In this episode we discuss Coronavirus and its impact on dogs, canines' ability to utilise the Earth's magnetic field, we tackle a listener question on dog aggression, look at a new 'mind-reading' gadget and celebrate another truly remarkable Wagtastic Woof.
Can facemasks protect your dog during the Coronavirus pandemic or is it just another poorly conceived internet trend? Can dogs catch Covid 19? In The Twilight Bark we discuss these questions and look at a report that suggests a worrying future for our canine companions.
Do dogs have a secret inner compass? In the Doggler Effect we examine two studies that explore our four-legged friends' ability to harness the Earth's magnetic field.
We open our Letterbox for the first time and consider an age-old question about dog aggression that has come to us all the way from the Netherlands.
Is there really a gadget that can help us decipher our mutts' moods? In Gadgets, Gizmos and Gastronomy we take a look at the evolution of activity trackers in a competitive marketplace.
And our Wagtastic Woof has been chosen to celebrate the recent International Assistance Dog Week. Tune in and find out more!
In this episode we discuss Coronavirus and its impact on dogs, canines' ability to utilise the Earth's magnetic field, we tackle a listener question on dog aggression, look at a new 'mind-reading' gadget and celebrate another truly remarkable Wagtastic Woof.
Can facemasks protect your dog during the Coronavirus pandemic or is it just another poorly conceived internet trend? Can dogs catch Covid 19? In The Twilight Bark we discuss these questions and look at a report that suggests a worrying future for our canine companions.
Do dogs have a secret inner compass? In the Doggler Effect we examine two studies that explore our four-legged friends' ability to harness the Earth's magnetic field.
We open our Letterbox for the first time and consider an age-old question about dog aggression that has come to us all the way from the Netherlands.
Is there really a gadget that can help us decipher our mutts' moods? In Gadgets, Gizmos and Gastronomy we take a look at the evolution of activity trackers in a competitive marketplace.
And our Wagtastic Woof has been chosen to celebrate the recent International Assistance Dog Week. Tune in and find out more!
Hello and welcome to Talk2ThePaw. A podcast that celebrates d ogs for simply being wagtastic. I'm Caroline Bartley, and in each dogcast, I, along with canine nerd Scott Andrews will bring you the latest pooch related news and research as well as discussing how and why these fabulous animals m ake such a huge contribution to our lives. Like a band embarking on that difficult second album, we're back for our slightly less tricky second podcast. Thank you to everyone who got in touch following the pilot episode. And remember, if you want to Talk2ThePaw, you'll find us on Facebook and Twitter. Talk2ThePawpod, that's using the number two, or you can email us i nfo@t alktothepaw. co.u k. Time to release the hounds and dive right into the first of our regular features. It's the Twilight bark. So what news story has caught our eye? Well, we managed to get through one dogcast without mentioning the other C word, Coronavirus, but we couldn't ignore it any longer. The Mirror revealed how animal experts are urging pet owners not to use masks or face coverings on their dogs. Social media is awash with snaps of people proudly showing their pets, wearing such coverings, hoping it'll protect the animal against COVID-19, but vets are warning the practice causes huge stress and actually impairs canine breathing. Scott pro-mask, or anti-mask for your dog?
Scott Andrews:Sometimes I can't believe how much stupid there is in the world. Picture this, okay? You've got a German Shepherd, heart surgeon. There he is in the o perating theatre. And he turns to his OR nurse a nd he says,"Nurse, p ass me the scalpel," and the nurse leans o ver, sweat dripping from her brow, offers him the scalpel, and he says,"Hold on a minute, I don't h ave o pposable thumbs." There are some things that dogs can't do because of their anatomy. And one of them is wear a bloody mask. You know you see these pictures. And you, the first thing that always gets me is dogs have ears on top of their head. We have ears on the side of the head. Do you know why?
Caroline Bartley:I'm almost thinking there's a joke coming in here somewhere, but I can't quite think what it is, but I take your point. Yes. Anatomically, the facial structure is very different, but you asked me a question and I don't know the answer. So tell me the answer.
