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.
- By Elena Mannes
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.
- By Susan Hazel
Have you ever been licked by a cat? If so you’ll know the feline tongue feels more like sandpaper than satin.
- By Jan Hoole
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.”
- By Jesse Grady
“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.
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.
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.
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.
- By Emily Birch
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.