Miss Ellie, a blind 15-year-old Chinese Crested Hairless, won the pedigree class at this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, CA. She certainly deserved that recognition, but she proves love is blind, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and any other adage that’s appropriate here. Would you adopt an ugly pet? [6/26/09]

Dogs are always in style, so I wasn’t surprised to see a hip pooch chilling at a party I attended last weekend. I was a bit surprised that the dog donned a cape, but I was even more surprised when the owner told me the cape was less about fashion and more for psychological reasons. In the age of Burberry dog coats and Louis Vuitton dog collars, a pooch in fancy threads barely merits recognition. A dog in a cape to ease his canine anxiety? Now that’s a trendsetter.

Turns out there is a whole new booming industry of doggie clothing and accessories to help ease your pup’s state of mind without therapy. Here’s what we found…

Enjoy the weekend everyone! For more dogs on water slides, check out Urlesque.

You might not remember Trakr the dog, but even after his death, he’s still making headlines. Trakr was the hero dog that located the last survivor amid the smoking rubble at Ground Zero. Five puppies were cloned from Trakr’s DNA after his search and rescue handler, James Symington, won the opportunity in an essay contest. Symington says the puppies look identical to Trakr, even down to the minute details. He plans to train the puppies to be rescue dogs if they have the same abilities as Trakr. “Few dogs are born with exceptional abilities – Trakr was one of those dogs,” he said in a statement released by BioArts International, the California company that arranged the cloning procedure. [People]

I’ve never been a fan of cloning, but I guess if it’s for a good cause like this—[Or cloning my dog Lucca.—Editor]—then it’s OK. I just wonder if the puppies will have any health complications or will even survive their first year, though.

We’ve all read about that so-called dastardly “hugging epidemic” that is sweeping the nation’s youth like The Jitterbug (or oral sex parties) and spurring quick-thinking middle and high schools to ban hugs.

But though we chuckle at the idea that in 2009, school administrators are whipping out the “Keep six inches between you for the Holy Spirit!” line of rhetoric, the Affection Police are actually pretty effed-up. Contrary to what Principal Skinner might have you believe, humans aren’t affectionate just because we like copping a feel—we may have a biological imperative to bond.

Most of the time, fashion magazines show clothing and accessories on models. Sometimes, things get more exciting and they take the photos in an exotic place. And every once in a while the editors get really creative and come up with a clever way to picture this season’s styles. This photo (there’ more after the jump) are from French Marie Claire. I can’t decide what I want more—the shoes or the dogs. [via Juliette Merck]

Ruppy, short for Ruby Puppy, is the world’s first transgenic dog. She produces a florescent protein that glows red under ultraviolet light. [Seoul, April 2009]

At yesterday’s Beautiful Bulldog Contest at Drake University, Porterhouse (left) took home the top prize for his gorgeous loose folds of skin. Maxxis was runner-up. [4/20/09, Des Moines, IA]

Elisa Baxt recalls one of her first dog dates with her boyfriend; it was on a beautiful spring day, and she and Scott were having lunch at an outdoor cafe, eating salads, and sipping lemonade. Next to them was Elisa’s three-and-a-half-year-old chow-lab mix Cody, chewing on a special order carrot (raw and unpeeled).

“It was a great day,” Elisa said, “and Cody was a great icebreaker. Of course, now, she’s like our child. And we take her everywhere.”

Have you heard the news? The Obamas got a dog, and they’re naming him Bo! There were some conflicting reports about Bo over the weekend (is he, in fact, from a shelter?), so we thought thought we’d straighten out things regarding the new First Dog.

Pet custody battles are becoming more and more common. When married pet owners divorce, the animal they shared often finds itself at the center of their split. Monthly support payments, visitation rights, restraining orders, custody battles, and legal fees: Sounds like the usual bitter divorce battle, right? Not so fast. This time Kramer v. Kramer also stars Missy the Chihuahua, Sable the Keeshond, and Barney, a golden retriever-Lab mix. Welcome to the brave new world of animal custody law.

Roberto Cavalli, the over-the-top designer with a knack for swathing men and women in copious amounts of leopard print, beading, and leather, is coming after your dog. He’s launching a line of petwear that promises to make your pooch the envy of the Miami club scene. Seriously, I know people dressing their dogs up is kind of common now, and I will admit that Lucca has a jacket that she wears when it’s freezing and/or raining, but leopard pajamas and leather vests are a bit much. What’s next? Donatella Versace designing doggy evening wear? [NYMag.com]

My dog Lucca, a female mutt that has been fixed, has a thing for humping stuffed animals and balled up socks. It doesn’t make much sense, since she shouldn’t have any sexual urges, but I think she does it to assert authority (over an inanimate object). Which is why I thought this Designer Sex Doll for dogs would be the perfect gift for her third birthday! After all, it looks vaguely like modern art and it will be easy for her to grasp with her front paws! But then again, there is a, um, pink hole at the rear end, and something tells me it’s not dishwasher safe. [NeatORama]

Judging by box office returns, hundreds of thousands of people went to see “Marley & Me,” the movie about that goofy yellow Lab. My ex-boyfriend was most certainly not one of them.

I met “Greg” online. Actually, a friend of mine hand-selected him for me, apparently because when left to my own devices I choose poorly. In any event, Greg and I met for dinner, and I thought I’d struck gold. He was quick-witted, employed, and even mocked his own bald spot. So, at the end of dessert, when he went on a rant about how dogs smell and are “pathetic substitutes for children,” I refrained from punching him in the face and instead agreed to a second date. Besides, I thought, he might say he’s not a dog person, but once he meets my amazing dog Perry, all bets would be off. I mean, have you seen Perry?

Amelia was so distracted by her dog Lucca’s cute butt that Gul___’s name got truncated. Give your best guess in the comments.

Have you seen graffiti that’s kind of sweet (even if it is against the law)? Send us a pic at tips@thefrisky.com.

Anne Hathaway and her boyfriend of four years, Rafaello Follieri, split last week, and now he’s stuck behind bars until he raises $21 million in bail. This sucks, but what’s even worse is that he and Anne have a dog together, a chocolate lab named Esmeralda. Maybe this is a ploy to get Rafaello and his family some sympathy, but the New York Post reported that while Anne has been traveling around the world to promote Get Smart, the dog has been staying in Rafaello’s Trump Tower penthouse, and his mom, who came to New York from Italy for cancer treatment, is taking care of Esmeralda. A friend of Rafaello’s told the paper that Anne should come get her dog: “He can’t afford a dog walker and his mom has cancer.” Anne, please let me know if you want me to dog sit until you’re back in town. [NY Post]