News Archives - Page 4 of 73 - i Still Love Dogs

Study Proves the Breed Doesn’t Really Affect Dog Behavior

“Blame the deed, not the breed!” For years, this has been the mantra of those of us who oppose breed-specific legislation (BSL) — unfair laws that single out dogs based solely on their breeds or looks.

A new study published in the journal Science now confirms what we knew all along: A dog’s breed is not helpful in determining how that particular dog will behave. (Told ya!)

To come to this conclusion, researchers sequenced the DNA of 2,155 dogs and also surveyed 18,385 dog owners through Darwin’s Ark, the world’s largest pet citizen science project. The study was diverse, including mixed breeds as well as purebreds.

The purpose of the study was to find out if dog breeds have certain behaviors and personalities. “The answer: not really – it turns out that breed really is, for the most part, just ‘skin deep,'” writes one of the researchers, Elinor Karlsson, director of the Vertebrate Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. “There is so much variation in behavior and personality in every single dog breed, it’s impossible to accurately predict the behavior of any individual dog from its breed alone.”

None of a dog’s 11 genome regions that affect their behavior — such as whether they’re social or if they like to howl — were associated with a specific breed.

In fact, a dog’s breed has only a 9% effect on their behavior, according to the study. One example of the minor behavioral differences among breeds is that herding breeds are more likely to want to play with toys. “These differences can (sometimes) be traced back to the types of dogs used to start the breed, suggesting the behaviors are much older than the breeds,” Karlsson notes.

Unsurprisingly, the researchers also found zero evidence that dog breeds like Pit Bulls are inherently dangerous. Genetics do not impact a dog’s aggressiveness or the extent to which they can be provoked by stressful situations.

These findings provide even more evidence that BSL is ineffective and unfair. Fortunately, many cities, like Denver, have seen the light and no longer ban certain dogs.

To help Darwin’s Ark continue its efforts to improve the lives of dogs, you can participate and/or make a donation via its website.

Photo: ericaribeiro

Happy Endings: All 4-Legged ‘DOG’ Actors Adopted by Their Trainers

Tissue (box) alert! In the new movie “DOG,” a troubled military dog named Lulu travels with Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) to the funeral of her former handler, who also happened to be Briggs’ former commander.

But could it be that you’ll need all those tissues because you’re laughing so hard, you’re crying? “Dog” is described as a “buddy comedy.” Plenty of wacky misadventures befall the pair on their road trip, and hilarity ensues. Huh.

A not-as-surprising surprise about “DOG” is that Lulu is actually played by three different Belgian Malinois: Britta, Lana 5 and Zuza. The dogs were obtained from an Amsterdam facility that trains military dogs rather than from a rescue, unfortunately. It’s too bad some production companies don’t follow Bill Berloni’s lead and instead find their animal actors from shelters and rescue organizations (and then find them forever homes!). It’s so disappointing when filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino obtain dogs from breeders when homeless four-legged thespians are so widely available.

The really good news is that after the filming of “DOG” was completed, there was a triple happy ending: All three Lulu portrayers were adopted into loving homes. Those homes happen to belong to the three trainers who worked with Britta, Lana 5 and Zuza. It helped that the COVID pandemic shutdown occurred while the film was in production, giving the dog trainers nine extra months to further bond with their trainees.

“They’re such high-energy, aggressive dogs that they each got assigned to a trainer, and the trainers all said at the very beginning, ‘There’s no way we’re taking these dogs home, so we have to figure out when the movie’s over what we’re going to do, who we’re going to adopt them out to,’” Reid Carolin, who co-directed “DOG” with Tatum, told MovieMaker. “It’s a real cool, happy ending for each of the dogs, and they’re best friends with their trainers.”

Britta, who appears the most often in “DOG,” now lives with her trainer in Montana. Carolin told MovieMaker Britta was calm, with a very expressive face.

Lana 5, who plays Lulu when she gets belly rubs and is carried on Tatum’s shoulders, is living with her trainer in South Carolina. Zuza, who plays Lulu when she’s being aggressive — although Zuza is really simply high energy and goofy, Carolin told MovieMaker — now lives with her trainer in California.

https://twitter.com/DogTheFilm/status/1493315681114222592

Lulu is played by three dogs instead of one because of the character’s various personality traits, Carolin explained.

