Everglades service

Snake-Hunting Labradors Rid Everglades of Invasive Pythons

Brought to Florida by the exotic pet trade, and set free in the Everglades, the Southeast Asian snakes are normally about 12 feet long but can reach lengths of up to 19 feet. Opportunistic eaters, pythons have all but wiped out marsh rabbits, opossums, and raccoons in the southern region of Everglades National Park, according to a nine-year study.

“We found the use of detection dogs to be a valuable addition to the current tools used to manage and control pythons,” said Christina Romagosa, of AU’s School of Forestry and Wildlife, in a press release. The dogs can detect pythons from a distance and when they spot one they stop in their tracks and crouch.

War dogs

The NYT has a pretty good article about canine PTSD, and how vets/behaviorists are treating it:

If anyone needed evidence of the frontline role played by dogs in war these days, here is the latest: the four-legged, wet-nosed troops used to sniff out mines, track down enemy fighters and clear buildings are struggling with the mental strains of combat nearly as much as their human counterparts.

By some estimates, more than 5 percent of the approximately 650 military dogs deployed by American combat forces are developing canine PTSD. Of those, about half are likely to be retired from service, Dr. Burghardt said.

Though veterinarians have long diagnosed behavioral problems in animals, the concept of canine PTSD is only about 18 months old, and still being debated. But it has gained vogue among military veterinarians, who have been seeing patterns of troubling behavior among dogs exposed to explosions, gunfire and other combat-related violence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Like humans with the analogous disorder, different dogs show different symptoms. Some become hyper-vigilant. Others avoid buildings or work areas that they had previously been comfortable in. Some undergo sharp changes in temperament, becoming unusually aggressive with their handlers, or clingy and timid. Most crucially, many stop doing the tasks they were trained to perform.

If you didn’t see the ATF dog Gavin episode of Dog Whisperer, it’s heartbreaking and useful and awesome: here’s an excerpt.

Working dogs help victims of traumatic crimes testify in court

 Rosie, the first judicially approved courtroom dog in New York, was in the witness box here nuzzling a 15-year-old girl who was testifying that her father had raped and impregnated her. Rosie sat by the teenager’s feet. At particularly bad moments, she leaned in.

When the trial ended in June with the father’s conviction, the teenager “was most grateful to Rosie above all,” said David A. Crenshaw, a psychologist who works with the teenager. “She just kept hugging Rosie.”

Now an appeal planned by the defense lawyers is placing Rosie at the heart of a legal debate that will test whether there will be more Rosies in courtrooms in New York and, possibly, other states.

This is a great use of therapy/support dogs.

It will be interesting to see if the defense lawyers and higher courts let their use stand.

You can read the whole thing here: Dog Helps Young Rape Victim Testify

The astonishing nose, continued:

In a new study, police dogs have distinguished between identical twins:

What’s the News: You might think that identical twins have an advantage when it comes to crime—with the same DNA, who could tell them apart? But new research with a squad of scent-trained Czech police dogs reveals that even identical twins have their own individual smells, even if they live in the same house and eat the same food.

How the Heck? (read more!)

 

Avalanche rescue dogs

Wonderful video about Kaya, an avalanche rescue dog in Aspen.

I showed this to Gilly and he decided he wants to meet her. He made a video.

Tsunami/earthquake dogs

Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support is doing amazing work. If you are able to donate to help them, you can do so here.

These are the kinds of scenes unfolding:

The noble kindness and courage of this dog guarding her injured companion is beyond what any dog should have to do, and it’s what they do, and it’s why we love and admire them. The two dogs in the above video have been rescued.

Search and Rescue dogs have been, as always, providing incredible assistance, at great risk to themselves. There’s a photo gallery of some of them here.

This Akita swam the tsunami waters to find his person.

He’s okay, too.

Double-duty working dog

Lovely story about a seeing-eye dog who assists not just his person, but that person’s now-blind former seeing-eye dog.

After six years of loyal service, Graham Waspe was devastated when his guide dog Edward was left blind after developing cataracts.

But his devastation turned to joy when his replacement Opal turned out to be a real gem.

Mr Waspe’s new dog is not just aiding his owner to carry out everyday tasks, but also helping Edward to get around.

Animal-assisted health care

Via Vet Blog, more on how dogs help us when we’re sick.

With the huge amount of evidence already out there about how animals reduce stress hormones, identify health problems, get us walking, and any number of other concretely positive effects of hanging out with furry types, you’d think this would be more common.

The Doctor’s Dog Will See You Now

Of course, sometimes, the dog’s more useful to you than the doctor, all Freudians, insurance companies and unscientific woo considered. That’s worth considering, too.

Link-love round-up

I tried to show this to Gilly recently:

He just muttered something (it sounded like “*!@#@%$ overachiever”), gave a put-upon sigh, turned his back and went to sleep.

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Here’s an interesting article which begins by interviewing the inventor of the Labradoodle, discussing how he feels about designer dogs (and why – though the article doesn’t even scratch the surface of the problems with modern dog breeding):

Whose bright idea was that? (How does it feel to invent something you later regret? Simon Hattenstone talks to the people who know)

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Here’s a heart-stoppingly gorgeous program called In Search of the Jaguar – a little out of date now, but very much worth watching.

It follows Alan Rabinowitz’s efforts to create a jaguar corridor throughout Central and South America to give them a chance of survival – and his own story isn’t anything to sneeze at, either.

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In related follow-up, here’s what Alan Rabinowitz and many others are working on right now:

One last chance: can we save the tiger? There are only 3,200 left in the wild. So why are conservationists boycotting the world’s first tiger summit?

Dogs Decoded

Great NOVA program on the science behind human relationship with dogs, the genetics of domestication, and the many ways in which dogs improve human lives.

Watch online:

Dogs Decoded