Loyal and Trustworthy.

Well, we knew this was coming at some point. People are nominating their dogs to become our new governor here in Illinois. Can't say I'd disagree with the choice.

The New NewsHounds are Here!

Dog folks in New York, Chicago and San Francisco can get the latest news, events and more from NewsHound, Urbanhound's monthly newsletter. This month, it's all about places to escape the asphalt without straying far from the city. Subscription is free, and even if you don't live in one of those great dog towns, there's always great stuff in the News, Tips and Overheard on Hound Talk sections.

Music Hath Charms...

Is your hound a little wound up? Classical pianist Lisa Spector says her album, Through a Dog's Ear: Music to Calm Your Canine Companion, will help. In a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Spector explains that after attending a seminar on psychoacoustics, she began experimenting with simple piano compositions, studying their effect on anxious dogs with the help of a veterinary neurologist. Her album, and a follow-up release for the car, draw from classical music heavy-hitters including Bach, Chopin and Beethoven--which should certainly make some dogs roll over.

Winner by a Nose?

There's nothing like the Fourth of July during an election year to bring out the bunting.

Even your hound can declare his allegiance, thanks to these collars at Noe Valley Pet Company. Each is $4.99, and 50% of the proceeds support the Obama campaign.

We haven't seen any McCain collars, yet. If you have, we'd love to hear about it!

Fictional Dogs that Didn't Make the Cut.

Creating any top 10 list is hard. There's always some that almost make the cut, but for some reason aren't just up to snuff. In that spirit, we present you with 15 other fictional dogs that were considered, but didn't make the list. (Listed in no particular order.)

Beethoven. The St. Bernard of movie fame. The abundance of sequels (e.g. Beethoven's Fourth) cheapened his impact. Same goes for Air Bud.

Cujo. We like to promote the best in dogs. Cujo certainly doesn't represent that.

Petey. Of Little Rascals fame. His relevance is wearing thin. Though he was a good ambassador for Pit Bulls.

Spuds McKenzie. See Cujo.

Eddie. Yes, he's responsible for the popularization of Jack Russell terriers nationwide. That alone doesn't merit a place on the list. (Besides, we thought canine actor Moose did better work in My Dog Skip.)

McGruff, the Crime Dog. Too earnest.

Rowlf. As much as we loved the piano-playing muppet, Fozzie Bear had more "dog" qualities. But, alas, he was not a dog.

Underdog. Loved him in the cartoon, mostly because he spoke in rhyming couplets. But we can't forgive the live-action movie. (Scooby Doo was able to overcome it. But only barely.)

The Shaggy Dog/D.A. See Underdog. Remakes are killing our fond Fido memories.

Fido. Because we're not sure Fido is truly fictional.

Vincent (from Lost). Maybe if this were Season 1, he would have made the list. But since the arrival of The Others, Vincent has become an afterthought.

The Pets.com sock puppet. One hand puppet is enough for any Top 10 list.

Asta. Honestly, didn't remember Asta until we checked Wikipedia's (lengthy) entry on fictional dogs. Felt using the list to compile a Top 10 was cheating.

Sandy, a.k.a. Annie's Dog. Points were taken off for not being able to interrupt children singing "It's the Hard Knock Life" and/or "Tomorrow." (Good luck getting either of those out of your head.)

Toto. We kept getting this "little dog" confused with the group that sang "Africa."

Muzzle It!

It's Dog Bite Prevention Week, as Aaron pointed out, and I'm all in favor of it. But if all the training and awareness and doggy Prozac in the world won't stop your little Nipper from occasionally living up to his name, perhaps you should look into the Happy Muzzle. Created by two San Francisco dogwalkers, these soft, comfortable muzzles come in bright colors and cheerful patterns. The idea is to dispel the prejudice that a muzzle-wearing dog is a mean dog. After all, dogs often bite out of fear, and even non-biting city dogs need muzzles to ride public transportation (or to keep them from snarfling garbage off the sidewalk). 

What's that, Lassie? Timmy's on the Lam?

What's the use of having a guard dog, if you can't understand a word he's saying? The Israeli Prison Service has solved the conundrum with a custom computer program that interprets the barks of guard dogs to determine when they're just yammering and when they're actually trying to raise the alarm that a prisoner is escaping.  Now if we only knew what they were talking about the rest of the time.

Is Rover Passe?

According to insurance company PetFirst (Google them; I'm not going to make it easy), the most popular pop-culture-related names for dogs are Bentley, Roxy and Hershey (brand-related) and Lady, Jasmine and Mickey (character-related). Perhaps. But I've met a lot of pets in my time, and I get pretty far down the list before I can find a pet name I've actually heard of.

I may have met a Comet (no. 6 for brands) and/or a Rambo (no. 6 for characters) in my day. I definitely know a Harley (which surprisingly doesn't make the list. But I'm more concerned about some of the other names. Porsche (not Portia, for all you Shakespeare fans)? Pepsi? Ajax? (And I'm not sure that Hercules counts as "pop" culture.)

While I've never met any dogs with those names, I'm beginning to wonder if it says more about the people who buy pet insurance (the list was culled from PetFirst's policy holders) than it does the American public at large.

On the Other Paw...

A German study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, found that children raised in households with dogs show better immune-system response against allergies and asthma. Apparently the germs, pollen, dust and other stuff dogs bring in on their fur helps stimulate the development of young immune systems and de-sensitize babies bit by bit. Grounds for letting your hound sleep wherever he pleases, if you ask me. 

Hot Tip: Save on Meds for Your Hound

Here at the Golden Bowl Home for Geriatric Pets (AKA my house), we spend a lot of money on prescriptions. Often the meds we give our pets are technically people meds, so I buy them at the local Walgreen's...at full price, of course, since my fur-bearing children are not covered by the family health plan.

Turns out, the fine folks at the Automobile Association of America have a solution. Among the AAA membership benefits is a discount on medications for the whole family, including pets, at participating pharmacies. As long as the drug is not covered by your insurance, it qualifies for the AAA discount.

The amount of the savings varies regionally (in Northern California, for instance it's 15% off brand name drugs and up to 35% off generics, while in New York, it's a straight 20% across the board), so check in with your local club to get specifics.

Art and Dog Lovers, Enjoy.

Hey, New York art and dog lovers. This is probably a bit of a tenuous connection to dogs, but we wanted to draw attention to the new Jeff Koons exhibit at the Met (featuring the giant balloon dog shown). According to the New York Times, it "seems innocent but is loaded with aesthetic and erotic perversity." Plus, great views!