organized crime

Feet, united

Hero Dog Protects Monrovia Teen From Rattlesnake

Five-year-old "Boone," a Siberian Husky mix, got between a 14-year-old and a rattlesnake and was bitten on the snout in the process. He's expected to recover after the venom caused him to lose a large chunk of flesh.

Daniel Whitman never heard the rattle but his dog Boone must have seen something because he came running over anyway.

The 14-year-old Whitman was supposed to be cleaning up after Boone in the backyard of their home on Norumbega Drive last week. He was walking over to the corner where Boone likes to do his business when the dog rushed over.

"Daniel was headed in that direction and that's when I think Boone had noticed something different and darted over there and got between the two of them," said Dan Whitman, the teen's father.

That's when the younger Whitman saw the rattlesnake, and he shouted to his dad and ran inside. The dog soon followed, and he stayed with Daniel for some time afterward.

"He just stuck by Daniel's side," Dan Sr. said. "He followed Daniel all around the house. He did not leave his side."

What the family didn't know was that before Boone came back in the house, he had been bitten. They soon found out, however. Nothing was visible, but the 5-year-old Siberian Husky mix started behaving strangely about 20 minutes later.

"There didn't appear to be anything physically wrong with him," Whitman said. "He started to kind of twist his head funny and look up at the ceiling like he was in pain."

Whitman knew something was wrong. A retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy, he also knew that they didn't have much time to save Boone.

So Whitman called 911 and let the police know they had a rattlesnake in the backyard. Then he called Family Dog and Cat Hospital on Lime Avenue and was was eventually directed to the only local place that carries anti-venom and is open after-hours, a veterinary clinic in El Monte.

"I ran him down there real quick. Got him there within 40 minutes of the bite," Whitman said.

The anti-venom saved Boone's life, but he still sustained serious injuries. Rattlesnake venom is an anti-coagulant and it causes tissue destruction, according to David Garcia, a registered veterinary technician who has since treated Boone.

The venom killed the tissue on Boone's snout where he was bitten, and the flesh there started falling off in chunks, Whitman said. The wound has "just progessively gotten larger," he said.

And the dog's face also swelled up severely the morning after the bite.

"In the morning his face had gotten the size of a canteloupe," Whitman said.

Garcia said Boone is expected to recover, but not before the Whitmans had to shell out $500 for rattlesnake anti-venom. The dog could have been saved a lot of pain and suffering if he was vaccinated against rattlesnake venom.

Garcia recommended that every dog owner living above Hillcrest Boulevard get the vaccine after seeing four other cases of dogs with rattlesnake bites over the last month. With the vaccine, a dog's bite survival rate increases, though it would still need to be treated with anti-venom, Garcia said.

Whitman said he was going to make it his mission to raise the awareness of the need for pet owners to get their dogs vaccinated. In the meantime, he's grateful for what Boone did to protect his son.

"I'm sad that Boone took the bite but I'm thankful my son didn't," he said.

Tim Tebow renames his dog ... and Twitter responds

Jets QB Tim Tebow and his new teammates got to work yesterday. He's striving to earn an important role in the offense while the rest of the team is hoping he can help the franchise achieve a memorable 2012 campaign and bury last year's ugly implosion.

Yet such events have been superseded by real news: In an homage to his new environs, Tebow is changing the name of his dog, a Rhodesian ridgeback, from Bronco to Bronx.

Funny ... and enough to start a new trend on Twitter: #RejectedTebowDogNames.

Some of the suggestions:

Elway

Completion

Starter

Champ

Peyton

Judas

Patriot Killer

Spiral

Satan's little helper (that'll be on The Simpsons soon enough)

Excited

We're just waiting for "Rex" to catch on ...

Colleges Turn To Dogs To Break The Stress Of Final Exams, Lift Spirits

ATLANTA -- Just down the hall from the reference desk at Emory University's law library in a room housing antique legal texts is Stanley the golden retriever puppy, barking his head off.

Stanley rolls around on the floor and chews on a squeaky toy while zombie-like law students wander in, a giant grin breaking out on their weary faces when they see the cuddly boy. Puppy therapy – just in time for finals week.

From Kent State University in Ohio to Macalester College in Minnesota, more and more pooches are around campus during exams to help students relax and maybe even crack a smile or two.

"We had a student who came in and a staff person commented they had never seen that student smile," said Richelle Reid, a law librarian who started Emory's pet therapy program this year after hearing about one at the University of California, San Francisco. "It has had positive effects, helping them to just have a moment to clear their minds and not have to think about studies, not have to think about books."

Pups are in counseling centers for students to visit regularly or faculty and staff bring their pets to lift spirits.

Pet-friendly dorms also are popping up where students can bring their dogs or cats from home.

Want to check out a pet? It's possible at Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School, which both have resident therapy dogs in their libraries that can be borrowed through the card catalog just like a book.

