Nearer, my God, to thee.

First class passengers would have participated in an informal dog show on RMS Titanic on 12th April 1915 if the ship had not gone down. Quite a number of dogs were on board and a few survived.
Since the first lifeboats to be launched were not full, no one objected to dogs being carried in them. It is recorded that a Pomeranian belonging to Elizabeth Barrett Rothschild, 54, wife of leather magnate Martin Rothschild was lucky. Martin went down with the ship but Elizabeth and her pet survived. They were on the lifeboat 6.
Margaret Hays, 24, travelling alone, managed to carry her Pomeranian to Lifeboat 7.
Henry Sleeper Harper of the publishing company, 48, and his Pekinese went to the Lifeboat 3 and managed to escape unharmed.
As for the other dogs they drowned like their owners even though someone took pity on the dogs and let them out of their kennels, unable to bear the thought of them drowning while being trapped in there.
A canary, it would seem, also survived to the sinking!
Ann Isham, 50, refused to enter in the lifeboat without her large Great Dane. She was found in the water two days after the sinking of the ship embracing her dog.
One dog however was a real hero! The first officer's large black Newfoundland, Rigel, stayed behind with the ship. He treaded the icy waters after the sinking, desperate to find his master. At the same time, the SS Carpathia was speeding to the scene to search for survivors. In the darkness, no one saw that a lifeboat was in its path and the passengers were too weak to shout or signal their presence. Reports say Rigel swam between the lifeboat and the SS Carpathia, barking continuously. Finally, the Captain heard Rigel and ordered to stop all engines. The dog swam in front of the lifeboat and guided it to safety. Once on board, Rigel seemed physically unaffected by his ordeal. He stood with paws on the rail barking in futility for his lost master until he was taken below for food and medical attention. Jonas Brigg, one of the Carpathia’s sailors adopted Rigel.

Arthur, the stray who captured the world.

Team Peak Performance were sitting down for a meal before a 20 mile trek in Ecuador when they saw a stray dog.

The Swedish group were taking part in the Adventure Racing World Championship through the Amazon rain forest.

Mikael Lindnord fed the animal a meatball before the team carried on - but the scruffy creature followed them.

They tried to get rid of him, primarily for his own safety, but he refused to go so he became a fifth team member.

The group of four decided to name him Arthur and have now adopted him and flown him back to Sweden.

Lindord said: 'I came to Ecuador to win the World Championship. Instead, I got a new friend'.

See link for amazing pictures:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30194531

Psychic dog

Private James Brown of the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment, was fighting in the Great War in France in August 1914. On 27 November Brown received a letter from his wife in London telling him the bad news that Prince, his Irish terrier, had gone missing. Brown, however, was not worried, the dog was with him in the trenches. According to the story, the dog had somehow made his way through the South of England, crossed the English Channel and then walked another 60 miles through war-torn France to his master’s front line position in the trenches at Armentieres. After this incredible feat, Prince was adopted by the regiment and spent the rest of the war with them.

Brotherly love

When Philadelphia-based animal rescue Operation Ava took in a pair of 8-month-old pit bull mixes, shelter workers noticed something strange about the dogs.

When they walked, the dog they’d named Jeffrey always followed behind his brother, Jermaine, with his head resting on Jermaine’s back. That’s when they realized that Jeffrey was blind and his brother had stepped in to be his seeing-eye dog.

The dogs were inseparable and even cuddled together at night.

Veterinarians think Jeffrey was born blind in one eye, but may be able to see shadows with his other eye. He’s only comfortable walking when he has Jermaine to guide him.

Workers decided that the dogs should be kept together, but they hadn’t received any adoption applications for the pair until a photo of the cuddling pair was posted on the Chester County SPCA Facebook page.

The photo went viral and soon applications were pouring in from across the United States, as well as from Canada, Belgium and South Africa.

Workers are now trying to choose the best placement for the dogs.

