Starting October 1, it will be illegal to leave dogs unsupervised and chained or tethered in lawns. The City Council passed the ordinance in June; pamphlets telling people of the new ordinance were sent along with utility bills in August.

Animal control won't be heading out randomly to houses, but will be working on a complaint-driven basis. Once a complaint is made to them by a neighbor or someone else, a warning notice will be given to the residents who are chaining up their dogs. If a dog owner still doesn't comply after notice is given, they could be fined as much as $500. The idea is that this new ordinance will keep dogs with their owners, but under more humane circumstances.

A fund has been set up by Animal Trustees of Austin, Inc. and the Austin Community Foundation to help low-income residents pay for adequate fencing for their dogs. If you'd like to help out, you can make a donation to the Dog Fence Fund on the Austin Community Foundation site.

Some of the winners of the NPP in my view were these items:

The Comfy Cone, a thick fabric e-collar for post-surgery. Unlike the plastic cone, it’s flexible. And, you can fold back the edge to let your dog see better. We’ll have that available on FunStuffForDogs.com within a week or so.

Smell Goodies, a daily tablet that is clinically proven to eliminate doggie smells from the inside out. It improves breath and body odor, which keeps furniture, beds and carpets smelling fresher, too. I’m trying out a two-week supply on my collie, who has (sorry, Raleigh) radioactive breath. We’re on day two. I’ll let you know how it works. The manufacturer told me he’d call me in two weeks. If it works, I told him I’d order two cases. Stay tuned. I can say that you have to put it in a treat such as cheese or peanut butter (which the package advises) because the tablet itself is not appealing to dogs. And if it gets wet, the green color can cause discoloration. But I’m in the swing of it now, feeding one tablet a day in a bit of peanut butter. So we’ll see what happens.

A floor bell that dogs can ring when they want to go out. I’d seen the bells you hang from the doorknob. But the manufacturer said the floor bell was better for two reasons. First, you don’t have the dog scratching up your door. Second, you don’t have the bell going off every time someone goes in and out the door, which prevents confusion to the dog and annoying false alarms to the people in the house. I think this is a great idea.

The Eye Pack from Happy Tails Spa Products. It contains a jar of pre-moistened eye pads for daily cleaning, paired with a daily food supplement that boost the dog’s immune system and helps cut down on discolored discharge.

The makers of Greenies, one of the nation's best-selling dog treats, have settled a class-action lawsuit claiming the teeth-cleaning product injured or killed close to a dozen dogs.

U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner on Monday agreed with a joint request to dismiss the case.

Alan Sash, who represented 10 dog owners against Kansas City-based manufacturer S&M NuTec, said the case was settled but the terms were confidential.

An attorney for S&M NuTec, which was acquired last year by McLean, Va.-based candy conglomerate Mars Inc., also declined further comment.

"All issues between the parties have been resolved," said Laura Fey.
Greenies are hard, dark green treats shaped like a bone on one end and a toothbrush on the other. Designed to scrub dogs' teeth while being chewed, the treats have become extremely popular in recent years, with pet owners snapping up more than 300 million a year.

But beginning in 2005, media outlets began carrying stories of pet owners claiming their dogs either choked on pieces of Greenies or suffered medical problems when undigested pieces became trapped in their intestines. A CNN report last year estimated at least 13 dogs had died of Greenies-related problems.

In their lawsuit, Sash's clients claimed S&M NuTec, the company that invented the treats, knew of the dangers Greenies posed for dogs but refused to adequately warn consumers or pull the treats from the shelves.

The company repeatedly said Greenies were safe when used as directed, which included buying dogs the correct size of treat and making sure the animal adequately chewed it and didn't gulp it down.

Still, the company changed the packaging of Greenies to make its warnings more visible and came out with a new formula late last year that it said was more digestible and designed to break down into smaller pieces during chewing.

Do friends and relatives cringe and take cover when they see your dog bounding towards them? Have you gotten dirty looks from strangers who are sporting your dog's paw prints on their shirts and pants? If so, it's time to acknowledge that you've got a problem and Fido needs to learn how to greet people properly.

Dogs jump up when they are excited and want to greet someone. A normal part of greeting behavior is to lick the face of the other dog or person. Since dogs are shorter than people, the only reasonable way to get there is by jumping. Jumping up is not a sign that your dog is dominant or trying to "take control." All he knows is that his tongue is down there and your face is up there.

