“Sit”. How dogs trained humans to speak at their speed. Same applies to cats and babies.

How dogs trained us to speak more slowly to them

NEWS AND OPINION: Adult human speak more slowly to babies, dogs and cats. I’m referring here to a recently published research paper on the Plos One website (PLOS BIOLOGY), which has been reported in The Times newspaper. The core conclusion is one that we readily recognise and find unsurprising namely that we speak more …

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Human stress smell makes dogs (and cats?) more pessimistic

Whiff of human stress makes dogs more pessimistic

This is an interesting study. It’s about dogs but I believe that it could just as well be about dogs and cats. Or indeed many other companion animals. In earlier studies the researchers found that the smell of a stressed person can subconsciously affect the state of mind of people nearby (emotional contagion). This …

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Can children learn to identify dog aggression with age and experience?

Child interacting with a dog

Certainly! According to a recently published study conducted by researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, both age and experience play a role in children’s ability to recognize dog emotions, particularly aggression. The study has been reported widely in the news media. Here are the key findings from the study: In summary, children can indeed learn to identify …

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TikTok trending: pretending that your dog bit you might have unforeseen negative consequences

Tiktok viral trend of pretending your dog bit you has bad consequences for the dog

There is another TikTok trend brewing. They do tend to catch on. It’s amazing how people dream up new ways to attract viewers. They will do almost anything to achieve the goal standard of attracting millions of TikTok views. In this instance, dog owners are encouraging, if not provoking, their dogs to bite their …

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