Gifted word-learning dogs can remember the names of their toys for years

This is a study which confirms perhaps what some lucky people might already know namely that gifted dogs can remember the names of their favourite toys for two years or more and therefore have excellent memories.

And almost all dogs can learn words linked to actions as we also know because they are very trainable. They understand words such as "sit" and "down". But only a small group of gifted dogs described as "gifted word-learners" can learn a wide range of words associated with particular objects.

The research was carried out at Eotvos University. In this study, the researchers challenge the owners of six border college to teach their pets the names of 12 new toys within seven days. The study showed that the dogs were able to learn the names and retrieve the correct toy when requested to do so.

Once the tests had been completed the owners were asked to hide the toys and store them out of sight. They then waited two years to see whether the dogs could remember them.

"We waited two years and then decided to test the dogs again to see if they still remember the toy names."

There was no rehearsal as I understand it. One of the six dogs had died so the remaining five were tested. And in some instances some toys had been lost so in all three dogs were tested in respect of 12 toys with one tested on 11 toys and one dog on five toys.

"After two years, we had a hard time remembering the names of the toys but just the dogs. They did not seem to struggle."

Four dogs remember the names of between 60% and 75% of the toys. They confirmed this by naming the toy in the spoken word followed by the dogs picking up the correct toy out of a line-up of toys. They did this correctly on 44% of attempts.

This was "significantly above chance level". The report is that a dog faced with 12 toys "would be expected to get it right 8.3% of the time if it was simply guessing, while a dog faced with five toys would get it right 20% of the time based on chance alone". That quote comes from the Times newspaper of September 4, 2024.

The study is published in the journal Biology Letters.

It said that "When comparing the dogs' group performance in the present two-year memory test with that of the one and two-month memory test, it appears there was no significant reduction in their recall of the labelled objects."

The head of the research group, Dr. Claudia Fugazza, said: 

"We know that dogs can remember events for at least 24 hours and odours for up to one year, but this is the first study showing that some talented dogs can remember words for at least two years."

She added that: 

"The findings are our current study cannot be generalised to other dogs because we only tested gifted word-than dogs i.e. individuals that show a special talent for acquiring object words." 

Border collies were found to be the most gifted breed when it comes to vocabulary and the naming of objects. German shepherds, Pekinese and the mini Australian shepherd dogs may have the same talents.

There was a global search for gifted dogs to conduct the test apparently. They were all found to know more than 28 toys by name with some being able to recognise more than 100 toys, remarkably.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Veterinary nurse pleads guilty to owning dogs that worried livestock

This story is about a veterinary nurse, Evie Watson, who, it has been suggested, should have known better when going out into the countryside with her two dogs near to a farm called Hall Pastures Farm where there were sheep and lambs. She didn't have one of her dogs, Beans, on a lead and her other dog's lead was dropped as she tried to untangle him. That dog's name is Patcho.

In short, both her dogs became free and they ran off and worried, attacked and killed sheep and lambs. In all, it's reported by The Times that her dogs killed 15 ewes (adult female sheep) and lambs in an horrific attack. Further, the newspaper reports that she did not call the police until the following day.

It's been traumatic for the farmer as you might expect. Lynne Parnell, said that she felt "very sickened" by the attacks and mentioned that she had wished that Watson had told her what had happened straight away.

It's been traumatic for the ewes who lost their lambs. In a victim impact statement she said: "Farmers like us work hard, and our livelihood depends on us producing good quality livestock and [it] is a long term enterprise. A disruption such as this can take years to recover from".

Evie Watson attended Southern Derbyshire magistrates' court on May 17 and pleaded guilty to owning dogs that worried livestock. The magistrates told her that it had been an horrific incident but they recognised her efforts in trying to track down her dogs, one of which had collapsed. She took him to the vet. Watson had tried to follow her dogs and bruised herself as she scrambled in bushes but she lost sight of them. She asked her family and ex-partner for help and they assisted. She found her dogs after 3.5 hours.

So Watson did make some big efforts but she's been criticised by Derbyshire Police. Sergeant Chris Wilkinson of the rural crime team said: "No one ever wants to believe that their dog is capable of hurting other animals but as has been seen time and time again they can and do return to their predator instincts, and chase livestock if given the chance. That's why it is vital that dogs are always kept on leads around livestock."

That's the point: dogs revert to their grey wolf ancestors' instincts and become predators when given the chance. The same happens to domestic cats. The dog is a predator and as such they must be on a lead under the circumstances described.

Separately, a survey of 1,100 dog owners by NFU Mutual has found that 68% of people let their pets off the lead in the countryside last year. And almost 8% admitted that their dog had chased livestock. However, 46% believed that the dog was not capable of causing death or injury to farm animals. While 49% of the respondents in this survey said that the dog always came back when called. In other words 51% don't. And almost half of dog owners don't believe that their dog is a predator it seems to me!

As Watson was convicted of owning dogs that worried livestock, she was ordered to pay £750 which included a £475 fine, legal costs and a victim surcharge. The farmer said that the punishment was insulting but added that she at least received justice.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Dogs eating cannabis edibles on the increase in the UK

Dogs eating cannabis edibles has hit a new high in the UK according to the Mail on Sunday. Of the cannabis edibles available to dogs, it appears that gummies, cannabis-infused sweets are increasingly popular and are thought to have contributed to a rise in the number of dogs poisoned by dope recently.

A fictional image 😉🐶.

The Poisons Information Service reported that more than 450 dogs have been treated in the past four years including 119 in 2023 compared to 82 in 2020. These figures are probably quite substantially underreported because Nicola Robinson, the head of service of the above-mentioned agency said that, "Not all animal poisoning cases are reported to us, so these are not a completely accurate representation of numbers."

The poisonings are taking place at home or perhaps while the dog is out on a walk.

The dangers to dogs eating cannabis gummies are quite substantial and variable. The RSPCA say that the symptoms include overstimulation and a high temperature. A dog might need intravenous fluids.

Other symptoms include wobbliness, agitation, incontinence, hyper-salivation, a change in heart rate, vomiting, seizure and possible coma according to Dr. Glassman, writing in Dogs Today.

