Some Dogs Can Run, Others Prefer to Herd You

A MAN’S friend is not always his best choice of a running partner. The same can be said of man’s best friend.

It’s a lesson that Michelle Powe, an English teacher in Midlothian, Tex., learned last summer when trying to run with Mookie, her 90-pound Catahoula.

“He kept trying to herd me,” she recalled. For the entire three-mile run, Mookie displayed the kind of herding behavior that is typical for the breed, throwing his weight against Ms. Powe and nipping at her legs.

“By the end of it, my knees were sore from having 90 pounds constantly bumping into me,” she said. “It was fun for other people to watch, but not so much for me.”

Like many dog owners, Ms. Powe assumed that her young, healthy dog would make a natural running companion. After all, dogs love to run, they love spending time with their masters, and they rarely tire of chasing a stick before their owners tire of throwing it.

But not all dogs are born to run, particularly the way humans go about it: in a straight line, with little regard for scent. And there is nothing fun about running with an untrained dog. Indeed, it can be dangerous for both you and your pet.

“Invariably active dog owners wake up one day and say, ‘Today is a beautiful day, I’m going to go run with Fluffy,’ and they’ve never run with Fluffy before, and they set off and realize it really stinks running with Fluffy,” said Alexandra Powe Allred, a Dallas-based trainer and author of a book on dog obedience (and Michelle Powe’s sister).

The first step for anyone thinking about running with a dog is researching the breed, Ms. Allred said. Some of it is common sense: small dogs — teacup poodles, Chihuahuas, Yorkshire terriers — will have trouble running at high speeds or for long distances.

But other problems may not be so obvious. For example, dogs with flat noses — pugs, bulldogs, some boxers — may have trouble breathing during strenuous exercise. And while some hunting or herding dogs are physically built for running — like border collies and Rhodesian Ridgebacks — they may be more interested in chasing prey than staying on the sidewalk.

Once you have determined whether your dog is built for running, it is important to teach it some commands. “Stay,” for example, is useful should you want to put down the leash long enough to tie your sneakers. But trainers say that if you teach your dog only one command before running, it should be “heel.”

[Source: NY TIMES]

Why Do Dog Breeds Look Like That?

From the Dachshund's stubby legs to the Shar-Pei's wrinkly skin, breeding for certain characteristics has left its mark on the dog genome. Researchers have identified 155 regions on the canine genome that appear to have been influenced by selective breeding.
With more than 400 distinct breeds, dogs come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, fur-styles, and temperaments. The curly-haired toy poodle, small enough to sit in a teacup, barely looks or acts like the smooth-coated Great Dane tall enough to peer like a periscope out of a car's sunroof. Not so apparent are breed differences in how the dogs' bodies function and their susceptibility to various diseases.

Although domestication of dogs began over 14,000 years ago, according to Dr. Joshua Akey, University of Washington (UW) assistant professor of genome sciences, the spectacular diversity among breeds is thought to have originated during the past few centuries through intense artificial selection of and strict breeding for desired characteristics. Akey is the lead author of the effort to map canine genome regions that show signs of recent selection and that contain genes that are prime candidates for further investigation. Those genes are being examined for their possible roles in the most conspicuous variations among dog breeds: size, coat color and texture, behavior, physiology, and skeleton structure.

The researchers performed the largest genome-wide scan to date for targets of selection in purebred dogs. The genomes came from 275 unrelated dogs representing 10 breeds that were very unlike each other. The breeds were: Beagle, Border Collie, Brittany, Dachshund, German Shepherd, Greyhound, Jack Russell Terrier, Labrador Retriever, Shar-Pei, and Standard Poodle.

The study was conducted, the researchers said, because the canine genome, the product of centuries of strong selection, contains many important lessons about the genetic architecture of physical and behavioral variations and the mechanisms of rapid, short-term evolution. The findings, the researchers said, "provide a detailed glimpse into the genetic legacy of centuries of breeding practices."

