The pet I’ll never forget: Anya, the big-hearted dog who taught me never to take life for granted
2 DAYS AGO - I knew I was taking a risk when I moved home to adopt a middle-aged boxer/staffy cross. But it Expand
2 DAYS AGO - I knew I was taking a risk when I moved home to adopt a middle-aged boxer/staffy cross. But it more than paid offMy life was mostly happy – I had a job I enjoyed and a husband I loved. But as the Covid-19 pandemic took over I felt something was missing: having an animal to nurture. I had grown up with cats and found them affectionate but aloof. Meanwhile, everyone said that dogs showered you with unconditional love. In a time as isolating as lockdown, that sounded just what I needed.In 2020, we left London for Essex so we could adopt Anya, a seven-year-old boxer-staffordshire terrier cross whose grin enchanted us from the moment we saw her photo on the Danaher rescue website. We settled on the city of Chelmsford for its proximity to our friends in London, and because it offered us a bigger, more affordable space so Anya could have a garden of her own to frolic in. It was a match made in heaven. Continue reading... Collapse
When dogs recall toys, and horses plan ahead, are animals so different from us? | Martha Gill
4 DAYS AGO - We’re warned not to assign human qualities to other species, but evidence of their complex Expand
4 DAYS AGO - We’re warned not to assign human qualities to other species, but evidence of their complex abilities is mountingThe details differ, but really it’s the same story, turning up every few weeks, for around a decade now. The revelation – and it’s always presented with a dramatic flourish – is this: animals are much more like us than we thought.Last week, it was that dogs could remember the names of their old toys – even when they hadn’t seen them for two years. Language acquisition, that “uniquely human” thing, was being encroached on, the researchers said: dogs could store words in their memory. Last month, it was that horses could strategise and plan ahead, overturning the assumption that they “simply respond to stimuli in the moment”. And in April, it was that there’s a “realistic possibility of consciousness” in reptiles, fish and even insects – according to a declaration signed by some 40 scientists. One of the studies backing the claims recorded bumblebees playing Collapse
Starmer leads with compromise for new family pet – and gets ‘dog-like’ cat
4 DAYS AGO - Siberian kitten at No 10 may get frosty reception from chief mouser Larry, who took on George Expand
4 DAYS AGO - Siberian kitten at No 10 may get frosty reception from chief mouser Larry, who took on George Osborne’s cat, FreyaOn the face of it, the kitten that joined Keir Starmer’s family appears to have had a peaceful first week at an address where feline and human rivals have been known to get their claws out.The arrival of the Siberian cat – as yet unnamed in public – was revealed on Monday by the prime minister, who said his children had been pushing for a dog to join them at Downing Street. Continue reading... Collapse
They had to find foster homes for hundreds of sick and traumatised labradoodles. We took one | First Dog on the Moon
5 DAYS AGO - Contrast my anger towards puppy mills with the joy of seeing a rescue dog running on grass for the Expand
5 DAYS AGO - Contrast my anger towards puppy mills with the joy of seeing a rescue dog running on grass for the first time in its lifeSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading... Collapse
Tim Dowling: we bit the bullet and got a new puppy. Dear God, what have we done?
