December 18, 2024 • 24 mins
Whether you're trying to analyze your sled dogs' athletic performance, get your pooch to stop barking at the mailman or simply trying to get an extra year or two with man's best friend, the newest doggy technologies have a solve for you and your very best boy.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess what, mango? What's that? Will? All right?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
When I say the words cutting edge science and dogs, Okay,
you got those two together, what's the first thing you
think of? Uh?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Maybe that dog from the Jetsons, like like a robot dog.
I know Donald Trump has those around tomorrow logo now
and those just creepy out.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, they add some dystopian nightmare fuel for sure, But
don't worry. Today's episode is about actual dogs, like the cute,
furry kind good dogs, the ones that we're very big
fans of. So, for instance, did you know that student
researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a wearable computer that
can help prevent injuries in sled dogs and other dogs
who do different types of physical activity.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
You know, I never really thought of that as a problem,
but I guess it makes sense. I mean, pulling a
sled is probably hard.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Work, makes a lot of sense when you think about
athletes and others. The dogs are doing the same kind
of thing, so orthopedic injuries are actually very common, and
dogs that are doing certain types of work like this
and these things can cause permanent damage and forced dogs
to drop out of these long haul races like the Iditarod.
Usually mushers have to rely on visual observation to tele
(01:21):
if a dog is starting to suffer. But these days,
commercial canine exercise monitors like the fit bark, which is
a thing, can actually track basic activity, but you don't
get detailed information about gait characteristics. So the folks that
Georgia Tech created a smart harness, and what it does
is it sends this alert to the dog's human when
it detects gate changes, like if the dog is starting
(01:43):
to favor one side just the tiniest bit, it starts
to detect this and then the musher can give the
puppet break or you know, seek veterinary care.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
That is amazing. I also love that they've got like
a monitor called fit bark. Me too, Me too, I'm
a fan. Does this new harness have an in I.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Was hoping you would ask this question, Mango. It's called
the Wearable Activity and Gate Detection Monitor. Now you might
think that sounds boring, but if you make it the
acronym wagged pretty good.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
There is so dog science and dog science puns. I
love this episode already, so let's get to it.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm
Will Pearson and as always, I'm here with my good
friend mangesh Hot ticket there and over there, sitting in
a literal pile of puppies. And I thought this was
going to be at Mango, But there's a combination of
work that's been done here from our good friend and
producer Dylan Fagan. You know he likes to knit, right,
(02:58):
he has knitted weds for each one of these nine dogs,
and they say fact number one, Fact number two, Fact
number three. He's named the dogs this, so I think
what's gonna happen. I'm predicting he's gonna hold up a
different dog each time we hit one of our nine
facts here. But that is pretty no idea where these
puppies came from. But if you hear barking in the background,
(03:20):
that's what's going on.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, speaking of barking, that's obviously how dogs communicate, right,
So to some extent it's okay or even helpful, like
if your dog barks to alert you to a package
being delivered at the door or something like that. But
obviously with some dogs, like an old office dog, we
had it can get out of control.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It was a nightmare. And my dog now, who is
named Paul, as you know, very creative name. Paul, loses
his mind anytime someone comes within fifty feet of the house.
And we're we have tried the training. We're obviously really
bad at it. It's quite frustrating, but we.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Still love him too. Can't help it. Well. Ve's actually
called this extra barking nuisance barking. And you might have
heard about these callers that deliver mild shocks when a
dog starts barking. But animal welfare experts, as you might
have guessed, say these are not good for dogs. And
it's not just about the physical discomfort causes. It can
(04:18):
also exacerbate things like anxiety. It can make the dogs
more loud or aggressive over time. Then obviously you want
to avoid that. So there is a technology that can help.
It's called a calming collar.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
A calming collar that actually sounds like something I could
use on long days. I don't know if they make
these for humans yet, but we should look into that.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like we all could. But
the way it works is these callers are infused with
DAP or dog appeasing pheromones. This is a synthetic version
of the pheromone mama dogs give off when they're nursing
puppies early in their life and even in adulthood, dogs
associated with a sense of well being. It is completely
undetectable to humans, so you or I we wouldn't smell anything,
(05:00):
but your dog will pick up on it right away.
And studies have shown that DAP can help dogs calm
down when they're agitated, and it can make them quiet
down as well. Most dogs do respond to it, a
few don't, but since common callers don't have any negative impact,
they really might be worth a try. That's super interesting.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
It actually ties in nicely with one of the most
fascinating facts I've found while I was researching this topic.
So it turns out that dogs can experience quote emotional
contagion from the smell of human stress, which is super
interesting that this can happen. And this is a study
that came out just last year from the University of Bristol.
So researchers taught a group of pet dogs that a
(05:39):
bowl in one location contained a treat and a bowl
placed in a different spot was empty. So pretty soon
the dogs would just run straight to the treat location,
no surprise there. Then the researchers added a bowl in
between the two points, and if a dog went for
the new bowl quickly, that was considered an optimistic choice
and the dog believed that there would be a treat.
