Meatball arrived here Friday.

Unless greetings at the Avalon Estates home of Dominic and Bernice Marino count for anything.

By Saturday morning Meatball a 3-year-old, rescued, pure-bred, 52-pound English bulldog was basking in the sunshine with his traveling companion Alice Bean and owner/activist Molly Marino.

The trip from the Windy City was grueling, but not near the pace that Meatball has been living since being named winner of Fans Best Friend.

Meatball, who owes his life to Marino, a 1991 Howland High School graduate and marketing director at a Chicago investment research company, was chosen as the official mascot for Comcast SportsNets advertising campaign that hypes live games broadcast for the Chicago sports teams the White Sox, Bulls, Cubs, Bears and Blackhawks.

What a dog of a date

A few weeks ago, my dog, a rather anxious and delicate sort, was instantly drawn to a deeply unsavoury-looking shepherd cross with an open wound, tied up outside a dive bar. Toothless men and skinheads mingled on the sidewalk. Charmed as I was by her infatuation, I pulled her away. It wasn't my kind of place.

Dogs are the masters of the thin slice. Dog trainer Dale Stavroff of Roberts Creek, B.C., author of Let the Dog Decide, speaks of "mini-gestures" that pass between dogs so fast, an unpracticed human can only detect them with the aid of slow motion film. By the time the dogs are at what we consider to be an appropriate greeting distance, they've determined everything they need to know.

Dangerous dog crackdown

“I think we have the strongest dangerous dog bylaw in the city," councillor Abe Gonshor said last month.$"/>$"/>The bylaw was sparked by recent incidents where a dog named Rosco bit two residents, one this past winter and another last summer. $"/>$"/>A dangerous dog is defined in the bylaw as one that “shows a propensity to attack or injure without provocation," actually attacks a person or animal, has been trained by its owner to attack on command and is a pure or mixed pit bull, Staffordshire bull-terrier, American bull-terrier and American Staffordshire terrier.$"/>$"/>The bylaw requires owners to make sure dogs do not attack people or other animals, are kept inside or in an enclosed outside area and, when off the property, are muzzled.$"/>$"/>Owners who violate the rules must remove the dog from the town and provide proof of this within 10 days of receiving a notice.$"/>$"/>“If the owner fails to comply after receiving the notice [demanding the dog's removal from the town], the public security director may cause the dog to be captured and turned over to the SPCA or euthanized," the bylaw says.

Crooks use the Web and puppies in scam

PHOENIX (AP) - Ads appearing in Arizona online and print classifieds offer English Bulldog and Yorkshire Terrier puppies and all you do is pay for shipping.The hitch is when contacted by e-mail, the giver says they're on a religious mission in Africa and they need a few hundred dollars to ship the dog.

Best in show: Man’s best friend on display at fairgrounds

Staff photo by Robb Pittard Sue Cannimore from Madison, Miss., an American Kennel Club registered handler, grooms one of two Lhasa Apso purebreds seconds before being called to participate in the Kennel Club of Texarkana Dog Show Saturday afternoon. The event was held at the Four States Fairgrounds Entertainment Complex and will continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. .