31/08/2024 - The new addition to our house is howling, taking over my bed and alienating our other pets – and Expand
31/08/2024 - The new addition to our house is howling, taking over my bed and alienating our other pets – and she hasn’t even got a name yetMy wife and I are driving back to London with a puppy in a cage on the back seat. The puppy, dark brown apart from a white bib shaped like a downward-pointing arrow, has commenced a pitiful, high-pitched keening, the kind of sound you can feel in your bones, a noise to scratch holes in your soul. We’ve had possession of this dog for about 15 minutes, and I’m already thinking we’ve made a terrible mistake.After one last, rasping cry, the dog promptly falls asleep for the rest of the two-hour journey. Unfortunately, the two-hour journey ends up taking three hours, and for the final 20-minute stretch the dog sets up its pitiful wailing again. Continue reading... Collapse
Miserable? Hardly! A celebration of ‘cat ladies’ through history – from Mary Pickford to Taylor Swift
28/08/2024 - Forget JD Vance and all the other sneerers. The rest of the world could learn a thing or two from Expand
28/08/2024 - Forget JD Vance and all the other sneerers. The rest of the world could learn a thing or two from women who love moggiesThree years after JD Vance made his disparaging remark about “childless cat ladies” to the then Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the Republican vice-presidential candidate is still seeking to explain, telling NBC on Sunday that he was making a joke, but also a “real, substantive point” about the US becoming “too anti-family”.As Vance keeps digging, let’s survey cat ladies – past and present, childless and not – to see just how miserable they are. Continue reading... Collapse
Summer picks: what can our dogs teach us about obesity? – podcast
27/08/2024 - Labradors are known for being greedy dogs, and now scientists have come up with a theory about the Expand
27/08/2024 - Labradors are known for being greedy dogs, and now scientists have come up with a theory about the genetic factors that may be behind their behaviour.In this episode from April 2024, the Guardian’s science correspondent and flat-coated retriever owner Nicola Davis visits the University of Cambridge to meet Dr Eleanor Raffan and Prof Giles Yeo to find out how understanding this pathway could help treat the obesity crisis in humans‘Much more fixated on the sausage’: study sheds light on obesity in labradors Continue reading... Collapse
Pet thieves could be jailed for up to five years under new law in UK
24/08/2024 - Campaigners welcome new legislation for England and Northern Ireland, which they say will help Expand
24/08/2024 - Campaigners welcome new legislation for England and Northern Ireland, which they say will help stamp out trade in stolen animalsPet campaigners have welcomed a law that came into force yesterday making the theft of a cat or taking or detaining a dog a criminal offence in England and Northern Ireland.Under the Pet Abduction Act 2024, anyone found guilty of stealing a cat or dog could face up to five years in prison as well as a fine. Continue reading... Collapse
Pigs sipping White Claw and cows in the kitchen: should we be worried about offbeat pets going TikTok viral?
22/08/2024 - Non-traditional pets get millions of online views. But the rising trend poses questions about Expand
22/08/2024 - Non-traditional pets get millions of online views. But the rising trend poses questions about animal welfareIn a quiet neighborhood in California’s capital, residents have gotten used to the screaming temper tantrums of a two-year-old. “No, Merlin!” they’ll hear his mother shout whenever he’s had enough of his favorite snack. “No more ice cubes!”“We haven’t had any complaints from the neighbors yet,” says Mia Alali, the mother in question. That might be because Merlin is just about the cutest two-year-old in California. He also happens to be a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. Continue reading... Collapse
|
Elon Musk is intrigued by the idea women can’t think freely because of ‘low T’ | Arwa Mahdawi
4 DAYS AGO - Every time it seems he can’t possibly sink any lower, the billionaire CEO grabs a shovel and Expand
