Monday, May 30, 2011

Dogs Get Sunburns Too

I hope my man, Toby, applies the SPF before hanging poolside in Cali

Humans and dogs alike can suffer from sunburn; long term exposure can result in skin damage and skin cancers. Like humans certain factors make some dogs more prone:

dogs with white or light colored coats
dogs with a very short coat or no coat at all
dogs that have suffered coat loss from allergies or other medical conditions
and of course dogs that are outside during the hottest part of the day.
What steps can you take to prevent your dog from getting a sunburn?

1) Keep your dog inside in a cool room, or if they are outside, in a well shaded area or adequate shelter during the hottest parts of the days.

2) Use sunscreen on the parts of his body susceptible to sunburn. These parts include: nose, ends of the ears, around the mouth, eyelids and the underside or your dog- belly, groin and inside the legs; these areas are particularly at risk. Make sure you use a pet sunscreen because products for human use can contain ingredients that are toxic to your dog. Remember to regularly reapply the sunscreen. Pay particular attention to areas where little coat is covering and where the skin pigmentation is low or light in color.

3) Believe it or not, there are bodysuits designed to protect your dog from UV rays as well. It's best to ask your veterinarian about which bodysuit is best suited for your particular dog. They can be a good option if your dog is continually out in the sun or you live in higher temperature regions.

4) If during the summer months you have your dog groomed, think about leaving his coat a bit longer so the coat offers some protection. Talk to your dog's groomer or veterinarian about clipping your dog, some dog breed's coat's are designed to insulate the dog from the sun's heat. If you clip too much off your dogs coat, you may be doing more harm than good.

Summer is just around the corner, so make sure that you and your dog stay happy and healthy during summer months. If you do happen to see any signs of sunburn such as red skin, fur loss and/or sores, please contact your local veterinarian and make sure you seek medical advice.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Seven-Year Bitch

Celebrating with Angus and Rufus

Yes, that's right. I turn seven-years old today. Can you believe it? Seems only yesterday I was carefree, rolling around in deer poo. Wait a minute. I was rolling around in deer poo yesterday.

I received all sorts of best wishes from Tibetan Terriers all over the world. I loved them all, but I think my favorite was:

"Happy birthday you old tart! Hope you have a great day. xx"

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Ou La La

Sherpa traveling in style in the back of the Range Rover

My boy traveled to the Tibetan Terrier National Specialty show and picked up a certificate or merit.

When he returned home his dad made him a grand breakfast of French toast and farm fresh eggs from Doris Duke and the other old hens he lives with at Green Acres Farm.


Sherpa it was great to see you and your dad. You are beautiful and we love you.

Monday, May 23, 2011

I'm Special, So Special

Rows and rows of champions at the US Tibetan Terrier National Specialty Show

It was great! Lots of butts to sniff. Lots of old friends and lots of BS. My kind of show!

Two of my boys, Rufus and Sherpa, were there. Based on his AKC ranking, Rufus was invited to participate in the Tibetan Terrier Club of America's Top 20 Invitational held during the Tibetan Terrier National Specialty. It was a fancy affair with lots of preening and way too much hairspray. Rufus took home the biggest ribbon I have ever seen. During the week he also received two certificates of achievement. My beautiful boy Sherpa traveled all the way from Connecticut and also received a certificate of achievement. And I didn't walk away empty handed. I received a Register of Merit as "Brood Bitch" for producing so many champion pups. Can you imagine? Who would have thought? And after only two litters.

The pic and description below were featured in the Top 20 Invitational Evening of Champions program

GCH Deep Acres Fields of Gold, "Rufus"

Deep Acres Fields of Gold is the youngest Grand Champion in the history of the breed. He began his show career as Best Puppy at the 2010 TTCA National Specialty and ended the year as the youngest member of, and the only new champion in, the Top 20.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Bad Dog: A Love Story

Ever since her bulldog bit a fox terrier in the elevator last spring, Liz Weston has been forced by her co-op board to use the freight elevator at her Sutton Place South building. She doesn’t think that it’s fair. After she apologized and paid the $600 veterinary bill, she sent a note asking how the terrier’s little tail was healing. She got back a letter from the co-op board’s lawyer demanding she move out.

“We’re all living in the same building in close quarters,” said Ms. Weston, whose dog, Theo, happens to be certified to visit hospitals as a therapy pet. She sued her co-op board in February. “Dogs are dogs,” she added.

