The Labrador puppy had a shiny black coat and was given to the Duchess by her new husband, Prince William. Kate is an animal lover and it appears she was thrilled with the new addition to her royal family. While the couple have not yet planned children, this gorgeous Labrador will be their new companion for quite some time to come.

Kate and William spend plenty of their time in Anglesey, Wales, and this is the spot where the couple have recently been spotted taking their Labrador puppy for long runs across the beautiful Welsh beaches. A source speaking on Monday 16th January 2011, said:

‘‘They are constantly in fits of laughter as the Labrador tries to catch them up.”

It is clear that this beautiful puppy was given to the Duchess of Cambridge as a reminder of her milestone birthday. With a beautiful home in Anglesey and plenty of grounds to take advantage of, the couple will undoubtedly be taking their pet Labrador for long walks on a regular basis. Due to Prince William owning a black Labrador named Widgeon when he was younger, it is probably this love for Labradors that has pushed the couple to owning another.

It was discovered through the research that dogs which came from ancient south-east Asia had a substantial influence on dog breeds in Europe, as well as in the United States.

Initiated by a team of researchers at the University of California (UC), Davis, a study looked into the theory that most of the canine breeds in the western world originally derived from dogs which hailed from the Middle East and also from early western civilisations.

It was found that this idea is unlikely to be correct, due to it appearing that pet dogs in Europe and in the US actually originate from breeds that were originally imported over from Asia after the silk trade.

Ben Stacks, who is the Director of the Canid Diversity and Conservation Group in the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, stated that previous theories regarding the origins of dogs “must be reconsidered”.

Additional research into dog breeds and popularity was carried out by the American Kennel Club, as they looked in to what was the most popular breed of dog in 2010. The results were that the Labrador Retriever was in first place, closely followed by the German Shepherd and then the Yorkshire Terrier.

It was also found that the Golden Retriever and the Beagle were the next most popular dog breeds in the study carried out by the club.

The YouTube clip of a dog owner frantically chasing after his dog Fenton across Richmond Park has been remixed by The Hoxtons, a progressive house duo, and may be heading to the much-desired number one spot this Christmas.

The single, “Benton! Jesus Christ!” which features Fenton Against The Machine, is released in the same week as Little Mix’ X-Factor single.

In another attempt to stop X-Factor getting to number one, a campaign on Facebook has been set up to try “to annoy Simon Cowell and try to save the UK from an X Factor Christmas number 1”.

The Facebook page also states:

“If there’s one man who can take on Simon Cowell and win, it’s a dog, and that dog is called BENTON (or possibly Fenton).”

Pitch & Sync has produced the song and it will be out in the shops on Monday December 18 and can be bought from iTunes and Amazon, and viewed on YouTube (naturally).

The Hoxtons say that all proceeds from the single’s sales will be going to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Fenton, the black Labrador, became a huge online hit after being caught on film chasing a herd of deer across Richmond Park.

“Jesus Chris! Benton!” quickly became a massive catchphrase as the desperate owner was seen chasing his unruly pet across the park, shouting after him.

The humorous clip shot to fame on YouTube after it was viewed more than 2.7 million times and has already seen numerous spoof clips appear on the site.

Ali Goodyear, 37-years-old, had taken his animal loving 13-year old son to Richmond Park in London for a day out. They set about filming some deer in the park and ended up getting some fantastic footage of a different kind.

Their video pictures a man running after his dog, Fenton, who has managed to get away from his owner and is seen chasing a huge group of deer.

The owner is heard in the video screaming for his dog and trying to catch up with him after he makes a dash for the herd. The owner sounds to be shouting “Benton”, which is what many of the YouTube fans had first thought, but it has now been revealed that he is actually shouting “Fenton”.

Goodyear said:

“We were filming the deer and all of a sudden this man came from behind us and was agitated to say the least because he had lost control of his dog.

“The dog chased after the deer and I think the owner feared he would never see his pet again.”

He then added:

“The deer scattered everywhere and went across the road. The dog then disappeared into the woods.”

Goodyear has said that since releasing the video he has been flooded with requests for him to make an appearance on a number of television shows, both in the UK as well as internationally.

Mr Goodyear said:

“I’ve been inundated with people from CBS, CNN, Good Morning America, German Newspapers — I don’t know what to do — I might get Max Cliffod on it!”