(06:00):
So if the dog hesitated, that was considered a sign
of pessimism, like the dog was thinking, well, just my luck,
there probably won't be a treat in there, you know
that that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
That's really interesting. So how did they figure out that
human stress affects this behavior?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
All?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So they made the dog owners take a math test
and collected sweat and breath samples while they were doing it.
This sounds like torture. This was considered stressful. I guess
none of these people were mathematicians or something like that.
Then they had the humans listen to relaxing soundscapes and
collected samples again, and the dogs exposed to the stress
sense were slow to approach the unfamiliar bowl, but the
(06:37):
relaxed sense didn't affect them in the same way like.
The researchers hypothesized that the scent of human stress conferred
a negative emotional state on the dogs. And they were
trying to avoid the disappointment of confronting an empty treat bowl.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Isn't that interesting? That is really not so. I mean,
a math test is almost the most surprising thing. Yeah,
but it's great. So if you need to learn how
to relax and manager stress for Paul's sake, well maybe
you and Paul could start going to the gym together
as a stress reliever. That's not gonna happen. But do
you ever run with the Uh?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
No, Paul's pretty good at walking, but Paul's Paul's a
pretty chill dog. I don't think he wants to. I
don't think he wants When he runs, he's running much
faster than me. Then that happens in quick spurts.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Got it. So these days dogs aren't just getting exercised
by going for walks and fetching sticks. They're actually doing
strength training. And it turns out the science is pretty
much the same as it is for humans. Like cardio
is fine, but to stay healthy as we age, we
need to maintain muscle mass. And if you're trying to
rehab an injury, building strength and stability is super important.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
You know, It's funny this gave Dylan an idea, because
now he's holding up a sign that he's drawn. It's
picture of dogs pumping iron and matching tracksuits. I think
you gave him some idea.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Station Well, I can't wait for the fully knit tracksuits
next season. But instead of track suits, you might want
to consider getting your pup a weighted dog vest to
make a romp in the park much more strenuous. So
these buckle onto the dog's back and have pockets that
owners fill with different weights of different sizes, and you
shouldn't exceed ten to twenty percent of your dog's total weight,
(08:16):
like you want to do less than that, and it's
only safe to do with fully grown adult dogs. But
this almost like mimics the exercise pattern of rucking that
people are doing today. But some people actually also teach
their dogs to do weight pulling exercises, and these involve
a long harness that you attached to a heavy object,
like a gallon of water, and you kind of let
(08:37):
the dog drag it around. Or if pilates is more
your dog speed, you can pick up specialized canine resistance
bands that emphasize proper leg and foot alignment.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
God, that's such a funny image there is.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
A company called an Emotion that makes these, and the
way it works is the resistant band clips to a
harness at the dog's shoulders and then it has cuffs
that slip over the hind feet, so they're hind legs
get a real workout as they walk. These bands are
actually designed as therapeutic tools for dogs with certain illnesses
and injuries, but they're also helpful for overweight dogs who
(09:09):
just kind of need to get back in shape.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
That is amazing, and the fact that these dogs are
doing more sophisticated workouts.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Than we're doing is pretty wild. All right.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, if we're talking about weight training, you know, we
have to talk about protein, right, If we're going to
get jackamanga, we got to talk about protein. And you
might think dogs are carnivores, right, like you would assume that, right,
But apparently this is a common misperception. It stems from
the fact that dogs came into our lives as domesticated wolves.
And wolves aren't just carnivores, they're obligate carnivores, and that
(09:39):
means that their bodies are meant to run purely on
animal protein. They can't get what they need from plants.
But dogs are actually different. Their genetics diverged from wolves
about twenty to forty thousand years ago, so it's not
the same thing. And why did that happen Exactly, It's
all because of us. So when dogs began living in
close proximity to hear humans, they began eating our leftovers,
(10:03):
and so over time their bodies adapted to a more
diverse diet.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Today, dogs are really omnivores.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
In fact, whole grains, vegetables, and fiber can help balance
their gi systems and avoid those messy poop situations. But
if your dog wants to get swoll, like I know
your dog probably does, or if he's recovering from illness
or an injury, then yes, science has invented doggie protein
supplements and this is just fantastic. And so they come
(10:30):
in different forms like powders, tablets, treats, and many of
them are made with the same core ingredients you'll find
than protein powders for humans. This does not mean you
should share your morning protein shake with your dog, though.
Our protein powders are full of flavorings and additives and
this can actually be quite dangerous for dogs.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
That's a good tip, So no athletic greens for spots. No,
no athletic greens. I actually thought you were going to say,
like you should give your dog creative right. So this
is a really inspiring story that I love, dogs like humans,
can suffer hearing loss and that can have a serious
impact on their quality of life. So back in the
nineteen eighties, an audiologist named Curtis Smith took his dog
(11:11):
to the vet for a checkup, and while he was there,
he asked if the vet ever saw dogs with hearing problems,
just kind of out of professional curiosity, right, And the
vet said yes, but you know, there's nothing you could
do to treat hearing loss and dogs. So Smith actually
decides to take this as a challenge, and after a
few tries, he modifies a human hearing aid to fit
(11:33):
dog's ears, and today an Animal Hearing and Bioacoustics Laboratory
at the University of Cincinnati has actually become the center
of canine audiology treatment. Is that amazing? I love that
it is the only place in the world where people
can get certified as animal audiologists and the only clinic
that does complete hearing assessments and hearing aid fittings for dogs.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
You know, one of the things I love most about
the research that the team does and that we do
as we think about these episodes, is you find these
universities and colleges and places just all around the country,
and it feels like each one has its own super
unique specialty, Like I wouldn't have ever thought about a
premier place for this specialty to exist, But University of Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
And are they still using modified human hearing aids? Yeah,
for now they are, which means they're actually pretty pricey.
