The Ark In Space

Surf City Surf Dogs Catch the Waves

Sunday, 14 May 2017

Dogs are like people in some respects. Many are homebodies and prefer their creature comforts. Others prefer to be a little more adventurous. Although not a species renowned for its participation in extreme sports there is a cross section of the canine community which likes nothing better than to take to the waves – on surf boards.

Now in its fifth year the Surf City Surf Dog event, held in Huntington Beach, California brings together over forty surf fans together with their human companions who are there to ensure that all the fun is safe for the surfer dogs. This fund-raising event helps to raise awareness of various dog related causes, including animal rescue and medical care.

Sam the Dog Enjoys a Day at the Beach

Sunday, 22 September 2013

Some dogs don’t like water but that’s OK. The ones that do make up for it in the joyous way that they will leap in to water wherever it is. Whether it’s a lake, a river or an ocean there is always going to be a dog more than happy to participate.

That’s the case with Sam (who is a chocolate Labrador by the looks) who took his human Andres Santos for a great day at the beach recently. Andres caught it all in wonderful slow motion for us to enjoy, so, enjoy!

The Dogs of War – A Tribute to the MWD, Military Working Dogs

Sunday, 30 June 2013

Dogs have been used in warfare for millennia – and are still trained to operate in war zones today. From the scouts to the tracker, detectors and sentries, this is a tribute to those dogs who work with the military today - and of course their trainers.

Image Credit Flickr User Beverley and Pack

It is a fact easily overlooked that dogs are used by the military in war zones – many people do not realise that they are used at all. They have made significant contributions where they have been deployed. A fitting point at which to start is to pay our respects to those dogs that helped win wars in the past. Here, Military Working Dog (from here on in referred to as MWD) Rico accompanies Petty Officer 2nd Class Blake Soller to salute the dogs who helped to liberate Guam in 1944. The inscription on the memorial says “25 Marine War Dogs gave their lives liberating Guam in 1944. They served as sentries, messengers, scouts. They explored caves, detected mines and booby traps. -SEMPER FIDELIS” (always faithful).

Brutus the Crocodile meets Charlie the Dog

Sunday, 17 July 2011

Image Credit Flickr User Lukinosity

There is a picture whizzing around the internet at the moment of Brutus the three legged Australian crocodile taken by Katrina Bridgeford. You can see it here but as it is copyrighted to Ms Bridgeford we won’t put it directly on Ark in Space. Naysayers are maintained that Photoshop was used in the picture but experts have said that it is, in fact, quite real.

So, we thought we would do a little research on Brutus and we came up with this! Flickr User Lukinosity says about Brutus: “That croc looks an awful lot like the one we saw on our trip up north. He very nearly got our sweet little dog Charlie. I wish I had gotten a better snap of him, but it all happened so quickly.”

So, it seems that Brutus not only has a taste for scraps thrown by tourist guides but may have a taste for the occasional terrier too. We must hasten to add here that Charlie survived this brush with the crocodile and was quite unfazed by his experience! Here's a lovely shot of him below - no Photoshop involved!