40 dog behaviors explained

Dog owners often say their furry companions understand them better than anyone — sensing sadness, excitement, or the need for comfort without a single word. But how many truly understand their dog’s behavior in return? If you’ve ever puzzled over your pup’s quirks, wonder no more! We’re diving deep into the canine mind to uncover the secrets behind their actions, helping you connect with your four-legged friend like never before.

***

Well actually 39, since 36 and 37 should be combined.

written by Sadan Nair [this is the article that I first saw on my phone]

Lucky Dog

[1/11/14 8:13 AM] A new show by CBS takes on a topic we'd like to see more of in network TV: shelter dogs. In Lucky Dog, airing Saturday mornings and premiering this weekend, animal trainer and behaviorist Brandon McMillan, the host, visits his local shelter to rescue "hard-to-love, out-of control, untrained, and unadoptable dogs." Then he takes the dog back to his ranch for training before finding each one a home.

This doesn't seem to be a shoddy operation. According to his bio, McMillan trained as many as 10,000 dogs for television, movies, commercials, videos, and people before he started visiting shelters to rescue dogs, train them, and find homes for them.

"Over 1.5 million dogs are euthanized every year in America because they can't find homes. I'm just doing my part," he says on the show's website.

For the show, he spends each week at a shelter, evaluating dogs before picking one for the episode. Ultimately, he'll save 22 dogs in 22 weeks during the run of the show.

"I can only take one out. That means I have to walk by 99 I can't take. All 100 are very trainable, very place-able, and just as smart as the next dog. Often the one I choose just comes down to one I make a connection with," McMillan told the AP.

***

Any videos online?

Not on hulu.

Here's a promo.  And a short segment.  And more short segments from the cbs website. And a longer segment from Brandon McMillan (he trains wild animals too, like tigers, elephants, bears, etc.)  And the facebook page.

*** [9/10/14]

I see the episodes are on the CBS app on my ipad, but oddly not at cbs.com.  Wait here it is on cbsdreamteam.com.

*** [9/13/14]  Hey, I see Lucky Dog is on Hulu too.  Maybe it was there for a while, but I never took notice.  Actually now I see it's on Hulu Plus, but not on Hulu (the opposite of Good Dog!)

[10/31/24]  I believe Lucky Dog used to be on Pluto, but no longer.  I'm disappointed that Paramount+ doesn't have any episodes since the show airs on CBS.

I do have some episodes recorded on YouTube TV and now they're showing somewhat repackaged episodes with Brandon McMillan titled Lucky Dog: Reunions.

I see that some seasons (4,5,6) are now on Xumo on their XPlore channel.  But its somewhat difficult to navigate to.  Go to Xplore on the Live guide and click OK.  That plays the current show airing.  Click down, then click right to go to Network Info.  Then click OK.  From there, there's a number of On Demand shows you can access including Jack Hannah's Wild Countdown Seasons 1-5, Season 6, Season 7, Season 8; The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation Season 1, 2, 3, 4-5; Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin Season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Journey with Dylan Dreyer Season 1, 2; Rock the Park Season 2, 3, 4, 5; Game Changers Season 1, 2, 3; Lucky Dog Season 4, 5, 6; The Voyager with Josh Garcia Season 2, 3; Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin Season 1, 2, 3.  They're currently showing Oh Baby!, but I don't see it available On Demand.

Over on the Rovr channel on Prime Video, they were showing Lucky Dog.  But no On Demand is avaialable.  I believed they early were showing Kel Mitchell's Best Friends Fur-Ever earlier, which I wish was available On Demand somewhere. 

[2/3/25] Dabl is now playing reruns on Best Friends Fur-Ever on Sundays.

[3/25/25] Lucky Dog: Reunions is now on Paramount+.  They have it as Season 12, so apparently they regard it as a continuation of Lucky Dog.  Trakt.TV has Lucky Dog only going up to Season 10.  TMDB similarly has only 10 seasons.  IMDb has 12 seasons.  Google has it as a separate series with 2 seasons so far.

dog years

[7/5/20] Dogs do not simply age at seven times the rate of humans, scientists have found in a study that reveals young dogs might be “older” than previously thought.

The findings suggest a one-year-old puppy is actually about 30 in “human years” – an age when humans, at least, might be expected to have stopped running riot with the toilet paper.

Writing in the journal Cell Systems, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine describe how they focused on epigenetic changes to DNA – modifications that don’t change the DNA sequence but can switch genes on or off.

In particular the team compared the way the particular molecules, called methyl groups, accumulated in certain areas of the human genome over time with how they accumulated in similar areas in the dog genome.

The results, which draw on genetic data from about a hundred labrador retrievers from puppies to elderly animals, reveal every human year is not equivalent to seven dog years.

Instead the situation is more complex, with dogs showing far more rapid accumulation of methyl groups in their genome than us within their first year or so, suggesting they age at a much faster rate. However the rate of ageing in dogs, compared with humans, slows down as the years roll by.

Indeed, the findings suggest a one-year-old dog would have a “human age” of about 30, while by the age of four they’d be about 54 in “human years” and by 14 years old they would be on a par with a human in their mid-70s.

The relationship, the team say, is described by the formula: human age = 16 ln(dog_age) + 31. In maths, ln refers to the natural logarithm of a number.

The team say the work now needs to be repeated in other breeds of dog. But, they say, for young and old dogs, the relationship seems to reflect the ages at which humans and dogs experience particular milestones.

“For instance, the epigenome translated seven weeks in dogs to nine months in humans, corresponding to the infant stage when deciduous teeth erupt in both puppies and babies,” the team wrote in a preprint of the study. “In seniors, the expected lifespan of labrador retrievers, 12 years, correctly translated to the worldwide lifetime expectancy of humans, 70 years.

Prof Lucy Asher, an expert in canine puberty at Newcastle University who was not involved in the research, welcomed the study.

“If we think about ageing in terms of how old our cells are, this new paper is really useful in matching up human and dog years,” she said, adding such biological ageing is important for medical and veterinary health.

But, Asher added, the match breaks down if ageing is considered in terms of behaviours, hormones or growth – meaning we shouldn’t be surprised at the escapades of young dogs.

“Whilst a 30-year-old human might have cells of an analogous ‘age’ to a one-year-old dog, many dogs won’t be fully grown at this time and they will still have unsettled hormones and behaviour associated with puberty,” she said, noting that one-year-old dogs act more like human teenagers.

“The development of dogs is not just a shortened version of the human development, which is why it’s difficult to find a clear match-up between a dog’s age and a human’s age.”

***

[1/5/25] Is my dog ‘old’? Vets finally have the answers

Seven dog years equaling one human year is a myth.

The calculation of seven dog years to one human year is a common and persistent myth regarding dog age. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 15 human years is equal to the first year of a medium-sized dog’s life. The second year of life is about nine years for a person. After age two, each human year approximately five years for a dog. This more staggered year comparison and the breed-specific differences in aging, makes comparing our ages with dogs even more tricky.

In the new study, a team from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom analyzed a database of veterinary electronic health records called the Small Animal Surveillance Network. They found that smaller breeds–such as Jack Russell terriers–tend to age more slowly. They might be considered old when they are closer to 14. Larger breeds like labrador retrievers, are considered older almost two years earlier at 12. 

