Dog Hats

Linda suggested this morning that I should do some research on hats. Here are some of the results:

And there are thousands more where these came from.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=910&bih=428&q=dogs+wearing+hats&oq=dogs+wearing+hats&gs_l=img.3..0j0i5j0i24l2.2353.27172.0.27358.53.18.27.8.21.0.224.1958.9j8j1.18.0...0.0...1ac.1.8.img.ouAS2yvsvn0

A Dog Who Protects Australia's Penguins

The birds are tiny, barely a foot tall and weighing only a two pounds. The last remaining colony on the mainland of New South Wales is at Manly, just north of Sydney, and their numbers have been dwindling--down to just 60 breeding pairs in 2011.

They are tiny, barely a foot tall.

Predators are largely responsible for their decline: the main culprits being foxes, cats, and domestic dogs. Residents of Sydney are asked to become "penguin protectors" by keeping their pet indoors at night.

One dog, however, is sworn to protect them. She is Eco, an English Springer Spaniel, trained by Steve Austin, who has already had success training sniffer dogs for wildlife protection.

Steve Austin with Trainee

Penguin nests are well hidden and difficult for humans to locate. Eco has been taught to sniff out their burrows without disturbing the birds. As previously unknown nests are found, park rangers can map and monitor their locations and, they hope, do more effective predator control.

Eco at work

It takes her only about 40 minutes to cover over half a mile of beach.

A Little Penguin

She has also been trained as a fox and cat detection dog, and when she isn't looking for penguins, she will look for their predators, both at Manly and at other national parks in New South Wales where wildlife is under threat.

Penguin Cove opened in 2012

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/LittlePenguinsSydneyHarbour.htm

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/buddies/HelpTheLittlePenguinsAtManly.htm

http://www.manlysealifesanctuary.com.au/our-animals/penguin-cove/

http://fnpw.org.au/plants-a-wildlife/birds/little-penguin/manly-little-penguins

http://www.penguin-protectors.webs.com/

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/sniffer-dog-to-track-sydney-penguins.htm

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/spaniel-to-protect-endangered-little-penguins/story-e6frf7kf-1226181162582

http://thepertinentpenguin.blogspot.com/2011/11/eco-dog-penguin-protection-weapon.html

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/media/DecMedia11103101.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/26/penguins-protected-by-sniffer-dog_n_1097725.html

http://theworldweshare.com/marinelife/little-penguins-get-a-pawed-friend/

The World's First Perlemoen Snuffel-Hond

It's not a new breed of dog. It's a border collie named Tammy, an abalone sniffer-dog.

Perlemoen is the Afrikaaner name for abalone, a particularly succulent and expensive delicacy that was once abundant along the South African coastline. Since the 1990's, brazen poaching syndicates, many with ties to organized crime, have been shipping it off to China by the ton (2000 tons in 2012, with a market value of 1.2 billion Rand, or very roughly $120,000,000), and have succeeded in reducing its numbers so dramatically that it is now on the endangered species list.

Perlemoen

After convincing his superiors in the police department that a dog might be able to help, Sgt. Jon Hennop rescued Tammy from the pound and trained her to sniff out abalone. In September of 1997 she received her uniform and began her duties as the official Protected Fish Species Investigation Dog.

A South African "snuffel-hond"
I couldn't find a picture of Tammy herself.

On her first day of work, Tammy recovered 300 kg. of perlemoen. On another occasion she found 1 1/2 tons at the Johannesburg airport. She quickly began receiving death threats from the Syndicate, who put out a contract of R50,000 on her.

Gordon's Bay Harbor, where much of the poaching took place.

Tammy then got a bodyguard, a German Shepherd police dog named Mac, who had experience working against drug dealers.

I couldn't find out anything about Tammy's later exploits. I know she was successful enough that 4 years later the department had hired 4 dogs, and was training them to look for poached ivory, as well as abalone.

Since South Africa has 3000 miles of coastline, 60% of which can support abalone, it sounds as though they'll need hundreds of dogs to police it adequately.

The coastline is incredibly beautiful. Here are some photos of the "Perlemoen Trail:"

http://thebark.com/content/conservation-dogs-work-wildlife
**http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/SOUTH-AFRICA-DOG-USED-IN-BATTLE-AGAINST-SEAFOOD-POACHERS/6dab97442aae60e55260b8845c863d8e?query=south+africa&current=11&orderBy=Relevance&hits=81&referrer=search&search=%2Fsearch%3Fquery%3Dsouth%2520africa%26allFilters%3DAnimal%2520poaching%2520and%2520smuggling%3ASubject&allFilters=Animal+poaching+and+smuggling%3ASubject&productType=IncludedProducts&page=1
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=8112912
http://beta.mnet.co.za/carteblanche/Article.aspx?Id=1678
http://mg.co.za/article/1999-02-26-its-a-dogs-life-and-its-worth-r50
http://www.rapport.co.za/KaapRapport/Nuus/Bobaas-snuffelaar-20000916
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/police-smash-perlemoen-poaching-ring-1.23765?ot=inmsa.ArticlePrintPageLayout.ot
http://www.environment.co.za/environmental-issues-news/new-plan-to-stem-perlemoen-poaching.html
http://www.rapport.co.za/KaapRapport/Nuus/Bobaas-snuffelaar-20000916
http://www.perlemoentrail.com/

Looking for Love? Get a Dog!

