Memorial Day Special Video...

When you were a kid, you'd probably go running when you heard the music from the ice cream truck coming near — and this sweet-toothed pit bull does exactly the same thing.
When an ice cream truck pulled up near her house, she got VERY excited.

She ran over to the truck, and when her mom came over with some money, she took her place in line, then sat down and waited.

As soon as it was their turn, the pup sat right below the window, watched her mom hand over the money ...

... and finally saw what she'd been waiting for.

As soon as the pit bull's mom handed over the ice cream, she ate the ENTIRE thing in just a few bites ...

... and almost instantly went looking for more. Hey, you can't blame a girl for trying!
​
Source: The Dodo  

1. It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans. It is akin to our vision at dusk.

2. Dogs DO have better low-light vision than humans because of a special light-reflecting layer behind their retinas

3. A German Shepherd guide dog led her blind companion the entire 2100 mile Appalachian Trail

4. If never spayed or neutered, a female dog, her mate, and their puppies could produce over 66,000 dogs in 6 years!

5. Dogs’ only sweat glands are between their paw pads

6. Like human babies, Chihuahuas are born with a soft spot in their skull which closes with age

7. The breed Lundehune has 6 toes and can close its ears

8. Teddy Roosevelt’s dog, Pete, ripped a French ambassador’s pants off at the White House

9. President Lyndon Johnson had two beagles named Him and Her

10. Franklin Roosevelt spent $15,000 for a destroyer to pick up his Scottie in the Aleutian Islands

11. In Roman times, mastiffs donned light armor and were sent after mounted knights

12. The Russians trained dogs during WWII to run suicide missions with mines strapped to their backs

13. A dog’s mouth exerts 150-200 pounds of pressure per square inch

14. … with some dogs exerting up to 450 pounds per square inch.

15. A one year old dog is as mature, physically, as a 15 year old human

16. The U.S. has the highest dog population in the world

17. France has the 2nd highest

18. The average city dog lives 3 years longer than a country dog

19. 87% of dog owners say their dog curls up beside them or at their feet while they watch T.V.

20. Dogs can be trained to detect epileptic seizures

21. 15 people die in the U.S. every year from dog bites

22. In 2002 alone, more people in the U.S. were killed by dogs than by sharks in the past 100 years

23. Gidget is the name of the Taco Bell dog

24. Newfoundlands are great swimmers because of their webbed feet

25. Basset Hounds cannot swim

26. Greyhounds are the fastest dogs on earth, with speeds of up to 45 miles per hour

27. Bingo is the name of the dog on the side of the Cracker Jack box

28. The bible mentions dogs 14 times

29. Three dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic – a Newfoundland, a Pomeranian, and a Pekingese

30. The Labrador Retriever is the #1 favorite breed in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

31. Obesity is the #1 health problem among dogs

32. An estimated 1,000,000 dogs in the U.S. have been named as the primary beneficiaries in their owner’s will

33. An American Animal Hospital Assoc. poll found that 33% of dog owners admit to talking to their dogs on the phone and leaving answering machine messages for them while away

34. Dog’s nose prints are as unique as a human’s finger prints and can be used to accurately identify them

35. At the end of the Beatles’ song “A Day in the Life”, a high-pitched dog whistle was recorded by Paul McCartney for his sheepdog

36. 70% of people sign their pet’s name on greeting and holiday cards

37. 58% put pets in family and holiday portraits

38. There are only 350 Cisky Terriers in the world – perhaps the rarest breed

39. The phrase “raining cats and dogs” originated in 17th century England when it is believed that many cats and dogs drowned during heavy periods of rain.

40. Dogs have no sense of “time”

41. Humans have kept dogs as pets for over 12,000 years

42. The largest breed of dog is the Irish Wolfhound

43. The world’s smallest dog breed is the Chihuahua

44. The St. Bernard is the heaviest

45. Only dogs and humans have prostates

46. But dogs do not have an appendix

47. Every dog on earth likely descended from a species knows as the Tomarctus – a creature that roamed the earth over 15 million years ago

48. The oldest known breed is likely the Saluki – originally trained by Egyptians to help them track game.

49. In 1957, Laika became the first living being in space via an earth satellite

50. … while JFK’s terrier, Charlie, father 4 puppies with Laika’s daughter

51. An African wolf dog known as the basenji is the only dog in the world that cannot bark

52. There are 703 breeds of purebred dogs

53. Dachshunds were originally bred for fighting badgers

54. The world’s smartest dogs are thought to be (1) the border collie, (2) the poodle, and (3) the golden retriever

55. … while the dumbest dog is believed to be the Afghan hound

56. A dog’s smell is more than 100,000 times stronger than that of a human’s

57. … which they need because their eyesight is not as keen as a human’s.

