The Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in the UK has created a video guide to help you interact with cats in a mindful way that makes it a positive experience for both cats and humans. They call it the “CAT” approach. Here’s what that means. C =...
The Animal Emergency Care veterinary hospital in Bellingham, WA has created an informative guide to help pet owners understand the different categories of pain their animals can experience. You can read the full article on their blog, here’s a quick overview. Acute Pain: A noticeable response to...
A study published in the journal Current Biology found that a dog’s tear production increases with emotion. The study measured tear volume in dogs that were reunited with their owners vs with unfamiliar people. Tear volume increased during the dog-owner reunions. The researchers theorized that the tears...
A study conducted at North Carolina State University found that hearing loss can be connected to dementia in senior dogs. Researchers studied 39 elderly companion dogs. The dogs had their hearing assessed through auditory testing and underwent canine cognitive testing. The dogs’ owners also filled out questionnaires...
Our dogs love their toys, and many of them have favorite toys. Many dogs are also able to retrieve a particular toy when their owners name it, i.e., “Bring me Bear.” Researchers at the Family Dog Project, a Hungarian academic research institute that studies the behavioral...
UC Davis animal behaviorist Emma Grigg has shared a few simple tips on how to decipher signs of stress in your dog’s body language in the UC Davis Magazine. Leaning away This can be a sign of fear and stress in dogs. Dogs can lean away from...
The citizen science organization Darwin’s Ark sequenced the DNA of over 2,000 purebred and mixed breed dogs to study how genetics intersect with breed characteristics. The findings show that while genes are closely associated with physical traits, genetics is not a reliable predictor of any...
Loud or unusual sounds can be scary for dogs, cats, and other pets. How can you help your pet become comfortable with strange sounds? The UK animal welfare charity Dogs Trust has some free help for pet owners. Dogs Trust has partnered with 2 veterinarians who...
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition most closely associated with humans, but some dogs can show similar types of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention seen in humans with ADHD. A study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry found that dogs can have ADHD-like behaviors. What dogs...
A recent study on captive parrots found that they suffer from a lack of mental stimulation more than other captive birds. Their high intelligence and natural food gathering behavior require a lot of human intervention to ensure that they do well as pets and in other...
Many dog owners report that their dogs seem jealous when they interact with other dogs, exhibiting behaviors like leash-pulling, agitation, and vocalization. Is this similar to human jealousy? Researchers at the University of Auckland wanted to see if our dogs demonstrate a similar type of jealousy...
Researchers studying the performance of medical alert dogs found that, even though the dogs were trained to work with one person and one medical condition, they proved adept at alerting to multiple people and multiple conditions. Medical alert dogs (MAD) are trained to detect certain biomarkers...
Christina Hunger, a speech-language pathologist, adopted an adorable Catahoula and Australian Cattle Dog mix puppy named Stella. She noticed similarities between how Stella learned words and how the toddlers she worked with learned. The toddlers with delays in language development used Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)...
Like dementia in humans, older dogs can develop a neurodegenerative condition known as canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CCDS). According to Dr. Brian Gray Barnett, a veterinarian with the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and the Dog Aging Project research team, “One study...
What’s cuter than a dog, cat, bunny, or other pet getting a case of the zoomies and sprinting around the house or yard? It’s fun to see our pets having those sudden bursts of energy. Did you know they have a scientific name? Technically speaking, zoomies...
Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in the UK conducted a study which found that the health and well-being of domestic rabbits improves when they are housed with a companion. Animal welfare advocates report that this is significant because about half of pet rabbits are housed...
Now this sounds like a fun scientific study…an animal behaviorist in Italy watched a YouTube video of a horse and dog playing together and noticed how in sync their play behaviors were to each other. She asked her students to search for more videos of horses...
Interested in learning more about your canine companion? Live Science’s “Life’s Little Mysteries” podcast series has gone to the dogs! The recent “Mysterious Dogs” podcast addresses these common questions about our four-legged friends: How did dogs evolve from wolves? What do dogs dream about? Are dogs...
Researchers in Finland conducted a survey of nearly 14,000 dog owners to determine the causes of canine anxiety. They found that over 72% of dogs experience some form of anxiety. What types of anxiety are most common, and are there certain breeds that are more anxious...
October 1-7 is National Walk Your Dog Week, an event designed to raise awareness about the importance of regular exercise for your dog’s health. According to the official website, many dogs (and their humans) do not get enough exercise, which can lead to health problems like...
The website Companion Animal Psychology is a great resource for dog and cat owners interested in learning how to better understand their pets. The site recently published some helpful advice on how to ensure that your dog is as calm as possible during trips to the...