Happy Monday everyone! This week has to be easier as it is the second full week of work after the holidays, right?
To give you a little pick me up here is an adorable red panda:
(Waldie/Getty Images)
Utilize this boost of cuteness to get your day going!
– Fizz
Wolves have always fascinated the human, something about them being so much like domestic dog yet still wild and free. I hope that you enjoy this photo as much as the human does!
(Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)
Such a cute shot of a moment we would not usually get to see.
– Fizz
At the national zoo the animals are enjoying the snow!
Where the human lives the snow has taken over for the time being, and staying home is the best remedy for the cold and dangerous roads. Take a look at these animals having more fun than my human is!
Pandas Mei Xiang and 16 month old cub Bao Bao:
(Devin Murphy/Smithsonian National Zoo)
(Devin Murphy/Smithsonian National Zoo)
Bao Bao enjoying the trees:
(Devin Murphy/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)
African Lions
(Amy Enchelmeyer/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)
(Amy Enchelmeyer/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)
I would not have expected Afrcan Lions to appreciate snow! But I suppose they would get used to it living at the National Zoo where it is a fact of life in the winter.
The regal beauty of Sumatran Tiger Sukacita enjoying a walk in the snow:
(Amy Enchelmeyer/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)
Rona the Grey Seal with a face full of snow:
(Chelsea Grubb/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)
Hope you are all enjoying sunshine, staying warm, or are having this much winter fun!
-Fizz
See more photos at CBS Washington DC.
CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, presents all sorts of new technology gadgets to the world like new tvs, self driving cars, and devices that can turn the camera on your phone into an instant camera. This year your dog is not left out of the fun! Motorola showed off a new smart collar, a dog wearable device that allows you to track your dog’s location, exercise, and even talk to them.
(Motorola)
The collar comes in two sizes, the larger version is called the Scout 5000 and will retail for $199. The device features a GPS to see where your dog is, a 720p video camera which sends the video of what your pet is seeing to your smart phone, and WiFi connectivity to enable all this and more. There is a built in speaker which allows you to speak to your dog, essentially to issue verbal commands like stop or come or maybe to just sooth your pet. The collar can tell if your dog is barking too much/frequently. It can also be used like an invisible fence, setting up a boundary so the collar emits a high pitch noise when the dog attempts to leave the area. Finally, the device tracks your dog’s movement and weight for you to make sure your pet is getting enough exercise.
Rose Gold Scout 5000
(Reviewed.com)
The device seems well built, but looks a little too large on your dog’s neck. It can withstand water, chewing, and your dog’s attempts to use his paws to get if off. It comes in multiple color choices.
You will need to get the Hubble app to interface with the collar’s video features, which also requires a service plan. A one year 3G plan is included with the collar when first purchased, but that cost needs to be considered when using the collar for more than one year.
Orange Scout 5000
(Reviewed.com)
The 5000 is too large and cumbersome for smaller dogs, so Motorola also has the Scout 2500 which is made to fit smaller necks. The 2500’s size does not allow for a camera but it will still do everything else. This version only costs $99.
Orange Scout 2500
(Reviewed.com)
So, does your dog need a wearable device too? I can see the appeal for dogs who are escape artists, or who are left alone for long periods of time. However, at this price point (especially with a service plan) and with such a bulky design there might be other video or monitoring devices that better suit your needs. It would be mildly interesting to see the world as your dog sees it, to see what your dog is up to while you are away, or to know if your dog is barking too much while you are at work. Or if your dog is super active to see exactly how that affects them, or what activities they get the most exercise out of. I guess that is also useful if you have a dog you are trying to make lose weight. I was also unable to find out how the device is charged or how long the batteries last, both important points to consider if you really do want this device to help find a pet that has wandered from home.
-Fizz
Sources:
A dog’s life: “Smart collar” helps you keep tabs on Fido via video Today.com
Scout 5000 is a Cutting-Edge Wearable — for Your Dog Wearables.reviews.com
Sometimes people on the internet can come together to make wonderful things happen. Photo Doggies for Anthony is a Facebook event on which people around the world can post pictures of their dogs to cheer up a teen named Anthony who has cancer and cannot be with his own pets while undergoing chemotherapy. The instagram link is here: photo.doggies.for.Anthony. Pet pictures have been posted from all over the world, of all kinds of pets, along with words of encouragement. More than 500,000 photos have been shared!