They can cost as much as three thousand dollars and
it is not an overnight fix. You kind of need
these tests to check your dog's cock clear function because
dogs have to have a certain level of remaining hearing
in order to be able to use these hearing aids.
(12:37):
But if your dog is a good candidate, the next
step is making molds of their ears, and finally you
have to get the aids custom fitted and tuned, and
from there it could take a while for your dog
to adjust. But you know, the team in Cincinnati is
working on developing a more affordable hearing aid designed specifically
for dogs, and if all of this goes well, that'll
make canine hearing loss treatment, A lot more are accessible.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Aren't you curious what this doggy hearing lab is called?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Oh? I wasn't thinking about that, but yes, I want
to know.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Now what is it called. It is called the Facility
for Education and Testing of Canine Hearing and Laboratory for
Animal Bioacoustics.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I was trying to keep up with that latch last
fetch las Okay, I knew.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It had to be an acronym. That's pretty great.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Well, wordplay is clearly an important part of dog science here.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
But you know, hearing aids for dogs are.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Cool, But you know what else is cool? Mango lasers.
Lasers are also cool. And laser therapy isn't an emerging
treatment for several common canine conditions, including joint paint, ligament strains,
wound healing, even things like skin lesions that are caused
by repetitive licking, which I think we've all had dogs
that were guilty of that, and it's not super common
(13:49):
and more studies are needed, but there's been some promising
research that's showing that it can reduce pain and dogs
with arthritis, and unlike oral medications or inject it's an
easy treatment to give.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
The dog just has to lie there while it gets zapped.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So it's a super easy way to try to treat.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
This and it's not painful.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
This is a low level or cold laser therapy as
they call it, meaning it's not high powered kind of
laser treatment that can destroy tissue. However, any type of
laser treatment can damage vision if you're not careful with this.
So if you look up pictures of dogs getting laser therapy,
which I urge you to do this, you'll see that
they're all wearing goggles or sunglasses, which is pretty terrific
(14:32):
and adorable at the same time.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, I feel like extra cute medical treatments make it
easier to send your dog to medical treatments. That's right.
So how does all of this actually help them?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Well, it's kind of complicated, but the short version of
it is it's believed that the healing effects of the
laser happen because it causes lymphatic vessels to expand, which
helps reduce tissue swelling. It also decreases the release of
chemicals that cause inflamma and increases blood flow to the
lasered area, which can promote the healing. Now, it usually
(15:05):
takes multiple treatments to have an effect, but for dogs,
each session can be as short as you like, fifteen
minutes or so.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
That's really interesting. So I see Dylan is holding up
a puppy with fact number eight on it. But Dylan,
you're gonna have to keep holding that because we've got
an ad break. We've got to take move back right
after this message, Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where
(15:38):
we're counting down nine facts about modern dog science. You know, well,
before we talk about this, I did want to say
I found an article today and this isn't modern dog science,
but it's amazing how much research is out there about dogs.
And one of the papers that I guess came out
somewhat recently is about a list of medieval English dog names.
(16:03):
That's pretty great. It's amazing. It's everything from Charlemage the
dog to find well Plotter, Achilles, Geester, best of all
with B Steve because it's felled in older English. Pretty boy,
there's all one word with a pr e t I
boy and have good day was Apparently Kelly Paul is
(16:23):
not on that list, unfortunately. That's pretty great. So I
am amazed at how much research is going into keeping
dogs healthy and treating their illnesses. You know, I feel
like we grew up as dog lovers, but it's amazing
how people have become even more obsessive over time and
then really treat dogs like family.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
I think it just speaks to the importance of dogs
in our life, how they become like family members. I mean,
as you know, our daughter's off at college and when
she calls to check in, the first thing she wants
to do is get on FaceTime with Paul. Of course,
Paul has no idea what's going on. I mean, hears
her voice and everything, and then when she gets home,
she can't wait.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
To see Paul first.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
But it's it really is amazing, like they do become,
as you said, part of the family.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
That's incredible. So, you know, one of the hardest things
about having a dog or any pet really is knowing
that they'll eventually pass away. And I found this amazing
New York Times article about dog longevity, and there's a
quote from a dog owner that, you know, just feels
pretty poignant. She said, when you adopt a dog, you're
adopting future heartbreak. But there is a new drug that
(17:28):
may be able to extend dogs lives now. Of course,
you can't make your dog immortal, and this isn't a
product that's on the market yet, but it is being
developed by a biotech company called Loyal and it's still
in the clinical study phase, but Loyle says they've completed
pre clinical trials and a pilot study and they expect
to get FDA conditional approval later this year. The drug
(17:51):
is so new it doesn't even have a real name yet.
It's just known by the identifier lois res or two.
