How Does a Puppy Burn Down a House? Chews on a Deodorant Can Near a Lamp, That's How

No one was hurt in the house fire, including the Greyhound who inadvertently set off the "bomb."

If you're sitting around today, listing all the things in modern life that could kill you, here's something to add once you've finished covering the obvious things like smoking, drinking, red meat, unfiltered tap water, too many carbs, swine flu, bizarre yoga accidents, malfunctioning electronics, industrial waste, the carbon monoxide pouring out of the cars in front of you during your commute, chemical toxins in sunscreen, skin cancer caused by not using sunscreen, some weird cancer that no one has identified yet, sex, and the stress from making this list: What if your dog chews through a can of cheap, spray-on deodorant and blows up your house?

Don't laugh. It could happen.

No one was killed in this case, but Kerry Leech of South Yorkshire, England, found out exactly what can happen when you leave a six-month-old Greyhound puppy alone for 10 minutes with a can of deodorant. Like a lot of puppies, Leech's dog Zeus is at the stage where, as Leech says, "he'll chew anything." While she was out of the apartment, Zeus punctured a can of Lynx deodorant with his teeth. As the deodorant sprayed out of the can, it was ignited by the heat of a nearby lamp.

The resulting explosion shattered the apartment windows, ripped through the floorboards, and set the couch on fire, for a total of £2,000 (about US$3,300) worth of damage. Zeus and five other pets in the apartment managed to escape relatively unharmed, but perhaps feeling a bit warier about deodorant cans.

Leech and her partner, Matthew Heckler, were on their way to the store when a neighbor texted them about the explosion in the apartment. The fire department initially thought that it was the result of a leaky gas main but soon pinned the blame on Zeus. Heckler said, "I didn't even know we had a can of Lynx in the living room. It was a Christmas present from Kerry's parents and was in a gift box right next to the fire and back boiler."

Lynx is the name that Axe body spray goes under in England, Ireland, Australia, and other formerly British nations. As in the United States, it's marketed using a series of variations, such as "Anti-Hangover" "Anarchy for Him," "Dark Temptation," and "Fever." Is there perhaps a "Pyro Puppy" variation in the mix now?

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Oblio the Dog Has Water on the Brain, But That's His "Point"

Named for a character in Harry Nilsson's "The Point," he shows that dogs can have a good life despite suffering from hydrocephalus.

Let's take a trip in my time machine -- yes, I totally have a time machine!

So let's return to the early 1970s, when Harry Nilsson wrote and recorded The Point. It all happened when the musician was on, uh, human catnip (so to speak), and he was looking at the trees and everything, and, as one is apt to do on the 'nip, he started thinking. Among those thoughts was how everything has a point, and if something doesn't have a point, then that's the point -- The Point!

What does this have to do with dogs? Uh, everything! Because I want to tell you about a dog named Oblio, who is named after the main character of The Point. 

You see, in the album turned cartoon, Oblio is the only one in his village born without a point, which leads the other kids to make fun of him. Similarly, Oblio the dog is a little different than most other dogs -- he was born with hydrocephalus, also known as "water on the brain." Interestingly, it was this defect that got Oblio a free ticket out of the puppy mill he was rescued from; however, his fate is a very rare and lucky one.

Oblio's condition is probably the result of poor breeding, but the little dog wants everyone to know that hydrocephalus isn't a death sentence. Sure, it means that Oblio has a dome-shaped head where the bones on top don't meet; that he's blind in one eye, experiences seizures, has bad coordination, and won't grow as quickly as other dogs, but that doesn't mean he's pointless! The point of Oblio is to prove that other dogs with similar conditions can and do thrive, and also make fabulous pets.

All photos via Oblio's Facebook page, which you should go like and tell him Dogster sent you!

Read about other Monday Miracles on Dogster:

About Liz Acosta: Dogster's former Cuteness Correspondent, Liz still manages the site's daily "Awws," only now she also wrangles Dogster's social media. That's why she wants you to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and -- her personal favorite -- Instagram. See ya there!