If you're a handsome young man, and you approach strange women on the street, you're way more likely to get their phone numbers if you have a dog with you.

Even being photographed with a dog makes you more attractive!

The experiment supporting this assertion was done by Dr. Nicholas Gueguen, from the University of South Brittany in July of 2007.

They had a panel of 3 young women choose the best-looking of their male volunteers.

His mission was to approach 240 randomly chosen young women about his own age with the following proposition: "...I think you're really pretty...If you'll give me your phone number, I'll call you later and we can have a drink together..."

Half the time, he was alone. Half the time, he had a dog with him, a medium-sized black mutt.

After approaching each woman, he would gaze at her, smiling, for 10 seconds. If she refused, he'd say, "I guess it's not my day." If she gave her phone number, he told her about the experiment (except in one case, where he called her back and actually ended up marrying her*.)

When he didn't have the dog, he was successful only about 9% of the time. All but 11 women turned him down. When he had the dog, 34 women (28.3% of them) gave him their number.

Other experiments have shown (and the Gueguen team tend to agree) that a light colored dog, especially a puppy, would have brought even better results.

In other experiments with the black mutt, when male and female volunteers approached strangers for bus money, they were more likely to get money, and got more money, if they had the dog with them. If they dropped money at the bus shelter, people were more likely to help them pick it up when they had the dog.

Even if you're not young and handsome, a dog is probably an asset to romance, and a golden retriever puppy will make it a slam-dunk.

http://nicolas.gueguen.free.fr/Articles/Anthrozoos2008.pdf
*The Genius of Dogs, Brian Hare and Vanessa Wood, Dutton, N.Y., 2013, p. 270
http://www.cesarsway.com/newsandevents/entertainmentnews/Can-Your-Dog-Help-You-Find-The-Perfect-Date
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/love-sex/relationships/puppy-love-how-people-are-finding-romance-through-their-pets

The Silence of Dogs in Cars

Photographer Martin Usborne feels sorry for dogs left locked in cars.

You can see his photographs at the Little Black Gallery in London until April 27, or you can buy his book from Amazon.

These are a few of my favorites.

He didn't find these dogs in car parks (i.e. parking lots). He carefully staged all the photographs. Either the dogs he chose are really good actors, or he left them in the cars until they looked pitiful enough to make a heart-rending picture.

Here's a picture of him:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/the-silence-of-dogs-in-cars-2186507.html
http://www.thelittleblackgallery.com/
http://www.thelittleblackgallery.com/gallery-information/
http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Dogs-Cars-Martin-Usborne/dp/3868283188

Send Your Dog to Duke University!

If your dog is academically inclined, you should have him fill out an application to be a student at the Canine Cognition Center at Duke University. Here's a link for the application:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGYwVzBUd3R1dm45TnZOTXNDVDdUX0E6MA

He doesn't have to have an IQ of 180 or a 4.9 grade point average or be a star athlete. In fact, whether he's a best-of-show purebred or a mutt that you found wandering in the streets, he has a very good chance of being accepted, although probably not right away.

Prof. Brian Hare & Student

Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?

The Canine Cognition Center, under the direction of Dr. Brian Hare, is studying dog psychology, how dogs think and learn, and how dogs are related to the evolution of our own species. The scientists also hope to improve training programs for dogs who work with humans.

They expect the study to last for years and to involve as many different dogs as possible.

http://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/research/dogs
http://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/research/dogs/lab-alumni

Dr. Hare has started another study, the Dognition Project, which aims to collect information from dog owners all over the world. He launched an app last month (which you can buy for $60) that enables dog owners to record the results of games that they play with their dogs. He suggests that in a single weekend as many as 10,000 - 50,000 people could contribute data to the study. If that happens, he'll not only create lots of jobs to tabulate and interpret the information, but at $60 a person, he'll have plenty of money for their salaries.

https://www.dognition.com/

Dogs Who Eat Fat Smell Better

According to the story, a woman once said to Samuel Johnson (famous for writing an 18th century dictionary), "Sir, you smell!"

To which Johnson is supposed to have replied, "No, Madam. You smell. I stink."

Samuel Johnson

A recent study has found that a diet high in fat helps dogs to smell better, although it doesn't keep them from stinking.

My favorite perfume: Arome de Dead Fish

The study was conducted at the Canine Detection Research Institute in Auburn, Alabama over a period of 18 months, and was funded by a million dollar grant from the Department of Justice. The dogs in the study rotated through 3 different diets: a high-end performance diet containing 27% protein, regular adult dog food containing 18% protein, and regular adult dog food enhanced with corn oil. The dogs' ability to detect odors improved significantly when they were eating more fat and less protein.

His accuracy is above 90% on a high-fat diet

The scientists believe that a cool dog can smell better than a hot one: that panting to lose body heat inhibits the sense of smell. Dogs eating more fat and less protein were able to return to normal body temperature more quickly. The scientists also speculated that the higher fat diet may somehow directly improve the sense of smell.

It sounds to me as though they need another million dollar grant to test that hypothesis.

http://www.inquisitr.com/585082/police-dogs-sniff-out-crime-better-on-higher-fat-lower-protein-diet/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130327102652.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fdogs+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Plants+%26+Animals+News+--+Dogs%29
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March13/DogsNoses.html