Poll: 99% Of Human Beings Would Prefer Big, Slobbery Hound Dog Pope WASHINGTON—Ahead of the College of Cardinals’ upcoming conclave to select a new pope, a Gallup poll conducted this week found that 99 percent of the global population would prefer that the next head of the Roman Catholic Church be a large, slobbery hound dog with big, saggy jowls. “When presented with a variety of options, respondents across all demographics were nearly unanimous in voicing their preference that Vatican ceremonies, including Easter and Christmas masses, be presided over by a droopy-eyed basset hound with a big, tall pope hat sitting atop his floppy ol’ ears,” said pollster Diane Warnell, who noted that well over 9 out of 10 of those surveyed, including Catholics, expressed a strong desire to see a ceremonially clad dog pontiff roll around on his back in St. Peter’s Basilica, bark to a large crowd of worshippers from a Vatican balcony, or place his front paws up on a table and steal a ham sandwich right off of someone’s plate.
Dog sniffs out grammar | Psychology A border collie takes command of sentence rules By Bruce Bower Web edition: May 21, 2013 Enlarge A border collie named Chaser participates in an experiment testing her ability to understand commands given before she can see any of the objects named in those directives. Credit: Courtesy of J. Chaser isn’t just a 9-year-old border collie with her breed’s boundless energy, intense focus and love of herding virtually anything. In experiments directed by her owner, psychologist John Pilley of Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., Chaser demonstrated her grasp of the basic elements of grammar by responding correctly to commands such as “to ball take Frisbee” and its reverse, “to Frisbee take ball.” “Chaser intuitively discovered how to comprehend sentences based on lots of background learning about different types of words,” Pilley says. Throughout the first three years of Chaser’s life, Pilley and a colleague trained the dog to recognize and fetch more than 1,000 objects by name.
Alexis Khan, Family Babysitter, Identified By Dog As 7-Month-Old's Abuser Benjamin and Hope Jordan grew suspicious of their babysitter Alexis Khun after the family dog started to show signs of aggression toward the 22-year-old. The couple’s very own detective work would prove the canine’s hostility was not random, but rather an attempt to protect their 7-month-old son Finn whom Khan was abusing, instead of babysitting. Even though Finn is said to have no aftereffects from the abuse, his parents are still disgusted by the fact that someone tasked with protecting their child could be so callous. "To know that five months I had handed my child to a monster, not knowing what was going on in my house for that day," Benjamin explained to WVTM. "About five months into her being our baby sitter, we started to notice that our dog was very protective of our son when she would come in the door. After moving to Charlestown, S.C., last year, the couple was in need of a babysitter and considered Khan for the position because she “was a good fit at the time.”
Dramatic Portraits Of Dogs Pooping (PHOTOS) Everybody poops, including dogs. But when these dogs poop, they do it with a certain style, grace and dare we say, emotional intensity that sets their bowel movements apart. Presented without further commentary, we bring you the Bold Italic's, "Dramatic Portraits of Dogs Pooping. Go here for the entire gallery. Brock Daves Brock Daves Brock Daves Brock Daves Brock Daves
Tidy Dog toy box encourages dogs to pick up after themselves Tidy Dog is designed to dispense treats when a dog puts away its toys Image Gallery (7 images) A new product called Tidy Dog aims to make the task of puppy training a little easier, by automatically giving your dog a treat each time it puts one of its toys back in the bin. This should, in theory, lead to the owner of the pet having to spend less time manually putting away their dog's toys themselves. View all Tidy Dog uses sensors that detect the weight of a toy when the dog puts it away, and automatically dispenses a treat as the reward. One of the first concerns addressed by the Tidy Dog team is the fact that a smart dog would be able to trick the system by simply placing its own weight inside of the bin to get it to dispense the treats. The bin is designed to work with dogs of varying sizes, from large to small. Tidy Dog is seeking funding for its toy bin on Kickstarter. The pitch video below provides more information on Tidy Dog while showing it in action. Source: Kickstarter
Doggy gets upset over his new haircut, walks around on hind legs like a boss for two days We previously thought that pets didn’t have the slightest clue or opinion about their haircuts, but this dog, Jin Dan, just proved us wrong! This little Pomeranian apparently got so upset with his new haircut that he started standing and walking around on his hind legs after he got back from the groomers’! He persisted with this awkward, two-legged posture for a couple of days, looking like a possessed teddy bear trying to pick a fight. The temperature has been gradually rising as of late as spring slowly melts into the impending summer heat. To prepare for the coming season, Jin Dan’s owner took her precious fur-kid to the groomers to get a shave. ▼ Jin Dan before his haircut. ▼ Jin Dan rebelling in the wake of his haircut. Growing increasingly concerned for her pooch, Jin Dan’s owner posted online seeking advice from other pet owners. ▼ Jin Dan’s owner made Jin Dan wear some clothes… ▼ …but the clothes wouldn’t stay closed due to Jin Dan’s standing posture. Like this: Like Loading...
Elderly Dog Can Already Tell Owner Doesn’t Think She’s Worth $3,000 Gallstone Surgery TOPEKA, KS—Saying that she could tell he had already made the mental calculation based on the hesitant tone in his voice, local dog Ruby confirmed that her owner does not consider her to be worth the $3,000 necessary to treat her gallstone condition, the 12-year-old golden retriever reported Wednesday. “Once he heard the cost of the surgery and asked the vet how sure he was that the procedure would even work, the writing was pretty much on the wall,” said Ruby, who recalled how it took her owner a week last fall to decide she was worth the $500 to have a benign growth removed. “I know he cares about me, but the fact that he keeps patting my belly and telling me we’ve had some great times together certainly isn’t encouraging.
Service dogs don't understand that their owners are blind. - Seriously, Science? Guide dogs help their blind owners in amazing ways, from navigating public transportation to preventing them from crossing streets in traffic. It’s clear that the dogs know what they need to do, but do they know why they are needed? To answer this question, a French anthropologist filmed guide dogs and pet dogs “asking” their owners for food. Both groups of dogs used visual cues to indicate their desire for food by looking back and forth between the food dish and the owner. Because the guide dogs continued to use sight-based communication, the author reasoned that they do not understand that their owners cannot see them. However, the guide dogs did learn that sounds can help them communicate with their owners, and they licked their chops more frequently than the dogs of sighted owners (an auditory cue). How do guide dogs of blind owners and pet dogs of sighted owners (Canis familiaris) ask their owners for food?