Slumdog climbs Everest

An abandoned puppy rescued from a rubbish dump in India has trekked to Everest Base Camp, a height of 17,598ft (5,364m) above sea level.
Its owner told the AFP news agency that they believed that it was the first dog to climb so high on the mountain.
Former professional golfer Joanne Lefson adopted the 11-month-old dog, called Rupee, in the Himalayan Indian town of Leh last September.
The pair began "Expedition Mutt Everest 2013" on 14 October.
The aim was to raise awareness about the plight of homeless dogs and encourage adoption.
The pair traversed wobbly bridges, scaled treacherous mountain paths and narrowly escaped landslides for 13 days.
The dog quickly adjusted to high altitudes and loved the snow. In the course of his travels he was cuddled by Himalayan monks and petted by innumerable children.
"I am so proud of Rupee," Ms Lefson told AFP. "I thought I might have to carry him on some days, but instead, he took the lead and pulled me along."
When she first came across the puppy he was dehydrated and close to death, she said.

Dog befriends little Down's Syndrome boy.

This is the heart-warming moment when a gentle dog befriends a young boy with Down's Syndrome and persuades the child to play.
Herman, now five, from La Plata, Buenos Aires, was captured on camera being approached by Himalaya, a Labrador.
Herman's mother Ana, who posted the video on YouTube, said her son usually backs away from contact.

Protective dog

A protective pooch is being credited with alerting a South Carolina family that their babysitter was abusing their 7-month-old son.
Benjamin and Hope Jordan, of Charleston, first grew suspicious of Khan after their dog began acting aggressively towards her.
"About five months into her being our baby sitter, we started to notice that our dog was very protective of our son when she would come in the door.  He was very aggressive towards her and a few times we actually had to physically restrain him from going for her."
Suspecting something was up, the couple placed an iPhone under a couch to record Khan's day with their son, Finn, while they were at work.
Jordan said the device caught Kahn cursing and hitting the child.  On the recording slapping noises and crying is heard, both distress crying and pain crying. 
Kahn, the babysitter was arrested and later confessed.
The dog’s, a mixed breed, name is Killian which is the anglicized version of the Irish name Cillian which means “war” or “strife”.
So there! 

9/11

 

The 9/11 search and rescue dogs are the heroes too. 

 

 

Let's not forget. 

 

Dog heroes

The monks stationed at Great St. Bernard Pass near the Swiss-Italian border originally bred the massive St. Bernard. They hoped to create a breed capable of locating and saving lost travellers as they made their way through the dangerous mountain pass. And a fine job they did to. St. Bernards are capable of picking up a human scent from over 2 miles and can locate a body beneath ten feet of snow. Their most famous specimen was Barry, said to save over 40 lives. Renowned for his bravery and compassion, a statue of Barry stills stands at the Cimetière des Chiens, the pet cemetery in Paris, and his body is preserved at the Natural History Museum in Berne, Switzerland.

Sled dogs

The practice of using dogs to pull sleds dates back to at least 2000 B.C. It originated in Siberia or North America, where many American Indian cultures used dogs to pull loads. In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen used sled dogs in a race to become the first person to reach the South Pole. He succeeded, while his competitor Robert Falcon Scott, instead used Siberian ponies because he lacked experience in handling dogs.  The poor ponies tragically perished. 

One of the advantages of using sled dogs in polar regions is their uncomplicated food requirements. They can be fed seal meat; it is unnecessary to make elaborate arrangements for bringing along food for them. Amundsen went even further on his expedition to the South Pole. He shot the dogs he no longer required and fed them to his remaining sled dogs.

In the 20th century, more convenient technology such as the airplane and snowmobile replaced sled dogs as the preferred mode of transportation in the arctic and subarctic regions of North America. Today, mushing survives mostly in the form of the recreational sport of sled dog racing. Nonetheless, it remains an important cultural practice of the aboriginal people of Siberia, Canada, and the U.S. state of Alaska.

Helmer Hanssen, who had been responsible for the welfare of the sled dogs in Amundsen’s South Pole team quoted:

"Dogs like that, which share man's hard times and strenuous work, cannot be looked upon merely as animals. They are supporters and friends. There is no such thing as making a pet out of a sledge dog; these animals are worth much more than that."

True friend

For the past 6 years, a dog named Capitán has slept on the grave of his owner every night. His owner, Miguel Guzmán died in 2006 and Capitán disappeared shortly after the family attended the funeral services. They searched everywhere and put out flyers to try and find him. But no one had seen him.