This YouTube video has turned out to be so popular that the name Benton had been appearing recently as one of the highest trending positions on Twitter.

The owner of Fenton has not yet been identified and this could be a result of the possible prosecution he could face.

The Royal Parks has released a statement saying that dogs must be kept on their leads at Richmond Park and be kept under control or their owners could “risk persecution”.

It has been estimated by the charity Friends of Richmond Park that an estimated six deer are killed in and around Richmond Park every year as a result of uncontrolled dogs.

Founded by three Detroit area Lions Club members in 1939, Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester is there to provide the blind with a trained guide dog. This scheme was so successful that around 270 people every year are placed with a completely trained up dog as their guide, and this is a free of charge service for them.

There are about one in three of the puppies that make it through the training regime and then become a fully-fledged working guide dog for the visually impaired. This means that there must be many puppies trained each year in order to supply the demand.

Leader Dogs provides those acting as puppy trainers with classes, an instructional DVD, a Puppy Raising Manual and any other assistance for all the volunteers who want to train their puppy efficiently for the scheme. Dedication to ensure consistent training and the daily care necessary for the puppies will also require a lot of positive reinforcement. Many of the dogs trained by the scheme are either Golden Retrievers or Labradors, with only around 15 per cent being German Shepherds.

When the dogs are around a year to a year and a half old, they will go back for four months to Leader Dogs, where they will receive formal in-harness experience to complete their course.
After this in-harness experience, the dogs that pass can then be paired up with a visually impaired recipient and then complete 26 more days of training together. If this is successful then they can become full time partners on a daily basis.

Dogs that can’t be taken on as trained guide dogs can either be entered in to other areas of work, such as becoming service dogs, or may possibly become pets. At this time, the puppy trainer volunteers have first refusal for taking the dog on as a pet.

Goldie came along with Glenn VadeBonCouer, her handler, and both are employees from Interquest Detection Canines, a company which provides local school districts with illegal substance-sniffing dogs. Interquest’s dogs can find illegal drugs, gunpowder, alcohol, prescription pills and fireworks in the schools by sniffing out the suspects. The dogs at the company are mainly Golden Retrievers and Labradors and they are selected for their friendliness that enables them to carry out their work in a school setting.

“Over the years, I’ve had a dog sniff out a half-can of beer in a student’s car,” said VadeBonCouer.

Whilst they are on a school campus, both Goldie and her handler will take their time to walk around the school, including the parking lots, along with one of the school administrators. They will pay particular attention to any student vehicles, locker rooms, hallways and lockers as they go.

“We’re not the silver-bullet solution,” said VadeBonCouer, “but we can drive (drugs and alcohol) out of the schools.”

As well as sniffing out illegal substances, VadeBonCouer and Goldie visit the classrooms and give presentations about the importance of saying no if offered any drugs and also the Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure rights.

VadeBonCouer and Goldie will carry out their searches at the MCHS campuses this coming spring semester thanks to John Bates, Grundy State’s Attorney, who funded this operation with the county drug forfeit funds.

Ghost hunters, brought in to shed some light on the photo, believe the apparition of the Dambusters’ mascot is standing guard over his master’s old working quarters.

They believe that the spirits of both the chocolate–coloured Labrador and Wing Commander Guy Gibson guard the remote airfield where they both spent so much time during the war. Investigators starting looking into the photograph after spotting, what appears to be, Gibson’s long since deceased dog, sitting at his master’s memorial.

The photo, from the 1980s, shows the chocolate Labrador sitting among a choir group at the memorial to pay tribute to the Dambusters. The spot the dog has chosen is said to be close to where he was buried.

The photographer claimed at the time that the dog appeared as if from nowhere just at the time the photo was taken and no matter how hard they tried, he wouldn’t be shooed away.

After the photo had been taken, the dog was said to disappear again, never to be seen again.

Gibson’s Labrador, loved by all squadron members, became the mascot for the team that launched the famous night-time raid on three heavily guarded dams in Germany, with the use of bouncing bombs.

The success of their mission was remembered in the 1954 film; The Dambusters, and is set to be re-told again soon by Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson.

