Tag Archives: dogs

Does your dog look you in the eye?

07 Thursday Apr 2022

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That’s love. Dr. Brian Hare founded the Canine Cognition Center at Duke University – and he says, when your dog gives you eye contact, she’s quote, “hugging you with her eyes.” Because it triggers the release of the bonding hormone oxytocin – the same hormone that helps mothers and babies bond. If you want to test this out, try to naturally maintain eye contact when you’re interacting with your dog and see how she responds. But only do this with your own dog. A strange dog may consider eye contact aggressive.

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Your dog’s favorite music!

25 Friday Mar 2022

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You may prefer to relax to The Beatles or maybe Adele or Maroon 5. But your dog has favorite relaxation music, too. And she’d probably prefer Bob Marley. Scottish researchers found dogs seem to prefer reggae and soft rock over other music genres. Because when they played various tunes in a shelter, the dogs were calmer and lay down longer while listening to reggae or soft rock, as opposed to Motown, pop or even classical. And they showed a measurable decrease in stress levels.

So, want your dog to be more relaxed – especially when you’re away? Tune the radio to some reggae or soft rock.

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Pets are great stress relievers!

16 Friday Apr 2021

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And a new study out of Queen Mary University in London says, if we just gave them a chance, goats could be our new best friends! The researchers say goats have the same capacity to bond with humans as puppies do – by looking into humans’ eyes. And the researchers say when there’s eye contact with a goat, the bonding hormone oxytocin is released in both the goat and the human. The behavior is called “directed gazing.” And domesticated horses do it, as well as dogs and goats. 

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When’s the last time you washed your pet’s food bowl?

01 Tuesday Sep 2020

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Well, you may want to stick it in the dishwasher, because it’s one of the germiest things in your house! The product testing organization NSF International found most pet bowls contain things like yeast, mold, and bacteria like E.coli.

Most of us pet owners don’t think the bowls are a problem. But in a recent study, out of 30 items swabbed and tested from people’s homes, pet bowls ranked near the top of the list!

But things like salmonella and E.coli can fester in your pet’s bowl – making your pet very sick. And even if you accidentally touch the bowl or pick it up, it can make YOU horribly sick, too. The researchers say pet bowls should be washed daily. And if you feed your pet raw food, it should be washed after every meal. Also, the experts say get rid of any plastic bowls altogether. Because germs are more likely to hide and multiply in the cracks of plastic bowls – more so than in ceramic or stainless steel pet-food bowls.

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Your dog’s favorite music!

13 Thursday Aug 2020

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You may prefer to relax to The Beatles or maybe Adele or Maroon 5. But your dog has favorite relaxation music, too. And she’d probably prefer Bob Marley. Scottish researchers found dogs seem to prefer reggae and soft rock over other music genres. Because when they played various tunes in a shelter, the dogs were calmer and lay down longer while listening to reggae or soft rock, as opposed to Motown, pop or even classical. And they showed a measurable decrease in stress levels.

So, want your dog to be more relaxed – especially when you’re away? Tune the radio to some reggae or soft rock.

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Do your pets keep you awake?

06 Monday Jul 2020

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Don’t shoot the messenger here, but cats are more likely to ruin your sleep than dogs. Sleep specialist Dr. Michael Breus says dogs usually sleep through the night. But cats are more disruptive than any other animal because they’re nocturnal. In the wild, nighttime is when cats do a lot of their hunting. But a house cat will simply walk all over you, gallop around the house, or bat their toys around while you’re trying to sleep. And in order to get the rest you need, you may need to make your bedroom off-limits to your cats at night.

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Which is better for our health: Dogs or cats?

03 Monday Dec 2018

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Sorry, cat-people, but DOGS win! Dr. Lori Kogan, clinical science professor at Colorado State, says dogs need to be walked, making us more physically active. Walking our dogs also means meeting other dog owners, or dog-lovers that just want to say “hi,” which triggers production of feel-good hormones. Plus: Growing up with a dog lowers a person’s risk of allergies and asthma. But before cat lovers get their claws out, ALL pets improve our health. Because they provide stress relief and a mood-boosting dose of oxytocin every time we snuggle, play with, or even just look at them.

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The FDA says toss the bones from your meals…

12 Wednesday Sep 2018

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…DON’T feed them to your dogs. They can cause broken teeth, mouth and tongue injuries and constipation. Plus, sharp bone fragments can get stuck in a dog’s esophagus or stomach, requiring surgery. And if bone fragments poke holes in a dog’s stomach or intestines, it can cause a severe abdominal bacterial infection – which will require an emergency visit to your vet, because it can kill your dog.

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Xylitol and your pets

27 Wednesday Jun 2018

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We’ve talked before about how toxic xylitol is to pets (cats and dogs)… that’s the artificial sweetener found in a lot of sugar-free foods. But your dog is most likely to encounter xylitol in sugar-free gum that’s been spit out on the street or sidewalk. And if your dog gets it on their paws, and tries to lick it off, they could get really sick. So always check your dog’s paws after a walk… and if there’s gum stuck to their pads, get some vegetable oil and rub it all around. It’ll practically disintegrate the gum within seconds – so you can safely wipe it away.

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Guys, this may be a sensitive subject – but here goes…

29 Monday Jan 2018

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When you’re around a dog, even the family dog – be alert and protect your privates. Because dog bites to the groin are becoming more and more common. This is according to animal behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman from Tufts University.

He says dogs focus in on where the pheromones are coming from – and that’s the groin region. So, just like a dog will sniff you there – it’s likely to bite you there, too.

And by the way, these aren’t just dog bites from unfamiliar animals. Dr. Dodman says 75% of bites come from dogs people know and trust. That’s why self-defense expert Loren Christensen says to adopt this stance when you’re right in front of a dog: Put your left leg forward, right leg back. That way, there’s not a clear path to your groin.

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