Waiting Patiently By With Wang Cai

China's "Most Loyal Dog" Wang Cai

Regardless of hemisphere, language barrier or even cuisine, man's best friend will always be just that...Their undying loyalty is undoubtedly your little friend's most admirable quality. Take China's "Most Loyal Dog" Wang Cai for instance.

For going on four years now, Wang Cai has waited outside the doors of Misheng bank from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon. He didn't pace about anxiously ("Does Your Dog Experience Separation Anxiety?") nor did he indulge in treats from passersby. Wang Cai just minded his stoop, warding off any other dogs, who dared to encroach on his post. What or who Wang Cai was waiting for was subject for debate in the early goings that is until this viral video surfaced on China's YouTube counterpart, YouKu.

         

The video has wracked up 1.55 million views and counting so far with 1.3 million of it accrued within the first 24 hours of being posted. Since going viral, the story has been too juicy for inquiring minds not to ask. Is Wang Cai enacting some sort of funerary vigil for a deceased master? Alas, no...rather anticlimactic, right? Ultimately though, this is still a feel good story. Although Wang Cai was homeless for a brief period, a family eventually took him into their home and care, which, as a No Kill Animal Shelter, absolutely thrills us.

Wang Cai has been accompanying his master to work every morning for the past two years, seemingly putting in a full-time shift of his own, which would explain his 9-5 schedule. His "if you go, I go" attitude has made him a bit of a local legend with the Chinese, who have likened his story to Sinofield Hachiko, a Akita, who famously waited for his deceased owner outside of the Shibuya Train Station in Odate back in early 1930s. Richard Gere actually starred in a remake of the 1987 drama, "Hachi-ko" entitled "Hachi: A Dog's Tale". If you do the Netflix thing, give it a look.

For a future post, I'm thinking about putting together a list of the greatest films starring animals. Suggestions are most definitely welcome. Thanks for reading.

China’s “Most Loyal Dog” Waits Outside for Owner for 4 Years – chinaSMACK:

'via Blog this'

Oscar Snub for Uggie the Dog

Not since Rin Tin Tin has an animal of any species garnered this much consideration for an Academy Award. Uggie the dog, a 10 year old Jack Russel terrier, has set the internet ablaze with buzz over his being snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His breakthrough performance in "The Artist", which is nominated for a total of 10 Oscars, has stirred up an old debate that goes back as far as 1929 - "should the Academy create a category reserved specifically for animal actors?"

Over 9,000 likes on Facebook, nearly 5000 followers on Twitter and his very own hashtag (#ConsiderUggie) would argue that Uggie and other well trained little friends of the sort do, in fact, deserve a fair shake at some hardware for their contributions on film. Unfortunately for Uggie the dog and his fans, it does not look like the Academy will recognize Uggie with so much as a "good boy". You see back in 1929, the Academy had decided that recognizing animals with an Oscar would only detract from the prestige of the award. "No shirt, no shoes, no service" I suppose. Fortunately, winning an Oscar does not factor in to a dog's bucket list. This happy little friend is satisfied with just being in the discussion. 

Cast of "The Artist" at the Golden Globe

Whether or not you see this as some poppy, flavor-of-the-month, slice of life story, Uggie the dog's performance and this recent hubbub will surely have stirred a surge in interest for the Russel Terrier breed. If you are among that number, think rescue, first, before you run with cash-in-hand to some short-sighted puppy miller. 

Brave Banty

A dog’s courage will never cease to amaze and astound and, once again, I would like to present you with a wonderful story about one very courageous dog that put their well-being in harm's way to save a human life.

This is a short tale about a dog named Banty. In his earlier years, Banty lived with family that did not treat him particularly well. His family had this parrot that would squawk Banty's name incessantly. It drove Banty absolutely batty. Because canines are very attuned to conditioning, any time Banty would hear his name called out, he would instinctively run to heed the call. Eventually, Banty would develop a bit of a complex. Certain sounds and strangers would give Banty anxiety. It wasn't until Banty changed hands and was now in the care of a new and nice family where he would finally be able to be at ease.


It was a day like any other. Banty's family were out and about for work and school. The maid was keeping house and tending to her day-to-day tasks when she suddenly fell in heap. She had been preparing supper in the kitchen when a heart attack had struck. At the time, she was standing at the stove and as fortune would have it, she would fall forward before hitting the ground. Laying atop the stove burners for those brief moments was enough for the maid's clothing to catch fire. Fortunately Banty was nearby. 


The caucophany of clanging pots, pans and the thud of flesh and bone hitting the floor was too much to ignore. Despite years of conditioning to feel anxiety when hearing such a ruckus, Banty leaped into action. Using his teeth and grit, Banty quickly pulled her away from the stove and began to tear the burning clothes off of her. Thanks to Banty's determination and effort, the maid was rescued without any life threatening injuries. They both were taken to hospital with severe burns all over their bodies but both were live.

When other people heard about this story, they were delighted with the bravery of a dog.

"His Master's Voice"

Recognize this bit of imagery? More popularly associated with the old RCA ads, "His Master's Voice" was actually an original painting from English artist, Francis Barraud, in 1899. The Curious George immortalized in "His Master's Voice" is "Nipper", a fox terrier Barraud had inherited from his deceased brother Mark. Along with the dog, Francis also inherited a cylinder phonograph and a few recording his brother, Mark, had left behind.

As it turned out, those recordings preserved not only his late brother's last words but also his voice as evident by Nipper's piqued interest in the familiar sound emanating from the phonograph horn. Nipper's unabashed reaction to his master's voice piping from the phonograph didn't escape Francis Barraud's attention either and so he committed the scene to canvas. He would later copyright the original painting under the title of "Dog Looking at and Listening to a Phonograph".

After shopping the painting around to various phonograph companies, Barraud would not find a buyer for his work until 1900. The Gramophone Company purchased the rights to Barraud's work under the condition that he modify the image to feature one of their products instead. "His Master's Voice" went from a print ad to the name of a particular radio model to becoming the trademark for the Gramophone Company, which would later become RCA. Embedded below is an ad that was run in Australia.



On a side note, the "HMV" model radio was never actually sold in the States; however, the image was internationally used as a watermark to this day.