When Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori first launched DogCars.com as an offspring to PetConnection.com, they set out to inform, educate and enlighten dog lovers about the dog-friendly differences in vehicles on the market today. Then, at the end of the first year, DogCars.com sorted through all its research to come up with a DogCar of the Year Best in Show award for the vehicle that best fit the safety and comfort attributes craved by serious canine carrying travelers.

What vehicle was the distinguished recipient of that first-ever DogCars.com Best In Show award? And the winner is . . . the Honda Element! The Element’s versatile cargo area and easy-to-clean interior were just some of the key points that made the Element the best among many other vehicles ranked high on the DogCar of the Year list.

The Element’s popularity among dog owners was so impressive that the marketing folks at Honda jumped at the opportunity to capitalize oncater to the dog-loving public by creating a cute little ad campaign featuring pups and the DogCars.com Best in Show logo.

It also set into motion the design of a new dog-friendly version of the Honda Element for 2010 that features a built in dog bed, flexible crate, stow-away ramp and many other accessories that make it appealing to those of us who like to travel with our dogs.

And the praise keeps rolling in for the Element. This year, the Dog Friendly Honda Element was back in the Best In Show winner’s circle when it tied with the Toyota Venza for top honors by DogCars.com.

Last month, Bark BuckleUp named the 2010 Dog Friendly Honda Element as of the Top 10 PetSafe vehicles. And DogSmith.com gave high praise for the Honda Element by endorsing it as the vehicle of choice for dog training professionals.

“The Honda Element reflects our DogSmith standards of superior quality and professionalism in pet care at an affordable price,” says  Niki Tudge  of DogSmith,

Now just because the Element is right for some dog-loving families, doesn’t mean that it’s right for everyone. That’s why DogCars.com provides in-depth reviews of a variety of vehicle makes and models, providing pluses and minus each one tested. Check them out here.

(Photo: Twyla, Harper and Bella pose in the dog friendly Honda Element during DogCars.com reviewer Kim Campbell Thornton’s test drive.)

It is a simple enough thing–  a 3- to 6-foot piece of leather, nylon or rope. In a pinch, I have even used a bungee cord, which has caused a few stares as I enter the teaching hospital, although it is utterly possible that the clown suit led to the stares, and the bungee had nothing to do with it.

The fact is a humble item can have the power of life over death.

That item? A leash.

Every day, veterinary hospitals everywhere receive thousands of trauma patients. For many of them, the lack of a simple leash led to injury. Some fell prey to the unlatched gate, some the open door and an opportunistic dash for freedom, but for many it is the naive belief that their master’s voice holds more sway than the tasty squirrel across the road.

In an instant, a joyful romp turns to tragedy, all set to the soundtrack of squealing tires and screaming brakes.

It is simply amazing the amount of trauma two tons of onrushing steel and aluminum can wreak upon tiny, furry bodies in just a split-second of impact. I am constantly amazed these impacts are even survivable.  Collapsed lungs, torn diaphragms, ruptured bladders, broken bones — these are all the sometimes invisible outcomes of trauma. Some of the injuries are dramatic and obvious, such as the many patients we see in ER with open fractures (what used to be called “compound” fractures, where the broken bones protrude from the skin). Some are more subtle, sometimes taking hours or even days to become apparent.

But most of these injuries were preventable with just a bit of planning and common sense.

When we are are faced with a trauma victim as doctors, we have a unique opportunity. Many trauma patients were perfectly healthy prior to getting injured, and can get right back to their previously scheduled lives after we patch them up — if nothing too serious is going on. But separating the seriously injured from the merely bruised and beaten can involve a mountain of testing and anxious waiting.

Not all accidents can be prevented, and most pet owners, especially the kind who read PetConnection, are responsible and have their pet’s safety topmost in their minds.  But there are still the lucky few out there who have managed to dodge a bullet for a while and walk with their dogs off-leash, or allow their dogs to roam unfenced. Luck tends to run out after a while, and I am here to tell you the consequences can be deadly. Costly and heart-wrenching for you, deadly for your dog.

Perhaps a bit of the glorious, glamorous and dangerous history of the dog leash (or ‘docg leigsh‘ as it was known in the original Gaelic) will convince some to adopt it.

