Dogs Detect Stress And Anxiety

Cali, a service dog, with student. Photo courtesy of The Calais School

We've heard about the wonders that service dogs perform—everything from cancer and diabetes detection to emotional support, trained dogs excel at helping humans cope—and even save lives. But we didn't realize that dogs could also detect stress, via smelling the hormone cortisol, released when humans are anxious or feel particularly stressed or threatened.

Enter Cali, a young Rhodesian ridgeback who helps special needs children at The Calais School in New Jersey when the going gets tough. Just seeing her produces a remarkable turnaround in some students. Each day she gives each youngster a good sniff when they enter the school building and quietly and unobtrusively alerts her handler if she detects higher than normal levels of cortisol. Cali also participates in reading and other activities where the students might become stressed. Apparently Cali is pretty easygoing herself, and her calm demeanor can sometimes provide enough help to calm a child.

Let us know if you've heard of service dogs specifically trained to detect cortisol, or work with any yourself. We'd love to hear from you!

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Can Gathering Your Dog's Data Help You To Be A Better Pet Parent?

             Photo by Nick Wingfield for The New York Times

Do you know how much exercise your dog gets everyday and at what intensity level? Whether he or she sacks out when you're gone or paces nervously around the house? How about heart and respiratory rates? "Are you nuts?", you say. "I don't know any of that stuff about myself, let alone my dog!" Well, given the plethora of new gadgets out there, you might be in the minority. Since computer chips have become the size of a flea, and we're all riveted to our smart phone apps, pet product manufacturers have taken notice. We've also upped our pet expenditures considerably over the last few decades—they've more than tripled over the last 20 years, to be exact. Put all this together and you've got devices galore that claim to help us "interact" with our pets (voice, touch and nice long walks are no longer enough).

According to this recent New York Times blog post, data collected from these various devices "could eventually help medical researchers better understand pet ailments," like helping to prevent obesity, for example. Now we're talkin'! Some of these gadgets, like Dropcam, a wireless security camera that can also be used as a pet monitor, "has a microphone and speaker so people can both speak to and hear their pets via a mobile app," purportedly to break the silence and solitude a pet experiences while waiting all day for you to come home. 

We'd love to hear what you think about these new gadgets...will monitoring Fido and Fluffy's activities help  your pet's health and help the two of you bond?

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Cat Travels 200 Miles Back To Her Home

Photo of Holly and Parental Units by Barbara P. Fernandez, courtesy of  The New York Times

But Holly's journey wasn't exactly a Caribbean cruise-she staggered into a neighbors backyard weak and emaciated after a two month, 200 mile trek back to her home. This fascinating article posted on the New York Times blog, "Well", endeavors to understand cat behavior. Why are there so many stories of cats finding their way home, regardless of distance?

The article quotes several scientists who attempt to explain, in vain, what types of instinctual behavior or just plains smarts or luck, would lead a cat on an over 200 mile journey back to its home. But the bottom line is that no one really knows. The closest to a0 scientific study was conducted recently by National Geographic and the University of Georgia's "KittyCams Project", where 55 cats wore video cameras on their collars. The results: "cat behavior is exceedingly complex".

Even Jackson Galaxy, the cat behaviorist whose own cat pulled off a similar feat, threw up his hands: "We haven't the slightest idea how they do this...anybody who says they do is lying, and, if you find it, please God, tell me what it is."

How do you think kitties navigate hundreds of miles, or even a few blocks, to find their way home? Do you have any wandering cat stories to tell? We'd love to hear them!

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