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Small dogs are more likely to have an extra row of teeth like sharks

13 February 2024

Some pet dogs retain their baby teeth, creating two rows that resemble the mouth of a shark. A new analysis shows that the condition is more prevalent in smaller breeds and obese dogs


Two year old English springer spaniel, Freya, has been trained to detect great crested newts

Newt-sniffing dog called Freya is helping to locate elusive amphibians

7 June 2023

Great crested newts live mostly underground, so they’re tricky to find – a researcher trained her dog, Freya, to detect the threatened amphibians deep in the soil with more than 87 per cent accuracy


A wolf-dog hybrid has been confirmed in India for the first time

28 May 2023

A strange canine was spotted in a pack of wolves near Pune in western India, but it stood out for its lighter coat and dog-like facial features. It was confirmed to be a wolf-dog hybrid through genetic sequencing


A black-and-white photo of a man dressed in warm furs crouching down next to Balto, a dog that appears to be a dark-furred husky type dog. Behind them is a brick building.

Balto's genome reveals famed sledge dog was a mutt

27 April 2023

Balto had a varied ancestry, sharing genes with Siberian huskies, Greenland sledge dogs, Vietnamese village dogs and Tibetan mastiffs


Excavations at Heath Wood in England

Vikings brought horses and dogs to England, cremated bones confirm

1 February 2023

The first physical proof that Vikings brought horses and dogs to England has been unearthed


A greyhound

Dogs can smell when we're stressed from our breath and sweat

28 September 2022

In a test to see if dogs can identify material that has been exposed to breath and sweat from stressed humans, they got it right around 94 per cent of the time


Two Labrador puppies

Labrador dogs gene edited and cloned to prevent inherited hip disease

3 August 2022

CRISPR gene editing has been used to try to prevent a genetic disorder in dogs for the first time, in this case a common condition called hip dysplasia


Two beagle puppies

Gene-edited dogs created from cloned skin cells for the first time

22 July 2022

New gene-editing approach could be used to eliminate disease-causing mutations from pedigree dog breeds or even from clones of individual dogs


Science shows that dogs feel things like us. Legislation must catch up

Science shows that dogs feel things like us. Legislation must catch up

25 May 2022

Research supports what Darwin said in 1872 – dogs express emotions in a way recognisable to humans. Governments must do more to protect them, says Jules Howard


How the massive dogs bred to protect livestock could save wolves too

How the massive dogs bred to protect livestock could save wolves too

18 May 2022

Livestock guardian dogs traditionally used to protect herd animals from predators are now also being hailed as a way to conserve the animals they are trained to scare off


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