[Source: Science Daily]

With Treats, Dogs Seem to Know What's Fair

To the list of the qualities of dogs — enthusiastic and steadfast come to mind — can be added another. That pooch of yours, researchers say, may be envious.

Scientists in Austria report in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that a dog may stop obeying a command if it sees that another dog is getting a better deal.

In this way dogs may be showing a sensitivity that is similar to, although perhaps more primitive than, that shown by chimpanzees and some monkeys. Until now those primates were the only nonhumans to show what is called “inequity aversion” in the absence of a reward.

The finding may come as no surprise to some dog owners, and it didn’t completely surprise Friederike Range, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna who led the study. “We have a dog at home,” she said, “and I know how jealous she is of different people and situations.”

The study tried to quantify the behavior by using well-trained dogs that readily offer a paw on command. The researchers used two dogs side by side but treated them differently, giving one a better reward (sausage) and the other a lesser one (bread) when the paw was given, or giving one dog no reward at all.

They found that the quality of the reward made little difference. But in the case in which one dog got no treat at all, that dog became less and less inclined to obey the command.

[Source: NY Times]

Cold Weather Tips for Pets

Due to the onset of cold weather, the Greater Birmingham Humane Society would like to remind pet owners that the most comfortable place for your pet is inside. If your pet cannot live inside, here are some tips to keep them safe:

- If you use a dog house be sure to face the doorway out of the wind or cover it to reduce draft. The temperature may not be freezing, but the wind-chill can still kill.

- If you have a garage, use it for the colder months to protect your dog from extreme temperatures.

- Dogs eat more in the winter, be sure to supply plenty of food. Keeping warm requires a lot of energy. Check water bowls every morning to crack the ice.

- Allow plenty of bedding. Dogs will ‘nest’ in whatever material is available to keep warm.

- If you have more than one dog, buy a dog house big enough for them to sleep together to keep warm.

- Certain breeds with short hair or naturally low body fat reserves are not suitable to live in cold temperatures. For example greyhounds do not retain enough weight to keep warm outside.

- Heating pads and raised dog beds can be purchased to make your dog more comfortable.

- It’s never too late to train your dog to live inside. Remember, dogs are social creatures and prefer to live within a family group.

- Cats, much like the smaller dogs, often do not have the body fat or thick fur coats to keep warm during cold weather. If you permit your cat to go outdoors or live outdoors completely, it is especially important to provide adequate shelter during cold weather.

- If your cat is kept outdoors throughout the year, make sure you provide increased amounts of food during the winter months and check the water bowl daily.

- Your cat may also appreciate a warm place to get out of the weather – i.e. a small dog house with appropriate bedding or access to your garage.

- If your cat is typically kept indoors, please remember that the shock of the temperature change can be very detrimental to your cat’s health.

[Source: NBC13.com]

Study Says Jilted Dogs Get Jealous

Dogs get jealous when jilted, suggests a new study that found canines feel especially intense jealousy pangs when in a "love triangle" involving their owner and another, more recently introduced, person or animal.

The finding suggests dogs may also experience pride, embarrassment, shame and other secondary emotions outside of basic emotions such as anger, anxiety and surprise. Scientists previously thought only humans and chimpanzees showed behaviors linked to secondary emotions.

A genetic propensity for jealousy may even run as deep as a dog's ancient wolf ancestors. "I would definitely think you would find jealousy in wolves," said lead researcher Paul Morris. "For example, sexual jealousy would be an extremely powerful motivator in the wild state. Jealousy would also relate to position in hierarchy and alliances between animals within a pack."

The researchers asked the pet owners to report observations of both primary and secondary emotions in their animals, which included cats, pigs, horses, rabbits, rats and hamsters, as well as dogs. All the animals received high scores for secondary emotions, with over 80 percent of owners claiming their dogs showed signs of jealousy.

