dogs •

Chill Your Dogs on 4th July

July 4, 2016 By Tara Hamilton

Dog staying calm and waiting for its owner.

Keep your dogs calm on the 4th of July.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Veterinarians warn dog owners that their dogs won’t have as much fun as people during the fireworks show on the 4^th of July.

Many other animals become scared when they hear booms, whizzes, and pops from the fireworks. For them it’s like a trigger that they are in danger so they will try to hide or worse, they will show aggressive behavior.

Also, they are unaware what the source of the noise is, and they will panic without knowing what to do. According to Susan Nelson, Kansas State University clinical associate professor, and veterinarian, people are advised to prevent their pets from hearing the noises from outside by keeping them indoors and secured.

They can keep curtains drawn to prevent the pets from seeing the flashes in the sky, and to keep their windows closed to reduce the sound intensity. People who have basements can keep their pets there with the TV or radio turned on to distract them from the fireworks noise.

Veterinarians also recommend pet owners who have dogs who are terrified of fireworks to use the medication in order to calm the animals. Pet anxiety can be observed in pets staying very close to their owners, hiding underneath objects, showing an instinct of jumping through an open window or door, having no interest in eating, rapid pacing back and forth, a furrowed brow, and showing signs of heavy panting.

Nelson underlines that in this cases it is clear that your pet might be suffering from a noise phobia. But anti-anxiety medications will make them feel comfortable and calm. In the worst case scenario, veterinarians allow pet owners to use a small dose of sedative to calm their dogs.

However, people should always consult a veterinarian before taking any decision regarding their pets, especially when it comes to anti-anxiety medication including sedatives and drugs.

And even if some dogs are not afraid of fireworks sounds, pet owners should never have their dogs around them when they light the fireworks. This could trigger a particular type of behavior in the dog, causing the animal to run and fetch used materials from fireworks.

In this situation, dogs can severely hurt themselves as these materials might be very hot or on fire. Worse, there is always the risk that the animal might accidently ingest them and even die.

According to Cate McManus from Dallas Animal Services, anyone who notices a stray pet on the streets should not approach it because it might manifest a defensive behavior. Your best bet is to contact the local animal services, and they will send qualified people who will take care of the confused animal.

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Xylitol – Bad for Dogs

May 16, 2016 By John Birks

Xylitol is dangerous for dogs.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Dog owners were advised by the U.S Food, and Drug Administration, to be aware of the xylitol, a regular sweetener that can be found in sugar-free gums, one that might turn out to be fatal for dogs, if consumed.

There are already a few years since the number of dogs poisoned by xylitol has drastically increased. The Animal Poison Control Center from the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) made a report, stating that the number of cases has increased from 82 in 2004 to over 3,700 in 2014. Plus, a 15 percent call increase was registered by the Pet Poison Helpline.

Xylitol is also found in human food, but our bodies process it differently than dogs do, meaning that it is dangerous for them. According to the FDA explanation, xylitol does not quicken the release of insulin from the pancreas, whereas in the case of canines it’s otherwise. Their pancreas releases a massive amount of insulin, and they also absorb this sweetener more quickly into the bloodstream.

Most importantly, dog owners must keep their dogs away from chewing gum. However, there are many products which are sugar-free, such as cough syrup, toothpaste, breath mints, mouthwash, and candy.

Everyone knows that dogs and chewing gum have no connection, but dogs are curious, meaning that their owners should always pay attention to what their dogs are sniffing. Also, they should keep on high ground the products which contain xylitol.

Moreover, dogs are always hungry; they rarely refuse food, especially something sweet. That’s another reason why owners should keep an eye on their dogs, according to Ashley Gallagher from the Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington D.C.

The main symptoms of xylitol poisoning consists in vomiting succeeded by a sudden dip in blood sugar, leading to a decrease in activity, lack of coordination, weakness, staggering, ending in collapse and seizures.

According to Martine Hartogensis, FDA veterinarian, if you have a dog, and you care about its health, then you should check the ingredients label. This way, you make sure that the product with which you want feed the dog, does not contain xylitol.

Veterinarians and other experts were already aware of the danger represented by xylitol, even before the FDA warning. Still, it is a good thing that it is now official.

Image Source: Pixabay

Dogs Know When You Are Angry

January 30, 2016 By Melissa Gansler Leave a Comment

Dogs avert eye-contact with angry humans

(Mirror Daily, United States) – There have been studies that suggested dogs can read human emotions so dogs know when you are angry and have a way to handle it.

Our canine friends are most probably the ones who get to be closest to us from the animal kingdom. Cats are pretty much oblivious to everything except them and other animals don’t have such a close relationship with us.

Dogs show love to their owners. They wait anxiously for you to come home, they want you to feel good and they can sense when something is wrong. Many dogs feel when you’re sad and they often try to comfort you.

But they also know how to behave when you’re angry. As dogs normally try to appease humans, they tend to look away when their owner is upset or angry. In this way, they try to avoid a conflict.

