Koreans Keen to Export National Dog: the Jindo

South Korea's Jindo dog has stood tall against tigers, guarded the heavily armed border with the North and marched in the Olympics. Yet the Jindo is having a tough time battling poodles for trophies at dog shows abroad. The Jindo dog, largely unknown overseas, is South Korea's most popular indigenous breed. It has won legions of fans at home for its big heart and undying loyalty to its master.

South Korea wants to make the Jindo an international breed but the country that has devised successful strategies for sending its microchips, mobile phones and automobiles abroad has been largely ineffective in exporting its native dog. Its mission has been hampered by its own laws designating the Jindo as a cultural treasure, which make it difficult, and in many cases illegal, to export purebred dogs.

"Our indigenous breed was not recognised anywhere in the world except Korea. We felt that it was time that something was done about it," said Julie Soojung Lee, an official with Samsung who helped in the international marketing of the Jindo dog. Samsung worked with the government in a campaign that resulted in the Jindo being recognised by the Kennel Club, but it is not yet in competition at Crufts. The American Kennel Club has started the process to recognise the Jindo.

The Jindo is a medium sized, spitz-type dog with pointy upright ears and a raised, curly tail. The dog comes in a variety of colors with white and orange-tan being the most common. Once used for hunting and guard duties, the dog hails from the southwest island called Jindo. Owners say it is loyal to a fault, highly intelligent and brave. One leading breeder described the Jindo as "clean and dignified".

Over the years, the Jindo's bloodlines became tainted as it mixed with mutts on the island. To remedy this, South Korea recognised it as a national treasure in 1962 and set up breeding facilities to develop dogs that would set standards. The protection helped spark a Jindo revival but it also made it almost impossible to send purebred dogs overseas unless a breeder can navigate through a maze of bureaucracy.

"Adult Jindo dogs branded as national treasures must stay inside of Jindo Island," said Park Byung-jin, manager of the government-run Jindo Dog Research and Testing Centre that breeds the dog and serves as a gateway for government approval to send certified purebreds abroad.

Park Jong-hwa runs the Mosan Jindo Dog Research Centre just south of Seoul and said the dog may not yet be ready for the international stage. "The main problem with the Jindo is it's a one-man dog and lacks good social skills," said Park, who has been breeding Jindo dogs for about 45 years and who has nearly 170 of them living in a kennel attached to his home. Park has been trying to breed out some of the Jindo's anti-social characteristics and establish what he feels should be standards, which has put him at loggerheads with the government's facility on the island of Jindo.

Parks said the Jindo adapts well to its surroundings and can find its niche in a cramped Manhattan apartment or suburban home with a yard. "I have absolute confidence that the Jindo one day will enter the international show ring and compete against other leading canines in the world."

[Source: Reuters UK]

Hot Enough for You?

As Ace and his good friend Joey can tell you, it has been pretty darned hot -- meaning it's time for a list of tips to help your dog cope with summertime heat.

For starters: Make sure your dog always has water, and never leave him in a parked car. Even with the windows cracked, even in the shade, a parked automobile can quickly become a furnace. On an 85-degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. At 110 degrees, pets are in danger of heatstroke, according to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). A recent study by the Stanford University School of Medicine showed that temperatures inside cars can rise dramatically even on mild days. With outside temperatures as low as 72 degrees, researchers found that a car's interior temperature can heat up by an average of 40 degrees within an hour, with 80 percent of that increase in the first 30 minutes.

While people can roll down windows or turn on the air conditioner, pets cannot -- and they don't sweat like we do, either. Their sweat glands, which are on their nose and the pads of their feet, are inadequate for cooling during hot days. Panting and drinking water helps cool them, but if they only have overheated air to breathe, dogs can suffer brain and organ damage after just 15 minutes. Short-nosed breeds, like pugs and bulldogs, young pets, old pets and pets with weight, respiratory, cardiovascular or other health problems are especially susceptible to heat-related stress.