It's a daily pill for senior dogs and according to Loyle,
it targets metabolic processes that break down over time, and
this kind of metabolic dysfunction can drive a lot of
the ailments we associate with aging, things like coronary artery
(18:12):
disease or arthritis, or you know, even cancer or cognitive decline.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, I mean, all pretty complicated stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah it is, but the effects of metabolic aging are
pretty familiar now. Aging dogs tend to lose muscle and
gain fat, especially around their organs. They can develop insulin resistance,
which is less likely to lead to doggy diabetes than
in humans, but it still has negative health effects, And
of course you can alleviate some of this by making
(18:40):
sure your dog eats healthy and gets plenty of exercise.
But Loyal's drug actually inhibits a growth hormone. It's called
igf one, and this hormone is linked to aging, and
by reducing the impact of that hormone, loyl actually says
that you can slow down the progression of metabolic dysfunction.
Apparently levels of this hormone by size, so Loyal is
(19:01):
working on different versions of the drug for very large dogs.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Well, you mentioned large dogs, and we've always heard that
large dogs don't live as long as small dogs, and
I feel like we've just seen that anecdotally.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
But is this related to that, Yeah, exactly. So larger
breeds tend to have very high levels of IGF one,
up to twenty eight times higher than small dogs. But
on average, a really big dog like a Great Dane,
only lives about seven or ten years, but a tiny
Chihuahua lives fourteen to sixteen years on average, And so
(19:33):
Loyal says it's drug could increase dogs' lifespans by at
least a year, and more importantly, it prolongs healthy life,
so you don't just get more time with your dog.
Your dog gets more quality time and good health.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That is amazing, and you have to wonder, like if
there are implications for human health here too. You know,
it's a perfect lead than to our final fact of
the day. Hold it up, Dylan, all right, last back
number nine. A roomatology professor at Yale School of Medicine
has developed a cancer vaccine for dogs. His name is
doctor Mark Mamula, and he spent years studying autoimmune diseases
(20:08):
like lupus, where the immune system attacks the body's own tissues,
and eventually he shifted this expertise into cancer research, and
there's been a ton of interest in Immunotherapy is a
cancer treatment, as you well know, and the idea is
that certain drugs can stimulate the immune system to attack
these cancer cells.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Yeah, I've definitely heard about that and it's fascinating. But
how do dogs get involved in all of this?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
So in twenty fifteen, Mamula met a veterinary oncologist named
Gary Post at a party and they start talking about
cancer and animals. You know, when you're a party and
you want to talk about uplifting things like cancer and animals.
But apparently one in four dogs will get cancer at
some point in their lives. So Mamula had a first
hand experience of this his own dog had tragically died
(20:53):
from cancer, and in their conversation, he and Post realize
that human and canine cancers are actually very similar in
terms of how they behave, but there are way more
treatment options, obviously for humans.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
So they decided to come up with something for dogs
that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And they call it an immunotherapeutic vaccine because remember it's
stimulating an immune response, but it's given as a treatment
after a dog has been diagnosed with cancer. And what
it does it tells the immune cells to crank out
antibodies that attack two specific proteins that help cancerous tumors grow. So,
according to Mammula, it's more effective than many existing treatments
(21:32):
because it generates this polyclonal response. In other words, it
gets multiple types of immune cells involved in antibody production,
not just one type, and that makes it harder for
the cancer cells to develop resistance. And still in the
clinical trial phase, but so far over three hundred dogs
have been treated, and for some types of cancer, the
(21:53):
twelve month survival rate has gone from thirty five percent
to sixty percent, so obviously showing promising results.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
This could be a major breakthrough. That's so amazing. I
know you probably have a lot of holiday parties to
go to. How many diseases are can occur?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, it's a fair question, a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
So I mean I am curious though, like if human
and dog cancers are similar, Like, could this actually improve
immunotherapy options for people as well?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, it's certainly possible, But for right now, Mammulas says
he's happy to focus on people's best friends.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Well, I think for sharing that amazing fact and the
fact that you actually have a dog and I don't
have a dog, this one goes out to you and Paul.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
I was predicting you might go that way just for
that reason. Well, on behalf of Paul, all of Paul's barking,
and all of the people who've tried to deliver packages
at our house.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I will accept this award. Well, that is it for
today's episode. As you may have guessed, we're animal lovers
here at PTG, so you can always always tag us
in your pet posts. I don't know if you know this,
but Will and I and our colleague Jason previously had
started a weird at mental floss called poppies wearing hats
eating bacon sharing fat.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yes, puppy's wearing hats heed bacon sharing facts.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
So if you want to share any of your puppy
photos with us, we would love to see him. But
if you like our show, please rate and review us online.
You can find us at part Time Genius on Instagram
and from Gabe, Dylan, Mary, Will and myself. Thank you
so much for listening. We'll be back with new episodes
very very soon. Part Time Genius is a production of
(23:40):
Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. This show is hosted by Will Pearson
and Me Mongas Chatikler and research by our good pal
Mary Philip Sandy. Today's episode was engineered and produced by
the wonderful Dylan Fagan with support from Tyler Klang. The
show is executive produced for iHeart by Katrina Norvel and
Al Perry, with social media support from Sasha Gay, trustee
(24:03):
Dara Potts and Viney Shorey. For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
You're listening to part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess what, mango? What's that? Will? All right?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
When I say the words cutting edge science and dogs, Okay,
you got those two together, what's the first thing you
think of? Uh?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Maybe that dog from the Jetsons, like like a robot dog.
