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A US Percy class nuclear submarine during an emergency surfacing drill. The distinctive bulge of the boat's Global Location And Navigation System is clearly visible at the bow.

Friday Dog-Blogging

Lesser Known Dog Breeds

Serengeti Giraffe Hound

Like its distant cousins, the greyhound, the pharaoh hound and the ibizan hound, the Serengeti Giraffe Hound is a gaze hound, bred for the sport coursing small game. The breed was established by the Rev James Huffington, an Anglican missionary to Africa in the mid nineteenth century and keen follower of the sport of coursing (he was, in his university days, a devoted beagler).

The Giraffe Hound's intended prey were marmosets, lemurs, and other arboreal creatures in cautious enough to descend to ground level. According to Huffington (whose testimony is generally considered unreliable) his dogs eventually excelled in the sport of hunting down and retrieving such game. To what end is not clear. Others are more skeptical of the breed's suitability for any purpose.

The Giraffe Hound is strictly an outdoor dog, and therefore unsuitable for anyone living in a flat or small unit. Despite the breed's appalling reputation for health problems - chiefly hip dysplasia and hypertension - it nonetheless enjoys some favour with those who hate cats and possums.

The Micro-Miniature Poodle (Nanoodle)

This controversial, recently recognised, breed has replaced the chihuahua as the smallest of the dog breeds. At less than 1mm in length from head to anus the Micro-Miniature Poodle (or Nanoodle) is barely visible to the naked eye.

The illustration is a scanning electron micrograph of a nanoodle sitting on a wooden porch.