What affects us affects cats
We know that dogs have an enormous capacity to detect the odour of a tiny number of odour molecules. For years they’ve been trained to detect cancer in urine for example. They can detect various types of cancer; so refined is their nose and their trainability. The dog is incredibly useful in detecting disease …
Recently, there was a trend in which couples tested whether they wanted to have a child by adopting a dog to see how that went. It was a kind of training ground and a test for them to see where their sympathies really lay. It appears that that testing ground has moved on because …
A dog obsessed with a ball, barking incessantly until someone throws it, might seem like a nuisance. But when such behaviour is labelled a symptom of anxiety and treated with medication, it reveals something deeper — not about the dog, but about us. In one recent case, a dog was diagnosed as anxious because …
The Welsh government commissioned a report on racism in the context of climate change, environment and rural affairs. And the devolved Labour administration in Cardiff, Wales, commissioned studies from five community groups which it funded with the objective of creating “an anti-racist nation” by 2030. One of these organisations is the North Wales Africa …
This post is obliquely related to cats which is why I decided to publish it here. But it is mainly about dogs. Specifically, dogs on walks in the countryside where there are cattle. Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite. It’s a microscopic, single-celled organism that can cause significant problems for animals, particularly cattle and …
The image is a modified recreation of a Nick Newman image made for The Times newspaper yesterday. If you are not British you might not get the joke which is that Nigel Farage, the head of the Reform party (right-wing), has been accused of being a Putin apologist and appeaser because he admires Putin’s …
Dark-eyed dogs have indeed captured the hearts of humans, and it appears our preferences have influenced their evolution. Let me share some fascinating insights: So, yes, it seems that humans have unintentionally favored dark-eyed dogs during the fascinating journey from wolves to our beloved canine companions. 🐾👀 In conclusion, our results suggest that the iris …
NEWS AND COMMENT: This is a story about the amazing dogs who support their human caregivers. In this instance it concerns Cobble a five-year-old labrador who can detect an oncoming seizure in his owner precisely 37 minutes before it happens. He is able to detect a certain odour which signals the oncoming seizure. Cobble, …