Some dogs, like Harvard Medical School's resident shih tzu Cooper, hold regular office hours. Researcher Loise Francisco-Anderson owns Cooper and said she got permission to bring him to campus after her husband read that Yale Law School had a therapy dog on campus named Monty.

Cooper, who sports a crimson scarf with paw prints on it, is so popular that undergraduate students have been petitioning for him to spend time on their side of campus. Many of them take the shuttle across the river to the medical school just to visit the pup on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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"You can release some of the emotions to a pet that you can't to a human. A pet keeps it confidential. You don't have to worry about someone else saying, `Oh, I think she's having a nervous breakdown over the science exam,'" said Francisco-Anderson.

Most schools, like Emory, partner with organizations that train companion dogs so that the canines get their social training while students get stress relief. Others, like at Harvard, have faculty members bring their dogs – which are certified to be therapy pups – to campus certain hours during the week.

The service is almost always free for students.

Research shows that interaction with pets decreases the level of cortisol – or stress hormone – in people and increases endorphins, known as the happiness hormone. Scant research exists on the how pet programs on college campuses help students cope with stress.

That's why Kathleen Adamle, a nursing professor at Kent State, hopes to garner a grant so she can conduct research as part of her "Dogs on Campus" program. Adamle launched the program in 2006 with just her dog and has since added 11 other therapy canines to the team that visits dorms regularly throughout the year.

The dogs belong to Adamle or other community members and are certified therapy dogs.

She has plenty of anecdotal evidence that her program works. As soon as there's a tragedy on campus – a student dies in a car wreck, for example – dorms scramble to book the dog team to help comfort upset students, she says.

"I don't care if it's 10 at night, we go to that dorm and sit on the floor. The kids are crying, and they grab the dog and put their face in the fur and just let it go," said Adamle.

Since 2006, Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., has asked faculty and alumni to bring their dogs to campus during finals as part of the "Dog Day Afternoon" program. At Kenyon College in Ohio, the counseling center and dorms offer puppy play dates with Sunny the yellow lab and Sam the poodle-Chihuahua mix.

Last month, Indiana University students romped around with dogs in the first ever "Rent-a-Puppy" day. For $5, students could book time with one of 20 puppies from the local animal shelter – and could adopt them if they couldn't bear to say goodbye.

First-year Emory law student Anna Idelevich took a break from studying for exams at the library on a recent afternoon to visit Stanley and Hooch, two golden retrievers training to be companion dogs for disabled owners. The private university brought in the dogs as part of a new program to help students cope with the stress of exams.

"I've literally been here every day. This is the best thing that's ever happened to me," said Idelevich, 22. "They couldn't have thought of a better way to relieve stress. If they don't do it next year, I'll be upset."

Life questions

Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily...let me ponder that....

To be is to be perceived....I would suppose, but perhaps not....I shall ponder this as well

Who is also aware of the tremendous risk involved in faith – when he nevertheless makes the leap of faith – this is subjectivity … at its height...welll, maybe, I shall ponder this

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide... Camus...what a fraud...ha! I laugh him!  

Is toilet water cooler to drink in the winter months or is that simply my perception?

Ask the Trainer | Dogs can be obsessive compulsive

By Carla Brown

Dear Carla,

We have a 2-year-old Jack Russell Terrier named Charley who constantly chases his tail. This problem started about 6 months ago. Once he starts doing it, he will continue for quite a long time unless we interrupt him. My husband thinks it is funny, but

Dear Not Amused,

I think you are right to be concerned. Dogs are subject to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) just like humans. OCD is a medical condition where a dog engages in normal canine activities in an abnormally repetitive, frantic and self-destructive manner. There are many OCD-type behaviors in dogs including, but not limited to, self-mutilation, compulsive shadow chasing and laser-pointer chasing. Fortunately, this condition can usually be controlled through behavior modification and possibly medication. You should consult with your veterinarian about the best course of treatment. They will want to rule out or treat any underlying medical problems first.

From a behavior perspective, I would start by trying to determine if there are specific triggers that lead to his tail chasing and eliminate them. Do visitors make him nervous? Do the kids come home after school and run around making lots of noise? It will help to keep his environment calm and predictable. Next, redirect Charley when he begins to chase his tail. Ask him to do something he knows well like “sit” or “lay down.” You will need to consistently interrupt the tail chasing so he can learn new behavior patterns. Jack Russell's are infamous for their high energy level. When he chases his tail, play with him or take him out for a walk. Adequate daily exercise is very important.

The one thing you don't want to do is punish a compulsive behavior. Punishment is not an effective form of treatment and can actually increase a dog's level of arousal and anxiety, which in turn can make the symptoms worse. Punishment can also interfere with a dog's ability to learn new, non-ritualistic behaviors successfully.

The behaviors associated with OCD almost always worsen without treatment, so the sooner you get started the better.

— Carla Brown, CPDT is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and owner of The Savvy Dog Training and Education Center in Truckee. If you have a pet topic/issue you would like to see covered in the Ask the Trainer column, please email her at savvydogtruckee@mac.com