Scott Andrews:Dogs ears rotate. For sound, they display emotion, it gives them better coverage of what's around them.
Caroline Bartley:Okay, I didn't know that.
Scott Andrews:So you imagine if their ears are on the side of the head and they started rotating, half the time they'd be pointing straight up o r straight down which would be absolutely useless. Y ou k now you ask yourself how o n earth are these people securing the masks to the dog's face. Most masks a re fabric and t hey have these almost like a elastic c ords that go around your ears.
Caroline Bartley:Yeah, little elasticated bands at the side, yeah.
Scott Andrews:If there's no way to secure them on the back of the dog's head, they can only be tying them. This is where things get extremely troubling. First of all, so the dog is feeling a mask being forced over its face
Caroline Bartley:From a canine's perspective. I would imagine that would be incredibly frightening.
Scott Andrews:Absolutely, because going back to Dr. German Shepherd, they don't have opposable thumbs, so removing the mask proves to be rather problematic. So you have this mask clamped to your face, often for a photo opportunity. You can't scratch it, if you scratch it, cause it's secured on elasticated cords, it doesn't actually move. So it causes the dogs to start to panic, much like us the heart rate increases. And with that comes a rise in temperature, an increase level of stress. Do you remember last episode, we were talking about what dogs do to cool themselves down?
Caroline Bartley:Is this a test of how good my memory is from the last episode? Dogs cool themselves down. Um, they sweat through their paw pads and they also pant. So you'll see them with their, with their mouths open, and obviously their rate of breathing is increasing, so they're panting.
Scott Andrews:Right, now you imagine you're stressed, you're feeling hot. The only way you can cool yourself down is breathing with an open mouth and someone ties a mask to your face.
Caroline Bartley:Okay. That's not going to work.
Scott Andrews:No, it's going to add to the stress and the panic. And generally all you're serving to achieve is terrifying your dog in order to get an Instagram picture.
Caroline Bartley:Yeah, I can imagine how strange that must be because out shopping the other day, obviously the wearing of face masks, coverings, compulsory now. And I must admit for the first time, since the pandemic started, I actually had, I guess what I presume to be, like a little panic attack. I don't know whether it's because the mask that I was wearing, I just, it was off by a few degrees, but genuinely I put this mask on and I felt like I couldn't breathe. And just for that brief instant, that 30 seconds, that minute, it was incredibly terrifying.
Scott Andrews:Could you have removed the mask?
Caroline Bartley:Oh god, yes, absolutely.
Scott Andrews:So you have opposable thumbs?
Caroline Bartley:Yes last time I looked.
Scott Andrews:And y ou have e ars on the side of your head?
Caroline Bartley:Some people describe them as elvin ears, but yes, they are ears of sorts.
Scott Andrews:So you have all the ingredients, one to ensure that the mask sits more comfortably. Two you're able to remove it. How would you feel if it was tightly wrapped around your head and you couldn't remove it?
Caroline Bartley:I couldn't even begin to imagine the level of distress that that might cause.
Scott Andrews:So I'm asking each and every one of you. I know it might be amusing for a picture, but your dog won't think so.
Caroline Bartley:In general then Scott, um, the medical advice, the veterinary advice, if you will, regarding coronavirus and dogs, is there much out there in the public domain at the moment? What's the situation?
Scott Andrews:This is a particularly sore point because in the past week or so, there's been a story that has come across from America about a dog dying from coronavirus.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:You see the link everywhere. When you actually click on the link and you give in to the clickbait, you actually find that the dog died of cancer. When I read this story, I thought to myself, well, you know, I'd like to know exactly what coronavirus could do to our dogs. So I started looking for what you'd consider to be authorities on pet health. So the RSPCA, the American Kennel Club, the Humane Society. I couldn't find anyone willing to actually speak up on coronavirus until I got to the website of the UK Kennel Club.
Caroline Bartley:Okay. So there is something out there.
