Prince William and Kate Middleton just added to their young family – though not in the way recent rumors may suggest. Nope, Wills and Kate’s family member is instead of the four-legged variety: a months-old pup.

Following speculation they had adopted a chocolate Labrador retriever, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the latest royal dog was actually a male cocker spaniel. The couple were snapped walking with their new pooch on a wet and windy Newborough Beach last month (above).

The curmudgeonly so-and-sos at the Palace won’t release the name of the dog (goodness knows why – security protocol?), or explain why a cocker spaniel was chosen. All we proles were really told was that the male pup came from a litter through a family connection. Expect a lucrative magazine cover shoot of Will and Kate’s new furry friend any time soon.

The royal family and dogs have always gone hand in hand, of course. Prince Charles and Camilla adopted a Jack Russell Terrier named Beth last year, but easily the most famous royal dogs are Queen Elizabeth’s corgis.

The monarch’s love of corgis began in childhood. King George VI introduced the first corgi into his family in 1933, a dog named Dookie. A young Princess Elizabeth got her very own corgi, named Susan, a few short years later, and bred the dogs until 2009 – indeed, many of the corgis in the Queen’s family have Susan as their ancestor. Yes, even the royal dogs are born into a life of privilege.

Will and Kate’s New Puppy Breed Revealed is a post from: The Inquisitr

If this doesn’t touch your heart, you have a heart of gnarled, twisted oak.

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported on the discovery of Petunia, an 11-year-old dog who went missing from her home in Virginia when she was three.

Yep, that’s eight years (56 in dog years!) Petunia spent apart from her family, but just as amazing is the distance she managed to travel in that period. See, Petunia was found in California, over 3,000 miles away in an animal shelter. You may commence baaaaawing … now.

Authorities said that Petunia went missing around Thanksgiving in 2003, and was never found despite an expansive search. Yet the American Staffordshire terrier (a breed that can live until 16 or 17) recently showed up at an animal shelter in Sacramento, California, where she was registered as a stray.

And just to make sure it is her, a scan of a microchip found in Petunia linked her to Virginia-based veterinarian clinic in Virginia. The clinic was contacted by the California animal shelter, and in turn got in touch with Petunia’s owners. Who, I imagine, had a bloody good baaaaaw themselves.

The aim now is to get the intrepid mutt home for Christmas. It’ll be a long and perhaps lonely trip for Petunia, but the California animal shelter is on the case. Man, who wants to be at that reunion?

See also: More happy endings!

Dog From Virginia Found in California, Eight Years After Going Missing is a post from: The Inquisitr

When it comes to pets I guess I am rather pedestrian since anything beyond cats and dogs belongs out in the wild or possibly a zoo. Throughout my life I have had both cats and dogs as family pets and can attest to the fact that they can make your day feel a little better when chilling out with either (or both) by your side.

However the idea of going to a cat cafe to get my daily dose of feline comfort strikes me a just a little strange, however it would seem that residents of Tokyo feel differently as cat cafes are becoming all the rage among the upwardly mobile citizens.

Granted Japan has always had a rather weird obsession with pets. After all this is the home of the mobile pet cremation service and the dog washing machine but cat cafes?

It seems that in order to even enter one of these shrines to kittydom you first have to go through a cleaning ritual and then through an education room where you learn the finer points of interaction with the furry felines in the cafe.

Once you are done with that you are introduced to a roomful, meaning hundreds, of cats that were reclining in comfie chairs, couches, or just wandering around mingling with the rather large number of people that  can be visiting one of these cat cafes at any given time.

Of course you can relax and enjoy a fine cup of coffee and a snack all the while enjoying the comforting purr of a cat just sitting there waiting for you to pet it.

I think I’ll stick with my dog Ruby and a walk in the park for my calming time of the day.

via Fast Company

You to can be a crazy cat person but without actually owning any cats is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’re a fan of dogs you’ll be a fan of this good news, officials in China have cancelled the Jinhua Hutou Dog Meat Festival, an event that claims the live’s of 5,000 dogs each year.

Served up as the main dish at the 600-year-old event the eating of dogs began in the 14th century when army general’s would order that barking dogs be killed and eaten so as not to give up their location to enemy forces.

The tradition was cancelled after a web campaign from animal-rights advocates drew unwanted international attention after graphic images from past festivals were shown. Images included cooked dogs and leftover carcasses.

According to the People’s Daily one animal-rights blogger wrote:

“I’ve seen the dogs being stabbed, strangled, and even beaten into comas and thrown into boiling water.”

One Chinese blogger however stood up for the practice, noting:

“I personally think dog meat is like alcohol. They are both components of our ancient Chinese culture.”

Are you happy to see the needless slaughter of thousands of dogs cancelled? I’m pretty sure enemy forces can use satellite imagery these days to find their enemies.

