1. When Londoner Chelsea Battle first met her cavapoo Peanut, it was love at first sight. "He's my son," she told CBS News, calling her bond with her dog "one of the most important relationships in my life.” Chelsea adopted Peanut during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their bond is strong, and picking a dog or other pet often comes down to a gut feeling. But computer scientists at the University of East London are hoping to take some of the chance out of the process. They're using artificial intelligence to help predict the personality types of individual dogs, so they can be better matched with humans. (via CBS News)
2. The amount that dogs can sleep may seem unnatural or even alarming to their concerned dog moms and dads. But humans’ sleeping patterns are slightly different from those of our four-legged friends. While humans usually sleep through the night and stay awake during the day, 75% of dogs’ sleep time happens during the night, with the other 25% in the daytime. Dogs have short sleep cycles that last 45 minutes at a time and only spend 10% of their sleep in REM, or the deep-sleep stage. Compare that to our 90-minute cycles with 25% of it spent in REM. As such, dogs need that extra time in the day to catch up on restful sleep. With that in mind, the amount of sleep a dog needs also depends on a few factors, including age, breed and activity level. (via Forbes)
3. Lucchese is not the world’s cutest dog. Picked up as a stray somewhere in Texas, he is scruffy and, as one person aptly observed online, looks a little like Steve Buscemi. (It’s the eyes.). Klee began posting about Luc on TikTok,“Every single video I posted of him went viral.” In one such video, which has attained nearly 4 million views since it was published in October. The idea behind Klee’s posts, as with any foster’s, is to generate attention to help a rescue dog find their forever home: More eyeballs means more possible adopters. But something strange also tends to happen when these videos are posted. Even when the comment sections are mostly positive, a subset of commenters will insist that the foster dog shouldn’t go anywhere—that people like Klee are doing something wrong by searching for the dog’s forever home. (via The Atlantic)
4. Two of April Manning’s children, Mac and Lilah, had just survived the mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. They needed stability and time to grieve. So she did everything she could to keep the family dog, Owen, their sweet but ailing 15-year-old golden retriever, with them for as long as possible. Getting another dog was the furthest thing from her mind. But a few weeks after the shooting, her children sat her down for an important presentation. Prepared with a script and a PowerPoint — “Why We Should Get (Another) Dog” — they rattled through research showing the mental health benefits of having one. It could limit their chances of developing PTSD and help them feel safe. Playing together would get them outside and boost their happiness. Ms. Manning and her husband considered. Maybe a second dog was possible. (via The New York Times)
5. With an abundance of tail wags, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Far East District (FED) welcomed comfort dogs to spend time with its employees as part of a wellness initiative on March 20, 2024, at Camp Humphreys. To support Soldiers and civilians in wellness and resiliency, the American Red Cross Animal Visitation Program (AVP) brings dogs to workplaces to interact with personnel and offer healing and comfort. These dogs are American Kennel Club (AKC) certified Canine Good Citizen (CGC) dogs that have been approved to volunteer at various installations across the peninsula. (via U.S. Army)
6. Last week, individuals and organizations advocating for animals rallied at Los Angeles City Hall and asked our city leaders to do more to fix the overcrowding crisis afflicting our local shelters. Bolder measures are needed now to prevent pet overpopulation. A major part of the solution is to expand public voucher programs to fund low- and no-cost spay and neuter services to prevent unnecessary births and therefore, unwanted animals being brought into shelters. When you multiply it across the number of puppies and kittens in a litter and the number of litters that a mother can have in her lifetime, the upfront investment pales to the cost of caring for these pets in shelters. Simple math shows that spay and neuter funding is a smart investment. (via Los Angeles Daily News)
7. Currently there are more pets than humans in Australia. Those 28.7 million companion animals include dogs, cats, fish, birds and other small animals. Nearly 40 per cent of Australian households own a dog and 27 per cent own a cat, so it should come as no surprise that the pet food industry in Australia is estimated to be worth $5.7 billion. But questions have been raised about what exactly goes into the food we give our pets each day. Carolyn Macgill, the executive officer of the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia (PFIAA), says there's currently "no pet food regulation at all" in Australia. In some countries, such as the United States, it's the government's responsibility to monitor pet foods and act on adverse pet food incidents. Yet, despite a 2018 senate inquiry into the pet food industry where people in the sector called for a government body to oversee the industry in Australia, regulation is still not in place. (via ABC News)
8. More and more dogs are suffering from atopic dermatitis, otherwise known as environmental allergies. According to a 2018 report from Banner Pet Hospital—the latest U.S. numbers on the subject—there’s been a 30% increase in cases over the past 10 years. In 2021, a teaching hospital in Brazil reported that 25% of dogs they examined suffered from allergies. Though dog allergies aren’t consistently tracked, anecdotally, they’re soaring. “Allergic skin disease is probably the top thing we see,” says Erin Tate, vice president of clinical development at CityVet in Dallas. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years and have definitely seen a dramatic increase in recent years.” (via Times Magazine)
9. Dogs, cats and even a pet goat have been blamed for a sharp increase in house fires in Japan, with experts warning that curious critters are causing the conflagrations by playing with igniter buttons on gas stoves. A study by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation found that very few house fires could be linked to pets before 2014 but that the subsequent increase is a result of more people keeping pets, animals being kept in the home when owners are at work and a new generation of push-button gas stoves that are popular with users because the cooking flame is easier to adjust. According to the institute, 61 house fires in the last decade have been linked to pets accidentally starting a blaze in a home. (via South China Morning Post)
Dog Photo of the Week
Photo by Margaret Foxmoore, “Dogs that Serve” (via Museum of the Dog)
Dog Video of the Week
By Reuters, “Can dogs understand words for specific objects?”