Elizabeth Wictum, associate director of the school’s veterinary forensics lab, said though the puppies were deemed genetically identical, “in terms of how identical the dogs would be, we don’t entirely know how much genetics play in terms of personality.”

“Their environment plays a role in developing the animal’s personality,” she said.

LOSING a pet can be a traumatic experience. Here’s how to cope when it comes time to say goodbye. …

Great Dane or poodle. Pure-bred or mutt. It doesn’t matter at the Grove, where any pup that is “well-behaved,” “on a leash” and “not wanting to bite people” is invited, said spokeswoman Jennifer Gordon. And if that pup happens to drop a “present” under the mall’s Christmas tree, as Bosco did recently? Just clean it up, and all will be forgiven.

Chino Valley Parks and Recreation interim director Jason Kelly said an amendment to the town’s Heritage Fund grant, which allots $575,125 for parkland development, will set aside $149,825 for the dog park.

“Labor is included in the cost, and volunteer hours can be attributed back to the state,” Kelly said. “The town is not obligated to spend anything on this now. If the town spends money, it gets a 50 percent match.”

“We are unable to agree to these demands, as it would compromise both contractual obligations and our general responsibility to dog exhibitors and our audience and we believe it would be inappropriate and counterproductive to exclude any recognised breed from Crufts,” he said.

‘Disputed’ breeds

• Basset hound
• Clumber spaniel
• Dogue de Bordeaux
• Mastiff
• Neopolitan mastiff
• Pekingese
• Blood hound
• Shar pei
• St Bernard
• Chow chow
• German shepherd
• Bulldog
• Rhodesian ridgeback
• Cavalier spaniel

The North Carolina Highway Patrol is starting from scratch when it comes to its canine unit. The department is getting rid of all its German Sheppard Malinois dogs and going with a new breed.

The survey of over 1,000 people on www.akc.org found that more than 96% of respondents with a taste for gourmet coffee would give up their latte habit to save money for their dog’s expenses. Ninety-seven percent also said they would forego massages or spa treatments in order to afford a vet bill, and nearly 79% would cancel a teeth whitening appointment so that Fido could have his annual teeth cleaning.

The only item that seems to compete with people’s love for their pooches is Internet access, with more than 70% of respondents indicating that they would not be able to abstain from their web addiction. One respondent would give up “pretty much anything. I need the gym and I need the Internet, everything else is fair game.”

Even the history of the Catahoula Leopard can be a bit spotty, as the dog’s roots are surrounded in myth and legend, according to Catahoula Rescue Inc., a national group dedicated to rescuing Catahoula Leopards. “The history of the dog is unbelievable,” Duplantis said. …

Yes, poodles. Those prissy, pampered, coiffured canines usually associated more with fur coats, diamonds and penthouses than blaze-orange hunting garb, shotguns and muddy fields. But don’t smirk. These dogs can hunt.

Scientists in Austria report in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that a dog may stop obeying a command if it sees that another dog is getting a better deal.

In this way dogs may be showing a sensitivity that is similar to, although perhaps more primitive than, that shown by chimpanzees and some monkeys. Until now those primates were the only nonhumans to show what is called “inequity aversion” in the absence of a reward.