The dog fight at Sutton Place South is not an isolated incident. High-end hounds and pampered canines seem to be acting out everywhere these days, in doorman buildings, the gated homes of Los Angeles or on manicured Hamptons lawns. And like their tightly wound owners, they can be lightning rods for lawsuits and bad publicity.

Lindsay Lohan, was mortified last year when the news media learned that her bulldog, Cadillac, had attacked and killed a tiny Maltese at her West Hollywood apartment building.

During New York Fashion Week in February, Thakoon Panichgul had to go on Twitter to deny that his tiny Yorkie, named Stevie Nicks, snapped at interns.

And when Elizabeth Taylor died last month, obituaries made gleeful mention of her canine cohort, in particular one that treated the floors of friends as fire hydrants.

Bad dogs can bring bad publicity, as Carl Paladino learned when his pit bull attacked another dog on the campaign trail for governor in New York last year.

They can be real estate deal-breakers, too, barking and growling at potential buyers. “If you’re not a dog lover, it can be very off-putting,” said Robert Browne, a senior vice president at Corcoran, who recently showed a $3 million home in Greenwich Village with a nasty Rottweiler running loose.

Dogs in banks. Dogs in yoga classes. Dogs in wedding parties. They have even invaded luxury boutiques. At the Manhattan offices of Marchesa, the delicate gown line designed by Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, office dogs are known to get into savage fights. “Sometimes it’s funny, but other times it can get pretty violent,” said Edward Chapman, the company’s president, whose Yorkshire terrier, Lottie, is often the instigator.

Are these dogs getting an unleashed sense of entitlement from their owners? Yes, said David Reinecker, a Beverly Hills dog trainer whose clients include Maria Shriver, Kirk Douglas and Teri Garr. “The elite are extreme personalities,” he said. “Some come home from a day at the office of controlling armies of frightened people and then let their dogs rule their lives. On top of that, the mega-rich and powerful can be very insecure.”

That might have explained Trouble, the Maltese that belonged to Leona Helmsley. It was known to attack the harried staff. “Leona wanted everybody to love her, but she knew nobody loved her,” a housekeeper of Ms. Helmsley was quoted as saying in The Daily News in 2007, when it was learned the dog was to inherit $12 million. “This dog replaced that love.” That may explain why both seemed so neurotic.

But then, the life of cosseted canines can be harder than it appears. Snooty co-ops have etiquette rules about barking and dog-on-dog interactions in lobbies and elevators. Some buildings even require that dogs be carried on elevators and in lobbies. (Carrying dogs, according to experts, makes them more neurotic because they are happier on their feet, just as any person other than Liz Taylor in “Cleopatra” might be.)

In addition, second and third homes in the Hamptons or Sun Valley, Idaho, can be disorienting for older dogs that don’t like learning new tricks, like finding the urine pad in a new mansion or not attacking the strangers who trim the privet.

A big domestic staff can make obedience confusing, too. At cocktail parties, canapés are a temptation, as are mink coats draped on couches and expensive shoes that look like toys.

Then there are the women who use dogs as security blankets and take them to red carpet events like arm candy. Paris Hilton’s Tinkerbell was known to snap and bite. “Little dogs sense their owners’ fear of strangers and paparazzi, so they growl and snap at them,” said Mr. Reinecker, who as a trainer has found that there’s a bull market in bad dogs right now.


Making matters worse, he said, is the fact that owners don’t discipline the dogs themselves. Instead, they throw money at them, expecting a specialist to fix the problem.

“The rich are less hands-on,” said Pat McGregor, the founder of Vancouver Dog Training in New York, who said that she has worked with the difficult dogs of Bette Midler,Robert De Niro and Blaine Trump. “You can’t blame an animal for not behaving like a person. But just like us, every dog has its own issues because there are no perfect dogs.”

And there are no perfect owners, even when they are as gracious and unassuming as Ellen Crown, a youthful Upper East Side mother of three children and three dogs. Her problem pooch was Kiwi, a terror of a Yorkshire terrier. “Kiwi bit people on the street all the time, and I’d be mortified,” Ms. Crown said. “My mother-in-law got bit once.”

Kiwi also ruined expensive rugs on a regular basis. “My poor stepfather is the owner of ABC Carpet,” said Ms. Crown, who is married to Daniel Crown, a lawyer whose family also runs the Little Nell hotel in Aspen and helped found the Aspen Institute. “He told me that I’m the most expensive stepdaughter he could possibly imagine.”