If you have a photo of your dog, or can take one, please consider sharing it on the event or instagram to help Anthony smile!
Here are a couple photos shared:
(facebook)
(facebook)
But as wonderful as the internet can be, it is also a terrible place. The above links are to a new event because the original event had to be taken down. Someone was overly negative, I do not know if that means the boy’s mom took it down for the sake of sparing her child or if that person reported the event to facebook so the bots behind the scenes automatically took it down. People can be sick, and I hope that this event continues to help this boy or anyone else who needs a pick me up.
(facebook)
Anthony is 16 and has lymphoblastic leukemia, he has to undergo chemotherapy once a month. He was first diagnosed in July, and the leukemia is treatable, but he will have to go through chemo for the next three years. During this time he cannot be around his three dogs. He deals with depression during his treatments, and his mom said the only time he really seems happy at the hospital is when he is visited by a therapy dog. Since the therapy dogs cannot be there everyday, Anthony’s mom created the Facebook event so he can look at dog pictures whenever he likes to bring him joy.
(facebook)
Anthony and his family are truly surprised and amazed by the outpouring of pictures and well wishes. His mom has been trying to go through all the pictures and comment on them or like them, she is quoted: “I just want to thank everyone I haven’t gotten to yet, I hope I’m able to get to all of them,” she said. “Every single one has made us smile.”
Take a moment to post those photos! You can do so here or here.
– Fizz
Original story with more quotes and information found here.
Happy New Year! May all our readers have a year filled with joy, growth, and furry friends!
I was kind enough to sport a makeshift party hat for some New Years cheer:
The human said that penguins were fun and match my fur colors. I am not certain they embody the idea of celebrating a new year, but humans think in funny ways sometimes. The hat is simply a Santa hat with tinfoil on the outside. Took the human two seconds and I only wore it while I ate my carrot, so the minimal effort on her part was justified.
Happy 2015 everyone!
– Fizz
The staff at FT wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!
Once again the staff had photos taken for a Christmas card, below are the results:
Santa Scene
Chewy is Mrs. Claus, TaunTaun is Santa in the sleigh, and Fizz is the Reindeer.
Fizz as a Reindeer
The staffers were kind enough to wear their hats for about a minute while the human took lots of shots. The Santa hat, Mrs. Claus costume, and antlers are from Petsmart. The harness the human made from felt and yarn, and it just sat on Fizz’s back. The background was added in Photoshop. The Santa scene is a composite of two different shots – one good one of the interns and one good one of Fizz. The human made an attempt to get the whole group together for a single picture but that was quite ambitious, and she still had to put two different shots together.
Here was the set up:
We hope that you have a Merry Christmas!
– Fizz and the Interns
Hope everyone is having a great Christmas Eve! Maybe you will see Santa with his reindeer flying through the sky.
If you are not that lucky here are a couple baby reindeer:
(source)
So fluffy and sweet looking.
– Fizz
3D printing is an amazing technology which is now helping one dog to run.
Meet Derby, a husky mix born with deformation in both his front legs making it impossible for him to walk or run normally:
Here he is wearing his new prosthetic paws:
Derby could get around by himself on soft surfaces inside, but not on super hard surfaces or outside very easily. A dog wheelchair of sorts works but is not the best solution. The set of 3D printed prosthetic paws were designed especially for Derby to fit his legs. The curved design came out of the worry that something more pointed might get stuck in soft ground. Working with 3D design software allows easier building of multiple prosthetic designs and iterations to find what works without having to hand make a new set each time. These were printed by 3D Systems, a 3D printing company.
Derby is doing wonderfully! Here is a video all about the process and it even shows him running!
This is a unique solution for this dog. One which proves the vast possibilities new technology can provide animals and humans. 3D printing will be able to help other animals in need of more personal solutions like Derby.
– Fizz
You can read more at Engadget.