Invented by by Archibald MacLeish in 1715 in Glasgow,  the leash was originally made of sheep parts that were deemed too awful to include in a Haggis. MacLeish’s wife, Peter (known to their close friends as Lucy), grew tired of the mountains of sheep innards that were scattered about their humble home and pestered her husband to do something about it.

At the same time, the neighbors just to the east of the MacLeish’s had a litter of Scottish Whisky Hounds. Now, nothing is cuter than a puppy,  but as those puppies grew up they were drawn to the overpowering and irresistible smell of sheep offal that wafted over from the MacLeish’s (a series of events which, coincidentally, gave rise to the common Gaelic saying of cluthd grrewl cwm ngongo lgthulan, or “cuter than a puppy covered in sheep pancreas”).

The neighbors, frustrated at having their prize sporting dogs come home every afternoon covered in intestines and pancreas (as cute as that is) decided to take matters into their own hands.  They built a sturdy fence and walked the dogs using the only available source of linear and easily knotted material available in highland Scotland in 1715 –  those selfsame sheep intestines! Invention surely is the bastard child of necessity.

Every time the neighbors would take one of the dogs for a walk, one would ask the other for a ‘MacLeish.’ Over time, and after a few rounds at the pub, this was shortened to, simply, a leash.

We don’t get too many chances in life to prevent badness and there’s no going back once your dog gets hit.  Don’t squander this chance: please use a MacLeish.

Study: Removal of ovaries could affect lifespan. A potentially groundbreaking study examined aging in Rottweilers.   The work by a team led by Dr. David Waters of Purdue, published in the December 2009 issue of the journal Aging Cell, strongly indicates that the length of time a dog retains her ovaries is directly linked to how many years she will live.

Dr. Waters’ team spent a decade collecting and analyzing medical histories, longevity, and causes of death for 119 Rottweilers in the United States and Canada that survived to 13 years of age. These dogs were compared with a group of 186 Rottweilers with more typical longevity.

Researchers found that female Rottweilers have a distinct survival advantage over males—a trend also documented in humans. That advantage appears to be determined by whether the female dog is sexually intact, however. “Taking away ovaries during the first four years of life completely erased the female survival advantage,” Dr. Waters said.

This isn’t just an interesting factoid that will impact the spay-neuter debate with respect to dogs.  It could have a lot to say about research into human longevity as well.

Dr. Parker’s group studied more than 29,000 women who underwent a hysterectomy for benign uterine disease. The findings showed that the benefits of ovary removal—protection against ovarian, uterine, and breast cancer—were outweighed by an increased mortality rate from other causes. As a result, longevity was cut short in women who lost their ovaries before the age of 50, compared with those who kept their ovaries for at least 50 years.

How ovaries affect longevity in Rottweilers is not understood, but Dr. Waters’ research points to a new set of research questions, recalibrating the conversation about removing ovaries.

Breed-specific legislation redux: Florida legislators are throwing the baby out with the bathwater by moving toward enacting sloppy, breed-specific laws again, substantively reversing their prohibition of such a thing more than 10 years ago.  The bill under consideration is Florida HB 543 (Senate version: SB 1276).

In effect, they will be turning back the clock to a time when blaming the dog, independent of contextual evidence, was acceptable.   State Rep. Thurston (D-Plantation) isn’t suggesting any move towards owner responsibility.   And the fact that identifying breeds accurately is, at best, a crapshoot, has eluded Thurston, as well as his co-sponsors.    Solving those problems can’t be done through the legislative process.  The losers here will be good, innocent dogs and responsible owners. If you live in Florida, it ’s time to make your voice heard (thanks to Cathy A for the cite).

Cat killed despite microchip:  Sorry, but we’re not done with the Sunshine State yet.    A couple in Broward county lost their Bengal cat, O’Malley.  Fortunately, O’Malley was microchipped.  That’s good, right?  If he is found by authorities, he can be quickly identified and returned to his anxious parents.   Good news:  O’Malley was found by the authorities.  Bad news, according to the Sun-Sentinel: he was put to death anyway.

The cat’s death has the family and county commissioners wondering if the scandal-plagued agency – which was restructured in 2008 after facing criticism for animal abuse and misconduct – has reformed its ways. The county is apologizing, but officials aren’t sure what exactly happened and are waiting for an internal investigation to be completed.[...]

