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Tag: dogs

  • Dogs really do understand that words stand for objects

    Dogs really do understand that words stand for objects

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    Dogs can learn the names of objects

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    Dogs seem to understand that words represent specific objects, recordings of their brain activity suggest.

    Although some dogs can fetch a wide range of different objects on command, few do well on such tests in the lab. In addition, it is unclear if dogs understand words as object names, rather than instructions.

    To explore this question, Marianna Boros at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, and her colleagues tested 18 dogs from a wide range of breeds, including Border collies, toy poodles and Labrador retrievers.

    Their owners chose five objects familiar to each dog. In the test, they said the name of an object and then showed the dog either the named object or a different object.

    Each dog’s brainwaves were monitored via electroencephalography (EEG) to see whether there was a difference in activity when the dog’s owner said “ball”, but showed a stick, for example, compared with when the word and object were the same.

    “The idea was that if dogs understand the meaning of the words, their brain responses will differ between the presentation of matching and mismatching objects,” says Boros.

    The researchers found that the EEG signals were different when the objects didn’t match and the effect was stronger for words that individual dogs knew well. This is similar to results seen in humans and suggests that dogs know that certain words represent certain objects.

    “The most important realisation of this study is not only that non-humans are capable of understanding words referentially, but this capacity seems to be generally present in dogs as well,” says Boros. “This study demonstrates that dogs may understand more than they show.”

    No breed appeared to show a greater language ability than any other, says Boros.

    Susan Hazel at the University of Adelaide, Australia, says the study adds to the knowledge of dog cognition.

    “I think dogs both understand more and less than what we realise,” says Hazel. “This research shows dogs appear to make a mental representation of a word they know – for example a ball – which is not at all surprising to most dog owners who know how their dogs understand some words.”

    On the other hand, she says, many dog owners anthropomorphise their pets and attribute emotions and comprehension abilities to them that don’t exist.

    “Dog cognition is now one of the most studied areas around the world,” says Hazel. “I love all the research on dogs, but would love to see more on other animals we live closely with – cats, rabbits, horses.”

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  • Can a pill really reverse ageing in dogs? Don’t get your hopes up yet

    Can a pill really reverse ageing in dogs? Don’t get your hopes up yet

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    Dogs can become less sharp with age, adopting behaviours such as pacing and staring into space

    JPagetRMphotos / Alamy

    Separating a potentially effective drug from background noise is a challenge in any medical field, but perhaps particularly in the much-publicised longevity industry. In one of its most recent ventures, researchers have claimed that a supplement given to ageing dogs can reverse some of their cognitive decline. But before dog owners start wagging their tails with delight, some researchers are concerned they could be barking up the wrong tree.

    Katherine Simon and her colleagues…

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  • Hunger-inducing mutation makes some Labrador dogs more likely to get fat

    Hunger-inducing mutation makes some Labrador dogs more likely to get fat

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    About a quarter of Labradors have a hunger-inducing mutation in the POMC gene

    Charles Mann/Getty images

    Two dog breeds, Labradors and flat-coated retrievers, may be prone to becoming overweight because they have a mutation that both makes them hungrier between meals and lowers their metabolic rate. “It’s a double whammy,” says Eleanor Raffan at the University of Cambridge.

    The mutation, which affects a gene called POMC, affects about a quarter of Labradors and two thirds of flat-coated retrievers, but no other dog breeds.

    It was discovered in 2016, when it was found to change a pathway in the brain linked with body weight regulation, although exactly how it affected eating habits was unclear.

    To find out, Raffan’s team gave 87 pet Labradors a “sausage in a box” test, where the dog could see and smell a sausage encased in an impenetrable container. Labradors with one copy of the mutation persisted at trying to open the box for much longer than dogs without it.

    But in a different test, where they were given a can of dog food every 20 minutes until they stopped eating, they all ate similar large amounts of food, whether or not they had the gene variant. This shows that the mutation affects appetite in a specific way by raising hunger levels between meals, says Raffan.

    The team also measured the resting metabolic rate of flat-coated retrievers when they were asleep and found that those with two copies of the mutation had a metabolic rate about a quarter lower than that of other dogs.