Morris also studied the phenomenon directly with his own two dogs, Silver and Jessie. He went out of his way to shower Silver with attention, and then only occasionally gave Jessie her usual head pat. Jessie showed her teeth and snarled, but contained her anger and tried to push her way back into the mini pack.

"Jealousy is at its heart related to the real or anticipated loss of love, affection and attention," Morris told Discovery News. "Dog jealousy is different to human jealousy, in that it is tied to the here and now; dog jealousy occurs only in the presence of the interloper. So when I talk about dog jealousy, I see it as a much more primitive and hugely less elaborate version of human jealousy."

[Source: The Discovery Channel]

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from all of us at Dog Clothes Horse. Here are a few tips to make sure your holiday stays fun and safe for two-leggers and four-leggers alike:

• Trick-or-treat candy is not for pets. Chocolate is poisonous to dogs, and tinfoil and cellophane candy wrappers can be hazardous if swallowed.

• Be careful of pets around a lit pumpkin. Pets may knock it over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned.

• Don't dress the dog in costume unless you know s/he loves it.

• If you do dress up your dog, make sure the costume isn't constricting, annoying or unsafe. Be careful not to obstruct his vision.

• Even the sweetest dogs can get snappy when they can't see what's going on around them.

• All but the most social dogs should be kept in a separate room during trick-or-treat visiting hours. Too many strangers in strange garb can be scary for a dog.

• Be careful your cat or dog doesn't dart out through the open door.

[Source: ASPCA.org]

Shedd Aquarium Rescues Dogs & Teaches Them To Fetch Like...Dolphins.

Trainers at Chicago's Shed Aquarium were left with no animals to supervise after the Shedd's Oceanarium pavilion closed for refurbishing this year, sending the facility's whales, dolphins, sea otters and sea lions out of town. So the staff decided to create a show for six dogs they found in area animal rescue centers, demonstrating how marine mammal training techniques can be equally effective in training house pets.

Dogs are stars of "Pet Training the Shedd Way" Video. "Pet Training the Shedd Way" opens Friday and will continue at least until early summer 2009, when the Oceanarium reopens. "We wanted to do something that was fun and high energy," said Ken Ramirez, the Shedd's animal training chief. "We also want people to consider adopting their next pet from an animal shelter. The 20-minute program is designed to show how good training techniques can transform even the sorriest of mutts into refined, polite, playful and lovable pets.

Three dogs in the show had been left at area dog pounds because owners could no longer afford to keep them. A city dog catcher found Widget, a 7-month-old West Highland white terrier mix, wandering in Chicago with no collar. Olivia, a year-old dog who is mostly German shepherd, was found beaten and fearful of humans. And a strapping 70-pound, year-old American bulldog mix named Nico was found tied to a stake in a building, emaciated and filthy.

In their new lives as performers, the dogs do tricks, play with handlers and demonstrate new talents like ferreting out contraband. To teach them, the Shedd used training methods it helped pioneer. "A lot of animal training used to be based on coercion, force and punishment . . . with owners establishing themselves as the alpha members of the group, yanking on leashes and tightening collars to dispense discipline," Ramirez said. "You can't put collars and leashes on marine mammals like whales and dolphins, so trainers had to develop a new training regimen, positive reinforcement."

Soon Ramirez and fellow trainers began to demonstrate the marine mammal training regimen, getting the dogs to demonstrate everything from standard commands such as "sit" and "lie down" to more complex behaviors, such as learning to climb into travel cages or dance to salsa music with a trainer.

Taking a starring role was Nico, who nearly starved to death but is now buff and leading-man handsome. He showed how he has learned to serve as a detection dog by sniffing a variety of carrying cases and locating contraband.

Ramirez said he would like the show to be a permanent aquarium offering, but that might not possible. "If it does close next summer, the dogs will be adopted," he said. "Just about everybody who works here is angling to adopt one of them."