If you are going out, bring plenty of water along -- for you and your dog. If the dog is staying home, leave a little air conditioning on for him, and make sure when he is outside, he has a good supply of water and a shaded area.

Try to take your dog out to play in the cool of early morning or evening. And keep in mind that sidewalks and asphalt can really heat up. When walking your dog, steer clear of areas that may have been sprayed with insecticides or other chemicals and be alert for coolant or other automotive fluid leaking from your vehicle. Animals are attracted to the sweet taste, and ingesting just a small amount can be fatal, according to the ASPCA, whose complete list of summertime tips can be found here.

Signs of overheating in pets include excessive panting and drooling, mild weakness and an elevated body temperature. Keep a closer eye on your dog during these steamy days of summer.

[Source: baltimoresun.com]

Spot the Dog -- from Space

Boris the dog is so big he can be seen from SPACE. The three-year-old bull mastiff tips the scales at a whopping 14 STONE (196 lbs)- and was tracked lazing in his garden by a Google Earth satellite. His huge brown body can clearly be seen stretched out in his favourite position.

The massive mastiff lives with the Milner family who run the Tudor Grange Hotel in Bournemouth, Dorset. They were stunned when they zoomed in on their property online and saw the brown blob in the garden.

Fran Milner, 24, whose parents Bob and Carol run the hotel, said: "My brother-in-law was on the internet one day when he decided to look at a satellite picture of our hotel. He zoomed in a little way and noticed a big brown blob on the grass in front of the sundial. Then he realised it was Boris. He was in his favourite place. He loves lying there because it is a bit of a suntrap. We all had a look and couldn’t believe it. I knew he was big but didn’t think he was big enough to be seen from space."

The satellites used to take the Google Earth images operate at an orbit of between 300 and 450 miles up in space.

The Milners have owned Boris since he was eight-weeks-old. The average size of a bull mastiff is nine stone (126 lbs) but they suspected he would be on the large size as his dad was also enormous. Fran said the fact he regularly wolfs down a full English breakfast could have something to do with it too. He has also suffered problems with his cruciate ligaments which prevents him from walking long distances to exercise.

Fran said: "From the day we got him he just kept growing and growing. Luckily though he appears to have stopped and shouldn’t get any bigger."

She added: "Boris gets on brilliantly with our guests because he is so gentle and beautiful. They all want a picture with him - he’s probably the most photographed dog in Bournemouth."

[Source: The Sun]

Take Your Dog to Work, Friday June 20

First celebrated in 1999, Take Your Dog To Work Day was created to celebrate the great companions dogs make and to encourage their adoption from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs. This annual event encourages employers to experience the value of pets in their workplace for this one special day to promote pet adoptions.

On June 20, 2008, businesses, animal shelters and pet-care professionals from around the world will work together to better the lives of shelter dogs everywhere. Thousands of businesses will open their doors to employees’ pets on this day in celebration of the great companions dogs make. Pet Sitters International invites your business to Join us! as we celebrate a decade of working dogs!

We are asking every business--great and small--to become a true friend of the canine community by helping Pet Sitters International promote pet adoptions in a positive and proactive way! Explore the site to learn how you can participate, register your business and spread the word.

[Source: Take Your Dog to Work]

NYC - Scoop Your Poop or Pay a Fine

Dressed in plain clothes and driving white hybrid Toyotas, Mr. Otibu and the 14 other agents in the Sanitation Department’s Canine Task Force fan out across the five boroughs each day to enforce the city’s “pooper scooper” law, which went into effect 30 years ago and became the model for other large cities.

The city’s 311 complaint line received about 3,000 complaints about dog waste last year, up from 2,100 in 2004, and so the Sanitation Department has added seven agents to the task force. In the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, they handed out 869 summonses, an increase of roughly 40 percent over the same period a year before.