58. Dogs judge objects first by their movement, then by their brightness, and lastly by their shape

59. Chocolate contains a substance known as theobromine (similar to caffeine) which can kill dogs or at the very least make them violently ill

60. George Washington had thirty six dogs – all foxhounds – with one named Sweetlips

61. All dogs are identical in anatomy – 321 bones and 42 permanent teeth

62. Smaller breeds mature faster than larger breeds

63. Female dogs are only ready to mate – “in heat” – twice a year for a total of roughly 20 days

64. Puppies sleep ninety percent of the day for their first few weeks

65. Rin Tin Tin was the first Hollywood dog star

66. … and he really signed his movie contracts – all 22 of them – with a pawprint

67. The Wizard of Oz’s Toto was played by a female Cairn Terrier named Terry

68. Their vision is not fully developed until after the 1st month

69. Dogs have two times as many muscles to move their ears as people

70. The longer a dog’s nose, the more effective it’s internal cooling system

71. An elderly woman was saved by her 12 pound Yorkshire Terrier who fought off an 80 pound Akita and survived with only 9 stitches

72. U.S. Customs dogs “Rocky” and “Barco” were so good at patrolling the border that Mexican drug lords put a $300,000 bounty on their heads

73. Dogs are all direct descendants of wolves

74. Wolves and dogs can mate to produce fertile offspring

75. Female wolves have been known to travel great distances to regurgitate full meals for their hungry pups

76. Cerberus was the tri-headed dog that guarded the underworld in Greek mythology

77. Female dogs bear their young for 60 days before they’re born

78. Dogs’ sense of hearing is more than ten times more acute than a human’s

79. Humans can detect sounds at 20,000 times per second, while dogs can sense frequencies of 30,000 times per second.

80. The earliest dog fossil dates back to nearly 10,000 B.C.

81. Bloodhounds are prized their ability to single out and identify a number of scents simultaneously

82. Dalmatian puppies are born completely white.

83. The Ancient Chinese carried Pekingese puppies in the sleeves of their robes

84. Boxers are so named because of their manner of playing with their front paws

85. All breeds of dog have been found to attack livestock – from 3 month old puppies, all the way up to thirteen year old poodles

86. A dog’s heart beats up to 120 times per minute, or 50% faster than the average human heartbeat of 80 times per minute

87. The oldest dog on record – a Queensland “Heeler” named Bluey – was 29 years, 5 months old

88. Davy Crockett had a dog named Sport

89. Dogs were first domesticated by cavemen

90. Dogs live 15 years on average

91. Many foot disorders inn dogs are simply an issue of long toenails

92. More than 5,000,000 puppies are born in the U.S. every year

93. More than 1 in 3 American families own a dog

94. Average body temperature for a dog is 101.2 degrees

95. The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts both offer merit badges in dog care

96. Dogs are natural pack animals

97. They are naturally submissive to any creature with higher pack status – human or canine

98. After birth, puppies’ eyes do not fully open until they’re about 12 days old

99. Dogs with little human contact in the first three months typically don’t make good pets

100. The Chihuahua was named after the state in Mexico where they were discovered

Source: cesar.com 

A deaf white boxer and her unusually long tongue are helping to raise awareness and bring positive attention to shelter animals and animals with disabilities, Fox 11 reported.

Semi, who was adopted by Farrah Marx in 2012, is currently on her way to Instagram fame as Marx chronicles what it is like to train a deaf dog.

“I did a little research on training deaf dogs, but for the most part it was her trust in me and our relationship that made everything work out smoothly,” Marx told Fox 11. “We use hand signals— we have one for ‘Good job’ so that she is always validated when she does something good, ‘no’ or ‘stop that,’ ‘sit,’ ‘stay,’ ‘lie down’ and ‘shake hands.’”