4 DAYS AGO - Every time it seems he can’t possibly sink any lower, the billionaire CEO grabs a shovel and starts diggingEvery time I think Elon Musk can’t possibly sink any lower, he grabs a shovel and starts digging. In recent months, Apartheid Clyde (as he is nicknamed) has been doing his best to get Donald Trump elected by any means possible. As well as throwing money and an endorsement Trump’s way, Musk has posted multiple false election claims and reposted a fake version of Kamala Harris’s first campaign video that has been doctored to make her say she is the “ultimate diversity hire”. Continue reading... Collapse
Cat makes surprise return home four days after being ‘cremated’
5 DAYS AGO - Beloved pet Ted reunited with grieving North Yorkshire family after drowning mixupThe myth of cats Expand
5 DAYS AGO - Beloved pet Ted reunited with grieving North Yorkshire family after drowning mixupThe myth of cats having nine lives was tested to its limit when Nicci Knight’s beloved feline Ted walked through the catflap after being “cremated”.Knight, from Newby, North Yorkshire, was on holiday in Turkey when she was told by neighbours that Ted had drowned in their pond, the BBC reported. She arranged for a funeral to take place in Thornaby while she and her family were away – but four days after the ceremony, Ted walked back into their home. Continue reading... Collapse
Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows
7 DAYS AGO - Research into canine cognition suggests some pets store object names in long-term memoryDog owners Expand
7 DAYS AGO - Research into canine cognition suggests some pets store object names in long-term memoryDog owners may have trouble remembering which toy is Mr Squeaky, but such names can be seared into the memory of their pets, researchers have found.Scientists previously discovered some dogs have a remarkable ability to learn the names of toys, with a border collie known as Chaser having learned the labels of more than 1,000 objects. Continue reading... Collapse
Digested week: In defence of cat ladies (especially those with children) | Lucy Mangan
30/08/2024 - If you are having a bad day, you can ignore cats – the same can’t be said of your offspring. Plus: Expand
30/08/2024 - If you are having a bad day, you can ignore cats – the same can’t be said of your offspring. Plus: Oasis reunion? I can’t bear itWith apologies, of course, to Senator JD Vance – I have acquired two rescue kittens. Strictly speaking, I am not one of the “childless cat ladies” whom he so mocks and of whom he so disapproves, because I have a son. But it is my firm belief that childless cat ladyness is a state of mind, and in those terms I find myself fully qualified for the category. Continue reading... Collapse
I sympathise with Lily Allen on untenable pets – I love my cats but I don’t see how I can keep them | Michele Theil
28/08/2024 - The pop star ran into unfair flak when she rehomed her dog because of its behavioural issues. I Expand
28/08/2024 - The pop star ran into unfair flak when she rehomed her dog because of its behavioural issues. I face the same dilemmaLast week, the pop star Lily Allen was viciously criticised on social media after it was revealed that she had rehomed her dog Mary – after Mary ate her and her children’s passports. The animal rights charity Peta published an open letter accusing Allen of treating her dog like an accessory “to be discarded when they become inconvenient”. Allen tried to put the event in context, saying that the passport eating was the final straw in a series of incidents stemming from the dog’s severe behavioural issues.While I understand the natural impulse to say that Allen is a “monster” for rehoming Mary, I have sympathy for her. Having a pet is a big responsibility, and one we should always take seriously, but when a pet has such extreme behavioural issues that it can’t seem to live and thrive in your home, it’s OK to ask whether it might be better off elsewhere. Continue Collapse
The pet I’ll never forget: Nala the tabby, who terrorised other cats and had to be hidden from the landlord
26/08/2024 - She stole my heart – and the food from my plate. I still miss her mischief and her tendernessIt Expand