The symptoms can develop quickly within 30 minutes but sometimes after about three hours. Dog owners should contact their veterinarian quickly if they see these symptoms and if they fear that the dog has eaten a cannabis gummy or other edible. 

Or, the owner can administer an oral detoxifier containing advanced activated charcoal. Vomiting should not be induced. Veterinarians can treat dogs at a cost of £800.

Cannabis gummies contain THC which is the primary proactive compound in cannabis. They are illegal in the UK as a class B drug. Although, on a practical basis, I don't think the police ever get involved with cannabis use in the UK. By default and through police inactivity, cannabis in any form is legal in the UK.

In the US cannabis gummies and other edibles are legal for recreational purposes and for medicinal use in more than 20 states. Cannabis edibles poisonings of dogs in the states amount to around 6000 over 5 years.

Some dog owners give their dogs CBD oil which is legal. This does not contain THC and is purely medicinal. It can be used to treat allergies, anxiety and pain.

Around 38% of Danish dog owners regularly give their pets some form of medicinal cannabis i.e. CBD oil with positive effect.

CBD can reduce stress in dogs and treat pain which is useful for those suffering from osteoarthritis. In Britain a vet has to prescribe human CBD oil preparations for a pet.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Secret Service agents bitten by President Biden's dog 24 times!

NEWS AND COMMENT: it is astonishing to read in The Times today that President Biden's dog, Commander, bit Secret Service agents 24 times in all before the dog was removed from the White House. The number of bites may be higher if all staff are included.

Commander. Photo believed to be in the public domain.

The Times reports that, "For members of the Secret Service guarding President Biden, the most crucial weapon to protect themselves was not a gun but a bag of dog biscuits!"

The newspaper reports that one agent required six stitches to his hand after Biden's two year old German shepherd, Commander, bit him.

After that encounter, the agent was given a "care package" for "safety purposes". The care package included pepper spray, a muzzle and dog treats!

The world now knows that Commander was banished from the White House last October to an undisclosed location after reports of 11 similar encounters.

But now newly released documents reveal that he bit agents at least 24 times.

The documented reports cover the period October 2022-July 2023 and they only cover members of the Secret Service rather than all of President Biden's staff. This indicates that the true number of aggressively/defensive encounters could be far higher.

There are apparently 400 pages of documents. They show that many of the agents required treatment after incidents at various locations including at the White House, Camp David in Maryland and at the President's family home in Delaware.

One unnamed agent wrote in June 2023 that, "the recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present. Please give lots of room."

Colleagues were warned that they must be creative "to ensure our own personal safety."

The Bidens were apparently heartbroken according to a source by the frequency of the incidents. The source said that:

"They've apologised to those who have been bitten, taken flowers to some. They feel awful. Commander was overprotective. Even though they tried and tried to work on it, they had to let him go [and] live with other members of their family."

It didn't work out. And it is put down to the fact that the German Shepherd is a particularly protective dog of his pack i.e. the Biden family and he was living in a situation where there were lots of strangers coming and going which instinctively brought forth his protective nature. 

It also clear to me that these attacks were not hugely violent but nips which broke the skin as indicated above. Commander isn't naturally aggressive but simply instinctively defending his pack.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

World's oldest pooch stripped of his title by Guinness World Records

Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, died last October at the reported age of 31 years and 165 days. The breed normally lives to around 12-14 years of age.

Bobi had been awarded the Guinness World Record's oldest dog ever title but now, after a dispute about his real age, Bobi has been stripped posthumously of his title.

Image of Bobi in the public domain. Overall image: MikeB.

Guinness World Records (GWR) said that the microchip which purportedly proved Bobi's age was not, in fact, sufficient proof for the dog to keep the award which his owner received in February last year.

Bobby lived on a farm in the village of Conqueiros in Portugal with his owner and four cats.

GWR said that it had not determined which dog was the new record holder. They also launched an investigation into Bobi last month after doubts about the reliability of the evidence which had been used to prove Bobi's record-breaking age.

GWR said:

"We are left with no evidence which can definitively prove Bobi's date of birth. Without any conclusive evidence available to us right now, we simply can't retain Bobi as the recordholder."

There's been no comment by Bobi's (former) owner after the stripping of his title. The owner, an unnamed man, had previously stated that suspicions about the true age of his pet were unfounded.

The owner had previously put his dog's longevity down to his laid-back lifestyle in the countryside of Portugal and the fact that he was only fed human food.

Wired magazine conducted an investigation and found that the dog's microchip had been registered only in 2022, a year before the dog had finally had his day i.e. had died.

His owner claimed the pooch was born in 1992. However, a database official had explained it had "no registration or data that can confirm or deny this statement."

Danny Chambers of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the UK told The Guardian newspaper that "not a single one" of his veterinarian colleagues believed that Bobi had actually lived to the age of 31.

The previous holder of the world's oldest dog was Australia's Bluey. Bluey died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Jack Russell stuck in pipe cost owner €10,000

FRANCE: A Jack Russell terrier owner has been sent a bill for €10,000, the cost of rescuing his dog from a drainage pipe by firefighters. It took nine hours.

The Jack Russell, Gaia, stuck in a pipe which cost her owner €10,000 to rescue. Image: The Times.

Aliane Chichi, the dog's owner, was on a holiday in Switzerland when his Jack Russell, Gaia, chased a fox. He searched for her. There were two other dogs with him and they led him to a manhole where he heard her barking.

He couldn't pinpoint her location and called emergency services. They discovered that she was trapped underground in a 20 cm diameter pipe.

In all, a dozen firefighters were involved in rescuing his dog who whimpered throughout.

He said that "They used a camera to find her and then they had to call in a contractor to drill down through the road the next day."

The firefighters warned him that he would have to pay because they had to bring in an excavator and road-drilling machinery and he is not a Swiss resident.

They asked him whether he wanted to stop the rescue and he refused. He said that he "wasn't going to leave my dog to die in that pipe. It was unthinkable."

