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When dogs are in their training stage a question that comes up a great deal is why do dogs lick their noses?  While it is tempting to simply go with the old chestnut of an answer – because they can – there are a number of reasons why a dog might lick its own nose. Are they thinking about speedy paper reviews? One thing is for certain sure, however: while they are doing it they often bring a smile to the faces of their human companions. As you can see from this spread of pictures, it is sometimes difficult to resist this particular canine photo opportunity.

Until the announcement on the 11 April 2009 about the breed of dog that President Obama and his family were to welcome in to the White House, little was known about the Portuguese Water Dog.  Yet the fact that Bo (as he became known) was soon ensconced in the White House is, for his breed, something just short of a miracle. Behind the shaggy good looks there lies a remarkable story of species survival. By the 1930s the dog was on the verge of extinction.

Arguments abound about the origins of the Portuguese Water Dog with many maintaining that the first early examples of the species appeared on the Russian Steppes around 700 BC.  If this is the case, one can only wonder whether the irony is lost on President Obama: the dog that became part of his family has its origins in what was for many years called the USSR?

Let’s face it, some people like their pets big! If you are looking for a large dog there are a number of breeds which are generally referred to as giants. Be careful, though – you should only consider these breeds if you have lots of space, lots of time and quite a deal of money. The Ark in Space takes a look at the giants of the canine world.

The English Mastiff
The English Mastiff, in terms of mass is the big daddy of all dogs and its dimensions particularly that of the male are something to be believed. Every inch of this dog gives off strength and power – if the planet Krypton had a dog then this would probably be it. The world record holding breed for weight, this dog can weigh up to two hundred and fifty pounds for a male and around fifty pounds less than a female. The breed has been around for a long time – the name probably derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for powerful –masty. It is generally recognized to be the oldest dog breed in the UK.

Many people buy a dog as a status symbol and so go for a certain breed to mirror their own lifestyle. Still more have a particular attachment to the specific look and behavior of pure breeds. However, for personality, joie de vivre, unadulterated love and many other positive traits, can anything beat a good old fashioned mutt?

This is a video of my B Leon’s dog Dam, fighting with the neighborhood Gibbon in Thailand near the Mayanmar (Burma) border.

The gibbons's name is Chani (gibbon, Thai), and the dogs name is Dam (black, Thai).  Mr Leon did not name the dog, but it is a traditional Thai name for a black dog or cat. He found the majority of pets names in Thailand corresponded to their colors. He did name the gibbon though.

Chani was extremely friendly to B Leon during his stay in Thailand; she would sit on his shoulder and groom his hair, and loved to be swung by her arms or legs. Her strength is phenomenal; yet don't be fooled by how gentle and playful she is with Dam.  She was seen to grab birds on the fly with lightening fast reflexes and snap their necks all in a split second. Chani has always been gentle kind and playful and motherly around pets, friends and children.  Feeding animals especially monkeys in Thailand is believed to bring a blessing in Thai Buddhism.

Let’s face it – dogs are cool. Yet every so often even our canine friends need a little more protection for their eyes. So, out comes the sun and on go the sunglasses. Your average dog suddenly becomes super cool. Let’s take a look at a bunch of dogs in shades. Why? Because we are just as daft as they and their human companions are, probably!

Every year on October 31 the ghouls and ghosts rise - and people make fools of themselves all over the world by wearing ridiculous outfits.  Well, Halloween isn't just for humans, you know!  Here we bring together some wonderful shots of pets of all sizes (OK, dogs - they are the only ones who seem to be able to put up with it!) in their Halloween outfits.  Enjoy this great set of pictures of the dogs of the world dressing up in their Halloween costumes.

Dogs like food – that’s a well-established fact.  Some, however, are willing to go to great lengths to get to their between meal snack.  Take Lucy for example.  Her human, Rodd Scheinerman had caught her with her head in his oven on a previous occasion and decided to catch her red handed if she tried to do it again.

He put some chicken nuggets in the oven and left the house.  His cam secured in the kitchen area, this very funny piece of film was waiting for him on his return.  Lucy had heard the oven alarm indicating that the chicken nuggets were ready.  What she does next is ingenious, funny, charming and just a little bit naughty all at the same time!

If you are a dog lover I am sure you will enjoy this home movie which no doubt will (like Lucy) be treasured for many years to come by Mr Scheinerman and his family.

If this doesn’t make your day then I am not sure what will…  Take a number of dogs, film them shaking off water and then slow the film down… right down until every twist and turn, each slobber and swerve is captured.  It is quite amazing how something so everyday becomes so entrancing!

