dog
dr. dolittle | January 3, 2014 Image from: The Poo Prejudice | The Arid Land Homesteaders League www.plantfreak.wordpress.com
Okay, here is something rather interesting that I came across today. Scientists have discovered that dogs will align their bodies with the Earth's magnetic field before excretion. What is even more amazing is that the scientists actually observed over 5,000 pee breaks and over 1,800 defecations to come to this conclusion. Their findings suggest that when the magnetic field is stable, dogs will stand in-line with the North-South axis while avoiding the East-West axis. However, when the field…
dr. dolittle | November 22, 2013Researchers are studying tumors in the mammary glands of dogs to help understand breast cancer in humans with the goal of developing new treatments.
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dr. dolittle | November 8, 2013I came across this interesting technology to communicate with dogs that I just had to share. A research team at Georgia Tech has come up with the idea of creating a high-tech vest for assistance dogs to better communicate with their owners. The project is called FIDO (Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations). The vests come equipped with sensors they are working on training dogs to activate through tugging, biting, and touching with their nose. Moreover, the vests can be equipped with technology enabling the dogs to alert doctors in the event of an emergency. Very cool!…
FDA is looking for your help to determine source of illnesses and deaths related to dog jerky treats
dr. dolittle | October 22, 2013 Image from Vin News Service (http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=22697)
The FDA is calling for help to determine the source of roughly 580 deaths and over 3600 illnesses (gastrointestinal and kidney) related to jerky treats that were made in China. The mystery dates back to 2007 when illnesses were first being reported by pet owners. Most of the victims have been dogs, although 10 cats have become sick from eating these treats as well.The FDA has tested treats for contaminants including chemical, microbiological/bacterial, antibiotics, metals, and pesticides in addition to DNA and…
dr. dolittle | October 9, 2013 Image from: www.beagleworld.net
I should have read this article before adopting my beloved pet, who is certainly not on the top 10 list of smart breeds.
A cute article from pet360.com published the top 10 smart breeds according to the American Kennel Club:
1. Border collie
2. German Shepherd
3. Bloodhound
4. Beagle
5. Labrador Retriever
6. Newfoundland
7. Belgian Malinois
8. Siberian Huskies
9. Golden Retriever
10. Australian Shepard
Did your dog make the top 10?
To find out what classifies these as the top 10 choices, see the article in Pet360.com
dr. dolittle | July 30, 2013A drug currently used to treat colon cancer in people successfully treated a type of brain tumor, called a glioma, in a dog named "Petey". After removing the tumor, Dr. Simon Platt administered the drug to the brain where it prevented the tumor from returning. The next step is to conduct a larger study that includes more dogs. If successful, the drug may be used in clinical studies of humans to treat glioblastomas, a similar form of brain cancer that affects roughly 13,000 people annually and for which there is currently no cure.
dr. dolittle | July 22, 2013 Image from: Noa Safra, UC Davis
Weimaraner dogs are helping researchers to understand neural tube birth defects, like anencephaly (where the brain or skull do not fully develop) and spina bifida (where the spinal column is not fully enclosed). In new research published this week in PLOS One, Dr. Noa Safra (UC Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine) and colleagues mapped the genomes of Weimaraner dogs that had spinal dysraphism, a neural tube defect, along with samples from humans with spina bifida. They discovered mutations in a gene called NKX2-8 that is known to be involved in embryonic…
dr. dolittle | July 9, 2013Ever wonder what dogs and hyenas have in common? Would you be surprised to learn that hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs? In fact, according to this video thesis, the shared bone-crushing abilities of dogs and hyenas is actually an example of convergent evolution.
dr. dolittle | June 27, 2013Dogs, like people, are susceptible to a form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) known as canine compulsive disorder (CCD). In fact, the news story at the end of this blog describes CCD and also discusses a form of OCD in Siamese and Persian cats that is related to stress.
