“A dog is for Life, not just for Christmas”
– slogan of the National Canine Defence League
It’s officially the Christmas holiday season – celebrate with a montage of Snoopy pictures in this YouTube video of Snoopy’s Christmas!
His name is Zeus and he’s a three-year old Great Dane. Living in Michigan, Zeus is 44 inches (1.1 m) tall and 155 pounds (70 kg). He’s a very big dog but he’s fit and trim for his size which is great to see since we are seeing more cases of obesity in dogs.
Here’s a brief video of Zeus at home:
Posted in dog breeds, special dogs and awards
Tagged animals, great dane, Guinness Book of World Records, tallest dog
University of Liverpool researchers have found that obese dogs can experience metabolic syndrome, a condition that describes multiple health issues that occur in the body at the same time. Obese humans suffer from the same syndrome.
The condition occurs when a number of health problems, such as increased blood glucose and increased cholesterol levels, develop together, with the potential to increase the risk of other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
In a study of 35 obese dogs, 20% had metabolic syndrome. These dogs had increased blood insulin which suggests that the pancreas is working harder than normal. Blood adiponectin, a protein produced by fat cells that helps control sugars and fats, was also at lower levels than normal.
The metabolic abnormalities improved when the dogs successfully lost weight.
The research team admits that they have to study the impacts in more detail to understand the health implications of metabolic syndrome.
However, why wait for more studies? If your dog is overweight we already know that their quality of life improves with weight loss.
Bet you didn’t know that a Great Dane can be a service dog!
These special needs dogs are ‘walker dogs’ – dogs to assist those people who have impairments to their mobility and balance. These people can be Parkinson’s or MS patients and, more recently, it has been servicemen and women who have returned home with inner ear and brain injury.
The Service Dog Project exists to train dogs for the mobility impaired.
The Project has donated over 45 Great Danes to people with severe balance or mobility problems. They are located in Ipswich, Massachusetts on a 12-acre property. Founder Carlene White was inspired to start the project because her father had Parkinson’s and she had a friend with MS.
Said Carlene in a recent Boston Globe article, ‘You can’t really balance with a walker or a cane, because you go over backwards. You don’t go over backwards if you’ve got a 150-pound dog on handles.’
This YouTube video describe the Service Dog Project in more detail.
Posted in dog breeds, special dogs and awards
Tagged great dane, Ipswich, Massachusetts, MS, Parkinson's, Service Dog Project, walker dog
Researchers at the University of Lincoln (UK) have published a study based on the learning patterns of a Border Collie named Gable. They wanted to see if Gable could match words with objects based on shape, which is the learning pattern in humans of toddler age.
Credit: Sally Smith; van der Zee E, Zulch H, Mills D (2012) Word Generalization by a Dog (Canis familiaris): Is Shape Important?
Gable could identify an object by name, but over time he associated the same word with objects of similar texture or size (not shape).
The researchers concluded that where shape matters for humans, size or texture appears to be the dominating issue for a dog.
This is small study (using only one dog) but it does provide insight into the learning and development of dogs. I’m sure there is more to come in this research field.
Source: Word Generalization by a Dog (Canis familiaris): Is Shape Important?
Posted in research
Tagged behaviour, Border Collie, Gable, learning, objects, PLoS ONE, University of Lincoln
Weeks after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York and New Jersey, animal rescue efforts continue.
In the affected areas, shelters were hit hard with damage and loss of power. And because people are busy trying to recover from the storm, potential adopters just aren’t coming through the doors like they used to. Through donations to a range of charities such as Best Friends and the Humane Society, animals are being re-located to safer areas of the country for adoption.
Earlier today, for example, 60 cats and dogs were flown to California on a plane donated by Southwest Airlines. Crew members donated their time and BP donated the fuel.
You can help The Helen Woodward Animal Center by making a donation in support of the Hurricane Sandy refugees.
*************
In other rescue news, the ASPCA has established a new emergency boarding centre in Brooklyn thanks to a $500,000 donation by television personality Rachael Ray. The boarding facility will help families care for their pets because their homes have been destroyed or badly damaged.
*************
And the Best Friends Animal Society continues to help through grants to a range of animal welfare organisations in the area. Here’s their latest update:
Thank you for the outpouring of support for rescue groups and shelters in need after the tragedy of Hurricane Sandy. Your generosity has been astounding.
