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THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 😴 Chill music for your dog is making millions 💰

• They like to sniff butts and they cannot lie 🐕👃

• Is your dog better off without you? 😭

 😴 CHILL MUSIC FOR YOUR DOG IS MAKING MILLIONS 💰

White noise machines, sound therapy, mediation music — these have been all the rage for humans when it comes to relaxing, sleeping, and decompressing.

But what about our dogs?

Well, you may not believe it, but it turns out that dog owner’s demand for soothing sounds tailor-made for fido is on the rise. 📈

The peculiar world of dog relaxation videos

Dog relaxation videos have taken YouTube by storm, offering an unusual yet intriguing solution for calming anxious canines. The discovery of this whimsical corner of the internet has led to an exploration of the potential benefits of these videos.

Relax My Dog, a prominent channel in this niche, claims to combine soothing music with "sound sweep technology" to hold a dog's attention, akin to a dog whistle.

This enterprise extends beyond YouTube, with their content available on various streaming platforms, including Spotify​.

The company's founder, Amman Ahmed, admits that the science behind the music is influenced more by customer feedback than scientific research, and aims to calm humans, who can subsequently project calmness onto their dogs​.

Despite the lack of hard scientific evidence, anecdotal evidence suggests these relaxation videos might be effective.

On a personal level, we’ve left music on for our dogs when leaving the house in hopes of drowning out external noises and keeping them mellow.

Relax My Dog even boasts an 87% approval rating from users, offering a compelling testament to its success​.

However, it's crucial to approach this topic with a critical eye.

The company's formula is based on 11 years of customer feedback, yet the specifics are withheld as proprietary information. This lack of transparency might raise eyebrows among skeptics.

Whether or not the science behind these videos is robust, they provide a tranquil respite from our hectic daily lives.

They serve as a testament to the creativity and innovation that emerges in response to a seemingly simple problem: keeping our dogs calm.

The key takeaway here is the validation of lived experiences and user satisfaction over definitive scientific proof​. In the end, if it brings about a zen moment for you and your pet amidst the chaos, why not give it a try?

And as they say, the numbers don’t lie…

THEY LIKE TO SNIFF BUTTS AND THEY CANNOT LIE 🐕👃

Alright, let's hit 'paws' on the giggles and clear the air of all those cheeky sniffing puns, shall we?

We may be venturing into territory that's more 'ruff' than refined, but hey, let's put on our grown-up collars for this one. 🤣

Many people think of butt-sniffing among dogs as a type of greeting, but it's so much more than that.

Through sniffing, dogs are able to learn things about each other. Every animal has his or her own unique scent. This includes:

• Humans 🧑

• Dogs 🐶

• Cats 🐱

• And all other animals 🦊 🦁 🐷

We mere humans can only vaguely detect a personal scent, but our dogs can tell a whole plethora of things from their sniffers alone —

• Gender

• Reproductive status

• Diet

• Health status

• Temperament, and more (remember, humans have 5 million olfactory receptors and dogs have 220 million 🤯).

And where are these scents most potent?

You guessed it…

Around the genitals and butt 🍑 (the location of the anal sacs, which collect odorous fluid).

A dog can also remember scents and therefore determine whether or not they have met this particular dog before.

One question we’ve heard is whether it’s a good idea, or not to let this behavior happen between dogs that don’t know each other?

Our opinion is if they are well socialized and healthy, letting them get to know another dog is a huge part of their social behavior and should be encouraged (under your watchful eye 👁️ of course).

Funny enough, this is exactly why you often get a dog nose directly to the groin. They are trying to learn more about you!

People make small talk at dinner parties. Dogs sniff one another's butts. It's normal behavior.

IS YOUR DOG BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU? 😭

Are dogs better off with humans, or without?

It's an interesting question 🤔, and an interesting thought experiment to imagine if poof, humans disappeared from the planet.

We here at Dogonomist firmly believe that not only are dogs our besties but we are theirs. Having said that, you can't avoid the fact that many dogs are mistreated, neglected, and unfortunately harmed by people.

So off we went, trying to play devil's advocate and think through what would be the impacts to our canine colleagues if we vanished.

To help us, we read through some notes from A Dog's World by Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff. In which the authors use biological, ethological (we had to look this one up), and ecological research to speculate on the pros and cons of this hypothetical situation.

Learnings From the Book

The "average" dog

One of the first things that stood out, is the authors remind us that the majority of dogs do not live in human households currently. Frankly that surprised us, but according to World Atlas, the WHO estimates that 75%-85% of dogs are "free range".

This means that if we are thinking "oh, there's no way my Buster would survive without his kibble,” you aren't thinking about the average dog.

Different outcomes for different breeds

The authors believe that the 1st generation post people would have the toughest time, and we would start to see certain breeds disappear.

Most likely smaller breeds, those with shortened snouts, and larger breeds that are more likely to develop hip dysplaysia. The current street dog would likely become the common looking dog, with a mixed appearance and weight between 30-60lbs.

No, they won't go back to being wolves

This was what we imagined. We disappear and over time, dogs revert back to basically being wolves. But the author's firm stance is that evolution wouldn't go backwards, and you would instead have two distinct species that while similar, would be clearly different.

The long term outlook

While things would be difficult in the short term, the book believes that long term the population would thrive as they adapted. They point out all the ways we currently don't allow dogs to be themselves:

• Reproduction

• Pack separation

• Controlling certain behaviors

• Barking

And while the largest hurdle to overcome would be food, they believe that dogs would learn to scavenge and eat what was available.

So think about it, how would your dog do on their own?

You know what, don't think about it. It's not going to happen and we've decided to end this thought experiment because we don't like thinking about a world without our dogs!

We're sorry for bringing it up.

KIBBLE BITS:

Every week we love to shoutout a pooch that has made another trip around the sun.

Happy 8th Birthday 🎂 to Samson the boxer, you look like you were born yesterday! 🥰

That's all there is to bark about this week.

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@dogonomist).