[Source: Chicago Tribune]

Playing May Be More Important Than Winning

It may not be such a dog-eat-dog world after all, at least among puppies. A new study has found that young male dogs playing with female pups will often let the females win, even if the males have a physical advantage. Male dogs sometimes place themselves in potentially disadvantageous positions that could make them more vulnerable to attack, and researchers suspect the opportunity to play may be more important to them than winning.

The gentlemanly dog behavior is even accompanied with a bow. "We found that self-handicapping tends to occur in conjunction with play bows," lead author Camille Ward told Discovery News. "A play bow is a signal that dogs use when they want to communicate playful intentions to a potential play partner,"

Ward and her colleagues studied puppy litters from four dog breeds: a shepherd mix, Labrador retriever, Doberman pincher and malamute. Play data was collected when the pups were between three and 40 weeks old. The scientists examined how the puppies played with members of their own sex as well as with the opposite sex. Females were more likely than males to initiate play with their own sex, but that may be to stave off more vicious behavior later.

While males were less likely to initiate play with other males, they seemed eager to play with females, and would go to all sorts of lengths to keep the play going. The male puppies, for example, would sometimes lick the muzzles of their opponents, giving the female a chance to bite them in a vulnerable position. They would also even completely drop to the ground from a moving, standing or sitting position, looking like a boxer down for the count. They might lose the game in the short run, but they could win at love in the future.

"We know that in feral dog populations, female mate choice plays a role in male mating success," said Ward. "Perhaps males use self-handicapping with females in order to learn more about them and to form close relationships with them -- relationships that might later help males to secure future mating opportunities."

[Source: Discovery News]

'Supernanny' Meets 'Dog Whisperer'

Naughty dogs of America beware - the makers of "Supernanny" want to throw you a bone. "It's Me or the Dog" is a new reality show in development for an unspecified network. Producers are currently casting the pilot, seeking confused canines and their owners to participate in a doggy boot camp. Interested parties can call (877) 44-DOGGY.

The show will be based on the production company's UK format, which sics dog-dominatrix Victoria Stilwell (the snarky British judge from "Greatest American Dog", pictured above) on doggy delinquents near and far. It is believed that Stilwell will star on the US version, too, but officials at production company Ricochet did not return calls yesterday.

TV shows that claim an ability to change bad behavior, dogs and children are a hot commodity these days. While Ricochet's biggest claim to fame so far is "Supernanny" the bad dog shows are becoming increasingly popular. Currently, National Geographic Channel's "Dog Whisperer" with Cesar Millan is the most popular.

[Source: New York Post]

Dogs Catch Human Yawns

Spying someone yawning often makes us yawn. Now, a new study shows your canine buddy can catch yawns from you, too. The results suggest domestic dogs have the capacity for a fundamental form of empathy, the researchers say.

The phenomenon, called contagious yawning, has previously been found only in humans and other primates such as chimpanzees and is thought to relate to our ability to empathize with others.

Researcher Ramiro Joly-Mascheroni first tested the phenomenon in his dog, a Labrador. Immediately upon yawning himself, Joly-Mascheroni's dog immediately yawned. And sure enough, tests on friends' pups showed similar results.

For the study, the furry cast included a wide range of dog breeds from a Greyhound to a Staffordshire Bull Terrier to a Dalmatian. In total 29 dogs went through two testing scenarios each lasting five minutes, one in which a human (not the owner) called the dog over and while keeping eye contact with the dog he or she would act out yawns that included the vocal portions.

In the non-yawning scenario, the human went through similar motions, except he or she didn't yawn vocally and instead just opened and closed their mouths.

During the yawn sessions, 21 dogs (or 72 percent of them) yawned, while no dogs yawned during the non-yawning scenario. That's compared with 45 percent to 65 percent found from past studies in humans and 33 percent found for chimpanzees.

In addition to yawning, the dogs showed similar reactions to human yawns. "In the yawning condition, we found the dogs reacted pretty much in the same way," Joly-Mascheroni said. "They all acknowledged the yawn in some way either by dropping their ears or turning their heads away."