China Cancels Dog Meat Festival is a post from: The Inquisitr

When viewing an image like this, it’s hard not to believe cats are the superior species.

Dog, You Aren’t a Waffle is a post from: The Inquisitr

It never ceases to totally amaze me how we, as human create some of the most incredible things that can change the world forever.

Then we get something like – the Dogbrella.

Even worse, this isn’t just someone having fun with Photoshop. Nooo, you can actually spend your hard earned money and get one of those silly assed things.

via DVICE

[Moron Dept.] Dogbrella, what else to say? is a post from: The Inquisitr

A study in the medical journal Emerging Infectious Diseases has come to a startling conclusion- on the subject of pets at bedtime, you cannot has. Or at least, you should strongly reconsider.

Dr. Bruno Chomel is a professor of a field that apparently exists called zoonoses, working at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine at Davis. He co-authored the study, and says letting your pets in your bed is “not a good idea.” Most of the press focused on the report centers on dogs because, I’m assuming, telling a cat to stay out of anywhere isn’t really seen as a worthwhile pursuit.

Dr. Chomel says that out of the 250 horrible diseases that jump from other animals to human ones, 100 happily live in or on domestic pets, and there are the requisite horrifying examples to bolster the advice:

In one case a 69-year-old man, whose dog slept under the covers with him and licked his hip replacement wound, came down with meningitis. Another incident involved a 9-year-old boy who got plague, a potentially deadly bacterial infection, from sleeping with his flea-infested cat.

Other infections transmitted to people after sleeping with their cat or dog, kissing them or being licked by the pet include: hookworm, ringworm, roundworm, cat scratch disease and drug-resistant staph infections, the report said.

To recap: sleeping with pets can revisit the plague upon humanity. But before you go phoning up shelters, the same experts say pet ownership’s health benefits outweigh the risks. And pets aren’t the only villains in this scenario. Another expert quoted on the subject says that a cat owner gave his poor kitty H1N1 last season.

Study: Pets in your bed could make you sick is a post from: The Inquisitr

When they say it’s a dog’s life they aren’t kidding especially when it comes to some of the doghouses that are available for your spoiled pooch. Just about every single one of these doggie mansions would be enough to make a homeless person jealous. Hell they almost make me jealous.

These first ones are from a company in Germany called Best Friend’s Home and more specifically from their Hundehäuser line of doghouses.

Hundehäus Cubix: The Modern Doghouse

Hundehaus Farm Dog House

Hundehaus Fairytale Dog House

Hundehaus Alabama Dog House

Now from a company called Beyond The Crate we get these fine example of doggie architecture:

Celebrity Hacienda Dog House

Brick Estate Dog House

Colonial Dog House

English Cottage Dog House

If your pooch is more inclined to spend their time indoors then this offering from DenHaus might be up your alley.

Townhouse Indoor Dog House

Then for the times when you go on vacation and don’t want to leave Fido out of all the action try this offering from Wannekes

Luxury Caravan Dog House

10 dog houses a homeless person would fight for is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you honk at a dog in the street, be prepared to risk the consequences.

(via NextRound)

Dog 1, Car Owner 0 is a post from: The Inquisitr

While I am sure that more than few of the animals depicted here would have a few choice words to say about being subjected to all manner of embarrassing poses one just can’t resist sharing some great images of our furry friends in Christmas garb.

Even animals can get the Christmas spirit is a post from: The Inquisitr

This is a young girl with more heart than some people I have known.

Kayleigh Crimmins of Newport News might be young but she sure seems to have a plan to try and make sure that police dogs have the same protection that their police handlers do. To do this she has been selling her toys on Craigslist and using the money to buy canine bulletproof vest which she then donates to police departments who need them.

Her most recent purchase will be going to a Newport News sheriff’s department police dog named Vader.

There was round of applause at Tuesday night’s Newport News city council meeting for a local girl taking action and getting results.

Kayleigh Crimmins has been raising money to buy bullet resistant vests for police dogs.

This one will go to a Newport News sheriff’s department K-9 called Vader.

This is the fifth one she has bought with money from selling her toys on Craigslist.

“I think she is amazing I think she is determined I think she loves dogs, and there’s no end to this she’s made that very clear,” says Kayleigh’s mother Lee.

Source: WTKR.com News

Kayleigh has also started a new project called Cans for K-9′s to help raise more money.

Young girl sells her toys to buy police dog’s bulletproof vests is a post from: The Inquisitr

An interesting study is underway, funded by the Department of Defense, looking into whether or not dogs help sooth soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. This is only one of the many medical research projects that they are pouring millions into.

The study will be conducted by research psychologist Craig Love through the Walter Reed Army Medical Center along with Joan Esnayra the founder of Psychiatric Service Dog Society. Dogs used by the Society have been assisting people with a variety of mental illnesses since the late 1990′s with about 10,000 dogs in use at this point.

