What’s The Value Of Your Dog’s Life, And Why It Matters

Americans love their pets, spending more than US$70 billion last year on their beloved companions. This far exceeds the $7 billion spent on legal marijuana, and $32 billion on pizza, just for two examples. 

If your dog has been alive and kicking its paws about for a decade, the widely held belief is that it has aged as much as a human would have done by the grand old age of 70.

By 2030, 60% of the world’s population will live in cities, while one in three will share their city with at least half a million other inhabitants.

Britain was the first country in the world to start a welfare charity for animals, as early as 1824. Now, almost 20m cats and dogs have a loving place in the country’s homes, and almost one in two households is accompanied by a furry, scaly, or feathered friend.

They say that eyes are windows to the soul. Indeed, research suggests this might also be true for our four-legged friends.

If you think your dog looks stressed out, it might be your own stress levels that are affecting your pet pooch.

Feeling lonely? A dog may help. Our research out today confirms what many dog owners already know: dogs are great companions that can help you to feel less lonely.

Many people will be celebrating Halloween here in the US…and around this time of year, I often get questions about how our companion animals feel about wearing clothes and costumes...

Raw food for dogs is a growing trend, but drug-resistant bacteria in the raw food can transfer to the pets—and to humans, too.

Dog theft has a devastating impact on people and families and is a known gateway to animal cruelty and extortion. Yet very few criminals get caught, let alone charged.

Bringing pet dogs into the workplace is becoming increasingly common.

Sarah, “the world’s smartest chimp,” died in July 2019, just before her 60th birthday.

Connecting with animals involves so much more than petting, grooming, rewarding, or feeding. Connecting in a profound way strengthens the inseparable bond we already have with our ani­mal friends. For me, the deep bond enables me to understand animals better, on every single level: behaviorally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

When animal welfare campaigner Ruth Harrison published a book in 1964 called Animal Machines, there was a public outcry.

Is home somewhere that you feel comfortable? Is it filled with memories of beloved friends and family — some of whom may be furry animals?

Declawing a cat might sound as simple as trimming your pet’s nails. But it’s actually major surgery.

A 21-year-old man recently died of rabies — a disease that kills an estimated 59,000 people a year internationally but hasn’t infected a person in Canada since 2007.

As I watched my hunting dog standing off the lead and lined up with all the other Kleiner Münsterländers, awaiting her turn to swim out and bring back the dead duck (an important training item) thrown into the deep water, I felt a sense of pride.

Many of us will have experienced that super friendly cat who seems to love being stroked one minute, only to bite or swipe at us the next.

Recently reported cases of the often fatal bacterial infection leptospirosis in dogs have raised the issue of animal diseases that also affect humans.

Household pets are often a great source of joy and have positive effects on our mental well-being. For most of us, this outweighs the risk of coming into contact with any bugs they may carry.

For most animals, the structure of their day – and indeed their year – depends on the light-dark cycle. These regular and rhythmic cycles in the length of days tell animals when they should be foraging, when they should be asleep, when it’s time to migrate and when it’s time to breed. Animals can tell all this from how many hours of daylight they experience, but the moon’s cycles also strongly influence their behaviour.

Psychologists who study how people pick their spouses have turned their attention to another important relationship: choosing a canine companion.

The Fourth of July can be a miserable day for dogs. The fireworks make scaredy-cats out of many canines.

For almost as long as modern science has been around, the idea that animals can remember past experiences seemed so preposterous that few researchers bothered to study it.

It’s not unusual to slap a muzzle on a dog if it’s being aggressive or not keen on being given an injection, but a muzzle is not part of your average cat’s wardrobe.

New research examines risk factors for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, one of the deadliest tick-borne diseases in the Americas, in Mexicali, Mexico.

One day not long after Brio passed, I was driving on the highway, alone in the car. I’d been thinking of Brio and a few moments later heard clearly the sound of the metal tags on his collar clinking from the backseat, where he always rode. There was nothing else there that would have made that noise.