In addition, having a biting dog around with her youngest and his little friends (and potentially litigious parents) was a minefield. So after several failed attempts with trainers, Kiwi was given away. But not long after, Ms. Crown got another miniature poodle that was almost as bad.

No home, however stately, is immune. That includes the White House. The pit bull of Theodore Roosevelt was known for ripping the pants off a French ambassador. And although Bo, the Obamas’ Portuguese water dog, is incident free for now, recent presidential dogs in the dog house included Buddy, the Clintons’ cat-attacking Labrador retriever, and Barney, the Scottish terrier of George and Laura Bush, who bit a journalist.

Size is also irrelevant. Small dogs, so often owned by the wealthy, do seem to cause big problems. A 2010 New York City Health Department survey shows 3,609 reported dog-bite incidents, with just as many involving Shih Tzus, Chihuahuas and miniature poodles as pit bulls and Rotweillers.

Breeding, especially the intense behavior of some purebreds, seems to make a difference, too, as the writer Martin Kihn learned the hard way. He adopted a giant Bernese mountain dog, a breed sometimes called “the Little Bear of Switzerland.” The dog “was a status symbol and harder to get from a breeder than getting into Yale,” Mr. Kihn said. But the dog, whose name was Hola, seemed hell-bent on wreaking havoc.

While walking past Lincoln Center,Making matters worse, he said, is the fact that owners don’t discipline the dogs themselves. Instead, they throw money at them, expecting a specialist to fix the problem.

“The rich are less hands-on,” said Pat McGregor, the founder of Vancouver Dog Training in New York, who said that she has worked with the difficult dogs of Bette Midler, Robert De Niro and Blaine Trump. “You can’t blame an animal for not behaving like a person. But just like us, every dog has its own issues because there are no perfect dogs.”

And there are no perfect owners, even when they are as gracious and unassuming as Ellen Crown, a youthful Upper East Side mother of three children and three dogs. Her problem pooch was Kiwi, a terror of a Yorkshire terrier. “Kiwi bit people on the street all the time, and I’d be mortified,” Ms. Crown said. “My mother-in-law got bit once.”

Kiwi also ruined expensive rugs on a regular basis. “My poor stepfather is the owner of ABC Carpet,” said Ms. Crown, who is married to Daniel Crown, a lawyer whose family also runs the Little Nell hotel in Aspen and helped found the Aspen Institute. “He told me that I’m the most expensive stepdaughter he could possibly imagine.”

In addition, having a biting dog around with her youngest and his little friends (and potentially litigious parents) was a minefield. So after several failed attempts with trainers, Kiwi was given away. But not long after, Ms. Crown got another miniature poodle that was almost as bad.

No home, however stately, is immune. That includes the White House. The pit bull of Theodore Roosevelt was known for ripping the pants off a French ambassador. And although Bo, the Obamas’ Portuguese water dog, is incident free for now, recent presidential dogs in the dog house included Buddy, the Clintons’ cat-attacking Labrador retriever, and Barney, the Scottish terrier of George and Laura Bush, who bit a journalist.

Size is also irrelevant. Small dogs, so often owned by the wealthy, do seem to cause big problems. A 2010 New York City Health Department survey shows 3,609 reported dog-bite incidents, with just as many involving Shih Tzus, Chihuahuas and miniature poodles as pit bulls and Rotweillers.

Breeding, especially the intense behavior of some purebreds, seems to make a difference, too, as the writer Martin Kihn learned the hard way. He adopted a giant Bernese mountain dog, a breed sometimes called “the Little Bear of Switzerland.” The dog “was a status symbol and harder to get from a breeder than getting into Yale,” Mr. Kihn said. But the dog, whose name was Hola, seemed hell-bent on wreaking havoc.

While walking past Lincoln Center, Hola accosted a perfectly coiffed doyenne and left two big paw prints on a beautiful white dress. “That was the last time I took her to the opera,” said Mr. Kihn, whose new memoir, “Bad Dog: A Love Story,” offers a wry tale of canine rehabilitation. “I really got her because I wanted to be seen with her, that’s all.”

It’s a good thing Mr. Kihn wasn’t asked to bring Hola to his Riverside Drive co-op board before moving in. “We just lied and told them she was medium-size and mellow,” he said.

