pet news.

Photo via HOUZZ, courtesy of DIY Life DIY Life: If your pup needs a place to rest his weary little head and you also have a cool retro suitcase and a little bit of skill with a screwdriver, you can create a fabulous, one-of-a-kind dog bed for your furry friend. Petside: Do we have any "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" fans in the Paw Nation? Surely you're familiar with Gigolo Vanderpump-Todd, Lisa Vanderpump's Pomeranian. Petside is checking out what's in Giggy's closet. The Daily Treat: Chaser the border collie is reported to be the smartest dog in the world, recognizing the names of more than 1,022 objects. It's hard to believe, but you can see her in action in a video! ...

A dog in Tennessee who chewed up a police car and landed in doggie jail, has been released and is back at home with his family after nearly two weeks in the custody of the local animal control shelter, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The Chattanooga Police Department released astonishing video of Winston, a pit-bull mix, on his vehicle-chomping spree, flattening tires and ripping the fiberglass cover off a police-car fender. "I try not to watch the video," Winston's chagrined owner, Nancy Emerling, tells Paw Nation. Cited for owning a "potentially dangerous dog," Emerling was ordered to appear in court. Last month, Winston had initially started chewing the tire of a police car, ...

Taylor Bentel winning her award. Photo: Kristen Seymour When you live in a home with ten pets like Taylor Bentel, you know all about the varying personalities animals can have. The third grader from Fort Pierce, Fla., took those observations and added in a big dash of humor to write a winning poem in this year's American Pet Products Association (APPA) National Children's Pet Poetry Contest. Taylor was one of six winners chosen in the competition, and each receives a $250 gift certificate for pet products, a byline in a nationally circulated publication, and $1000 scholarship for their classroom to be spent on pet-related education. Taylor was able to appear at the APPA press conference in ...

A lurcher. sheyne, Flickr A 23-year-old British man was charged with reckless driving and lost his license after police witnessed the man, Paul Railton, driving his car and walking his dog, a lurcher, alongside the vehicle as he held the dog's leash out of the driver's side window. Railton pled guilty to "not being in proper control of a vehicle," reports the (U.K.) Guardian. He was fined the equivalent of about $100 and -- due to prior penalty points accumulated on his license -- was banned from driving for six months. The matter was initially brought to the police's attention by a concerned cyclist, who was riding down a country road and spotted what appeared to be a dog being dragged ...

Yoichi Okamoto/LBJ Library (In a 1968 photo from the Newseum exhibit, President Lyndon B. Johnson howls along with "Yuki," named after the Japanese word for snow, as grandson Patrick Lyndon Nugent watches in wonder. Johnson's youngest daughter, Luci, found the mutt -- his proclaimed favorite pet -- abandoned at a Texas gas station on Thanksgiving Day in 1966.) The president's best friend has often been a pooch -- providing rough and tumble fun and companionship to offset the serious business of running the country. This year, the Newseum in Washington, D.C. explores that relationship, offering a closer look at the lives of the nation's "First Dogs." Cathy Trost, the director of ...

Adorable or simply degrading? Randy Son Of Robert, Flickr We love our dogs. They soothe us, entertain us, and their devotion and affection brings an enormous amount of joy into our lives. For all that we are appreciative. Some of us show our appreciation by buying luxury items that range from the frivolous (designer clothes and custom-made collars) to the more practical (organic dog food and orthopedic beds). When our hectic lives mean we have to leave our precious pooches behind, we put them up at fancy dog hotels with socialization hours and individual walks. Many of us avoid that problem entirely by bringing our dogs everywhere we go -- showering them with non-stop affection. Is all ...