He is shocked by the bill which equates to £8,700 ($10,555). He thought the rescuers were doing their work as a gesture of goodwill but doesn't want to speak badly about them.

In an interview on French radio, he said that he feels that the rescuers were using his distress at the time "to fill their pockets".

He's been able to raise about £2,000 and a crowdfunding appeal was successful enough to cover the rest of the bill with a surplus of about £900. He is donating it to an animal welfare charity.

My thanks to The Times of 27th Oct 2023.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Two types of dog: who's the smarter or braver?

 The video says it all:

Comment: it seems to me that the dog who crossed the stream in the water is braver/bolder but less smart than the dog who finds the more elegant and safer route which took longer.

There are other issues. The stream-crossing dog may have been unaware of the bridge while the bridge taker knew about it.

Neither followed their leader/caregiver and used the fallen tree. Why, I wonder? Maybe it looked unsafe. The dog has an instinct to make these decisions.

Global warming news - having three dogs is as bad for the environment as taking a private jet

Everybody should be as aware as possible about their contribution to global warming because it will affect both us and more importantly our children and generations to come. Companion dogs and cats (as do other pets) contribute to global warming. They don't directly contribute to it. They might in a very small way such as flatulence (carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane)! But this is a reference to the food and products we give them.

Global warming news - having three dogs is as bad for the environment as taking a private jet. Image: MikeB

Farming beef is bad for the environment. Pet food contains meats from livestock albeit wasted livestock that would not be used to feed humans. And as wet cat food contains more protein i.e. more meat than dry cat food it is said to have seven times the carbon emissions of dry food.

We know that private jets contribute to global warming. There is a backlash against their use by people who are concerned about climate change. There are protests at airports for example.

New Scientist:

"An assessment of almost 940 kinds of Brazilian cat and dog food has found that producing wet food creates 690 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions than making dry food"

Patrick Hansen

Patrick Hansen, the boss of Luxaviation has claimed that animals are as polluting as private jets. He is defending his industry. He was speaking at a Financial Times summit.

He claimed that one of his customers' jets emits just 2.1 tons of carbon dioxide a year which is about the same as the emissions of three pet dogs.

As mentioned, he is referring to the carbon footprint of pet food. He took his information, I believe, from consultant and writer Mike Berners-Lee who said that a Labrador has an annual carbon footprint of around 770 kg.

The major carbon footprint factor of keeping a dog or cat comes from their food but there are other aspects which contribute such as buying plastic toys and of course cat litter damages the environment.

Vegan pet food

Some climate change campaigners advocate that pet owners use vegan foods for their cats and dogs. This is a controversial area. For example, your average cat owner insists that their cat eats meat because they are obligate carnivores and therefore, they cannot be vegan.

However, there is a commercial vegan cat food manufacturer on the market right now doing quite well. They make it work by adding supplements to their food which ensures that it is balanced. Plants contain proteins therefore cats and dogs can obtain their protein requirement through plant-based foods to which you can add the required other nutrients to make the food balanced in terms of a domestic cat's nutritional requirements.

People who are anti-vegan cat food are not, in my opinion, thinking through the issue properly. Although, I don't feed my cat vegan cat food because I believe my cat needs wet cat food primarily with some dry. I also don't like the standard dry cat food because the pellets are too small. I always buy dental care dry cat food which is made up of much larger pellets.

Increase in dry foods?

The situation is a little bit worrying because dry cat food is popular as it's convenient. The general consensus is that it is not as good as wet cat food everything else being equal. It contains too many carbohydrates in order to make it. It's too unnatural. it is argued that it leaves cats permanently dehydrated. But global warming may drive people to purchasing it and the vegan pet food market is predicted to rise nearly 7% over the next decade according to consultancy Future Market Insights.

FYI - Joaquin Phoenix feeds his dogs a vegan diet because he is a staunch animal welfare advocate for which I admire him.

Wet food is worse for global warming than dry cat food?

The production and distribution of pet food, like any other food, can have an environmental impact. Factors such as ingredient sourcing, processing methods, packaging, and transportation contribute to the overall carbon emissions associated with pet food production.

Wet pet food generally contains a higher water content compared to dry food, which means it requires more resources for production and transportation. The manufacturing process of wet food involves additional energy for cooking, canning, and packaging. On the other hand, dry pet food generally has a longer shelf life and requires less packaging.

While it's difficult to determine an exact figure of how much more carbon emissions wet pet food has compared to dry food, it is plausible that wet food could have a higher carbon footprint due to the factors mentioned above. However, it's worth noting that individual brands and manufacturing processes can vary significantly, so it's essential to consider specific products and their environmental claims when making comparisons.

If you're concerned about the environmental impact of your pet's food, you can look for pet food brands that prioritize sustainability. Some companies strive to use responsibly sourced ingredients, implement eco-friendly packaging, or invest in renewable energy to reduce their carbon footprint. Additionally, considering alternative diets, such as homemade or raw diets, may also be an option for reducing the environmental impact, although it's essential to consult with a veterinarian to ensure your pet's nutritional needs are met.

For up-to-date and detailed information on the specific carbon emissions of different pet food types, I would recommend referring to scientific studies, industry reports, or consulting with experts in the field of pet food production and sustainability. - Source: Chat GPT.

OMG amazing dog group photo by dog walker who was photographed taking the pic

You won't see a more impressive group dog photo and it's impromptu. It was taken by a dog walker whose name we don't know when out walking his group of dogs. He used his smart phone. Although the picture has been substantially photo-edited which he probably did himself in the phone before uploading it to social media where it ended up on Twitter, the source for me of the photo. 

We don't know if he knew that he was being photographed while he photographed the dogs but they make a really great combination.

You can see that when he took the photograph, he was looking at the dogs over his phone. He is not looking at the dogs through the phone which is interesting. Perhaps he felt that he could control the dogs better that way. And my God he did an amazing job of controlling them for the photo and/or they were very obedient.

We don't know where it was taken either. It looks like a Mediterranean country to me. Italy perhaps. 

Here are the pics. First the dog group photo and them him taking it.