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Dogster Giveaway: Chicken Jerky That’s Safe and Very Droolworthy (Just Ask Jake)

You could win a package of this yummy, safe Dog Pack Snacks Chicken Jerky! (Image: Dog Pack Snacks)

We’ve been writing about the potentially lethal side effects of chicken jerky that comes from China for a while now. The FDA is slowly investigating. But a lot of people have written to us in response to our articles with horror stories to share about their dogs’ experiences with various brands of jerky. The common strand that the jerky is produced in China (although sometimes labeled “made in the USA”). Many readers have trashed their dogs’ jerky after reading the terrible experiences others have had with it.

The good news is that  we’ve been hearing about small local mom & pop businesses that put quality above all else, and make really good, safe jerky treats. And we’ve read reader “recipes” for making chicken jerky as well. That’s more work than some people want to put into their dogs’ treats, but others are wagging about it.

This is Coco, the lucky taste tester for Dog Pack Snacks.

We don’t normally do giveaways of treats or food, but we’re making an exception. Some chicken jerky treats arrived for Jake in the mail the other day and they were so delectable that I was almost tempted to chomp into one. (Jake was giving me “the look,” though, so all bets were off.)

The package was from a company called Dog Pack Snacks, based in Florida. The jerky was unlike any we’d bought before from the large manufacturers. It was very thinly sliced, with a beautiful color and really appealing aroma. Here’s how Debbie Isles, owner of the business, describes it:

Our Chicken Jerky is a neighborhood and a customer favorite.  Made from human grade, hormone free, American raised chicken breast, sliced thin and cooked very slowly into the ultimate snack. It is crunchy, yummy simplicity.  Wait until you smell it!  Better yet… wait until your dogs smell it.  The smell of roasted chicken will remind you of Sunday dinners at Grandma’s.

Jake loved this jerky more than any other I’d fed him from big-name companies. Every day until they were gone he would sit staring at the top of the fridge, where I have to keep his treats because he will get them anywhere else. It was rather touching, his love of this jerky, which is made in very small batches, as it turns out.

So how do you enter to win one of the 6-ounce chicken jerky packages (retail $10.99) that Dog Pack Snacks is offering to two lucky readers? Go to Dog Pack Snacks Facebook “Snacks” page, and peruse the various delectable treats the company makes. Then come back here and leave a comment about which treat/treats would be your dog’s favorite, and why. Enter by 12 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday, March 7. We’ll draw two winners from qualified entries via Random.org, and will announce them on Wednesday, March 8.

If your dog is looking over your shoulder when you check out the treats, I suggest you wear a towel to cover your clothes and your keyboard. They’re that droolworthy!

Good luck!

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That’s not a ball, it’s an orange!

August 1, 2011

My neighbor’s orange tree overhangs my yard and while I’ll pick some every once in a while for juice, I otherwise ignore them. (I don’t like oranges, or any other citrus fruit for that matter.)

The other day I noticed an orange had just fallen to the ground so I picked it up, bounced it in my hand a couple of times, and once I got the dogs’ attention, I threw it the length of the yard. Sisko was the first one to the ‘ball’ and grabbed it.  He then spit it out, sneezed, picked it up again with just his front teeth, carried it a few steps, dropped it again, and gave me the strangest look. I couldn’t help it, I had a good laugh over his confusion.

So I encouraged him to get it, praised him when he did, and the watched as he disemboweled it and then interestingly enough, ate it. Good puppy!

Of course that may not have been the wisest thing to do, he’s already eaten all the ripe blueberries off all three bushes and any tomatoes he could reach.

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Yoki is thriving and that’s good news

In mid-November last year, just before Archer got sick, Southern California was hit by a series of huge rain storms.

Now to those of you suffering through this horrible season of blizzards, I know rain storms may not seem like much but to us these were monsters. There was even flooding in some areas. Northern San Diego county was wet but the worst of the damage that I know of came from power outages, downed trees, and some damaged roofs.

Thankfully, Paul and I didn’t have any damage, but we did have one surprise. One afternoon I was walking the dogs to the potty area in the backyard. They needed an escort as they were trying to avoid the deluge as much as possible. Right in the middle of the sidewalk was a tiny little box turtle.