An audit of the agency two years ago found food for dogs and cats in short supply, animal carcasses rotted in maggot-infested bags and workers taking valuable dogs for their own profits. Officials were forced to change procedures to reduce the problems.

“I’m furious,” said Broward County Mayor Ken Keechl, who led the drive to reform the agency. “I’m tired of it – how many years will this keep going on?”

Excellent question, Mr. Mayor.

For some good news, we fly up to New York…

The angel of Union Square: Emelinda Narvaez has rescued 10,000 dogs out of her mobile van in lower Manhattan.  You read that right.  Ten thousand dogs.    This profile of Ms. Narvaez, a cancer survivor herself, shows her to be a truly remarkable woman.

[She] believes dogs are the “Angels of This Earth.” But to the more than 10,000 dogs she’s rescued in New York, Emelinda is the angel. She does her miracle work through her nonprofit, Earth Angels, a no-kill canine rescue and adoption organization established to rescue homeless and abandoned dogs.

For the past 41 years, every single day, rain, shine or sleet, Emelinda has been saving dogs on the streets and taking canines from overcrowded shelters (that otherwise would’ve been euthanized). She then nurses the dogs back to health and finds happy, healthy homes for her four-legged friends.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication, Emelinda.  I have to agree with the author of the Huffington Post article, on behalf of the 10,000 lucky dogs.  You are the angel.

Bow to wow: Now let’s hop on the subway and head a little north, to midtown.  We’re stopping at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  As part of the adoption drive for Animal Care & Control of NYC, a gorgeous golden retriever named Bailey was on the set of The Today Show last week.   Also present was gold medal winning U.S. Olympian Steven Holcomb, pilot of the victorious and historic “Night Train” four-man bobsled team (the U.S. had never won a gold in bobsled before the Vancouver Games).  Steve met Bailey, and promptly adopted her…a golden for a gold medal winner  (a golden tip of the cap to Jennifer Fearing of the HSUS for the story).

Paws for poetry: Switching gears entirely … April is National Poetry Month. (I learn so many interesting tidbits on this beat.)  In celebration, I’m volunteering you, so listen up.  Paws for Poetry is running a contest, and you are invited. See rules and regulations here for prizes and details.  The deadline is April 15, so you have a little more than  a month.  Good luck!

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credits:  Chow and pit bull terrier: Laura Dapkus, examiner.com.  Steve and Bailey: msnbc.com.

Alamogordo police logs
A 17-year-old female and a 15-year-old female were referred to the Juvenile Probation and Parole Office for alleged shoplifting from Walmart pursuant to an ongoing investigation initiated on Feb. 22. Both were released to their guardians.
Read more on Alamogordo Daily News
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If your dog has a thick coat and tends to shed a lot, then chances are you’ve had to deal with trying to comb that coat in order to get rid of some of the dead hair before it ended up on your floor, carpet, or just about any other surface in your home. You’ve probably struggled with different types of brushes and combs only to find that you spend more time pulling hair by hand because the brush or comb simply does not do the trick.

Ringworm is a serious problem when pet owners neglect to take care of their pets. Having one infected pet is enough to have this infection spread to other animals and other people in the household. You can get ringworm from your pets, and you can infect your pets as well. Much is known about ringworms but this infection keeps on appearing in both humans and other animals. Protecting your self and your pets is very important as this infection can become difficult to manage when it goes untreated. So before it becomes a big problem, you should nip it at the bud.

Once you have a flea infestation, it can be difficult to get rid of them. Fleas can be particularly prominent in homes with pets. Follow these simple tips to prevent and remove them if necessary.

Do you think that a dog as small and as cute as the maltese needs maltese training? The answer is definitely yes! Apart from physical appearance, many people opt for toy or lap dogs because of the belief that smaller dogs are easier to handle than larger ones. They believe that smaller dogs need less food, less exercise and less training. But the fact is, regardless of the breed, size or age, dogs need appropriate training in order for them to become pleasant companions.

When the cold weather really kicks in, we all worry that our outdoor pets will be okay. There are a few things you can do to make sure they make it through the winter happy and healthy. A heated bowl which is controlled by a thermostat will ensure that your dog’s water never freezes.

Just like humans dogs need to have their teeth and gums looked after. This is crucial to the dog’s health many times. Teeth and gums not in proper health can lead to dogs having trouble eating. This can lead to even worse health problems.