Cities in the United States are getting less segregated and, according to a recent national survey, most Americans value the country’s racial diversity.

DNA tests show that over two-thirds of the breed labels on dogs in shelters or on pet rescue websites are wrong.

No matter what we have experienced in our lives, tucked within each and every one of us is love. To me, healing is defined as a pure loving connection; it’s as simple as that. To demonstrate healing is to give love: unconditionally. Love is healing, healing is love.

There’s a correlation between different types of animal abuse and the perpetrator’s relationship to an animal and its owner, report researchers.

Cat videos may rule the internet, but dogs possess mastery of their owners’ hearts – at least if spending is any guide.

There’s an old saying that pets and their owners become more similar as time goes by. There may be some truth in that, but can we use information about owners to improve veterinary care?

A house proud mouse, considerately tidying up the workbench of the shed in which it lives, has been captured on video and shared online.

My family and I were on vacation in Florida recently and took advantage of a free afternoon to do some gift shopping for local memorabilia – not your ordinary T-shirts and key chains.

Companion animals are part of our families, but inevitably the time comes for us to say goodbye to them due to old age or disease.

You might think raw meat pet food is good for your dog. But a new study, published today in Vet Record, has found it can have high levels of bacteria that may pose health risks for your pet.

Zebras are famous for their contrasting black and white stripes – but until very recently no one really knew why they sport their unusual striped pattern.

Like humans, dogs’ personalities likely change over time, according to new research.

When cannabis was legalized in the parts of the United States, there were substantial increases in marijuana-related visits to children’s hospitals and calls to poison control centers. Pets are just as vulnerable — just like our human family members, pets are susceptible to getting sick.

This large pet population is estimated to consume billions of tonnes of meat each year.

Bigger dogs, with larger brains, perform better than smaller pups on certain measures of intelligence, new research shows.

Grief, friendship, gratitude, wonder, and other things we animals experience.

While the weather outside may indeed get frightful this winter, a parka, knit hat, wool socks, insulated boots and maybe a roaring fire make things bearable for people who live in cold climates.

There’s been a lot of research about communication between people and domestic animals like dogs and cats.  We don’t know what cats and dogs think or if they understand us when we use their noises.

Most dogs don’t like to travel, and those that do have usually had to learn to like it.

There is a growing global trend to consider pets as part of the family. In fact, millions of people around the world love their pets, enjoying their companionship, going for walks, playing and even talking to them

When a dog behaves unnaturally in response to any neurotic, chaotic, or disruptive energy taken on from humans, he tends to look confused because he has nowhere to put the energy that is reverberating within him. He doesn’t really know why he is acting out, nor does his behavior make the least bit of sense to him.

As the Christmas season gets underway thoughts turn to buying gifts for the entire family. For some, companion animals are on the gift list, particularly cats and dogs who share our homes and hearts.

Many have experienced the depth of feeling that can develop between us and our four-legged best friends. What makes my story unique is that my search for a lasting and meaningful connection led me down a path that crossed over the boundaries of reason and concrete reality into the realm of the invisible. My dog Brio inspired me--a born skeptic--to investigate the paranormal.

Everyone thinks that dogs worship their owners – viewing them as gods of some sort. While that may be true in the majority of cases, it isn’t always so. As a veterinarian, I can confirm that sometimes, no matter what, a dog and his person just aren’t going to get along.

Have you ever been licked by a cat? If so you’ll know the feline tongue feels more like sandpaper than satin.

That animals touch us in a deep, central place is not a modern-day phenomenon, but one that pervades the history of the human-animal relationship. We sense that we can benefit spiritually in our relationship with animals, and we are right. They offer us something fundamental: a direct and immediate sense of both the joy and wonder of creation.

Fireworks are a brilliant way to celebrate special occasions such as New Year’s Eve, as well as big sporting events and independence days – right? Not if you happen to be an animal.