26/08/2024 - She stole my heart – and the food from my plate. I still miss her mischief and her tendernessIt was September 2016 when my parter and I walked into our local Cats Protection shelter looking to adopt our first pet together. There were young families buzzing around the last remaining kittens, but my attention was immediately drawn to a two-year-old grey tabby with her peach nose edged in black. I scooped her up into my arms and knew instantly it could only be her. She oozed affection; her purr radiated through my soul. She’d just been returned to the shelter following a failed adoption because she didn’t get on with the family’s other cat. The sanctuary volunteers were hesitant to let her go, but finally decided she could come home with us. Nala had found her forever home.It didn’t take long to understand exactly what Nala’s previous family meant when they said she didn’t get on with other cats. After tentatively exploring her new home, Nala spotted Aslan, a big ginger tom, through the Collapse
Tim Dowling: my wife has fallen madly in love with a puppy called Nothing
24/08/2024 - From her description I was imagining a dog with a labrador’s sleek coat and a terrier’s can-do Expand
24/08/2024 - From her description I was imagining a dog with a labrador’s sleek coat and a terrier’s can-do approach. The reality is more like a depressed hamsterDuring the time I spent in the US, either side of my father’s funeral, I would periodically send my wife photos I thought illustrated some poignant or absurd aspect of mortality – a deer eating someone’s graveside flower arrangement, say. And after an acknowledgment and a pause each time, I would receive a picture of a puppy in return.I understand that it is common to send people pictures of puppies as a comfort in times of distress, but these were not random images of little dogs doing cute things harvested from the internet. These were pictures of quite specific puppies, and in a lot of the photos my wife was holding them. Continue reading... Collapse
Buying puppies from unknown sources ‘devastating’ to welfare, Kennel Club says
20/08/2024 - Survey found almost a third of UK dog owners spent less than a day researching the breederWould-be Expand
20/08/2024 - Survey found almost a third of UK dog owners spent less than a day researching the breederWould-be dog owners are buying puppies with little thought, effort or research, the UK’s leading dog breeding organisation has said, warning that convenience culture is having a “devastating” effect on puppy welfare.According to research by the Kennel Club, almost a third (29%) of dog owners in the UK spent less than a day researching their decision and the breeder. Continue reading... Collapse
|
People Who Like Dogs Like People Who Like Dogs review – a touching tale of the canine-human community
3 DAYS AGO - Journalist Nick Duerden finds a puppy provides entry into an unexpected new social world at his Expand
3 DAYS AGO - Journalist Nick Duerden finds a puppy provides entry into an unexpected new social world at his local parkThere’s nothing quite like a puppy for luring total strangers into conversation. So discovers journalist Nick Duerden when Missy the border terrier joins the family. As energetic as “a just-lit firework”, her role is to provide him with gentle daily exercise while he recovers from the post-viral fatigue that he’s chronicled elsewhere. She’s also set to give his atrophying social skills a workout, stripping him of midlife invisibility and earning him an entrée to an unexpected new social circle at his local London park.There he meets the likes of Pavlov, a Russian existentialist who shares his council flat with Dog, a three-legged staffie; Elizabeth, an elegant older widow and owner of grey-muzzled Betty; and Agatha, an art teacher whose grandparents came here from the Caribbean, and who is forever dressed in purple, Coco the French bulldog tucked under her arm. There’s also Collapse
Tim Dowling: we’ve given the new puppy a name, but I fear the cat may starve to death
4 DAYS AGO - Since the puppy arrived, I’ve barely seen the cat – and when I do, it’s ready to get its own Expand
4 DAYS AGO - Since the puppy arrived, I’ve barely seen the cat – and when I do, it’s ready to get its own backThe puppy still has no name when we take it to the vet for its injections.“Have you chosen one yet?” says the receptionist. “Or do you want me to leave it as Puppy for now?” Continue reading... Collapse
You be the judge: should my husband teach our dog how to bite so he can enter a competition?