I know Donald Trump has those around tomorrow logo now
and those just creepy out.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, they add some dystopian nightmare fuel for sure, But
don't worry. Today's episode is about actual dogs, like the cute,
furry kind good dogs, the ones that we're very big
fans of. So, for instance, did you know that student
researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a wearable computer that
can help prevent injuries in sled dogs and other dogs
who do different types of physical activity.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
You know, I never really thought of that as a problem,
but I guess it makes sense. I mean, pulling a
sled is probably hard.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Work, makes a lot of sense when you think about
athletes and others. The dogs are doing the same kind
of thing, so orthopedic injuries are actually very common, and
dogs that are doing certain types of work like this
and these things can cause permanent damage and forced dogs
to drop out of these long haul races like the Iditarod.
Usually mushers have to rely on visual observation to tele
(01:21):
if a dog is starting to suffer. But these days,
commercial canine exercise monitors like the fit bark, which is
a thing, can actually track basic activity, but you don't
get detailed information about gait characteristics. So the folks that
Georgia Tech created a smart harness, and what it does
is it sends this alert to the dog's human when
it detects gate changes, like if the dog is starting
(01:43):
to favor one side just the tiniest bit, it starts
to detect this and then the musher can give the
puppet break or you know, seek veterinary care.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
That is amazing. I also love that they've got like
a monitor called fit bark. Me too, Me too, I'm
a fan. Does this new harness have an in I.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Was hoping you would ask this question, Mango. It's called
the Wearable Activity and Gate Detection Monitor. Now you might
think that sounds boring, but if you make it the
acronym wagged pretty good.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
There is so dog science and dog science puns. I
love this episode already, so let's get to it.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm
Will Pearson and as always, I'm here with my good
friend mangesh Hot ticket there and over there, sitting in
a literal pile of puppies. And I thought this was
going to be at Mango, But there's a combination of
work that's been done here from our good friend and
producer Dylan Fagan. You know he likes to knit, right,
(02:58):
he has knitted weds for each one of these nine dogs,
and they say fact number one, Fact number two, Fact
number three. He's named the dogs this, so I think
what's gonna happen. I'm predicting he's gonna hold up a
different dog each time we hit one of our nine
facts here. But that is pretty no idea where these
puppies came from. But if you hear barking in the background,
(03:20):
that's what's going on.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, speaking of barking, that's obviously how dogs communicate, right,
So to some extent it's okay or even helpful, like
if your dog barks to alert you to a package
being delivered at the door or something like that. But
obviously with some dogs, like an old office dog, we
had it can get out of control.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It was a nightmare. And my dog now, who is
named Paul, as you know, very creative name. Paul, loses
his mind anytime someone comes within fifty feet of the house.
And we're we have tried the training. We're obviously really
bad at it. It's quite frustrating, but we.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Still love him too. Can't help it. Well. Ve's actually
called this extra barking nuisance barking. And you might have
heard about these callers that deliver mild shocks when a
dog starts barking. But animal welfare experts, as you might
have guessed, say these are not good for dogs. And
it's not just about the physical discomfort causes. It can
(04:18):
also exacerbate things like anxiety. It can make the dogs
more loud or aggressive over time. Then obviously you want
to avoid that. So there is a technology that can help.
It's called a calming collar.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
A calming collar that actually sounds like something I could
use on long days. I don't know if they make
these for humans yet, but we should look into that.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like we all could. But
the way it works is these callers are infused with
DAP or dog appeasing pheromones. This is a synthetic version
of the pheromone mama dogs give off when they're nursing
puppies early in their life and even in adulthood, dogs
associated with a sense of well being. It is completely
undetectable to humans, so you or I we wouldn't smell anything,
(05:00):
but your dog will pick up on it right away.
And studies have shown that DAP can help dogs calm
down when they're agitated, and it can make them quiet
down as well. Most dogs do respond to it, a
few don't, but since common callers don't have any negative impact,
they really might be worth a try. That's super interesting.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
It actually ties in nicely with one of the most
fascinating facts I've found while I was researching this topic.
So it turns out that dogs can experience quote emotional
contagion from the smell of human stress, which is super
interesting that this can happen. And this is a study
that came out just last year from the University of Bristol.
So researchers taught a group of pet dogs that a
(05:39):
bowl in one location contained a treat and a bowl
placed in a different spot was empty. So pretty soon
the dogs would just run straight to the treat location,
no surprise there. Then the researchers added a bowl in
between the two points, and if a dog went for
the new bowl quickly, that was considered an optimistic choice
and the dog believed that there would be a treat.
(06:00):
So if the dog hesitated, that was considered a sign
of pessimism, like the dog was thinking, well, just my luck,
there probably won't be a treat in there, you know
that that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
That's really interesting. So how did they figure out that
human stress affects this behavior?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
All?