Over the last ten years, it’s estimated there has been a 360% rise in veganism in Britain – around 542,000 people have “gone vegan”. As a nation of animal lovers, with around 44% of homes owning a pet – and somewhere in the region of 8.5m dogs in the UK – it’s only natural this phenomenon should start to spill over into the pet food world.

Cooperation can be found across the animal kingdom, in behaviors such as group hunting, raising of young, and driving away predators. But are these cooperating animals actively coordinating their behaviur, or are they simply acting individually to accomplish the same task at the same time?

If you live with a dog you just know when it’s happy or miserable, don’t you? Of course you do. Even the scientific community, now admits that dogs have emotions – even if scientists can’t directly measure what they are experiencing.

People have had a close bond with domesticated dogs for centuries. In his 1764 Dictionnaire philosophique, Voltaire observed: “It seems that nature has given the dog to man for his defence and for his pleasure. Of all the animals it is the most faithful: it is the best friend man can have.”

“Just how old do you think my dog is in dog years?” is a question I hear on a regular basis.

Keeping your power in every decision is necessary for your growth and for making better, clearer choices. Trusting yourself when you’re stressed out can feel overwhelming and scary.

But it seems that 40% of dogs in Australia are not walked enough and that a similar percentage of dogs are overweight or obese.

From Lassie to Balto, pop culture loves stories of a dog coming to a person’s rescue.

A couple of years ago, I met Adam (not his real name) at a farm in Dorset. Adam was 14 and had been excluded from mainstream education due to behavioural difficulties and a disruptive home life. The farm where I met him is not a normal farm, but a social one, where the therapeutic use of farming practices and animal assisted therapy is used...

The soaring temperatures in Europe and North America have seen a rise in reports of dogs being rescued from hot cars.

Life surrounds us with teachers, if we are but willing to learn. Actually, everyone and everything in our life is our teacher -- they teach by example of something we'd like to attain or something we'd like to abandon. One of my greatest teachers has been my dog, Angel.

Dogs’ ancestors in the Americas likely came from Siberia, according to a new study. The study also suggests that these early dog populations almost totally disappeared, but left future generations a cancerous tumor that is still found in their canine descendants today.

Over the years, I’ve seen and felt consistent messages flow from the animals I’ve loved and the thousands of animals I’ve been honored to work with that, when embraced by their humans as truth, have made a positive, life-changing difference in both of their lives. If your animal could write you a love letter, I think it would look something like this...

If you watch kids at a local playground, sooner or later one of them will run around and fall face-first to the ground. For a moment, there’s likely to be silence. Then the child will look around, catch a glimpse of their parent, and finally burst into a deafening wail.

MRI brain scans might soon provide the answer Psychologists and philosopher

According to some surveys, more than 90% of owners view their pets as members of the family.

We’re all told we need to eat healthier and exercise more to combat obesity, but did you know that there’s also an obesity epidemic among pets, at least in the West?

I had the privilege of meeting and communicating with Gable over time, and assisting Jennifer and Gable with their end-of-life conversations and decisions. Gable’s strength, wisdom, and inspiration continue to unfold for Jennifer and for all who knew and loved him. Their relationship continues, even though his body is gone. Here is their story.

It is difficult to refer to what dogs, as a collective, like and dislike and how they behave. Just as humans do, dogs all have their own personalities and learned preferences and so can differ dramatically in how they approach life and what they take from it.

It goes without saying that having a baby is a life changing event. Thankfully, there is a wealth of information about how best to raise this new tiny human. However, there is relatively little information on how to prepare four-legged family members for the new arrival.

The idea of work still tends to evoke particular images of manual and blue-collar jobs, but the realities of livelihoods have always been and continue to be much more diverse. Daily life for wild animals involves an elaborate and constant series of tasks and challenges.

Your animals are amazing hosts and mirrors through which incredible wisdom, inspiration, and answers to your questions can arrive in many ways, including through the genius of symbolism. When you open your mind and set your intention to receive symbolic messages from your animals, the universe will deliver the goods.