The team also identified the top five health concerns that affect older dogs. The first concern was weight related issues (35 percent), including weight loss and being too heavy or underweight. Musculoskeletal problems including mobility challenges and stiffness came in second at 33 percent. Tartar buildup, periodontal disease, and other dental conditions came in at 31 percent. Skin related problems–lumps, infections, and hair loss was a concern for 28 percent of the records sampled. Finally, digestive issues such as diarrhea and vomiting were a concern for 22 percent.

How to Greet a Dog (and how not to)

How to greet a dog

How NOT to greet a dog

A Dog's Welcome

 Saw this on Facebook

The Right Way to Pet a Dog, According to Veterinarians

Much like humans, dogs are complex creatures with a wide range of personalities, so it helps to know the basics of dog psychology and body language before approaching that adorable Golden Retriever in the park. The best way to initiate contact with a dog (after getting the owner’s permission, of course) is to reach out and let the dog sniff your hand.

Dogs live through their olfactory sense much more than their visual one,” Dr. Uri Burstyn, a veterinarian from Vancouver who also educates pet owners on YouTube, told Mental Floss in 2019. Be sure to keep your hands curled, as if you were chopping vegetables, just in case the dog feels threatened and lunges to bite your fingers.

If the dog seems pretty comfortable and doesn’t recoil from your hand, the best place to pet a dog is under the chin. The one thing you should never do is immediately start patting the dog’s head. This can be seen as a dominant, aggressive gesture because dogs generally keep their nose to the ground. If a dog feels something touching the top of his head, he might think it’s a bigger dog attacking him and react in a defensive manner. “There’s an old joke that dogs can’t look up," Dr. Burstyn said. "They can, but hardly ever do.”

The Dog Whisperer (Cesar Millan)

[3/24/24] I noticed that Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan is now on Sling Freestream (as well as on Freevee earlier).  Even better, most of the episode are available On Demand.  For some reason, there are actually 3 different Dog Whisperers to add to the Watchlist.   Right now, there are 98 episodes + 14 episodes + 65 episodes for a total of 177 episodes.  There were a total of 162 episodes.  So there must be some overlap.

[12/1/23]  Earlier this year (I noticed it on 5/31/23), Dog Whisperer was pulled from iTunes, meaning you could no longer purchase the episodes from them.  Itunes was the only place that was offering all the seasons of Dog Whisperer, though Amazon had some seasons available.  Now the only episode I see remaining for sale is one episode on Amazon.  This had been the only way to get seasons 6-9 and the second half of season 5.  The first four seasons and first half of season 5 are still available on DVD.   I bought seasons 1, 5, 6 on iTunes previously, so I'm missing seasons 7, 8, 9.

Not sure why it was pulled, but I read later the Cineverse secured has the rights and was supposed to launch an AVOD channel.  I found the article on 9/26/23, but the release is dated 8/16/23.  I installed the Cineverse app, but no sign of Dog Whisperer.

This morning, I took a look at the Cineverse app and Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan was there!  It shows on the top ribbon of channels, but when I click on it, it gets stuck on a spinning circle.

But when you search for it, it comes up and all 9 seasons are there!  Sometimes the show is featured prominently at the top when you start up the app and it works if you access it from there also.

No AVOD channel yet, but I vastly prefer the episodes to be available On Demand anyway.

[6/10/20] Cesar has some tips for new dog owners
[8/22/18] Sling TV teams up with the Dog Whisperer
[7/4/18] Cesar Millan: Illegal Immigrant to American Dream
[7/3/18] Cesar broke the rule

[6/10/18] Audible for dogs

[12/23/16] Becoming a Pack Leader of Dogs and Donkeys

[9/30/16] I was checking out Cesar 911 and see that Amazon says it stars Cesar Millan and Jason Willinger.  Who's Jason Willinger?  He's the narrator.

Actually, I didn't like the narration of Cesar 911 as I preferred the narrator for Dog Whisperer.  (Who is apparently Phil Terrence.)  But now I've gotten use to Willinger.  (Though I still prefer Terrence since he was the first.)  Compare them here.

[8/27/16] Cesar's facebook post links to this 2002 Los Angeles Times article which might be the first article written about him.  I previously had found a 2004 article (see 10/9/09 below).  [OK, I'll finally update the date of this post.  It was originally posted on 10/24/05 9:24 PM.  It's now 7:17 AM]

[4/25/16] Cesar announces engagement to Jahira

[7/2/15] Calvin Millan gets his own show called Mutt & Stuff

[4/3/15] AOL Build: Cesar Millan

[4/2/15] Behind The Brand interview (full interview, see also 6/22/13 below)

[2/27/15] Cesar on WWHL

[2/26/15] How Dogs Taught Cesar Millan About Life

[2/24/15] Cesar Millan on the Steve Harvey Show

[8/5/14] Cesar sneaks up on Dr. Pol

[7/23/14] One of Cesar's client dogs bites neighbor

[4/6/14] Cesar tells his story to NPR

[2/16/14]  Remembering Daddy

[2/12/14] Cesar Millan Foundation hits seven years

[11/6/13] Andrea Arden reads cesarsway.com

[9/27/13] Cesar greets fans at LAX

[9/25/13] Emery Sumner Productions and Melissa Jo Peltier sue MPH Entertainment.  [Jim Milio in the good old days]

[9/17/13] Cesar filiming Love My Bully special

[8/31/13] Fergie and Josh Duhamel call on Cesar

[7/5/13] Cesar responds to criticisms from the Alan Titchmarsh show.

[7/5/13] Googling Dog Whisperer One Mean Tucker brings up this anti-Cesar thread at Shiba Inu forum.  Lots of negative energy here.  All I will say is that none (or very few) of the critics can do what Cesar can do.  Actually a lot of his criticized techniques you see on TV require a high level of physical skill and timing.  So it's probably less dangerous to do more conventional (positive-only) techniques.

[6/26/13] Junior's Tale

[6/22/13] Cesar Millan: Behind the Brand

[6/13/13] Cesar interview on Brian Williams Rock Center

[5/17/13] Tshss'ing Brian

[4/1/13] Leader of the Pachyderm

[3/15/13] Cesar on The View (Sherri Shepard's dog Ashley)

[2/9/13] Men's Journal article: Rescuing Cesar (long)

[1/29/13] Cesar and Shorty (photo)

[1/15/13] Cesar on omg! insider

[1/9/13] Cesar on Today Show (KL&Hoda)

[12/19/12] Cesar talks to The Big Issue

[11/24/12] Cesar gets his exercise

[11/19/12] You could do worse than Cesar

[11/18/12] Cesar hopes sharing struggles will help others

[11/16/12] Cesar bouncing back from suicide attempt

[11/16/12] Cesar Millan: The Real Story

[11/1/12] Cesar on Anderson Live

How Dogs See The World (CNN video, 11/19/10)

[10/31/12] Alan Titchmarsh interview with Cesar Millan

[10/17/12] Wall Street Journal interview: fear of dogs

[10/10/12] Cesar's new book: Short Guide to a Happy Dog

[10/9/12] Cesar on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NGW biopic to air November 25, trailer)

[10/1/12] Cesar on Today Show (10/6/09)

[9/27/12] Cesar revisits his first home when he came to America

[9/14/12] Cesar on KTLA

[8/10/12] Cesar at the Playboy Mansion

Nat Geo Wild orders biopic Cesar Millan: Pack Leader

Dogs Keep Celebrities Humble

Cesar talks with Kelsey Grammar about divorce

[7/29/12] Cesar Millan on dogs around the world

[7/7/12] More back and forth on Cesar

[7/7/12] Tales from the Set, Part 4 by Bob Aniello

[7/4/12] This site has some Dog Whisperer videos online (many of which are hosted by gorillavid).  Probably illegally so they'll likely be taken down eventually.