Scott Andrews:There is, but you have to hunt it out.
Caroline Bartley:All right. Um, what are the, the Kennel Club? And you said, this is the UK Kennel Club. Is that right?
Scott Andrews:Yes.
Caroline Bartley:Okay, and what is it that they're saying?
Scott Andrews:Now there brightest vets say that coronavirus, dogs cannot catch it. They can only become contaminated by it. So in the sense the virus doesn't impact their health, but they're testing positive because their fur might have come into contact with a surface that someone with coronavirus has touched.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
:Or they may have breathed the air that someone with coronavirus has done. The most important thing to remember is that as of, yet, dogs have not shown any signs of infection.
Caroline Bartley:But I would imagine because everyone listening to the podcast, the science and the medical advice around coronavirus and how we as a human population deal with it, is changing all the time as scientists and medical experts become more aware of how the virus impacts the human body and the potential longterm effects of that. So, would it be fair to assume that as time progresses, perhaps vets, canine organizations like you've mentioned, the UK Kennel Club, advice will be more forthcoming, simply as knowledge becomes greater?
Scott Andrews:You would imagine so. You know, I'm someone who very much believes in data and research, in science as it is. And when you believe in science you must be prepared to change your belief or your position when new evidence is available. I'm sure eventually there'll be more information that will come out in time. I know prior to this dog in America, there were stories of two dogs in Hong Kong, and I'm sure there must be other examples that haven't filtered through to the English speaking media. All we can do at the moment is try to protect and care for our pets the best way we can. And that means no, they don't need a mask. Yes, you should still social distance when you're on a walk with your dog. Third and final, you should keep washing your hands because remember, you might go to work, you might go out, you might go shopping. You might touch this, that, and the other. What's the first thing you do when you come home before you wash your hands?
Caroline Bartley:Well I know certainly the first thing that happens in my house is whenever you come through the door you're usually greeted by a flurry of fur.
Scott Andrews:And that's the one behavior more important than any that we have to change in the short term. Please, when you come home, go and wash your hands, or if you've got hand sanitizer with you, put your hand sanitizer on before you say hello to your dogs, because we do know that traces of coronavirus has been found in dogs for,
Caroline Bartley:So following on from the COVID fallout, um, another piece of news that caught our eye this week, the dog's trust highlighting how the financial fallout from the pandemic could result in an increase in animals being euthanized or put up for rehoming. Now the trust referenced the global financial crash of 2008, when it saw a 25% rise in the number of abandoned dogs and alarmingly, a 25% rise in the number of dogs being put to sleep. Now, Scott, these are obviously incredibly distressing and incredibly worrying figures, but how worried should we be?
Scott Andrews:In the UK, there are an estimated 10 million dogs. The dogs trust report suggests that 40,000 dogs could become homeless due to coronavirus. So considerably that is a lot less than 1%. Obviously we shouldn't dismiss this report. Everybody has been going through a troubling time, with being furloughed, with financial insecurity. And even for the dogs themselves, it has been a very confusing time, but I'll come back to that momentarily. In the financial crash that they talk about, so the recession from about 12 years ago, there were more abandoned dogs, the euthanasia rates increased. The estimation is that if coronavirus follows the same pattern, there'll be an extra 1,800 dogs euthanized in the foreseeable future.
Caroline Bartley:Which is obviously a figure no one wants to hear.
Scott Andrews:Of course it is. We're at a point in history where dog welfare is improving and improving, and improving. We have more shelters. We have more fosters. We have a number of independent charities that work for the protection of specific breeds. At this point in history, we're better equipped to deal with what's to come than we ever have been. Throughout history, when societies have been facing difficulties, albeit disease, economic disaster, wars, catastrophe in general, obviously care for pets tends to become of a secondary importance.
Caroline Bartley:Yeah, it tends to go by the wayside.
Scott Andrews:Realistically that is what the dogs trust is trying to highlight. We should be aware that if we do go through another lockdown, if this furlough continues, if covid continues until the next year, there might be problems ahead. However, from that actual report, it wasn't the elements about what could happen that troubled me. The thing that actually worries me the most is something that's happened already.