Others should have it so easy. To get past highly selective co-op boards, the desperate turn to Elena Gretch, founder of It’s a Dog’s Life, an upmarket training service. She usually requires six sessions (at about $175 a session) to prep dogs for interviews.

While some slip dogs Valium, she keeps dogs sober, training them not to bark during the dreaded doorbell test and helping them understand that elevators and lobbies are not powder rooms. And, of course, an elaborate bath before the interview is de rigueur.

“Co-op boards are about controlling their environments, and they expect dogs to behave like well-trained little people,” said Ms. Gretch, who faces all kinds of challenges daily. Recent clients included an Upper East Side dermatologist who wants to train his feisty pug puppy to be calm in his office, a type-A lawyer turned fitness entrepreneur whose basset hound had to be prepared for a Hush Puppies shoot, and a financier who wanted his Chesapeake Bay retriever yacht-broken for a cruise to St. Bart’s.

But all of it that, she added, is nothing compared with the scrutiny of a high-strung co-op board. “When you have to charm so many people, it’s really intimidating,” she said.

It’s a good thing dogs don’t have to apply to private schools. Hola accosted a perfectly coiffed doyenne and left two big paw prints on a beautiful white dress. “That was the last time I took her to the opera,” said Mr. Kihn, whose new memoir, “Bad Dog: A Love Story,” offers a wry tale of canine rehabilitation. “I really got her because I wanted to be seen with her, that’s all.”

It’s a good thing Mr. Kihn wasn’t asked to bring Hola to his Riverside Drive co-op board before moving in. “We just lied and told them she was medium-size and mellow,” he said.

Others should have it so easy. To get past highly selective co-op boards, the desperate turn to Elena Gretch, founder of It’s a Dog’s Life, an upmarket training service. She usually requires six sessions (at about $175 a session) to prep dogs for interviews.

While some slip dogs Valium, she keeps dogs sober, training them not to bark during the dreaded doorbell test and helping them understand that elevators and lobbies are not powder rooms. And, of course, an elaborate bath before the interview is de rigueur.

“Co-op boards are about controlling their environments, and they expect dogs to behave like well-trained little people,” said Ms. Gretch, who faces all kinds of challenges daily. Recent clients included an Upper East Side dermatologist who wants to train his feisty pug puppy to be calm in his office, a type-A lawyer turned fitness entrepreneur whose basset hound had to be prepared for a Hush Puppies shoot, and a financier who wanted his Chesapeake Bay retriever yacht-broken for a cruise to St. Bart’s.

But all of it that, she added, is nothing compared with the scrutiny of a high-strung co-op board. “When you have to charm so many people, it’s really intimidating,” she said.

It’s a good thing dogs don’t have to apply to private schools.


Monday, May 9, 2011

Drinks and Dogs in Buenos Aires



Well, my dad is back in Buenos Aires. Working, he says. From the looks of this video, I'm not so sure. Is he a dog walker?

I do think he misses me, but I'm not so happy to see my canine competition in the land of Evita.

Although I must admit I do like that fawn colored fellow in the red harness.

Thanks for the video dad, but come home soon.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mommy's Day Grammy Jill

Well, it's Mother's Day so I have been thinking of Grammy Jill.

Dad once read me a poem he wrote for her on this day many years ago. I emailed Grammy Jill to see if she still had it. She sent back a poem, but it wasn't at all the one I recall.

Mothers are as total as the sky:
Older than the earth and more enduring.
They're rooted in our hearts like ancient trees.
Halfway down to seething lava seas:
Emblazoned on our sail, and on our mooring.
Returning home, we dwell within their sigh:
So maddening, so rich, so reassuring.
-Nicholas Gordon

I don't remember much about the poem I'm thinking of, but, Grammy Jill, this definitely isn't it.

I only remember a few fragments of one or two lines of the poem I am trying so desperately to recall.

How do you thank someone for a lifetime of work
Who's a (something, something, something), a saint, and a jerk

I do recall another line.

The cleaning, the cooking, the vodka she drank

Not a clue what the rhyming verse was. What rhymes with drank? Clank? No. Stank? NO! Dank? I don't think so. Plank? Perhaps. Tank? Could be. Bank? That's a good possibility.

Grammy Jill, center, exchanging experiences of Saturday night's icy thoroughfares. That's how the newspaper caption read. That's Barbra Streisand behind her.



