September 2021
The expression “hair of the dog” came from an old Scottish belief that putting a dog’s hair in a wound caused by a rabid dog could cure a person of rabies.
Researchers from Austria, Israel, and Britain have determined that when dogs see a caregiver versus a stranger, the regions of their brains dealing with emotion and attachment are activated, much as they are in the human mother-child bond.
When dogs lower their tails and tuck them between their hind legs, it’s the equivalent of humans hiding their faces out of fear.
When dogs bury a bone, they might believe there is currently a food surplus and are therefore saving it for a time when food will be scarce. Some dogs might push a bowl of dog food to the corner of a room for the same reason.
Dogs who are trained with aversive methods such as jerking their leashes are less optimistic than those trained only with rewards methods.