• SPAN is providing $10 spays and neuters for low income cat and dog friends. In the SPAN Thrift Store parking lot 110 N. Olive St. (behind Vons on Main) Friday, July 14, Please call to schedule an appointment 584-3823.
• On Thursday, June 22, the Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura (HACSB) will accept Pet Sitters International’s challenge to “Make it your business to help pets in need” by joining companies around the globe in opening their doors to employees’ furry, four-legged best friends for the PSI’s 19th annual Take Your Dog To Work Day (TYDTWDay®).
TYDTWDay was established by Pet Sitters International (PSI) in 1999. This annual event urges businesses around the globe to experience the joys of dogs in the workplace .
The Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura anticipates 7 dogs to join them on June 22 and has a variety of activities planned to give everyone a fun “paws” at work. For more information on PSI’s Take Your Dog To Work Day, visit www.takeyourdog.com.
• Dogs and memory by Victoria Usher
The question for researchers in a recent study published in Current Biology is whether other animals besides humans share the ability for episodic-like memory. For their study, the research group in Budapest, Hungary, enlisted the help of 17 pet dogs. The dogs in this study were energetic participants who were all easily trained to imitate a simple action.
After watching their owners perform a series of actions the dogs were given the command “lie down”. Replacing the expectation to imitate with lying down had to be unexpected and the researchers tried to verify this new expectation in two ways. First, the dogs received training until they would reliably lie down after observing the actions. Second, verifying that the dogs acted surprised when they didn’t receive a “lie down” request.
Next, instead of the now expected “lie down”, one minute after the dogs saw the last action they received the command to “do it”. Nose to umbrella, paw on the chair, most of the dogs imitated their owner’s action.
To see if they remembered the action after a longer delay the dogs left the testing area for an hour before coming back for a second try. Many dogs successfully imitated the action again, though fewer then after the one-minute test. These results, one of a handful suggesting episodic-like memory in a non-human species, add to our growing knowledge of the richness of other animal’s mental lives. The dog cognition lab in Budapest is one of many around the world; pups in Connecticut can go participate at Yale University and dogs in North Carolina can help at Duke University. Dogs share our homes and our work, and now we know they might share some of the rich memories of our lives together.
• RedRover, a national animal welfare organization dedicated to moving animals out of crisis and into care, has a list of summer safety tips for pets to help get families through the warm months.
Surfaces such as asphalt, sand and concrete can burn your pet’s paws. Try to walk your pet early in the morning or later in the evening as the temperature cools down or walk them on the grass. If that isn’t possible, check the ground temperature by placing the back of your hand on the ground for at least 10 seconds. If it’s too hot for your hand, it is too hot for your pet’s paws.
Leaving your pet in your car, even in 70 degree weather, can lead to deadly consequences. A Stanford study found that a car’s interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees within an hour, regardless of ambient temperature, and 80 percent of the temperature rise occurs within the first half-hour.
Make sure to check your pet’s water dish several times a day, and refill it with fresh, cool water. Ice cubes or frozen broth cubes can be added to encourage them to drink more. Adding wet food to their diet can also keep them hydrated.
In addition to making sure your pet is hydrated, keep them in the shade as often as possible when outdoors. While dogs and cats like to bask in the sun, direct sunlight can overheat them and cause heat stroke.
While pools can be a great way to cool your dog down and prevent heat stroke, chlorine can upset a dog’s stomach and irritate their skin. Watch to make sure they don’t drink more than a mouthful of water, and don’t forget to rinse your dog with fresh water after their swim.
Loud noises can be very scary for animals. Try to keep your pet indoors when you know fireworks are planned. If you can’t, be sure to double-check your gate/fencing to ensure your pet won’t try to escape when startled.
Animals can sunburn too, especially those with short, thin or light-colored coats. Sunburns can be painful, and overexposure to the sun can lead to skin cancer. Ask your veterinarian about animal-safe sunscreens and how to apply them properly.
Food that is stuck to a barbecue after cooking can be too tempting for your pet to resist – licking the barbecue grate can result in serious burns to an animal’s tongue or mouth. Make sure to clean the grill thoroughly and close the lid, if possible.
These are just a few tips to help make the summer months with your pets enjoyable and safe. For more information on RedRover and its programs and services, please visit www.RedRover.orgDogs & Wolves –
