent review on the blog for an expensive retractable leash for two dogs, an Anne Arundel reader wanted everyone to know that he's devised a much simpler, much cheaper leash built for two. Robert Winchester wrote to me after reading our review of the Freedom Leash , a gadget the reviewer found quite exciting as a concept, but lacking in convenience and reliability. "I too, have had made attempts to simplify the process of walking two or more pups and never had much success until in a moment of unusual clarity, arrived at a novel (and inexpensive)

A 7-year-old boy was flown to Johns Hopkins Children's Center after being attacked by two dogs in Pasadena, Anne Arundel County police said. Police were called to the 3400 block of Barnsley Court around 5:30 p.m. after a woman called, screaming for help, said Lt. James Fredericks. He said police arrived within two minutes and found the woman's two American bulldogs attacking the boy, who Fredericks said is the woman's nephew. Fredericks said the officer shot one dog that was still attacking the boy, then the second turned on the officer and was also shot.

Bruce and Isobel Cleland have a small, black and white photograph of their third child that can still move them to tears. In it, Georgia, almost 3, is looking down, cuddling her baby blanket. She is nearly bald from the chemotherapy and radiation that ravaged her body but saved her life. "That's my favorite picture," Isobel says. Bruce Cleland keeps the 1986 photo with other keepsakes from that time. In some ways, it seems like another life -- before the Clelands moved to Baltimore, before they knew Georgia would go into remission and survive, before they could fathom any good arising from their family tragedy.

As she struggled to unload groceries from the back of her car, Sherrie Schenning got an uncharacteristically queasy feeling. Her family's Essex neighborhood had always felt safe, but on this recent Saturday, she noticed two unfamiliar young men in a nearby schoolyard eyeing their home . "They looked like they wanted to steal something, but there was nothing valuable in the yard," she says - just her shopping bags and the family's beloved 12-year-old...

Fire destroyed a Manchester home Friday morning, killing two family pets and displacing the owners, who were at work at the time, authorities said. The fire marshal called to the scene in the 2100 block of Ebbvale Road determined that the fire was caused by a malfunctioning electrical adapter in the basement, authorities said. Jeffrey Lee and Barbara Dianne Copoulos lost their home and two large dogs that died of smoke inhalation, said K. Arthur McGhee, deputy state fire marshal. Damage to the single-story rancher was estimated at $125,000.

A 51-year-old man and two dogs died in a house fire in Southeast Baltimore on Saturday night, while four other people escaped, including a woman who suffered minor injuries, authorities said. The fire broke out in a one-story, wood-frame home in the 6500 block of Eastbourne Avenue, near Dundalk Avenue, shortly after 11 p.m., and firefighters brought it under control about 30 minutes later, city fire officials said. Firefighters found the male victim unresponsive in a room.