1. A widowed trapper returns home due to heavy snow and discovers that his large sled dog, who was entrusted with guarding the trapper's infant son, has fresh blood all over its mouth and the floor of the cabin is also drenched in blood. Believing that the dog killed his son, the trapper takes an ax to the dog, thereby killing it. He later hears his son crying and discovers a dead timber wolf clutching some of his dog's fur in his teeth. This tale originated in Wales during the Middle Ages.

2. An elderly woman accidentally kills her dog by attempting to dry it in a microwave oven.

3. A young woman, alone in her apartment, goes to bed with her dog on the floor beside her. Sometime during the night she wakes up to a strange sound. She is frightened but reaches down and, feeling her hand being licked by her dog, is comforted that the dog is still at her bedside. The next morning she discovers that her bloodied dog has been hung in the shower and a note that reads, "Humans can lick, too."

4. A man tries to impress his date by playing ball with her dog while she is getting ready for their first date. The dog, usually a Great Dane, goes out the open window of a high-rise in an attempt to retrieve the ball. It is possible that this legend began with a story Truman Capote told on a late· night talk show. In another version of the story, a man is killed when he is hit on the head by the falling dog.

5. A dog is killed after he bites into a tennis ball that has been laced with an explosive. This one might actually be true. On November 25, 2000, a Labrador Retriever in Portland, Oregon, was reportedly killed when he bit into an exploding tennis ball. Why the ball had explosives in it in the first place is unclear. Police explained that explosive tennis balls were not that uncommon in urban areas, Agassi beware!

6. A Las Vegas woman brings her choking Doberman to the vet, only to be told that the dog has human fingers stuck in his throat. Apparently a burglar broke into her home and was attacked by the dog. The intruder was discovered in a closet with three fingers missing. This story was sent to the Las Vegas Sun, but investigations by the paper revealed that there was no evidence that this ever really happened.

7. A group of inebriated ice fishermen pack up a jeep with their gear and a Labrador Retriever and head out to the lake to do some fishing. When they get to the lake they decide to create a hole in the ice by using dynamite. As soon as they toss the dynamite, the dog rushes out to retrieve it and is killed when the explosive goes off.

8. An evil Seeing Eye dog named Lucky causes the deaths of four of his blind owners by leading one into the path of a speeding bus, another into the path of an oncoming train, another down a flight of stairs, and the last out an open window. No one ever suspects the dog of murder, and so he is reassigned to new owners.

9. A nervous young student visiting the dean's office at her college doesn't notice a dog asleep on a chair in the office and accidentally sits on the dean's dog, killing it instantly.

10. A man notices his dog dragging a dead rabbit under his fence. Afraid that his next door neighbor's daughter might blame his dog for killing her pet, he cleans up the rabbit and places it back in the neighbor's cage. After a few hours he hears his neighbor scream, "What kind of sicko would dig up a little girl's rabbit and put it back in its cage?"

11. A couple touring the Far East with their dog stop for dinner in a Hong Kong restaurant, Being unfamiliar with the waiter's language, they use hand. motions to explain that they want to order food for themselves and that they want their dog to be fed as well. The waiter takes the dog back into the kitchen and returns a half-hour later-with the dog fully cooked and served on a platter.

12. An eagle captures and flies away with a prized Poodle. This legend relies on the mental image of a tiny little Poodle being whisked away by a predatory bird, In reality, eagles are not able to fly with more than three or four pounds in their clutches, making this story virtually impossible, We're guessing it was really a Chihuahua.