The best dog group photo that you'll see. Image: Twitter.

Everyone on Twitter who has seen it are as impressed as me and why not? 

The photographer who took the best dog group photo at the time he took it! Image: Twitter.

In Spain dogs CAN'T have sex with dogs but a human CAN have sex with dogs!

Spain has decriminalised bestiality!! True or false? See below. Screenshot.

Get this! This attractive woman (speaking in Spanish with subtitles and dubbing) on TikTok explains very concisely that in Spain they have decriminalised bestiality and therefore people can have sex with dogs but because they've got restrictions on dog breeders dogs can't have sex with other dogs.  Note: this applies to any animal but dogs are the chosen species in this discussion.

That is her point. And it begs the question whether she is correct because a website called The Local (local news from Spain I presume) states that Spain has not legalised bestiality.

This is her video announcement. She ends it by saying you can't kill a rat in Spain but you can have sex with it.

However, when you go to the European Parliament's website, it states, "Spanish breach of European animal health legislation". That heading is dated 6 March 2023. It is therefore recent to this post.

And I will quote them verbatim the sake of clarity. Here it is:

"Spain recently deleted Article 337 of the Criminal Code concerning sexual acts between humans and animals and replaced it with a new article criminalising bestiality if an act injures an animal to such an extent that intervention by a veterinarian is necessary.

Originally, bestiality was considered a form of animal cruelty in criminal law. The new law waters that down by stating that it is only a crime if a sexual act with an animal causes injury to the animal. This means that the left-wing Spanish Government no longer appears to assume that all non-consensual sexual acts equate to criminal sexual abuse. As if that were not bad enough, an amendment calling for a stricter approach was voted down.

New Article 340 of the Spanish Criminal Code, which no longer systematically criminalises bestiality, is in breach of European animal health legislation. One might ask who lobbied for that.

1. Has the Commission taken note of the criminal code amended by the left-wing Spanish Government?
2. Does the Commission intend to point out to the Spanish Government that animal health legislation covers not only transport, but also general animal welfare, and to request a review?"

Katie Price should be banned from owning pets. Discuss.

NEWS AND COMMENT: Recent news media reports indicate two stark facts about Katie Price's ownership of companion animals (1) she has lost six pets through accidental death during her time as a caregiver and (2) she's recently lost her sixth, a pet pooch, who ran into the road and was run over by a car outside her home.

Price with puppy Captain. Image: her Instagram channel.

Her disastrous attempts at companion animal ownership have resulted in observers of this British celebrity calling for her to be banned from owning any more companion animals. She is a slow-motion car crash when it comes to companion animal ownership. Note: to be banned she'd have to be prosecuted in the criminal courts for animal cruelty and that is highly unlikely.

Katie Price is reportedly in "bits" over the loss of her pet pooch. The dog's death on the road was reported as "rotten luck" by The Sun newspaper. Apparently, the dog ran out into the road after a gate to her property was opened. Looks more like carelessness to me.

"A puppy has died in the last 24 hours in Katie Price's 'care' she bought this puppy for her 13-year-old child 3 weeks ago. Which was killed in an accident no one witnessed." - the petition on change.org.

I'm going to speculate about the pooch's death because this is an opinion piece. Katie Price wants to go out perhaps to her car with her dog. She opens the gate without her dog being on a lead. Outside her home is a road. The dog in their excitement runs into the road. A car comes by. The car hits and kills her dog. Would it not have been better if she'd had her dog on a leash at that time bearing in mind that there is road traffic outside her home? This points to careless dog ownership.

We are told by the Mirror newspaper that more than 24,000 people have signed a petition which claims that Katie's pets are dying due to a lack of proper care. They say that no more animals need to die and a ban should be in place against her.

The catalogue of animal deaths in her care is rather startling. Back in 2017 one of Katie's horses was killed after it was struck by a vehicle. 12 months later, a driver ran over her Alsatian, Queenie.

And then her pet chameleon died of a 'broken heart' in the same year when her children went to stay with their dad Peter Andre.

And then, Price's Alsatian Sparkle was struck by another car in 2020. And then months later her French Bulldog Rolo was apparently suffocated when her nanny sat on the dog!

Apparently, she was forced to give up another Alsatian dog called Bear because the animal was attacking other animals. More careless companion animal ownership.

We are told that Ms Price is devastated about the petition demanding that she be banned from owning animals. She currently owns chihuahuas Captain, Buddy and Batman. She also currently owns a guard dog called Blade. How long will they last?

"Katie is aware of this petition. It comes as a devastating blow as it is wholly biased, based on hearsay and not actual fact. Katie loves her animals, to say otherwise is incorrect, unjust and unkind, it couldn’t be further from the truth." - a spokesperson for Katie. Comment: yes, she likes animals and cares but is far too damned careless and chaotic to be a fit and proper caregiver.

The petition apparently claims that Katie Price had puppies which allegedly drowned in a neglected swimming pool. And also, one of her cats was ripped apart by her dogs (by Bear perhaps?).

Katie Price lives in a "Mucky Mansion". That is a reference to a disorganised and untidy and perhaps dirty large house which appears to be outside a busy road judging by the number of animals of hers killed on the road. She gave her mansion a facelift recently. A temporary respite to the muckiness.

You would have thought that she would have learnt her lesson by now to keep dogs on a lead when she leaves her home.

Katie Price has been involved in several road accidents and criminal behaviour (drunk driving and driving without insurance for example) regarding driving as I recall. She has avoided jail by some miracle. She appears to live a chaotic life with scant regard for animal welfare.

P.S. She pops over to Turkey regularly for some cheap plastic surgery top ups. Her boobs perhaps or her face. It is never ending. Troubled person? Looks like it.

Can cats catch kennel cough from dogs?

YES, is the answer to the question. The phrase "kennel cough" refers to a respiratory infection caused by both bacteria and virus but the most common cause is the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica. Cats can transmit this disease to dogs as well but my feeling is that this is rare. How many cats have bad coughs? Rare, I would say but I don't live with a cat and a dog. The disease transmits both ways. And between other species of animal. It is highly contagious. Cats and dogs in kennels, hence the name, are the most vulnerable because they are close together, confined to one place.

