December 24, 2019
The Top Dog Stories of the Decade
The decade is almost over, and DogTails wants to review it the way we know best – A Decade of Dogs! Below are some of the most memorable dog (and cat!) stories from 2010 through 2019. Enjoy, and a Happy New Year to hound and human alike. Here’s to a great 2020!
2010 – The World’s Tallest Dog Meets the World’s Smallest Dog
The folks behind the Guinness Book of World Records arranged perhaps the decade’s most memorable playdate in September 2010 in New York’s Central Park. To promote the newest edition of record book, they brought together two extremes: Giant George the Great Dane, the world’s tallest dog and Boo the Chihuahua, the world’s smallest dog. At this meetup, we also learned that the 43-inch tall Giant George sleeps on his own Queen-sized mattress, and that 4-inch tall Boo’s food dish is a teaspoon! Amazing!
To explore more dog stories from 2010, click here.
2011 – Dog Trainer and DogWatch Dealer Ron Pace Saves Dog’s Life with CPR
Experienced dog trainer and DogWatch Dealer Ron Pace’s personal protection training class on Saturday, March 5, 2011, may have started off uneventfully, but it ended in truly dramatic fashion. During the advanced class, participant Sugar suddenly collapsed, seizing and uttering what Ron called “deathly moans.” Sugar’s devoted owner, Tiffany Kauth, shouted for help.
“I had to help Sugar while keeping Tiffany safe, too,” Ron said, “and I thought, we need to get it on film if we can, so that we can give the footage to a vet.” Ron quickly handed his camera phone to his assistant, and rushed over to help Sugar. Luckily, Ron had previous experience resuscitating a dog, even if he had never had formal training in canine CPR. “I did what came naturally,” says Ron, “It may not have been exactly perfect, but it worked.” After performing CPR on Sugar for about a minute and a half, the dog began breathing on his own again, and he was up and walking five minutes later. Another class member had a vet appointment scheduled after class, and gave it to Tiffany and Sugar for evaluation.
Later that day, Ron posted the cell phone camera footage of the event, so that Sugar’s vet could see it and so that his clients could see the steps he took to revive Sugar. The emotional seven minute video eventually traveled much farther than Ron ever imagined, garnering over a million views on YouTube via Canyon Crest’s YouTube channel, and no doubt thousands more on the various news sites around the world who picked up the story.
To learn more about Sugar and Ron’s story, click here.
2012 – DogTails Publishes Our Most Popular Post of All Time!
Skunk. A single word that fills even the most intrepid dog owner with dread. The smell, the nightmare of getting it off, the waste of perfectly good tomato juice…Let’s face it, nothing about your dog getting sprayed by a skunk is pleasant. Unfortunately, one of our own dogs was the victim of a quite vigorous skunking (in her face, no less!) back in 2012, which sent us to the good old internet to see what we could find for a treatment.
What we found was a wealth of information and a course of action that made a huge difference for our poor Lucy! We shared what we learned in this blog post, which quickly became our most popular blog post of all time. You’ll want to bookmark this de-skunking recipe – trust us (and thousands of readers) when we say it WORKS!
To read and share this blog post, click here.
2013 – Grumpy Cat Takes Over the Internet
View this post on Instagram
This decade was also a big one for our feline friends, including one cat in particular – Grumpy Cat. The most famous cat on the internet, Grumpy (whose real name is Tardar Sauce), rose to fame in 2013, appearing on countless TV morning shows, selling her own branded merchandise, and even starring in her own TV movie. Through it all, Grumpy Cat remained unimpressed with her fame.
Sadly, the famous feline passed away in May 2019. But we’ll never forget her unique spirit and that unforgettable grumpy mug!
2014 – Mutant Giant Spider Dog Takes Over YouTube
A month before Halloween 2014, we learned of a terrifying new monster – the mutant giant spider dog! Polish filmmaker Sylwester Wardega dressed up his medium-size black mixed breed dog Chica in a frighteningly realistic looking spider costume and set him loose to scare some unsuspecting passersby. The video is both scary and totally hilarious. The reaction shots are great, but the very best part might be the end, when we see the smiling pup frolicking and licking his human friends, showing just how sweet he is when he’s not scaring the bejesus out of you. The rest of the world appeared to shared our enthusiasm, for YouTube named it the top trending clip of 2014, with 179 million views and counting!
To explore more dog stories from 2014, click here.