“So when you’re doing a movie that requires this much nuance in the performance of a dog, you don’t want to ask a dog to go outside of their natural temperament for a couple of reasons,” he told MovieMaker. “One, it’s just not good for time and being on a movie set and all the practical reasons, and two, it’s not good for the dog.”

If a movie about a troubled military dog rings a bell, you might be thinking about “Max,” a 2015 tearjerker about a Belgian Malinois military dog traumatized by the death of his handler in Afghanistan.

“DOG,” rated PG-13, is now playing only in theaters. Here’s the official trailer.

Photo: MGM/YouTube

Puppy Bowl or Super Bowl? What to Watch on Super Sunday

Are you as excited as I am about the big game on Sunday, Feb. 13? That’s right, Puppy Bowl is back for its 18th year. If you’re planning to watch that other game with the two-legged players instead (go Rams!) but don’t want to miss out on adorable dogs, look for heartwarming commercials featuring actual and robotic canines.

Here’s a Super Sunday TV viewing guide for us dog lovers.

Puppy Bowl XVIII

More than 100 ridiculously cute puppies from shelters in 33 states will be joining Team Ruff or Team Fluff in Puppy Bowl XVIII. It’s the biggest lineup in the history of this competition.

Among this year’s rather interesting competitors are Wes (Team Fluff), a Chihuahua/Golden Retriever mix (!), Tayce (Team Ruff), a Chihuahua/Siberian Husky mix (!!) and Rob Gonchowski (Team Fluff), a Dachshund/American Pit Bull Terrier mix (!!!).

In addition to their hosting duties, this year Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg will be coaching the furry young athletes. Snoop Dogg, by the way, is also scheduled to perform during the Super Bowl halftime show. He sure gets around! “I’m honored to be co-hosting the only sporting event on the planet guaranteed to raise the ‘woof,’ with the magnificent Martha Stewart!” he says.

No matter which team ends up winning the Lombarky Trophy, all the players are winners, and most have already been adopted into forever homes. But there are plenty of just-as-cute puppies waiting for you at your local shelter! Visit PuppyBowl.com/adopt for information about the shelters and rescue organizations that provided pups for this year’s game.

Puppy Bowl XVIII airs Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time/11 a.m. Pacific Time on Animal Planet. It will also stream on discovery+.

Super Bowl Commercials Featuring Real and Unreal Dogs

Budweiser Brings Back the Puppy

You may remember back in 2015 when Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercial featured not only the beautiful Clydesdale horses but also an adorable “lost” puppy. Unfortunately, that ad apparently sold more Kleenex than Bud, so the company announced in 2016 that it was taking a new creative direction and would no longer feature puppies in its commercials.

Seven years later, Budweiser has come to its senses and will once again air a commercial featuring an adorable puppy during this year’s Super Bowl. The spot, titled “A Clydesdale’s Journey,” is directed by Chloé Zhao, who won an Academy Award and many other honors last year for directing “Nomadland.”

In the ad, a Yellow Labrador puppy starts barking when a Clydesdale falls down and is injured after tripping on a barbed-wire fence. After the horse is nursed back to health by a stable hand and veterinary nurse (who also nurse Budweisers, naturally), the puppy and Clydesdale are joyfully reunited.

Grab a tissue or 10: Here’s the 60-second version of the commercial. A shortened 30-second version will air during the Super Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPBxJ2yar-A

Kia Introduces a Cute Robot Dog

What’s ~~more~~ as adorable than a real, live dog? An unreal robot dog, maybe?

In the “Robo Dog” commercial for the new, all-electric Kia KV, a robot dog in an electronics store sadly gazes out the window at a man petting a real dog. But then he sees another man unplug his Kia KV from a charging station and gets his artificial hopes up.

As the Bonnie Tyler song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” plays — which seems kind of cruel since robots don’t actually have hearts — Robo Dog chases after the man of his dreams. Its battery begins to die, but never fear: a happy and, uh, electrifying ending is in store.