A week later, some people who were at the cemetary late one evening spotted Capitán laying on a grave and they contacted the grounds keeper at the cemetary. The cemetary notified the family who promptly came to pick him up and take him home. But each night he would cry and scratch frantically at the door to go out and he wouldn't return home until morning. It was later discovered that Capitán would walk the 3 miles back to the cemetary each night to guard his master's grave.

It has been nearly 7 years now. The cemetary does not close the gates until he arrives each night promptly at 6 pm. He sleeps there all night guarding the grave until the grounds keeper opens the gate in the morning.

Save our dogs

 

Man's best friend. 

Dog of war

Rescued in Afghanistan.

 

 

Then and now.

 

Early snow

 

Snow in North Iceland in early September is not unusual, but snowfall of two to three meters overnight is... The sheep are still in highland pastures and it's a race to get them down into the valley.  The sheepdogs have quite a job on their hands. 

Sans paroles

Dog stamps

The U.S. Postal Service recently released new stamps honouring working dogs.
The set of four stamps, that celebrates the partnership of dogs and people, depicts four typical jobs of working canines: guide dogs, therapy dogs, tracking dogs and search dogs.
The guide dog is a black Labrador Retriever, the sweet therapy dog -- pictured being petted -- is a Welsh Springer Spaniel. A yellow Labrador is the tracking dog while the search dog is a German Shepherd, standing in tall grass.

Have a smoke

Cigarette dog

Red Cross dogs

During WWI, vast numbers of dogs were employed as sentries, messengers, ammunition, pigeons and food carrier,  scouts, sled dogs, draught dogs, guard dogs, ambulance dogs, ratters, Red Cross casualty dogs and even cigarette dogs.

It's estimated that Germany alone employed over 30,000 dogs for such purposes and about.20,000 served with the French Army, the Italians fielded 3,000 dogs for the Allies, the British, Belgians and the Russians thousands more!

Many different breeds saw active duty during the war depending on the job at hand. Bulldogs, Bloodhounds, Farm Collies, Retrievers, Dobermans, Airedales, Jack Russell and Wired Fox Terriers, Sheepdogs and German Shepherds were all used in a variety of roles. Purebreds did not have any advantage over mixed breeds.  What was important was that they displayed the proper character, had acute hearing and scent, sagacity, fidelity and a strong sense of duty.
Preferred were dogs of medium build and greyish or black in colour, with good eyesight and a keen sense of smell. But the temperament and disposition of the dog usually came first!

Two of the more unusual dogs that were used during the Great War, were the ratters and the YMCA cigarette dogs. Ratters were the terriers, whose natural instincts helped to keep the rat infested muddy trenches clear.  The small Cigarette Dogs, sponsored by the YMCA, had the task of delivering cartons of cigarettes to the troops, stationed on the front lines.
Thousands of soldiers, on both sides, owe their lives to these remarkable animals.

London riots

The riots in London have injured 111 police officers and five service dogs, Scotland Yard said in a statement Tuesday.

Many officers remain hospitalised with broken bones, head injuries, serious cuts and eye injuries from broken glass, the Scotland Yard stated.

Rioters have been throwing bricks, bottles, sticks and other objects at police who are trying to keep order in the streets of London, as looting and fires have been witnessed since Saturday in the capital city of Britain.
Five police dogs have also been injured in various attacks. One was seriously injured when hit on the head with a brick.
One dog had its teeth broken out by an object thrown at it. The remaining dogs were injured by bottles and other items hurled in their direction.
The dogs are Belgian shepherds called Malinois.  They are used for police work all over the world.   

Special bond

Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, was shot in the face as he and springer spaniel Theo led soldiers through an area believed to be mined.
Theo was visibly "distressed" and had to be cut free from his lead as Liam's colleagues battled to save him.
And the 22-month-old dog had a fatal seizure that night.
Their ashes were buried together in Tayside in Liam's native Scotland.

Greeks, we salute you...

Loukanikos is an unusual protester.  He is a stray dog living on the streets of Athens and has become famous for joining in on the many protests and riots which have taken place there the past year. Often found at the front lines dodging tear gas and barking at the police, he has become a mascot for the protesters, and a symbol for the ongoing fight.  He has become popular and famous with a large following on Facebook.  He even  has a website dedicated to him with videos and photos:

http://rebeldog.tumblr.com/