Image: Warren Photographic published here with his permission.

Both cats and dogs can acquire kennel cough from a variety of microorganisms including parainfluenza virus, adenovirus, reovirus and the distemper virus. They might get it from mycoplasma. But as mentioned the most common cause is the Bordetella bacterium and if a cat is exposed to it in direct contact with an infected animal such as a dog, they might catch the disease.

When a cat gets it, they shed rod-shaped bacteria in their nasal secretions and saliva and when they sneeze, they shed fluid droplets containing the bacteria. Any other cat or dog nearby main inhale the infected droplets.

This is a highly contagious disease because if a dogs sneezes on some bedding a cat might then pick up the bacteria from that bedding later on. This is indirect transmission. In fact, indirect transmission is a common method of getting the disease. The bacteria can survive for 1-2 weeks on objects unless the area is rigorously disinfected under protocols suggested by your veterinarian.

Kennel cough affects the lungs, windpipe and voice box. It is not usually dangerous and it clears up without treatment within a few weeks but I suspect that veterinarians prescribe antibiotics.

Dogs with the disease might feel ill. Kennel cough has an incubation period of 2-14 days. Puppies and elderly dogs and animals with an existing condition may develop complications such as pneumonia.

A kennel cough vaccine is available and dogs staying in kennels are often required to take the vaccination.

Kennel cough sounds like a forceful hacking cough as if something is stuck in a dog's throat. It can be dry and hoarse and it might be followed by a gag and swallowing because of the production of mucus. A similar sound is made by reverse sneezing to which certain breeds are susceptible.

There might be associated sneezing and mucus discharge. The animal should retain their appetite. A veterinarian might prescribe cough suppressants and anti-inflammatories to make the animal more comfortable.

Veterinarians diagnose kennel cough by the symptoms and the circumstances under which they live. Swabs might be taken to determine the virus or bacteria.

Sources: numerous on the Internet but mainly veterinarian's websites for which I am thankful.

Dogs have a grasp of human vocabulary equivalent to a one-year-old infant

A well-publicised study concluded that dog owners reported that their dogs responded, on average, to 89 words and phrases. It varied, depending upon the circumstances and the dog, between 15-215 words and phrases. The researchers provided participating dog owners with 172 words and phrases separated into seven categories which the owners then rated. 

Dogs have a grasp of human vocabulary equivalent to a one-year-old infant. Image: Pixabay.

The owners could add words and phrases. The 'goal of the study was to develop a reliable, valid and comprehensive instrument designed to estimate the number of words and phrases to which domestic dogs reportedly respond consistently and differentially' in the words of the researchers.

The researchers are from Dalhousie University, Canada. The research is published online in Applied Animal Behavioural Science. The classic response to the phrase "Good girl/Good boy!" was usually tail-wagging or a treat-seeking behaviour.

Different languages?

Clearly the dogs responded to the English language in the study. We have to presume that dogs in different countries respond to different languages in the same way. It would be interesting to find out if dogs find understanding some languages more difficult than others. I would doubt it, but it is a possibility. This is not discussed in the report that I've seen.

Commands

In all, 165 owners participated. Their dogs recognised the names of their owners and phrases concerned with eating such as "treat" and "dinner". They also responded well to objects that they can chase such as "ball" and "squirrel". And of course we would expect that commands that are commonly used such as "sit", "wait", "no biting" and "no jumping" to be commonly understood and they were.

The researchers concluded that a dog's ability regarding vocabulary is equivalent to a one-year-old human.

Commands make up a substantial proportion of words and phrases spoken to dogs. The response is normally immediate and consistent. This allowed the participants to assess their dogs' reaction accurately. Dogs appeared to respond to commands relatively easily and their owners used a preponderance of commands when communicating.

Nouns

They state that nouns may be more difficult to teach to ensure that dogs' responses to them are selective. They state that only "select dogs with extensive training appear to learn to respond selectively to object words".

Several of the participants selected the word "toys" to add to the provided list. The researchers expected to see responses dependent upon the dogs' age. However, there was no correlation between the age of the dogs and how well they were responded to words and phrases. The age of the dogs varied between five months and 14.6 years.

Dog's age

They concluded that "word-based responses in dogs may not increase systematically with age as it does for human infants". Dogs depend upon training rather than life experiences to understand words and phrases.

Purebred

Owners added their own words and used more verbs if they lived with a purebred dog compared to mixed-breed dogs. This is probably because purebred dogs had already received some sort of training from their breeder and perhaps it is because the owners of purebred dogs might in general be more experienced in training dogs.

Dog breeds

More experienced dog owners are likely to use more words and phrases when communicating with their dog. The purebred dogs responding the best were the toy-companion and herding dog breeds. Therefore not all purebred dogs are equal in their abilities to respond to human language. Herding dogs are more likely to be better as they are bred to excel at human interaction. And toy-companion dogs are also specifically bred to interact with people but not for work purposes but for entertainment and companionship.

In contrast, sports-gun dogs responded less well to words and phrases compared to toy-companion and herding dogs. A factor in this difference may be "differences between owners of different breeds rather than dogs belonging to different breed groups". This implied that the behaviour of the owners had an effect upon their dogs' understanding of what they were saying.

The researchers stated that dogs have learned to respond to human non-verbal and verbal cues in a way that is unmatched by any other animal.

Cats

What about domestic cats? As usual, researchers prefer to work with dogs because they're more pliable and obedient. They perceive cats as being unmanageable in a research environment. That's my perception. But it would be nice to know how cats compared to dogs. They would no doubt compare badly. This is essentially because the domestication of the dog was about working dogs. Working dogs interact with their humans all the time. This has generated an ability to respond to human language. By contrast, domestic cats only fleetingly were working animals when they were first domesticated. They are companions for company and entertainment. They don't have a history of having to understand human commands.