[Source: Livescience.com]

'Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer' Interactive Game Announced

Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer uses interactive games to teach Cesar Millan's methodology and help owners understand how their dogs' minds work. The player is confronted with 40 different common dog issues and, using Cesar Millan's guidance, learns how to deal with each of them.

Best known as the charismatic host of "Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic Channel since 2004, Cesar Millan has spent over 20 years working as a dog behavior expert and developing the "Power of the Pack," a unique methodology for fixing dogs' behavioral problems.

"Ubisoft's creative team has worked in close collaboration with Cesar Millan to create a game that successfully delivers his unique approach to dog behavior rehabilitation," said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft. "The player takes the role of Cesar Millan's apprentice and learns all about dog psychology through imaginative and entertaining gameplay."

"Ubisoft's team has done an amazing job turning the 'Power of the Pack' methodology into an interactive experience," said Cesar Millan. "The game is easy to play and offers many fun ways to learn rehabilitation techniques that can be applied to dogs in the real world."

Designed for the NDS and PC, Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer is scheduled for release in fall 2008.

[Source: WorthPlaying.com]

Dogs & Cats as Best Friends

Humankind's two best friends don't always fight like cats and dogs, a new study shows. When living under the same roof, the alleged antagonists often get along swimmingly, in fact — especially if they're introduced at a young age.

Neta-li Feuerstein and her graduate advisor, Joseph Terkel of Tel Aviv University, surveyed 170 Israeli households with both a cat and a dog as pets. Two-thirds of the households reported an amicable relationship between the species. Indifference prevailed in a quarter, and less than a tenth reported fighting.

Interspecies harmony was most likely if the cat was adopted before the dog and if the animals were introduced when the cat was younger than six months and the dog younger than a year. What's more, Feuerstein and Terkel found that the animals learned to understand each other's body language — even those signals that convey opposite meanings for the two species. When a dog averts its head, for example, it normally expresses submission; but a cat's averted head can signal aggression. From video recordings of cat–dog interactions in forty-five of the households, Feuerstein and Terkel found that four times out of five, each animal reacted to its companion's behavior according to the other's native code.

[Source: Live Science]

A Dog's Amazingly Large Vocabulary

Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think. A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to learn words for new objects as easily as a 3-year-old child would. Its word-learning skill is as good as that of a parrot or chimpanzee.

Rico knows the meaning of a surprisingly large number of words. In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them randomly into 20 sets of 10 objects each. The dog waited with one of his owners in one room, while an experimenter put a set of 10 objects into another room. Then, the owner told the dog to fetch one of the items. The dog had to go to the other room and bring the object back.

In four trials, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. Because the dog couldn't see anyone to get visual clues about what to bring back, the scientists concluded that he must understand the meanings of certain words.

In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names he already knew. The dog's owner then told him to fetch the object, using a word Rico had never heard.

In 7 out of 10 trials, Rico picked the right object, suggesting that he figured out the answer by process of elimination. A month later, he remembered half of the new names, which further impressed the researchers.

Rico is probably smarter than the average dog, the scientists say. For one thing, he's a border collie, a breed known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to retrieve toys by their names since he was 9 months old.

It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can't talk back. Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your pup every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!

[Source: Science News]

Great Danes & Chihuahuas Most Destructive Dogs

The average Great Dane cost its owners £669.64 over its lifetime in stained carpets, ripped sofas and chewed cables, while chihuahuas notch up an impressive £638.41-worth of damage.

Mastiffs came third, costing their owners £585.71 over a lifetime while Basset Hounds were found to cause £564.13 of damage on average. Finishing off the top five is the Whippet, which will leave a trail of destruction totalling £518.75. Other dogs with wrecking tendencies include English Setters, Bulldogs, Dachshunds and Boxers.

Among horror stories that emerged in the study was one about a Great Dane who thought the patio doors he was hurtling towards were open and knocked them straight out of the wall. Another owner told how his Border Collie's wagging tail knocked over a large glass of red wine onto a cream carpet, two days after it had been laid at a cost of £3,000.