Marx told the news station that one of the biggest challenges she faces is when Semi is acting stubbornly and won’t make eye contact.

Semi is also featured on socks as part of a campaign to raise fund for shelter dogs. Marx is planning on having her tongue measured to see if she has the Guinness record for World’s Longest Dog Tongue.

Marx told Fox 11 her experience with Semi has been incredible, and she is growing into a fully adaptive dog.

Source: FoxNews.com

Cats get a bad rap when it comes to laziness. Lasagna-loving Garfield, for example. This cat is lazy and scoops its food out of its bowl so it can dine whilst lounging. This cat would rather not treadmill, thank mew very much.

But in the wild, cats are sleek and stealthy hunters, and will stalk their prey, whether it’s a roll of toilet paper or a Swiffer. When your cat is an indoor pet, anything is fair game. But while some cats will go chase after any reflection of sunlight that catches their eye, others need more motivation to move. To keep his cat’s hunting instincts sharp, Ben Millam built a device that triggers the cat feeder when Monkey, his cat, finds an RFID-equipped ball, according to Laughing Squid. And it’s not like the balls are in plain sight. Millam hides them in different places to ensure Monkey stays active. The idea occurred to him after he read that cats practice “mobile” hunting, sticking their whiskers in different spots while roaming around their territory in hopes of unsettling some prey. Instead of hiding bowls of food, he decided to train his cat to find the balls and get rewarded with a snack.

Using an RFID reader, an Arduino, a remote antenna, and relays (plus cat), the device activates the feeder whenever Monkey deposits a ball, equipped with an RFID tag, into the hole and past the reader.

Millam says he’s an amateur maker, but he’s clearly an expert cat trainer. In order get Monkey to learn this behavior, he went steps beyond Pavlov. He has a breakdown of his “clicker training” on his site. It will definitely take both time and patience to get your own little feline in fetch mode. For Millam, it was all worth it, because it brings Monkey “one step closer towards a more fulfilled and self-actualized indoor kitty existence.”

Source: digitaltrends.com / Jenny McGrath 

Your dog might seem like an unlikely source of renewable energy. But a new appliance is designed to take a plentiful resource your pet produces—dog poop—and convert it into electricity that can charge household gadgets.

In theory, it's a way to keep dog turds off city sidewalks by giving owners an incentive to bring the waste home. "I have three dogs," says Geneva-based designer Océane Izard, who created "Poo Poo Power" as a conceptual design. "I have always believed in the potential of my dogs' droppings. I've also lost count of the times I've walked in shit."

To use the appliance, dog owners place a biodegradable bag of dog waste inside, where sludge-eating bacteria belch out methane that is converted to power. The electricity is stored in detachable batteries that can be used around the house.

The amount of power it produces depends on the dog. "For example, for a German shepherd, the amount of poo is different from that of a beagle," Izard says. "For a beagle, it creates between 250 and 340 grams of feces per day. This allows you to run a fan for two hours. For a German dog, it's twice as much. It could almost run your fridge." (If we wanted to power our homes completely via dogs—a ridiculous scenario that Izard calculated for fun—she says we would need six to seven dogs for every person).

Izard thinks that the appliance would change how dog owners see poop. "For me it should not be taboo," she says. "Dog owners pick up their dog turds every day. This is certainly an ordeal. That's why there's so much in the streets. But with this machine, people will want to bring [home] this precious gift that their dogs do one to two times a day."

The product could save money for cities like Paris, which cleans up around 12 tons of dog poop off city streets every day. It could also help tackle the overall problem of the scale of waste. In the U.S., dogs produce around 10 million tons of poop each year, and most of that waste goes to landfill—where it pumps methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Dog waste also pollutes watersheds; a study in Seattle found that as much as 20% of bacteria in local water came from dogs.

Izard isn't the only one to consider using dog waste for power. The city of San Francisco considered a pilot program in 2006 to collect poop at dog parks and bring it to digesters, though the program ultimately didn't move forward. Another project aims to use dog poop to power streetlights at parks. Other projects, like the U.K.'s BioBus, convert human waste to power.

"My project is an opportunity to say it is possible even at a small scale," says Izard. "The future of poop is here."