A prior study suggested that dogs are good models for OCD in humans since their physiology is similar and they share the same environment as humans. Dr. Hannes Lohi (University of Helsinki) and colleagues found that dogs who received vitamin and mineral supplements were less likely to exhibit CCD (measured as excessive…
dr. dolittle | June 12, 2013Dr. Liz Phular and colleagues at the University of Minnesota have been testing an experimental cancer treatment for brain tumors in dogs that also offers hope to humans with brain tumors:
KMSP-TV
dr. dolittle | May 13, 2013 Image of atopic dermatitis from www.itchfreepet.com
Dr. Kerstin Lindblad-Toh at Uppsala University (Sweden) who specializes in comparative genomics and Dr. Åke Hedhammar, SLU (Sweden) recently identified a novel gene in German shepherd dogs, PKP-2, that encodes a protein (plakophilin-2) important for regulating proper skin structure and function. This protein was found to be associated with canine atopic dermatitis (i.e. doggy eczema), a condition that affects 3-10% of man's best friends. Researchers hope that the discovery of this gene relationship may lead to better understanding of, and…
dr. dolittle | February 18, 2013 Image of beagle from www.dogbreedinfo.com/beagle.htm
Diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar. The cause of high blood sugar differs for people with type 1 versus type 2 diabetes. For type 1 diabetics, the pancreas produces little or no insulin, the hormone responsible for lowering blood sugar. For type 2 diabetics, tissues in the body are not responsive to insulin, termed insulin resistance, resulting in persistently elevated blood sugar. Muscle tissue is the main site of glucose disposal in the body and therefore, the main site of insulin's action.
Researchers from Universitat…
dr. dolittle | February 6, 2013 Image of Dr. Brian Hare from Dognition website.
I just found out there is a website, Dognition, dedicated to helping you discover just how smart your furry friend is. The site claims that dogs are actually smarter than we think and that even the apparently dumbest dog is intelligent in one way or another. (There is hope for my dog after all!) The scientist behind the website is Dr. Brian Hare, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University.
dr. dolittle | January 29, 2013
You may recall a prior blog entry about a new experimental treatment for bone cancer in dogs. Researchers are increasingly studying canine cancer and discovering that it is caused by some of the same genetic mutations that cause cancer in humans.
Shown in the image above is Jasper, a 7-year old dog that has lymphoma, cancer of the immune system (white blood cells) that is similar to non-Hodgkin lymphoma that afflicts people. Researchers are hoping that studying the DNA of dogs with cancer may lead to treatments for not only dogs, but also people. The first national canine tumor bank,…
dr. dolittle | January 26, 2013
Image of yellow lab from Wikimedia Commons
New genetic analyses supports the argument that the domestication of man's best friend coincided with the advent of argiculture and human settlements. Researchers Erik Axelsson (Uppsala University, Sweden) and colleagues present evidence suggesting that wolves became domesticated as they increasingly scavenged in the human settlements. The researchers sequenced DNA from 12 wolves and 60 dogs to find areas that evolved under selection pressure. What they found were differences in genes relaed to the development of the central nervous system…
dr. dolittle | December 17, 2012Researchers have actually trained a beagle named Cliff to detect the intestinal bacteria Clostridium difficile on patients and in stool samples that were collected from infected patients in the Netherlands. This infection is common in hospitals and long-term treatment facilities. Infection with the contagious C. diff results in diarrhea that has been responsible for the deaths of up to 14,000 Americans each year. Having a dog sniff out the infection may seem absurd until you consider it can take up to a week to detect the infection using traditional laboratory techniques. Being able to detect…
esiegel | December 9, 2012"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man." -Mark Twain
While it's hard to imagine for me now that I have one, there are plenty of people out there who have never known the rewards and joys that come with rescuing an animal. This week, I present to you a song by six future Soundgarden-and-Pearl Jam members back when they were part of the band Temple of the Dog,
Call Me a Dog.
And while there are many internet jokes out there about dogs driving cars...
Image credit: Kathy of http://www.petswelcome.com…
dr. dolittle | November 21, 2012Jasper is just one of the injured dogs that this research team has been able to help walk following an injection of nasal cells:
dr. dolittle | November 7, 2012I know what I'm doing tonight! I just heard about a special called "What Are Animals Thinking" that will be airing tonight on NOVA ScienceNOW. To check local listings, click here.
Watch What Are Animals Thinking? Preview on PBS. See more from NOVA scienceNOW.
dr. dolittle | October 10, 2012I just watched a funny entry submitted for the 2012 American Physiological Society's (APS) video contest on some of the differences betweens humans and dogs. The authors of the video were Nate Brault and Thomas Szamocki from Beloit College. It is also available in the APS Archive of Teaching Resources, a searchable archive of teaching resources and activities to help teach K-12 as well as college students about physiology.