Not only are dogs man’s best friend, they also offer insight into how people decline cognitively. A new study published in GeroScience is revealing fascinating parallels between the aging canine mind and human cognitive aging. A team of researchers from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest set out to comprehensively analyze age-related changes in dog cognition. They administered a battery of cognitive tests to 129 pet dogs ranging in age from nearly 3 to almost 15 years old. The tests assessed abilities like problem solving, learning, memory, and attention. Scientists uncovered a hierarchical ..read more

Note from DoggyMom: The manufacture and marketing of pet food has to be one of the most confusion and contentious issues for pet owners to understand. Streamlining and efficiency are hard to argue against. But, AAFCO (Association of American Food Control Officials) has raised concerns that state programs actually assist the FDA by reviewing pet labels and marketing claims. Who is right? The FDA would likely need significant more resources to carry out the pet food regulation tasks and streamlining does not necessarily mean the most effective regulation system for the end user. Will the propose ..read more

Dallas Mavericks assistant athletic trainer Heather Mau has noticed a trend of players grabbing extra breakfast. It’s not that their appetite has grown, but they need the extra food to lure in their favorite coworker.   Mavericks team emotional support dog Bailey. Photo courtesy of Dallas Mavericks Bailey, a two-year old mini Bernedoodle, is the team’s emotional support animal — the only one known to exist among NBA teams. She was “hired” in April of 2022 for a job that requires her to be her adorable self and get spoiled by professional basketball players.  While Mau is proud to say ..read more

Spending quality time with dogs reduces stress and increases the power of brain waves associated with relaxation and concentration, according to a study published on March 13, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Onyoo Yoo from Konkuk University, South Korea, and colleagues. An animal-assisted activity (hug) performed by a participant. Photo credit Yoo et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 Animal-assisted interventions, like canine therapy, are widely used in hospitals, schools, and beyond to help reduce anxiety, relieve stress, and foster feelings of trust. Studies of the potential benefit ..read more

Over the last few weeks, our weather in Christchurch has turned noticeably autumnal. Last week, we even had one morning when it was 3 degrees C. Whenever the weather turns cooler, I think our interest in cooking and baking increases. A warm kitchen is inviting and cosy on colder days. I find that some people are using the term ‘bone broth’ interchangeably with the terms ‘stock’ or ‘broth’ and there are key differences. Your dog might find all three tasty additions to their diet, but the health support is very different. Bone broth (my favourite) is made by simmering bones for a long period of ..read more

Tom Hayden was an activist, author and politician who served in both the California State Senate and the California State Assembly during his career. He was the author of the Hayden Act to amend state law for companion animals. Dogs or cats impounded by public pounds or shelters could be killed after only 72 hours; when the Act came into effect in 1999, the minimum impound time expanded to 4-6 business days and required that the animal be released to a nonprofit animal rescue or adoption organization in certain circumstances ..read more

Over the world, dog owners are finding ways to cut costs in the face of high inflation. Many who feed commercial foods (commonly referred to as kibble), will look to buying the largest size bag of food possible because typically the price per pound/kg is best when you buy a large bag. When using kibble, you need to understand the process of oxidation. Oxidation happens as soon as you open the bag and expose the food to air and that process continues until your dog eats the food. Oxidation happens to human food, too, by the way. Oxidation degrades the nutrients in the food and chemically chang ..read more

Scientists have made significant strides in addressing a common yet concerning issue: overweight pets. This research unveils the potential of specific probiotics to combat obesity in dogs. Leading the charge is Dr. Younghoon Kim, a distinguished professor at Seoul National University’s Department of Agricultural Biotechnology. Understanding pet obesity Dr. Kim’s team, with a focus on metabolic diseases in companion animals, embarked on a mission to identify probiotics that could offer a safe, long-term treatment for dog obesity. “The initial challenge involved selecting specific metabolic dis ..read more

Painting of Eos by Landseer “She had been his constant and faithful companion for 10-1/2 years and she was only 6 months old, when he first had her. She was connected with the happiest years of his life . . . such a beautiful & sweet creature and used to play so much with the children.” – Queen Victoria in her journal, writing about the passing of Eos, Prince Albert’s greyhound, on 31 July 1844 ..read more

When it comes to tail wagging among dogs, some questions still hound researchers. We know that domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris) use their tails to communicate — with other dogs as well as humans — and even what various types of wags mean, researchers note in a new review of the scientific literature. But we don’t know why dogs seem to wag more than other canines or even how much of it is under their control, ethologist Silvia Leonetti and colleagues report January 17 in Biology Letters. “Among all possible animal behavior that humans experience in everyday life, domestic dog tail wagging ..read more