All posts tagged: Canine

The Dog’s Gaze by Thomas Laqueur review – the art of the canine, from Velázquez to Picasso | Art and design books

The Dog’s Gaze by Thomas Laqueur review – the art of the canine, from Velázquez to Picasso | Art and design books

Published by Sam Flores

Thirty-five thousand years ago, in the Ardèche region of France, Paleolithic artists drew a spectacular bestiary on the walls of the Chauvet cave. Their focus was apex predators, so there were lots of lions, as well as mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses. Dogs were nowhere to be seen, and yet in the soft sediment on the limestone floor of the cave, there are traces of canid pawprints next to human footprints. Two fellow creatures, most likely a boy and a dog, stood together, about 10,000 years after the art was made, looking up at the walls in wonder. Here was a moment of shared contemplation, followed perhaps by a glance to see the other’s reaction. In this luminous book, the American cultural historian Thomas Laqueur explores what he calls “the dog’s gaze”. The dog was the first animal to live companionably with humans, and Laqueur argues that this marks the boundary between nature and culture. It is this threshold status that has, in turn, qualified the dog to play a rich, symbolic part in western art. Just having dogs in a picture – snuffling for picnic crumbs …

Sugar the Surfing Dog, the First Canine Inducted Into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, Dies

Sugar the Surfing Dog, the First Canine Inducted Into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, Dies

Published by Sam Flores

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Sugar The Surfing Dog, the first canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, who spent her days outside the water comforting veterans as a dedicated therapy dog, died Monday after battling cancer. The 16-year-old rescue dog from Huntington Beach, California, who was a five-time dog surfing world champion, died “in her daddy’s arms,” a post on her Instagram said. “She lived to put smiles on faces, volunteer, to send it !! to change dog surfing forever !!! thank you for loving Sugar,” the post said. “Good bye my Sugar., i can’t believe in writing this .. i’m going to miss you so much.” Sugar was found as a stray and over the years her love of the waves and natural talent took dog surfing to new heights. Dressed in a life jacket, spectators would watch the furry white canine in amazement as she balanced on her surfboard, riding wave after wave back to the shore, sometimes with her owner, Ryan Rustan, by her side and other times all on …

Oldest known dog extends the genetic history of our canine companions

Oldest known dog extends the genetic history of our canine companions

Published by skeptic

Evidence from Pınarbaşı in Turkey shows that hunter-gatherers were looking after dogs about 15,800 years ago Kathryn Killackey Ancient remains in Turkey from 15,800 years ago have been confirmed as coming from a dog, the earliest one ever found. Genetic evidence also reveals that our best friends were already widely distributed across Europe 14,300 years ago, when humans were hunter-gatherers and agriculture hadn’t yet emerged. When dogs were domesticated is a knotty question, given the physical and genetic similarities between dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and grey wolves (Canis lupus). Previously, the oldest remains genetically identified as being from a dog date to around 10,900 years ago. However, there are dog-like bones from as far back as 33,000 years ago from animals that weren’t quite dogs yet genetically, known as incipient dogs. To get a better handle on how the history of dogs played out, Lachie Scarsbrook at the University of Oxford and his colleagues have examined the genomes obtained from several early, dog-like remains at archaeological sites around Europe. The earliest remains confirmed as being …

Owner of Buddy, Canine Star of ‘Air Bud,’ Was 63

Owner of Buddy, Canine Star of ‘Air Bud,’ Was 63

Published by Daniella Wilson

Kevin DiCicco, who as the owner of the basketball-playing golden retriever named Buddy helped tip off the lucrative, long-running Air Bud franchise, has died. He was 63. DiCicco, who suffered from respiratory issues and had a recent bout with homelessness, died Saturday in hospice care in San Diego, his brother Mark told TMZ. DiCicco adopted Buddy after finding him near his Sierra Nevada cabin in 1989. He trained the dog to play basketball, baseball, football, soccer, etc., and they appeared on America’s Funniest Home Videos and on installments of David Letterman’s “Stupid Pet Tricks.” “My obsession with sport, and his obsession with ball playing, the combination of the two, created this tremendous canine athlete,” DiCicco said of Buddy in a 2024 interview. He launched Air Bud Productions, and the first film, 1997’s Air Bud, directed by Charles Martin Smith, features Buddy as a circus dog who escapes his cruel clown master (Michael Jeter) and leads Josh Framm’s (Kevin Zegers) school basketball team to a championship. The family-friendly movie, from Keystone Entertainment and Disney’s Miramax label, …

A Presidential Problem of Canine Proportions

A Presidential Problem of Canine Proportions

Published by Daniella Wilson

This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here. Since the dawn of the Republic, one recurring scandal has plagued administration after administration: presidential dogs acting badly. Little historical record exists on how the first pets in the White House behaved, but one of their names provides some hints—John Adams’s family called their dog Satan. Future animals did not behave much better. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s German shepherd, Major, allegedly bit the United Kingdom’s prime minister and tore his pants. (Major Roosevelt was sent away from the White House grounds shortly thereafter.) Theodore Roosevelt’s bull terrier, Pete, chased a French ambassador up a tree. (Pete was also removed from the White House.) And Calvin Coolidge’s fox terrier, Peter Pan, ripped the skirt off of a woman, and was eventually given away to Coolidge’s secretary. More recently, Joe Biden’s German shepherds, Major and Commander, come to mind as the quintessential presidential pets that ran amok. Major, the first rescue dog to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, …

UPenn researchers trained dogs to sniff out canine cancer by scent

UPenn researchers trained dogs to sniff out canine cancer by scent

Published by Jenni Sidey

Cancer kills many people and pets each year. Studies suggest that between one-third and one-half of dogs will develop cancer during their lifetime. One of the most feared forms is hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive cancer that starts in blood vessel cells and can grow unnoticed until a crisis. Clara Wilson, a postdoctoral research fellow at Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center, explains what the dogs are keying in on. “We’re picking up on volatile organic compounds every time we smell something,” she told The Brighter Side of News. “The dogs have an ability to detect them at much lower levels than we can. These compounds are important because they seem to be the key to how dogs are able to smell things like cancer.” Dalton at the olfactometer lineup. (CREDIT: Shelby Wise) Why this disease is so hard to catch Hemangiosarcoma has earned a grim nickname as a “silent killer.” A dog can seem healthy, then suddenly collapse when a tumor ruptures and causes internal bleeding. Veterinarians often confirm the diagnosis only after invasive sampling and lab …

Time for your dog to go vegan? Canine food counts for 1% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, survey shows | Science, Climate & Tech News

Time for your dog to go vegan? Canine food counts for 1% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, survey shows | Science, Climate & Tech News

Published by Sam Flores

Dog food in the UK counts for around 1% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the findings of an environmental survey. The analysis also reveals striking differences in the climate impact of commercial dog foods, with the highest-impact foods responsible for up to 65 times more emissions than the lowest-rated options. Wet, raw and meat-rich products are associated with substantially higher greenhouse gas emissions than dry dog food, the study found. Scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Exeter used ingredient and nutrient labelling information to calculate the carbon footprint of almost 1,000 commercially available dog foods, based on emissions generated during the production of ingredients. Their sample included a selection of dry, wet and raw foods, including plant-based and grain-free options. The findings highlight the need for greater transparency and better labelling of dog food ingredients to help consumers make informed choices, as pet ownership continues to rise, experts say. John Harvey, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, said there seem to be more foods that are plant-based now available …