Dogs

"The Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan is usually focused on rehabbing canines -- but he's now revealing some work he had to do on himself following a suicide attempt in 2010. In February of that year, he lost his top dog, Daddy, to cancer after 16 years as a team. A month later, Millan's wife told him she wanted a divorce after 16 years of marriage. The combined blow knocked him for a loop, he shares in "Cesar Millan: The Real Story," a documentary on Nat Geo Wild. In May 2010, he attempted suicide via drug overdose, winding up unconscious and hospitalized, he said.

In video not to be missed, a survivor of the tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., was speaking to a reporter about how she sought protection in her bathroom and was holding tight to her dog when the twister blasted her home to pieces. Standing amid the rubble, Barbara Garcia tells a CBS reporter how she survived the massive tornado that ripped apart houses and left at least 24 people dead. PHOTOS: Scene of devastation in Oklahoma She said she was holding her dog in her bathroom.

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

Re "The gift of a great dog," Opinion, May 16 A year ago I too thought that I'd had that one great dog, that canine soul mate never to be found again. My 13-year-old shepherd had passed away, and I was heartbroken. I couldn't even consider getting another dog for months, as I knew it would not be fair to a new dog to constantly fall short in comparison. After six months, one day when I least expected it, a 6-year-old rescued shepherd came into my family's life. We love him passionately, and now he has become the best dog ever.

Mark and Cindy Evans make the rounds of Southern California flea markets early, before most shoppers have gotten out of bed. Their favorite stops: The Groves Antique Market Held the first Sunday of the month from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Irvine Valley College, 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Admission and parking are free. Dogs allowed. (949) 786-5277. Pasadena City College Flea Market Also held on the first Sunday of every month, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Due to a scheduling change, the market happens to be open this Sunday.

The yellowing government survey map of San Nicolas Island dated from 1879, but it was quite clear: There was a big black dot on the southwest coast and, next to it, the words "Indian Cave. " For more than 20 years, Navy archaeologist Steve Schwartz searched for that cave. It was believed to be home to the island's most famous inhabitant, a Native American woman who survived on the island for 18 years, abandoned and alone, and became the inspiration for "Island of the Blue Dolphins," one of the 20th century's most popular novels for young readers.

Three mastiff breed dogs ranging from 95 to 125 pounds escaped from a Laguna Hills yard and mauled a 61-year-old woman Thursday, authorities said. The woman was taking an afternoon walk in the 25900 block of Terra Bella Avenue when the dogs attacked her, said Lt. Hal Brotheim of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Two male neighbors tried to get the dogs off the woman by hitting them with shovels, Brotheim said. The woman was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery. "She was in pretty bad shape," Brotheim said.

A Northern California biotech company announced Wednesday that it would clone dogs for the five highest bidders in a series of online auctions. Some ethicists condemned the offer, fearing it could lead to human clones. Opening bids start at $100,000 for the service being offered by Mill Valley-based BioArts International. The cloning process is to be performed by South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk, who scandalized the international scientific community in 2005 when his breakthrough human cloning research involving embryonic stem cells was found to have been faked.

As the Presbyterian service was about to start, one of the congregants was being disruptive, making a spectacle of himself once again on a Sunday. But that's what other members of the Westchester church have come to expect from Mr. Booby. At Covenant Presbyterian Church in Westchester, dogs like Mr. Booby are welcome congregants at the Sunday night services, where howling and sudden bouts of scratching may interrupt prayers, and the collection plate holds treats for poodles and golden retrievers alike.

The San Fernando Valley is 260 square miles of suburbia. Actually, make that suburbia on nutritional supplements. And antidepressants. With perhaps a little cosmetic surgery south of Ventura Boulevard, where the big money is. Or maybe - now that it's grown to more than 1.7 million people in nearly three dozen cities and neighborhoods rich and poor - the Valley isn't even a suburb anymore. It begins just 10 miles northwest of Los Angeles City Hall, sprawling west to the Simi Hills, north to the Santa Susana Mountains, and east to the Verdugo and San Gabriel mountains.

We got another dog right away. That wasn't the plan. But back in March, less than two weeks after Rex died and when I still had faint bruises from digging my fingers into my forehead amid uncontrollable sobs, I signed us up to "foster" a Saint Bernard mix that had been rescued from a crack den. It was a classic rebound move, but the unbearable silence of the dogless house was too much to take. You don't realize how much a dog's presence defines the contours of your home until, in its absence, the walls seem to relocate themselves.