In the past, techniques such as the knee-to-the-chest or grabbing the dog's front paws and not letting go have been recommended to stop dogs from jumping on people. Such methods are not readily recommended, as they involve giving the dog a painful or uncomfortable consequence. Many dogs have also been known to misinterpret a knee to the chest as a "fun" game or some just don't care about being kneed. If you've repeatedly tried a technique and it has not worked, it's plainly not going to and it's time to try another approach.

Most professionals today use training methods that don't inflict pain or cause physical discomfort to the dogs. Training has come a long way over the past 20 years and clever trainers have developed techniques to teach proper behaviors without using adverse techniques.

Dogs learn through consequences. They repeat behaviors that result in positive outcomes and stop behaviors that have negative ones. The key is to determine what your dog values and use that as a positive reinforcement for good behavior. A ball may mean sheer bliss to a border collie but simply be a stupid round thing to a St. Bernard.

Dogs are social animals, so getting attention is very important to them. Using your affections as a reward is a very effective training technique. For example, if your dog controls himself and doesn't jump up, shower him with affection. However, if he blows it and jumps, simply walk away and withhold your attention.

Before your houseguests arrive, tether your dog with a six-foot leash to the couch or any other immovable object. Ask each guest to approach your dog in a calm manner starting from about ten feet away. If your dog's feet remain on the ground when the person reaches your dog (sitting or standing is fine), the dog's reward is to receive calm petting and praise. If the dog jumps, instruct your guest to say, "Too Bad!" and turn and walk away. After about 15 seconds return and repeat the process. It's more effective to get out of the dog's sight when you walk away. It may take many attempts and practice sessions before the dog learns to keep all four feet on the floor, so don't get discouraged.

If your guests are unwilling or unable to engage in the practice sessions, simply keep your dog tethered until everyone has settled or keep him on a tight leash to prevent him from jumping. For the noncompliant guests who insist on allowing your dog to greet with paws up, roll up a newspaper and slap them on the head.

Once your dog has mastered this exercise, it's time to make the situation more difficult. Increase the distance of your approach and act excited to see him as you get closer. At first, your dog will fall apart and jump, but then he'll learn that the same rules apply even when you're squealing and acting like a nut. Once you and your guests can approach your dog from about fifteen feet in an excited manner without him jumping up, try varying your practice sessions in different locations. If possible, bring your dog to a friend's home or make trips to stores that allow dogs and ask the employees to help participate.

Teaching your dog not to jump doesn't take a high level of training skills. What it does require is a lot of training sessions with consistent and appropriate consequences.

A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had "induced" malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats...Published in veterinary and toxicology journals between 1996 and 2006, the studies found that lab mice and rats injected with microchips sometimes developed subcutaneous "sarcomas" -- malignant tumors, most of them encasing the implants.

The company was "not aware of any studies that have resulted in malignant tumors in laboratory rats, mice and certainly not dogs or cats," but he added that millions of domestic pets have been implanted with microchips, without reports of significant problems.

The movie industry is cracking down on DVD bootleggers, but not with the kind of crime busters you might expect. While it's not uncommon for dogs to be trained to detect drugs or explosives, the Motion Picture Association of America has sponsored two dogs to take a bite out of the illegal DVDs.

Lucky and Flo recently helped bust three retail outlets in Queens, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. The dogs, which are trained to find bootlegged discs based on chemical scents, helped uncover thousands of counterfeit DVDs during the raid, which led to three arrests. "Man's best friend has become a DVD counterfeiter's worst nightmare," the district attorney said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the dogs helped investigators discover $6 million worth of illegal DVDs and disc-replicating equipment in Malaysia, where worried bootleggers reportedly offered a $29,000 bounty on the dogs.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. --A Springfield lawmaker has filed a bill that would create a statewide dangerous dog registry.

State Sen. Stephen Buoniconti says he was prompted by the recent mauling of a 9-year-old girl in Springfield by a bullmastiff that was involved in another attack last year.

The legislation would allow local animal control officers to file a court petition seeking to have a dog involved in an attack on a human listed as dangerous.

The dangerous dog registry would be available online and include the dog's photo, physical description and owner information.

Buoniconti told the Republican of Springfield that he's not targeting any specific breed of dog with his proposal.

Dogs that attack intruders or trespassers would be exempt from the registry.