Ticks Be Gone!

We all know how annoying little biting criters can be. While I have lucked out and have never had ticks, I know others that got them on walks. Well, the future may hold the answer to this blight . . . The Tick-Bot!



This little bot (an experiment at the Virginia Military Institute) follows a wire attached to a tube that releases carbon dioxide to attract the ticks. The Bot tows a collection cloth which is soaked in an insecticide. In tests the little wonder managed to pull in 87% - 96% of the ticks placed in the testing field.

With a little work this guy could be a boon to walking trails everywhere.

A show for the rest of us.

We all know one pure-bred snob dog. You know the type. Too good to stop and give your butt a sniff; Too good to roll in the mud with you; There is one in every community. Well these types are always the ones that get into dog shows. Well not anymore.

There is a new dog show for the rest of us. In Detroit, MI, the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show is including a "Free Press Dog Show" where anyone can compete. There are several categories to compete in. These are:

(1) Best resemblance between human and canine (do you and your human look alike, then sign up);
(2) The Best Mutt (You who would not be allowed to even look through the door of a "regular" dog show must enter);
(3) Best Friend (What have you done that brought you recognition or praise? Tell your story);
(4) Most talented trickster (think unique);
(5) Best accessory (do you look good in a purse?);
(6) Best Dressed (Don't sign up for this one, no self respecting dog should wear clothes);
(7) Celebrity Look-alike (Do you look like a celebrity?).

If you win, you should go to Detroit to get your award. To sign up, you can email freepdogshow@freepress.com by March 6, 2006. I think I will sign up for the trickster category. I mean, how many dogs out there have their own website?

Good luck to you all.

Sniff Away

From a story on smelly dog stuff to a story on smart smelling dogs.

California wine makers are using the more superior sniffing powers of us quadrapeds to battle against a new menace in vineyards.

"The dog squad" seeks out the "vine mealybug", a little insect that hides under roots and bark (where human senses cannot detect them), eat the vines and create a sweet excretion that attracts mold to the vines that hasten the demise of the vines.

The squad sniffs out the lady bugs and the beginning so the rot itself. That way the humans can take select efforts to stop the spread of the pest.

One more for our more talented brethren.

The power of poop

You can always rely on Californians (of which I am one) to come up with new and interesting uses for the resources around you. . . . or from you as it happens.

In San Francisco, nearly 4 percent of all residential waste is in the form of animal poop. That is about 6,500 tons of poop per year.

Well thanks to a wonderful device caled a "methane digester," the City plans to turn that poop into power. Yep, your poop today can be the source of your cooking heat next month. While they are starting off small (collecting from one park), they are converting our finest into methane gas.

They should come by my house, as my sister and I could power a small city from our production (at least that is what our human says).

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!

In Manilla, Philippines animal rights activists are rightly challenging a law that would legalize EATING DOGS!!!!

Last November, a provincial board approved a resolution exempting those in the Cordillera Mountains from national laws prohibiting the sale and consumption of dog meat. The law allows 'the butchering of animals, dogs included, as part of their rituals and practices,' and that commercialization is inevitable to protect this right.

Um, guys, this is not right. We are man's best friend, not lunch. If you have any sway over international law, bark bark bark!

Dogs working the night

When I think of dogs working the night, I think of inappropriate canine behavior. However, in Marquette, Mich, they are pounding the snow.

In this 240-mile U-P 200 race, the quality canines go from Marquette to Grand Marais and back.

While they had to stop the run for a while to let a blizzard pass, the race has ended. Oddly, I cannot find anything identifying the real heros of the race (the ones who ran it), but only could only find information about the human.

Not right. Just not right. I mean, I hate the snow and you will never catch me in it, but the human (Sharon Nelson-Curtice) just had to stand there, while our type did all the work. Please give credit where credit is due.

Official Olympic Dog

They say that the Olympics are going to the dogs. Especially for Chevy Rahlves.

Chevy is a Siberian husky who is pals around with U.S. alpine skiing star Daron Rahlves and his wife. Because they are away from home so much, they didn't want to be mean to their quadraped friend, so Chevy goes with them to events.

Becuase they are now at the winter Olympics, Chevy wears an official pass around his neck. His pass reads "Chevy Rahlves/Skiing/Security" and includes a photo where he looks quite dashing.

I am glad that some humans take their friendships seriously.

Canines + Clothes = NO ! ! !

This travesty must end. Why is it that humans must degrade us by dressing us up like little fuzzy versions of themselves. We already have fur, that is enough.



While little Foxxy may be a "lil cupid" in reality, she does not need a shirt to show this. Ban all clothes. You don't see us going around taking the humans clothes off, do you?

Look at the poor pitiful face of the baby girl. Remove her from this torture.

Coming soon to theaters near you, a movie with a real actor.

While the idea behind the movie is ridiculous (who in their right mind would want to go from being a canine to a human), the movie itself looks promising.

Humans have always known that animals are better actors than humans themselves. How many times have you heard the saying that you don't want to have to co-star with an animal. Why, because we know how to woo the crouds.

We are the true stars.