The destructive scale was compiled by esure pet insurance following interviews with 3,000 dog owners. But its findings have left chihuahua up in arms.

"It's down to the owners, not the dogs," said Wendy Thorogood, 44, from Brighton. "You have got to let them know who's boss and what you say goes."

Sylvia Brady, 64, a chihuahua breeder from Sailsworth in Lancashire, said she would place hers well down the list. "Alright they can be quite feisty little things and they sometimes chew things and scratch wallpaper, but what dog doesn't?" she said.

Mike Pickard, Head of Risk and Underwriting at esure pet insurance, said a dog's destructive tendencies comes down to boredom. "To help minimise your dog's destructive behaviour, remember to house train them from a very early age, maintain their health with regular vet check-ups, and give them plenty of exercise," he said.

How much damage has your dog wrought on your home?

[Source: Telegraph.co.uk]

Dog Follows Marine 70 Miles

A pack of desert dogs lived at one of the Iraqi border forts the unit patrolled. A wiry German shepherd-border collie mix was the alpha dog. Maj. Brian Dennis took a liking to the animal, whose nubby ears had been cut off as a puppy. He named him "Nubs." Dennis found Nubs with a deep puncture wound on his left side. He later learned the injury was inflicted by a screwdriver. He helped nurse the dog back to health.

The time came, however, for Dennis' unit to relocate 70 miles from Nubs' home fort. As always, Nubs sprinted alongside the Hummers as they pulled away for what Dennis assumed was the last time he would see the dog. Two days later, Nubs wandered inexplicably in below-freezing conditions into Dennis' new camp, shocking the Marine unit. "When he arrived he looked like he'd just been through a war zone. Uh, wait a minute, he had," Dennis wrote. Nubs' miraculous journey forced the Marine's hand, and Dennis and his fellow Marines unanimously decided to keep the animal.

"This dog who had been through a lifetime of fighting, war, abuse, and had tracked down our team over 70 miles of harsh desert was going to live the good life," Dennis wrote. Nubs is not the only dog befriended by an American soldier to earn a trip out of Iraq.

Army Sgt. Peter Neesley found two dogs while on patrol during his second tour of duty in Iraq — Mama, a Labrador mix, and her puppy, Boris. But tragedy struck when the 28-year-old sergeant died in his Baghdad barracks in Christmas, the cause of which remains unknown. His family decided one way to ease the grief would be to transport the dogs home. "It's second to having Peter come home on his own," the soldier's sister said. "If we can't have Peter, then at least we can have his dogs."

Dennis could be home from Iraq as early as March, his mother said. The dog no longer will have to contend with fighting to survive in the war-torn country, Dennis wrote in an e-mail, but instead will get to bask in the sun on the sunny beaches of San Diego. "He's supposed to be this big, tough Marine, but he's really a softy."

[Source: ABC News]

Does Your Dog Have a Conscience?

If you believe a recent study, your dog knows the difference between right and wrong. The New Scientist reports that dogs may have a rudimentary sense of morality and inequity. For instance, a pair of dogs recognize a difference when one of them is given a treat and the other is not, scientists said. A few weeks ago, the study was presented to the first Canine Science Forum in Budapest, Hungary.

"I agree," said Will Thomas, Tampa Bay Dog Whisperer. Thomas says he's worked with over a thousand dogs and has been successful because he's learned to think like a dog.

[Source: Tampa Bays 10]

Praise Your Dog

The key is that dogs need to believe our praise. Dogs are very emotional and very perceptive. As pack animals, they seek the approval of their superiors. If other people see you praise your dog, and they think you're pretty weird, then you are probably praising it correctly.

Gush over the dog: Talk to the dog. Tell him how well he just sat; how nice and straight it was; how snappy and confident it was done. Tell him how you admire his cleverness and intelligence, and how you appreciate his good work. Say it from the heart. Mean it. Say it as silly and as babyish as you need to, to get the dog's eyes to brighten up, his posture to rise, his ears to perk up proudly. That is praise.

