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Duurstede? Grooming Products is pleased to announce the release of a remarkable new dog shampoo — Duurstede? Shampoo-SG. It was introduced at the All About Pets Show, April 6th to 8th at the International Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was the hottest selling product in Duurstede?’s impressive line of canine grooming aids. Duurstede? Shampoo-SG is currently in transit to DogStuff and should be available to US customers by the first week of May!

Duurstede? Shampoo-SG utilizes a "Second Generation" of highly effective yet gentle cleansers formulated to rehydrate a dog’s dry, over-stressed coat. Loaded with Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein and Hydrolyzed Whole Oats — known for their ability to help skin and coat maintain moisture balance and restore elasticity — it is ideal especially for puppies, and dogs with sensitive skin. Duurstede? Shampoo-SG’s unique ingredients produce a dense, rich lather that rinses easily, even from the most stubborn coats. Mentha Piperita (Oil of Peppermint), an aromatic stimulant, leaves the dog with a refreshing, clean scent.

When the new Duurstede? product was announced, W. R. (Bill) Van Wyck — the parent company’s president — said: "Duurstede’s? chemists scoured the world to find the 24 ingredients which they have combined to make this product unique. Dog owners will see an immediate improvement in their dogs’ coats when they use Duurstede? Shampoo-SG."

Duurstede? products are developed for a breeder/owner/handler to exceed the high standards for show dogs’ coats demanded by international judges. For 15 years, Duurstede? has been providing consistently superior coat and skin care for the family pet and the Best-in-Show Special. Utilizing research facilities in Europe and North America and unencumbered by a "price-point" mentality, Duurstede? has succeeded in creating exceptional products using materials of uncompromising quality. In fact, Duurstede? is so proud of their ingredients that they are listed on every container.

NATURE’s two-part special DOGS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD tells the epic story of the wolf’s evolution, how “man’s best friend” changed human society and we in turn have radically transformed dogs. Part one, “The Rise of the Dog,” premieres Sunday, April 22 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS. Part two, “Dogs by Design,” premieres Sunday, April 29 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings for both broadcasts).

From the tiniest Chihuahua to the powerful and massive English Mastiff, modern domesticated dogs come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes, with an equally diverse range of temperaments and behaviors. And yet, according to genetics, all dogs evolved from the savage and wild wolf-in a transformation that occurred just 15,000 years ago.

In THE RISE OF THE DOG, you’ll learn about how the domestication of dogs might have taken place, including the theory of biologist Raymond Coppinger that it was the animals themselves-and human trash-that inspired the transformation. The genetic analysis of Peter Savolainen of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden has placed the origins of domesticated dogs-and those of the first dog-in East Asia. You’ll also discover 14 dog breeds that controversial genetic studies show are the most ancient-and the best living representatives of the ancestors to all living dogs.

American humorist Mark Twain once said that it is not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, it is the size of the fight in the dog. Nevertheless, a team of U.S. geneticists says size does matter and has found the key to its extreme diversity in dogs.

Think of the difference between a Chihuahua and a Great Dane.

No other mammal has as great a range of sizes as the dog does. The researchers now understand the genetic basis for that variation, and explain it in the journal Science.

What they found is a piece of dog DNA that regulates the activity of a nearby growth gene called IGF-1. Study leader Elaine Ostrander of the U.S. government’s National Human Genome Research Institute near Washington says the researchers saw it first in Portuguese water dogs. Small members of the breed had one version of the gene and the large ones had a different one.

“That was interesting, but not shocking. What really blew our socks off is when we started looking at other breeds, we found that all the small breeds had the exact same genetic signature at IGF-1 as did the small Portuguese water dogs, and large dogs breeds had the same signatures as what we found in the large Portuguese water dogs,” he said.

Ostrander and her colleagues began researching dog size because it was the easiest genetically complex trait to measure. They have not determined the exact mutation in the regulatory DNA that influences the growth gene, but she says finding the DNA region is a model for how to track down the genetic causes of other complex, multi-gene traits.

“If we can figure out how to do this in morphology, we can probably figure out how to do it in behavior as well, and understanding the vocabulary of growth and development gives us entrée into understanding disease,” he said.

Another member of Ostrander’s group, University of Utah geneticist Gordon Lark, says the scientists are now studying autoimmune diseases in dogs - diseases where the immune system attacks the animal rather than protects it, such as arthritis or allergies. He says the work could eventually lead to discoveries about the genetic basis for complex human ailments.

“Dogs have about 200 to 300 diseases in common with humans and they share the same environment. So for a very complex disease such as cancer, they are an ideal animal to study. And now that the dog genome has been sequenced, it can be compared directly to the human genome,” he said.

David McAlary (Real Media)

Owners of fat dogs or cats could face prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act which comes into force tomorrow.

The Act, the biggest overhaul of animal welfare legislation for a century, creates a new offence of failing in the duty of care towards a captive animal.

Pet owners can for the first time be guilty of an offence before an act of cruelty has been committed, for example by overfeeding their pet.

The Act says a person responsible for an animal must provide it with a suitable diet, intake of water, environment and housing and ensure it can behave normally and is without pain or disease.

Behaving normally means that sociable animals, such as dogs and rabbits, must be provided with companionship, either of their own species or humans.

Maximum penalties for breach of the new rules include a ban on owning animals, fines of up to ?20,000 or up to 51 weeks in prison. The Act raises from 12 to 16 the minimum age for buying a pet and bans pets as prizes for under-16s.

The RSPCA said that its inspectors would give written advice to pet owners in the first instance in the case of an overweight dog. A date for a return visit would then be given. In the event of obvious neglect a warning notice would be issued or the owner prosecuted.

The Pet Health Council says:

Run your hands along the dog’s sides to see if you can feel its ribs when you apply gentle pressure. Then check from above whether you can see a waist - a thinning from where the ribs end to where the hips begin. Finally, run your hand gently over its back to check if you can feel hip bones. If your pet has all of the above it probably will not be obese.

If your pet is slow to get up and has trouble moving around there may be a problem.

(from the London Telegraph)