Caroline Bartley:And that is?
Scott Andrews:In March of this year, searches on Google for buying puppies or where to get a puppy increased by 166%.
Caroline Bartley:166%?
Scott Andrews:Yes.
Caroline Bartley:That's a phenomenal increase.
Scott Andrews:Yes. When people were buying these puppies and taking them home, many people were furloughed. Some people are still furloughed now. And they acquired a covid puppy, which was great. It gave them company, it gave them reason to exercise. It changes the environment of the house, there are a billion wonderful reasons to have a puppy. However, it gives way to problems now.
Caroline Bartley:So are you saying essentially then that lockdown contrary to what many people probably did and possibly thought was actually an incredibly bad time to introduce a puppy to your household?
Scott Andrews:Absolutely, because if you imagine for a dog attention and affection is a form of currency. Your dog is doing his 40 hours of work every week, by your side, getting strokes and getting cuddles and getting love.
Caroline Bartley:Tis indeed a tough life.
Scott Andrews:And then one day it's only getting 16 hours wages.
Caroline Bartley:Yeah.
Scott Andrews:How are you meant to explain that to a dog? How's a dog meant to understand? Oh, you know corona's over you're going back to work. Suddenly, this dog's having to be at home for eight hours a day.
Caroline Bartley:Okay and that obviously has its knock on impacts. I would imagine separation anxiety being one of them.
Scott Andrews:Oh separation anxiety is seeing a massive increase. I think, to be honest, it's going to be an explosion of unnatural proportions because the environment the dogs were brought into has been artificial. For a dog's perspective it is understandably confusing, but this feeds into the first part of the report. That dog thats left at home now for eight hours a day, and out of boredom starts destroying the sofa. These dogs are gonna face a increased chance of being taken to shelters now, and it's gonna create a whole new generation across dog rescue centers of COVID puppies who are there for no fault of their own.
Caroline Bartley:So I guess the old adage could be extended a dog isn't just for Christmas. It's for life.
Scott Andrews:A dog's not just for COVID, it's for a lifetime.
Caroline Bartley:It's that time of the dogcast again where we sneak into the science lab and see what wonderful discoveries await us here at Paw HQ. We are clothed in our pristine white lab coats and we've checked there's no escaping gas. Scott, what's under the microscope this time around?
Scott Andrews:The magnetic field.
Caroline Bartley:I think we might need a bigger microscope.
Scott Andrews:Right, okay. I'm sure you're familiar with a magnetic compass?
Caroline Bartley:Yes.
Scott Andrews:Well it turns out that dogs have one as well. But to understand it, we need to first think about the Earth's magnetic field. Now the magnetic field of the Earth is created by the rotation of the Earth and the Earth's Core moving at different speeds. So it creates, essentially, the effect of a ginormous magnet.
Caroline Bartley:So the Earth's magnetic field, what does it do and what would happen to the earth,Wwhat would happen to us if it wasn't there?
Scott Andrews:Essentially it works almost like a mirror, tt tends to deflect away the solar wind and the solar wind is pretty bad for the Earth, as it would destroy our ozone layer. Now, if we didn't have one, obviously there'd be no ozone layer. They'd be more radiation on Earth, they'd be more cancer and other unpleasant diseases.
Caroline Bartley:And pretty much we would all be scuppered.
Scott Andrews:Yeah, pretty much. Now the magnetic field isn't something that's a constant, and it can change. The actual location of magnetic north can change up to 10 meters in a day. You know, zo it's not something that's the same everyday. Some days it will be more stable, other days it will be more unstable. Why does this excite me? Why does this interest me? There's been a new study that focuses on how dogs use the magnetic field and it's the first big one on this topic to come out for a number of years.
Caroline Bartley:Please tell me that dogs secretly have a little doggie compass that they use.
Scott Andrews:Well, technically there is a way to use a dog as a compass,
Caroline Bartley:I love this.