2015 – AKC Introduces Seven New Dog Breeds
In early 2015, the American Kennel Club announced a whopping SEVEN new dog breeds that would join their ranks. These seven new breeds included:
- Lagotto Romagnolo, a water retriever and truffle hunter from Northern Italy;
- Bergamasco, an Italian herding dog known for its long coat that forms distinctive mats;
- Cirneco dell’Etna, a hardy hunter, also from Italy, who is well suited to roaming the rocky terrain of Sicily, including its namesake Mount Etna;
- Boerboel, a large working dog from South Africa that traditionally serves as a guard dog for the farm and home;
- Berger Picard, a small herding dog from Northern France with a lovably scruffy appearance;
- Spanish Water Dog, another water retriever that has served as an all-around farm dog in Spain for over 100 years; and
- Miniature American Shepherd, a miniature breed that typically stays between 20-40 pounds, and thrives with lots of exercise and activities like hiking, running and agility.
To learn more about these breeds, click here.
To explore more dog stories from 2015, click here.
2016 – Alabama Bloodhound Accidentally Runs a Half Marathon
Ludivine the Bloodhound started off 2016 with a splash, becoming a sensation after she accidentally joined a half-marathon race in her hometown of Elkmont, Alabama. It all began on Saturday, January 16th, when two and half year-old Ludivine, who was roaming around her family’s 40-acre farm, decided to wander off into the start of a nearby charity half marathon. The friendly, curious pup joined the runners along the trail, stopping a few times to track some animals with her legendary bloodhound nose. Even with her detours, Ludivine managed to complete the race in a little over an hour and half, making her the 7th place finisher overall!
To learn more about Ludivine and her memorable race, check out our blog post. Spoiler Alert: she’s now a DogWatch customer, so she can train for next year’s race while staying safe in her yard!
To explore more dog stories from 2016, click here.
2017 – DogWatch Inc. Introduces the SmartFence®!
Excuse us while we toot our own horn a bit. In June 2017, DogWatch Inc. excitedly announced the addition of an exciting new product to our line of hidden underground pet fence options. The SmartFence® provides all the same benefits of our award-winning DogWatch® Hidden Fences plus the addition of mobile connectivity.
The first “connected fence” of its kind, the SmartFence syncs with a mobile app that provides pet parents with easily accessible information about the status of their hidden fence system. In addition to providing information about the hidden fence, the app also displays hourly updates of the dog’s activity.
An important feature of the SmartFence is that the pet parents can be notified by text or email if there is an issue with the hidden fence, such as a break in the underground wire or a low battery in the pet’s collar. This allows the pet parents to ‘know before the dog does.’
“DogWatch is committed to providing smart products for today’s pets,” says Fred King, DogWatch’s Founder and President, “and tomorrow’s pets, too.”
Learn more about the DogWatch SmartFence here.
2018 – Sully the Service Dog Pays Tribute to his Veteran, Former President George H.W. Bush
Of the many moving images that were shared following the passing for former President George H.W. Bush, perhaps the most famous one featured his service dog Sully laying behind the President’s casket in Houston. President Bush, who had a form of Parkinson’s disease, was paired with Sully in June 2018 with the help of America’s VetDogs, who train and place service dogs with veterans across the country. Sully was trained to help his esteemed veteran with a variety of tasks, including opening doors and summoning for assistance.
Sully has since moved to a new post at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he helps wounded veterans with their recovery. This smart and loyal pup has a long career ahead of him, but many will never forget his first assignment, and important role he played for the former President, his family and the nation.
To explore more dog stories from 2018, click here.
2019 – “Puppy Dog Eyes” are Real, and Evolved to Appeal to Humans
Most dog owners are very familiar and susceptible to their pet’s “puppy dog eyes” trick. But did you know that this phenomenon isn’t just limited to your own spoiled pooch? In fact, it is a result of thousands of years of canine evolution!
In June 2019, researchers at the University of Portsmouth in the UK and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh published their study on “Evolution of facial muscle anatomy in dogs,” in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). The team examined the facial structures of wolves and domesticated dogs, as well as observing the behavior of live wolves and dogs when in contact with humans. They concluded that dogs likely developed facial muscles around their eyes in order to appeal to humans.
So next time your friend laments her inability to resist those “puppy dog eyes,” let her know she’s not alone – and that dogs have been perfecting that look on humans like her for thousands of years!
To learn more about this study, click here.
We hope you’ve enjoyed these stories from the Decade in Dogs, and we look forward to sharing many more stories like these with you in 2020 here and on our Facebook page!
