We here at LIME's "Planet" section are big dog lovers (meaning we have big love for all dogs, not that we love big dogs - I mean, we do love big dogs but also small ones), so we couldn't resist calling attention to a great story on the BBC's web site. It's about the history and evolution of dogs, as told through an exhibition called "Dogs: Man-Made Friends," on view at a branch of the UK's Natural HIstory Museum.

I probably won't be on the next flight to the museum, in Hertfordshire, but it's definitely worth reading about - especially in this Chinese Year of the Dog. According to the BBC, "domestic dogs owe their origins to a a wolf cub that probably fell into the hands of humans some 40,000 years ago somewhere in Southeast Asia." Dogs' DNA differs from wolves' by only .2 percent. The earliest archaeological evidence for dogs as humans' pets is a woman holding a puppy, excavated from Israel and estimated to be between 12,000 and 14,000 years old.

Today there are more than 400 breeds of dogs, from teeny tiny toy breeds to Great Danes, mastiffs, and wolfhounds, that do everything from herding to sniffing out bombs and drugs to alerting their human companions when it's time to take much-needed seizure medication.

To find out about adopting a dog in your area, visit the Humane Society's web site or Pets911 to connect with a shelter dog in need of a loving home.