The tragedy of the story is that Gibson’s Labrador was killed after being run over outside the base, with just a matter of hours before the raid was due to begin. A heartbroken Gibson decided to keep this a secret until after the raid as he feared it may be a bad omen for his team. The dog was buried quickly just outside the squadron hanger.

Three people and three other animals had already been pulled from the fire, thankfully unharmed, but Coda had not been quite so lucky and the Labrador retriever had received mouth-to-snout resuscitation in order to help him breathe again.

Kim Carlson, the owner of the house, spoke to ABC News, telling them she was concerned her dog was sadly dead when firefighters carried him, limp and lifeless, out from the upstairs bedroom he had been found in.

Jamie Giese, Coda’s hero firefighter, was quick to help the injured dog. Giese cupped his hands right around Coda’s muzzle and started to breathe in to his mouth to aid his breathing. Other fighfighter members helped Giese by dousing the dog with cool water to try and help Coda regain his strength.

“The only thing we could do was mouth to snout. I didn’t think twice about it,” Giese stated. He wasn’t too sure how much time he spent assisting before Coda started to breathe by himself again, but “it felt like forever.”

A few days after this terrifying incident, family members told ABC News that Coda was now thriving. Carlson spoke about her dog:

“He’s perfect, he’s absolutely wonderful, he’s got a little bit of cough, and we’re assuming it’s phlegm from the smoke, but he did real good.”

Officials believe the blaze was due to a damaged box fan. This was very unfortunate timing for the fan to malfunction, as Coda had only been brought home by the family two days previous.

On hearing about this incident, veterinarian, Brandy Kosterman stated:

“These people definitely went above and beyond. There’s no question that the firemen saved this dog.”

The savage incident lasted more than five minutes, as staff leaped to the defence of two-year-old Una and tried repeatedly to free her from the jaws of a bull terrier in the Duke Street outlet of Tesco.

Elaine MacKenzie, who owns Una, recounted the terrifying incident to The Scotsman:

“I popped in to do a bit of shopping and as I walked towards the exit I stopped to make sure I’d put everything in my bag and all of a sudden this dog, that was tied to the shopping baskets holder, just flew at us.

“Una made a noise that can only be described as a scream as this dog got hold of her, trailing shopping baskets behind it.

“I tried hitting it with the lead as customers and staff came over to help and, eventually, they did manage to get the dog off.”

A shocked Una was left with bite marks across her neck and chest. Even so, Ms MacKenzie, 58, thinks she is a lucky Labrador as the attack could have been much worse, and spelled the end of Una’s days as a guide dog – she is still traumatised, and refuses to enter the supermarket any more.

The attacks happened as statistics of attacks on guide dogs were published by Guide Dogs National Breeding Centre. The author of the report, Rachel Moxon, found that the majority of incidents happened without provocation, with the offending dogs not being on leads or otherwise under control by their owners. Presently, three guide dogs have had to retire from duty due to being attacked, whilst another pair are being evaluated for further duty. Ms Moxon commented:

“The other major impact is that blind and partially sighted people are left without a guide dog and become housebound until another suitable dog can be matched up.”

Michael Hingson was sat at his desk in his place of work on the morning of September 11th on the 78th floor of the north World Trade Centre tower when American Airlines flight 11 devastated the building 18 levels above him. Unlike many unfortunate victims, Mr Hingson lived to tell his tale thanks to Roselle, his guide dog.

Cool as a cucumber, the labrador led Mr Hingson, who is blind, down 1,463 steps to exit the building, before guiding him to safety in a nearby subway station whilst the south tower fell to the ground nearby.

Sadly, Roselle, who was 13, passed away in June, but she took the biggest share of over 400,000 voes cast on the website for the American Humane Association (AHA).

In support of her bravery, Mr Hingson wrote on the website:

“While everyone ran in panic, Roselle remained totally focused on her job.”

“While debris fell around us, and even hit us, Roselle stayed calm.”

Mr Hingson attended the award ceremony in Los Angeles along with the other seven finalists and a gaggle of celebrities, including Mark Hamill, Betty white and Whoopi Goldberg.

After the winner was announced, President of the AHA said:

“Every day, across America, dogs protect, comfort, and give their unconditional friendship and affection to the ill, the infirm, the wounded veteran, and the frightened child.”

“It was time to recognize the contributions of man’s best friends and celebrate the heroic feats they have performed for us every day.”