Europe’s toughest dogsled race | DW Documentary
28 Friday Jan 2022
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Category Archives: dogs
Nonverbal communication with Pets
05 Wednesday May 2021
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Nonverbal communication is a gift that all living beings share, one you’ll need to reawaken to better interact with and care for your animal companions. Most dog and cat lovers already understand canine and feline body language, which is one non-verbal technique. But you can use your other, natural, nonverbal communication skills, and actually begin to see things through your dog or cat’s eyes, and become his/her voice. 
You can learn animal communication by taking a class or reading some of the great books available today on the subject. But many of the basics are so simple that we can easily begin nonverbally communicating right away. Remember, long before humans had spoken language, we were able to communicate among ourselves and with the animals; it is a kind of heart to heart communication skill that we all possess.
Did you ever know a set of twins who said they each knew what the other was thinking, or you heard your mother say she had “woman’s intuition” or “just knew something was wrong.” Have you ever had an image of a friend come to mind and then received a phone call from that very person saying, “I was just thinking about you and wanted to say hello”? These are all examples of nonverbal communication.
Doggie MRI
20 Sunday Dec 2020
By placing dogs in an MRI scanner, researchers from Hungary found that the canine brain reacts to voices in the same way that the human brain does. Emotionally charged sounds, such as crying or laughter, also prompted similar responses, perhaps explaining why dogs are attuned to human emotions.
The work is published in the journal Current Biology. The full article is @ BBC.
Eleven pet dogs took part in the study; training them took some time. “We used positive reinforcement strategies – lots of praise,” said Dr Andics. “There were 12 sessions of preparatory training, then seven sessions in the scanner room, then these dogs were able to lie motionless for as long as eight minutes. Once they were trained, they were so happy, I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it.”
Dogs help regrow forests
13 Sunday Dec 2020
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Francisca and Constanza Torres and their three dogs, are planting seeds in areas of Chile devastated by wildfires. The project, which uses dog backpacks, is done in their own time and has already gained international recognition. See the Short Video HERE at the BBC.
Science proves that you love your dog like a baby
29 Sunday Nov 2020
Interesting article about pets and how humans react/respond to them. From the abstract:
Neural substrates underlying the human-pet relationship are largely unknown. We examined fMRI brain activation patterns as mothers viewed images of their own child and dog and an unfamiliar child and dog. There was a common network of brain regions involved in emotion, reward, affiliation, visual processing and social cognition when mothers viewed images of both their child and dog. Viewing images of their child resulted in brain
activity in the midbrain (ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra involved in reward/affiliation), while a more posterior cortical brain activation pattern involving fusiform gyrus (visual processing of faces and social cognition) characterized a mother’s response to her dog. Mothers also rated images of their child and dog as eliciting similar levels of excitement (arousal) and pleasantness (valence), although the difference in the own vs. unfamiliar child comparison was larger than the own vs. unfamiliar dog comparison for arousal. Valence ratings of their dog were also positively correlated with ratings of the attachment to their dog. Although there are similarities in the perceived emotional experience and brain function associated with the mother-child and mother-dog bond, there are also key differences that may reflect variance in the evolutionary course and function of these relationships.
Stoeckel LE, Palley LS, Gollub RL, Niemi SM, Evins AE (2014) Patterns of Brain Activation when Mothers View Their Own Child and Dog: An fMRI Study. PLoS ONE 9(10): e107205. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107205
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%253Adoi%252F10.1371%252Fjournal.pone.0107205
DNA shows dogs are mans oldest friend
22 Sunday Nov 2020
Prospective pet owners use Zoom and social media to find/meet new furry friends
15 Sunday Nov 2020
When the coronavirus pandemic emptied offices earlier this year, forcing millions of people to begin working remotely at home, some began to feel like they needed a new friend to replace the water cooler banter. Now at home all day and needing a happy distraction from the pressures of the precarious state of the world, they decided it was finally time to act on a long-held goal of adopting a pet. Read the entire article at CNET HERE
US Army and augmented reality goggles for dogs
08 Sunday Nov 2020
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The US Army has shown off augmented reality goggles for combat dogs, designed to let them receive orders at a distance.
The technology, made by a firm called Command Sight, is managed by the US Army Research Laboratory.
Military dogs can scout ahead for explosives and other hazards, but need instructions.
The goggles are designed to let their handlers direct them, safely out of harm’s way. READ ARTICLE AT THE BBC HERE
The no-kill movement
01 Sunday Nov 2020
Seeing-eye dogs help blind dog
11 Sunday Oct 2020
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On a rough day, Kiaya collapsed on the cold living room floor, unable to make it to her queen-sized dog bed.
Within minutes, her two “brothers” snuggled up on each side of her.
The sight brought tears to pet owner Jessica VanHusen’s eyes. That’s because life hasn’t been easy for the 10-year-old Akita, who lost both of her eyes to glaucoma over the course of 15 months.
