Dogs with smaller brains relative to overall size are cleverer thanks to selective breeding

Dogs with small brains relative to overall size are cleverer due to selective breeding

Left alone, nature operates natural selection, a process which leads to cleverer animals surviving more successfully. This led to the evolution of larger brained animals and ultimately to the dominance of humans over all animals. But for dogs selective breeding has interrupted this process with a research study deciding that dogs with smaller brains …

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A dog’s breed is generally a poor predictor of their behaviour. Infographic.

Banning dogs based on appearance is immoral?

This is Nathan Winograd’s pet campaign and it is a good one. I think he hates the lack of science behind the banning of a dog breed because they are aggressive and dangerous. The title to this post sums up the issue. The recent banning of XL Bully dogs in the UK is a …

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Crows can hold grudges for 17 years and what about other animals?

Image by DALL·E 2024-11-01 08.31.00 - A dramatic scene in an outdoor setting featuring a black crow diving toward a man wearing an ogre mask. The man is startled, with wide eyes and an open mouth

A recent study – and one which I would argue is pretty important – discovered that crows can hold grudges for 17 years. They hold grudges against people who have maligned them; who have been harmful to them and who they don’t trust because of experiences and interactions that they have had with these …

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Infographic explains a theory on the origins of the human kiss

Origins of the human kiss

Here is an infographic prepared by me which explains the origins of human kissing as per a theory proposed by Adriano Lameira (and team), an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Warwick in the UK. What all kisses have in common Lameiro concluded was a “protruding of the lips and slight suction”. He then …

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Some suggestions on why cat and dog veterinary visits are higher during a full moon

Full moon dangers for cats?

A study from Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences found that during a full moon there is a slight increase in veterinary visits for cats and dogs which on the face might be considered a little puzzling but I have provided some suggestions. These were emergency veterinary visits and the …

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Domestic cats can associate words with visuals. Infographic.

Cats link words/human sounds with images/objects/visuals

The research seems to show that cats can assign a meaning to a word in minutes. Moreover, they did this without special training or the prospect of being rewarded, which mirrors how infant humans learn languages. – The Times newspaper Oct 24, 2024. This Japanese study confirms what observant cat caregivers know namely that …

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Link between dirty air and more veterinary visits for your cat or dog

PM 2.5 pollutants harm cats and dogs too

There is a link, as confirmed by a study, between living in a place where the air is dirty i.e. polluted and increased veterinary visits for cats and dogs. This is unsurprising because we know that polluted air causes health problems for people so why not for pets? I guess it just needed to …

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Paddling dogs pollute ponds with flea and tick treatment insecticides. Infographic.

Paddling dogs pollute ponds with flea treatment insecticides. Infographic.

Dogs love ponds. They love playing in water. And many have received flea and tick treatments. Many of which are based on the insecticides fipronil and imidacloprid. These are toxic to bees and insects in general. You can see the problem, which has been highlighted in a recent study, the results of which are …

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