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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


Puppy eating from a bowl

Dogs that eat raw food rather than kibble have better gut health

9 February 2023

According to surveys of 7000 owners, dogs that ate mostly dog food were 29 per cent more likely to develop gastrointestinal problems compared to dogs that mostly ate raw foods


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


cute small jack russell terrier dog standing on two paws asking for treats to owner. Pets outdoors and lifestyle; Shutterstock ID 1795864654; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Dogs can tell when you want to give them a treat – even if you don’t

25 January 2023

Pet dogs respond more patiently when humans clumsily drop a treat out of reach than when it is intentionally pulled away, suggesting canines can understand human intentions


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


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