A Reno, Nevada  couple who was selling English Bulldog puppies out of their home were the victims of a home invasion on Wednesday.

Ross Harwood said he had been asleep on his couch around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when he heard someone breaking down his front door in the 10000 block of Robilee Drive, in South Reno. He awoke to see two men reaching into a nearby dog pen, snatching two of three puppies.

The thieves had used either a sledgehammer or device that unhinged the door. Harwood ran after them, and Wendy, the mother of the pups, followed. The suspects’ dark red small sports utility vehicle struck Harwood during their flee, knocking him down. Then they ran over Wendy, who had been at the rear of the vehicle. She soon died.

The couple had been advertising the puppies for sale in the Reno-Gazette Journal for the last few weeks. On Tuesday a couple had stopped by to look at the $1,800 puppies, but did not buy one.  Arlene and Ross Harwood suspect this is the couple who broke into their house.

What a sad story, these thieves need to be caught.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact detectives at (775)334-2115. Secret Witness is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspects. They can be reached at (775)322-4900.

One of our Dogster members just brought this, make you  want to say “awww,” story to my attention.  It appears that an English Bulldog, Napoleon,  risked life and paw to save a bag of drowning kittens.

Because of the breeds history of poor swimming ability, this morning’s news came as a bit of a shock to me! Napoleon, an obedient and well behaved two year old white English Bulldog in Michigan abruptly left his master’s side yesterday and raced out across a road and into a nearby lake.

Napoleon’s owner saw him coming back from the lake and pulling, what appeared to be, a burlack sack that he had retrieved.

It was then that Napoleon’s owner heard the meowing and realized that there were abandoned kittens inside the bag! Six kittens in total, although two of them didn’t survive and the remaining four were in bad shape. Napoleon’s mom cared for the survivor’s for the next two weeks until they could be taken in to the city pet adoption center and found new homes.

Don’t think that Napolean wasn’t rewarded for this heroic act of bravery.  At the adoption center, where the kittens were brought, crowds gathered to praise the brave bulldog and cuddle the rescued kittens.  While I’m sure Napoleon appreciated all the praise he was no doubt thinking “I hope there’s a huge steak waiting for me at home”.

A special thanks to Roxanne and her pal Maddy for bringing this story to my attention.

Last week’s drool-a-riffic shot of a bulldog inspired a lot of comments but, in the end, simplicity won out yet again and Ellie & Helga out-dogged the competition with their witty suggestion. The 25 zealies are yours, girls.

Be ready for the next contest starting tomorrow.

I love taking pet action shots and there’s nothing quite as active as dogs shaking themselves dry. Bulldogs and Basset Hounds are particularly fun to watch because they carry a lot of extras that tend to flap around a bit. And then with bulldogs there’s the whole drool thing going on, too.

Just make a comment on this post and replace “What was I thinking?” with your own suggestion. The winner–to be announced next Monday, July 15–will score 25 Zealies that they can spend in the Gift Shop!