dogs

Curious Test Reveals Dogs Have a Stunning Awareness of Themselves

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Dogs might not be able to recognize themselves in a mirror, but that doesn’t mean our pets don’t have some level of self-awareness. Recent research has shown dogs can recognize the unique smell of their own odor, sort of like looking in an ‘olfactory mirror’, and in 2021, a study found they might also have … Read more

Dogs Seem to Truly Grieve For Their Lost Canine Buddies, Survey Reveals

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The loss of a beloved canine companion is devastating, and new research shows that you might not be the only one feeling it. Any other dogs in your family could also go through mourning, as indicated by their behavior.   A survey of 426 multiple-dog owners in Italy revealed that, when one dog in the … Read more

Pet dogs really do grieve the deaths of other dogs they live with

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Nearly all dogs that lose a “companion” dog from the same household show behaviours like going off their food and seeking more human attention Life 24 February 2022 By Clare Wilson Dogs show grief-like behaviour when another dog from their home dies Edwin Tan/Getty Images Pet owners may have long suspected it, but now a … Read more

You Shouldn’t Let Your Dog Do Its Business Wherever It Wants in Nature. Here’s Why

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Domestic dogs are fertilizing the green spaces where they regularly poop and pee, and not in a good way. Even in nature reserves where dogs are supposed to be kept on leash, a new study in Belgium shows our pets’ droppings are a major disturbance to wildlife.   Each year, researchers estimate the paths that run … Read more

From Great Dane to Tiny Terrier, A Mutation Creates Enormous Variation in Dog Sizes

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From chihuahuas to great Danes, dogs differ more in size than any other mammal species on the planet. A mutation behind such variation has been traced to an unexpected source: ancient wolves. The mutation lies near a gene called IGF1, which researchers flagged 15 years ago as having a major role in the size variation of … Read more

Being a Super-Friendly Dog Has One Potential Drawback, Study Finds

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The friendliness of your dog could have serious implications for its social standing with other canines, new research suggests. In a questionnaire designed to measure the personality traits of companion dogs and compare them against their social ranking with other canines in multi-dog families, researchers found that dogs who scored highly for agreeableness and affection … Read more

Chlamydia: Infectious disease found in 1 in 3 birds tested at Australian animal hospital

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A survey of birds entering an Australian animal hospital shows a huge number of them carry chlamydia, including strains never seen before in Australia Life 31 January 2022 By Alice Klein The laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), native to Australia electra kay-smith / Alamy Nearly one-third of hospitalised Australian birds are carrying chlamydia, including some novel … Read more

Wolves Already Had The Genetic Mutation to Turn Into Tiny Dogs 54,000 Years Ago

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One of the main genetic mutations responsible for small size in certain dog breeds, such as Pomeranians and Chihuahuas, evolved in dog relatives long before humans began breeding these miniature companions. Researchers discovered that the mutation can even be traced back to wolves that lived more than 50,000 years ago.   Researchers discovered the mutation, which is found in … Read more

Dogs Can Differentiate Between Familiar And Foreign Human Languages, Brain Scans Reveal

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If you were to move to a new country with a different language and bring along the family dog, your pet would likely have a hard time understanding commands from the locals, according to a new study looking at how dogs’ brains react to different languages.    MRI scans revealed that dogs‘ brains can distinguish between familiar … Read more