It’s been a fairly standard week for dog news, with the usual happy rescue tails, not so happy stories and yet more journalists making strenuous “year of the dog” connections.
The one common theme has been the vast gulf between the different ends of the spectrum of human behaviour towards dogs.
Texan hicks shoot mystery dog-like creature [...]

Both the RSPCA and Dogs Trust are on the look-out for homes for deaf Collies, all under nine months old.
Blue, at the RSCPA’s Little Valley Animal Shelter in Exeter, along with Blanche and Lass at Dogs Trust’s Roden Rehoming Centre, are all responding well to sign language training.
Despite their extreme cuteness and young age, all [...]

It’s been a busy week for dog stories – some happy, some not so.
Cornish firefighter saves kitten stuck up chimney with dog impression – “He sounded more like a monkey, but it seems the bad impression worked” – BBC News.
Walt Disney World Resort to take rabbits, parrots, ferrets, dogs, cats and non-poisonous snakes – Bloggingpet.
Samsung [...]

The BBC and Bromsgrove Standard have been reporting that West Mercia Police have assured a Worecestershire farmer that he is legally entitled to shoot dead dogs on his land.
Following several attacks on a Clent farmer’s sheep – which he blames on a dog – PC Jason Hynes said:
?€œI have spoken to the farmer this morning [...]

Freecycle is a loose organisation of local groups whose aim is to prevent usable goods from prematurely ending up in rubbish dumps.
For example: you have an old TV that still works. Charity shops won’t accept electrical goods and you’d only get a fiver for it secondhand. Freecycle allows you to post a free message offering [...]

What makes society accept the sale of relatively small explosives to anyone? I don’t understand why fireworks are still for sale to the general public.
An Alsatian, in Sussex, badly injured his leg in November, after having the life frightened out of him by fireworks. Two year old Sparkles was so frightened that he chewed a [...]

A Siberian Husky has been saved from certain death in the US, after becoming frozen to a railway track.
Wisconsin Builder, Jeremy Majorowicz, noticed the dog as he entered a local diner with his colleagues. On leaving, he realised something was wrong when the dog was in the same, potentially fatal, position.
“I have two dogs myself, [...]

DoggieNews reports the concerning news that eBay is considering allowing the sale of live pets through its auction website.
This has the potential to be disastrous for the pets involved. eBay has given millions of people an easy way to trade quasi-anonymously, which is ideal when you want to clear out your old CDs but removes [...]

Wolverhampton’s Beacon FM – one of the West Midlands’ many identikit pop music radio stations – read a letter from a listener – let’s call her Cruella – seeking advice.

Cruella’s daughter wants a puppy for Christmas. However, Cruella doesn’t actually like dogs, so she wanted to know if it was okay to keep a puppy [...]

All dog lovers know that their canine friends express themselves in a startling variety of ways.
Crouched at the front is ready to play. A snarl of the lip means “get away from my bone”.
There’s a growing number of people, though, who say dogs even have their own form of laughter. Sounding similar to a pant, [...]