SF dog licensing among lowest in Bay Area | San Francisco Examiner

SF dog licensing among lowest in Bay Area | San Francisco Examiner

Book signing at Crissy Field

Chico is the coverboy!

Bomb sniffing dogs are super stars of anti-terrorism efforts at Super Bowl

All the technology, the intelligence gathering gadgets, the James Bond-like tools, nothing law enforcement will ever develop can compare to the natural crime fighting gifts of a dog.

Teams of trained dogs are running interference to prevent any would be terrorists or criminal lunatics from planting explosives in or near the Sun Life Stadium in Miami this Super Bowl Sunday.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) says in a press release the best K-9 explosive detection teams from across the country have been working in Miami for several weeks and will continue working throughout the big game.

ATF is just one of 50 law enforcement agencies teamed together for Super Bowl security this year and the dogs the agency has brought in are considered "the best of the best," says Special Agent in Charge, Hugo Barrera.

The ATF only uses Labrador Retrievers in its K-9 program. Besides their exceptional sniffing abilities, the labs are not as intimidating when agents bring the animals into large crowds. The Guiding Eyes for the Blind, the Guide Dog Foundation and Canine Companions for Independence supply the dogs to the agency.

The dogs and their handlers undergo an initial 10 week training course at a facility in Front Royal, Virginia, according to the ATF. Training is ongoing throughout the dogs' crime-fighting careers. Besides explosive materials, the dogs are also trained to sniff out firearms and ammunition.

Below is a photo array and some information on the ATF K-9 teams involved in this year's Super Bowl security effort.

see article here

Sunday book signing for SAN FRANCISCO DOGS book.

Sunday meetup for SAN FRANCISCO DOGS book. Come purchase a copy of the book and get it signed by me and Chico and meet some of the other dogs featured in the book.

Sunday, February 7, 2010
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location:Warming Hut in San Francisco.Presidio Building 983 (end of Crissy Field, near Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge, and across from fishing pier), San Francisco, CA 94129.
This book is available at a very discounted rate for use as a fundraising tool at dog shelters, pet shops, dog organizations.
Read more about the book on Amazon here.

Who Dat Dog!!! Beagle Saints Fan leads cheers during NFC Championship Game

Beagle Saints Fan leads cheers during NFC Championship Game-Who Dat?

Oprah's birthday present to herself: Springer spaniel pups

Oprah's present to herself: Springer spaniel pups
January 31, 2010 6:09 PM Chicago Tribune

Winfrey gave herself a birthday present Friday when she adopted two springer spaniel puppies from a Chicago shelter, according to her Web site and shelter officials.

In keeping with the background of their high profile new owner, the puppies, 14-week-old sisters Sunny and Lauren, already made their first television appearance, on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday evening.

A littermate of the pups, Trent, which was going to a friend of a friend of Oprah's, also appeared.

Winfrey contacted shelter officials about six months ago asking them to be on the lookout for springer spaniel pups, said Paula Fasseas, founder and chair of PAWS, a Chicago-based no-kill shelter at 1997 N. Clybourn Avenue.

She said that while she is just happy that the dogs were saved, she is particularly excited with them going to Oprah because of her ability to put focus on saving shelter animals.

"What's really wonderful about Oprah adopting is that she educates the world and the message is to go to a shelter,'' said Fasseas. "She's really directed so much attention to this terrible problem we have with homeless pets.''

Fasseas said Winfrey has been a generous donor to the shelter and has previously adopted a cocker spaniel from there. She also featured dogs and the shelter in her magazine.

Fasseas said shelter officials search the city pound in an effort to save animals from being euthanized and to find them homes. She said the siblings were part of a litter turned over to the pound by an owner. Because they were turned over by the owner, the shelter could have euthanized them immediately, she said.

She said she did not know the circumstances behind the owner's turning them in but said often animals are brought to the pound by people who may have lost their homes or just don't have the means to care for the animals.

Fasseas said she had only told shelter workers to keep an eye out for a springer spaniel. She kept Oprah's identity secret and only told them that a "donor" was interested.

When the dogs were located, a picture was sent to Winfrey's assistants and Fasseas was surprised to hear Oprah's voice on her telephone.

"I like those, I want to see those spaniels," Fasseas recalled Oprah saying.

After seeing the dogs in person, she decided to adopt them, Fasseas said.

Fasseas said the dogs were being kept with a foster family to ensure that they were healthy until the adoption could be finalized. She said the dogs will stay in the foster home until they are old enough to join Oprah's other dogs. A previous dog of Oprah's had died of a highly contagious disease.

By coincidence, the adoptions of the black-and-white pups came the same day that Winfrey turned 56, according to her site.

"I did decide, though, to get myself a little birthday gift this year. Actually, I thought I'd get myself two," she says on her site. "They just arrived in time for my birthday."

-- Carlos Sadovi
Read more from story link.

Squaw's Rescue Dog Team to Olympics in Vancouver

Wylee is going to the Winter Games.
The 2-year-old border collie is a member of the Squaw Valley Ski Patrol Avalanche Rescue Dog Team that has been invited to provide assistance at the Olympics in Vancouver beginning next month.
The 2-year-old border collie is a member of the Squaw Valley Ski Patrol Avalanche Rescue Dog Team that has been invited to provide assistance at the Olympics in Vancouver beginning next month.

The team based at the resort near Lake Tahoe is the only one in the United States to receive such an invitation.

"This is the highlight of all the handlers' and dogs' careers," said Matt Calcutt, who will be coordinating the team in Vancouver. "It's almost like the doggy Olympics."

Four dogs and four handlers from the Squaw team plan to make the trip.

Calcutt said they were selected because they have met the high standards of the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association for years. They also will be representing Squaw Valley USA in honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games held at the resort south of Truckee.

Wylee, and his handler Craig Noble, joined other team members earlier this month in a simulated search and recovery of skiers and snowboarders caught in a slide at Squaw Valley. They did sweeps for avalanche beacons and sniffed out buried objects including one patroller volunteered to be buried by his superior.

Among the stringent standards from the Canadian group is a requirement that dogs can find scented items — pieces of clothing worn by patrollers for training purposes — buried overnight more than 2 feet deep, Calcutt said.

"They (the handlers and dogs) need to get validation in dog searching, obedience, avalanche knowledge, they have to be able to forecast avalanche activity, and have to be able to travel in avalanche conditions," Calcutt said.

So how do the handlers get the dogs up to snuff?

It's all about "play, play, play," Calcutt said.

"When they find something it's the biggest reward of the dog's life — we don't give them this much attention at any other time," Calcutt said, as Noble wrestled with Wylee recently after a successful find.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/31/state/n133618S95.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0eFxCv9nP