Recently Kobe’s Lakers played the Denver Nuggets, and he sat on the bench for the second half because of pain in his right shoulder.  To stay entertained, he made a deal with some kids behind him that if they could his dog’s name, he would give them the sneakers right off of his feet.

“They wanted to know what the name of my pet dog was so I gave them a clue,” Bryant told The Denver Post. “I said, ‘It’s in a [Harry] Potter film.’ So every time, they threw out like 15 names. The deal was if they got it, I’d give them my shoes. And they got it.”

Did you?  It’s Crucio, after the Cruciatus Curse.  (In case you’re not familiar, it’s one of the three Unforgivable Curses – this one is used to cause pain so people will give in to an evil witch or wizard’s will.)

But there doesn’t appear to be anything unforgivable about this cutie… unless he waits until he’s right next to you to shake off!

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Most elementary schools have programs to teach kids about fire prevention and safety.  But the kids in Indiana get to learn about these things in a much more fun way, thanks to retired firefighter Jeff Owens and his black Labs.

Owens began The Kasey Program in 1995, and has been training and teaching for the last 20 years.  It started with the original Kasey, who has since died.  There are currently three black Labs in the program – senior KD, 4-year-old Kohl, and 14-week-old Kali.  KD will soon be retiring, and Kohl will be taking over.

The dogs show kids how to check a door to see if it’s hot, how to crawl below smoke, and how to stop, drop and roll.  They are shown by Owens what to do if they find lighters and matches, and told to make sure they have two exits from every room and a place to meet up once everyone gets out.

The firefighter uses songs to help the kids remember what they learn.  So far The Kasey Program has saved at least 15 lives.  The program has been mostly limited to schools in the Indianapolis area, but Owens and the dogs will soon be on the road to visit schools nationwide.

“I can prevent a firefighter from having to pull a child out,” Owens says.  “And I know how traumatizing it is to the firefighters, let alone the trauma sustained by the families.  So that’s what drives me to go out and teach as much as I do.”

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