Because of you, Best Friends has—in a very short time– been able to award nearly $50,000 in grants to groups in need throughout the region. Here’s just a sample of some of the organizations we’ve been able to help.
Groups like Liberty Humane in Jersey City NJ were able to get help after the roof of their kennel was blown off! They had no power for eight days, their medicines were destroyed, and despite it, they were working to distribute pet supplies to displaced residents in their area. Thanks to you, we were able to offer financial assistance to help them rebuild.
Groups like Little Guild of St. Francis in Connecticut who took in 88 animals from areas affected by the floods were able to get some relief from those extra costs.
Road Runner Rescue in Upper Fairmount, Maryland had rescued more than 5,000 animals from high kill shelters over the past seven years, when suddenly, all of their medical supplies were wiped out from the storm.
“The supplies we lost were not just for our animals, but we also share them with our local county facilities,” said Sue Nevins, Road Runner’s founder. There are a lot of homeless pets depending on us….Our budget is already very tight and we recently had a costly cat surgery that was stretching our funds. Thank you Best Friends for supporting us in our time of need. We’re all in this together and it’s wonderful to be part of a great effort to save more lives.”
All in all, 14 animal groups and shelters so far have received desperately needed assistance, thanks to your support of Best Friends’ disaster relief. Thank you for pulling together for all of the victims of this storm at a time when it means so much to so many.
We’re continuing to give out grants to organizations affected by the storm, and we’ll keep you posted as shelters and rescue groups continue to rebuild. Your kindness is truly appreciated.
Posted in animal welfare
Tagged animals, Best Friends, BP, Helen Woodward Animal Center, HSUS, Hurricane Sandy, shelters, Southwest Airlines, transportation
I’ve just finished reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. This book was a New York Times bestseller in 2008 and also made Oprah Winfrey’s book club. With these accolades behind it, and since the novel is set in a breeding kennels (fictitious) in Wisconsin, I had high hopes.
This book is over 560 pages and so it has taken me quite some time to finish it. The story, at least for the first half, is quite good. Edgar Sawtelle is a young boy growing up surrounded by dogs and his special canine ompanion, Almondine. Edgar is mute – he can hear but has never been able to speak. However, he has developed his own sign language that his parents can easily interpret and use.
The Sawtelles are dog breeders with a difference. Dogs are whelped and then trained for a year before going to new homes. “The Sawtelle Dogs” are a reputable breed (although we never quite find out what kind of breed or mixed breed they are).
Edgar’s life changes when his uncle, Claude, enters their lives. When Edgar’s father dies suddenly, Edgar goes on the run with a handful of the Sawtelle dogs as companions. During his months on the run, Edgar matures. It is this part of the book, with Edgar’s adventures, that I enjoyed the most.
Then Edgar returns home and life at the Sawtelle homestead to finish his unfinished business. It is these final chapters of the book that I found really disappointing and dark.
The story has been labelled a re-telling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t like it. I had hoped for an entertaining novel and the story at first was full of promise. In my opinion, this novel didn’t live up to its reputation and advertising. I do notice that the most recent rating for the book on Amazon.com is only 3 stars….so perhaps I’m not alone?
Posted in dog books
Tagged Almondine, Amazon.com, David Wroblewski, Edgar Sawtelle, Hamlet, new york times bestseller, Oprah Winfrey, runaway, Sawtelle dogs, Shakespeare
Pets for Patriots is a charitable organisation working to place adult dogs and cats from shelters with veterans from the U.S. military. It is now well-documented that many U.S. veterans return from overseas only to suffer the ongoing effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Animals help these personnel connect to civilian life and offer them the unique bond of non-judgmental support and love.
There are many dogs and cats up for adoption in U.S. shelters – and any shelter, rescue organisation or SPCA can join the programme. The most important motivation is the commitment to find homes for hard-to-adopt animals.
Here’s a video of one Pets for Patriots success story, the first Pets for Patriots adoption in the State of Hawaii.
And to mark this occasion, I share with you a new video of Thelma and Louise with their new owners.
I wrote about Thelma and Louise back in September, and this video interviews their new owners.
If you are thinking of adding a dog to your pack, please think about a rescue dog and contact your local shelters to see the range of great dogs available.
Posted in animal welfare
Tagged adopt a senior pet month, Boxer, great dogs, November, senior dogs, Thelma and Louise
DoggyMom.com 