Straight out of Star Wars

The U.S. military-funded robot dog program has developed an electronic canine which will help soldiers hauling their gear over rugged terrain.  This dog is known as a Legged Squad Support System or LS3 and is a sort of an intelligent pack mule that will not react when shots are fired.   The robot dogs have also been trained to follow the leader.  They can walk up to 3 miles per hour over rocky terrain and transition to a 5-mile-per-hour jog on a flat surface. Eventually, top speed will be around 7 miles per hour on flat surfaces.  The robot dogs will even right themselves should they stumble, without even a whimper.  This invention is useful to soldiers who need to cover ground inaccessible to their Humvees. Let’s just hope these dogs don’t turn on their owners.

Sans paroles

Mother's instinct

A house fire in Temuco, Chile, destroyed the portion of the home where this dog lived with her 10 day old puppies. She managed to bring them to safety in one of the fire engines.  The homeowners were taken to hospital for burn treatment.

 

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.

Perfume for dogs

Discover the « Les Poochs » perfume range !

For the female dog, there is La Pooch Perfume: a sprightly and light floral reminiscent of spring flowers and Lily of the Valley.  For the male dog, there is Le Pooch Cologne: a light woodsy-green top note with lingering hints of leather and spice.

Yours from Paw Palace on-line pet boutique where you can find all sorts of pet products you have not even dreamed of. 

Can you imagine Ozzy parading through the house smelling like a French boudoir?

Aung San Suu Kyi's dog.

Aung San Suu Kyi with her dog Tai Chi Toe, at her home in Rangoon. Burma's democracy icon and leader of the opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), spent more than 15 years under house arrest in her lakeside home and Insein prison. She was released from her latest sentence in November 2010.

The dog was purchased by her son Kim Aris, who was able to visit his mother for the first time in a decade after her release.
Don't you think it looks a bit like Ozzy?  

All in the mind

Dogs do many things to help people. Physiological measures show that petting a calm and friendly dog actually reduces stress ( reduced muscle tension, more regular breathing and a slower heart rate).  It has been said that people who own dogs are likely to live longer and require less medical attention.  
Dogs can also assist in psychotherapy.  Sigmund Freud felt that dogs had a special sense that allows them to judge a person's character accurately. For this reason his favourite chow-chow, Jo-Fi, attended all of his therapy sessions.  Freud admitted that he often depended upon Jo-Fi for an assessment of the patient's mental state. He also felt that the presence of the dog seemed to have a calming influence on all patients, particularly children.