[6/20/12] Tales from the Set by Todd Henderson

[6/11/12] Steve Dale wishes Cesar well

[6/10/12] Cesar and Mango (probably would have been a good Dog Whisperer episode -- depending on how he did it I guess)

[5/31/12] Cesar Millan in the movie Beethoven's Big Break (saved me from buying the DVD).

[5/26/12] Cesar talks with Indulge Magazine

[4/24/12] Who is Cesar Millan? (by Cesar Millan)

[3/6/12] Cesar on adopting the right dog

[1/16/12] The rise and fall of Cesar Millan (judging from the comments, what fall?)

[10/16/11] Cesar's aha moment

[8/1/11] Cesar on Michael Vick

[7/27/11] positive reinforcement techniques of Cesar Millan

[7/10/11] Cesar on his new book Cesar's Rules

[7/9/11] Zak George says Cesar Millan is yesterday's trainer

[6/7/11] Sessions with Cesar, the new online dog coaching course from Cesar Millan [via The Teachings of Cesar Millan]

[4/28/11] Cesar Millan on Jeopardy

[3/27/11] Cesar meets Mark Zuckerberg

[3/6/11] Cesar Millan, future governor of California?

[2/13/11] Found this old post (googling for Jennifer Ng) with Sophia Yin calling Cesar's methods "outdated" (compared to modern veterinary practice). (But the last six comments, including CJ Anderson's, make sense to me.)

[1/30/11] Good Dog, Bad Dog. Found via Kathy Sdao's twitter (found via dogbehavstudy found via PamelaDennison). She says the article did a lousy job (probably because it wasn't anti-Cesar enough).

[12/2/10] I was playing around with Digital TV for PC on Arlene's computer and saw there is a Cesar Channel. On the internet it's on livestream or use this shortcut.

[10/4/10] Cesar on CBS Sunday Morning [via Peggy and Willie]

[7/19/10] Ah here it is. Redeeming Rover, the 2002 article that started it all (according to The Ultimate Episode Guide).

[11/2/09] I was looking to reply to Sheri about how to avoid stress and thought about Cesar's 6 Steps For a Calm Walk. That was the episode with Tipper (Cesar's 6 Step Plan for Calm Walks). And came across this uk article. The six steps by the way are (1) Take A Deep Breath (2) Stay Calm (3) Set The Pace (4) Pick Up Speed (5) Face Your Obstacles (6) Get In The Zone

I also see a bunch of articles on Cesar's site (which are bound to be positive since they are on Cesar's site after all). They go back to 2006.

[10/9/09] I'm thinking of buying the Dog Whisperer Ultimate Episode Guide (especially since I recently bought Dog Whisperer Season 3 at Blockbuster) plus I see on ebay for 3.99 and I have .80 ebay bucks. I found this review on the web which said that a 2002 Los Angeles Times article helped lead to the series. So I did a search for Cesar Millan articles at latimes.com which came up with this 2004 feature article. It's not the same article but it is interesting looking back at the viewpoint of a 5-year old article. [7/19/10 - edited 2004 article link]

More latimes article: The sad story of Cotton who regressed after Cesar left. The owner turned to canine disarming. (Cotton kind of looks like Kimo.)

Cesar Millan: Saint or cult leader?

Marley and Me could have used Cesar

[5/5/07] Cesar has a myspace page

Cesar on youtube

Cesar on NPR

Nightline story

Boston Globe story

[7/14/10] Early videos with Cesar on Oprah's show

[8/12/10] videos from seasons 1-3 from The Teachings of Cesar Millan facebook page [via (oddly enough) the +R/-P Resource WebPage (rogue's gallery) relayed by terry pride on dogbehaviorscience 7/9/10] [2/2/12 - now here]

American Humane says Cesar's methods are inhumane.

Cesar responds to critics

[10/13/06] The Dog Whisperer comes to Hawaii

[1/30/07] Ian Dunbar vs. Cesar Millan

[6/14/10] Another article on Ian Dunbar

[9/16/10] Ian Dunbar on his contribution to Cesar's book [8/23/18 - I think I have this link elsewhere in my blog too]

[6/6/06] Not everyone agrees with Cesar's methods

[1/26/09] Another page of criticism of the Dog Whisperer

[5/28/10] Another critic of Cesar (and a lot of defenders)

[5/31/10] Here's a mostly positive article in a Modern Dog, evidently a magazine that backs Positive Training. Most of the comments are positive. Most.

[6/1/10] More criticisms of Cesar's by professionals. Followed up by a lot of his defenders.

[6/10/10] Beyond Cesar Millan (a whole website containing everything negative they can dig up on Cesar's techniques)

[8/3/10] Actually it's not just Cesar that the POs are campaigning against. It seems that they are against any training that's not PO and Cesar just happens to be the most visible. So that means virtually every single trainer of ten or twenty years ago. Take a look at the one-star comments of Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson's book (as opposed to the 135 five-star comments).

[6/11/10] Cesar discussed on Tracie Hochtner's Dog Talk show. Continued.

[7/1/10] Jean Donaldson against Cesar (or "force" training)

[7/14/10] Nicole Wilde compares/contrasts Dog Whisperer to Dog Town

[2/27/10] While googling Pat Miller [she has some books I might be interested in looking at], I came across her book review of Cesar's first book. That led to these articles at 4pawsuniversity, which is apparently anti-Cesar, glancing at a couple of the articles. I'm still a fan, but these articles seem to be written by "professionals" who seem to view Cesar as an an un-educated amateur.

[2/27/10] A partially broken link led to articles by Melissa Alexander who's a clicker trainer.

[1/30/07] Malcolm Gladwell's article

[6/9/10] Gladwell's article became the title of his newest book What The Dog Saw which are a collection of articles from the New Yorker. (Why why not just read them online for free?)

[12/17/12] What The Dog Saw available online from the Ukraine

[7/14/10] Mark Derr critique and some responses plus a long response by terrierman

[7/19/10] Terry Pride of dogbehaviorscience passes down this article quoting Stanley Coren, Jean Donaldson, Ian Dunbar all against Cesar. [Nothing new, just take a glance at beyondcesarmillan] For some reason, terry seems to have something personal against Cesar. I count 28 comments. Terry is the most recent. FWIW, counting up the comments I see 5 against Cesar and 17 for. (Put me in the for category. It's theory vs. common sense. Then again I believe in magic.)

Coincidentally terry's post was followed by this one "I just wanted to update those who when I was a member before said, "How's that going for you?" in how I handled my dog. Since I got physical with his punishment he hasn't bit anyone. Also, since then he went to bite my boyfriend while my boyfriend was disciplining him, and he stopped himself before he bit my boyfriend. So how is this working out for me? WONDERFULLY! He hasn't dared bite a person since."

[Obviously I'm not advocating punishment. And neither does Cesar for that matter.]

[10/24/05] Generations of children are familiar with "Lassie," but Cesar Millan, who grew up in Mexico, was particularly affected by reruns of the beloved TV series about the heroic collie and her human sidekick, Jeff. [Wasn't the boy named Timmy?]

