Maybe you should watch a video

Can’t wait until Sunday to see all the great Super Bowl commercials? You can watch The Pedigree Adoption Drive’s “Maybe you should get a dog” ad in advance as well as other videos on their website. For every video watched, they’ll donate a bowl of food to dogs in shelters.

So sit, stay, watch!

Are you ready for some puppies?!

If you miss your puppy-fix from the puppy cam and can’t manage to get yourself excited about Sunday’s big game, tune into Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl V.

Kick off is at 3pm e/p Sunday, with Pepper the parrot singing a rendition of the National Anthem. Then get ready for an afternoon of Fido first downs, puppy penalties, and the kitty half-time show!

And the best part? All the pup participants this year are from local shelters and are adoptable!

Barking Chef

Do you ever wish you could have homemade organic meals for Fido delivered directly to your door? If so, and you live in the Los Angeles area, you have a friend in the Barking Chef. According to Yuka and Oren of the doggie-meal delivery service, inspiration for the business came from a frightening source—the commercial dog food recalls—which prompted the couple to investigate the ingredients in the kibbles and wet food they were feeding their dog. What they found alarmed them and eventually led to the creation of their own recipes with the help of nutritionists and veterinary personnel. Soon friends and family with dogs began requesting the food, and the Barking Chef was born. Because the food is never frozen, the Barking Chef’s delivery range is limited to the immediate Los Angeles area. To find out more, visit BarkingChef.com

Two dogs, four legs, one controversy

Faith, the famous two-legged dog, might have a fellow two-legged playmate soon. Faith’s guardian, Jude Stringfellow, is working on adopting Tanker, a two-legged puppy in Florida.

But according to Local 6 news and ClickOrlando.com, a fight has erupted between Stringfellow and the rescue currently caring for Tanker. Stringfellow allegedly wants to adopt the puppy so he can play young Faith in a proposed movie about the dog’s life.

The puppy would have to travel to Texas, where Stringfellow lives. According to the site, when the rescue expressed concern about the puppy traveling, Stringfellow sent threatening emails.

The rescue says Stringfellow must first go through the adoption application and screening process like everyone else, and wait until the puppy is old enough to travel.

Image courtesy Orlando Sentinel

The best of friends

Tarra and Bella high-five

Tails recently published an article on love across the species divide—animals of different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds, joining together in an extraordinary friendship.

A great example of this is Tarra and Bella. Tarra is an 8,700-pound Asian elephant living at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. Bella is a dog.

Sanctuary co-founder Carol Buckley says the elephants tend to form a close bond with another elephant, going about life two-by-two. Tarra’s best bud just happens to be one of the many stray dogs that call the sanctuary home.

When Bella sustained a spinal cord injury and couldn’t walk, Tarra was beside herself and stood in the corner. Staff eventually started bringing Bella down to see Tarra until she could walk again. Now that Bella is healed, the two are inseparable once again. Tarra even pets Bella’s tummy with her enormous foot! What a beautiful friendship.

Image courtesy CBS news

Lancelot the sequel

What would you do if had an extra $155,000 lying around? Nina and Ed Otto of Boca Raton, Fla, decided to clone their dog. Their yellow lab, Lancelot, died of cancer at age 11. They had the dog’s DNA frozen, then hired a California-based company to clone their beloved pet. The actual genetic engineering took place in South Korea.

The new puppy, named Lancelot Encore, flew first class back to Miami, where his new family was waiting for him. They say he is the spitting image of Lancelot and hope he will have the same personality and intelligence, but “won’t love him any less” if he doesn’t.

You can watch a video of the Ottos and Lancelot Encore here.

This isn’t the first case of dog cloning. South Korea cloned sniffer dogs and even had an online auction to clone your dog. The first commercial dog cloning occurred last August.

What do you think of dog cloning? Would you ever consider it?

Grumpy, old reptile has a change of heart

Proving you can find love at any age, a 111-year-old lizard became the father of 11 this week after finally meeting his perfect match.

Henry, a tuatara living in New Zealand, had a problem with attacking his potential mates. But after having surgery to remove a tumor from his genitals, he’s been a lot friendlier, according to Lindsay Hazley, who works for the Southland Museum and Art Gallery where Henry lives.

The tuatara are only found in New Zealand and can live to be 150 to 200 years old. They’ve been on the endangered reptile order since 1895, so finding a mate for Henry was really important. After surgery, Henry met Mildred, an 80-year-old tuatara, and she laid their 12 eggs last spring. The babies are thriving, but have to be separated from their father, who will eat them if he has the chance.

You can get the latest news on the happy couple and see footage of the hatchlings at SouthlandMuseum.com.

Say cheese!

From Flickr user AmandaIsACult

When it comes to photos of my dog, I lost count at 500. Bath time, sleeping time, meal time–every time is a photo opportunity. We’re sure you have  adorable pets–now is the time to show them off!

In celebration of Spay Day 2009, The Humane Society of the United States is holding a photo contest. Upload your photo here for a chance to win great prizes, like a $1,000 shopping spree on HUMANE Domain.

This could be your pet this year!

And now that you’ve picked out your pet’s best pics, don’t forget to enter them in Tails’ annual photo contest! Your pet could end up in the pages or on the cover of Tails! Visit TailsInc.com to enter.

Ratchet the Iraqi puppy reunited with his adoptive mom

Ratchet the dog has finally been reunited with his adoptive pet parent, Army Sgt. Gwen Beberg.

Last October Beberg changed military bases and was not allowed to take Ratchet, an Iraqi puppy she adopted, with her. The military prohibits the adoption of pets and caring for any animal. Luckily, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International stepped in and helped Beberg. Operation Baghdad Pups is the SPCA International program that brought Ratchet to the U.S. Ratchet flew to Minnesota to meet Beberg’s parents on Oct. 20, 2008. Beberg returned to the United States last fall, but was stationed in Kentucky until Jan. 17, when she returned to her Minnesota home.

Beberg and Ratchet are looking forward to a future together. Beberg plans on attending Northwestern Health Sciences University to study massage therapy. Ratchet will start doggie-obidence classes and train to become an animal therapist.

For more information on Operation Baghdad Pups, visit BaghdadPups.com.
—Amanda Degard

Tiny trooper

Emma prepped for surgery.

Though Emma looks adorable in her little hospital gown and booties, this 6-month-old Chihuahua has gone through a lot! The poor pup was born with a severe cleft palate.

She recently underwent an operation to repair her hard palate deformity. The doctor also attempted to reconstruct her lip and nasal deformities so she could have a functioning nasal passageway.

Emma is recovering well and even was able to have a “real meal,” two days post-op.

You can read more about Emma’s surgery and watch a video here.

Emma even has her own myspace page!