A clinic for overweight pets has opened at Liverpool University.
According to Dr Alex German, who runs the Royal Canin Weight Management Clinic at the university’s Small Animal Hospital, increasingly widespread pet obesity is largely down to over-feeding:
“Pets might be having the little bit off the end of the dinner plate and owners are also feeding [...]

It’s been a couple of weeks since we had a link round-up!
Puppy Mover Monorail – Man builds monorail for puppies in his back garden – via You Are a Dog.
Run a dog grooming spa on your GameBoy – Following the success of Nintendogs, a new game turns the player into a dog groomer – via [...]

Cunard, the famous trans-Atlantic shipping line, is about to apply its world-renowned expertise in luxury travel, to pets.
Dogs travelling on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 will now enjoy the “Pets on Decks” service. Cared for by a full-time Kennel Master, the salty sea-dogs will enjoy a gift pack featuring:

QM2-logoed coat
Frisbee
name tag
food dish and scoop
complimentary portrait with [...]

Channel 4 is starting a nationwide search for the UK’s most talented amateur dog.
Britain’s Top Dog will use four regional auditions to find the most promising dogs and owners. The lucky group will then undergo six weeks of training, including intensive one-to-one sessions with experts in:

agility
scent-work
heel-work to music (also called doggy dancing).

The winning dog will [...]

Winter is a hard time for Moscow’s dogs.
With temperatures plummeting to below minus 15 degrees centigrade, the Moscow Times reports that the daily dog walk can be a dangerous experience. While in the UK we melt road and pavement ice with salt, Moscow’s streets are awash with toxic anti-freeze chemicals.
Despite a partial ban, old stocks [...]

A Cornish farmer who shot his neighbour’s Collie, Jim, has received a community sentence.
Jim’s death came when the farmer found him on his property, apparently worrying his daughter’s pet rabbit, BBC News reports.
Liskeard Magistrates Court found the farmer guility of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. Ordering him to pay

Anyone following dog news on the web can’t help but notice a trend in the States: dog parks are springing up across the small towns and cities of the USA.
Here in grim old Blighty, Preston City Council is considering something different: dog-free zones in parks.
Actually, Preston’s plans raise a serious point: dog muck left by [...]

Paris Hilton is, apparently, planning to rent a dog during her visit to London, later this week.
Whatever you may think of Ms Hilton, one question remains: who the hell has a dog for hire?
From Channel 4 News.

A Beagle in Florida has saved her owner’s life by calling the emergency services.
Belle – who has undergone $8,000 worth of special training – is able to detect when her owner, Kevin Weaver, is ill. By smelling the minute changes in the sweetness of his breath, Belle recognises the changes in Kevin’s blood sugar [...]

Mongrels now have the chance to show their intelligence, thanks to a new study in Scotland.
With a shortage of pedigree dogs available for Guide Dog and police work, Dr David Smith of Aberdeen University has set out to prove whether cross-bred dogs are as intelligent as their pedigree chums.
Dr Smith explained his motivation to BBC [...]