Category: pets

How Fast Do Dogs Age? Hint, The 7 Years Per Human May Not Be Right, And Other Dog Stuff

What I do know is that dogs don’t live long enough for how much they love you.

I found this story and here are the highlights as well as the link to the study, but it’s not how we were told they age and it explains why.

  • Three recent discoveries have changed scientists’ understanding of the nature of dogs.
  • One study found that young puppies age much faster than young humans do, so the common rule of thumb that one “dog year” is equivalent to seven “human years” is wrong.

Dogs live an average of 12 years. Human life expectancy, by contrast, is at least five times that, which is why many people go by the common rule of thumb that one “dog year” is equivalent to seven “human years.”

But that one-to-seven ratio is wrong, researchers found — it’s a misunderstanding of how dogs’ aging processes compare to those of humans. Instead, according to a July study, genetic evidence suggests that Labrador puppies and other young dogs age faster than their older counterparts.

“What’s surprising is exactly how old a 1-year-old dog is — it’s like a 30-year-old human,” Trey Ideker, a co-author of that study, said in a press release.

Ultimately, in order to calculate your dog’s human-age equivalent, you’ll need a calculator. The researchers’ formula is: A dog’s human age = 16 ln * your dog’s age + 31. (The ln refers to the natural log of a number.)

For the full story, here is the link.

Surprise! A Dogs Age Is Not 7 Times A Human’s – Here Is the Real Chart

If you want to do the math, here is how:

The most precise method involves the empirical equation that the researchers discovered, which is 16 x ln(dog’s age) +31 = human age, (that is the natural logarithm of the dog’s real age, multiplied by 16, with 31 added to the total.)

You can compute this using any calculator which has the ln function. Simply type your dog’s age. Press ln. Press x and type in 16. Press + and type in 31. Hit the equals sign and there you have it.

Hat tip to Psychology Todayhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/canine-corner/202007/genetics-shows-how-convert-dogs-age-human-years

Great Sayings – Compassion For Animals

Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.

Arthur Schopenhauer
It may not be the ultimate test of a person’s character, but you can easily observe much about a person by their interaction with animals.
I often see how people’s pets behave and you can gather a lot about a the owner.  Pets look to us for care and compassion and give back way more than we give them a lot of the time.  Most of what we call a bad animal is really a bad owner.

10 Reasons Why It’s Great To Be A #Dog

  1. If it itches, you can reach it. And no matter where it itches, no one will be offended if you scratch it in public.
  2. No one notices if you have hair growing in weird places as you get older.
  3. Personal hygiene is a blast: No one expects you to take a bath every day, and you don’t even have to comb your own hair.
  4. Having a wet nose is considered a sign of good health.
  5. No one thinks less of you for passing gas. Some people might actually think you’re cute.
  6. Who needs a big home entertainment system? A bone or an old shoe can entertain you for hours.
  7. You can spend hours just smelling stuff.
  8. No one ever expects you to pay for lunch or dinner. You never have to worry about table manners, and if you gain weight, it’s someone else’s fault.
  9. It doesn’t take much to make you happy. You’re always excited to see the same old people. All they have to do is leave the room for five minutes and come back.
  10. Every garbage can looks like a buffet to you.

#DOG PET PEEVES ABOUT HUMANS

  1. When you run away in the middle of a perfectly good leg humping.
  2. Blaming your farts on me…not funny.
  3. Yelling at me for barking…I’M A FRIGGIN’ DOG!! I’M SUPPOSED TO

BARK!!

  1. How you naively believe that the stupid cat isn’t all over everything

while you’re gone. (Have you noticed that your toothbrush tastes a little

like cat butt?)

  1. Taking me for a walk, then not letting me check stuff out. Exactly

who’s walk is this anyway?

  1. Any trick that involves balancing food on my nose…stop it.
  2. Yelling at me for dragging my butt on your carpet. Why’d you buy

carpet?

  1. Getting upset when I sniff the crotches of your guests. Sorry but I

haven’t quite mastered that handshake thing yet.

  1. How you act disgusted when I lick myself. Look, we both know the truth,

you’re just jealous.

  1. Dog sweaters. Have you noticed the fur?.
  2. Any haircut that involves bows or ribbons. Now you know why we chew

your stuff up when you’re not home.

  1. When you pick up the crap piles in the yard. Do you realize how far

behind schedule that puts me?

  1. Taking me to the vet for “the big snip”, then acting surprised when I

freak out every time we go back.

  1. The sleight of hand, fake fetch throw. You fooled a dog! What a proud

moment for the top of the food chain!

  1. Invisible fences. Why do you insist on screwing with us?

Why Dogs Don’t Live As Long As Humans – Explaned By a 6 Year Old

This story Melt My heart  so I wanted to share it. enjoy.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker ‘s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ”I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live.

He said,”People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The Six-year-old continued,

”Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you’re not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Bandit, out of commission

Had to take my dog Bandit in to the vet to have a lump removed from her head, you can see the stiches in the picture. No real worries, she fared well should recover without much trouble.

As I’ve Blogged before , she’s my day-pal, keeping me company and making sure to bark whenever I’m on an important call. But she’s been moving slow while recovering.

Don’t worry, she’ll be back on patrol soon, just call me and hear the barking concert to find out it’s true.

Man’s best friend now also Heart’s best friend

According to the
American Heart Association,
“Researchers discovered that a 12-minute visit with man’s best friend helped heart and lung function by lowering pressures, diminishing release of harmful hormones and decreasing anxiety among hospitalized heart failure patients. Benefits exceeded those that resulted from a visit with a human volunteer or from being left alone.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been shown to reduce blood pressure in healthy and hypertensive patients. It reduces anxiety in hospitalized patients, too.”

I made earlier post’s about my dog Bandit.
It’s a dog’s life and Boxer Rebellion

So I guess I’ve lowered my anxiety and blood pressure. Then of course work interrupts that little scenario.

I will point out that when they are puppies, they’re cute, but bladders can only make it to about 4:30 am…then they have to go outside. And one of my dog’s ate a shoe, part of a stair, other things…

Here’s Bandit as a puppy.

But I wouldn’t trade it….I love my dog. My dog loves my heart.

Boxer Rebellion


No, its not what you think.

I work at home, and I have a dog. She’s pretty much a lump most of the day, except of course when an analyst calls, at which point phantom bad guys appear outside of the door. This happens like clockwork destroying any sense of professionalism I try to have when speaking on the phone. She then loses her mind and barks like someone is trying to steal our house.

Top of the list in terms of barking veracity are the Fed-Ex/UPS delivery guys. She can hear these trucks leaving the loading dock 100 miles away, and knows when they are going to drive on our street. Next are sirens, which is funny as she stands on her hind legs and howls like a wolf, I still chuckle. Then there are the “garbage stealers” who come once a week and take our valuable discards along with the neighbor’s trash. Finally, the kids come home from school happy as clams about mid afternoon and yell and scream. This is good for a maintenance bark or two, nothing like UPS.

How do animals have this kind of timing? I dunno, it’s like kids who can embarrass you at the most inappropriate times with the things the can say.

I’ve had pets all my life….dogs, cats, fish, frogs and some other gross/slimey creatures I found on the way home from school. I love my dog, even if she doesn’t have the best sense of timing. I have an aquarium full of fish, they don’t make as much noise when I get phone calls, but then they don’t love me back or lick my face as much as my dog.