Episode 6 - Lemongate, MRIs and Skype for dogs and more

The Dog News Show

In Episode 6 of The Dog News Show, Lemongate is still a hot topic! For those who haven't caught up with this story (where have you been?) here's the story so far: Keith Lemon (A.K.A. Leigh Francis) had three children who had been pestering their parents for a dog competing to win a dog on his Keith Lemon's Lemonaid show. When one little girl won the competition, a Pug puppy was presented to her. This has caused outrage among those concerned about dog welfare, and if like Debbie and Julie you are offended and concerned by Keith Lemon giving a Pug puppy as a prize you can make your voice heard by complaining to Ofcom about the show, complain directly to ITV and there is also a petition to amend the law and make the giving of live animals as prizes illegal. You can join the facebook page KeithLemonsPuppyPrizeProtest and for more information, you can read Debbie's blogpost Keith Lemon ITV show LemonAid and the Pug Puppy and Julie's blogpost Keith Lemon's Lemonaid gave a puppy as a prize on ITV.
The scientific world have been getting to grips with what dogs think and feel, and some intriguing research has been done with MRI scans. When dogs in the scanner were given a, "you're going to get a treat" signal the caudate region of their brain was activated. This area in humans is associated with rewards, so does that indicate that dogs think along similar lines to humans. Can your dog empathise with you? Does he love you? Could these questions and more be answered by this method of research? Debbie and Julie become embroiled in debate on several points here. Empathy is defined as, "Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives." - Are our dogs really capable of that? We'd love to know what you think. Plus find out what Debbie's Lassie Test is.
If you not only wonder what your dog is thinking but what he's getting up to when you're out of the house, you might be interested in using Skype to check up on him. Apparently, dog owners are using the online telephone and video service to phone home and watch and talk to their dogs. Debbie knows it can be very useful to use a camera to see what your dog does when left home alone - it's a technique she's used to help sort out clients' problems on many occasions. Debbie and Julie would be very interested to see any video of dogs while their owners are out, whether they're happily relaxing or exhibiting separation anxiety. Have you used technology to keep in touch with your dog?
Meanwhile Julie's at it again - talking poo that is! Hear how free WiFi is motivating dog owners to scoop the poop in Mexico City, Mexico. And in the very different environments of Flintshire, North Wales and Arizona, USA there are schemes afoot to power street lighting with dog poo. However, the council's in the different locations have very different attitudes towards the efforts to pup poop to use - guess which is more helpful to the problem solving projects. Plus hear about the challenges of trying to use anaerobic digestion in an environment where the temperature can get so high it kills off the microbes doing the digesting.
If you are interested in raising funds for the very deserving Dogs for the Disabled why not find out about their Big Dogs Breakfast idea - simply have a meal or snack with family, friends or colleagues and ask for donations for the charity that supplies life-changing dogs. See Wendy's assistance dog Udo, trained by Dogs for the Disabled do his fetching a tissue behaviour.
If you fancy meeting Debbie in the flesh pop along to the Bearded Collie show she'll be judging this Sunday, 13th May.
Finally, in Schmaltz Corner, to send you off with a smile we have the story of the dog owner who found her Golden Retriever on her lawn being attacked by a 250lb black bear. What would you do if you were confronted by such a horrifying scene? - hear how this lady responded in this case, and the odd weapon with which she drove away the bear.