The show for dogs (and their owners)

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As you have probably noticed, the editorial policy of HoundTV is usually to report the up-beat and entertaining side of the dog world.

This is so awful, I don’t even know what to say about it, other than to report it: Death squads in Yunnan round up 50,000 dogs

The mind boggles.

(A search on google news reveals several other reports on this, some including quotes from World Health Organisation officials on how rabies should be dealt with)

The Bowlingual dog translator is (apparently) a device which decodes your dog’s barks and growls. A small transmitter is worn on the dog’s collar, and the receiver looks a bit like a tamagochi (maybe it is?). They’re not for sale at the Bowlingual site, but seem to be on eBay for around US$100.

Meanwhile, The Dr Dolittle Project at Marquette University in Wisconsin, USA, aims to ‘develop a broadly useable framework for pattern analysis and classification of animal vocalizations, by integrating successful models and ideas from the field of speech processing and recognition into bioacoustics’.

It may all sound a bit silly, and of course dog owners know that they already know what their dog is saying to them, but the Dr Dolittle research potentially has genuine applications in animal welfare and wildlife research and preservation.

Technorati Tags: dogs, dog, pet, pets, animal, voice, voice recognition, translation, voiceprint

From News-Leader.com (Springfield, Montana, USA): A story about home designs that incorporate features for the family pooch - and we’re not just talking doggy doors, here.

How about a special shower (with entrances from outdoors as well as the garage), or a special lift (elevator) for a dog with an amputated leg?

Even if the budget doesn’t stretch that far, including your dog in your house plans is good thinking.

For dozens more tips on setting up your space so that it works well for you and your dogs, the article also references the book, Animal House Style : Designing a Home to Share With Your Pets (buying it from this link helps HoundTV - but feel free to shop around!). - We haven’t seen a copy of the book, but check out the reviews on Amazon; several people thought it was a nice coffee table book but not terribly useful as a dog-friendly home design textbook. So leave your expectations at the door

If you always thought your dog was an extrovert, you could be right. A Monash University study has found dogs can be grouped into personality types that parallel human traits.

Dr Jacqui Ley, from the Animal Welfare Science Centre at Monash, found that dogs fit into five personality dimensions — extroversion, trainability or cleverness, self assuredness and motivation, amicability with other dogs and people, and cautiousness.

(From the Monash University website)

This is a funny one…

A dog’s life, but only if you’re bilingual

British police have had to import German Shepherds from other countries due to a shortage in Britain. Only problem is, the dogs are trained to obey commands in the languages of their countries of origin - not English!

So what did the cops do? Take language courses and hire interpreters, of course!

(from The Age)

Technorati Tags: Dogs, police, police dogs, working dogs, dog language, animal language