Although when it comes to their fellow canines they have no problem staring into their eyes, humans are a completely different “breed” that they need to be careful with.

According to a new study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Helsinki, dogs always avoid to look into the eyes of a human when they feel the human is angry. The study included 31 dogs which were trained to sit in front of a video screen. They were shown facial photos with neutral, pleasant and threatening expressions of both humans and other dogs. Cameras tracked the subjects’ eye movements.

In order to understand the emotions portrayed in the images, dogs looked at the eyes. When it came to threatening expressions of other dogs they looked more at the mouth, while when they observed the image of an angry human, they averted the gaze and looked somewhere else.

Scientists believe that this way of avoiding conflict may have helped dogs develop a stronger bond with humans over time.

The findings of the research also suggest that in general dogs don’t focus on a single feature to recognize an expression but rather piece together information from all facial features they can observe. This is also the way humans read emotions so it looks like there’s another thing that brings our canine friends even closer to us.

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Rabies Vaccinations Could Save 160 Lives Every Day

April 19, 2015 By John Birks Leave a Comment

According to a new research, 160 deaths could be prevented every day with affordable and simple canine rabies vaccinations. Scientists insist it is the time to stop ignoring the problems posed by the deadly virus.

Health experts are pleading with the general public to do something the tens of thousands of people who are losing their life to rabies each year, which in most cases could have been prevented with simple vaccinations. Scientists believe that canine rabies could have been eliminated long before now. Many nations who spent time and money on vaccination programs have in most cases destroyed the disease completely.

A report published just a few days ago confirmed that while millions continue to ignore the problem of canine vaccinations, around 160 people are losing their lives from rabies every day. When the disease is transmitted from a dog to a human being by biting, the virus which infects the body proves fatal in almost 100% of occasions. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control analyzed the virus on a global scale and concluded that if the public in general and more government offices were to have a more serious approach on the matter, rabies need never cost the life of another human being.

“No one should die of rabies. An understanding of the actual burden helps us determine and advocate for the resources needed,” said the group’s director, Professor Louis Nel.

Rabies infection cases are quite rare in the United States and in most western countries, though rabies remains an important and constant threat in Africa, India and large parts of the third-world. Most nations where rabies is still a threat have access to the rabies vaccines, even though the large majority of their populations cannot afford them.

According to the new report, the total global cost which is needed to treat rabies goes far beyond the $8.6 billion level, which is making the cost of a global vaccination scheme very small in comparison.

“At the moment, our best estimate from this recent study is that about 59,000 people across the world are dying of rabies every year. And that’s just the burden from canine rabies transmitted by dogs,” said Dr. Louise Taylor is with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control and is coordinator of the Partners for Rabies Prevention Group.

Image Source: Sunday Express

Research Finds Chemistry Bond Between Dogs and Humans

April 17, 2015 By John Birks Leave a Comment

A new study carried out by Japanese researchers suggests that long loving gazes and other expressions of affection are a strong bond between human and dogs. When dogs gaze into human eyes, their bodies are flooded with oxytocin, the hormone of love, mutual trust and nurture, similar to the bond that forms between a parent and child.

In the new research, Japanese scientists observed the interactions of 30 dog owners and their pets, and discovered that the more that the owners and their dogs looked in each others’ eyes, the more intense was the burst of oxytocin both in human and for dogs. The researchers the more we humans respond to a dog’s gaze and the more substantial the resulting influx of oxytocin.

When the same scientists measured the spontaneous interactions between wolves and the professionals who had raised, played with them and fed them, they didn’t observe the gaze, while the surge in oxytocin was not present.

In a separate study, the scientists administered dogs a dose of oxytocin before a half-hour session of interaction between the pet and the owner. Among female dogs the raise in oxytocin increased the number of times the dog looked in the eyes of its owner, which icaused an increase in oxytocin released in the dog owner’s blood. The same result was not observed in male dogs.

The new study was published Thursday in Science magazine and was carried out by researchers at the University of Tokyo Health Sciences and by the Azabu University, Jichi Medical University, all in Japan. The study’s canine participants included two mutts, five golden retrievers, three miniature schnauzers, three Labrador retrievers, three standard poodles, two toy poodles, two Shiba inus, two miniature dachshunds, and one boxer, one border collie, one German shepherd, one flat-coated retriever, one miniature bull terrier,, one Jack Russell terrier, one papillon and a Shetland sheepdog.

“Humans may feel affection for their companion dogs similar to that felt toward human family members”, is one of the findings of the study.

But these statements and their implications could help resolve an evolutionary mystery: How did two very different species from the evolutionary tree come to stop mutual aggression, and to live together in a deep relationship which often imitates the relationship between mother and child?

The study’s findings suggest that humans and dogs grow to care and protect each other through a positive loop that is facilitated by oxytocin. The neurochemical is what ignites the bond between child and mother.

The authors of the new research suggest that over long periods of co-evolution, dogs entered deeply into human society by mimicking the behavior that draw humans together.

Image Source: Faking News

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