In the not-too-distant future, could robot dogs become as popular as the real thing? Interestingly, in a TODAY poll asking whether you’d consider owning a robotic pet, the results are equally divided between “Sure, why not?” and “No, there are too many animals in need of homes.” For now at least, my vote is a definite NO.

Instead of piquing interest in robot dogs, Kia is hoping its commercial encourages people to adopt real dogs. In partnership with the Petfinder Foundation, Kia has launched the Robo Dogmented Reality app. By scanning a QR code on a mobile device, users can see Robo Dog in their own homes to get an idea of what having a real pet would be like.

Here’s the commercial. Be sure to give your real dog a hug while you watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoNMz_OV_dI

Happy Super Sunday!

Photo: discovery plus/YouTube

RIP Frodo, Last Surviving ‘Vicktory Dog’

Back in 2007, a shy young Pit Bull named Frodo was one of 48 “Vicktory Dogs” seized from the horribly cruel dogfighting operation run by NFL player Michael Vick.

Fourteen years later, Frodo has become the last Vicktory Dog to cross the Rainbow Bridge.

“Sweet Frodo – How we loved him. He was one of the bravest survivors we’ve ever met,” BAD RAP wrote today on its Facebook page. “[W]e estimate that he would’ve been 15 years old — and THIS is the important part — the last 14 years of his life were spent being pampered like a prince with the Ramirez family and dogs.”

Frodo “was once so timid that he couldn’t look his caretakers in the eye, much less take treats out of their hands,” according to his BAD RAP bio, “but he has since blossomed into a cheerful dog who prods his favorite humans for attention.”

Those favorite humans are Kim and Toby Ramirez, who adopted Frodo from BAD RAP. To help soothe Frodo at night, Kim would turn on a fan or a music channel on TV. “I’ve had to somewhat rearrange my life in a way for Frodo,” she once said. “And he’s worth it.”

It was thanks to the efforts of BAD RAP and a few other animal welfare organizations that the lives of Frodo and the other dogs were spared. Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States at the time, said the rescued Vick dogs would never be suitable as pets and thus should all be destroyed. PETA agreed.

But BAD RAP along with the Best Friends Animal Society (BFAS) and Richmond Animal League took in the Vick survivors, rehabilitated them and found them loving forever homes in which these “unadoptable” survivors thrived, earning them the name “Vicktory Dogs.” Many became beloved therapy dogs.

One of the survivors, Jonny Justice, was awarded the prestigious ASPCA Dog of the Year award in 2014. Sadly, Jonny Justice died last week, according to BAD RAP, just two days before Frodo.

As for Vick — who, according to a federal indictment, killed poorly performing dogs by hanging them, repeatedly slamming them to the ground or holding their heads underwater until they drowned — he went to prison for 18 months but was then awarded the second chance he’d deprived of all those dogs he killed. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles and immediately resumed his NFL career.

As recently as last year, the NFL awarded Vick the honor of being a “legends captain” for the 2020 Pro Bowl. Over 1.4 million people signed online petitions urging the NFL to choose someone actually worthy of that title.

If anyone deserves legend status, it’s Frodo and those amazing Vicktory Dogs. May they all rest in peace.

Want to help BAD RAP save the lives of more dogs? Make an online donation.

Photo: CBS/YouTube

Stolen Dog’s GPS Collar Leads to Arrest of Thief

A car thief in Pasadena, Calif., didn’t just steal a vehicle last week. He also stole Kazoo, a dog that happened to be inside the car when the crime occurred.

Fortunately for Kazoo, he was wearing a GPS tracker [affiliate link] on his collar that allowed Pasadena and Los Angeles police officers to locate him along with the thief near the Los Angeles International Airport, about 30 miles from Pasadena.

The car/dog thief was arrested and taken into custody — not only for stealing that particular vehicle, but also for another stolen vehicle he had left behind that day in Pasadena. Cool dude!

Kazoo was unharmed and returned to his owner.

“This is the story of how Kazoo the dog helped us arrest a car thief,” the Pasadena Police Department wrote on its Instagram.

The main selling point of GPS collars is that their global positioning satellite technology can help you locate your pet should they ever escape from your home or otherwise become lost. As Kazoo’s case shows, they can also prove to be very helpful in nabbing criminals!

Photo: pasadenpd/Instagram