Cats and dogs may see flashes of light around power lines

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A couple of weeks ago the PlexiDor blog reported about cats and dogs being able to see in ultraviolet. The ability makes it possible for many animals to see things humans do not, such as threats that would otherwise blend in with the environment and patterns that can lead to food. 

Being able to see like they see would probably be both convenient and amazing in many situations. Flowers, for instance, may have patterns we will never be able to discern. However, due to human interference the ability to see in ultraviolet might also be terrifying.

The Guardian reports that UV cameras can pick up coronal discharges around power lines that humans cannot see with the bare eye. These lights and flashes correspond with the humming we can sometimes hear around power lines.

Naturally, what we see with the aid of a camera is still not the same as animals able to detect ultraviolet frequencies would see, and the cameras can see a narrower range than most animals, but at least it gives us an idea.


We have known for a long time that animals in the wide prefer to avoid power lines, and the popular explanation has been that the corridors cut to accommodate the lines expose animals to predators. However, with power lines looking like glowing and flashing bands across the sky, they might have an unforeseen worldwide impact. Besides disturbing our domestic friends like cats and dogs, they might interfere with migration routes for birds and prevent mammals from going where they need to be.

Burying all power cables does not seem a realistic alternative, but one idea is to put a non-conducting shield around the cables to screen them from view.

Are there hypoallergenic dogs?

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Hypoallergenic means that something is less likely to cause allergic reactions. It doesn’t mean that the food, pet, or rug never causes allergies. The word hypo means lower than normal.

So, are there hypoallergenic dog breeds?

Not really. There are hairless dogs and dogs that shed very little, but allergies aren’t necessarily connected to the pet’s coat. Most allergies are caused by proteins in a pet’s saliva and dander.

A study at the Henry Ford Hospital has analyzed dust samples collected from almost 200 homes. Sixty dog breeds were involved in the study, and eleven of the breeds are considered hypoallergenic.

The conclusion? There is no significant difference between breeds in how much allergens are produced. There can, however, be a difference between individuals of the same breed. Thus, a person with allergies can be able to have one specific pet, even if they’re allergic to other individuals of the same breed.

Most dog lovers will argue that pets are good for children. This is true when it comes to allergies as well; exposure to a dog early in life will provide a certain protection against developing dog allergies.

Some tips to battle allergies:

  • Bathe the pet often. This reduces the amounts of allergen related proteins on both the dog itself and in the air. If a person in the household is allergic, bathing the pet at least twice a week can minimize the allergic reaction.
  • Clean and vacuum often. Use air filters, and consider constricting the pet to certain rooms, so the allergic person can have a safe haven.
  • Smaller dogs might produce less allergens than larger dogs.
To read more about this subject, check out these links:

Pets are welcome

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As society changes, pets are evolving into family members – a process called humanization – and a steadily increasing number of people choose to travel with their loved furry friends. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, 61% of hotels in the US now permit pets. 

Girl and dogOn the website Travelocity, more than 20,500 hotels are listed as pet friendly. The Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group estimates more than 100,000 pets stay in their 60 hotels each year, and 99% of these pets are dogs. The Essex Resort and Spa in Vermont has between 10 and 15 animals each night, and that makes up around 10% of their business.

Going back just a few years, pets could be allowed at a hotel, but people weren’t encouraged to bring them. This has also changed.

Today, many hotels welcome furry visitors with water bowls, pet-icures, dog Reiki, pet sitting, and more. It’s not just a gimmick; many hotels get a decent extra income from catering to pets. On the other hand, pet lovers can bring Speckles and Fido, and having the pet by one’s side provides company, comfort, joy, and freedom from worry.

If you’re looking for a pet-friendly hotel, the websites petswelcome.com, bringfido.com, andtripswithpets.com can assist in finding the right place.

PTSD amongst military dogs

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Amongst 650 military dogs deployed with American combat forces nearly five percent came down with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These dogs have been subjected to gunfire, explosions, and other combat scenarios, and react just like humans do.

Military veterinarians say it can show through dogs becoming clingy or aggressive, they might refuse to enter areas where they used to be comfortable, or become hyper-vigilent and set off alarms whether there’s something to worry about or not.

Dogs affected should be taken off their patrol duty, given lots of exercise, play time, and gentle obedience training.

Another similarity with humans is that dogs don’t have to go to war to enter a state of extreme stress. Other causes for PTSD in both species are natural disasters, car accidents, and physical or emotional trauma.

If you want to read more about dogs with PTSD, these websites provide a good starting point:

Sunshine story; police officer adopts five deaf dogs

Pet information

A Virginia Detective, Mac Adams, has been involved with rescuing deaf dogs since 2010 when he adopted his dog Pickles from the Richmond Animal Care and Control. Since then, he has gotten four more; Nea, Piglet, Opal, and Mortimer.

