Dogs

Rambo sounds the warning as soon as the kennel door at Bolling Air Force Base creaks open -- a ferocious, thunderous bark as loud and persistent as a jackhammer. In nearby stalls, Rocky goes berserk, spinning in tight circles like a top, and Jess, ears perked, bounces excitedly up and down. Then there's Timi. He stays silent, his head bowed, ears bent. He stands motionless, averting his gaze. Timi has always been the oddball of the kennel, "the quirky one," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Evans, his trainer.

It looked just like any other hot, sleepy Saturday at Wilacre Park. But for some of the park's most faithful users, everything had changed. For the first time in eight years, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy on Saturday began enforcing a leash law in Wilacre Park--a steep patch of brush and dry weeds in the heart of Studio City. And as far as Marco Ahumada was concerned, they might as well have bulldozed it.

If you've been seeing spots, expect to see more. Dalmatians, the dogs originally bred to guard the coaches of England's royalty, have been panting to become one of America's Top 10 most popular pups. And the fall release of Disney's live-action "101 Dalmatians," with Glenn Close as Cruella DeVil, may be just the PR vehicle they need to bump off the one breed in their way: the Yorkshire Terrier.

An Irvine family has filed a claim against Orange County Animal Control alleging that the family's chow chow mix dog, Oso, was killed by mistake. George Nieblas and his family allege in the claim that animal control officials killed their dog March 24, four days after the dog was picked up for reportedly biting someone. Animal control admitted in a letter that Oso was accidentally euthanized, and they apologized to the family for the error. "Oso was a great dog," Nieblas said Monday.

A Yorba Linda family's all-out legal battle to save their dog named Boo ended in victory Thursday as a judge barred animal control from destroying the bull mastiff, impounded after attacking a 7-year-old boy. The dog's owner, Stephen Williams, put his house up for sale and ran up $10,000 in legal costs to save the animal. But before Boo can leave the county shelter, Superior Court Judge Tully H. Seymour said, county animal officials must come up with a plan to control the 140-pound animal.

A Yorba Linda family's all-out legal battle to save their dog named Boo ended in victory Thursday as a judge barred animal control from destroying the bull mastiff, impounded after attacking a 7-year-old boy. "We're ecstatic, shocked, tired, everything," said Stephen Williams, who put his house up for sale and ran up $10,000 in legal costs. Before Boo can leave the county shelter, however, Superior Court Judge Tully H.

Remember the TV shows where Lassie the wonder dog saved little Timmy from dangerous predicaments? The roles were reversed Tuesday when a movie studio employee rescued a dog drowning in the Los Angeles River, county fire officials said. Anthony Edward Olszewski, 26, a production assistant for SKG DreamWorks, was returning from a delivery run when he noticed a crowd gathered by the concrete-lined river adjacent to the Universal Studios property.

Remember the TV shows where Lassie the wonder dog saved little Timmy from dangerous predicaments? The roles were reversed Tuesday when a movie studio employee rescued a dog drowning in the Los Angeles River, county fire officials said. Anthony Edward Olszewski, 26, a production assistant for SKG DreamWorks, was returning from a delivery run when he noticed a crowd gathered by the concrete-lined river next to the Universal Studios property.