Grammy Jill came and stayed with me for a month to help with my first litter of pups. Yes! A month! Thanks Grammy Jill.



HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY GRAMMY JILL!!!

In honor of Mother's Day, I am sharing Mario Batali's mother's blackberry pie recipe.

Marilyn Batali's Blackberry Pie

While walking in Galicia with Gwyneth Paltrow, Mario Batali spotted a bush full of ripe blackberries, his "favorite fruit in life," and recalled filling the back of his parents' station wagon with buckets of blackberries when he was growing up in Seattle. After getting his mother, Marilyn, to e-mail him her recipe, Mario prepared this luscious pie.

  • ACTIVE: 30 MIN
  • TOTAL TIME: 3 HRS PLUS COOLING
  • SERVINGS: MAKES ONE 9-INCH PIE




CRUST

  1. 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 3 tablespoons sugar
  3. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  4. 1 cup solid vegetable shortening, chilled
  5. 5 tablespoons ice water

FILLING

  1. 2 pints blackberries (1 1/2 pounds)
  2. 1/2 cup sugar
  3. 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  4. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  5. 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  1. MAKE THE CRUST In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt. Add the shortening and, using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the ice water and stir with a fork until the dough is moistened. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gather it into a ball. Knead the dough 2 or 3 times, just until it comes together. Divide in half; flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375°. Let the dough stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to a 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch glass pie plate. Roll out the remaining dough to an 11-inch round.
  3. MAKE THE FILLING Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir the blackberries with the sugar, flour and lemon juice, lightly mashing a few berries; scrape into the prepared pie crust and sprinkle the butter cubes on top.
  4. Brush the overhanging pastry with water and carefully set the top crust over the berry filling. Press the edges of the dough together and trim the overhang to 1 inch. Fold the edge under itself and crimp decoratively. Cut 4 slits in the top crust.
  5. Bake the pie in the center of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the bottom crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling. If necessary, cover the edge with foil for the last few minutes of baking. Let the pie cool for at least 4 hours before serving.
MAKE AHEAD The baked pie can stand at room temperature overnight.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Laker's Coach Phil Jackson and a Talking Dog


Phil Jackson was watching a talking dog video.

You would think if the NBA's all-time playoff genius was looking at a video, it would be to find a better way to stop Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki. Or Jose Barea, whoever that is.

But Phil was watching some talking dog, and no, I'm not talking about any of the Dodgers who were playing earlier Wednesday.

He says he was looking for "comic relief," which raises the question, Why wasn't he watching the Dodgers, or talking to Ron Artest?

Phil says he wanted his team "to be a little more light-hearted," so he found the dog on the Internet. It would have made more sense, of course, had he said he found the dog in some monastery in Tibet.


Friday, May 6, 2011

Jacques Pépin's Favorite Pound Cake

The French call pound cake quatre-quarts ("four-fourths") because it is made with equal parts flour, sugar, eggs and butter. Jacques Pépin's mother, aunt and cousin all have their versions. He likes to fold in candied citrus peels to make a French fruit cake; he also loves plain slices dipped in espresso.


Jacques Pépin's Favorite Pound Cake

  • ACTIVE: 15 MIN
  • TOTAL TIME: 2 HRS PLUS COOLING
  • SERVINGS: ONE 10-BY-5-INCH LOAF
  • MAKE-AHEAD
  • VEGETARIAN
  1. 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  2. 1 1/4 cups sugar
  3. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  4. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  5. 6 large eggs
  6. 1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
  7. 2 1/2 cups cake flour

  1. . Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter a 10-by-5-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper that extends 2 inches past the short ends of the pan.
  2. . In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar, vanilla and salt at medium speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating between additions. Beat in the milk. Sift the flour over the batter and whisk it in until smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
  3. . Bake the cake for 1 1/2 hours, until it is cracked down the center, golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold the cake and let cool completely.
MAKE AHEAD The cake can be kept at room temperature, covered, for up to 3 days.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

I LOVE RUFUS

Grand Champion Deep Acres Fields of Gold

Glamour Grrrrls

Mallory Before....

After head-to-paw makeovers, these NYC shelter pooches are no longer ruff around the edges

...and After

Like any model, Mallory, Heart and Myrtle adapt easily to the mood of a typical NYC fashion shoot: Mallory tries to snag a pink tulle number off the stylist’s table, Heart won’t come on set until all the other models leave the room, and even timid Myrtle gets distracted when the pace slows.