[10/11/05 - article found 8/23/18] Dog Whisperer seminar at Hawaii Convention Center

[transplanted from my original blog 1/26/09]

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Not everyone thought The Art of Racing in the Rain -- a story about a family, narrated by a wise and witty dog who yearns to be human -- was a great concept.  When author Garth Stein sent his manuscript to his agent, the agent promptly called him and said, "This is not a good idea; it's a gimmick.  It's not even a good gimmick.  Nobody writes a book narrated by a dog.  Sorry.  Write something I can sell."

To which Stein, confident in his work, replied, "I have an idea.  How about you're fired."

"The Art of Racing in the Rain was very straightforward," says Stein, meeting with the Connection at a small cafe near Seattle.  "It came almost in a magical way.  I wrote the first draft in four months."

At the time he was writing the book, he had rented space from a pizzeria near his home in Seattle.  "I just had a desk and it was open to the public, and in the afternoons I'd be working on a scene and crying and listening to music on my earphones.  [The owners would] be having a meeting with vendors and the vendors would be looking over ... and they'd say, 'What's with that guy?'" he recalls.  "The owners would say, 'He's a writer; dont pay attention to him.'"

Stein observes, "I think a writer has to be emotionally moved by the work; otherwise, how do you expect a reader to get emotionally [involved]?"

The Art of Racing in the Rain went on to spend more than three years on the New York Times best-seller list, selling more than 4 million copies in 32 languages, and has spawned a major motion picture opening this month.

Asked why he thinks the book has been so successful, Stein says, "I think the voice of Enzo is very compelling.  It's a relatively common story of a family where there's tragedy that happens, and how do we work our way out of that?  But the fact that it's being told from Enzo's point of view makes people want to hear what he has to say.  There's wisdom in there -- Enzo's wisdom.  If a person were to say some of those things, I'm sure people would roll their eyes a lot and say, 'Oh, it's a self-help book.' So in a weird way, it's a self-help book in disguise, maybe."

In the movie, Enzo is a golden retriever, but his breed was not actually identified in the book.  "I deliberately left it vague, because I knew people wanted to picture their own dog," explains Stein.  "So in the book he says, 'I'm half water dog on my mother's side,' and he's not quite sure who his sire is."

One of the driving factors in Enzo's narrative is his desire to be reincarnated as a human.  Stein got that idea from a documentary he watched on dogs in Mongolia, who are vital, important members of the family.  He says, "Those people were so intimately involved with dogs as part of their lives, they believe that that dog's going to be born tomorrow in your family.  That next kid is going to be your dog's spirit come back to be with you."

The Art of Racing in the Rain is more than a book; it's a cathartic experience.  You'll laugh and you'll cry -- a lot -- but in the end they will be tears of joy for a life-affirming experience.

***

A dog speaks

The Art of Racing in the Rain will make you laugh and cry

by Steve Fisher

-- This article appeared in the August 2019 Costco Connection.  Alas, that issue is no longer available online, so I typed it in.

pet's last wishes

“Pets, it turns out, also have last wishes before they die, but only known by veterinarians who put old and sick animals to sleep. Twitter user Jesse Dietrich asked a vet what was the most difficult part of his job.

The specialist answered without hesitation that it was the hardest for him to see how old or sick animals look for their owners with the eyes of their owners before going to sleep. The fact is that 90 % of owners don't want to be in a room with a dying animal. People leave so that they don't see their pet leave. But they don't realize that it's in these last moments of life that their pet needs them most.

Veterinarians ask the owners to be close to the animals until the very end. ′′It's inevitable that they die before you. Don't forget that you were the center of their life. Maybe they were just a part of you. But they are also your family. No matter how hard it is, don't leave them.

Dont let them die in a room with a stranger in a place they dont like. It is very painful for veterinarians to see how pets cannot find their owner during the last minutes of their life. They dont understand why the owner left them. After all, they needed their owner’s consolation.

Veterinarians do everything possible to ensure that animals are not so scared, but they are completely strangers to them. Don't be a coward because it's too painful for you. Think about the pet. Endure this pain for the sake of their sake. Be with them until the end.”

- Tricia Mo’orea

Humane Society to open second Oahu location

The Hawaiian Humane Society is opening its second facility — the Kosasa Family Campus at Ho‘opili — on Saturday in Ewa Beach with a grand opening celebration.

After the celebration, families and visitors are welcome to stay and visit with adoptable pets.

The new campus, built at a cost of $30 million on 5 acres donated by D.R. Horton Hawaii, offers a new admissions center, spay and neuter clinic, three dog pavilions, two cat pavilions, a small- animal pavilion, meet-and-greet areas, walkways, and plenty of grassy, open space.

“The Hawaiian Humane Society has always provided services island-wide,” said HHS President and CEO Anna Neubauer in a news release, “but this expansion — the single largest in Hawaiian Humane history — will drastically increase resource accessibility for central and west Oahu residents, support collaboration with new stakeholders and create better outcomes for animals in need.”

She noted that 2 of every 3 West Oahu households report owning a pet, which is the highest percentage on the island.

The new campus — which sits on double the space of the 2.5-acre Moiliili campus — was designed by the Pacific Asia Design Group in consultation with Animal Arts, animal care architecture experts, and constructed by Allied Builders.

It opens about two years after a groundbreaking and blessing ceremony held in May 2021, and after more than a decade of research, planning and a capital campaign to raise $30 million.

Since it was built from the ground up, the Humane Society was able to incorporate design features in accordance with shelter best practices, spokesperson Brandy Shimabukuro said.

That includes open-air circulation, quieter, soft-close kennels, dog kennels with individual drainage, along with play yards and spaces for animal enrichment and exercise — all of which are designed to minimize stress and risk of disease transmission.

The Ginny Tiu Pet Kokua Center will offer resources, including a pet food bank, to help keep pets with their families.

The facility is also outfitted with solar panels, solar tubes, which are ideal for cats who prefer sunshine while in recovery, and a parking lot with several electric vehicle chargers.

There is also a public dog park, which is expected to open sometime in the fall.

“This space is intended to be really inviting,” Shimabu­kuro said. “We want people to come by, and it’s not a transactional experience where you’re just coming to adopt and then you leave. We want this to be a space that people come to with their families and they want to spend the day here.”

The new campus opens at a time when shelters statewide — and nationwide — are at overcapacity as the number of animal adoptions slow and surrenders grow due to economic struggles.

Shimabukuro said many of the society’s rescue partners such as Paws of Hawaii, the Fur Angel Foundation and Hawaii Dog Foundation have found adoptions slowing down.

Even with a recent “Empty the Shelters” event in May featuring waived and reduced adoption fees, the Humane Society continues to be at overcapacity as more people surrender their animals.

There are still more than 100 dogs and dozens of cats available for adoption — and it’s kitten season.

“We’ve been overcapacity almost consistently since October,” Shimabukuro said. “In the history of Hawaiian Humane, we’ve never seen it consistently this bad. Maui is experiencing the same, Kauai is experiencing the same, Hawaii island is experiencing the same. It is nationwide, but especially here in Hawaii, because our cost of living is so high, coupled with inflation.”

Having the Ewa Beach campus will help alleviate the overcapacity at the Moiliili campus, and is ideal to serve the West Oahu community, she said, because residents have often mentioned how difficult it is to drive to town when they have found a lost pet or stray cat.

