Dogs! In the News!
Italy Avalanche Survivors
News media are reporting the death toll from last Wednesday’s avalanche in central Italy continues to climb. It is now reported that 16 people have died. Nine people have been rescued so far. Thirteen people are still missing.
The discovery of three puppies gives rescuers hope that there will be more survivors.
The New York Times reports:
The discovery of the three Abruzzo sheepdog puppies in the boiler room raised spirits, even as rescuers located a ninth body. Jubilant emergency crews carried the pups out in their arms, with one firefighter burying his face in the fluffy white fur to give the dog a kiss. The puppies were born last month to the hotel’s resident sheepdogs, Nuvola and Lupo, and were prominently featured on the hotel’s Facebook page. Their parents had found their own way out after the Wednesday afternoon avalanche.
Read more from ABC News here.
The thoughts and prayers of all Urban Doggers are with the families of the victims of this disaster.
Dogs and Social Media
Bark Box, the “provider of pet-themed products and technology,” released its study of dog owners’ behavior on social media.
According to BarkBox, dogs “are flooding the pages and feeds of their people, and some pups even have their own feeds.”
Here are some of their findings:
– On average, dog people post a picture or talk about their dog on social media six times per week
– American dog parents watch dog videos or look at dog photos three times per week, on average
– One in ten (11%) dog people have even created a social media account for their pup.
Let’s see… where do I stand? The picture below shows one week of activity on Instagram…
That’s nine pics on Instagram. Looks like I am above average! HA!
How about you Urban Doggers? How often do you post puppy pics on social media? Let us know in the comments below.
“Who’s a Cute Widdle Puppy?”
Science Magazine reports that not all dogs enjoy baby talk.
We often say the same sweet, nonsensical things to our dogs that we say to our babies—and in almost the same slow, high-pitched voice. Now, scientists have shown that puppies find our pooch-directed speech exciting, whereas older dogs are somewhat indifferent. The findings show, for the first time, that young dogs respond to this way of talking, and that it may help them learn words—as such talk does with human babies.
Researchers in France recorded 30 women reading a script: “Hi! Hello cutie! Who’s a good boy? Come here! Good boy! Yes! Come here sweetie pie! What a good boy!” in distinctive, high-pitched, sing-song tones and in tones more attuned to human adults. They let puppies and adult dogs listen to the recordings and learned that puppies responded positively to the baby talk and the grown up dogs were largely indifferent to any of the recordings.
There are certain people who scoff at my talking to Bodhi as if he were an adult. But I’ve always know that’s what he prefers. He doesn’t like to be talked down to.
How about you Urban Doggers? How do you talk to your dogs?
