Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts
DockDogs: The Sport Where Canines Catch Big Air (TIME video)
Leaping Labradors! Meet some of the champs in a sport in which dogs run and leap off boating docks, reaching distances of more than 20 feet.
Read more from TIME.
National Geographic: Science of Dogs (Netflix)
Available for streaming from Netflix: National Geographic: Science of Dogs, 2007, 45 minutes.
Long known as "man's best friend," there are more varieties of dogs than any other species on Earth. This documentary takes a closer look at the history of dogs, and how humans have taken an active role in shaping their appearance and behavior. An installment of National Geographic's "Explorer" series, the program explains how mankind manipulates science in the interest of creating the perfect pet.
Long known as "man's best friend," there are more varieties of dogs than any other species on Earth. This documentary takes a closer look at the history of dogs, and how humans have taken an active role in shaping their appearance and behavior. An installment of National Geographic's "Explorer" series, the program explains how mankind manipulates science in the interest of creating the perfect pet.
Related:
Dogs: When Cancer Comes With a Pedigree
From WSJ:
Cancer is all too common in dogs, especially golden retrievers: 60% of them die of it, more than twice the average rate for all breeds.
All breeds have their health scourges. Bulldogs have respiratory problems; dachshunds have back issues; Labrador retrievers have heart disease and diabetes and even with a much lower rate of cancer, die at roughly the same age as goldens.
All purebred dogs are essentially inbred. And the genes become more concentrated with each generation, because most pet dogs aren't bred and breeders select only a few dogs with the most desirable traits to reproduce.
Cancer is all too common in dogs, especially golden retrievers: 60% of them die of it, more than twice the average rate for all breeds.
All breeds have their health scourges. Bulldogs have respiratory problems; dachshunds have back issues; Labrador retrievers have heart disease and diabetes and even with a much lower rate of cancer, die at roughly the same age as goldens.
All purebred dogs are essentially inbred. And the genes become more concentrated with each generation, because most pet dogs aren't bred and breeders select only a few dogs with the most desirable traits to reproduce.
References:
The Cancer Risk for Purebred Dogs - WSJ.com.
The Cancer Risk for Purebred Dogs - WSJ.com.
Wolves may have first been domesticated as dogs for their meat
From the NYTimes:
Wolves may have first been domesticated as dogs for their meat, a process that started in southern China.
References:
In Taming Dogs, Humans May Have Sought a Meal. NYT, 2009.
Wolves may have first been domesticated as dogs for their meat, a process that started in southern China.
Sampling the mitochondrial DNA of dogs worldwide, the team found that in every region of the world all dogs seem to belong to one lineage. That indicates a single domestication event. If wolves had been domesticated in many places, there would be more than one lineage, each leading back to a local population of wolves.
The single domestication event seems to have occurred in southern China, where the dogs have greater genetic diversity than those elsewhere. The region of highest diversity is usually the place of origin because a species tends to lose diversity as it spreads.
There is a long tradition of eating dogs in southern China.
References:
In Taming Dogs, Humans May Have Sought a Meal. NYT, 2009.
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