Both campuses have the capacity to hold about 350 to 400 animals each.

As of Wednesday, about 30 dogs had been transferred to Ho‘opili from the Moiliili campus, according to Shimabukuro, and cats were on the way.

Dogs, cats and other animals will be brought over in phases, but adoptions will be available at the new campus starting Saturday.

Also, the campus will open up in phases as it continues to hire, so not all serv­ices will be available right away. The spay-neuter center is expected to open in the next few weeks. Admissions services, including lost and found, will be offered to the public later this summer.

HAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY KOSASA FAMILY CAMPUS AT HO‘OPILI

>> What: Grand opening celebration, with a blessing, keiki interactive area, food trucks, music and more.

>> When: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday

>> Where: 91-1945 Fort Weaver Road (corner of Fort Weaver/Old Fort Weaver roads)

The campus will be open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. Visit hawaiianhumane.org for information.

Ryan Stewart, dog walker

After 20 years in the dog-walking business, Ryan Stewart says he isn’t just a dog person — he sees himself as one of the pack.

Stewart started his New York side hustle, Ryan for Dogs, in 2002 to earn money between sparse acting gigs. Now, it’s his full-time job: He makes roughly $60 per hour walking three to five pups at a time. Guaranteed work by a reputation built over multiple decades, Stewart makes up to $120,000 per year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

“I don’t even think of myself as loving dogs, it’s just that they’re almost like an extension,” Stewart tells CNBC Make It. “I don’t love my right hand, you know? It’s just there.”

Ryan Stewart started dog-walking as a side hustle in 2002. Now, he makes up to $120,000 per year walking in New York City.

Stewart, who’s in his early 40s, says the best part of his job is that “without a college degree, I’ve managed to make six figures a year ... doing something I love.” He works roughly 36 hours per week, spread across six days, he says — noting that dogs require constant attention, making his six-hour shifts often feel demanding.

“A good dog walker is focused and attentive, because you want to prevent your dog from getting hurt,” Stewart says. “You have to watch traffic. You have to watch the dogs [so they] don’t fight each other. It’s not one of those [jobs] that you can put on some AirPods and listen to music while you’re doing it.”

puppy dog eyes explained

If you've ever wondered how your pooch flashes those "puppy dog eyes" that melt your heart, a new study may provide some answers.

The researchers identified certain muscle features that help dogs look so cute, and it suggests that thousands of years of selective breeding have contributed to their ability to use expressions to their advantage.

"Dogs are unique from other mammals in their reciprocated bond with humans which can be demonstrated though mutual gaze, something we do not observe between humans and other domesticated mammals such as horses or cats," said study senior author Anne Burrows.

She is a professor at Duquesne University School of Health Sciences, in Pittsburgh.

"Our preliminary findings provide a deeper understanding of the role facial expressions play in dog-human interactions and communication," Burrows said in a news release from the American Association for Anatomy.

Brandon McMillan

I actually became solely focused on dog training a little later in my career. My entire family were animal trainers so I was born into that environment, and when I was 19 I moved to California and started training animals.

I spent about 10 years training all sorts of animals for movies and TV, including the tiger in The Hangover. One of the companies I worked for mainly used breeder dogs. I lived next to a shelter and I started saying we should use more shelter dogs.

I convinced my boss and the first rescue dog was successfully trained, and then the next dog. Eventually all the dogs they worked with were rescue dogs. At that time, there were about 2 million dogs a year being euthanized because they weren't able to be re-homed. That number has gone down substantially, but it's still almost 700,000 per year.

When I realized the huge problem we have here in the U.S, I decided to quit the wild animal industry and started working only with dogs.

My first celebrity client was James Caan. Funnily enough, I often don't recognize the famous people whose dogs I train. I'd been talking with James Caan for an hour and a half discussing martial arts, which we're both interested in. Next thing I know, I'm leaving and he's arranging for me to start training his dog the following week. Only after I left did I realize who he was! I did the same thing with Ellen Degeneres, Rod Stewart and Don Cheadle, the list goes on really.

Whenever I train anyones dog I make sure it gets 100 percent of my focus. The first time I met Andy Cohen was when I appeared on Watch What Happens Live.

Andy talked with me afterwards and told me he had just adopted a great dog and wanted to make sure he received the best training possible. I worked with Wacha for about five years, every time I was in New York City.

I also trained Hugh Hefner's dogs at the Playboy Mansion. Hef's assistants called me up and said that his King Charles Spaniel, Charlie, was not coming when they called.

I went to the Playboy Mansion and they told me that the dog wasn't listening to a word they said. I checked Charlie and realized something was a little off. Charlie wandered off and I started calling him, but he wasn't listening. He'd been trained for recall so I decided to have a pause and let him sleep.

He took a nap and in the meantime, I asked where their music room was. They pulled me out some cymbals and I told them we would do a little test. Charlie was fast asleep, so I took the cymbals and I softly struck them together. He didn't wake up—their dog was deaf. So they then wanted me to test if their other puppy, Lady, was deaf too. I took the cymbals to where she was sleeping and tried the same trick, but even softer. Well, the puppy woke up!

When it comes to breeds celebrities like; French Bulldogs are very popular. But they are very difficult to train. I always say there are four variables when you train a dog: breed, age, history and imprinted DNA.

Border Collies and German Shepherds are really easy to train, but French Bulldogs and Pekingese dogs are extremely difficult to train. Because the first two types were bred for some type of work, and the latter two were not. Age is a big thing too, you can't train a dog too young. Five to six months is the sweet spot for training.

History is important, even if you have a rescue, because history has carved out your dog's personality. Finally, every animal has imprinted DNA. Some are born very high energy and some are born very calm. Some are outgoing and some are shy. And they are born like that, these are imprinted genetics.

What I find when it comes to celebrities and breeds is that celebrities are divided pretty much right down the middle. They either love their breeds, such as French Bulldogs and Chihuahuas, or they really believe in the shelter and rescue system.

But every dog can be trained to the same level of obedience with my "7 Common Commands", the response time will just be different. Whether it's the difference between breeds and even with rescue dogs.

I teach the "7 Common Commands"—such as sit, stay and down—because they are commands you will be using on a daily basis, but also because less is more in the dog world.

But if I could take one command of all the "7 Common Commands" I teach, the most vital would be "down". Control is the cornerstone of training and the "down" command is one of the most important control commands. It works because with "down" you don't need "sit". Your dog is already staying, it's controlled, you don't have to say "no" because it's already lying down. If you can teach your dog "down" then in a situation where someone comes to the door and you have a high energy dog, you just need to say "down."

It's the first command I really focus on with all my celebrity client's dogs.

Whether you are a celebrity or not, the reason people still hire me is because I have a reputation of restoring peace and order in a house that's chaotic. They might have people coming in and out. If their dogs are really high energy or untrained, the dogs need to learn that every time a new person comes into the house they have to be controlled.

The first step for training any dog is trust. I can gain the trust of some dogs in one session, and I've had other dogs that have taken weeks and months. It took my own Chihuahua years to trust me because she'd come from an abusive situation, but we got there.

I always say, dog training happens at the speed of life not the speed of light.

Brandon McMillan is an Emmy Award-winning master animal trainer and host of the CBS show "Lucky Dog". Brandon has collaborated with MasterClass for a new class on dog training, which covers skills from obedience to house training skills, building trust and executing common commands. His MasterClass joins the 85+ classes taught by world-renowned instructors on culinary arts, photography, writing, performance, and much more. Learn more about his class at MasterClass.com.

