In March 2022, Nature / Scientific Reports published a paper entitled “Aggressiveness, ADHD-like behavior, and environment influence repetitive behavior in dogs”. Let’s take a look at what they found, including types of repetitive behaviors in dogs, possible triggers for developing compulsive behaviors, which breeds are more likely to develop repetitive behaviors, and common treatments. I made a video, but you can also read the same information below.
I learned recently that the idea dogs are “seniors at seven” comes from a study of border collies only, not a spectrum of how dogs age from different breeds. Researchers also often focus on beagles for these studies. One new paper, published in April 2021, suggests 6 new categories for understanding a dog’s age. Let’s take a look. ALSO — Answers ahead for these questions … are dogs living longer? What about giant dogs? What does all this mean?
Nationwide Veterinary Analytics released the second of three white papers with important canine cancer risk data in March 2022. Here’s a video talking through the headlines and showing the main charts and much of the same information in text below too. They focused on the 25 top / most popular dog breeds, so many of us don’t get information for our own dog breeds. It’s still really interesting, though. Let’s take a look at what we’ve learned.
One of the things we’re most famous for are FREE audio/video files that make the canine relaxation protocol easier to do. It might look like simply a way to teach dogs to stay, but the RP is much more complicated than that. It’s meant to teach dogs prone to fear, stress, or over-arousal to defer to you and relax no matter what weird stimuli happens (noises, movements, etc.) Hard to believe I never made a canine relaxation protocol demo video before, but here you go. Below is a video of what it looks like when I do it with a behaviorally normal dog. In this case, first Clover and then a short snippet with Mr. Stix.
Here’s another somewhat overdue book review of Queen of Second Chances by D.M. Barr. It’s a novel with a couple pivotal canine characters who help drive major plot points and excitement. Here’s what I liked about the book, thoughts on places younger readers might feel lost, and a few minor quibbles.
The dog attack trauma and drama continue here. Most people really don’t get what a BFD getting attacked by dogs truly is. For many people, it’s lifechanging. After I posted Dog Attack: 5 Things NOT to Say, fellow survivors of dog attacks shared their pet peeves. Here’s a round up of more comments or suggestions that don’t help. Plus, the story of an aggressive dog in my past.
Families of hemangiosarcoma dogs share bonds of shock and heartbreak. A fairly common cancer, especially in some breeds, hemangiosarcoma often results in a sudden, quick end. Like fine one minute, critical the next. The tumors start with cells lining blood vessels, often attaching to the dog’s heart or spleen. In many cases, symptoms begin with pale gums / tongue and collapse because of internal bleeding. It. Is. Devastating. We lost our yellow Lab mix dog, Cody, to it many years ago. New research uncovered a possible connection between chronic, but undetected, bacterial infections and this aggressive cancer in hemangiosarcoma dogs.
The first time I saw my friend Sam’s dog Red debut on national TV in a commercial, I screamed and made my hubs come watch. I figured it’d be fun to learn more about how they got into the world of dog commercials by doing a Q&A. My fav part of the TV spot? Red lying on a dog bed with one leg in the air. Ha! Scroll to the bottom to see the commercial in full.
In January 2022, Nationwide® Veterinary Analytics released the first of three planned white papers. Before we talk about the key points in this initial doodle data, I thought it might help to discuss big data — what it is, what it can / cannot tell us so that you can interpret and think critically about any big data you come across. I’m presenting the info both regular content and video. Choose whatever works best for you. Scroll all the way to the bottom to see the video.
At some point, I’ll be able to write about how 2 loose / aggressive dogs attacked me and Mr. Stix from behind on our daily, neighborhood walk, without warning or provocation, in November 2021. Suffice it to say that it was terrible and traumatic. Yes, we were both injured. Yes, charges (or whatever you call them) have been filed.
In something my personal development coach calls “empathy Tourettes,” many people say things that don’t help and actually make things much, much worse — especially when the trauma is still so fresh. The list will likely get longer over time, but here’s what I’ve got so far for things NOT to say after a dog attack.
