May 4: Quirks goes to the dogs
A whole show dedicated to the latest science around our canine companions
Originally published on May 4, 2024
On this week's special episode of Quirks & Quarks, we dedicate a whole hour to dog science:
We baby talk with both dogs and kids, but our faces say something different
While we use a similar tone of voice when talking to preverbal babies and dogs, the facial expressions that accompany the baby talk are very different. When researcher Anna Gergely filmed interactions in families that had both an infant and a dog, she saw that the parents would often widen their eyes and smile as they talked to the child, but kept their faces neutral when talking to the dog. In the paper published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Gergely and her colleagues say that while big eyes and a smile denote a friendly face for us, it could signal the opposite for our canine companions.
Dogs can use their powerful noses to sniff out PTSD
It's no secret that dogs have an incredibly powerful sense of smell, but it turns out that they can also sniff out our emotional state. New research from Dalhousie University has found that dogs can sense an oncoming post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) flashback, by detecting compounds in our breath. Sherry Stewart, a Professor of psychiatry and Canada Research Chair in Addictions and Mental Health at Dalhousie University, thinks this could help PTSD patients, as they can intervene much earlier than relying on our physical cues. The research was published in the journal Frontiers In Allergy.
A quarter of all Labradors are hard-wired to be hungrier and burn less energy
Dogs that carry a genetic mutation to a gene that plays a critical role in hunger and energy may be hard-wired to gain weight. In a new study in the journal Science Advances, scientists described how this mutation slows dogs' metabolism and makes them feel hungrier. This mutation is present in a quarter of all Labrador retrievers and in 66 per cent of flat-coated retrievers. Eleanor Raffan, an assistant professor of Systems Physiology at the University of Cambridge, said owners of these dogs need to be particularly careful to prevent them becoming overweight.
Your pet dog may know more words than you give them credit for
Figuring out if dogs can understand object words like "ball" or "frisbee" can be a challenge since most don't do better than chance when they're asked to fetch objects. This is why scientists decided to look inside the dogs' brains instead. In an experiment described in the journal Current Biology, scientists found that a majority of dogs tested did seem to show brain activity indicating understanding of words for toys and other objects. Marianna Boros, a postdoctoral researcher at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, said this suggests that dogs have a "mental representation" of certain objects that's activated when they hear the object's name.
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Size, face shape and other factors matter when it comes to a dog's lifespan, study shows
A new study of dog breeds confirms that miniature Dachshunds may outlive an English bulldogs, and builds a better picture of life expectancy for different breeds of dogs. Researchers from the U.K.-based dog welfare charity Dogs Trust analyzed data on over half a million dogs. Their findings, which were published in Scientific Reports, suggest that a dog's average lifespan is affected by their breed, sex, body size and face shape. Dogs Trust data manager Kirsten McMillan says these results can help inform the owners' choice of future canine companions, and create better practices for breeders.
It's possible — and worthwhile — to teach an old dog new tricks
A recent study in the journal Geroscience dove deep into the thinking capabilities of domesticated dogs, and found that these decline as the dogs age — but only if they're not healthy. Dora Szabo from the Senior Family Dog Project at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest was part of the team, which tested over 120 dogs over several years. They found that dogs who are kept well-trained and active tend to be smarter and are better protected from 'dog dementia.' Szabo says owners can help dogs stay sharp by keeping active and learning new skills — the same preventive medicine prescribed to us humans.
What a genome reveals about an extinct breed of dogs — and the Indigenous people who cared for them
The woolly dog was a breed that lived alongside Indigenous Coast Salish people in the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years. One of the reasons they were kept was for their fur — so thick and luxurious that it could be spun into yarn. But the dogs and the artifacts woven from their fur, like blankets, were victims of European settler authorities attempting to erase Indigenous culture, and they quickly went extinct. The only known remaining wooly dog specimen was misplaced in the archives at the Smithsonian for over a hundred years, and only recently uncovered.
Now, an international team of researchers, including paleogeneticist Audrey Lin, has fully sequenced the dog's genome and revealed the genetic secrets to its infamous fluffy hair. The team also worked with Coast Salish elders, knowledge keepers, weavers, and artists to get a full picture of the life of these cherished animals. The research was published in the journal Science.
Quirks & Quarks producer Amanda Buckiewicz spoke with:
- Audrey Lin, a Gerstner Postdoctoral Scholar at the American Museum of Natural History, and Research Associate at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
- Steven Point, Grand Chief of the Stó:lō People.
- Violet Elliott, a master weaver living in the traditional territory of the Cowichan Tribes.
