During the press onslaught surrounding Fiona Apple's recent album, The Idler Wheel. . ., the most important character in the artist's personal sphere was her pit-bull mix, Janet, a 13-year-old stray rescue.

Meet Zeus, the world's tallest dog, as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. How tall is Zeus? Zeus measures "44 in (111.8 cm) from foot to withers" (the withers is "the ridge between the shoulder blades of a four-legged mammal").

Courtney Stodden's Italian greyhound, Dourtney Stodden, captured all our hearts when she received him as a present for her 18th birthday.

It's Labor Day. Here's a video of dogs playing basketball.

On Monday afternoon, the NYPD shot a dog that was trying to protect her unconscious owner, who, according to reports, had just suffered a seizure. As Gothamist reports:

Turns out these lap dogs aren't just for decoration: a three-year-old Chihuahua named Bell helped locate three missing girls who had gotten lost in the woods.

In bizarro Pennsylvania news, over 200 chihuahuas were seized from a home in Benton on Thursday. Obviously some horrifically strange person lived there, but this is sort of a sad case – as opposed to just being weird – because many of the dogs were sick or already dead. The surviving dogs will all be in animal shelters by Friday, where they'll be treated by veterinarians and, if deemed healthy/sane enough, put up for adoption. Mike Pechart, who oversees dog law enforcement at the Pennsylvania Agriculture Department, hit the nail on the head when he described the situation as, "an unfortunate situation of animal hoarding."

Welcome to Thatz Not Okay, a new regular column in which I school inquiring readers on what is and is not okay. Please send your questions to caity.weaver@gawker.com with the subject "Thatz Not Okay."

Something very important is happening in Maryland right now, where many puppies are currently in various stages of being sleep.

Two dogs got married today at an "extravaganza" to benefit the Humane Society of New York. Baby Hope Diamond, the bride, walked ( or "was led") down the aisle in "canine couture," where her groom, Chilly Pasternak, a poodle from Richmond, Virginia, was waiting.

Sadly, no amount of jail time will bring back Viper the police dog, who died when he bit into a package of cocaine. But it still feels like justice is being served — the North Carolina man responsible has been sentenced to 11 years in jail.

Shauna Bass is the entertainment director and former East Coast news editor at OK! Magazine. She frequently makes media appearances as an expert on reality TV. Last week, Simba, her pet Pomeranian, passed away. Sad. But Shauna's pain has been soothed by more than $5,000 in donations—most of it from people who have a professional obligation to get into OK! Magazine.

The always-infuriating New York Times Style section featured a story Thursday about insanely expensive dog houses. It was an article tailor-made made to generate the piquant brand of blind rage specific to every story featured by the always-infuriating New York Times Style section.

Mugly, maybe a contraction for more ugly, beat out 28 other contestants to become the World's Ugliest Dog. Like last year's winner, Mugly is a Chinese Crested and from the UK.

Remember how a few years ago, 50 Cent accused Oprah Winfrey of being a white woman, just like one in her audience, after she had taken various stances against the facet of hip-hop culture that once made him such a musical force? Me neither, but she sure did and she confronted him on it long and hard in an interview that ran alongside her Paris Jackson sit-down on last night's Oprah's Next Chapter.

The Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition (BARC) Shelter is a no-kill nonprofit animal shelter in Williamsburg. They're great! They do the dirty work of taking care of abandoned animals and, hopefully, getting someone to adopt them. That's not always easy.

Close call, everyone: a German artist has been denied the ability to perform his piece Death as Metamorphosis, in which he was going to strangle two puppies to death on stage. Despite the horrific, seemingly anti-puppy content, the artist claims he had the noblest of intentions.

Intergroom, the annual international grooming convention and competition, took place this past weekend at the Meadowlands Convention Center in Secaucus, NJ. It was colorful. Here's a play-by-play from photographer Dustin Fenstermacher.

According to a new study from the ASPCA, most people select which puppy to adopt based on physical appearance; for cats, the top criteria is "behavior with people." That's because cats are assholes.

Ann Romney is ready to set the record straight about the whole "dog strapped to the roof of the car" business. In an interview with Diane Sawyer, Ann recalled that Seamus the Irish Setter "loved" riding in a carrier on top of the family's Chevrolet. In fact, it would have been far crueler to leave him at a kennel.