If the boss called you ...: If your boss called you into the office and said, "You're doing good work. Now get out of my office and get back to work!!" you probably would feel more hurt and angry than anything else. But, if he sat you down for a few minutes and told you just how and where you were doing well, you might get some good feelings. It is these good feelings that we must give our dogs when we praise them.

Praise can never be a mechanical reaction to the dog performing correctly. It must be a genuine expression of joy and satisfaction. How else can a dog understand what to do? Working simply to avoid getting a jerk on the leash is a miserable existence. A dog knows it is doing the right thing when it feels loved and appreciated for doing it.

Study and learn: If you can't tell when your dog feels loved and appreciated, you must study your dog more closely, and build a much better rapport. Take long walks. Do very brief obedience and other exercise with lavish amounts of vocal praise, and very little excitement and play. Talking more to your dog, relying on your intonation and facial expression, will build his understanding of praise.

Tossing a ball or a stick for your dog is not praise. It is play. It is important to play with your dog. But, if your dog doesn't feel good from your vocal praise and your facial expression, all the play in the world will not build a relationship, nor will it help you in training.

The best communication: The best way to develop a good relationship with your dog is to communicate on an emotional level. You must rely on building your skill at talking to the dog, so that the dog picks up immediately on your emotions.

It is easy for most people to talk silly with puppies. It takes some practice, and little concern for your ego, to be able to talk babyish to a big, tough dog. Since we cannot elevate the dog to human understanding, we must act in ways that dogs understand. A pat on the side and a "good boy" can give great satisfaction and release to the dog.

[Source: OrovilleMR]

Catching His Master’s Yawn

It’s not just Frisbees and sticks. Dogs catch yawns from people, too. Dogs watching a person yawn repeatedly will yawn themselves, says Atsushi Senju of Birkbeck, University of London. Just as that big jaw-stretch spreads contagiously from person to person, it spreads from person to dog, he and his colleagues report in an upcoming Biology Letters.

“It is contrary to what I've heard informally from a lot of dog owners who say they catch their dogs’ yawns, but their dogs never yawn when they do,” says psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. of the State University of New York at Albany. The data are “pretty compelling” though, Gallup says of the new study. “If it can be replicated it strongly suggests dogs may have a primitive empathic capacity.”

Empathy, or the capacity to grasp what someone else feels, knows or intends, may depend on some of the same neural circuitry triggered by contagious yawning, Gallup says. Research from Gallup’s lab has suggested that people more susceptible to contagious yawning tend to show more capacity for empathy. Also, yawning doesn’t sweep contagiously among people with autism spectrum disorder, which is marked by difficulty with empathy, Senju’s lab reported last year.

One of Senju’s students, Ramiro Joly-Mascheroni, reported that he and his dog shared many a yawn, but no one had rigorously tested contagious yawning between species. So the lab invited dogs to try a possible yawner of a test. Subjects ranged from dachshunds to Dobermans, and all were unknown to Joly-Mascheroni. The dog’s owner sat quietly behind the dog while Joly-Mascheroni spent five minutes repeatedly catching the eye of the animal and giving a wide, sighing yawn. The test usually allowed time for about 10 yawns. For a control, Joly-Mascheroni followed the same procedure but just opened his mouth quietly and less dramatically.

Of the 29 dogs, 21 yawned at least once, usually after Joly-Mascheroni had reached number four in his series. When he just made the control mouth movements, though, none of the dogs yawned.

Senju says that it isn't clear from this experiment just why the yawns spread. The dogs’ yawning could reflect canine empathy with a human condition. Or the dogs may have learned to yawn along with people based on positive feedback during previous experiences. Or a human yawn might trigger a dog yawn because the gesture comes across as somewhat aggressive to a dog; macaques, for example, yawn in tense situations.

