Dogfit = Life Fit

SYDNEY: Julio Precioso once told me that he likes dogs better than people, and I believe him. That’s not to say that he doesn’t like people, it’s more that he really loves dogs. We get that! And Ruby and I love him too. He’s our go to dog walker/trainer guy when I, for whatever reason,…

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Wisdom of the Elders: A dog’s lead

For 13 years, the garden hose has been my dog’s favourite thing. There’s a tiny squeak when I turn on the tap, a sound he can hear through multiple closed doors. He could hear it from suburbs away. His ears swivel and he comes running, insisting that intermediate doors be opened. He stands on his…

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Wolves Helped Us Outsmart Neanderthals

Forty thousand years ago in Europe our ancestors formed a crucial and lasting alliance that enabled us to finish off our evolutionary cousins, the Neanderthals. Dogs are humanity’s oldest friends, renowned for their loyalty and abilities to guard, hunt and chase. But modern humans may owe even more to them than we previously realised. We…

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Dog Discrimination – Are you dogist?

Washington: Just when you were hoping there were no new ways for people to be racist, it turns out many may be racist against dogs – black dogs. Black Dog Syndrome is the name shelter workers have given to the tendency of dark-furred pups to languish in kennels while their lighter-furred brethren get adopted. “The effect is…

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Pet Robot Ownership to Rise?

Cats and dogs could be replaced with the robotic kind in households worldwide by 2025, an Australian university professor predicts. Dr Jean-Loup Rault from the University of Melbourne says growth in the world’s population will make real animals available only for the super-rich. The future, he says, may lie in chips and circuits that mimic our…

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What About Me? The Pet Custody Battles

When a relationship ends, the division of assets begins. But who gets to keep the dog? Peter Munro reports for SMH on the increasingly common – and sometimes messy – custody disputes involving pets. They never fought nor raised their voices, even when dividing “ours” into “yours” and “mine”. They found a quietly sad way…

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