Dogs

The biggest home in Los Angeles County is ready for a new nickname: The 56,500-square-foot Manor, dubbed Candyland after owner Candy Spelling, has been sold to another wealthy socialite, British heiress Petra Ecclestone, in an all-cash deal for $85 million. As steep as that price is, it's not a record or even close to what Spelling was asking. The priciest Southland home transaction was the 2000 sale of an 8-acre estate in Bel-Air to financial executive Gary Winnick in a deal that included the trade of other land, for a total value of about $94 million.

Michelle Reiter lost $4,000 in cash, a 32-inch TV and a laptop computer when her Glendale home was burglarized. But also stolen that day was something far more valuable — her 11-year-old teacup Yorkshire terrier, Sophie. Since that time, she has been frantically searching for Sophie, not only because the dog is her greatest love, but because Sophie needs periodic medication for her bowels. Sophie was reported stolen after burglars entered Reiter's home on May 7 in the 600 block of Beulah Street through a rear bathroom window and ransacked the inside, according to Glendale Police Department reports.

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.

I love my dog. Sure, he has issues - what lover doesn't? He wheezes when he sleeps, or when he's awake. There is an unexplainable darkness to his soul that emerges when he's under extreme stress. He also has a taste for the blood in mosquito bites. (The vet thinks he might be a vampire.) Being from L.A., our dog is prone to anxiety attacks and an almost debilitating sense of envy, particularly when coming upon younger, fitter dogs, which almost all dogs are. The last time we weighed him, he was close to 300 pounds.

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.

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.

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.

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 sun is high and the shade thin. The dogs don't seem to care. Nor do they seem bothered about participating in a bucolic pastime amid noisy traffic from the Long Beach Freeway, with big rigs and electrical towers as their backdrop. From their suburban backyards in places like Redondo Beach, Torrance and Glendale, 25 shepherds, collies and other breeds have been driven by their doting owners to this industrial stretch of Long Beach to do what is in their DNA: Herd sheep.

Dr. Robert LaBounty has an ear for his calling. LaBounty, a Studio City veterinarian, has built a practice out of performing ear croppings on about 20 varieties of dogs such as schnauzers, pit bulls and Great Danes. Some of L.A.'s most notable canine owners, from the current Mrs. Hugh Hefner (Doberman pinscher) to Cuba Gooding Jr. (Great Danes) to Carrol O'Connor (miniature schnauzers) have hired him to sculpt and tend the ears of their pets.

BALTIMORE — In the midst of the greatest time of his professional life, horse trainer Doug O'Neill is being followed around by an asterisk. Reporters want to know about his Kentucky Derby-winning horse, I'll Have Another. They want to know about O'Neill himself — how he got started, who he is, what he thinks about any number of topics. They want to know about young jockey Mario Gutierrez, who should have been way too green to ride the kind of race he did at Churchill Downs. They want to know about owner J. Paul Reddam, who made his money in the loan business and who named the horse by reprising a scene at home, where he sits on the couch, eats a cookie and requests another one from his wife.

Authorities launched Burbank's largest manhunt in 20 years in search of a missing FBI agent who was believed to be suicidal and possibly carrying a handgun, officials said Saturday. More than 150 law enforcement personnel joined in a search that began Friday and fanned through the rugged Verdugo Mountains and other parts of Los Angeles County looking for Stephen Ivens, 35, a Los Angeles-based agent specializing in national security affairs. He was last seen Friday at his home in the 1700 block of Scott Road in Burbank.

If you know anything at all about Del Mar, it's that the seaside town north of San Diego is the place to play the ponies. The horses aren't the only thoroughbreds in the track's history; you'll hear it connected to such names as Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, jockey Willie Shoemaker and, my favorite, Seabiscuit. But I'd encourage a Del Mar visit any time except the July 18-Sept. 5 racing season, just for the peace and quiet. The bed. I was here for a family wedding at L'Auberge del Mar Resort & Spa (1540 Camino del Mar; [800]

Fallout from the British phone-hacking scandal continues to rattle News Corp., even as strong performances from the media giant's cable television and film groups helped it post a 47% jump in net income in its third quarter. News Corp. on Wednesday reported net income of $937 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared with $639 million a year earlier. Revenue increased to $8.4 billion, up 2% from a year earlier. Before discussing the New York company's financial results with Wall Street investors, Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey offered a spirited defense of his boss, Rupert Murdoch.

George Karl tends to get up early when he's home in Denver. Having two black Labrador retrievers that expect to be fed at sunrise can create that habit. It was during a reflective moment just after daybreak Monday that something dawned on the Denver Nuggets coach. "I sat on my porch and just kept saying to myself, 'They're not that much better than we are,' " Karl recalled Wednesday. He was referring to the Lakers, who were supposed to easily brush aside Karl's Nuggets in their first-round playoff series on the way to bigger challenges.

LANSING, Mich. - Mitt Romney is making a play for his native Michigan, which last voted for a Republican for president nearly a quarter of a century ago. His task is made infinitely more difficult because of his opposition to the auto bailouts that many credit with saving the industry, a fact that was illustrated when he took the stage here Tuesday, not far from a GM plant. As protesters outside the Lansing Community College auditorium where he appeared criticized Romney's opposition to the bailouts, the presumptive GOP nominee was introduced by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican who has called the $80-billion federal loans to GM and Chrysler successful.

The Trinity Broadcasting Network, which bills itself as the world's largest Christian network, is embroiled in a legal battle involving allegations of massive financial fraud and lavish spending, including the purchase of a $100,000 motor home for family dogs. Brittany Koper, a former high-ranking TBN official and the granddaughter of its co-founder, Paul Crouch Sr., was fired by the network in September after discovering "illegal financial schemes" amounting to tens of millions of dollars, according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court.

Some may call it a tale of beauty and the beast. But Sam, a 14-year-old pedigreed Chinese crested, and a three-time champ in the World's Ugliest Dog Contest, is the dog of Susie Lockheed's dreams. Lockheed, 53, enjoys massaging Sam's fleshy, thin, potato-chip ears and running her fingers through the small patches of white hair on his head. She likes kissing Sam's hairless frame, littered with blackheads, brown warts and moles. Even his hindquarters have a large hernia lump.

As a hurricane barreled toward the Florida Keys, John Schappert, the chief operating officer of Zynga Inc., was on a charter boat to catch lobsters with half a dozen friends. When the winds kicked up and large waves tossed the small craft about, several passengers felt too seasick to dive. But Schappert insisted on diving until he caught close to a dozen lobsters before he was willing to call it a day. "Most of us were begging to get back to shore," recalled Steve Chiang, a close friend who was on the boat that day in July.

A group of downtown residents and their dogs were romping on a small patch of grass next to the glass edifice that headquarters the Los Angeles Police Department when the playful mood was broken. "Hey, hey, look out!" someone shouted. A dog off its leash ran into the street, and was causing drivers to swerve. A similar incident had occurred just hours before, one park visitor said, when another dog escaped its owner and ran into the street, only to be saved by a homeless person.