All four dogs stopped in place and peered down at this tiny little guy – the size of a quarter – and he looked back. A brave little soul.  I scooped him up and, in the rain, looked around for any siblings. I couldn’t find any, so inside we went.

We have adult box turtles and they often lay eggs in their enclosure. Our climate is usually too dry for them to hatch normally, though, so we only have babies if I see a clutch being laid. I dig them up later to incubate in the house. I usually find out there has been a clutch laid when I dig a hole to plant something and find a bunch of dried up eggs.

As I checked out this little guy I could see that the umbilical spot on his plastron (bottom shell) was still pink and fresh so he was newly hatched. He was probably about ready to hatch when the rains hit and he got flooded out. Then he went exploring.

Yoki, as we named him, has been in a terrarium inside since then and has been thriving. He has a huge appetite and his favorite foods are red worms and earthworms. Since I do a lot of composting I have lots of those. I offer a variety of wiggling things for him to eat, so he has a varied diet.

Something I bet you didn’t know: adult box turtles are omnivores. They’ll eat many different foods and I’ve found that mine enjoy strawberries, bananas, pumpkin, squash, and tomatoes, as well as insects, worms, and grubs.

Hatchling box turtles, however, are carnivores for the first couple of years of life. Whenever we have hatchlings I continue to offer different foods. This way they don’t become set on just one type of food, and are willing to try new things. They usually enjoy live foods.

I was concerned that Yoki might not thrive given the circumstances of his hatching. Reptilian babies can be fragile and sensitive to the cold. Also, I have no idea how long he was roaming the backyard in the cold winter rains. However, he’s been doing great. As you can see by his photo, he’s bigger than a quarter now. And he’s so cute! Look at those bright eyes and tiny little claws!

Photo credit: Yoki, a three month old box turtle, photo by Liz Palika

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Rocco’s special, and that’s a good thing

We have two dogs in our household — Rocco and Nyse.  Nyse is a 13 year-old pit bull, and not the main subject of this entry. She was somehow named after the New York Stock Exchange in the cloudy and long-forgotten past. She was my wife’s dog long before we were together and every time I ask my wife about the origin of her name, I just hear a series of low bleeps and bloops with the words ‘brother’, ‘hoodlum’ and ‘New York Stock Exchange’ mixed in, sort of like how the adults used to talk in the Peanuts holiday TV specials.

This regularly made my heart rate double. Oh, old TV, how do I love thee!

She is the smart one of the pair and makes sure that the household is in order and the trains run on time.  Her dreams consist of tax forms, stopwatches and orderly rows of alphabetized files.

Rocco is a 5-year-old Lab/Rott mix with the intellectual capabilities of a brick of Velveeta and a heart of purest gold. He is minus a leg from a disagreement with a Buick, but gets around well enough to knock every thing in the house over at least once daily.

The flowers may have a slight edge, intellectually.

When he dreams, I am sure it is of lame and slow rabbits happily cavorting about in an Alpo landscape as unicorns frolic in avalanches of marshmallow fluff and bacon clouds drift slowly by.

We are very similar in that respect.

He recently completed the certification process for Therapy Dogs International, and is now a card-carrying and tag-wearing certified therapy dog. He can now go spread his particular brand of sloppy, dumb-happy love to sick and infirm two- (or less) legged people.  One of the first things we plan on having him do is have kids read to him.

He thought it might be edible at first.

There are lots of kids who freeze up when they have to read something to their peers or an adult – seems they have an episode of the panics, and are afraid of being judged. A dog, particularly one who is as agreeable as Rocco, presents less of a threat, so their nascent reading skills can blossom like a Bloomin’ Onion (only slightly less delicious).

Hospitals and retirement homes will probably round out the itinerary after he masters the art of listening to kids read. We are really looking forward to spreading his gift of (slightly dimwitted) love with those in need.

Who knows — maybe he will learn to read.

If any of you have experiences with therapy dogs, either on the giving end or the receiving end, please feel free to share them here.

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