Train cats

That said, cats are trainable and Dr. Bruce Fogle believes that cats should be trained at least to a certain extent so that they can understand what you want which in turn benefits the human-cat relationship. Training cat would result in less cat relinquishment to shelters. There is no doubt in my mind about. It needn't be complicated or demanding. Just some basic commands would do. Of course, in the best homes there is always an informal level of mutual training.

The ultimate pet shop deception: passing off an Andean fox as a husky dog!

NEWS AND COMMENT - LIMA, PERU: A naïve Peruvian family thought they were buying a husky dog from a pet shop in the capital Lima. They paid 52 Peruvian soles which is £9.50 in British money and $12.92 in American money. By Western standards that is dirt cheap, ridiculously cheap, as purebred dogs in Britain during the pandemic cost £3,000 albeit the prices were inflated because of market pressures.

'Run Run' an Andean fox bought as a purebred husky escaped to the wild after killing other pets. Screenshot.

Anyway, they went home with their purebred 'husky' otherwise known as an Andean fox! And the fox started to chase after other animals including chickens and guinea pigs. In other words he was behaving like a fox. They named the "husky" Run Run. He became increasingly aggressive towards people including his owners. He was, after all, a wild animal. It looks almost certain that they adopted him as a puppy which is the reason why he was pliable and reasonably accepting when they bought him from the pet shop.

ASSOCIATED: New York City exotic animal trader sold wildcat kittens as house pets

A woman told Reuters, the news agency, that the "husky" ate three of her guinea pigs. And a local grandmother said that it had killed guinea pigs.

It appears that Run Run returned to the wild as in the video he seen outside. He was caught by wildlife officials. What happened to him? I can see bad things happening.

Clearly, the Andean fox looks a bit like a purebred dog with a bushy tail, prominent ears, appointed head and thin legs. Apparently, it is not that uncommon for wildlife traffickers from Amazonian areas to bring wild animals into Lima where they are sold illegally according to the National Forest and Wildlife Service.

Cruelly, the criminals kill the parents and they trade the juveniles. In 2021 the wildlife service had been involved with 128 cases in which they confiscated wild animals in Lima.

It's a crime to trade in wild animals like this and on conviction the punishment is between three and five years in prison.

ASSOCIATED: Owner of two pet bobcats claims that they instinctively prefer to use the human toilet

Further comment

it seems a bit of a stretch for a customer to mistake Andean fox for a purebred husky dog. And they must have realised quite quickly that something was badly wrong. They were living with unsocialised wild animal when they thought they had bought a fully domesticated companion dog.

The pet store owner must have known that this was not a purebred husky. The big question then is whether the law is enforced and the shopkeeper prosecuted. As usual, I'm going to say with complete confidence that nothing has or will happen. 

The next question is what happened to the Andean fox? I hope the animal was returned to the wild if that was feasible and I also hope that the family who bought the "husky" get their money back plus damages because there was some damage namely eating guinea pigs. Although they appear not to have belonged to the owners. But they may well have suffered some consequential damage which they can claim for.

Wildlife trade

Wildlife trade worldwide is a scandal. It is worth billions of dollars and it is making species extinct. "According to the best available sources the illegal Wildlife Trade is valued at approx US$7 – 23 billion a year, and is regularly described as the 4th most lucrative crime after any of drugs, counterfeit goods, humans and arms" (the financial crime news).

It is a stain on humankind and indicative of a terrible relationship with nature as is the failure at COP26. For animal lovers humankind's behaviour is depressing. There are though millions of great people who fight for animal welfare but they are in a minority.

Dog food destroyed by the manufacturing process causing ill-health and shortened lives

I am discussing dogs again today! Forgive me. There is an overlap with cats. Dr. Michael Lazaris has an axe to grind, he wants to promote his dog food supplement but he is worth listening to. He says that dog food is destroyed by the high temp cooking process. Reminds me of dry cat food. Perhaps the same issues relate to cats. A good reason why it is worth having a look at the issues.

Dog food destroyed by the manufacturing process causing shortened lives. Screenshot.

First dog food destroyer: extrusion cooking process

Dog food is always brown because of the 320 degrees F cooking for hours on end to burn food to a crisp to stop it going off. It allows foods to sit on shelves for 2+ years before sale to boost profits. But this 'significantly reduces nutrients'. The cooking process destroys vitamins like vitamins A, E and the B vitamins. It reduces protein and makes it harder for dogs to digest food. Probiotics and digestive enzymes don't get to the food bowl. These are important for digestion as the gut needs good bacteria. Dogs eat grass to acquire good bacteria to their gut to make up for its lack in pet food. But grass can be contaminated and create additional health problems.

He recommends: good probiotics and digestive enzyme foods for increased energy, better immune system and healthier digestion.

Second destroyer: creation of AGEs

Advanced glycation end product (AGEs) form in the cooking process as a byproduct. They are not on the label. They are a health hazard leading to faster aging and diseases. Toxic AGEs are one hundred times more common in dog food than in the human diet. AGEs cause inflammation in dog's body leading to itching. And cancer. There has been an increase in cancer in dogs. Over half of dogs over 10 get cancer. They age dogs faster. Labradors used to live to 17 years but now have a 10-year lifespan.

Ther are zero requirements by law for pet food manufacturers to include: antioxidants, polysaccharides, pre and probiotics, omega 3s and digestive enzymes in their foods

He claims that pet food laws are shocking and shortening dogs' lives (presume he means in the UK). One dog he treated changed his views on dog nutrition. He fed the dog, Champ, who'd be involved in a car accident, through tube with his special supplements and his health improved greatly improving his life chances.

Vital foods for health: superfoods, probiotics, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, vitamins and minerals, super-nutrients. Create better digestion and immunity.

He created Canine Prime which contains all these nutrients destroyed by the super-cooking process. It is a supplement to sprinkle on dog food.

Expectation management

The voice of reason: expect some benefits with the doctor's supplement formulation but not miracles! :) 

Bio

Dr. Michael Lazaris studied at the University of Edinburgh and is certified by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. At the forefront of pet health and wellbeing he practises treating animals with a heavy emphasis on nutrition. His goal is to help dogs live long healthy lives through education and proper nutrition.

