Dear Ask Dog Lady,
What’s the latest on celebrities and their dogs? I read somewhere that Cindy Adams’ dog, Jazzy, died suddenly. What happened to Jazzy? And what will this mean to sales of Adams’ book, “The Gift of Jazzy?” Meanwhile, I hear Shirley MacLaine has been acting nutty with her dog on a book tour. Ellen DeGeneres had a naming contest for her dog on her new TV talk show. And I’m worried about Paris Hilton’s dog, Tinkerbell. Not only has the poor creature been dragged around as an accessory in a Hermes bag, but now that Paris has become the poster girl for bad behavior, I’m worried that the carry-on pooch will be crushed in all the bad publicity.
-Bennett, Boulder, CO

Bennett, you cast a wide net filled with celebrity doo-ings. But you’ve come to the right place to dump your questions. Dog Lady admits her own fascination with the paparazzi-hounded and their pets.

Here’s the poop in no particular order: Cindy Adams’ Yorkshire terrier Jazzy died of mysterious circumstances in August. The New York Post columnist first wrote of the tragedy earlier this month but did not give many coherent details. She explained only that Jazzy returned as a corpse after a weekend away in the country with its trainer. “His blood-caked body was handed back to me dead,” writes Cindy in the November 7 issue of the New York Post. An autopsy revealed some E-coli in Jazzy’s system, but Adams says she has no idea how the harmful bacteria got there.

She writes that the “trainer,” whom Adams hired to watch Jazzy because the columnist had a heavy workload that summer weekend, has not been seen or heard from since: “I have not received a phone call, a note, a flower, a photo, a message since the day that trainer placed (Jazzy’s) cold, bloodied body in my arms.”

Dog Lady stops here and asks everyone to use this Jazzy story as a cautionary tale for your own tail. Make sure you leave dog in the best of hands, in the best of circumstances.

Adams had adopted a companion for Jazzy, another Yorkie named Juicy. Also, the Jazzy franchise continues with Jazzy Jr., yet another Yorkie. Adams says she didn’t write about the tragedy because she was too grief-stricken. Yet, other New York papers, notably the astute New York Observer, had been sniffing around about Jazzy’s fate, particularly since Adams was slated to open a new “Jazzy’s Boutique” at Saks Fifth Avenue, an emporium of pampered pooch accessories and dog wear. On the day before the opening, Adams finally reckoned publicly with the fate of Jazzy.

As for Shirley MacLaine, she’s out on the stump promoting her own dog book, “Out On A Leash: Exploring the Nature of Reality and Love.” The title, of course, is play on MacLaine’s original bestseller, “Out On a Limb.” In appearances, the actress, who’s makes no bones about her flaky belief in reincarnation, has been toting her dog muse, Terry, a rat-terrier. In a past life, Terry might have been Jack Paar because MacLaine insists that Terry get his own paperwork when signing releases for these TV promotional appearances. MacLaine uses a pawprint stamp to seal the documents on Terry’s behalf.

Ellen DeGeneres, seeking to pump up ratings for her new talk show, ran a quickie contest to name her new dog, an adopted shelter mutt. The audience chose “Lucy.” No surprise since Dog Lady has written of how “Lucy” has become the hottest canine moniker of the moment. (See “Come, Lucy, Come!” under “Social Creatures.”)

And Paris Hilton? Seems the woefully rich society’s child can’t take care of herself, so you’re right to worry about Tinkerbell, her purse-bound Chihuahua. All Dog Lady knows is that a former boyfriend of Hilton’s, a Versace model, sent a diamond necklace to Tinkerbell as a token of comfort to Hilton when she found herself embroiled in a sex-tape scandal. Let’s hope Tinkerbell leaves her Hermes prison long enough to provide Hilton a few licks of innocence.