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Helena Sung


Lois MacDonald

With the Westminster Kennel Club 134th Annual Dog Show almost upon us (Feb. 15–16), Paw Nation will be talking with some of the show dogs' owners for some insight into this year's contestants.

Dog Breed: Irish Water Spaniel

Group: Sporting

Dog's Full Registered Name:
Ch. Poole's Ide Bonnie Brook

Nickname:
Bonnie

Dog's Age:
3

Owners' Names:
Sally Lewis and Col. Lois MacDonald, USAFR

Hometown:
Pasadena, Calif.
Tell me about Bonnie's personality.
Bonnie has your typical rollicking sporting-dog personality. She is irrepressible and precocious, inquisitive and adventurous and active. Her joie de vivre is infectious. She lights up a room. She is never worried, sad, or depressed. But she is a people pup and doesn't like being left alone.

What is her favorite treat?
She loves Red Barn bully sticks.

What is her best trick?

To protect our dogs from getting food on their long ears, we put scarves called "snoods" over their heads. After they finish eating, Bonnie walks up to her sister and grabs onto her snood and pulls it off for her. Her sister never returns the favor.

What's her weirdest quirk?
Bonnie has the most unusual squeak-bark when she's excited. The pitch is so high, most people have no idea that it's coming from a large dog. And for those who don't know what these dogs look like, I'd say their hairless "rat tail" is pretty quirky. They naturally don't grow hair on their muzzle, chest and tail. They are often mistaken for poodles, but they aren't shaved. What you see is how they come right out of the box (with a little foof and poof for the show ring).
    

Lisa Croft-Elliot/(c) Animal Planet

For two days in December, nearly 4,000 dogs from across the nation and around the world gathered in Long Beach, Calif. to compete in the American Kennel Club (AKC)/Eukanuba National Championship. The event has the distinction of being the only dog show in the United States that is organized and held solely by the AKC, the country's oldest and only not-for-profit purebred dog registry.

With $225,000 in prize money available, the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship is the largest prize-money dog show in the world, according to Animal Planet, which will air highlights from the event on Feb. 6.

Elite dogs competed in several separate events, including Best in Show and AKC invitationals in agility and obedience. In addition, the Eukanuba World Challenge -- presided over this year by Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson -- featured dogs from 41 countries. The event brings together "some of the world's most beautiful and diverse dogs," promises Animal Planet. (Be sure to watch for Sadie, a black Scottish terrier, pictured left, who was ranked the number-one dog going into the competition.)

The AKC/Eukanuba National Championship premieres on Animal Planet and also on the Discovery Channel on Saturday, February 6, 2010, from 8-11 PM (ET/PT).
    

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Jesse James/Twitter

Can the power of Twitter and Facebook help Jesse James find his lost dog, CinnaBun?

James -- best known as the owner of custom motorcycle shop West Coast Choppers, sometime reality-show star, and husband of actress Sandra Bullock -- has launched an all-out plea for help in finding his lost pit-bull puppy. "CinnaBun our shop dog & pet has been missing since 2pm yesterday. If you find her plz call 562-983-6666," James tweeted last Tuesday, Jan. 26.

A $5,000 reward is being offered for finding CinnaBun. "She's a light brown and white pit bull, 9 months old, cropped ears, full tail, hazel eyes," states James' Web site. CinnaBun was last seen wearing a large pink collar near the West Coast Choppers shop located in Long Beach, Calif.

CinnaBun was given to James as a puppy by a kindly stranger after hearing about the death of one of James' elderly pit bulls, Cisco. She is the newest pooch to join James' pack of dogs and is described as a "little charmer" with the "attitude of a charging rhino and bladder of a hummingbird." (View photos of CinnaBun playing with Mr. T, another pit-bull pet.)

Helping to look for CinnaBun is FindToto.com, the pet locator service that helped find Brooke Burns' lost dog and tried to locate Jessica Simpson's lost Maltipoo, who was never found.

There have been numerous alleged sightings of CinnaBun, including one report of a local teenager trying to sell a dog that matched CinnaBun's description, but the pit-bull puppy has not yet been recovered. Meanwhile, CinnaBun has a Facebook page where fans are posting updates.
    

Stephanie Diani/Animal Planet

Shorty Rossi, the star of the new reality series, "Pit Boss," may be one of Animal Planet's most colorful characters. He runs Shortywood Productions, a talent management company in Los Angeles, Calif. representing actors who are, like Rossi, little people. He readily admits to having served time in prison for gang-related felonies, but that's all in the past. For the past nine years, Rossi has been rescuing pit bulls, a breed with which he fell in love while growing up in the housing projects of South Central Los Angeles.

Recently, Rossi spoke with Paw Nation about his new show, why he loves pit bulls, and what you should know about little people.

How did the show "Pit Boss" come about?
The producers always saw that I had a compassion for dogs. This is something that hasn't been done before and Animal Planet took the chance. It's been one of the most amazing things because it's about my two passions: rescuing dogs, and my entertainment company.

What is your real name?
My real name is Luigi Francis Shorty Rossi. That's what's on my passport. I changed it years ago while in the entertainment business. When I check into hotels or go on the airplane, my ticket is under Shorty Rossi.
    

Wireimage

International soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria are cuckoo for Coco, their new four-month-old English bulldog. Purchased as a Christmas gift, Victoria spent a reported $3,200 on the pup, according to The (U.K.) Sun. Victoria apparently chose the pugnacious-looking breed as a reflection of her husband's fighting spirit on the soccer field.

Coco was part of the festivities this holiday season when chef Gordon Ramsay -- best known in America for his fiery reality show "Hell's Kitchen" -- arrived at "Beckingham Palace" (the Beckhams' mansion in England) to cook a delicious Christmas lunch of roast turkey with all the trimmings.

Coco was then scheduled to fly to the United States, where Victoria was headed with the couple's three sons to appear as a guest judge on "American Idol," while David flew to Italy to start training with his soccer team, reports the (U.K) Daily Mail. But Coco wasn't feeling well and stayed behind to be nursed back to health at chef Ramsay's home.

Representatives from PetAir UK arrived at Ramsay's home on Friday to collect Coco for her first-class flight to the United States, reports the (U.K.) Daily Echo. Rumor has it, the chef treated Coco to a delectable meal before sending her off on the 5,500-mile journey.

The astonishing cost of Coco's first-class flight -- $3,200 -- has raised eyebrows around the world. But PetAir acknowledges on its Web site that "the cost of shipping a pet abroad is an expensive process and will usually exceed the cost for yourself."

The Beckhams chose PetAir's "Gold Standard" level of service, reports the Daily Mail, which includes an airline ticket, custom-made travel container with bedding and water, a pre-travel health exam and one night in the care of a veterinarian.

"She is a gorgeous little dog," PetAir representative, Bob Ghandour, told the Daily Echo.
    


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