Hong Kong residents are emigrating with or without their pets

I am sure anyone and everyone knows about China's crackdown on democracy supporters in Hong Kong. They introduced a security law which effectively undermines democracy in Hong Kong and which is in clear breach of their treaty with the UK which was signed at handover. The UK failed to call them out on this and did nothing except to allow Hong Kongers fast-track immigration into the UK.

People who push back against the Hong Kong government which is dictated to by China' government are subject to security clampdowns, abuses of democracy et cetera. Therefore, many Hong Kong citizens who support democracy and simply can't stop and comply, have decided to leave Hong Kong in their many thousands.

Hong Kong emigrants. Photo: Hong Kong Free Press. Not the title 'Free Press'. That is a loaded title and a dig at China.

This leaves the big question as to what to do with their companion animals. They can take them with them but the costs are extraordinarily high. One Hong Kong citizen, Yip, 40, spent over $14,000 to get his three huskies and his cat to Britain where he is settling with his girlfriend and a 22-year-old daughter. He simply couldn't leave them behind.

As mentioned, Britain decided to give Hong Kong citizens a rapid route to citizenship in Britain with specially created visas. However, because of the complexities of flying companion animals from Hong Kong to Britain due in part to the coronavirus pandemic, combined with the costs and the issues of quarantine when they arrive in the UK, many Hong Kong citizens are abandoning their pets.

This is confirmed by veterinarians and animal shelters. It is reported that records from the Agriculture and Fisheries Department in Hong Kong, show that there has been a 35% increase in animal health certificate issued from 2018 to 2020. The certificates are required to travel when emigrating from Hong Kong.

Also, the SPCA animal welfare group which operates veterinary clinics in Hong Kong reports an approximate fivefold increase between 2018 and 2020 of micro-chipping. This is required when emigrating to European countries, New Zealand and Australia. This is clearly indicative of a surge in immigration to those countries from Hong Kong.

And according to the Hong Kong Dog Rescue Charity there has been a 30% increase in the number of dogs abandoned in recent months. 20 dogs have been abandoned per month according to this charity.

And the SPCA's chief veterinary surgeon, Jane Gray, reports that they are receiving more telephone calls from people who are considering abandoning their companion animals. Her staff have been trying to convince them not to relinquish them. She said, quite correctly, that when you adopt a companion animal you do it for the life of the animal.

Unfortunately, when push comes to shove and people really need to get out of Hong Kong it does test the relationship between themselves and their companion animal. It's the true test as to whether the bond is good and the relationship is sound. When it is not, those are the circumstances under which relinquishment takes place.

Report: Reuters.

Stray dogs save life of tiny baby thrown into drain

Forgive me, but I want to write about dogs today and I need an outlet for it so I have chosen this website. This is a story from India where female infanticide is not that uncommon because it is linked to extreme poverty and the need to provide a marriage dowry.

Screenshot from video. The dogs paw at the package containing the premature baby.

In this instance a woman was caught on a security camera throwing a plastic bundle into a muddy drain in the Indian town of Kaithal, in the state of Haryana in the early morning. She disappeared immediately.

The baby started to cry and a pack of street dogs picked up the sound perhaps instinctively searching for something to eat. They pulled the crying child out of the drain and pawed at the plastic package and started to bark. This alerted passers-by who discovered the child. They called the police.

The police are examining the security camera footage to try and find the woman. They want to identify her in order to charge her with a criminal offence. It is said that the baby was born prematurely after about seven months of pregnancy judging by her size and weight.

They are keeping the baby under observation and don't want to transfer her to a larger hospital because that might be in life-threatening to her.

The baby weighs 2 lbs 4 oz and was in a serious condition. The story is about dogs saving the life of the baby. They saved the baby's life accidentally in truth. It wasn't a deliberate and consciously made decision to save this baby's life. They simply alerted people to what was going on. But it is nonetheless an interesting story of life in India, on the ground and at the sharp end.

I'll mention cats just to make this article relevant to this website. In India there are community cats. Yes, people do own domestic cats and sometimes they keep them in their apartments just like they do in the West but there are many more stray cats wandering around the community scavenging and surviving and occasionally being fed by shopkeepers et cetera. It's a very harsh life for community cats.

I recall the director of PETA in India mentioning how harsh it was and how the cats can be injured and killed by traffic and cruelly abused by some people who dislike them. As a result PETA in India decided to operate a TNR program which somewhat goes against the grain for this organisation because they tend to believe that feral cats should be euthanised in order to put them out of their misery. That's a misdescription really because in America PETA does advocate TNR provided the cats can be properly cared for and are in an environment which does not make their lives intolerable. That must be a difficult decision.

Clearly a lot needs to be done about domestic cat ownership in India. To me, it is way too careless and thoughtless. There far too much suffering by cats and dogs who end up as strays. It's frankly quite horrific. That's not to take anything away from genuine cat loving cat guardians of which there are probably a good numer in India.

72% of veterinary patients are dogs and 28% are cats - Discuss

Did you realize that American people take their cat to the vet far less often than people take their dog to the vet despite the fact that there are more companion cats than dogs in the United States? So says the results of a 2012 survey of over 8m patients of over 2 thousand veterinarians across the United States.

The survey, conducted by the American Animal Hospital Association, indicates that if we look at the percentage of patients from the companion dog and cat sector, 72% of veterinary patients are dogs and 28% are cats.

What do you think about that? Why is there this huge disparity? Are dogs less healthy than cats? Or are people more aware of a dog's ill health than with the domestic cat who hides it so well?

Image (modified) in public domain

I'll try and speculate. There are far more purebred dogs than purebred cat breeds. There are far more companion dogs that are purebred. Purebred cats are relatively rare. This is probably because dogs have been domesticated for much longer than cats. Purebred animals are deliberately bred. They are bred primarily for appearance. Inbreeding firms up - fixes - a desired appearance. But the trade off can be less healthy animals due to inherited diseases carried by what should have been dormant recessive genes, which are brought to the fore. I feel pretty sure that this is one reason why there are almost three times the number of dogs as patients as there are cats.