Scott Andrews:Right, so to go back, we have to look at a study from 2013 by H ynek Birda. I hope I've pronounce her name right? I probably haven't. U m, so she was from the Czech Republic and she has studied magnetic f ields for a long time, and their impacts on animals.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:And she with some colleagues published a study. So what they did, her and her colleagues went around videoing and photoing dogs doing number ones and number twos.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
:So in total they followed 70 dogs and the numbers is where it really gets quite illuminating. 28 males, 42 females from 37 different breeds. They examined 1,893 poops.
Caroline Bartley:Everyone needs a hobby,
Scott Andrews:And 5,589 pees.
Caroline Bartley:Again, everyone needs a hobby.
Scott Andrews:Now, initially they didn't find anything remarkable until they started comparing each individual incident shall we call them? Against the position of the sun, the wind direction, time and the magnetic field. And they found something extremely surprising.
Caroline Bartley:Tell us more.
Scott Andrews:When dogs do a number two, and this is both male and female. They align themselves along the North South axis. When they do a number two, they basically act as a compass to show you where North is.
Caroline Bartley:This was in, in how many of the dogs again?
Scott Andrews:So in the case of the North South axis, when doing the number two, it was in all of them. But only on days when the magnetic field was stable, which was only 30% of the days that they were doing, there's a lot of possible reasons for it. When males urinate, they tend to face Northwest and ladies tend to go North South.
Caroline Bartley:And any particular reason for that, maybe the study didn't extend that far did it?
Scott Andrews:It didn't. One of the suppositions would be that males tend to do their business on three legs. So it tends to impact the angle which they're standing at.
Caroline Bartley:Yes.
Scott Andrews:There are a few other components to consider. They did notice that in the mornings there were slight westward shifts and in the afternoons eastward shifts. So it would suggest that the position of the sun has some impact in it. But at this point more research still needs to be done and there are still more studies going on. And this brings me up to the next study, Tthe next discovery. One of Mrs. Burda's students, again, excuse me with the pronunciation here. Katarina Benedictova has recently published a study where she put cameras and GPSes on dogs when they were out for walks.
Caroline Bartley:Alright.
Scott Andrews:And what they discovered when they were out that the dogs tended to explore the environment in one of two ways. Now, one way they would be attracted by scent and they would go off following it. They called this tracking and dogs that track the scent would always track their owner's scent or always retrace their steps directly and come back straightaway.
Caroline Bartley:Now these were dogs that were off-leash?
Scott Andrews:Off-leash.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:In this case it was 27 dogs they eventually used. Several hundred trips over a few years. The other type of exploration they did was what was called scouting. It was often unidentifiable what had attracted the dog's attention. The dog would go heading off into the woods. On average, about a kilometer away from the owner. The dog would almost run in a, um, a badly formed sphere. But what they discovered was when the dog was at its furthest point from its owner, it ran along the North South axis normally for about 20 meters before it returned.
Caroline Bartley:So there was almost like a system in how the dog was moving. What about the case?
Scott Andrews:In some respects, they were aligning themselves like they had compasses for a moment before they headed back. The study talks about 223 examples of when dogs went scouting into the forest and 170 times, one of the dogs ran the North South axis. And whenever they did this, they returned back to their owners faster than had they not. Now we've don't know what this function is, but that is a large enough sample size to say that dogs appear to be doing this North South run deliberately
Caroline Bartley:Referring back to the first study and how the most recent results that you're talking about may have been affected by things like the magnetic field, days when it was strongest. Any indication that the most recent study has been impacted by factors like that?
Scott Andrews:Not that I've read so far. I imagine there's going to be more information coming out because they do have a second phase planned within the study. What they're going to be doing now is putting magnets on the dogs collars. They're going to try this because an experiment was done like on human some years ago. And they discovered that having magnets actually interfered with human beings, navigational sense. The exciting part is this study has shown that dogs do have this navigational sense. The problem is how do you prove that they are using the magnetic field? The only way to do it realistically, is you need to be able to isolate every other sense.
