It was a long, two-day journey for the black puppy who travelled on three planes via Kuwait and Amsterdam to Washington after being adopted by a US soldier serving in Iraq.

Specialist Gwen Beberg, who is due to return home to Minnesota next month, adopted Ratchet in May after she saved him from a burning pile of rubbish in Baghdad.

The plight of the puppy touched the hearts of animal lovers around the world after an online petition to allow the dog to relocate to America with Ms Beberg was signed by 50,000 people.

"Booger was my partner and my friend," Ms McKinney said, as she appeared with the five identical copies of her pet.

Scientists at Seoul National University created a number of embryos from preserved skin cells taken from Booger's ear tissue before he died.

The embryos were then implanted into two surrogate mother dogs and, three months later, the puppies were born.

Among the scientists involved in the project was Professor Lee Byeong-chun, who was part of the team that created the world's first cloned dog - Snuppy the Afghan hound - in 2005.

Dogs find human yawns contagious, suggesting they have a rudimentary capacity for empathy, British scientists said on Wednesday.

Although yawning is widespread in many animals, contagious yawning — a yawn triggered by seeing others yawning — has previously only been shown to occur in humans and chimpanzees.

It turns out, however, that man's best friend is highly sensitive to catching human yawns, with 72 percent of 29 dogs tested yawning after observing a person doing so.

"Dogs have a very special capacity to read human communication. They respond when we point and when we signal," Dr Senju told BBC News.

The researchers explained that along with floppy ears and big soppy-eyes, humans have selected dogs to be obedient and docile. The results from this study suggest the capacity for empathy towards humans is another trait selected in dogs during domestication.

Dr Senju thinks that these traits would have been useful to humans when they began to live side-by-side with canines approximately 15,000 years ago.

Her instructions, specified in a two-page "mission statement," are that the entire trust, valued at $5 billion to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs, according to two people who have seen the document and who described it on condition of anonymity.

It is by no means clear, however, that all the money will go to dogs. Another provision of the mission statement says Mrs. Helmsley's trustees may use their discretion in distributing the money, and some lawyers say the statement may not mean much anyway, given that its directions were not incorporated into Mrs. Helmsley's will or the trust documents.

Dog owners believe that, not only has their family's level of exercise increased since getting a dog, but their family bond has also been strengthened as they now spend more time playing together or walking the dog.

Forty per cent of dog-owning parents comment that despite the increasing popularity of computers and video games, playing with the family pooch still tops the list of their children's favourite pastimes. Dogz and Puppy Luv may be top selling computer games but it seems that children prefer the real thing!

Nicki Waterman, dog owner and one of the UK's foremost fitness experts comments, "This research by Mars Petcare highlights the positive impact a pet dog can bring to a child's life. Walking and playing with the dog are both brilliant forms of exercise and also a great way to coax children outside and away from the TV."

According to the research conducted by Mars Petcare, makers of Pedigree and Cesar, families with dogs spend more time out and about exploring. One in three dog owners say that they and their family visit their local park more frequently since the arrival of their canine companion and 22 per cent now choose to walk the dog, rather than use their car, as they run errands.

'Petsercise', supported by Mars Petcare provides further ideas about how families can exercise and have fun with their dogs. An information booklet includes a guide to the level of fitness needed and also includes some practical advice and top veterinary tips on medical considerations.

1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Dachshund
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10. Bulldog

It's not unusual for dogs - and sometimes cats - to go into a funk when the kids go back to school in the fall or off to college for the first time. They may even mope around when your work schedule changes.

"Part of that emotional attachment is a behavioral expectation that the two are going to do something predictable," says John C. Wright, an animal behaviorist and professor of psychology at Mercer University in Macon, Ga. "It's important to the cat on a daily basis. So you have a disruption in daily routine when someone leaves for school, a disruption in the emotional security the cat has, and that can result in both emotional and behavioral depression."

With emotional depression, the cat appears to be distraught and may vocalize more than usual, Wright says. Signs of behavioral depression range from lethargy - the cat tends to sleep longer, especially during those times when it's used to interacting with the person who's gone - to hyperactivity.

"For many people, when a kid goes off to college, the whole household is kind of depressed," Nitschke says. "It's a change in status in people's lives, and everybody reacts to that at some level."

Getting out and walking your lonesome dog is good therapy for both of you. If you face the prospect of a child going off to college or camp or basic training, start preparing your dog sooner rather than later, especially if your child and dog share a particularly close bond.

"If the kid going off to school was the major source of the dog's playtime, then when you take that out of the environment, there's going to be what seems like a deficit to the dog," Nitschke says. "I would increase the physically active interactions with the dog. It's not a bad idea to get the dog used to being walked or played with by other members of the household before the child goes off to college or back to school."

Animals and children are notoriously difficult to photograph, but the results are often worth the effort. This was certainly the case for the 2007 winners of the American Humane Association's annual Pets & Pals Photo Contest, who were announced today. Roberta Lites of Chandler, Ariz., and Oda Esterling of Norwalk, Conn., took top honors. Each will each receive $2,000 plus a non-cash prize from American Humane.

Lites' photo, "Alyana Kissing Snowbelle in The Sunflowers," captures a tender moment between a young girl and a golden retriever. American Humane's judges were also moved by Esterling's photo, "Lacey," which shows a kitten lounging comfortably on her caretaker's stomach.

American Humane received thousands of fantastic photos from photographers all over the nation. In addition to selecting grand prize recipients, the organization awarded winners in each of four categories: Shelter Life, Down on the Farm, Best Pals, and Families and Pets. Category winners will each receive $500 and a non-cash prize.

Microchips are responsible for thousands of happy reunions between owners and pets every year. With the large amount of lost pets taken to shelters, microchips could also keep your pet from being euthanized or sold to a new owner.

"Microchips are only about the size of a grain of rice," said Patty Hug, a veterinary technician at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A & M University. "They are made to last the entire life of the pet, so once it's inserted, no upkeep or replacements are necessary."

Microchips are injected through a fairly large needle. Cats tend to cope with the injection easily, but dogs often need sedation during the procedure, says Hug. She says the best time to install the microchip is while the pet is being spayed or neutered. The pet is already under anesthesia, so it won't feel any pain.