But I doubt that that is the only reason. I sense that a major reason is that the domestic cat is self contained. They amuse themselves and sleep and generally are there but not imposing themselves on their human caretaker to the same extent as a dog. This allows people to become less intimate as to the cat's health and behavior, which in turn means that there are cats that should be at the vet but who are not.

In the same vein, cats hide illness well. Perhaps people take their cat to the vet late in the day at which point less follow up visits take place. An early visit to the vet will probably lead to a request by the vet for a follow up visit. That would add to the statistics.

Or perhaps the reason is much more mundane and simple. People just don't care as much for their cat as people do for their dog. This may be a symptom of the nature of the relationship. Dogs are pack animals and the man (usually) is the leader. There is a close leader/follower bond. This may be a factor.

Alternatively another factor might be that cats are usually preferred by women. A single woman might keep a cat. It is still a man's world - let's be honest, although I don't condone that. In a man's world women will have less earning potential. Their wages are consistently lower. Budgets are tighter. This may lead to fewer visits to the veterinarian. Women, too, may be more able to treat and care for a sick cat than a man is able to treat a sick dog.

From the vet's point of view. He or she wants more cat patients. They see that as an untapped market. Maybe if they stopped declawing cats it would present a more friendly face to the public? Perhaps the vet has blotted his copybook with regards to the cat caretaker. The vet could be seen as far more friendly and empathetic towards cats if he or she stopped mutilating them for profit. There are specialist cat friendly veterinary clinics.

What do you think? Ruth below believes the obstacle of getting cats to vets is a factor......

I think a main reason cats aren't taken to the vet is that most cats really hate to leave home. Pull out the carrier and the cat vanishes-- and then just try to put him into it. It's stressful for both cat and caretaker.

My sister's cat Kobe hasn't been to the vet since the time he had a UTI several years ago. He's an elderly cat now and though we talk about taking him in for a check up we also know that the experience traumatizes him. He seems healthy enough, so why put him through that? Perhaps others with a cat like him feel the same way.

When I was a child we seldom took our cats to the vet. They were all barn cats, so maybe there was that attitude of "it's just a cat." But barn cats are pretty hardy, so perhaps there weren't health problems requiring a vet's care. The idea of a cat getting a check up would have seemed silly to me as a child.

Although in my immediate family people went to the doctor, my paternal grandmother never did. My father was born in a house, not a hospital. When Grandma fell and broke her thumb she just wrapped it in a hankie and had a crooked thumb for the rest of her life. Whatever came up in life, she just handled it on her own. She wasn't one to ask for help. Do more independent spirits like her have cats than have dogs? They would be more likely to try to treat pet health problems with home remedies.

Are cats more intelligent than dogs?

I would like to take a different angle on the question in the title. I think it's a silly debate. I think it's pointless to ask this sort of question for various reasons. Firstly it is very difficult to measure intelligence of humans because there are various types of intelligence and therefore it is next to impossible to reliably measure the intelligence of companion animals. The test that have been devised generally, as I recall, favoured dogs as being slightly more intelligent than cats but as mentioned there are different types of intelligence and how good are these tests? How reliable are these tests? I suspect they're not very reliable.

I don't think we need to know whether a cat or a dog is more intelligent than the other. We know they are of similar intelligence; let's just say that and focus on more important things which are to do with us not cats and dogs. We should ask questions as to how we can improve animal welfare. We should ask questions as to how we can improve the attitude of a minority of cat owners who are irresponsible. These are far more important question. They are questions which are not being asked sufficiently often.

I don't really wish to say much more than that.....perhaps one or two things...Dogs have bigger brains than cats but that doesn't mean that they're more intelligent. You see what I mean? It's all a little bit silly. I don't think I've read any study about cat and dog intelligence which really stacks up and is rigorously scientific. They are more about entertaining humans than pure science.

In any event it doesn't make any difference how intelligent a cat or dog is really. The most important thing is how good a companion they are and how good we are at bringing the best out of dog and cat companions.

Dogs Allowed in Outdoor Dining Areas in New York but Not Cats

I suppose it goes without saying that when a new law is being debated in the New York Senate concerning whether they should allow dogs to accompany their masters into outdoor areas in restaurants in the state of New York, cats are bound to be omitted from the discussion because cats don't do well on leashes, do they?  Well, a lot of cats do just fine on a leash although it does take longer to train them.  It's a great shame that cats are difficult to train to accept a leash and also that they are essentially solitary creatures and not pack animals because it makes them unsuited to accompany their owner to a restaurant or so the legislators believe.

In May 14, 2015 it was reported that the legislature of New York state were debating the right of dog owners to take their dogs to outside areas of restaurants.  The impression was that the bill would be passed.  Provided the dog is accompanied by the diner they will be allowed into outdoor eating areas.

Under the new law (not yet enacted) dogs will have to be kept on leashes.  Dogs cannot set foot inside the restaurant and they will enter through an alternative entrance.  Dogs will not be allowed into any outdoor areas where food is prepared.

It does seem very natural to allow a dog to eat with his owner because I'm sure that this happens a lot at home.  As mentioned, the bill makes no mention of cats being allowed in outdoor areas of restaurants.  Is the bill discriminating against cat owners? I wonder why they couldn't include cats into the legislation because there are cats around, as mentioned, who act rather like dogs and who are comfortable on a lead.  Provided they complied with all the rules are set out under the new legislation, I cannot see any reason why they should not be allowed to do what dogs can do.

Ah, I have just thought of a reason: the dogs will chase the cats! Therefore this is discrimination. Another form of discrimination is that cats are taken to the vet less than dogs.

The bill and the discussion indicates that people think that companion animals are inherently a health hazard to people otherwise the legislators would have allowed cats and dogs to company people to restaurants in the past.

As an aside, I consistently read that people who look after companion animals are some of the most prolific lobbyists of legislators in the USA.  They write the most e-mails and make more calls to politicians than other people.  This indicates a passion which we know that cat and dog owners have.

At the moment, as far as I know, California is the only state allowing dogs in outside areas of restaurants.