The definition of sentient is simply “able to perceive or feel things”. Today most of us would probably also say that animals are able to feel emotion, form attachments and have distinct personalities. Yet for many decades the idea of animals feeling emotions or having personalities was dismissed by behavioural scientists.

Love them or hate them, it is hard to get away from pets. And even if you don’t own one yourself, you are likely to come across them (or things they have left behind) regularly.

I was as skeptical when I loaded Rodney, my cat, into his carrier to take him down to the holistic veterinary clinic where a psychic was seeing animals. I was having some problems with Rodney that my regular vet couldn't help, and I figured, why not give the psychic a shot? I had found a human being who could talk to a cat...

Animals seem to be natural healers. In the Healing Power of Pets, Dr. Marty Becker explores many health benefits of having animal companionship. He cites studies showing that people who have animal companions also tend to have lower blood pressure, less stress...

When people who have never had a dog see their dog-owning friends mourn the loss of a pet, they probably think it’s all a bit of an overreaction; after all, it’s “just a dog.” However, those who have loved a dog know the truth: Your own pet is never “just a dog.”

I trampled clumsily through the dense undergrowth, attempting in vain to go a full five minutes without getting snarled in the thorns that threatened my every move. It was my first field mission in the savannahs of the Republic of Guinea. The aim was to record and understand a group of wild chimpanzees who had never been studied before.

Millennial women in their 20s and 30s have decided to stay single a lot longer than women did in the past. And instead of kids, they have pets. And many of those millennials are looking for pet-friendly workplaces.

Just as many people are trying to eat less processed food to improve their health, some dog owners are turning away from conventional pet food.

Pet owners will often swear their beloved pooch or moggie does wonders for their wellbeing, and now we have empirical proof.

Years ago, we believed that we weren’t animals and that animals were here solely for our use. Indeed, a cow was just a walking burger, steak of Sunday roast, keeping itself fresh and tasty ready for when we were hungry.

This was the moment I realized that I was treating pet obesity all wrong.

Young zebra finches are intrinsically biased to learn certain patterns of sound over others—and these patterns mirror the ones humans use, experiments show.

Ironically, for me, becoming an animal communicator coincided with shifting away from my previous vegan lifestyle. I have had my own deep journey with this question, and perhaps the understandings I have reached with the help of the animals may be helpful for others who are struggling with this issue.

There is a significant increase in the risk of chocolate poisoning in dogs over the festive period, our latest study reveals. Chocolate contains a caffeine-like chemical called theobromine that is toxic to dogs (and cats) because they cannot metabolise it as quickly as humans do.

Dogs have significantly more neurons in their cerebral cortex—”little gray cells” associated with thinking, planning, and complex behavior considered hallmarks of intelligence—than cats, researchers report.

In 2016, the FBI started to track animal cruelty, including neglect, torture and sexual abuse, because of disturbing connections.

It’s vitally important to learn to differentiate between our own human ideas and thoughts and telepathic communication which comes directly from the animal. This kind of differentiation requires practice and experience; however, there are some...

Will our grandchildren look back, 50 years from now, at a time when human beings ate other animals as one in which their grandparents were “complicit in a bloodbath of unnecessary suffering”

Dogs have been part of human social groups for at least 30,000 years. So it’s not unreasonable to suppose that we might have had some influence on their behavior, and perhaps their understanding, during that time.

The relationship between people and their dogs can be a lasting and loving bond if the match is right. But when acquiring a dog, how do you know if that match will be a good one?

The recent popularity of “designer” dogs, cats, micro-pigs and other pets may seem to suggest that pet keeping is no more than a fad. Indeed, it is often assumed that pets are a Western affectation, a weird relic of the working animals kept by communities of the past.

One of the main reasons for the rise of chronic conditions in both humans and domestic animals is that we are all living longer. Our dogs and cats are living longer than ever before – 16-20 years is not uncommon these days.

Research using surveys of dog owners, suggests that less responsibly bred dogs – including puppy-farmed dogs and those from pet shops – are more likely to be aggressive towards their owners and strangers.