All views expressed in this piece are the writer's own.

As told to Jenny Haward.  [story featured on my Google Pixel 3aXL]

How to talk to your dog

Dogs are special. Every dog owner knows that. And most dog owners feel their dog understands every word they say and every move they make. Research over the last two decades shows dogs really can understand human communication in ways no other species can. But a new study confirms that if you want to train your new puppy, you should be speaking to it in a certain way to maximise the chances that it follows what you’re saying.

There is already quite a lot of research evidence showing that the way we communicate to dogs is different from the way we communicate to other humans. When we talk to dogs, we use what is called “dog directed speech”. This means we change the structure of our sentences, shortening and simplifying them. We also tend to speak with a higher pitch in our voices. We also do this when we are not sure we are understood or when talking to very young infants.

A new study has shown we use an even higher pitch when talking to puppies, and that this tactic really does help the animals to pay attention more. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, showed that talking to puppies using dog-directed speech makes them react and attend more to their human instructor than regular speech.

To test this, the researchers use so-called “play back” experiments. They made recordings of humans repeating the phrase “Hi! Hello cutie! Who’s a good boy? Come here! Good boy! Yes! Come here sweetie pie! What a good boy!”. Each time, the speaker was asked to look at photos of either puppies, adult dogs, old dogs or at no photos. Analysing the recordings showed the volunteers did change how they spoke to different aged dogs.

The researchers then played the recordings back to several puppies and adult dogs and recorded the animals’ behaviour in response. They found the puppies responded more strongly to the recordings made while the speakers looked at pictures of dogs (the dog-directed speech).

The study didn’t find the same effect applied for adult dogs. But other studies that recorded dogs’ reactions to the human voice in live interactions, including work I have done, have suggested dog-directed speech can be useful for communicating with canines of any age.

Following the point

It’s also been proven (and most dog-owners will tell you) that we can communicate with dogs through physical gestures. From puppy age on, dogs respond to human gestures, such as pointing, in ways other species can not. The test is very simple. Place two identical cups covering small pieces of food in front of your dog, making sure it cannot see the food and doesn’t have any information about the contents of the cups. Now point to one of the two cups while establishing eye contact with your dog. Your dog will follow your gesture to the cup you pointed to and explore the cup, expecting to find something underneath.

This is because your dog understands that your action is an attempt to communicate. This is fascinating because not even human’s closest living relatives, chimpanzees, seem to understand that humans communicate intent in this situation. Nor do wolves – dog’s closest living relatives – even if they are raised like dogs in a human environment.

[how to teach dogs to follow a finger point]

This has led to the idea that dogs’ skills and behaviours in this area are actually adaptations to the human environment. That means living in close contact with humans for over 30,000 years has led dogs to evolve communication skills that are effectively equal to those of human children.

But there are significant differences in how dogs understand our communication and how children do. The theory is that dogs, unlike children, view human pointing as some kind of mild command, telling them where to go, rather than a way of transferring information. When you point for a child, on the other hand, they will think you are informing them about something.

This ability of dogs to recognise “spatial directives” would be the perfect adaptation to life with humans. For example, dogs have been used for thousands of years as a kind of “social tool” to help with herding and hunting, when they had to be guided over a great distance by gestural instructions. The latest research affirms the idea that not only have dogs developed an ability to recognise gestures but also a special sensitivity to the human voice that helps them identify when they need to respond to what’s being said.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

7 Things You Do That Your Dog Hates

From a dog’s POV, humans can be perplexing. Convinced that our dogs value the same sorts of affectionate gestures as we do, we kiss them, we hug them, we buy (and make them wear) little hats and dresses. It’s not too far-fetched to say that they’d pass on a lot of these things if given a choice.

Things You Do That Your Dog Hates

Here are a few things on most dogs’ “no thank-you” list—things they wish we wouldn’t do.

1. Pat Them On The Head.

It’s a gesture meant to convey affection, and many people love to do it. But patting our dogs on the head is not popular with them. Most of them dislike it and will move away to avoid it. They do usually enjoy having their heads—including their ears and the sides of their faces—smoothly stroked, which is more likely to make them happy, keep them near and cause them to lean in for more.

2. Hug Them.

Every time a dog trainer or canine behaviorist mentions that dogs don’t generally like being hugged, the pushback is incredible. Everyone is sure their dog loves to be hugged even if most dogs don’t, and they suspect most dogs actually do love it. Primates (the order to which we belong) are huggers, but canids, including dogs, don’t naturally engage in that behavior. While I sometimes feel like a wicked witch when I point this out to people, observation suggests it’s true. Dogs who are being hugged often display signs of stress, including tongue flicks, a tightly closed mouth, pulled-back ears, rigid facial muscles and/or a furrowed brow. Putting your arms around your dog’s neck and shoulders may feel like love to you, but to dogs, not so much.

3. Hoard The Ball During A Game Of Fetch.

Many of us tend to pick up the ball and hold it while we praise or pet our dog. We think we’re playing fetch, but our dogs think we’re hoarding the ball. They want it back, and they want it back now. Many dogs lose interest in fetch or fail to learn how fun it can be because of this human tendency to hold onto the ball instead of immediately throwing it. What they want us to do is to toss the ball the instant they drop it anywhere in our vicinity. This sounds simple, but it can be a struggle for many people.

4. Kiss Them.

Humans express love and affection with kisses, but kisses have no particular meaning to dogs. It is not a natural part of their repertoire. Dogs lick each other and will lick humans, too, and though we often call those “doggy kisses,” they’re different than human kisses. Putting your face right next to a dog’s face can be perceived by the dog as a threatening behavior. Some dogs find it scary, others simply find it annoying. It’s common for dogs who are being kissed to try to get away; to hold their ears back; or to exhibit signs of discomfort such as tongue-flicking, yawning, lowering the tail or displaying facial and body tension. Some dogs wrinkle their noses or even scamper off once released—another sign that—no matter how much they may love you—they don’t love being kissed.

5. Hold One Of Their Paws, Especially A Back Paw, When They’re Standing.

Dogs who’ve been consistently reinforced for shaking or giving a high-five may have good feelings about having you touch or hold their paws, but that usually only applies to brief contact while they’re sitting. What I’m talking about here is grabbing a dog’s paw when he’s standing, then holding onto it for a while. To most dogs, nothing good can come of that. It may make them feel unstable, and that’s no fun, or they may associate it with nail trims (also no fun) or having their muddy paws wiped down (not awful, but not a favorite either). Holding a dog’s back paw is often particularly poorly received. Most behaviorists agree that male dogs are, in general, more likely to take exception to having a paw held than are female dogs.

6. Use Citrus-Scented Products.

The majority of dogs dislike the smell of oranges, lemons, tangerines and grapefruit. That’s why those scents are used in products meant to deter dogs from chewing on things we would prefer they leave alone. Since the smell repels dogs, it’s kind to avoid products with that scent, including lotion, shampoo, air fresheners or candles. Yet, a small percentage of dogs aren’t averse to these smells. Find out if your dog is in this group by peeling a juicy orange so your hands are covered in a sticky mess, then offer your hands to your dog. If she turns or backs away, she (like most dogs) doesn’t care for the smell of citrus. If she licks your fingers, different story.

