We find ourselves in a dark cave. In the blackness, we can't tell how big or small the space is. There is a burst of light as Migaloo -- a Labrador mix -- ignites a torch and creeps forward, her eyes intent on the prize before her, her wet nose wiggling as she takes in the scents of the cave: rats, mold, water in the distance, and snakes -- yuck! She hates snakes. With her keen sense of smell, Migaloo needs no light to know that in front of her on a raised dais is a small golden statue, a key to an archeological mystery hundreds of years old. She approaches the dais but senses something amiss -- a booby trap!

She readies a bag of sand to swap with the statue to prevent the activation of the trap. Breathing deeply and panting heavily (because she's a dog, and she can't sweat), she hesitates before snatching the statue and replacing it with the bag. But she's no cat! There is a rumbling from deep within the cave, as if a giant's belly has come to life with a terrible hunger. Out of the darkness emerges a boulder, propelled by gravity, reeling toward Migaloo, destined to crush the canine under its weight ...

Okay, so Migaloo's work isn't that cinematic, but she is the world's first bioarcheology detection dog. Her human, Gary Jackson, is an adept dog trainer who has taught canines from basic obedience to highly specialized detection services. After six months of training, Gary has trained Migaloo how to sniff out and indicate human remains more than a century old. It's different from cadaver dog work, in that Migaloo is trained to sniff for human bones and not decomposing flesh.

Using 250-year-old loaned Aboriginal bones (treated with the utmost care and reverence, of course), Migaloo successfully identified the human remains even when surrounded by animal bones. But her big break came when she found four burial spots more than 600 years old in Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. The site had never been excavated and had only been hinted at by bone fragments found by a digger.

Watch Migaloo in action below (skip ahead to 03:25).

There have been no tools available to detect archeological human remains -- until now. Though Migaloo's work is still in its infancy, it might turn out to be groundbreaking.

Story and photos via The History Blog 

The world now has a new top dog: the correctly named Zeus. This towering canine checks in at an impressive 3 feet, 8 inches, making the altitudinous beast -- a Great Dane, maybe the Greatest Dane? -- the tallest dog in the world, according to Guinness World Records 2013, which launched Sept. 13. 

How much taller is Zeus than the foe he vanquished? One inch! But what an inch. The previous dog, Giant George, must now return to the world of mere mortals as simply one hell of a giant dog. 

The previous champ Giant George, looking a little miffed about the whole thing. Watch your back, Zeus.

As for Zeus, he is expected to be an exemplary champion.

"He loves to sit on laps," says his owner, Kevin Doorlag. "But if he stays on my lap for a while, he tends to get on the heavy side."

He says Zeus "loves human contact. He's a leaner."

Denise and Kevin Doorlag bought the dog when he was just a puppy, and they watched him grow like a beanstalk. By and by they noticed the dog develop a surprising, delightful trait: big ol' softiness.  

"He kind of acts like a small dog," Kevin Doorlag told People.com. "He towers over [most dogs], but it's kind of funny. Even the smaller dogs will start sniffing, and if they bark, he'll run behind you. He's scared. He doesn't really realize how big he is."

Zeus, you're 44 inches tall, from the ground to the top of your withers, or shoulders. When you add in your neck and your head, you're nibbling on apples from a tree.

For comparison's sake, this is a picture of a horse. Wait, sorry, that's Zeus. Photo: Keven Scott Ramos/Guinness World Records

"It's kind of comical," says Doorlag. "Everybody we see is like, 'Is that a horse? Is he part horse, part giraffe?'"

Zeus' gentle nature led the Doorlags to get the dog involved in therapy work, volunteering at the local hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich. Doing the rounds from such great heights puts Zeus at an advantage, as his giant head can zoom right in on the patients, lap-level. 

"When we're doing pet therapy, he'll go up to the beds," Doorlag told People.com. "It's nice with his size -- patients don't have to bend over. He's actually at face level."

Guinness World Records 2013 hit the Web and bookstores on Sept. 13. Be sure to give Zeus a glance before you go looking for fingernail-man.

Via People.com 

A German Shepherd from the Cordoba province of Argentina is setting a new bar for eternal loyalty -- he's kept vigil at his owner's grave every day, lying down in front of the tombstone at night. The dog, named Capitan, keeps a steady watch, never veering far from his duty as man's best friend. 

He's done it for six years.  

“During the day he sometimes has a walk around the cemetery, but always rushes back to the grave,” said Hector Baccega, the cemetery’s director, according to CBS Seattle. “And every day, at [6 p.m.] sharp, he lies down on top of the grave and stays there all night.”

But there's more to this story about a dog who doesn't understand the point, or the need, of saying goodbye. To be sure, Capitan displays an impressive ability by standing guard over his owner. But he displayed an otherworldly one in simply finding the grave in the first place, because nobody took him there. 

