Sick Puppies

Listening to Martha Stewart's Sirius Radio Station last week, I stumbled upon a pet show about the health issues that dogs face and how to treat them naturally.  Since I love love LOVE dogs, I tuned in.  I am a naturally curious person, and I like to learn about things just in case it might come in handy in the future.  I also watched a PBS Nova special about the language of dogs, which only confirmed the fact that I would love to study dog linguistics in grad school.  I don't think I have the science background for it, though! :( 
I learned about mange on Dr. Shawn Messonnier's Natural Vet show, and how mange is a genetically transmitted problem and that everyone (dogs, cats, people....) have these mange cells in the hair follicle.  Like cancer, it only manifests and takes over as a problem in the body if it is given an opportunity to overcome the healthy cells.  So mange is caused by allergens, irritations, stress, etc. etc.  There was more information like this at http://www.petcarenaturally.com/blog/ , the Natural Vet's blog and website.

But the really cool things that I learned came from Nova on PBS the other night. Although dogs share most of their genes with wolves, they have somehow altered their behavior and appearances over thousands and thousands of years to become more attuned to humans than any other animal studied (including chimpanzees and apes!).  AND their puppy-like appearance (compared to wolves, foxes, coyotes, etc) are attached to the genes for being more tame and agreeable.  This not only makes them cuter, it also makes them appear more like human infants, which humans respond to in a care-taker way, whether they realize it or not.  This was only a small selection of the awesome things that I picked up this week about dogs.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/dogs-decoded.html is the official website for Nova: Dogs Decoded, and I'm pretty sure it is available on Netflix Instant Play as well.


Other than that, I am currently at the Acutech office with the official Creations Studio mascot, Wilson the Weiner Dog, who is unfortunately under the weather with a doggy cough or something :(  He looks as cute as always though, despite his sore throat, in his adorable plaid doggy vest.  After a week of hard work, I think everyone at the shop is looking forward to the weekend to rest and relax and do a little catching up on sleep.  Or is that just me?  :)
Happy Weekend!