A pet dog wanting to go outside may have inadvertently saved an entire family’s lives. French bulldog Stu was visiting Tim and Mary Kay Mark with his owners for a birthday party.

Throughout the night, Mark’s wife had begun to feel ill, according to the Herald Argus. When Stu started whining to go outside, Mark went to let him out and noticed he had a serious headache.

Mark has previous experience with first-time respondent training, and recalled his wife complaining of feeling sick. He figured out there might have been a carbon monoxide leak, called 911 and got his family out of the house.

Mark told the news provider that the family may have died had it not been for Stu waking him up to go outside.

"When I think about what might have happened had the kids not decided to spend the night here and Stu wouldn’t have been here whining to go outside," he said.

Stu, along with Mark’s other two dogs were all safely outside and reportedly in good dog health.

A 6-week-old puppy was recently found nearly frozen at JFK Airport, causing customs officials to act quickly.

The pup was found in a jet’s cargo bay in poor dog health with another puppy after a call to authorities suggested the dogs might be drug mules, according to the New York Daily News.

Three U.S. customs officials found the dogs and quickly provided mouth to snout resuscitation on the puppy. Unfortunately, the puppy’s companion was already dead when the dogs were found.

"No matter how uncommon the call, CBP Officers are always willing and ready to assist," Robert Perez, director of field operations for the CBP in New York, told the news provider.

Officials have not been able to find the owner of the dog, which is currently being treated by a veterinarian for any other dog health complications it may have.

According to the American Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals, animals should never be left alone in the cold for long periods of time as they have a greater risk of freezing to death.

A mutt was recently rescued by Polish scientists who were on an oceanographic survey on the Baltic Sea.

The researchers noticed the dog contently floating on a block of ice about 15 miles of the coast of Poland, according to PeoplePets.com. The ship’s captain immediately stopped the boat as a crew member went to rescue the pup.

The mission turned out to be much more difficult than the scientists had anticipated, as there was lots of ice in the water. After unsuccessfully trying to catch him with a net, a scientist finally got close enough to Baltic to retrieve him and bring him back to the ship for proper pet care.

"Our mission, our function is not to rescue dogs out of the water, as you can imagine!" Sergio Neves told the news provider. "We are scientists! But we were on the sea on this research ship and I think it is human to save the dog."

After getting warmed up, Baltic is in good dog health and the crew plans to keep him on the ship until someone comes to claim him.

According to the Boston Globe, it is estimated that Baltic had been floating for 75 miles.

Although a common practice among human rehabilitation, one cat from West Sussex, United Kingdom is the first to receive an artificial knee.

Missy the cat was in poor cat health when she was brought in to the veterinarian after being struck by a car two days prior, according to the Telegraph. Her owner, Louise Morris, found her pet lying in a bush with a leg broken in eight places and a dislocated knee. Morris was determined to keep her beloved Missy alive.

"It was a case of putting Missy to sleep forever or developing an artificial knee, which had never been done before," veterinarian Dr Noel Fitzpatrick told the news provider. "Amputation was not an option since the other hind leg was broken in eight places."

Vets also used a collagen mesh made out of pig’s bladder to help Missy re-grow tissue to cover her exposed bone, then placed pins in the leg until the wound healed.

The surgery took more than two and a half hours and now Missy is on the road to recovery.

Although mothers feel they can understand their baby’s various cries and can match it to what they need, cat owners may be noticing they have a similar sense.

Cats develop certain purrs to let their owner know what they want or need for proper pet care, according to CBS. A recent study confirms that cats have specific purrs, including one that has a bit of a cry in it to alert their owners that they are hungry.

Study author Dr Karen McComb used audio recordings to notice a difference between a normal purr and a hungry one, and was able to determine that cats rely on signals to get the point across that they’re hungry.

However, while dogs are often known for being vocal about what they want by barking and whining, veterinarians believe that unlike a dog, cats are fine just living, and does not require extra attention.

"They don’t try to please you to try to obtain a reward," cat specialist Dr Plotnick told the news provider. "They live life on their own terms and they hope that you like it."