Reportedly, his owner, Miguel Guzmán, passed away in a hospital and was taken to a funeral home and then to the cemetery. None of the family members recalls the dog being present at any of those sad places. In fact, nobody even noticed that the dog had disappeared from the home after Guzmán's funeral. 

“The following Sunday we went to the cemetery,” said Guzman’s wife, Veronica, according to CBS Seattle. “Capitan came up to us, barking and wailing, as if he were crying.” 

“We had never taken him to the cemetery, so it is a mystery how he managed to find the place,” she said. 

The dog followed the family home that day but quickly returned to stand watch. Baccega, the cemetery’s director, said the dog had arrived alone one day and wandered around the grounds for a while before finding the grave by himself. 

And there he sat with his master. 

“I’ve tried to bring Capitan home several times, but he always comes straight back to the cemetery,” said Damian, Guzman’s 13-year-old son. “I think he’s going to be there until he dies, too. He’s looking after my dad.”

Via CBS Seattle

Free of society's inhibitions, dogs operate with primal indulgence -- if something in the garbage smells tasty, they will help themselves to it. Which is why we love them, even as we mop up our kitchen floors after them. Their lack of self-consciousness makes it easier for us to be ourselves around them, knowing that our canine friends will embrace us no matter what.

Award-winning photographer Serenah has always loved dogs, but it wasn't until four years ago that she turned her lens on our furry friends -- and on her own dogs in particular: Rocco, Ralph, and Simon. Inspired by their cleverness and the way her pups make her laugh all the time, Serenah's pet photography captures the sometimes unintentional humor of dogs in a loving, gentle way. Her images are guaranteed to crack a smile across your face and kindle a flame of contentment in your soul.

Following in the pawsteps of famous dog photographer William Wegman, Serernah first started photographing her pups Rocco and Ralph, who, according to her, "are always up for some fun if cheese is involved." Her Bulldog, Simon, has is own "look and personality to work with," and now Serenah pushes her artistic skills by challenging herself with creative ideas.

 The result is a portfolio conveying the essence of dogs that is both wild and wildly funny. It almost makes us wonder whether the dogs are actually doing it on purpose just because they love to see us smile.

Make sure to like Serenah's Facebook page for updates and more adorable photos.

Photos used with permission

We find ourselves in a dark cave. In the blackness, we can't tell how big or small the space is. There is a burst of light as Migaloo -- a Labrador mix -- ignites a torch and creeps forward, her eyes intent on the prize before her, her wet nose wiggling as she takes in the scents of the cave: rats, mold, water in the distance, and snakes -- yuck! She hates snakes. With her keen sense of smell, Migaloo needs no light to know that in front of her on a raised dais is a small golden statue, a key to an archeological mystery hundreds of years old. She approaches the dais but senses something amiss -- a booby trap!

She readies a bag of sand to swap with the statue to prevent the activation of the trap. Breathing deeply and panting heavily (because she's a dog, and she can't sweat), she hesitates before snatching the statue and replacing it with the bag. But she's no cat! There is a rumbling from deep within the cave, as if a giant's belly has come to life with a terrible hunger. Out of the darkness emerges a boulder, propelled by gravity, reeling toward Migaloo, destined to crush the canine under its weight ...

Okay, so Migaloo's work isn't that cinematic, but she is the world's first bioarcheology detection dog. Her human, Gary Jackson, is an adept dog trainer who has taught canines from basic obedience to highly specialized detection services. After six months of training, Gary has trained Migaloo how to sniff out and indicate human remains more than a century old. It's different from cadaver dog work, in that Migaloo is trained to sniff for human bones and not decomposing flesh.

Using 250-year-old loaned Aboriginal bones (treated with the utmost care and reverence, of course), Migaloo successfully identified the human remains even when surrounded by animal bones. But her big break came when she found four burial spots more than 600 years old in Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. The site had never been excavated and had only been hinted at by bone fragments found by a digger.

Watch Migaloo in action below (skip ahead to 03:25).

There have been no tools available to detect archeological human remains -- until now. Though Migaloo's work is still in its infancy, it might turn out to be groundbreaking.

Story and photos via The History Blog 

The world now has a new top dog: the correctly named Zeus. This towering canine checks in at an impressive 3 feet, 8 inches, making the altitudinous beast -- a Great Dane, maybe the Greatest Dane? -- the tallest dog in the world, according to Guinness World Records 2013, which launched Sept. 13. 

How much taller is Zeus than the foe he vanquished? One inch! But what an inch. The previous dog, Giant George, must now return to the world of mere mortals as simply one hell of a giant dog. 

