2017 is off to a great start in dog news we reveal in the first Scoop of the year that dogs can in fact laugh, we meet the pups with golden paws and share some good news about Carrie Fisher’s Frenchie.
Meet the pups with golden paws
We’ve all heard of the Superbowl; even if you’re not a regular follower of American Football it’s almost impossible to miss the social media flurry of excitement that surrounds the half-time show, which has featured superstars such as Beyonce, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, and even Prince.
Well, the superstars are about to be outshone. Because there’s another coinciding event that you might not have heard of yet, but is approximately a million times cuter.
The Puppy Bowl is an annual football game played by (drumroll…) puppies, and if that doesn’t fill your heart with pure, pure joy at the sheer prospect, then this will make you bubble over. All of the 78 pups who play in the game are available for adoption, selected from shelters in the US. The game even has commentators and a referee! If there’s one sporting date you put in your calendar, it’s 5th February!
Meet the pup players here.
Who’s laughing now?
Arguably, the greatest news here is that there’s a whole area of science dedicated to the study of whether or not dogs can laugh. It’s called canine gelotology and it’s been around for years.
While dogs may not actually make the same sounds usually associated with human laughter, scientists having been trying to decode canine behaviour to better understand our furry companions. It turns out that dogs do, in fact, make audible sounds while enjoying play and games. When dogs play, they often breathe heavily through their mouths – even when they haven’t been running hard, so it’s not quite the same noise as panting.
If you’re yet not convinced, the real breakthrough in these studies actually came several years ago. Researcher Patricia Simonet discovered that dogs can communicate to each other through these sounds. Simonet played recordings of ‘dog’s laughter’ to shelter dogs and surprisingly, the pups ceased showing signs of anxious behaviour and some even began to ‘laugh’ and play themselves. Who’s laughing now? Dogs, that’s who.
Gary Fisher finds a new home
One of the saddest news stories over the Christmas break was Carrie Fisher’s untimely and tragic death. 2016 was a simply horrible year for losing celebrities, and Christmas offered little respite.
Something we noticed as the social media storm around Carrie Fisher’s life and tributes to her published is that she often had her French Bulldog, Gary, with her at many of her public appearances, including TV interviews and out on the red carpet.
We were relieved to hear that Gary the Frenchie has a loving home to go to, with Carrie’s daughter Billie. It seems that a love for Frenchies runs in the Fisher family – Billie is already the proud mum of Tina. We’re sure they’ll have plenty of fun together; apparently, the two pooches are already the best of friends.
Gary the Frenchie was making headlines this past week due to a spot of media confusion all because of an unofficial Twitter account called Gary the Dog. In the aftermath of Carrie Fisher’s tragic death, several people were asking who was behind this Twitter account. The owner of the account revealed that they were simply a loving fan, helping to share the doggy Fisher love. If you want to see more of what Gary Fisher has been up to, head over to his ‘official’ Instagram page.