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A Florida woman's pet chihuahua was officially named the world's shortest dog living by Guinness World Records at a height of only 3.59 inches. Pearl, a dog belonging to Orlando resident Vanesa Semler, was officially measured by veterinarian Giovanni Vergel and confirmed to be the shortest dog living. The shortest dog ever, a dwarf Yorkshire terrier owned by British man Arthur Marples, was measured at 2.8 inches tall before his death in 1945.

A loyal Yorkshire terrier stayed with a missing 3-year-old girl in a dense cornfield in Missouri all night -- and heroically led a search party to them with a "weak bark," authorities said. Remy Merritt and her dog, Fat Heath, had gone missing Thursday night in Qulin, triggering a desperate search that brought in some 150 volunteers, authorities said. But it wasn't until Fat Heath responded to barks from one of the search dogs that rescuers ended the 12-hour ordeal and found Remy and her trusty companion. "One of the dogs barked and a weaker bark was returned," Clark Parrott,...

A saltwater crocodile has eaten a dog that made a mockery of it for years, to the horror of onlookers. At Goat Island Lodge, south of Darwin in the middle of the crocodile-infested Adelaide River, guests had gathered to watch pup Pippa perform her favourite trick — running at Casey the crocodile to scare her back into the river. But to the alarm of those looking on, including owner Kai Hansen, Pippa ran straight at her head — and Casey "did what crocs do".The video of Pippa being dragged into the water was made worse by the screams of bystanders,...

<p>FALMOUTH MA (AP) - Police say a father stabbed his family’s dog to death after it started mauling his one-year-old daughter.</p> <p>The Boston Herald reports that according to Falmouth police the child was playing in the kitchen Sunday morning when the family pit-bull terrier attacked her, biting her face causing major trauma.</p>

Police in High Point say a 3-year-old child has been killed in the home by the family's pet pit bull terrier. Authorities say High Point police officers were called Monday afternoon about a child bitten by a pit bull terrier. A family member rushed the child to High Point Regional Hospital.

Police have seized a Staffordshire bull terrier which allegedly bit the head off a family pet dog in a vicious attack. Gemma Antell claimed her pet Pomeranian, Elvis, was decapitated outside the home of her mother-in-law in Warrington on Saturday after the larger dog entered the front garden, dragging its handler behind it. After the attack on Elvis, a member of the public took a picture of the Staffordshire bull terrier and the woman holding its leash, whose arm was covered in blood. Gemma posted the picture onto Twitter in an attempt to identify the owner. "The dog literally ripped...

Two teenagers have been charged with setting a Jack Russell terrier puppy on fire last month in Buffalo. Seventeen-year-old Diondre Brown and 19-year-old Adell Zeigler of Buffalo appeared in City Court Wednesday on charges of felony animal cruelty. Zeigler was denied bail because of a prior conviction. The judge set bail for Brown at $20,000. The 16-week-old puppy was found on fire in a yard on Buffalo's east side on Oct. 29. Named Phoenix by his rescuers, the dog is recovering at an animal hospital with burned ears, an ankle infection, and blistered eyelids.

Small dog vs. big cat: US farmer shoots mountain lion after terrier trees animal By The Associated Press (CP) COLMAN, S.D. — A 150-pound (68-kilogram) mountain lion was no match for a squirrel-chasing terrier. Jack the Jack Russell weighs only 17 pounds (8 kilograms), and yet he managed to trap the cougar up a tree on Tuesday on a farm in the north-central state of South Dakota. Jack's owner, Chad Strenge, told The Argus Leader that the dog "trees cats all the time," and that the plucky terrier probably "figured it was just a cat." Professor Jonathan Jenks, who tracks...

Otto Jones, a Dachshund terrier cross from Shropshire, may be the oldest dog in the world at 20 years and eight month - but he still knows how to play. He has been recognised as the oldest living dog by Guinness World Records and, despite his age, still enjoys playing ball with neighbours' children. His owners Lynn and Peter Jones, from Shrewsbury, said he was a "loveable, affectionate rogue".