Caroline Bartley:We want this dogcast to be as interactive an experience as possible. So please get in touch. You can Talk2ThePaw on Facebook, www.facebook.com forward slash talk2thepawpod, Twitter@talk2thepawpod, email info@talktothepaw.co.uk. And all the podcasts are available to listen and download on Apple podcast, Spotify and Google podcasts. Time to delve into the mailbag and it's your chance to have those burning doggy questions answered by our resident canine nerd. Magda from the Netherlands has been in touch about her four-year-old Cocker Spaniel. Now Scott, I know Magda had a number of questions which you've answered personally, but there was one aspect that we thought merited particular focus on the dogcast and it's related to canine aggression. Magda's noted that her dog has shown aggressive behavior, including snapping towards other male dogs and on some occasions she's concerned that he was the one triggering the confrontation. So what should she do?
Scott Andrews:How can you tell if your dog is starting the problems. Body language between dogs and humans under stress is very, very similar. What you do see with a dog under stress is a definite stiffening. A dog will tense up and almost freeze before a dog attacks.
Caroline Bartley:Yeah, I think we can all recognize having seen our own dogs behave like that to a greater or lesser degree or seeing other dogs behave like that.
Scott Andrews:In the sense, if your, two dogs are playing or interacting and you get to the point where you see your dog freeze, that is the point where you need to intercept your dog or redirect the dog and get your dog away from it. So many things happen in the course of play, that it's very, very difficult to isolate. The problem is a lot of things that dogs do in play look like fighting. And a lot of things dogs do when they're fighting look like play.
Caroline Bartley:How do you differentiate between play? And perhaps when that play becomes something a little more serious?
Scott Andrews:It's generally tough. What you do tend to see when dogs start playing is first a little aspect of chase me, chase me. When they are chasing, you should see turn taking, so it shouldn't always be one dog chasing the other. Another aspect of it you're likely to see is vocalizations. So it will sound like they're growling. Now eventually the chase will become more specific physical play and it often involves one of the dogs self-handicapping.
Caroline Bartley:And by that you mean?
Scott Andrews:Laying down, letting the other dog towards its neck, exposing itself, putting itself in a weaker position.
Caroline Bartley:Alright now I would have thought that one dog exposing its neck to another dog would leave the dog that's exposing the neck in a very vulnerable position, but maybe that's the point is it?
Scott Andrews:It's almost like a demonstration of trust between dogs.
Caroline Bartley:Alright.
Scott Andrews:Because when dogs play, they practice something called bite inhibition. So they don't bite full on.
Caroline Bartley:And is that something that they learn as pups?
Scott Andrews:Yeah.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:Yeah. And they continue to do so. You will notice sometimes when dogs play, one dog might get too excited and bite too hard, and that will be the end of it.
Caroline Bartley:But then obviously the other dog will signal that that's been unacceptable?
Scott Andrews:Yeah.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:You will also see regular breaks. Now, if, for example, you take the dog out and it's playing with another dog and he's being chased for 15 minutes. That wouldn't be fun for you, so it's not fun for your dog. Another very simple thing you can do if you are trying to work out is my dog playing? Is it fine? What's happening here? If you actually take hold of your dog or you put it your dog on the lead for a few minutes, and if you dog actually tries to walk away or go behind your legs, it's telling you it's not enjoying it.
Caroline Bartley:Okay, so time to remove yourself and the dog from the situation?