Not only can the 100-pound dog not see, she also has a hard time walking — that is, without help from her “seeing eye dogs.”
The special needs dog didn’t have too much trouble adjusting to her new normal with 8-year-old Cass and 2-year-old Keller by her side. Without any commands, the dogs decided on their own to be her guides.
“The boys both respect her fully,” VanHusen told CBS News. “[They] allow her to eat first, they lean her up against the side of the car when we are traveling to stabilize her.”
Wherever Kiaya is, “middle-child” Cass is not far behind.
The dog has been by Kiaya’s side ever since her first eye was removed in July 2013. He would constantly follow her around in their backyard, standing next to her “blind side.”
“He became more attentive to her needs, leaning on her and cuddling,” VanHusen explained. “He even cleans her ears and face, where her eyes used to be.”
It took Keller a little longer. At less than 2 years old, the dog wasn’t fully attentive at first, VanHusen said, but he’s getting there.
“It’s amazing to watch,” Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners Ophthalmologist Dr. Gwen Sila, who performed Kiaya’s surgeries, said in a news release. “It’s clear the other dogs are trying to protect her. Their sense of loyalty is really remarkable.”
VanHusen said she has never considered training the pair to be service dogs. For now, they’ll just continue to take care of their sister, Kiaya, who turns 11 next month.
“She may be a special needs dog, but to us she’s just special,” VanHusen said. “When we ask her where her eyeballs went, she replies: ‘They’re in the garbage, I didn’t need them anymore.'”
With her brothers stepping in to assist her, that statement couldn’t be more true.
Finland’s coronavirus-sniffing dogs find Covid-19 carriers at airport with ‘nearly 100% accuracy’
04 Sunday Oct 2020
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The Hidden Dog
27 Sunday Sep 2020
Dogs were the first non-human members of the human group. They are our original companions. The first animals we domesticated, they share a 40,000 year history with humans. To them humanity owes its very survival and evolution through enhanced meat acquisition dogs made possible via hunting, as a consequence of which humans grew physically and intellectually.
It was co-evolution of both species which shows up in the parent-child relationship between dog and human, as psychological research has recently uncovered. Only after the agrarian revolution when the importance of the dog to food acquisition declined did we see a loss of status of the dog.
Therapy Dog Gets Honorary Degree
29 Friday May 2020
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From the Huffpost:
He’s got a Ph.D. in being a very good boy.
Well, technically it’s an honorary doctorate in veterinary medicine, but either way, Moose is a very accomplished dog.
The 8-year-old Labrador retriever has worked as a therapy dog at Virginia Tech’s Cook Counseling Center since 2014. Now, his years of service to students are being celebrated with an honorary degree from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, which is operated by Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland at College Park. Moose was granted the degree at a virtual commencement ceremony on Friday.
See entire article at Huffpost.
Stock photo of a dog without a degree
5 Things To Know Before You Adopt A Dog | Life Kit | NPR
15 Friday May 2020
Study to determine if Dogs could be trained to detect COVID-19 through scent
01 Friday May 2020
From CNET: “Dogs could potentially be used to sniff out COVID-19. The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine said Tuesday that it’s launching a research initiative using scent detection dogs to differentiate between samples from COVID-19 positive and negative patients. ” See full article at CNET
Dogs Sniffing Out Covid-19?
17 Friday Apr 2020
“It’s not just the elusive vaccine that will defeat Covid-19, scientists are looking at all sorts of methods to contain the pandemic. One of the more unusual could be in recruiting man’s best friend. Scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine believe that they can train dogs with a particularly keen sense of smell to diagnose people with the illness, even if they are displaying no symptoms.”
Dogs May Understand Even More Than We Thought
03 Friday Apr 2020
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Sit! Stay! Good boy! Many of us use such words with our nonhuman best friends every day. Now new research suggests that they may actually understand at least some of what we say—and that they may be paying a lot of attention to how we say it.
Read the entire article at Scientific American.
Some Wolf Pups Show Innate Fetching Talent
27 Friday Mar 2020
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Some wolf pups will play fetch with a stranger, suggesting that an ability to playfully interact with people could have come before, and played a role in, dog domestication.
Read or listen to the entire article at Scientific American.
Feral Dogs Respond to Human Hand Cues
20 Friday Mar 2020
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Most feral dogs that did not run away from humans were able to respond to hand cues about the location of food—even without training.
Read or listen to the article at Scientific American.
Many Dogs Are Angst-Ridden
13 Friday Mar 2020
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For many dog owners, thunderstorms are a source of angst, a walk to the dog park can be a fraught experience, and New Year’s celebrations are particularly stressful. According to a new study of thousands of pet dogs, anxiety and fear-related behavior problems are widespread. Certain breeds are particularly sensitive to loud noises or being left alone. Other breeds may engage in compulsive behaviors such as biting themselves or urinating, suggesting a genetic component to the activity.
Read the entire article at Scientific American.
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