Detective Mac Adams with his five deaf dogs. Photo from Facebook

Adams says there are 56 breeds of dogs prone to deafness. The puppies are born deaf and don’t know they’re supposed to hear, but it can be an obstacle in first figuring out a means of communication. Once the connection is made he thinks they pay a lot more attention to their person than hearing dogs, and might even be easier to train because they’re not distracted by sounds around them.

Four of the deaf dogs in the Adams’ household are Pitbulls, and he works on educating people about the breed. He says they are a great breed, generally gentle, calm, and good natured, but used for nefarious purposes by a small potion of the population.

Read more about Mac Adams and his dogs in this article on dogheirs.com.

Fun dog facts

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Kooikerhondje

  • The Greyhound is considered the fastest dog on Earth. They can run 45 miles per hour.
  • The Irish Wolfhound is the largest dog breed.
  • The Great Dane is the tallest dog.
  • The Great Dane really originated in Germany, not in Denmark.
  • The Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed.
  • The St. Bernard is the heaviest dog breed.
  • The oldest dog in the world was an Australian cattle-dog named Bluey. He lived to be over 29 years.
  • Dogs have twice as many muscles for moving their ears as people.

Dogs are sensitive to the Earth’s magnetic field

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Dogs are sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field
Supercomputer model of the Earth’s magnetic field. Source: nasa.gov

The Earth has a magnetic field. Many people only come in contact with it through the use of a compass, but it has great importance for every living being on the planet. Amongst other things, it shields us from solar radiation.

In theory, the field is straight and neat with a magnetic north pole close to the geographic north pole, and a magnetic south pole close to the geographic south pole. In reality, it’s a bit more complicated, but for the sake of discussion, north and south are quite sufficient.

So, what does this have to do with pets?

Good question. Scientists at the Czech University of Life Sciences along with the zoology department at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany have studied dogs doing the “potty dance” and found that dogs prefer to align their body axis with the planet’s magnetic field. They prefer the North-South direction, and avoid the East-West direction.

While the reason for the magnetic preference remains unknown, this is the first time magnetic sensitivity has been proven in dogs. It is also the first time a mammal has been unambiguously proven to be sensitive to small changes in magnetic polarity.

The scientists believe there might a biological explanation to the phenomenon. Birds are thought to navigate with assistance of the magnetic field, and dogs might also have a “magnetic map” aiding them with their sense of direction. This could explain how some dogs are able to hike home across the country after being separated from their owners, or after a move.

70 dogs from 37 different breeds participated in the experiment, and their habits were studied over a period of two years. You can read more here, and see the report here.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Earth’s magnetic field, this Introduction to Geomag can be a good starting point, along with this article on Nasa’s website.

Velcro dogs

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Most dogs want to be with their person and some are virtually glued to their human. It is important to understand that a dog following their person around isn’t necessarily a sign of separation anxiety. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

Humans are social being, to a certain extent. Most of us value alone time, even if it’s just a few stolen minutes in the car or taking a bath. Dogs have no concept of “alone time.” They want to be with their pack at all times, and for a domesticated dog that pack equals their human.

Protect paws from snow and ice

Pet information

Spring is just around the corner, but parts of the world are still living through a cold and snowy winter. Many dog owners reason that it’s natural for dogs to be outside in the snow, and that wolves are outside in the snow all winter long, so dogs shouldn’t need special winter protection. The problem with this line of thought is that humans have created an artificial environment where dog’s feet come in contact with substances that don’t exist in the forests where wolves run.

Most northern dog owners are aware of lumps of snow catching on their dogs’ paws. It is less known that most de-icers are toxic to dogs. A sidewalk that looks clean and pleasant might be covered in salt or other chemicals which can hurt the dog’s feet. The paw pads can dry out and crack, they can get frostbite, and chemical burns.

What can dog owners do to protect their pooches?

Dog booties make great winter protection and work against both frostbite and salt. As a bonus they also give some protection against the burning hot asphalt in summer. Using the booties can take some practice. Praise the dog for having them on, start with short periods of time inside the house, and gradually increase the length of time. When it’s time to move the training outside, start with short walks.

If booties isn’t an option, there is paw wax specially formulated to create a barrier between the dog’s paws and whatever might be on the ground. This might not be as effective as boots, but it is definitely better than nothing at all.

Trim the hair around the paws and between the paw pads. This helps prevent snow and ice balls that can hurt the dog’s feet. Also make sure the nails are trimmed, because long nails will force the paw pads to separate when the dog walks, and this increases the risk of snow and ice building up between the pads.

When the walk is over, whether the dog wears boots, wax, or nothing, it is important to wash the paws with warm water at once. If they’re given a chance to lick their feet they might ingest salt and other dangerous chemicals.

Good to know: Dogs are susceptible to both frostbite and hypothermia. Use common sense and watch out for the dog shivering, appearing anxious, or moving slowly.

