Articles imported from Science News Daily: Dog News
Pet cats can recognize their own names if their names are used regularly by their owners, according to new results. Projects to understand simple social behaviors like name recognition in cats may give clues to how we humans became social. Both humans and cats have evolved through the process of self-domestication, where the population rewards certain traits that then become increasingly common in future generations.
Veterinary professionals have sounded the alarm in this week's Vet Record after treating the first UK case of a dog with the potentially fatal infection, leishmaniosis, that is thought to have been passed on by another dog, rather than by travel to an area where the infection is endemic.
Pets help older adults cope with mental and physical health issues, according to a new national poll. But pets can also bring concerns, and some people may even put their animals' needs ahead of their own health, the poll finds. Three-quarters of pet owners aged 50 to 80 say their animals reduce their stress and give them a sense of purpose. But 18 percent also said having one puts a strain on their budget.
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Foster care provides valuable information about dog behavior that can help homeless dogs living in shelters find forever homes. Researchers found short-term fostering benefited shelter dogs in Arizona, Utah, Texas, Montana and Georgia. Stress hormone levels were reduced during one- and two-night sleepovers, and dogs also rested more during and immediately following a sleepover.
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Hairlessness in dogs can be the result of deliberate breeding or, in certain breeds, a defect. A recent study describes a gene variant in the SGK3 gene, which causes hairlessness in Scottish deerhounds. The gene defect results in puppies born with thin fur that lose all of their hair in a few weeks. SGK3 is also a candidate for association with non-hormonal baldness in humans.
In addition to humans, hereditary disorders of enamel development occur in dogs, greatly impacting their dental health and wellbeing. A recent study reveals canine enamel disorders similar to those found in humans, linking them with ENAM and ACP4, two genes previously described in humans.
Elk roam the winter range that straddles the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park with little regard for wolves, according to a new study illustrating how elk can tolerate living in close proximity to the large predator.
The world's smallest bears can exactly mimic another bear's facial expressions, casting doubt on humans and other primates' supremacy at this subtle form of communication. It is the first time such exact facial mimicry has been seen outside of humans and gorillas.
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A growing number of pet owners is interested in feeding their pets plant-based diets.
As states around the country move to stiffen punishments for animal cruelty, researchers have found a correlation between the types of animal abuse committed and the perpetrator's relationship to an animal and its owner.
The statement is a bold one, especially as wolves have received a lot of negative attention in recent years. A recent study conducted by behavioral researchers, however, shows that dogs and wolves both work equally well with humans, albeit in different ways. The allegedly unequal brothers are thus much more similar than often assumed.
Research in western Wyoming shows that close proximity of wolves does cause moose to move, but not enough to drive them from their preferred habitats -- especially late in the winter.
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Experts have shed new light on the relationship between predators and their prey after studying how elk responded to the risk posed by grey wolves in an American national park.
Researchers used motion-triggered cameras to capture photographs of wolves, caribou, and other wildlife species in the Canadian Oil Sands to study the habitat use patterns of these animals and test management strategies aimed at reducing the impacts of the linear developments on caribou.
Between 2004 and 2017, dog-walking-related fractures in people 65-or-older more than doubled.
Since the arrival of British settlers over 230 years ago, most Australians have assumed dingoes are a breed of wild dog. But 20 leading researchers have confirmed in a new study that the dingo is actually a unique, Australian species in its own right.
Many raw meat dog food products contain high levels of bacteria that pose potential health risks to both animals and people, finds new research.
New research suggests that environmental contaminants found in the home and diet have the same adverse effects on male fertility in both humans and in domestic dogs.
As gray wolves return to Washington state, a new study finds that one species of deer is changing its behavior to spend more time away from roads, at higher elevations and in rockier landscapes.
The original hypothesis was that humans developed the red meat allergy after being exposed to the alpha-gal protein through a tick that had fed previously on a small mammal. But new data suggests ticks can induce this immune response without requiring the mammal blood meal, which likely means the risk of each bite potentially leading to the allergy is higher than doctors had anticipated.
When dog-parents spend extra time scratching their dogs' bellies, take their dogs out for long walks and games of fetch, or even when they feel constant frustration over their dogs' naughty chewing habits, they are gradually shaping their dogs' personalities.
In the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, between the third and second millennium BC, a widespread funeral practice consisted in burying humans with animals. Scientists have discovered that both foxes and dogs were domesticated, as their diet was similar to that of their owners.
Coinciding with the Pit Grave culture (4200-3600 years before our era), coming from Southern Europe, the Neolithic communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula started a ceremonial activity related to the sacrifice and burial of dogs. The high amount of cases that are recorded in Catalonia suggests it was a general practice and it proves the tight relationship between humans and these animals, which, apart from being buried next to them, were fed a similar diet to humans'.
Cancer genes in mucosal melanoma, a rare and poorly understood subtype of melanoma, have been compared in humans, dogs and horses for the first time. Researchers sequenced the genomes of the same cancer across different species to pinpoint key cancer genes. The results give insights into how cancer evolves across the tree of life and could guide the development of new therapies.
Larger dogs have better short-term memory and self-control than smaller breeds, according to new research.