The maximum fine, $100, which has not changed since the law was passed, is likely to go up soon: A bill increasing it to $250 is awaiting Gov. David A. Paterson’s signature. A spokesman for the governor said on Wednesday that Mr. Paterson was reviewing the measure.

(The parks department, which issues the tickets in city parks, has discretion to fine $50 to $1,000.)

The most summonses have been issued in the Bronx, with 335 in the first 11 months of this fiscal year, compared with 215 in Brooklyn, 157 in Queens, 109 in Manhattan and 53 in Staten Island.

“The more people you put out there, the more summonses you get,” said Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty, who wrote his first ticket as a sanitation enforcement agent in 1973 to a couple who didn’t curb their dog. Curbing dogs, or making them go in the gutter as opposed to the sidewalk, was the law at the time. (It is still on the books, but rarely enforced.) “We put more people on it. But still it’s not always easy to catch someone.”

To issue a summons, the agent must witness the dog doing its business and the owner walking away. With about a half-million dogs spread across the city’s 305 square miles and an offense that can take less than 30 seconds, the odds are against the agents. Most agents find only one or two so-called K-9 violations in progress each day. (The task force also issues $200 fines for dogs that are off-leash, and for throwing household trash in city garbage cans.)

[Source: The New York Times]

Canada's Search for Beneful Best Friends

Toronto-based Spider Marketing has launched a campaign for Nestle's Beneful and Purina brands aimed at engaging Canadians with this idea: show us the bond you have with your pet. It's called Canada's Search for Beneful Best Friends.

The campaign, which runs until August 15, kicked off with the launch of www.benefulbestfriends.ca, in which consumers are invited to upload pics of themselves with their dogs to win cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500. Weekly draws for digital cameras are woven into the initiative, and users are encouraged to vote for their favourite entries.

Online presence includes banners on Sympatico/MSN in June and July, driving users to www.purina.ca and www.walmart.ca. TV spots will air on CMT and the W network in June. The brand will also participate in the upcoming Woofstock event in Toronto on June 7 and 8.

Nestle Purina PetCare's senior strategist for Beneful and Purina One Sharen Hills says the campaign is intended to "creatively introduce the Beneful brand to dog owners... The program is the first of its kind on the brand and involves user-generated content, which is exploding right now."

Spider Marketing partner Christine Ross says celebrating the long-standing relationship between dog and owner will "ultimately drive brand awareness. Our creative approach tries to engage the consumer at every level and is designed to communicate the brand's credentials while adding to Purina's pet owner database nationally."

[Source: Media in Canada]

Pets Are Baby Boomers Too

Better preventative care, medicine, vitamins and food are making pets live longer, but leading to one costly side effect: higher medical bills, the Washington Post reports. Think of them as baby boomers on four legs. They're older and fatter - just like the country at large. About 44% of the country's dogs are older than 6, compared with 32% in 1987, according to the Post. And 45% of U.S. pets are overweight or obese, according to the Assn. for Pet Obesity Prevention.

But also like humans, they are racking up larger medical bills. According to the American Veterinary Medical Assn., spending on veterinary medicine doubled to $24.5 million in the last decade, the Post reports. So pet owners are now opting for expensive surgeries and preventative procedures - such as with the dog above, who was getting hip replacement surgery - when in the past a vet would resort to euthanasia.

"Many of the pet owners are baby boomers no longer burdened with the cost of raising children and are willing to use whatever disposable income they have to increase the quality of life of their furry - or scaly - companions," the Post's Nancy Trejos writes.

"Certainly we have seen an increasing level of sophistication in the last five or 10 years. As we see the bond between pet owners and their pets grow, they are demanding more sophistication," said Ron DeHaven, an officer of the AVMA. "It rivals human medicine."

One suggestion for those looking to limit pet bills: avoid purebred dogs, which usually have more health problems than your run-of-the-mill mutt.

[Source: Los Angeles Times]

Their First 'Baby' Was a Dog; How Will It Handle the Real Deal?

Some interesting info on training your pet to deal with your family's new arrival.