Re "After ER trip, it's hospital bill shock," Column, May 10 and "Medical rates range off the chart," May 9 David Lazarus' column on a child's dog bite that resulted in an emergency room bill of $1,721.75 exposes a flaw in the business of healthcare. Hospital officials who were quoted in the news article do not claim that they know the actual cost of each service rendered. They don't know the amount of time a nurse spends on a particular patient and do not have a way to account for the costs of a particular procedure.

To some, a Mother's Day getaway means a don't-look-back, tires-screeching hall pass for an escape with girlfriends. To others, it means an amorous sojourn with a husband or partner. Then there are those who want to take along their kids or even the family pet. Herewith, places to suit all preferences. A tip: You can sometimes get fantastic last-minute deals on websites such as http://www.hotels.com . Le Méridien, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia For the mother - or family - who has been everywhere.

Last week's column, about my misadventures with a rescue dog, was not universally embraced by pet owners. For those who missed Part 1 of the saga, my wife, daughter and I were in the market for a pup, and Dogs Without Borders needed a temporary home for a timid, low-slung Corgi mix named Hannah. We committed to fostering her for a week, with the idea we might want to adopt her permanently. But things didn't go terribly smoothly, and some readers reacted as if I'd left a puddle on the living room floor.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and animal control officers were searching by air Thursday for four pit bulls believed to have mauled a woman to death earlier in the day in the Antelope Valley community of Littlerock. Hours after the attack, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the dogs' capture. The 63-year-old woman was out for her morning walk about 9 o'clock when she was mauled by the dogs. Her name has not been released.

When I had dogs as a kid, and later as a young adult, there didn't seem to be anything difficult about finding the right canine or taking care of it. But things seem to have gotten a lot more complicated since then. First of all, unless you want a rescue dog, you face the withering judgment of do-gooders who have devoted their lives to saving pups from the boneyard. I live in Silver Lake, not far from a sprawling dog park. And if an abandoned infant were spotted on the curb of that busy corner, across the street from a dog with a thorn in its paw, I guarantee you dozens of people with porkpie hats and tattooed peace signs would rush to the aid of the dog instead of the child.

Actress Jane Fonda bought a home in Beverly Hills last year with a feature that might seem counterintuitive for a fitness guru: an elevator. The Holmby Hills house that pop icon Michael Jackson leased has one within its 17,200 square feet of living space. So does the nearby 56,500-square-foot mansion heiress Petra Ecclestone bought from socialite Candy Spelling two years ago for $85 million. But home elevators aren't just for the super-rich anymore. Baby boomers looking to age in place are installing them to ease the burden of bad knees and growing girth.

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas - Not long after a Belgian Malinois named Cora went off to war, she earned a reputation for sniffing out the buried bombs that were the enemy's weapon of choice to kill or maim U.S. troops. Cora could roam a hundred yards or more off her leash, detect an explosive and then lie down gently to signal danger. All she asked in return was a kind word or a biscuit, maybe a play session with a chew toy once the squad made it back to base. "Cora always thought everything was a big game," said Air Force Tech.

LAS VEGAS -- Consider it a time capsule of what was and was not politically correct in Nevada this year -- a document that might be unearthed by future inhabitants as a clue to what this often-outlandish desert culture was thinking, or not, in the year 2013. This is the legislation that didn't make it -- the dead bills. The legislative corpses include efforts to legalize marijuana, make motorcyclists wear helmets, tax junk food, outlaw new ownership of dangerous pets and, yes, even choose a state dog. “In 20,000 years when people from the planet Zork arrive here and go into our archives, they're going to look at this list and say one of two things,” said Michael Green, a historian at the College of Southern Nevada.

Father Gregory Boyle is many things to many people, but he's perhaps best known as the founder of L.A.'s own Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the country. Over the last two decades, the Jesuit priest and native Angeleno has worked to provide former gang members and at-risk youths a way out, according to his motto, "Jobs not jails. " Freida Lee Mock's new documentary portrait of Boyle, "G-Dog," takes its title from Boyle's local nickname and follows him and as he tries to keep Homeboy afloat during a period of economic hardship.