While there is no database of most popular guinea pig names the human made me look into the most popular puppy names of 2014, because someone keeps track of that. I guess it is interesting. Maybe there are some correlations between popular puppy and guinea pig names?
Vetstreet.com analyzed its database of puppy names for dogs born January 1st 2014 and beyond that were entered into their website to come up with a list of the most popular names. This could be surprisingly comprehensive, especially if you have run into lots of young dogs with these names this year, and is based on 969,517 dogs. That is a large cross section of puppies!
(source)
Most popular female dog names:
1. Bella
2. Daisy
3. Lucy
4. Sadie
5. Molly
6. Lola
7. Sophie
8. Zoey
9. Luna
10. Chloe
Interestingly, since the site started to share this analysis publicly in 2011 Daisy and Lucy have retained the same spots as #2 and #3. Coincidence? Maybe. My human says other humans can be easily influenced. I also just think these names are very pretty. They are also short and easy to yell. Bella, the most popular name on the other hand, has held this spot since 2006 probably due to the 2005 release of the first Twilight book with its main character Bella Swan.
(source)
Most popular male dog names:
1. Max
2. Charlie
3. Rocky
4. Buddy
5. Cooper
6. Duke
7. Bear
8. Zeus
9. Bentley
10. Toby
Max has been the most popular male name for 9 years. Buddy has changed spots a few times, being number one from 2004 – 2005, then #2 for 8 years, and is now #4. I enjoy how the male names tend to vary a bit more than the female names which seem to correlate with popular human baby names.
(source)
Just for fun, the human wanted me to also look at the top human baby names of 2014 (from babycenter.com):
(tehcute)
Top baby girl names:
1. Sophia
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Isabella
6. Mia
7. Zoe
8. Lily
9. Emily
10. Madelyn
Focusing on the puppy list – but comparing between humans and dogs – both share Bella, Sophia, and Zoe (with differences in spelling and long vs. short form) somewhere in the top 10. Lucy (while #3 for puppies) is #54 on the list of baby girl names, Sadie (#4) is #62, and Chloe (#10) just missed the top 10 being #12. Molly (#5), Lola (#6), and Luna (#9) did not make it into the top 100 girl names for 2014 so there are only rankings on each for 2013. Molly was #102, Lola #214, and Luna #185. But Molly and Luna rank higher in the babycenter specific population of babies than they do overall so there is a chance those names are increasing in popularity.
My human knows a Luna born this year. I guess the most popular female names work well for both dogs and people. The human prefers to make pet names unique, something she would never name her own human offspring. She says this is to make a clear distinction when calling out for an animal in a public place, and because she couldn’t a kid something she had already named one of her animals. Fair enough…
Male names on the other hand are vastly different between dogs and people.
Top male baby names in 2014:
1. Jackson
2. Aiden
3. Liam
4. Lucas
5. Noah
6. Mason
7. Ethan
8. Caden
9. Jacob
10. Logan
Comparing the two lists, none of the top puppy names are on the human list. Are there simply greater choices in boy names?
Max (#1 for male puppies) is #54 on the top 100 baby boy names. Charlie (#2) is #62 and Cooper (#5) is #73. Toby (#10) is #550 for 2013, with no information yet being avaialbe for 2014 because it didn’t make the top 100 names. Rocky (#3), Buddy (#4), and Bentley (#9) barely made the top 1000 names in 2013. If you search Buddy in the social security online (SSO) tool for baby name popularity it states that it has not broken into the top 1000 names in the 14 years of data they go through for social security cards issued. Searching Bentley on SSO on the other hand suggests the name was #81 in popularity from their data. Duke (#6) was somewhere in the 700s in 2013. Bear (#7) is not ranked at all. It would be an odd human name, a popular nick name but not an actual name. Zeus (#8) seems to be in use as a baby name but is not in the top 1000 names on babycenter or SSO.
Of course, there are plenty of unique and awesome names apart from the top 10 lists. Do any of your dogs share these names? Any of your other pets?
– Fizz
Sources:
Most Popular Puppy Names of 2014 – vetstreet.com
Most Popular Baby Names of 2014 – babycenter.com
Baby name search on babycenter.com
Popular Baby Names – Social Security Online