7. Dress Them.

The joy people take in dressing up their dogs is often in direct conflict with the distaste dogs have for the experience. Yes, dogs look adorable in just about every outfit under the sun, but very few dogs enjoy the process of being put into clothes and costumes. Lots of dogs tense up, displaying facial expressions and body language that clearly indicate their discomfort. Wearing clothes, especially cumbersome and constricting costumes, is a misery for many dogs. Through a careful process of conditioning, dogs can be taught to accept costumes or other clothes, and we can make it easier for them by choosing the least restrictive and most lightweight options, but avoiding it altogether would be the choice of almost all dogs. Many humans (including me!) can’t help but love the look of dogs dressed to the nines, but mostly, it’s better not to treat dogs like dolls.

It's Me or the Dog

[11/22/20] Victoria writes "How IMOTD Changed Me as a Dog Trainer"

[8/26/19] Victoria (or somebody) is now making available the early (pre-USA) episodes available on It's Me or the Dog youtube channel.  In addition to clips, they are also releasing full episodes.

So far I see 21 episodes available.  The first episode is Jimi & Duke.  The last episode (when I checked) was Dylan.

Wait, now I see more episodes have been released.  Zulu and Lotte.  And I missed the Baily (Crufts) episode.  So there's now a total of 24 episodes on the official full episode playlist.

The United States (aired on Animal Planet) episodes are available on Amazon Prime.  The first three seasons are available on Prime Video, but not the fourth season for some reason.  All four seasons are available on the Animal Planet app (apparently for free).  Season 1 is available on Pluto TV.

***

[4/5/07] With the success of the Dog Whisperer, I now see that a couple of new shows about correcting dog behavior have appeared on Animal Planet:

Divine Canine. Besides being monks, they train dogs. They have a book called How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners.

It's Me or The Dog. Instead of a guy from Mexico, it's a lady from England (Victoria Stilwell). Her book, naturally enough, is called It's Me or the Dog.

Here's one I haven't seen yet, Barking Mad, which deals not only with dogs but other animals as well.

I don't see that on this week, but I do see Good Dog U.

[transplanted from original blog, 1/26/09]

[3/17/10] I see Victoria (not just Cesar) gets less than positive reviews too.

[10/9/12] some training videos on youtube

puppy socialization (wait?)

Recently with all the new Covid puppies, the myth, and frankly, dangerous, outdated “advice” breeders, rescues and even vets are giving to new owners that puppies can’t go outside until all their vaccines are complete, has reared it ugly head again. (Note: I am not a vet, so perhaps there are rare cases when this applies.). Vets, rescues and breeders who are clinging to the outdated belief that dogs should be prevented from socialization until fully vaccinated are not keeping up with the current research, literature and recommendations from behavior professionals.

Looking at current position statements from organizations like AVSAB (American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior), who are the leaders on veterinary care and behavior, they are abundantly clear that this outdated belief has no place in current standards. Read their complete position statement here.

“The primary and most important time for puppy socialization is the first three months of life. For this reason, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior believes that it should be the *standard of care* for puppies to receive such socialization before they are fully vaccinated.”

The main point conveyed is puppies as young as 7 WEEKS OLD can begin socialization training, even in group classes, as long as they’ve had one round of vaccines and have been dewormed.  Puppies have a finite, time sensitive window for socialization – for learning the world, novelty, people and places are safe.  This is also the window they have to learn how to appropriately use their mouths and learn bite inhibition.  Once this window closes, it cannot be reopened.

“Veterinarians specializing in behavior recommend that owners take advantage of every safe opportunity to expose young puppies to the great variety of stimuli that they will experience in their lives.”

Behavioral issues, not infectious diseases, are the number one cause of death for dogs under three years of age. We need to shift the focus away from fear mongering that puppies will get sick or die if they go outside and instead focus on socialization as prevention for later behavioral issues, which is a much greater risk of dogs being surrendered or euthanized.

“Because the first three months are the period when sociability outweighs fear, this is the primary window of opportunity for puppies to adapt to new people, animals, and experiences. Incomplete or improper socialization during this important time can increase the risk of behavioral problems later in life including fear, avoidance, and/or aggression. Behavioral problems are the greatest threat to the owner-dog bond. In fact, behavioral problems are the number one cause of relinquishment to shelters.”

This doesn’t mean you should take your unvaccinated puppy to the dog park or a giant pet store where there have been hundreds of unknown, potentially unhealthy dogs traipsing through.  But you can make responsible choices, allowing your puppy to interact with healthy, known dogs, puppies on the same vaccine schedule and neighborhood walks.  Or you can always carry your puppy if you really don’t want feet on the ground.  If you wait until your puppy is full vaccinated, you’ve missed their critical socialization period. Opting to keep your puppy locked in your home, not being socialized during this critical window is the worst decision you can make for your puppy’s future behavioral health. 

-- Kate LaSala

Tank Twitter

What a happy dog can teach us about our own humanity

Twelve years ago I betrayed my husband. It was the best decision I ever made.

The betrayal came in the form of a 12-pound fluff ball named Tank. I got the dog in defiance of my husband’s declaration that our family was not getting a dog — not then, not ever. I adopted Tank behind my husband’s back, enlisting our daughters, then 11 and 13, as co-conspirators. Tank arrived, as I wrote at the time, as a pet accompli, too late for my husband to do anything about it.

“I can’t believe you did this,” he said, except for the expletive I have deleted, when he came home late from work to discover our newest family member. It took about 10 minutes, and as many face licks, for Jon to fall in love.

The rest of us already had, which was the point: Tank joined our family at a time when our lives were too chaotic to accommodate a dog but too stressed to be without one. None of us had ever had a dog before, but we understood, intuitively, that we needed the unconditional love that only a dog can provide.

Tank overperformed. At moments when our family was under stress, the one thing we could always agree on was that Tank was the best, the cutest dog ever. When we were in a better place, he remained at the center of our family unit, no matter how many shoes he destroyed. “Huggee!” we would yell, embracing, and Tank would come running to join. With him, we were a pack.

We lost Tank in the wee hours of Saturday morning — suddenly, unexpectedly, tragically. We stood outside the animal hospital, unable to enter because of COVID-19, holding one another and sobbing until we could say goodbye to our boy in the makeshift space in the parking garage. There is so much sadness in the world right now; there are so many worse and more consequential stories, and yet we are shattered. What we wouldn’t do to slip him one last morsel from the dinner table.

The reason I am writing is not Tank’s death but its aftermath. In the strain of the pandemic, in the heat of police shootings, the social fabric is fraying. You can hear it rip. If there was a communitarian, we’ll-getthrough- this-together ethos at the start of the lockdowns, it has been replaced by a my-way mentality. Thanks to President Donald Trump, mask-wearing has become political statement, not social responsibility.

We spent the summer in Wyoming, and driving home across the country (Tank was never happier than ensconced in the car for long stretches with his people), we encountered instance after instance — at the hotel in North Dakota, the restaurant in Minnesota where we stopped for takeout, the rest stop in Indiana — of behavior that was not only irresponsible but aggressively so.

When I asked a man at the rest stop — a rest stop whose doors proclaimed “Masks Required” — to wear a mask, he said I was free to do so for my health, but he chose not to. And when I pointed out that, actually, his mask-wearing protected me, and vice versa, it didn’t take long for him to start yelling about Joe Biden. I know: stupid, foolhardy me, to try to engage.