Source: Co.XIST / Adelle Peters

Are you getting a little tired of watching the FDA pet recall list to make sure your pet’s food isn’t on it? Since December 31, 2014, seven different pet foods or treats have been recalled due to Salmonella or Listeria bacteria. Unfortunately, this matches the normal recall activity of about 20 to 25 recalls per year for pet food. A protein with antibiotic properties found in mushrooms that grow on horse poop may soon change things.

The Benefits of Copsin
Due to grazing, the dung of horses is home to a rich variety of microscopic organisms, including fungi and bacteria. A fungal mushroom called Coprinopsis cinerea grows readily on horse feces. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich isolated a protein from the mushroom’s cap called “copsin.” They found that the protein inhibited the growth of bacteria and acted like an antibiotic. Oh, by the way, copro- is a Greek prefix for dung or feces, hence the name of the fungus and the protein.

As it turns out, copsin belongs to a class of proteins called defensins that are produced by many biological species. In fact humans produce defensins in the skin and on mucous membranes to kill disease causing micro-organisms.

What sets copsin apart from other defensin is that it is extremely stable under conditions that destroy other proteins. It can be boiled to 100 degrees Fo, subjected to strong acids for hours, and treated with very aggressive enzymes, without affecting its antibiotic properties. Says lead researcher Andreas Essig: “This feature allows us to, for example, also go into applications in food industry, food preservation, productions where strong acids in high temperatures are very common.”

Copsin is particularly deadly to Listeria, so its potential benefit to the pet food industry is a bit of a no-brainer.

Like the newly discovered teixobactin I recently posted about, copsin rapidly kills bacteria by inhibiting their ability to form a cell wall. This method of destruction makes it extremely difficult for bacteria to readily develop resistance. Listeriahas enjoyed great successes in causing food poisoning in pets and humans due to its ability to become resistant to common antibiotics.

Co-researcher Markus Aebi is not certain that copsin could also be used like other traditional antibiotics, but its role in antibiotic research is very important. He is intrigued by what he calls the fundamental question of how fungi have used defensins and other naturally antibiotic substances for millions of years to protect themselves against bacteria, while antibiotics used in modern medicine have developed resistance in just 70 years, reports Jim Drury, who covered the story of copsin for Reuters news service. 

Don’t look for copsin to appear on your pet food ingredient list soon though. Senior scientist Paul Kallio says, “We are growing Pichia pastoris, which is a methylotrophic yeast, and in this yeast we are producing copsin.”

Kallio says it takes five days to cultivate, harvest, and extract copsin. If copsin proves useful for the safety of pet food, it will require the development of faster methods for producing much larger quantities.

Source: Pet MD / Dr. Tudor

Meet Rami, a one-year-old Pit Bull-Dachshund mix, who’s turning heads and racking up “likes” on his own Facebook page. 

The unusual-looking dog has been at the Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society in Moultrie, GA, for just a few days but is getting a lot of attention from fans and potential adopters. He’s also raising questions about health risks and ethical concerns associated with breeding exaggerated traits in dogs. 

Rami was found roaming the streets and brought to the Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society in January. The organization first posted Rami’s photo on its Facebook page on January 27, which got more than three million hits by the next morning. Media attention followed and Rami soon got a Facebook page of his own.  

According to the organization, Rami is sweet and energetic and will need training to learn to properly walk on a leash. Rami’s Facebook page updates his followers on his daily activities and his interactions with his adoptable animal friends at the facility. 

Questions Raised About BreedingWith the large head of a Pit Bull and the short legs of a Dachshund, there’s no denying that Rami is unique and sure to get attention wherever he goes. But should such odd breed mixes be encouraged? 

Miami veterinarian Dr. Patty Khuly weighed in on the possible health and ethical implications of a Pit Bull-Dachshund cross. Rami’s large head could cause excessive stress on his back and legs, she says.

“Though I’d have to see him in person to assess the extent of his deformity, he’s almost certainly predisposed to osteoarthritis of the cervical spine and forelimbs as a result of the undue stress his oversized head will exert on the joints,” says Khuly. 

Unusual-looking dogs like Rami encourages breeding for similarly exaggerated traits, Khuly adds. "He’s so cute — for now, anyway — it makes sense that people who don’t think or don’t care about the painful consequences would want to see more puppies like him."

By Samantha Drake / Image: Rami, courtesy of Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society