Category: Sparky (Page 2 of 23)

Medicines for Dogs, Not People.

Drug to Extend Dogs’ Lives May Be Approved by FDA

The drug aims to extend the lifespan of senior dogs and maintain their quality of life as they age, building on the company’s previous RXE acceptance for a longevity drug specifically targeting the short lifespan of large breed dogs.

I don’t get how this works.  I assume that dogs and people have similar physiologies, and two years living with Sparky hasn’t changed my mind.  I have a developed prefrontal cortex and Sparky can poop whenever he wants, otherwise, our bodies work pretty much the same way.

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Dog researchers learn what dog owners already knew.

Dogs’ speech recognition: New study shows they listen beyond tone

A new study conducted by animal behavior and mammalian cognition experts at the Universities of Lincoln and Sussex, and Jean Monnet University, reveals that dogs may be far better at understanding human speech than previously understood.

This research took place in England, so we probably didn’t pay for it.  So, that’s something.

A mixed group of dogs from a variety of breeds were recruited for the exercise and were each exposed to a stream of speech which contained both relevant commands and irrelevant information, all spoken in a flat tone. Surprisingly, the dogs consistently responded to the commands, demonstrating their ability to extract meaningful verbal content from what was spoken.

Sparky is not impressed.

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Sparky won’t walk.

Sparky was never going to catch that squirrel, but I used that as an excuse to get him outside for a walk.  The walk went fine as long as Sparky was going downhill.  The weather was very comfortable, so I thought we could go for a long walk.  As Sparky was taking a whiz by the creek, I started up the big hill.  He wouldn’t budge. 

Sparky could accept that we were on a walk instead of killing squirrels, but we didn’t have to make this a death march.  Sparky thought I should be grateful that he would walk back to the house without needing to be carried.

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