But in truth, these are no ordinary models: They’re shelter dogs, who with the help of doggie stylist Dara Foster, get the ultimate makeover.

Foster, a passionate advocate for shelter animals, hopes that these makeovers will help the ordinarly unkempt pups get adopted quickly. “My job mixes fashion with creativity,” says the pet style expert and author of “Now You See It! Pup Style” (Scholastic). “But mostly I love that I get to help rescue dogs.”

First, Mallory, a 1-year-old shih-tzu/poodle mix, was spritzed, trimmed, blow-dryed and air-brushed with an easy-to-wash-off, vegetable-dye “tramp-stamp." Doggie stylist Dara Foster then dressed her in a bright coat to keep her dry during spring showers.

To do that, Foster brought a suitcase and two totes — full of doggie wigs, tutus, mini-hats and collars donated by Poetic Paws — to Animal Haven shelter so she and her team could transform three scruffy, homeless dogs into princesses for a day. Her super-connected band of stylists includes go-to celebrity dog groomer Jorge Bendersky who keeps Ralph Lauren’s pups looking polished.
“When you dress your dog, you really want to think about the environment: where you’re going, what season we’re in and the temperature,” says Foster.
As the dogs get primped, the stylists’ squeals of delight over each over-the-top outfit and tiny accessory appear to encourage Myrtle and Mallory to prance a little prouder.
Asked what to do with a dog that doesn’t like dressing up, Foster remains optimistic: “If a dog freezes like a statue, give her a few treats and see what happens. If she still freezes, take the outfit off — it might not fit right. Then find another accessory and try again.”

Visit animalhavenshelter.org for info on adopting Mallory, Heart, Myrtle and other dogs.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

An Apple a Day Keeps the Cholesterol Away

Well, it kinda looks like an apple

Apples may be a "miracle fruit" for individuals who have received unhealthy cholesterol test results, according to a new study from researchers at Florida State University. Their findings show that an apple a day not only keeps the doctor away, but it also results in dramatic decreases in bad cholesterol.

Bahram H. Arjmandi, who led the study, said that apples are full of antioxidants and fiber, both of which have been shown to benefit heart health. In addition to reducing cholesterol levels, these nutrients have been shown to bring down inflammation in the body, which is a leading cause of chronic diseases.

For the study, researchers asked a group of 160 women between the ages of 45 and 65 eat either one dried apple or a comparable amount of dried prunes every day for a year. They administered cholesterol tests throughout the study.

By the end of the investigation, women who ate apples every day saw a 23 percent reduction in LDL, or "bad," cholesterol levels. They also experienced a dramatic reduction in C-reactive protein levels, which are a marker of inflammation. No such gains were noted in women in the prune group.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Is Your Pet Right Or Left Handed?

To the surprise of pet owners, scientists have discovered that cats, dogs, parrots and even fish are right or left-handed.

Psychologists played with 42 pet cats for several weeks as part of the research, according to a report in the New Scientist.

The researchers from Queens University said:

"Male and female cats differ in their behavioural patterns, for example hunting styles and parental care, and it is possible that these place different demands on motor functioning."


Apparently, female cats are more likely to be "right-handed" while toms favour their left paw.

The same preferences occur in dogs.

Parrots have a dominant foot to pick up food and other objects with while toads are mostly right-handed.

When fish dodge a predator they tend to veer to one side more consistently to the other.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Talking to Buddha

My beautiful boy Sherpa, now 18-months old.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Are Girl Dogs Smarter Than Boy Dogs?

Above: A very smart girl named Pandora

Shout out to my bitches!

Turns out female dogs might have a leg up on males when it comes to detecting the unexpected.

In an experiment designed to mess with their furry heads, females took note of a surprising outcome while males apparently remained oblivious.

The team designed an experiment to test whether the dogs would notice a ball that inexplicably grew or shrank.

In some trials, for instance, a tennis ball-sized ball would roll behind a screen, and after a short wait, a larger ball would appear on the other side. (Young babies don’t seem to notice this violation of how the world normally works, but start to react to the weirdness during the first year of life.)

The researchers can’t tell if males really don’t perceive the difference, or do detect it but don't care.

Whether a dog had been neutered didn’t seem to make a difference in the experiment.

One neuroscientist noted that females need to effectively nurture offspring, and that might have provided very strong pressure to set up this behavioral difference.