Most popular dog breeds in 2013

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The AKC releases a list of dog registration statistics each year, revealing the most popular dogs of the breed. The list for 2013 is here, and even if there weren’t changes in the top ten, positions eleven to twenty saw many differences from 2012. 

 Breed  2013  2012  2008  2003
 Labrador Retriever  1  1  1  1
 German Shepherd  2 2  3  4
 Golden Retriever  3 3 4 2
 Beagle  4 4  5  3
 Bulldog  5 5  8  16
 Yorkshire Terrier  6  6 2  6
 Boxer  7  7  6  7
 Poodle  8  8 9  8
 Rottweiler  9  9 14  15
 Dachshund  10  10  7  5
 French Bulldog  11 14 26  54
 Doberman Pincher  12 12 18  22
 German Shorthair Pointer  13 15  16  21
 Siberian Husky  14 16 23  23
 Shih Tzu  15  11  10  9
 Great Dane  16  17  22  27
 Miniature Schnauzer  17  13  11  11
 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel  18  20  25  35
 Pomeranian 19 19  13  13
 Australian Shepherds  20  22  29  34

Some breeds have been on decline over the past decade but made strong gains in 2013. Giant Schnauzers rose from position 96 to 83. Keeshonden climbed from 103 to 86, and Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever from 104 to 97.

Big and small in the dog world

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Dogs come in many shapes and sizes. Zeus is currently the biggest of them all. This world record holder is a Great Dane from Michigan and with 44 inches from foot to withers he measures the same size as an average donkey. If he stands on his hind legs, he reaches 7 feet 4 inches.

Zeus weighs 155 pounds and eats around 12 cups of food every day. He’s too big to ride in the back of a car, and his family had to buy a van to be able to transport him.

The world’s smallest dog is a 2 year old Chihuahua from Puerto Rico. Milly stands 3.8 inches tall when measured from backbone to paw, and weighs around 1 pound. She is shorter than a can of soup.

When Milly was born, she weighed less than an ounce and fit in a teaspoon. She was too small to nurse from her mother, and the family gave her milk every two hours from an eyedropper. Today she eats twice a day and prefers small meals of salmon or chicken.

The smallest dog in terms of length is also a Chihuahua. Brandy lives in Florida, weighs two pounds, and measures 6 inches from her nose to the tip of her tail.

Where did dogs originate?

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Dogs and humans have been partners for a long time. No one knows exactly how long, but there is a 12,000 year old burial site in Israel containing the body of a woman and her puppy.

Some scientists think the association between dogs/wolves and people might go back as far as 100,000 years. (“Multiple and ancient origins of the domestic dogs” by C Vila.)

Another intriguing question is: where did the dogs come from?

The oldest known doglike fossil comes from Europe. DNA studies have implicated that dogs would come from east Asia and the Middle East, but new DNA studies point towards Europe. This latest research indicates that dogs might have indeed have originated in Europe, and this would have happened some 32,000 years ago.

The study gathered DNA from fossils of 18 ancient wolflike and doglike creatures that lived up to 36,000 years ago in Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, and the United States. They compared this genetic material with samples from wolves from North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East along with 77 different dog breeds and four coyotes.

The DNA of modern dogs showed similarities to the DNA from ancient European specimens as well as modern day European wolves.

This doesn’t mean that Europe is the only place where dogs developed. The continent played a major part in the domestication process of dogs as we know them today, but a parallel development might have taken place in other parts of the world.

Selective breeding changes positioning of dog brains

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Humans have bred dogs for specific characteristics such as appearance, intelligence, herding instinct, and hunting instinct for well over 10,000 years. For the first time, scientists show that breeding not only changes the way the animals look, but also drives major changes in the dogs’ brains.

No other animal has been impacted by humans in the same way as dogs, and while it is well know that selective breeding from a small gene pool affects dogs’ physical health, for example through breed specific disorders, most haven’t considered just how much their bodies have adapted.

Researches from University of New South Wales and University of Sydney have found a dramatic reorganization in the brain of certain dog breeds. The brains in many short-snouted breeds have rotated forward as much as 15 degrees and relocated entire brain regions, for example the region controlling smell.

In pug-like breeds with a flat skull shape, the smell centre has drifted down to the lowest position in the skull. The next step will be to investigate just how much this impacts the dogs’ behavior.

Pet Dental Health Month

Pet information

Cats and dogs need dental care just as people, and February is Pet Dental Health Month – the American Veterinary Medical Association’s annual effort to remind pet owners to care for their pets’ teeth.

Periodontal infections have been linked to several major disorders such as diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease. It is the most common health problem veterinarians find in pets. By the age of two, an estimated 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats already have some form of periodontal disease.

There are many good products to help keep pets clean, such as dental chews, wipes, gel, and spray. Brushing is still the best thing. Use a toothpaste formulated for pets, and a pet toothbrush. Older pets can be finicky, but start with short periods of time and make it into a routine.