The inspiration for this short piece came when the team from Variable, a production company & creative collective based in New York City saw the still photography of Carli Davidson which went viral last year.  They contacted her to see if she would be interested in taking her project a step further and capturing the dogs with the moving image.  As you can see, Variable got a big yes from Carli and they have now unleashed this fantastic video on to the internet.

If you love this as much as we did here at Ark in Space then you may like to know that Shake The Book is now available too, featuring many of Carli Davidson’s wonderful portraits of dogs captured in time while doing the shake…

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!

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.

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).

Sometimes you have to whip your camera out in a second to get the photograph. When Flickr photographer Peretz Partensky was traveling the Silk Road in Tashkent, Uzbekistan he managed to capture this amazing shot. What we don’t see, however, is the way that the dog charged the cat and the way the ferocious feline stopped her in her tracks by hissing and thrusting a paw in the air. Yet this, taken a second or two afterwards captures the dramatic moment, in my mind, perfectly. This little cat is giving the dog her marching orders! You don’t frighten me!

The internet was recently abuzz with a video of a cat enjoying her first day of snow – and yes it was very, very cute.

If you are a dog person, however, you should check this out.

It is a short video of Chihuahuas Amber and Eevee. Their first experience of snow is a joy to behold.

The video was made by Mike Buonaiuto.

There is a certain time in a day when you just have to give up and have a rest, especially when all you have done is plod around! Sometimes there is such a thing as being too dog tired to do anything else!

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!

You just do not get to see this every day – a rat on a cat on a dog. It sounds like something out of a bizarre yet ancient nursery rhyme which has been banned by the politically correct brigade.

Yet, here it is, shot in downtown San Francisco.

Yup, a rat on a cat on a dog – all acting as if it is the most normal thing in the universe.

Well, we all make our own normal, so who are we to argue?

Dogs on logs? There may seem little point to a series of pictures of dogs atop big pieces of wood - but perhaps that is exactly the point. And why not? Cats at least have the lol variety - dogs seem a little left out. Above, Pio has spotted something in the water.  Is it a fish?  Who can say but we can perhaps guess what happened next... So - over to the rest of our canine buddies.

Some dogs will look cute anywhere, but add a log in to the mix and the cute factor goes stratospheric.  Although Hula doesn't look terribly happy on the log you can rest assured he was helped safely back to the ground!

From the sublime to, well - make up your own mind.  Hula may not known quite what to do with his log (stay on it or run!) and neither, we suspect, does Killer.  However, he certainly looks immensely happy to have found it though (we will take a look at what dogs do to logs, once they have discovered them, a little later...).

Sydney does the two log tree (although one, long as it is, hardly qualifies as a log, but...).  What is it with dogs, logs and water?  Well, nine out of ten for effort, Sydney! I wonder if he knows that properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend?

Matilda is quite happy to keep her feet dry but if a log is there it does have to be climbed - simply because it is there.  Some say that dogs laugh, but with their tail.  That being said - isn't that a huge grin on Matilda's face?  If not - how would you describe it?

No, Libby we said dogs on logs not dog logs on. Always has to be one....

This young pup gets the two log trick right first time and shows up his elders at a young age.  Wait, though, where's the water?  Disqualified!

Jasper is a canny character though - logs have their uses on those long summer walks. Plus, he can be quietly smug about the fact that four legs are better than two by going where most humans would not tread.

Sometimes, though, speed can be of the essence.

Other times, just being still is best.  Cooper knows a good photo opportunity when he see one.  Some people says that on occasion dogs are almost human (although if they could talk, wouldn't that take some of the fun out of sharing your life with one?).  However, that could be classified as something of an insult.

Clear off!  You don't count!

That's better - even though in the case of Marla here, we might still have to play guess the species...

Dogs can get very possessive about their logs.  Whenever they see one, they get all mine, mine, mine.  The size of the log is irrelevant.  Ownership is everything.

Really, really possessive.

So, why this fascination with logs?  Well, that's not rocket science.  After all, dogs love to...

...chew....

..and chew.....


...and chew!

This is Josie the chihuahua. She was born without front legs but she didn't let that stop her. She's now the mascot of Hanger Orthopedic Group. Something went wrong during her mother’s pregnancy. She was one of five – two others were born like her, one was born with three legs and only one with the full compliment.

The lady who adopted her decided that Josie needed more mobility so she approached her local orthopaedic group who put her in touch with someone willing to make her a prosthetic.

He had never seen a dog without two front legs before (not many of us have, I imagine) so it was to the drawing board. First it was a mould and some struggle getting it just right. The second design was a success.

Josie can now get around better – and even chases the cat around at home.