Mood:  lyrical

Dog owners have healthier hearts than people who don’t have pets, research suggests.

And those who already have cardiac problems may be more likely to survive if they have the companionship of a pet.

The American Heart Association reviewed studies from around the world and concluded pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, ‘is probably associated with a decreased risk of heart disease’.

The strongest data comes from studies which show that dog owners walk far more than other people.

Research also credits pets with relieving stress and having a beneficial effect on obesity and cholesterol levels. Glenn Levine, who led the study, said there may also be a psychological benefit from simple companionship.

The American Heart Association said the research doesn’t actually prove that the benefits come directly from the pets.

For instance, it may be that healthier people are particularly likely to be animal lovers.

However, the links are strong enough for it to have issued a statement saying that pet ownership and, particularly dog ownership, may be associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.

Read more: dailymail.co.uk

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 00:01 MEST

Updated: Wednesday, 19 June 2013 01:56 MEST

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Mood:  energetic

HE knows when you're on your way home, he understands when you've had a bad day and he might even be able to save your life. So does your four-legged friend have mystic powers?

Dogs do amazing things. Anyone who has shared their life with a canine companion will tell you they're the most compassionate and responsive of creatures, often behaving as if they can read our minds, or have some sort of extrasensory perception.

Some people believe that's exactly what they do have. After all, there are countless tales of dogs who have appeared to foresee the future, predicting and even averting accidents and disasters.

Then there are pets who have made incredible journeys in order to reunite themselves with their owners. So much of what dogs do is baffling to the point of being inexplicable. But can they really be psychic?

Scientists argue that what appears to be a sixth sense is actually a highly enhanced functioning of the existing five.

"Dogs live in a different sensory world to us," explains clinical animal behaviourist Rosie Barclay. "While we perceive the world around us primarily in visual terms, their world is one of scent and hearing."

Read More - express.co.uk

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 01:01 MEST

Updated: Monday, 18 March 2013 02:16 MEST

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Mood:  happy

Dogs are more capable of understanding situations from a human's point of view than has previously been recognised, according to researchers.

They found dogs were four times more likely to steal food they had been forbidden, when lights were turned off so humans in the room could not see.

This suggested the dogs were able to alter their behaviour when they knew their owners' perspective had changed.

The study, published in Animal Cognition, conducted tests on 84 dogs.

The experiments had been trying to find whether dogs could adapt their behaviour in response to the changed circumstances of their human owners.

It wanted to see if dogs had a "flexible understanding" that could show they understood the viewpoint of a human.

Read More - BBC

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 01:01 CET

Updated: Thursday, 14 February 2013 01:12 CET

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Mood:  d'oh

Thousands of blackbirds dropped dead on New Year's Eve in Arkansas in an incident eerily similar to one that occurred at the same time a year ago.

The disturbing deaths in Beebe, a city northwest of Little Rock, were sparked after loud fireworks sent flocks of the small birds into a panic, scientists said. This caused them to collide with each other, as well as power lines, houses and cars.

Full Story from nydailynews.com

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 12:23 CET

Updated: Sunday, 8 January 2012 18:41 CET

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Mood:  happy

The ancient Chinese practice of eating dog meat may be at an end for good in one province which has celebrated the practice for over 600 years. And all thanks to Twitter. Actually, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, that is.

The yearly festival was shut down by authorities in Qianxi township in coastal Zhejiang province after an uproar over slaughtering practices erupted on weibo.com, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter (with over 100 million users... and counting).

But it's not the dog eating itself that's being banned. It's the slaughter, skinning and sale of the dog meat which outraged festival goers.

Full Story from news.gather.com

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 11:35 MEST

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Mood:  happy

Dave the dolphin whistles, and his friend Alan whistles back. We can't yet decipher their calls, but some of the time Dave may be calling: "Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan!"

Stephanie King of the University of St Andrews, UK, and colleagues monitored 179 pairs of wild bottlenose dolphins off the Florida coast between 1988 and 2004. Of these, 10 were seen copying each other's signature whistles, which the dolphins make to identify themselves to each other.

The behaviour has never been documented before, and was only seen in pairs composed of a mother and her calf or adults who would normally move around and hunt together.

Full Story from newscientist.com

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 10:21 MEST

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Mood:  happy

Labrador Retrievers are known for their hunting skills and friendly dispositions, but Beau, a black Lab who lives in Montana, is winning acclaim for his math abilities.

Owner David Madsen says if he tells Beau there are six dogs at the park and three dogs leave, and then asks him how many are left, the dog replies: "Woof, woof, woof."

Beau has achieved a degree of celebrity for his counting skills, becoming a star on visits to shops, restaurants and cabins in the Flathead Lake resort in Montana where the Madsen family spends summers.

"He counts, he adds and subtracts, he can do some division and has memorized square roots," Madsen said.

Full Story from reuters.com

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 12:07 MEST

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Mood:  d'oh

Action is needed now to prevent nightmarish "Planet Of The Apes" science ever turning from fiction to fact, according to a group of eminent experts.

Their report calls for a new rules to supervise sensitive research that involves humanising animals.

One area of concern is "Category Three" experiments which may raise "very strong ethical concerns" and should be banned.

An example given is the creation of primates with distinctly human characteristics, such as speech.

Exactly the same scenario is portrayed in the new movie Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, in which scientists searching for an Alzheimer's cure create a new breed of ape with human-like intelligence.

Full Story from telegraph.co.uk

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 09:05 MEST

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Mood:  bright

A tiny chihuahua became a crime-fighting hero on July 7 when he chased off two armed robbers from a Southern California cigar store.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department released this surveillance footage from the Ace Smoke Shop in Altadena that shows two masked men entering the establishment with a rifle and a backpack. At first the robbers demand money from store owner Eric Knight, who starts putting cash in the backpack offscreen.

They're interrupted by the store owner's dog, who begins barking ferociously at the armed robbers.

Full Story from huffingtonpost.com

Posted by Neil Bartlett DHyp M.A.E.P.H at 17:37 MEST

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