“It would be very interesting to see if contagious yawning occurs between dogs,” Gallup says. And there’s another possible direction for the contagion. “Although there are no studies about it, I think it’s quite likely that dogs’ yawns induce yawning in humans,” Senju says.

The news itself may bring on a yawn since, Senju says, even reading about the gesture, hearing the sound or imagining a yawn can create an irresistible urge.

[Source: Science News]

Teaching Your Dog to Swim

Swimming seems so integral to being a dog that we’ve even named a stroke after them, the dog-paddle — so you’d assume that’s something that every dog is born knowing how to do. It turns out that you’d be wrong. Not every dog knows instinctively how to swim, and some can’t swim at all, Wendy Diamond, the founder and editorial director of Animal Fair magazine, told TODAY. Dogs’ aquatic abilities are so misunderstood, in fact, that she put together a list of water safety tips for dog owners.

Diamond confirmed that some dogs are born swimmers. It’s a good bet if the dog’s breed includes the word “water,” as in Portuguese or English water spaniel, it takes to swimming like a nursery-schooler takes to finger-painting. For owners of those breeds, the problem isn’t getting the dog into the water, but keeping it on dry land.

But other breeds aren’t as water-friendly. Some dogs have to be taught to swim, Diamond said, and others, like bulldogs, take to the water like submarines take to the Cross Bronx Expressway. For the former, there is hope. For the latter, there are those bright orange canine flotation devices. Among those that can’t swim at all or swim only with great difficulty are basset hounds, bulldogs, dachshunds, pugs, corgis, Scottish and Boston terriers and greyhounds.

And then there are dogs like the Maltese, which are capable swimmers, but which are also susceptible to rheumatism, arthritis and chills that could be exacerbated by taking them in the pool with you. Diamond has a checklist for doggy swim lessons:

Avoid excessive noise: “Take them to an area that’s not so crazy and hectic,” she advised. Like children, dogs can become frightened and confused if there’s a lot of noise and activity around them. The object is to keep them calm and focused on the swimming lesson.

Use encouragement: As when teaching a child, keep your voice upbeat and positive, she said. “Using treats and toys to encourage your dog to enter the water also works quite well,” she said.

Never throw them in: Just as you shouldn’t throw a child in the water and expect it to swim to safety, you shouldn’t do that with a dog, Diamond said. “Don’t force the dog. If they don’t want to do it, don’t force them to do it.” Instead, she told Celeste, “Slowly put them in the water and get their paws used to it.”

Support their weight until they paddle: Even if the dog is wearing a life vest, Diamond said, support its midsection and hindquarters in the water until they start paddling and feel comfortable.

Show them how to get out: Getting a dog in the pool is only half the battle. Diamond reminded pet owners that they also need to be shown where the steps are in the pool so they can easily get out.

Keep an eye on them: Even in the water, dogs can wander off. Dogs that swim naturally and well can jump in the ocean and keep swimming until they’re lost, Diamond said. “You want to make sure, like children, that you watch where they’re going,” she said.

[Source: NBC Today Show]

But Barking is Natural

Barking dogs are the focus of a new Albemarle County ordinance supervisors passed Wednesday evening.

The new rule states that if a person's dog barks longer than 30 minutes, a neighbor could take that resident to court. If a dog owner is found guilty once, they could face a maximum fine of $500. Guilt on three occasions could result in saying goodbye to Fido forever.

"Due to the neighbors constantly barking dogs, I can honestly say that legislation to control excessive dog barking is sorely needed," said Kathleen Dubovsky, who favors the ordinance.

Others say the new rules are a little over the top. "Does a dog barking at ten decibels count as excessive when my neighbors TV is drowning out the noise of that dog," asked resident James Barrett.

It's still not clear how the county would enforce the ordinance. Supervisors did remove part of the policy that would allow a dog to be killed if it were taken away. County officials will review the results of this ordinance in one year.

[Source: NBC 29]