I just posted this item about canine personality quirks over on Examiner.com. I'd love to get responses from the public--if we get enough good ones, we'll publish them in a future edition of FETCH. Either comment there, or email 'em to me at sandy@fetchthepaper.com.
AP is reporting that a NoCal biotech company is auctioning off -- I don't even have a noun for this -- dog cloning rights? To the five highest bidders. In other words, the company will clone the dogs of the five lucky golden ticket holders. It's no tour of a chocolate factory, but it's pretty interesting.
Many people are upset over the move, fearing it could lead to human cloning, and forgetting how useful a clone would be when they want to play hooky from work or have two dates at the same time. Heck, with a clone of yourself, you could walk your normal dog while your other self walks your cloned dog. It would be efficient, and it would totally freak out that neighbor who plays his thrash metal until 3 a.m. every night.
The company is partnering with a South Korean company which cloned one of the researcher's dogs to prove it could be done. All three clones "like steamed broccoli just like [the original] did," which proves this is real, because very few people or animals enjoy steamed broccoli.
Get your broccoli dog shirt here.
Good news, future parents! A recent study found that children who are raised with a dog in the house might be building a resistance to asthma and other allergies.
Don't rush out and adopt a litter of puppies just yet, though. The study found that although among the 3,000 children studied, those with dogs were "less at risk from becoming sensitised to pollens and inhaled allergens -- the triggers for asthma and wheezing, allergic rhinitis and eczema -- than counterparts in dog-less homes," kids with dogs are just as likely to actually contract asthma, etc., as kids without. The scientists running the study plan to test the children as they grow older to see if the positive benefits show up more clearly in later childhood.
This image is from here.
Do you ever wonder what your dog would say if she could talk? Probably not, because like most dog owners you know exactly what your dog would say:
"Food! Food! Food! Friends! Walk! Happy! Smell? Ah, I see from this smell that Princess and her people were here eight hours ago, and Princess has been eating some very suspicious salami...Walk! Happy!"
But just in case you're still in the dark as to your dog's true thoughts, you can always try the LED Dog Tail Communicator, a new device that actually spells out words based on the speed of your dog's wagging tail. This device is being exhibited at the MOMA if you're curious. "With the help of technology," the website promises, your dog "can overcome evolutionary shortfalls." If our furry friends had just evolved linguistic capabilities, we wouldn't have to go to all this trouble. Dogs are so selfish, am I right?
What's next, I wonder? A self-opening bag of treats triggered by your dog's drool? How about a little doggy treadmill, so we don't have to go around walking them anymore? Now with fifteen lifelike scents!
Actually, we've had the DNA test results for a while... but first we were in simple shock, then we got REALLY distracted by a new family member.
As I write this ever-so-brief blog entry, we're at deadline for the February issue of FETCH. The results of the DNA tests will be announced in that issue... look for it to come out on the stands the last week of January.
As we go to press, my phone rings each day. “Do we know yet?” Toast’s mom wants to know. We’re waiting as patiently as we can for the results of the DNA tests that Bennie and Toast had at the vet clinic at Sonoma County Humane Society.
Dozens of people have joined in the speculation and have taken our online survey to guess the breeds in our mutts. So far, the stats have Bennie as a Lab/Great Dane/Doberman mix and Toast as a mix of Aussie and Husky. Please join in with your opinion at www.fetchthepaper.com. We’ll announce the final results here on the blog and in the February issue of FETCH.
Unless you're a dog who hates having your blood taken!
Toast and Bennie went to the Humane Society and SPCA of Sonoma County to have their blood drawn for their DNA tests this week. Bennie was anxious as usual, but still calm and not wanting to reveal his concern. Here you see him looking out the window as he and Toast waited to be called back to the treatment room. He wants to GO, but he's dealing with it.
Toast, on the other hand, ended up muzzled for the test. He squiggled and wiggled and the vet staff wanted to be sure he would not try to snap or bite, so he ended up muzzled as well.
So, the blood samples are off to be analyzed. Thanks to Angie Bonnert and the staff at HSSC, where we took the boys for their tests.
Look for another update soon! Don't forget to take our unscientific but fun opinion poll (on the blog's home page) or fill out our survey about DNA testing for dogs.
If you have ever had a rescue mutt of uncertain origins, you have most likely wondered what breeds make up the wonderful being that he or she is. Because the breeds that make up a dog can give us clues to the dog’s training needs, health profile, and other tendencies, it’s a helpful to have some idea if Fido is, say, a large terrier type or if that wiry hair means there was a deerhound or wolfhound somewhere in the lineage.
The FETCH team is about to embark on a discovery of our dog’s lineage. Using modern DNA testing, we’ll try to find out if our Bennie is a “Lab X” and what that “X” really is. His friend Toast, a striking white mutt, is also going to participate in the testing.
We’ll review some of the DNA testing kits and we’ll share the results in our February issue. We’re also going to ask YOU to guess the breeds while we wait for the test results. Just follow the link to our survey.
In my previous post I noted that during some deadline weekend procrastination downtime, I came across an NPR Radio bit about a Baltimore Sun reporter who ventured out to find out what kind of mutt he really had, anyway. Shelter workers had declared Ace a "hound mix."
John wrote to me this AM and told me we can find the clips to his and Ace's story here on his Baltimore Sun Mutts site.
I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to know what my mutts are made of! Enjoy John's journey, and find out what Ace is (the polls were way wrong) here.
P.S. And of course, there's the naming of pit bull mixes as lab mixes, hound mixes, terrier mixes (OK, that one's a little more accurate)... all to soothe the potential adopter. Not sure how I feel about that one.
As a lifelong owner of mutts, I've heard that question many times... sound familiar? This brief NPR interview is for anyone who has wondered about your mutt's history and breed background, as John Woestendiek did about his rescue dog, Ace.
P.S. Yes, still not focusing on my FETCH deadline work!
