The dog: a biologist's best friend

jerry submitted, created time 5 months 3 weeks (www.current-biology.com)

In your interactions with dogs you have likely wondered: do dogs recognize each other and different people? How sensitive is a dog's nose and what is their vision like? How good are dogs at finding their way home? What can a dog learn from another dog? Do dogs know what you are trying to say? Do they know what you are thinking? When did dogs start living with humans and why? Where did dogs originate? What are the differences between breeds? Whether one is a behavioral geneticist, a population biologist, a psychologist, an anthropologist or just a dog lover

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It's a Dog's (Genetic) Life

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 2 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

The adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks may have some basis in truth, or at least in DNA. It turns out that a pointer's point, a border collie's herding instinct, and several other canine characteristics may be hard-wired in dogs' genes, according to a new study. The advance could help breeders weed out diseases in man's best friend and shed light on the genetic basis of certain human disorders.

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Brain asymmetry in other species: reading canine emotions and other phenomena

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.nytimes.com)

Many scientists believe that only humans, because of the development of language in the left brain, show brain asymmetry -- have right and left hemispheres that perform slightly different functions. However, many other animals show behaviors that may be explained by brain asymmetry. This particular article focuses on dogs: There may be more to our furry, drool-spewing pals than meets the eye. Sure, they wag their tails when they're happy, but it seems there's more to it than that. This piece comes with quick illustrations.

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