    The effects are expected to be the same in either breed, says Raffan, but in the second experiment, they wanted to look at dogs with two copies of the mutation, which flat-coated retrievers are more likely to have than Labradors.

    Many other genes probably affect body weight in dogs, as they do in people, says Raffan.

    Dan O’Neill at the UK’s Royal Veterinary College says owners with overweight dogs should try to avoid giving treats as a way of showing affection and could instead give their dogs other forms of attention. “You could replace that treat with a walk,” he says.

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  • A simple trick can make a dog treat a stranger as their friend

    A simple trick can make a dog treat a stranger as their friend

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    If an unfamiliar person spends 15 minutes following a dog, it tends to follow them back in a possible sign of friendship

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  • Pet dogs smell Parkinson’s disease with almost 90 per cent accuracy

    Pet dogs smell Parkinson’s disease with almost 90 per cent accuracy

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    Dogs that detect diseases such as covid-19 and malaria tend to be raised in expensive training centres, rather than living as pets

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    Pet dogs of various breeds can be trained to detect scents linked to Parkinson’s disease with nearly 90 per cent accuracy. With further research, this may be a relatively conclusive and inexpensive way of diagnosing the condition that enables earlier access to treatments.

    People with Parkinson’s disease have hundreds of unique chemicals in their sebum, the oily substance that hydrates the skin. With the condition having…

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  • Small dogs are more likely to have an extra row of teeth like sharks

    Small dogs are more likely to have an extra row of teeth like sharks

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    Persistent deciduous teeth, also known as “shark teeth”

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    Seven per cent of pet dogs – mostly small, “toy” breeds – have doubled-up teeth, reminiscent of sharks’ mouths. The condition, known as persistent deciduous teeth, occurs when the dog’s baby teeth remain fixed in the jaw, close to the adult teeth, instead of falling out, creating rows of teeth similar to those seen in sharks.

    To investigate these “shark teeth”, Corrin Wallis at Waltham Petcare Science Institute in Leicestershire, UK, and her colleagues examined the records of 2.8 million purebred dogs in…

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  • Huge study of dog longevity reveals which breeds live the longest

    Huge study of dog longevity reveals which breeds live the longest

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    Shiba inus are among the longest-lived dogs

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    Smaller dogs with long noses, like miniature dachshunds and shiba inus, live the longest, according to an analysis of over 580,000 dogs in the UK. Meanwhile, medium-sized breeds, such as English bulldogs and shih tzus, are the shortest-lived.

    “Despite the UK being a nation of dog lovers, we don’t have a great handle on our dog population in general, and more specifically, their expected lifespans,” says Kirsten McMillan at Dogs Trust, a welfare charity in the UK.

    To conduct a comprehensive analysis of dog longevity, McMillan and her colleagues collected data from various sources, including vets, pet insurance companies and animal welfare charities. The data included 584,734 dogs belonging to 155 breeds, of which 284,734 were deceased.

    The dogs had an average lifespan of 12.5 years. Female dogs had a slightly higher life expectancy of 12.7 years, compared with 12.4 years for males.

    When sorted into categories based on their size and face shape, the team found that small, long-nosed dogs of both sexes had the highest life expectancy, surviving 13.3 years on average. With an expected lifespan of just 9.1 and 9.6 years old, male and female medium-sized, flat-faced dogs had the worst outcomes, respectively.

    “Many flat-faced breeds, small or large, don’t do well, for example French bulldogs, St Bernards and presa canarios,” says McMillan.

    Flat-faced dogs are known to face a range of health problems, including issues with breathing, digestion and even sleep, which may explain their shorter lives.

    One of the most surprising findings was that purebreds had a greater life expectancy than crossbreeds, at 12.7 years compared with just 12 years.

    “There has long been a belief that crossbred dogs are longer-lived than purebred dogs due to the concept of hybrid vigour,” says Audrey Ruple at Virginia Tech, who wasn’t involved in the study. This refers to the idea that hybrid animals or plants might be healthier because they have more variation in their genes – but this needs to be investigated further, says Ruple.

    “Hopefully this study sparks more research into exactly why some breeds are dying young, and ultimately improves the lives of our dogs,” says McMillan.

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