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So they made the dog owners take a math test
and collected sweat and breath samples while they were doing it.
This sounds like torture. This was considered stressful. I guess
none of these people were mathematicians or something like that.
Then they had the humans listen to relaxing soundscapes and
collected samples again, and the dogs exposed to the stress
sense were slow to approach the unfamiliar bowl, but the
(06:37):
relaxed sense didn't affect them in the same way like.
The researchers hypothesized that the scent of human stress conferred
a negative emotional state on the dogs. And they were
trying to avoid the disappointment of confronting an empty treat bowl.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Isn't that interesting? That is really not so. I mean,
a math test is almost the most surprising thing. Yeah,
but it's great. So if you need to learn how
to relax and manager stress for Paul's sake, well maybe
you and Paul could start going to the gym together
as a stress reliever. That's not gonna happen. But do
you ever run with the Uh?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
No, Paul's pretty good at walking, but Paul's Paul's a
pretty chill dog. I don't think he wants to. I
don't think he wants When he runs, he's running much
faster than me. Then that happens in quick spurts.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Got it. So these days dogs aren't just getting exercised
by going for walks and fetching sticks. They're actually doing
strength training. And it turns out the science is pretty
much the same as it is for humans. Like cardio
is fine, but to stay healthy as we age, we
need to maintain muscle mass. And if you're trying to
rehab an injury, building strength and stability is super important.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
You know, It's funny this gave Dylan an idea, because
now he's holding up a sign that he's drawn. It's
picture of dogs pumping iron and matching tracksuits. I think
you gave him some idea.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Station Well, I can't wait for the fully knit tracksuits
next season. But instead of track suits, you might want
to consider getting your pup a weighted dog vest to
make a romp in the park much more strenuous. So
these buckle onto the dog's back and have pockets that
owners fill with different weights of different sizes, and you
shouldn't exceed ten to twenty percent of your dog's total weight,
(08:16):
like you want to do less than that, and it's
only safe to do with fully grown adult dogs. But
this almost like mimics the exercise pattern of rucking that
people are doing today. But some people actually also teach
their dogs to do weight pulling exercises, and these involve
a long harness that you attached to a heavy object,
like a gallon of water, and you kind of let
(08:37):
the dog drag it around. Or if pilates is more
your dog speed, you can pick up specialized canine resistance
bands that emphasize proper leg and foot alignment.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
God, that's such a funny image there is.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
A company called an Emotion that makes these, and the
way it works is the resistant band clips to a
harness at the dog's shoulders and then it has cuffs
that slip over the hind feet, so they're hind legs
get a real workout as they walk. These bands are
actually designed as therapeutic tools for dogs with certain illnesses
and injuries, but they're also helpful for overweight dogs who
(09:09):
just kind of need to get back in shape.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
That is amazing, and the fact that these dogs are
doing more sophisticated workouts.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Than we're doing is pretty wild. All right.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, if we're talking about weight training, you know, we
have to talk about protein, right, If we're going to
get jackamanga, we got to talk about protein. And you
might think dogs are carnivores, right, like you would assume that, right,
But apparently this is a common misperception. It stems from
the fact that dogs came into our lives as domesticated wolves.
And wolves aren't just carnivores, they're obligate carnivores, and that
(09:39):
means that their bodies are meant to run purely on
animal protein. They can't get what they need from plants.
But dogs are actually different. Their genetics diverged from wolves
about twenty to forty thousand years ago, so it's not
the same thing. And why did that happen Exactly, It's
all because of us. So when dogs began living in
close proximity to hear humans, they began eating our leftovers,
(10:03):
and so over time their bodies adapted to a more
diverse diet.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Today, dogs are really omnivores.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
In fact, whole grains, vegetables, and fiber can help balance
their gi systems and avoid those messy poop situations. But
if your dog wants to get swoll, like I know
your dog probably does, or if he's recovering from illness
or an injury, then yes, science has invented doggie protein
supplements and this is just fantastic. And so they come
(10:30):
in different forms like powders, tablets, treats, and many of
them are made with the same core ingredients you'll find
than protein powders for humans. This does not mean you
should share your morning protein shake with your dog, though.
Our protein powders are full of flavorings and additives and
this can actually be quite dangerous for dogs.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
That's a good tip, So no athletic greens for spots. No,
no athletic greens. I actually thought you were going to say,
like you should give your dog creative right. So this
is a really inspiring story that I love, dogs like humans,
can suffer hearing loss and that can have a serious
impact on their quality of life. So back in the
nineteen eighties, an audiologist named Curtis Smith took his dog
(11:11):
to the vet for a checkup, and while he was there,
he asked if the vet ever saw dogs with hearing problems,
just kind of out of professional curiosity, right, And the
vet said yes, but you know, there's nothing you could
do to treat hearing loss and dogs. So Smith actually
decides to take this as a challenge, and after a
few tries, he modifies a human hearing aid to fit
(11:33):
dog's ears, and today an Animal Hearing and Bioacoustics Laboratory
at the University of Cincinnati has actually become the center
of canine audiology treatment. Is that amazing? I love that
it is the only place in the world where people
can get certified as animal audiologists and the only clinic
that does complete hearing assessments and hearing aid fittings for dogs.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
You know, one of the things I love most about
the research that the team does and that we do
as we think about these episodes, is you find these
universities and colleges and places just all around the country,
and it feels like each one has its own super
unique specialty, Like I wouldn't have ever thought about a
premier place for this specialty to exist, But University of Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
And are they still using modified human hearing aids? Yeah,
for now they are, which means they're actually pretty pricey.