And when I tweeted about my experiences, the reaction was not exactly charitable. “Ruth apparently didn’t even end up testing positive after her trip,” wrote one person. “Too bad that she didn’t at least manage to add to the case count.” Nice. Sorry to disappoint.

I took to Twitter again, in the hours after Tank’s death, to share my grief. The platform that can be so ugly and so hate-filled responded this time with overwhelming love. From people I knew, from strangers, offering condolences and sharing their own sad experiences. It was an enormous, unexpected comfort. We looked at the pet pictures they posted and read the stories they shared of their own dog’s passing, and wept.

What does it say that an audience that can be so cruel and ugly can be so generous and compassionate? The more cynical interpretation is that we are a country that tends to care more about pets than people, and there is some unfortunate truth to that. I have a reporter friend who many years ago wrote a Christmas Day story about homeless people living under a bridge with their dogs. His voice mail was filled with offers of help — from people wanting to adopt the dogs.

But I think our capacity to love our pets speaks to a better side of human nature. Perhaps it takes a nonhuman to bring out the humanity in us, but that spark is still present. It requires careful kindling by leaders who summon our better angels; it can be snuffed out by those who fan the flames of hatred and discord.

We are Rest Stop Twitter, angry and vindictive, but we are also Tank Twitter, full of boundless affection, even for strangers. Tank didn’t see either — he saw humans to love, even if part of their attraction was that they might have treats.

If he could, Tank would lick all your faces. Every last one.

— Ruth Marcus writes for The Washington Post.

dogs with benefits

My friend, Jan, has spent the entire pandemic in lockdown in San Francisco, unable to touch another human being. It’s hard to imagine how difficult that must be. And yet she’s doing OK. One big reason: her dog, Maisie.

“This cottage would feel kind of bereft of life without Maisie padding around,” says Jan.

I’m sure Jan is not alone in feeling happy to have a dog. Many of us are relying more on our pets for comfort while we face the uncertainty of the pandemic—even those of us who have human roommates to keep us company, too. Research suggests that there’s something about our dogs that makes us feel less lonely and anxious, and can even keep us healthier.

What is that something? It’s hard to put a finger on, but hormones may play a role. Petting a dog has been shown to reduce cortisol (the stress hormone), for example, and caring for a dog releases oxytocin (the bonding hormone that calms us and increases our trust in others).

Here are some of the science-backed ways that our dogs can help us cope with difficult circumstances and stay well.

1. Dogs stave off loneliness

Many of us are feeling a bit lonelier than usual these days; sheltering-in-place and keeping our distance from others is hard for everyone, including introverts. Being without human touch is particularly difficult: People who are touch-deprived tend to feel more depressed, experience more pain, and even have poorer immunity. But having a pet around (including dogs or their cat rivals) can help prevent loneliness.

“I’m hugely grateful that I’ve had Maisie as my eight-pound, fluff-ball quarantine buddy,” says Jan. “She keeps me company whether I’m reading or gardening, and cracks me up regularly with her episodes of doggy silliness.”

Though the benefits of having a pet have been studied more among the elderly (who often have limited social contact), they likely apply to many more of us during COVID-19. After all, we all have less social contact than we’d normally have right now, and that’s got to be hard on our psyches.

Why do dogs help us with loneliness? It’s probably not an accident that dogs are often called “man’s best friend.” Many people feel that dogs are like family members (but without the baggage), providing unconditional love and easy companionship. Plus, many of us have the sense that our dog resonates with us emotionally—a notion that some science supports. We’re bound to feel less isolated with a soft, understanding, loving being around.

2. Dogs reduce stress and anxiety

Many of us have been super stressed and anxious during the pandemic. We don’t know when we will be able to move about freely again, our jobs may be compromised, and we’re worried about contracting the virus or passing it on to others. We also can’t do many of the things that usually help us manage stress better—like going to the gym or having dinner with a group of friends.

Luckily, dogs can help, as many studies have shown and experts attest. In one study, 48 participants were given a stress test where they had to do public speaking and then perform difficult calculations while unfriendly observers watched them. The participants were randomly assigned to have either a friend, a dog they didn’t know, or no one accompany them before and during the test. Their cortisol levels and heart rates were measured before, just after, and 30 minutes after the test, and they filled out questionnaires about their anxiety.

While everyone became more anxious during the test and showed higher heart rates and cortisol levels, those participants paired with a dog had lower levels of both than those with no support or even those with a friend. This suggests that being with a dog can help us recover from stressful situations—perhaps even the stress of a pandemic—even if it’s not our own dog (which may be why so many colleges bring canines onto campuses during finals week).

For those who can’t have a pet, there is some evidence that just seeing videos of dogs can reduce stress and anxiety. That probably explains why many of us turn to cute puppy (and cat) videos for relief.

3. Dogs help us get along with others

While many of us are seeing our friends on Zoom and in other physically distanced ways during the pandemic, it can be hard to feel truly connected. And, as the quarantine drags on, it may be harder to get along with the people we live with, too—like our partners and our children.

But there is evidence that having a dog around can improve our ability to connect with other people. For example, one study found that in the presence of a dog, people acted more trusting, friendly, and cooperative. Although this study was done in a work group, the same might be true for those of us working and living together in tight spaces, too.

Another study found that when someone is out and about with a dog, people consider them to be more approachable than someone without a dog. And, if people walking a dog “accidentally” drop some coins in the street, they are more likely to be helped by a stranger.

This is something Jan noticed during her quarantine outings. “Maisie prods me out of the house for walks around our neighborhood, where she invariably provokes friendly (socially distanced) interactions with friends and strangers alike.”

It’s nice to know dogs can act as a kind of social glue. In another study, researchers randomly surveyed people in the U.S. and Australia, asking them how much they interacted with their neighbors. The findings revealed that pet owners (in the U.S., at least) were significantly more likely to know people in their neighborhoods, while dog owners in particular were more likely to consider a neighbor a friend and to feel socially supported by their neighbors.

Given that so many of us are limited to our neighborhoods or, possibly, dependent on neighbors for help during the pandemic, dog ownership may give us a slight advantage when it comes to connecting with those around us.

4. Dogs keep us healthier

All of these advantages—being less lonely, less stressed and anxious, and more connected to others—also tend to make us healthier. And there is direct evidence that dog owners experience a variety of health benefits.

                                              

For example, one study found that people who acquired a dog reported fewer minor health problems and rated themselves as healthier than non-pet owners, up to 10 months later. Another study found that dog owners live longer and that pet owners make fewer annual doctor visits than non-owners, even after considering gender, age, marital status, income, and other health-related factors.

A review of multiple research studies found that pet owners had significantly lower heart rates, arterial pressure, and systolic blood pressure, suggesting better cardiovascular health. Some of this may have to do with the fact that most dogs need to be walked, and so people who own dogs tend to walk more. But there are probably other pieces to the puzzle.

It could be that adopting a needy animal confers its own benefits, as doing good deeds tends to make us happier and healthier. Interestingly, during COVID-19, there has been an increase in the number of people willing to foster a pet, in part because more people are working from home and can therefore accommodate a pet’s needs more easily.

It’s clear that what we receive from dogs in love and care comes back to us a hundredfold. Perhaps, if we want to get through the pandemic in better mental and physical health, it wouldn’t hurt to have a dog around.

By Jill Suttie | August 26, 2020