Colorado Division of Wildlife officers are searching the Boulder area for a mountain lion that grabbed a couple's Jack Russell Terrier late Christmas Eve outside their home ... The owner had stepped outside with the small dog about 11 p.m. to take some garbage to the alley and told wildlife officers that she "got a creepy feeling," division spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said. The woman ran back indoors, Churchill said, and accidentally left her dog outside. When the woman realized her pet wasn't with her, she got in her car, where she felt safer, and drove back into the alley with...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Have you ever gotten so excited over something that you forgot everything else around you? You know, like when you hear the word treat…all else ceases to exist except the placement of the cookie jar and the hand that dips into it. Well here’s a story about a little terrier that was focused on a mouse and the subsequent fallout from his inability to multi-task. (Hector the dog was left howling in frustration after he took an unfortunate turn during a mouse hunt. The Norfolk terrier got his head wedged in an owl-shaped earthenware pot a...

Dog gets medal for saving kids Tue May 8, 2:53 AM ET WELLINGTON (AFP) - Nine-year-old Jack Russell terrier George is being honoured with a posthumous bravery medal for saving five New Zealand children from an attack by two pitbulls. The medal from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) comes after US Vietnam veteran Jerrell Hudman said he was sending his Purple Heart medal to George's owner after hearing of the dog's bravery. George, who had a heart problem, won fame after defending five children from the pitbulls in the small North Island town of Manaia...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A plucky Jack Russell terrier named George saved five children from two marauding pit bulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight that it had to be put down, its owner said Wednesday.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — This is a dog story. It's about a plucky little Jack Russell terrier named George, who stood like a giant against two marauding pit bulls and gave his own life to save five kids from the steel-trap jaws and razor-sharp teeth of the vicious attack machines.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand- A plucky foot-high Jack Russell terrier named George saved five New Zealand children from two marauding pitbulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight he had to be destroyed, his owner said Wednesday. George was playing with the group of children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small North Island town of Manaia last Sunday when the two pitbulls appeared and lunged toward them, his owner Allan Gay said. "George was brave—he took them on and he's not even a foot high," Gay told The Associated Press. "He jumped...

NEW YORK - When he was a boy, Hiram Stewart took a bus to Virginia, put a puppy in a paper bag and cradled it all the way home to New Orleans.For more than three decades, he’s cared for dogs in the Big Easy. Usually champion dogs, the kind that will reach the Best in Show ring this week at Westminster.Still, nothing prepared him for what he saw happening to pets around town after Hurricane Katrina hit. Like that pair of little beagles with the pleading eyes, chained inside a garage.“Every time a car would drive by, they’d come out,...

Yahoo News caption: A Secret Service agent chases Barney, the pet dog of U.S. President George W. Bush, as he struts past a line of well-wishers seeing off the President at Waco TSTC airport November 28, 2004. President Bush is returning to Washington after spending the Thanksgiving week on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)

BEVIL OAKS - A tiny dog from East Texas is back home after surviving a big adventure in the Montana wilderness. Esther, a 10-month-old terrier mix, went missing for five days after jumping out of her owner's truck. She disappeared last week while Leonard "Bo" Tiemann was vacationing with his wife. He and a friend spent six hours searching for the puppy, but the couple eventually decided they couldn't further delay their return home. Before leaving, Tiemann took off his coat and tied it to a tree near where Esther was last seen. He asked his friend to check every...

LUMBERTON - A Lumberton woman who tormented her pet Boston terrier was given jail time by a District Court judge on Tuesday. She is the second Robeson County woman convicted of animal cruelty in the past month to receive an active jail term. Treza Ann Sweeney, 47, 305 Hollywood Drive, was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty in December 2003 and pled no contest to the charge Tuesday, according to Katherine Floyd, the equine and animal cruelty investigator for Robeson County. Judge Greg Bell sentenced Sweeney to 45 days in jail - she received 20 days credit for time served after...