They can cost as much as three thousand dollars and
it is not an overnight fix. You kind of need
these tests to check your dog's cock clear function because
dogs have to have a certain level of remaining hearing
in order to be able to use these hearing aids.
(12:37):
But if your dog is a good candidate, the next
step is making molds of their ears, and finally you
have to get the aids custom fitted and tuned, and
from there it could take a while for your dog
to adjust. But you know, the team in Cincinnati is
working on developing a more affordable hearing aid designed specifically
for dogs, and if all of this goes well, that'll
make canine hearing loss treatment, A lot more are accessible.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Aren't you curious what this doggy hearing lab is called?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Oh? I wasn't thinking about that, but yes, I want
to know.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Now what is it called. It is called the Facility
for Education and Testing of Canine Hearing and Laboratory for
Animal Bioacoustics.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I was trying to keep up with that latch last
fetch las Okay, I knew.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It had to be an acronym. That's pretty great.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Well, wordplay is clearly an important part of dog science here.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
But you know, hearing aids for dogs are.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Cool, But you know what else is cool? Mango lasers.
Lasers are also cool. And laser therapy isn't an emerging
treatment for several common canine conditions, including joint paint, ligament strains,
wound healing, even things like skin lesions that are caused
by repetitive licking, which I think we've all had dogs
that were guilty of that, and it's not super common
(13:49):
and more studies are needed, but there's been some promising
research that's showing that it can reduce pain and dogs
with arthritis, and unlike oral medications or inject it's an
easy treatment to give.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
The dog just has to lie there while it gets zapped.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So it's a super easy way to try to treat.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
This and it's not painful.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
This is a low level or cold laser therapy as
they call it, meaning it's not high powered kind of
laser treatment that can destroy tissue. However, any type of
laser treatment can damage vision if you're not careful with this.
So if you look up pictures of dogs getting laser therapy,
which I urge you to do this, you'll see that
they're all wearing goggles or sunglasses, which is pretty terrific
(14:32):
and adorable at the same time.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, I feel like extra cute medical treatments make it
easier to send your dog to medical treatments. That's right.
So how does all of this actually help them?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Well, it's kind of complicated, but the short version of
it is it's believed that the healing effects of the
laser happen because it causes lymphatic vessels to expand, which
helps reduce tissue swelling. It also decreases the release of
chemicals that cause inflamma and increases blood flow to the
lasered area, which can promote the healing. Now, it usually
(15:05):
takes multiple treatments to have an effect, but for dogs,
each session can be as short as you like, fifteen
minutes or so.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
That's really interesting. So I see Dylan is holding up
a puppy with fact number eight on it. But Dylan,
you're gonna have to keep holding that because we've got
an ad break. We've got to take move back right
after this message, Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where
(15:38):
we're counting down nine facts about modern dog science. You know, well,
before we talk about this, I did want to say
I found an article today and this isn't modern dog science,
but it's amazing how much research is out there about dogs.
And one of the papers that I guess came out
somewhat recently is about a list of medieval English dog names.
(16:03):
That's pretty great. It's amazing. It's everything from Charlemage the
dog to find well Plotter, Achilles, Geester, best of all
with B Steve because it's felled in older English. Pretty boy,
there's all one word with a pr e t I
boy and have good day was Apparently Kelly Paul is
(16:23):
not on that list, unfortunately. That's pretty great. So I
am amazed at how much research is going into keeping
dogs healthy and treating their illnesses. You know, I feel
like we grew up as dog lovers, but it's amazing
how people have become even more obsessive over time and
then really treat dogs like family.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
I think it just speaks to the importance of dogs
in our life, how they become like family members. I mean,
as you know, our daughter's off at college and when
she calls to check in, the first thing she wants
to do is get on FaceTime with Paul. Of course,
Paul has no idea what's going on. I mean, hears
her voice and everything, and then when she gets home,
she can't wait.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
To see Paul first.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
But it's it really is amazing, like they do become,
as you said, part of the family.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
That's incredible. So, you know, one of the hardest things
about having a dog or any pet really is knowing
that they'll eventually pass away. And I found this amazing
New York Times article about dog longevity, and there's a
quote from a dog owner that, you know, just feels
pretty poignant. She said, when you adopt a dog, you're
adopting future heartbreak. But there is a new drug that
(17:28):
may be able to extend dogs lives now. Of course,
you can't make your dog immortal, and this isn't a
product that's on the market yet, but it is being
developed by a biotech company called Loyal and it's still
in the clinical study phase, but Loyle says they've completed
pre clinical trials and a pilot study and they expect
to get FDA conditional approval later this year. The drug
(17:51):
is so new it doesn't even have a real name yet.
It's just known by the identifier lois res or two.