Love and Esnayra surveyed 39 people with PTSD who were teamed with psychiatric service dogs.

Eighty-two percent have reported fewer PTSD symptoms since they have had the dogs, and 40 percent said they were using fewer medications.

“The longer the team had been together, the more likely they were reducing symptoms and medications,” Esnayra said.

But the researchers said they had often faced skepticism from the scientific community about the value of the dogs.

“It’s too touchy-feely,” Esnayra said.

That didn’t deter the Defense Department.

“Sometimes the scientific community is conservative,” said Capt. E. Melissa Kaime, director of the Defense Department’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.

“Where there’s a good idea but not much data, we’re willing to take a risk.”

Source: KansasCity.com – Defense Department finances study that pairs dogs with troops suffering PTSD

picture courtesy of Garvey Scott

Could dogs help soldiers suffering from PTSD? is a post from: The Inquisitr

I am a dog lover but even this is stretching things a little too far if you ask me. The idea of being willing to rent out the whole business section of a plane for a four hour flight just so you favorite pooch won’t suffer the trauma and anguish of flying cargo is just plain silly. It would seem though that for an Israeli it was a small price to pay to have her dog next to her for the flight from Paris to Israeli.

The woman identified as Rivka, told the Channel 10 television network Wednesday afternoon, she could not bear the thought of her eight-year-old boxer dog being placed in a cage in the cargo hold of the plane for the duration of the flight.

"He is my baby, and I asked El Al to rent out the business section and paid $32,000 to ensure my dog, Or (light in Hebrew), would be able to sit next to me for the entire flight," she told the television.

Source: UPI :: Woman flies business class with pooch

I wonder if It’s A Dog’s Life was the in-flight movie?

$32G’s to rent plane’s business section for a dog is a post from: The Inquisitr

Meet Sara, a happy dog with an interesting quality: she likes park swings.

According to her owners, Sara has been enjoying swings for about 4 years now and “goes absolutely crazy when we mention going to the park.” Did we mention that Sara is awesome as well.

Enjoy:

Happy dog likes swings (video) is a post from: The Inquisitr

Horses aren’t the only furry creatures vying for human affections this week.

Like a case we told you about earlier this month, 21-year-old Laszlo Arsenio Horvath was arrested this week in Orange County, Florida- accused of loving his dog so intensely it had to be put to sleep. From local news:

The arrest affidavit for Horvath says animal services got a tip from a caller that the young man was abusing his dog at his home on Darlin Circle near Bithlo. An officer caught up with Horvath and told him to take the dog, an 8-year-old Whippet named Silvy, to a veterinarian.

Horvath did as told and brought the injured dog in for treatment. But Horvath refused treatment for the injured dog when he was informed of the cost and abandoned his pet with the vet. Had he just shelled out, he probably wouldn’t be nationally famous right now. However, the dog’s doc assessed her injuries to be too severe, internally and externally, and Silvy was put down the next day.

When questioned, Horvath became emotional and told officers he was “lonely.” Bail was set at $1,000, and Horvath is prohibited from contact with both domestic and farm animals.

Accused puppyphile: “I was lonely” is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’m not sure where these are available, but they certainly add that extra spice…or should that be mustard the next time you take your dog for a walk.

New in dog fashion for 2009: hot dogs is a post from: The Inquisitr

Veterinarians in Missouri who noticed a unusual gray area in an X-Ray of a dog’s stomach and operated had an interesting surprise: 15 pacifiers, a bottle cap and a piece of a basketball.

2 year old Bulldog Lulu’s owners David and Jennifer Swart said their 18-month-old daughter’s pacifiers kept disappearing and they kept buying more.

According to reports, when Lulu showed an interest in the pacifiers, they took her to the vet, who then made the discovert.

The vets saved the pacifiers, but unfortunately they were reusable as they’d turned black from Lulu’s stomach acid. The $808 surgery cost was covered by Veterinary Pet Insurance.

How Many Pacifiers can a Dog Swallow? Try 15 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Think you’ve got a crazy pet? Check this weird dog out. The Poodle cross (perhaps) seems to think it can talk. The video has some redeeming features on the weird front, but make sure you watch the response from YouTube in the second clip. Golden.

Original:

YouTube response:

(via Overstated)

Weirdest Dog Ever. Even Better YouTube Response. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Want to turn eyes next time you take fido for a walk? This great alligator eats dog costume is sure to draw attention as you walk through your neighborhood. Funniest Dog Costume Ever.

Funniest Dog Costume Ever is a post from: The Inquisitr

[hat tip to Nothing to do with Arbroath]

Those silly Aussies and their hang gliding dog is a post from: The Inquisitr