Category Archives: News from Web

Conservation Employs Dogs to ‘Find It’

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small dog follows a track in autumn - Jack Russell TerrierAnn Gafke’s Teacher’s Pet, 325 E. Dripping Springs Rd, Columbia, MO 65202
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To find the hard-to-find, dogs are increasingly assigned that task in conservation projects around the world.  That is the conclusion of a study published in the Methods in Ecology and Evolution – by the British Ecological Society.  https://bit.ly/3sd2Y6h

While you and your dog may never be asked to search for an elusive lizard or the like, you can have fun putting your dog’s nose to work in the search exercises we teach.  https://bit.ly/3sbS14T

Researchers examined reports of 2,464 search cases, most of them (1,840) scientific projects.

They found “WDD (wildlife detection dogs) usually worked more effectively than other monitoring methods. For each species group, regardless of breed, detection dogs were better than other methods in 88.71% of all cases and only worse in 0.98%.”

Canine tasks vary widely from locating seedlings of invasive plants, the scat of endangered species or animal parts the product of poaching. See Working Dogs for Conservation, a non-profit organization with headquarters in Missoula, MT https://wd4c.org/about-us

 

Is Your Dog Among the 20 Most Popular Breeds in 2020?

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King puppy dog wearing his royal gold crown, 3d illustration render

Ann Gafke’s Teacher’s Pet, 325 E. Dripping Springs Rd, Columbia, MO 65202
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According to this survey, the top three – Mixed Breeds, Labs and Chihuahuas. This survey conducted by the pet sitting service, Rover and published on its blog – THE DOG PEOPLE –  is sure to generate some discussion – who’s on the list – who’s not. Here is a link to the details. To generate the list of most popular, Rover surveyed its clients about their dogs.

Give Your Dog A Job – UK Study Lists The Naughtiest Breeds

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Ann Gafke’s Teacher’s Pet, 325 E. Dripping Springs Rd, Columbia, MO 65202
Phone: (573) 443-0716 or Email: Contact Us
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This entertaining report created by dog trainer Graeme Hall lists the five naughtiest dog breeds – dogs most in need of training, exercise and guidance from their families.

Let us help you keep your dog off the ‘naughty’ list.

The UK information came from a survey by the GoodMove, a home buying company in the United Kingdom, among its clients. How would you rate your dog?  What breed would you put at the top of the naughty list?

All dogs need jobs to do, and if one doesn’t create the job for their dog, the dog most likely will create the dog’s own – often one we don’t want.

Their ranking had Labs, Border Collies and Beagles at the top of their list. Read the article to find the other two.

 

Will the Robot Replace the Live Dog for Therapy Visits

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Robot and Dog Look at each other (Adobe Stock)Ann Gafke’s Teacher’s Pet, 325 E. Dripping Springs Rd, Columbia, MO 65202
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Those of us with therapy dogs would say “No way a robot could replace the benefits my therapy dog brings to people we serve.”

But this research study published on the web portal, Big Think, suggests the answer may be – Yes in some situations.  Researchers at the University of Portsmouth in England observed children interacting with live dogs and robotic dogs.  The children ages 11 and 12 interacted with the robot more.

The researchers suggested robotic dogs might be useful in situations where live animals are not appropriate  –  for example, with allergy sufferers and in places were live animals are not permitted.  The researchers also speculated that the robotic dogs might have  service roles too – suggesting it would be easier to bring one’s robotic emotional support creature onboard an airplane.

https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/emotional-support-robots?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

Where Does Your Dog Rank Among the Smartest

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Ann Gafke’s Teacher’s Pet, 325 E. Dripping Springs Rd, Columbia, MO 65202
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In week’s edition, Newsweek publishes a list of the 63 smartest dog breeds. The article ranks them from 63rd to first – An interesting read.

The rankings come from the primary book on the subject, The Intelligence of Dogs, my Professor Stanley Coren.  Coren based his ranking on obedience, working and adaptive intelligences. He described adaptive intelligence as a dog’s ability to problem-solve on its own. His research included surveys among dog owners, rankings from obedience trail judges and collaboration with the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs.

The article has pictures of breed representatives and brief descriptions. It provides an estimate of how many repetitions it takes for a dog to learn a command and what percent of the time the dog complies with a command given the first time.

https://www.newsweek.com/these-are-63-smartest-dog-breeds-1554265

 

 

49 dogs serve in courtrooms in 17 states

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Foster, a chocolate lab, began his courtroom duty last week in Anniston, Alabama.  He is owned by the judge, trained at the University, and supervised in his courtroom duty by another court employee.  Foster’s duty is the help children and adults to must testify in family court.  He got his name from Judge Laura Phillips, who intended to provide him only a temporary home.  That won’t happen now.

Border Collie/Corgi helps 4-year-old boy

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Here is a touching story of a 4-year-old Montana boy and the dog that serves him. The boy suffers fainting spells brought on by stress.  The dog keeps him calm and can help revive him with licks when fainting happens.  Family is seeking funds to expand the dog’s training.  The boy says he hopes to teach the dog to ride his bike.

Of course our dogs love us

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Here’s a video showing how a science team at Emory University is trying to study what goes on inside a dog’s brain when they encounter their people’s scent.  Team needs to teach dogs to sit still inside an MRI. Evidence suggests brain activity of the dogs is similar to that in humans.

Dog shootings – who is to blame – documentary planned

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Here is a substantial discussion of the issue of police shooting dogs when they fear for their safety.  Campaign underway on Kickstarter to raise donations for a video documentary.  Writer notes issue began with drug dealers using vicious dogs to protect their products.  Police often blame owners for poor dog training.  Writer asks: Should police have additional training on confronting hostile dogs?