Most of the time Toffee our golden (delicious) Labrador finds it hard to resist getting her teeth into the children's toys, especially if they are of the of the soft toy or ball variety, and even the odd puzzle (who else to blame for the missing pieces?!). Unsurprisingly she is not remotely interested in plastic space craft , or the Nintendo DS, and thinks that the Wii is an invitation to join in on the home workout!

But when the robot dinosaur and the giant hairy tarantula appeared at Christmas, Toffee put her paw down and protested: the hackles went up, she snarled and barked clearly trying to establish that she was top dog and these alien intruders were not welcome! My first Labrador Jazz, would have a face off with the vacume cleaner whenever it came out of the closet, so that I even tried lying down next to the vacume culprit and patting it, trying to convince Jazz it was not a threat to her...never won that one, but I was amused to read the article from the WallStreet Journal by Andrew LaVallee which recounts similar dog-robot encounters some of which needless to say have ended up on YouTube!

The article is entitled "When Dogs and Robots Collide, Somebody Needs a Talking To"

To read on here is the link:

http://biz.yahoo.com/wallstreet/080611/sb121314664909963011_id.html?.v=4&printer=1

Once in a while a pet stories can top anything us humans have to offer...for a fun compilation from the Independent's weekend magazine, check out the link below for a few strange but true gems!

http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/saturday-magazine/features/and-finally-those-pet-stories-you-may-have-missed-832562.html

Well my blog title may be a little misleading as the Olympic committee hasn't just come up with a new canine sport for the upcoming games in China....though dog training could certainly qualify as a sport!

If you are heading for Beijing either participating or spectating, you may be glad to know that China's rescue dogs have been undergoing some Olympic training of their own.

A 17-strong squad, including German Shepherds, Labrador retrievers and Springer Spaniels, has been training in case a disaster should hit the Beijing games. The tasks include search and rescue, alarm barking (in chinese!) and field rescue.

After the devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan province, the vitally  important role of dogs in search and rescue operations is fresh in our minds.

Let's hope these dogs take away medals for their training but that their undoubted talents are not required during the Olympics.

If you were ever in doubt that celebrities such as Paris Hilton could influence the market in puppy trading look at this story featured on Sky News today June 10th.

According to the report by Sky's Europe correspondant Greg Milam, rogue breeders are exploiting the demand for lapdogs or so-called 'handbag dogs' fashionable amongst celebrities such as Paris H and Britney Spears. The puppies or 'pint sized' dogs have often been paraded before the picture hungry press, by so called celebrity pet lovers, as fashionable accessories fitting neatly in or alongside their designer handbags.

These dogs may be small but they command a bigger price and as Milam reports "People are getting more inventive when searching for a bargain." The Sky news investigation has found evidence that new-borns are often transported hundreds of miles in cramped conditions and sold at cut price. Worse still dogs are bread in poor conditions and die when they are weeks old.

I saw the report on Sky News and feel compelled to give you the full transcript of Greg Milam's report in my blog: more dog lovers need to know about this to help put a stop to this sad and ugly trade.

To give you a puppy price comparison " A Mexican hairless puppy, which would cost £1,500 in the UK (aprox. $3,000) can be bought for less than £200 (aprox $400) at a market in Hungary. Breeds like Chihuahuas, Yorkshire terriers and golden retrievers are among the most popular.

The end of border checks on mainland Europe has made the trade more easy.

Investigators say the dogs are often bred in poor conditions, many have no vaccinations and some are inbred.

One animal rights campaigner, who regularly visits the markets, told Sky News: "The dogs are mentally disturbed because these are baby dogs, puppies taken away from their mothers after five or six weeks which is too early. The result is heavy physical and psychological diseases.

"If there is no consumer buying dogs like this, the market will dry up but when people are willing to pay money for a life, the disaster is clear."

Campainers say the rogue traders often use professional-looking websites and regularly change company names to stay ahead of animal welfare groups.

Vet Antonius Mensdorff-Pouilly regularly sees dogs bought from the markets at his surgery in Vienna. He says people are being duped but the trade is being driven by fashion trends.

Marie Claire Macintosh, head of programmes for the charity Four Paws, said "Their background would really turn people off even considering buying a puppy in such awful conditions. We encourage people to go and adopt animals from rescue centres, and reputable shelters.

"If people are buying from car boot sales and markets, they are supporting the trade."

If you want to watch the video report please go to :

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1318502,00.html

Puppies from these unscrupulous traders are even being taken to the U.S, probably to be sold on to unsuspecting buyers... so please don't be tempted by a cheap puppy deal. It will end up costing you more in vet fees and heartache, but the real victims are undoubtedly the helpless puppies themselves.