In doing some research yesterday, I ran across a website that left me shaking my head.

flickr photo courtesy of LifeSupercharger

I have to admit, the initial premise behind the site piqued my interest for lots of reasons: I'm a unabashed dog-lover, and  I'm always interested in canine behavior and how our influence on dogs affects their well-being. To anyone who has read just a couple of my blog posts knows that's not a big secret.

The site, thedogisland.com (home page name: Dog Island Free Forever) seems interesting enough, touting the premise that dogs should be allowed to roam freely and safely with "limitless space" (in this case, on a secluded island) — as most anyone would agree would be preferable to being cooped up in a house all day, right?

Of course.

From the get-go, I was skeptical about the validity of Dog Island, but honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if it did exist somewhere. I kept reading; the site quickly sloped toward the unbelievable and bordered on comically disturbing.

I wondered where the heck this island was "located." All indications were that it was off of the coast of Florida, but a red flag — the exact location was very vague. Why? The hysterical explanation:

"Because of recent threats from anti-freedom activists, we've had to make our land office a maze to get to. However, if you would like to come visit us, come to Tallahassee, and look up all the dog grooming professionals in town.

Arrange their names alphabetically, and then you'll see that their names relate in a way with the street names of downtown Tallahassee. When you realize this pattern, start at "A" and go through "W" each time marking your way with a piece of red tape on the door.

We will be watching and will approach you and your dog if you appear correct."

Huh? By this point, I was curious to see how many more odd things and eerie references I could unearth.

Obvious phrases popped out, like "dogologist"; there is no such thing, technically. Behaviorist, perhaps or animal scientist, but dogologist, no.

The whole website was like an episode of ABC's LOST-meets-the canine world with its references to famous researchers "Jane Godale" (Jane Goodall) and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

On the "press" section of the site, the authors reference some of the original text from a 2003 article in the Village Voice.

The whole premise behind the idea of a canine utopia has long been a great source of fodder for spreading yet another urban myth, and further, with the influence of the Internet, the site was created as an obvious tongue-in-cheek poke at dog lovers who the authors may-or-may-not think go a little too far in their quest for a good life for their pooches. You can read more here on the site.

Actually, the island does exist. A barrier island, off of the coast of Florida, Dog Island was discovered in 1536 and is now partially owned by The Nature Conservancy. Sheltering St. George Sound and Apalachicola Bay, it's largely untouched, it has a small number of residents and allows no cars.

Lorrie Shaw is owner of Professional Pet Sitting, and a regular contributor to AnnArbor.com's pet section. She wrote the popular piece "Are we expecting too much from our dogs?" Reach her via e-mail and follow her pet adventures on Twitter.