The previous champ Giant George, looking a little miffed about the whole thing. Watch your back, Zeus.

As for Zeus, he is expected to be an exemplary champion.

"He loves to sit on laps," says his owner, Kevin Doorlag. "But if he stays on my lap for a while, he tends to get on the heavy side."

He says Zeus "loves human contact. He's a leaner."

Denise and Kevin Doorlag bought the dog when he was just a puppy, and they watched him grow like a beanstalk. By and by they noticed the dog develop a surprising, delightful trait: big ol' softiness.  

"He kind of acts like a small dog," Kevin Doorlag told People.com. "He towers over [most dogs], but it's kind of funny. Even the smaller dogs will start sniffing, and if they bark, he'll run behind you. He's scared. He doesn't really realize how big he is."

Zeus, you're 44 inches tall, from the ground to the top of your withers, or shoulders. When you add in your neck and your head, you're nibbling on apples from a tree.

For comparison's sake, this is a picture of a horse. Wait, sorry, that's Zeus. Photo: Keven Scott Ramos/Guinness World Records

"It's kind of comical," says Doorlag. "Everybody we see is like, 'Is that a horse? Is he part horse, part giraffe?'"

Zeus' gentle nature led the Doorlags to get the dog involved in therapy work, volunteering at the local hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich. Doing the rounds from such great heights puts Zeus at an advantage, as his giant head can zoom right in on the patients, lap-level. 

"When we're doing pet therapy, he'll go up to the beds," Doorlag told People.com. "It's nice with his size -- patients don't have to bend over. He's actually at face level."

Guinness World Records 2013 hit the Web and bookstores on Sept. 13. Be sure to give Zeus a glance before you go looking for fingernail-man.

Via People.com 

A German Shepherd from the Cordoba province of Argentina is setting a new bar for eternal loyalty -- he's kept vigil at his owner's grave every day, lying down in front of the tombstone at night. The dog, named Capitan, keeps a steady watch, never veering far from his duty as man's best friend. 

He's done it for six years.  

“During the day he sometimes has a walk around the cemetery, but always rushes back to the grave,” said Hector Baccega, the cemetery’s director, according to CBS Seattle. “And every day, at [6 p.m.] sharp, he lies down on top of the grave and stays there all night.”

But there's more to this story about a dog who doesn't understand the point, or the need, of saying goodbye. To be sure, Capitan displays an impressive ability by standing guard over his owner. But he displayed an otherworldly one in simply finding the grave in the first place, because nobody took him there. 

Reportedly, his owner, Miguel Guzmán, passed away in a hospital and was taken to a funeral home and then to the cemetery. None of the family members recalls the dog being present at any of those sad places. In fact, nobody even noticed that the dog had disappeared from the home after Guzmán's funeral. 

“The following Sunday we went to the cemetery,” said Guzman’s wife, Veronica, according to CBS Seattle. “Capitan came up to us, barking and wailing, as if he were crying.” 

“We had never taken him to the cemetery, so it is a mystery how he managed to find the place,” she said. 

The dog followed the family home that day but quickly returned to stand watch. Baccega, the cemetery’s director, said the dog had arrived alone one day and wandered around the grounds for a while before finding the grave by himself. 

And there he sat with his master. 

“I’ve tried to bring Capitan home several times, but he always comes straight back to the cemetery,” said Damian, Guzman’s 13-year-old son. “I think he’s going to be there until he dies, too. He’s looking after my dad.”

Via CBS Seattle

Free of society's inhibitions, dogs operate with primal indulgence -- if something in the garbage smells tasty, they will help themselves to it. Which is why we love them, even as we mop up our kitchen floors after them. Their lack of self-consciousness makes it easier for us to be ourselves around them, knowing that our canine friends will embrace us no matter what.

Award-winning photographer Serenah has always loved dogs, but it wasn't until four years ago that she turned her lens on our furry friends -- and on her own dogs in particular: Rocco, Ralph, and Simon. Inspired by their cleverness and the way her pups make her laugh all the time, Serenah's pet photography captures the sometimes unintentional humor of dogs in a loving, gentle way. Her images are guaranteed to crack a smile across your face and kindle a flame of contentment in your soul.

Following in the pawsteps of famous dog photographer William Wegman, Serernah first started photographing her pups Rocco and Ralph, who, according to her, "are always up for some fun if cheese is involved." Her Bulldog, Simon, has is own "look and personality to work with," and now Serenah pushes her artistic skills by challenging herself with creative ideas.

 The result is a portfolio conveying the essence of dogs that is both wild and wildly funny. It almost makes us wonder whether the dogs are actually doing it on purpose just because they love to see us smile.

Make sure to like Serenah's Facebook page for updates and more adorable photos.

Photos used with permission