Tag: dogs

Dogs, reunited with their owners, cry tears of joy

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Dogs literally cry tears of joy when they see their owners after they’ve been away, scientists have found in the first study of its kind that is also totally going to make us cry, too.

Published in the Current Biology journal, this study by Japanese researchers found not only that dogs shed happy tears, but also that the love hormone oxytocin — the same one that causes humans to feel emotional bonds with each other and with animals — may be underlying that mechanism.

Researcher and paper co-writer Takefumi Kikusui of Azabu University in Japan said in a press release about the study that he first began to wonder about oxytocin tears in dogs when his standard poodle gave birth to puppies about six years ago. He noticed then that his dog had tears in her eyes as she nursed the puppies, and has been fascinated by the topic ever since.

My parents bought my first dog for me when I was 5 years old. An Alaskan Husky, his name was Hank. And that’s about all I can put down on this page, right now.

A dog named “VOLVO” helps save elephants

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Volvo. Flex. Thor. Asja. Lennon. Enrico. Do these names ring a bell? They’re sniffer dogs – a pack of superheroes fighting to save Africa’s wildlife.

These dogs and their friends are part of AWF’s Canines for Conservation program. They can detect scents about 100,000 times better than humans. The result: Since the program launched in 2014, our highly trained squad of dog-handler teams have detected over 560 finds of wildlife contraband – ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales, and more…

Tail wagging and nose working, they sniff through thousands of packages a day and cover dozens of miles to identify wildlife contraband. Nothing makes a sniffer dog happier than detecting a “find.”

By following the scent of wildlife products, these heroic dogs sniff out contraband in major ports. Since the program’s inception, detection dogs working in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have recovered more than 5,000 kg of raw ivory being trafficked…

That’s just one trafficking arrest of many, thanks to our heroic teams. And the best part? Every time there’s an arrest, poachers get the message: if you traffic wildlife, you’ll get caught. Period.

Visit their website, The AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION. Yes, of course, it’s a fundraising site. You will learn a bit more about why they’re someone deserving our support.

The First Nation came to the Americas ~15,000 years ago. They brought their dogs.

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Ettore Mazza

An international team of researchers led by archaeologist Dr. Angela Perri, of Durham University, UK, looked at the archaeological and genetic records of ancient people and dogs.

They found that the first people to cross into the Americas before 15,000 years ago, who were of northeast Asian descent, were accompanied by their dogs.

The researchers say this discovery suggests that dog domestication likely took place in Siberia before 23,000 years ago. People and their dogs then eventually travelled both west into the rest of Eurasia, and east into the Americas…

The Americas were one of the last regions in the world to be settled by people. By this same time, dogs had been domesticated from their wolf ancestors and were likely playing a variety of roles within human societies.

Nicely enough, they still do.

Anthrax vs. cancer…Researchers think they can cure dogs. We’re next in line.

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Nicole Ehrhart

Can the feared anthrax toxin become an ally in the war against cancer? Successful treatment of pet dogs suffering bladder cancer with an anthrax-related treatment suggest so…

Among all cancers, the one affecting the bladder is the sixth most common and in 2019 caused more than 17,000 deaths in the U.S. Of all patients that receive surgery to remove this cancer, about 70% will return to the physician’s office with more tumors. This is psychologically devastating for the patient and makes the cancer of the bladder one of the most expensive to treat.

To make things worse, currently there is a worldwide shortage of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, a bacterium used to make the preferred immunotherapy for decreasing bladder cancer recurrence after surgery. This situation has left doctors struggling to meet the needs of their patients. Therefore, there is a clear need for more effective strategies to treat bladder cancer…

In collaboration with colleagues at Indiana University medical school, Harvard University and MIT, we designed a strategy to eliminate tumors using the modified toxin. Together we demonstrated that this novel approach allowed us to eliminate tumor cells taken from human, dog and mouse bladder cancer.

Read on!

UPS Driver Snaps Photos of Dogs on his Route

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❝ Jason Hardesty is a self-proclaimed “easily entertained UPS driver” with a collection of furry friends. Since starting a new route in New Orleans two years ago, Jason has had the chance to meet with many adorable dogs — and get some quality photo ops out of their interactions. His heart-melting canine snaps continue to grow in popularity, resulting in over 36,000 followers on his Instagram account…

❝ Jason doesn’t have a dog of his own, so playing around with these pups brings him (and the dogs’ owners) a lot of happiness. “

RTFA and then click through the boxes with question marks at the bottom of the article – and see more dogs along his route.