Scott Andrews:But as I say, I would always stop them after too long to ensure they don't get overheated. Realistically, some basic rules of trying to understand is my dog causing the problem? Is your dog turn-taking? Is your dog respecting the breaks, the pauses? Is your dog self-handicapping at all? Now in general approaches, when dogs meet and they sniff each other. So we're talking the on lead approaches. We have a different question entirely in an ideal world the dogs should meet, have a little sniff, they might do a little circle and that'll be it. What you'll see when dogs do not enjoy that experience is this freezing once again. So they might circle each other, trying to decide, sort of playing a bit of Russian roulette. Who's going to stop first and let the other dog sniff properly? If you see that your dog does stop, lets the other dog sniff, is looking away, you might see his tongue sort of licking his lips. You may even in really fearful cases, see the whale eye that we spoke about before. So, an eye go half white.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:And the last point to make really is that dogs can smell other dogs from three kilometers or more away. They see their well, their entire life through an olfactory perspective, that they live through their nose, it's us that live through our eyes. It's us that need to approach people to meet them. But when your dog smells another dog's urine, I know I'm back to urine or number twos again. Um, but when he smells the urine, it can tell the other dog's age, it can tell the dog's health. It can tell where the dog is in the ovulation cycle. It can even sometimes smell which dog goes with which owner. So, you know, there's a variety of information there that your dog get just from smelling what the other dog has left behind.
Caroline Bartley:So the dog, in essence, probably has an anticipation of any negative situation, any threat, long before it actually sees the other dog.
Scott Andrews:Yeah. And you'll find that every dog has a tolerance of other dogs, from specific distances. So, you know, you might have a nervous dog that can't tolerate being five foot from other dogs.
Caroline Bartley:Yeah.
Scott Andrews:But there'll be a sweet spot. It might be eight foot. Honestly, one of the things you could always do is let your dog watch the other dog for a while from a distance. You don't have to rush and say hello. I repeat it is us that live through our eyes, it's us that have to go over and approach people.
Caroline Bartley:Artificial intelligence is gradually spreading into more and more aspects of our lives. And it was only a matter of time before its application was used in the pet industry. There's a range of products on the market equipped with AI, which claim to help you analyze your dog's emotional wellbeing. But Scott, did we really need a gadget or an app to tell us how our dog is feeling?
Scott Andrews:I would like to say no, but I sit here with a watch strapped to my wrist that tells me exactly how many steps I've taken every day in case I happen to forgot that I could walk
Caroline Bartley:And probably tells you what your heart rate is.
Scott Andrews:Oh yeah. It tells me my heart rate. Um, I tells me exactly the number of kilometers I've walked, no miles that I've walked. Um, it can play music, it can send text messages. It can do all of those things that I don't actually use.
Caroline Bartley:Which is all absolutely fabulous. But do we need it?
Scott Andrews:Do we need it? Of course we don't. The problem is now when you look at the dog market, fitness trackers started selling tremendous amounts to human beings. Then they saw this little gap in the market for people who would do anything to improve the lives of their pooches? The question is, do these kind of things work for dogs. Realistically, there's very little evidence to suggesting they do. So going back to the original question, you know, whether we really need a gadget or an app to tell us how our dog's feeling. I read one this week, that was absolutely astonishing.
Caroline Bartley:Bells and whistles?
:Oh not just bells and whistles. Church bells and steam train whistles.
Caroline Bartley:Fabulous.
Scott Andrews:It was remarkable. This app claims that by using a library of dog bark samples from different breeds and different sizes, it's able to detect five emotions in your dog.
Caroline Bartley:From different dogs barks?
Scott Andrews:From different dog barks.
Caroline Bartley:Can I just say something here? Um, apologies for interrupting, but I would have thought that a dog bark, well dogs only had a limited vocabulary. I wouldn't have thought that one needed a, a library of dog barks.
Scott Andrews:Oh no, apparently you do. Apparently the library consists of over 10,000 dog barks. My question about this, right, okay. So the five emotions they can detect- happy, relaxed, anxious, angry and sad.
Caroline Bartley:There's not one for sleepy? There's not one for dopey? And there's not one for Doc?
Scott Andrews:No, it's very much the five dwarves, Isn't it? The first issue is I do think dogs are a little bit more complex than this. I feel that they're underplaying, a dog's emotional range. You put this collar on the dog, which also tracks the calories that your dog burns.
Caroline Bartley:Of course it does, yes.