5 DAYS AGO - Roger wants to teach his German shepherd biting skills but Helen thinks it’s too dangerous with a Expand
5 DAYS AGO - Roger wants to teach his German shepherd biting skills but Helen thinks it’s too dangerous with a new baby around. You get to chew over the verdictFind out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror We trained our dog to be gentle. Now we have a baby, why would we take such a huge risk?Eddie will still be the same dog even if I teach him to bite, and him competing would fulfill my dream Continue reading... Collapse
The pet I’ll never forget: Catkin the sheep, who broke my ribs and then my heart
02/09/2024 - Sheep have a reputation for being dim and dull. But mine had personality in spades – and a Expand
02/09/2024 - Sheep have a reputation for being dim and dull. But mine had personality in spades – and a sometimes dangerous sense of humourMost people assume a flock of sheep share just the one brain cell. Actually, they are engaging, affectionate and bright. And, if you invest time, their personalities shine through. I moved from the city to the country 16 years ago and spent the first decade content to have two horses, two dogs and two teenagers. Then a local sheep breeder asked if I’d have some of her show ring rejects and so a motley crew of seven Zwartbles, with all the wrong markings, arrived at my farm.Zwartbles are a large, handsome breed with a dense, wiry black fleece and white socks and tail tips. I assumed they would be my glorified lawnmowers, but the one time I let them into the garden, havoc ensued with Astrild falling asleep in the flower bed, Eliza and Emily dozing in front of the car, Brontë moving the garden furniture around, Catkin and Willow staring in through the French Collapse
Humans can communicate with dogs using soundboards, study suggests
28/08/2024 - Study described as ‘necessary first step’ in discovering whether dogs and humans can use Expand
28/08/2024 - Study described as ‘necessary first step’ in discovering whether dogs and humans can use push-button devices to communicateIt has become a hot-button topic among dog lovers: can humans and canines communicate with each other using a soundboard? Now researchers say they have taken the first steps towards finding out, revealing that dogs trained to use such devices respond to the pre-recorded words just as they do to spoken words.“Here we show that actually [dogs] do pay attention to the [soundboard] words and they produce appropriate behaviours independently of environmental cues and who produces the word,” said Prof Federico Rossano, of the University of California San Diego, who led the research. Continue reading... Collapse
‘He isn’t just a pet. He is a character’: Black Dog director Guan Hu on filming an indescribable bond
27/08/2024 - The Eight Hundred film-maker explains that his moody, sprawling feature springs from a decisive Expand
27/08/2024 - The Eight Hundred film-maker explains that his moody, sprawling feature springs from a decisive moment in Chinese history but also a very intimate connectionThe year is 2008 and China is opening to the world. Announcements about the summer Olympics in Beijing are blaring out from loudspeakers across the country, stirring up national pride about an event that underscores China’s confidence in the 21st century. But in a far-flung corner of north-west China, on the edge of the Gobi desert, the sparkle from the capital has faded into a translucent dust, coating everything in a declining industrial town with a bleak, grey haze.It is here that Black Dog’s central human character, Lang, freshly released from prison, finds himself, as he returns to his barren home town to reconcile with his ailing father and former neighbours, who regard him with suspicion. Continue reading... Collapse
I thought I was done with parenthood. But the tortoises had other plans | Emma Beddington
25/08/2024 - Just when my husband and I were getting used to the empty nest, there’s a new occupant to worry Expand
25/08/2024 - Just when my husband and I were getting used to the empty nest, there’s a new occupant to worry about. We have never felt more helplessAn unexpected thing has happened: I, we, have had a baby. A surprise change-of-life baby! That wasn’t part of our empty nest plan, but sometimes fate decides and you’re dragged along for the ride. You probably want details: well, we’re not sure of the sex, but it’s probably female because of the incubation temperature and the fact it weighs 17g. OK, it’s a baby tortoise.Our new arrival came as a complete shock. Our two female tortoises sometimes lay eggs, but none have ever been fertile. One male is a foul sex pest who molests them tirelessly, but we assumed that the fact he’s a quarter of the ladies’ size created insuperable, er, logistical problems (we often we find him flailing on his back, because they’ve tired of his squeaking, humping antics and flipped him). The other is larger, but lower-key: he likes being alone and chomping dandelions (I Collapse
Pigeon-fluencers help the much-hated bird make a surprising comeback
23/08/2024 - For centuries, having a pigeon as a pet was seen as a status symbol – now a new wave of fans are Expand
23/08/2024 - For centuries, having a pigeon as a pet was seen as a status symbol – now a new wave of fans are praising them as loving, smart and ‘sort of chill’Pidge is a New York City It Girl. Over 50,000 followers tune into her TikTok to learn her beauty routine or see her posing on the subway. She’s invited to book launches, where she mingles with other influencers. She loves statement bags: her newest is brat green.Oh, and Pidge is short for Pidgey, as in pigeon – she’s a bird. Continue reading... Collapse
|