According to animal experts, felines also purr to calm themselves, as the noise acts as a stress relief.

Sure, girls swoon over his manly physique in the Twilight saga movies, but actor Kellan Lutz just might have more bark than his bite, recently adopting a Chihuahua.

The pup, named Kevin, joins Lutz’s other dog, Kola, after wandering around Lutz’s neighborhood as a stray, according to PeoplePets.com. Lutz tried to lure Kevin and another small Chihuahua to his home in hopes of catching them to bring to a shelter.

Although the smaller dog managed to squeeze through a fence never to be seen again, Lutz decided to keep Kevin as a new addition to the family.

After a few days of staying with Lutz, Kevin was showing signs of poor dog health, refusing to eat. Lutz brought the pup to the veterinarian, where he was determined to help the dog get healthy again.

"They [the emergency veterinarians] told us he had parvo," Lutz explained to the news provider. "So I decided to get this cute pup healthy!"

Parvo is a dangerous disease that is caused by a virus attacking the gastrointestinal tract of dogs, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Many people may not be aware of this, but animals can suffer from arthritis, too. The inflammation of the joints can be incredibly painful, sometimes resulting in the animals having to be euthanized to be spared any more pain.

Doctors have now found that stem cells could alleviate the pain of arthritis in family pets, according to the Times Union.

During the therapy treatment veterinarians extract stem cells from the animal’s own fatty tissue, and inject the cells directly into the inflamed joints. The cells then either help develop other cells or repair damaged ones, causing the pain to subside.

Pet owner Carol Ball had her cocker spaniel Joey try the treatment, and noticed a dramatic difference in his dog health.

"He has had absolutely no problems," she told the news provider. "He’s a very active dog. We do a lot of off-leash running and hiking together. His life is wonderful."

According to HealthyPet.com, animals who suffer from the disease may not be able to move or play like they used to, and sometimes can be treated with the help of an animal massage therapist.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) has recently announced their top dog breeds for 2009. For the 19th year in a row, the Labrador retriever earned top dog.

Following the Lab are German Shepherds, Yorkshire Terriers, Golden Retrievers, Beagles, Boxers, Bulldogs, Dachshunds, Poodles and Shih Tzu’s, respectively.

The organization was surprised by the growing popularity of the German Shepherd, as they haven’t been in the number two spot for more than 30 years. Although the dog had the coveted top spot in the 1920′s, it quickly fell down the list.

AKC Spokeswoman Lisa Peterson said it was the German Shepherd’s versatility that helped them place higher on the list.

"The German Shepherd Dog has gained ground recently, quite possibly due to the increased attention they receive for their security efforts at home and abroad," she said. "Hailed as the world’s leading police, guard and military dog, this energetic and fun-loving breed is a loyal family pet, ideal companion and dependable K-9 partner when duty calls."

Peterson went on to say that Labs have been in the top spot for nearly two decades because of their "loyal and gentle nature."

As with any animals, these dogs should be treated with proper pet care to ensure they stay happy and healthy.

If you find that your dog may have picked up on some of your habits, you’re probably right. Some people feel that dogs pick up on their owner’s characteristics and feel that they should behave in a similar matter.

Owners are increasingly turning to their dogs for comfort and companionship, ultimately projecting their habits onto their own dog, according to New York Magazine. The author’s own dog practices veganism, a typically human trend.

"Dogs look at people," James Serpell, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told the news provider. "You can boil it down to something as simple as gaze patterns. With a hand-bred wolf, there are issues getting their attention, whereas a dog is constantly monitoring the owner for clues on how to behave and what to do."

However, experts are quick to point out that some owners may take their pet care to the extreme, using their dog as a pacifier for the bad things going on in their lives.

It’s been proven that most owners tend to pick dogs that resemble themselves, however, some psychologists believe that humans also subconsciously notice similar personality traits in their animal, resulting in their choice, according to TrendHunter.com.

Posted by Pets Best on 1/27/2010 Articles from Newsletters

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