Dog Life

Tiny Dog Stories - Summer 2023 Dog love in short form: miniature, reader-submitted dog stories of no more than 100 words.

	Brain Boosting Games Brain games—activities that demand mental problem solving—aren’t only fun, they are also good for the mind… both human AND canine. more
	What Your Dog Says About You If you saw a biker dude walking a Rottweiler with a spiked leather collar, or a Coco Chanel clone with a perfectly clipped Poodle on a Shantung silk leash, you would have little difficulty seeing how those dogs were a good reflection of their owners. But what about your own dog? What kind of portrait of you does your canine companion paint? You may not have thought about it, but the fact is that everything about your dog-its breed, size, personality, training, diet, grooming, and so on-reveals a great deal about you, for better or for worse. more
	Sitting Pretty: Dog Portraiture The history of animals as artistic subject matter goes as far back as the bison paintings in the Lascaux caves in Dordogne, France. Artist Wendy Grossman notes, “[Since] the dog has shared its life with humans, from prehistoric times to now, they have been depicted in carvings and paintings in early Egyptian, Greek, Mesopotamian and Roman art.” more
	Mutts Doing Math: Not So Far-Fetched? Some people dismiss the idea that dogs can do the most rudimentary type of quantitative reasoning, such as determining which of two plates contains more kibble. Early researchers claimed that dogs couldn’t discriminate between a plate with three and another with eight kibbles. The studies demonstrating this, however, were flawed, since the dogs’ strategy turned out to be simply “Grab the food from the closest plate.” More careful studies have used pairs of panels, each of which had dots painted on it. Dogs were trained to always press the panel with the largest (or smallest) number of dots. The training was slow but the dogs did learn this task. more
	Quiz: What Kind of Dog Are You? Your breed revealed! more
	All in a Day's Woof Water cooler conversation is changing these days. "Rex's breath reeks of liver." "I know, he's so delicious. But could he have his head any further up Buster's butt? I mean, come on!" "Now, now, don't get your hackles up. He's just bucking for a promotion to top dog." First they were pets. Then they were family members. Now they're becoming colleagues. Dogs in the workplace are an increasingly common phenomenon. As dog lovers, we welcome this advance. But does your pet really belong in the office? With a little planning, a good portion of common sense, and sensitivity to your colleagues, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" more
	Is Your Dog a Genius? Most people are interested in how intelligent their dog is. While there are predictable differences based upon the dog's breed (for example, Border Collies are a lot smarter and more trainable than Bulldogs), there is a lot of variability within each breed. This means that some Border Collies might be rather slow-thinking, while some Bulldogs might be college material. There are some well-documented tests for the general mental abilities of dogs (such as the one described in my book, The Intelligence of Dogs), and all such tests include measures of a dog's memory. more
	Are Dogs The New Grandchildren? Family dynamics today are more complex than just Mom plus Dad plus two children. Many people are divorced or opt for a single lifestyle. Others remain childless, by chance or by choice. It is a lifestyle that makes close family relationships the exception rather than the norm. Into this void step our dogs, ready and willing to accept all offers of adoration and spoiling. More than simply companions, dogs are considered children in many households. So it follows that a fur kid's family tree branches out to include aunties, uncles, cousins, and, of course, the ultimate dispenser of spoiled affection-grandparents. more
	To Bring, Or Not To Bring The Dog Picture it. The rolling lawns of a Beverly Hills estate in California decked with tables for a posh afternoon English tea party. Chilled champagne with a plump strawberry is the drink du jour and the sounds of social chitchat and laughter are offset by a string quartet providing background mood music. Suddenly, a red convertible zooms up the driveway and out jumps a boisterous Golden Retriever barking madly. He rushes to the nearest white Iceberg rose bush and lifts his leg, narrowly missing the cellist. His pet parent, after handing her car keys to the valet, ambles over, pats her pup on the head and tells him to "go play" before heading off to greet her hostess and mingle with the other guests. more
	Bow Vows Dog Weddings more