It's a daily pill for senior dogs and according to Loyle,
it targets metabolic processes that break down over time, and
this kind of metabolic dysfunction can drive a lot of
the ailments we associate with aging, things like coronary artery
(18:12):
disease or arthritis, or you know, even cancer or cognitive decline.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, I mean, all pretty complicated stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah it is, but the effects of metabolic aging are
pretty familiar now. Aging dogs tend to lose muscle and
gain fat, especially around their organs. They can develop insulin resistance,
which is less likely to lead to doggy diabetes than
in humans, but it still has negative health effects, And
of course you can alleviate some of this by making
(18:40):
sure your dog eats healthy and gets plenty of exercise.
But Loyal's drug actually inhibits a growth hormone. It's called
igf one, and this hormone is linked to aging, and
by reducing the impact of that hormone, loyl actually says
that you can slow down the progression of metabolic dysfunction.
Apparently levels of this hormone by size, so Loyal is
(19:01):
working on different versions of the drug for very large dogs.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Well, you mentioned large dogs, and we've always heard that
large dogs don't live as long as small dogs, and
I feel like we've just seen that anecdotally.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
But is this related to that, Yeah, exactly. So larger
breeds tend to have very high levels of IGF one,
up to twenty eight times higher than small dogs. But
on average, a really big dog like a Great Dane,
only lives about seven or ten years, but a tiny
Chihuahua lives fourteen to sixteen years on average, And so
(19:33):
Loyal says it's drug could increase dogs' lifespans by at
least a year, and more importantly, it prolongs healthy life,
so you don't just get more time with your dog.
Your dog gets more quality time and good health.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
That is amazing, and you have to wonder, like if
there are implications for human health here too. You know,
it's a perfect lead than to our final fact of
the day. Hold it up, Dylan, all right, last back
number nine. A roomatology professor at Yale School of Medicine
has developed a cancer vaccine for dogs. His name is
doctor Mark Mamula, and he spent years studying autoimmune diseases
(20:08):
like lupus, where the immune system attacks the body's own tissues,
and eventually he shifted this expertise into cancer research, and
there's been a ton of interest in Immunotherapy is a
cancer treatment, as you well know, and the idea is
that certain drugs can stimulate the immune system to attack
these cancer cells.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Yeah, I've definitely heard about that and it's fascinating. But
how do dogs get involved in all of this?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
So in twenty fifteen, Mamula met a veterinary oncologist named
Gary Post at a party and they start talking about
cancer and animals. You know, when you're a party and
you want to talk about uplifting things like cancer and animals.
But apparently one in four dogs will get cancer at
some point in their lives. So Mamula had a first
hand experience of this his own dog had tragically died
(20:53):
from cancer, and in their conversation, he and Post realize
that human and canine cancers are actually very similar in
terms of how they behave, but there are way more
treatment options, obviously for humans.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
So they decided to come up with something for dogs
that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And they call it an immunotherapeutic vaccine because remember it's
stimulating an immune response, but it's given as a treatment
after a dog has been diagnosed with cancer. And what
it does it tells the immune cells to crank out
antibodies that attack two specific proteins that help cancerous tumors grow. So,
according to Mammula, it's more effective than many existing treatments
(21:32):
because it generates this polyclonal response. In other words, it
gets multiple types of immune cells involved in antibody production,
not just one type, and that makes it harder for
the cancer cells to develop resistance. And still in the
clinical trial phase, but so far over three hundred dogs
have been treated, and for some types of cancer, the
(21:53):
twelve month survival rate has gone from thirty five percent
to sixty percent, so obviously showing promising results.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
This could be a major breakthrough. That's so amazing. I
know you probably have a lot of holiday parties to
go to. How many diseases are can occur?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, it's a fair question, a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
So I mean I am curious though, like if human
and dog cancers are similar, Like, could this actually improve
immunotherapy options for people as well?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, it's certainly possible, But for right now, Mammulas says
he's happy to focus on people's best friends.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Well, I think for sharing that amazing fact and the
fact that you actually have a dog and I don't
have a dog, this one goes out to you and Paul.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
I was predicting you might go that way just for
that reason. Well, on behalf of Paul, all of Paul's barking,
and all of the people who've tried to deliver packages
at our house.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I will accept this award. Well, that is it for
today's episode. As you may have guessed, we're animal lovers
here at PTG, so you can always always tag us
in your pet posts. I don't know if you know this,
but Will and I and our colleague Jason previously had
started a weird at mental floss called poppies wearing hats
eating bacon sharing fat.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yes, puppy's wearing hats heed bacon sharing facts.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
So if you want to share any of your puppy
photos with us, we would love to see him. But
if you like our show, please rate and review us online.
You can find us at part Time Genius on Instagram
and from Gabe, Dylan, Mary, Will and myself. Thank you
so much for listening. We'll be back with new episodes
very very soon. Part Time Genius is a production of
(23:40):
Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. This show is hosted by Will Pearson
and Me Mongas Chatikler and research by our good pal
Mary Philip Sandy. Today's episode was engineered and produced by
the wonderful Dylan Fagan with support from Tyler Klang. The
show is executive produced for iHeart by Katrina Norvel and
Al Perry, with social media support from Sasha Gay, trustee
(24:03):
Dara Potts and Viney Shorey. For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
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