Scott Andrews:So your dog says woof woof woof and to be fair, the whole advertising feature didn't explain precisely how it tells you what the dog's feeling, but obviously it's either going to do something ridiculous, like I'm happy today, woof woof woof, I am anxious now.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:Now some years ago, there was a book written by a behavioral psychologist, called Dr. Stanley Coran. And he wrote a book called how to speak dog. I was very disappointed when I read it cause I was hoping it was going to be a linguistic phrasebook. He identified that dogs make 27 different sounds, but specifically 27 sounds that have different emotional reasoning behind them.
Caroline Bartley:Alright? So 27 different vocalizations. Yes?
Scott Andrews:That would be accurate to say not 5, 27.
Caroline Bartley:Alright.
Scott Andrews:So...
Caroline Bartley:Can you tell us what those are?
Scott Andrews:Well,( barks and pants audibly) and a few others quite probably. But, you know, the important point to take away is obviously this market that once upon a time in the canine industry started out as activity trackers. So, you know, just because you feel that you feel a little bit silly having an activity band on your wrist, you'd obviously feel better if your best friend has one on his collar too, to now trying to outdo each other and coming up with more and more ridiculous promises for the fulfillment that they can offer you as a dog owner.
Caroline Bartley:Is this our way of us trying to humanize our dogs?
Scott Andrews:Absolutely. Do you know how I know when my dog's happy?
Caroline Bartley:Well, probably because he wags his little tail I'd imagine, and looks happy.
Scott Andrews:It's little know that dogs actually laugh. I don't know if you've ever come home and your dog's got a bit giddy to see you. I might run around a little bit and you might hear this kind of breathing pattern. Something like(pants)
Caroline Bartley:Ah-ha, yeah there's just a very slight vocalization there.
Scott Andrews:Yeah and this is almost like the dog is laughing and this is something that demonstrates when the dog is happy. You do see with certain types of dogs that they actually smile as well.
Caroline Bartley:Even Scotty dogs?
Scott Andrews:No.
Caroline Bartley:Okay.
Scott Andrews:He just purses his lips in disapproval.
Caroline Bartley:Of course he does.
Scott Andrews:Oh you're home, I'm delighted.
Caroline Bartley:Alright yeah.
Scott Andrews:I think he is half emo. Um, and you know, for example, if my dog's feeling anxious. What he'll often do is he'll hop up on the sofa and he'll press his hip against mine.
Caroline Bartley:Oh the little hip press.
Scott Andrews:And you know what a hip press means?
Caroline Bartley:He's anxious. You just told us.
Scott Andrews:It's not just that he's anxious. It is very much a hug from a dog. There are a myriad of behaviors. If your dog is sad or sometimes unwell, you'll see it hiding underneath a table or in a dark corner tot wanting to be exposed. You know, the best way to learn how your dog demonstrates its emotions?
Caroline Bartley:I would say get to know your dog.
Scott Andrews:Yeah. Put your telephone down, close your lap top, turn the TV off and get outside with him.
Caroline Bartley:Wagtastic Woofs gives us here at paw hq the opportunity to recognize those extra special dogs who've gone above and beyond to enrich our lives. And to mark the recent international Assistance Dog Week, we had to bring you the story about Marshall. He's been at the side of his hearing impaired owner, Joanna, as she deals with the challenges her deafness presents. This wondrous Cocker Spaniel has been both a huge practical and emotional support to his owner as she battles a range of health conditions. Recently, Joanne has been shielding and Marshall has been there throughout, providing comfort, companionship, and support to navigate an incredibly difficult period. So to Marshall, our hearing dog hero, and indeed to all the other assistance dogs who perform such a valuable role for their owners and their families a very big, thank you. Remember you can nominate your own Wagtastic Woof. Get in touch and tell us all about that very special dog whose made a difference to your life. Contact us on Facebook or Twitter. Talk2ThePawPod. Email info@talk2thepaw.co.uk. Your stories and comments, questions, and suggestions are all welcome. That's all for now. Thanks so much for your company until next time. Goodbye.