Why Do My Dog’s Eyes Glow in the Dark

By Tamara McRill

Ever spot a pair of demonically glowing green or red eyes in the dark, only to realize they belong to your cute and cuddly dog? What really gets to me is when I’m the one outside and I see the floating bright orbs peering out my window. You know, it’s that split second where you’re torn between wanting to turn and run or bust in to save your pets from...whatever “It” is.

But of course, “It” is your dog’s (or even cat’s) eyes glowing in the dark. It turns out there is even a very scientific – and reassuring – reason their eyes shine so eerily in the darkness.

Tapetum Lucidum

No, that’s not the starting phrase of an exorcism, although it is Latin. It means “bright tapestry.” The words are also the scientific term for the light-reflecting surface between a dog’s optic nerve and retina.

The tapetum lucidum is what makes dog’s eyes react to light exposure differently than human eyes, essentially reflecting the light back through their eyes like a mirror. The rods and cones make use of the multiplied light to see better in the dark. Dogs and other animals with the structure, like cats and deer, can use very low levels of light to see.

Different Colors

In addition to superior night vision, this reflected light is also what produces eyeshine in dogs…that surreal colored glow that comes out in their eyes at night. What I find fascinating is that not every dog’s eyeshine is the same color.

My chocolate lab, Wuppy, has brown eyes that have a predominant phosphorus green eyeshine. One of our mixed breed dogs, Cody, has one blue eye and one brown eye. His eyes glow a dark red when hit with light in the dark, although the blue eye is more intense.

The colors of a dog’s eyeshine aren’t limited to red and green, either. They can be all shades of blue, orange, yellow, turquoise or even violet. The specific color reflected depends on the amount of zinc or riboflavin in the eye cells.

Red glowing eyes at night are the result of blood vessels reflecting light. This is common with white dogs who have blue eyes.

Some dog breeds are known for certain eyeshine color, although the tendency isn’t a guarantee that’s the color they’ll have. Yellow labs tend to have a light yellow shine, and black labs a deep yellow or green. Miniature Schnauzers are known for turquoise glow.

Outside Influences on Color

The eyeshine color can also depend on other factors, such as the kind of light being shined in a dog’s eyes. Headlights, halogen lights, flashlights and lights with colored filters may all produce a different glow in the eyes of the same dog. The intensity of the light is also a factor, as is the distance between the light source and the dog, and where you are standing in relation to the dog’s location.

I have photos of Wuppy where his eyes glow green. But in other photos, all taken during the same nighttime romp, the colors range from red and orange, to yellow.

You can often tell eyeshine color by taking a photo of your dog with the flash on, with them looking up at you. Just try not to get them right in the eye with the flash. If your dog is younger than 16 weeks, their tapetum will probably be blue or violet. The color of their glow may change as they get older.

What color do your pet’s eyes glow in the dark?

Photos by Tamara McRill

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Say Cheese! Your Dog’s Smile Could Win FREE CANIDAE!

Does your dog’s beautiful smile melt your heart? Does your pooch grin wide enough to eat a banana sideways? And do they like to eat paw-licking-good dog food? Well then, fetch your camera and get ready to capture those dazzling doggie smiles!

Why? So you can enter your fabulous photo(s) in our new contest for a chance to win some FREE dog food! Is that BOL (bark-out-loud) awesome, or what?

The Grand Prize Winner will receive 6 months of premium quality CANIDAE pet food and a chance to be featured on the CANIDAE website or Facebook page!  Ten runners-up receive a 5lb bag of their dog’s favorite CANIDAE Life Stages formula.

Could Your Dog Be the Next CANIDAE Star?

Wanted: Dogs with winning smiles, happy expressions or gloriously goofy grins. Must be willing to work for pet food. Amateurs encouraged to apply.

Your Assignment

Take your best shot that showcases your dog’s sweet face and sunny disposition. Next, submit your high quality photos by visiting the CANIDAE photo contest page on Facebook.  Large file sizes preferred with 5MB as the maximum size.

You can submit as many photos as you like before the contest closes on May 31, 2013.  Then you and everyone else can vote for your favorite entries. CANIDAE staff will pick the final grand prize winner and the 10 runners up.  Your votes will be factored into the final decision, though, so be sure to vote often and get your friends to vote for their favorite photos as well!

The Rules 

No purchase or payment is necessary to win. To enter, you must be at least 21 years of age and a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident (green card), or a legal resident of Canada. CANIDAE Natural Pet Food Company employees, vendors and their immediate family members are not eligible. Immediate family includes only spouses, parents and children.

Terms and conditions apply. All photos submitted become property of CANIDAE and may be used for commercial purposes including packaging, websites and any type of marketing or advertising material.

By entering the contest, entrants agree to have their submitted name and photographs displayed on the CANIDAE website and used by CANIDAE for any purpose, at any time, without any fee or other form of compensation. CANIDAE reserves the right to disqualify users, without notice, for any reason.

Prize Information

The Grand Prize Winner is limited to one bag of pet food per month (any CANIDAE formula) to be determined by pets size, age and breed at the discretion of CANIDAE Natural Pet Food Company.

The 10 runners-up will receive a 5lb bag of their preferred Life Stages Formula. Final decision on selecting the winners is at the sole discretion of CANIDAE Natural Pet Food Company.

Winners will be notified via the email account used to enter the contest and will have 48 hours to respond before an alternate winner is selected. CANIDAE reserves the right to modify or withdraw this offer at any time without notice and is not responsible for email delivery failures or other technical issues.

Time to get clicking! Submit your best photo(s) today via the CANIDAE photo contest page on Facebook.

Top photo: Sally9258
Middle photo: Rennet Stowe
Bottom photo: Umberto Rotundo

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What’s in a Dog’s Name

William Shakespeare may have posed the question “what’s in a name?”, but in my opinion, his answer doesn’t apply to everything. Some people think that how a dog behaves is completely dependent on their breed and their training. Even though breed and training do come into the mix, there are a few variables that are overlooked, perhaps the biggest one of the being what you decide to name you dog.

Some of the most common dog names seem to go with certain personality aspects that you can expect from your dog. From famous dogs on television, to dogs that I have met in real life, here is a list of ten common dog names and the personality traits I associate them with.

Lucky: Typically given to pound puppies or dogs that have suffered some injury and overcome it. Ironically a dog named Lucky is likely to have a rather unlucky life despite his consistently positive attitude and go-getter mentality.

Patch: A dog named patch is usually named so because of his coloring. What usually comes to most people’s minds when they think of a Patch, is a knee high white dog with black patches, one of them inevitably being over one of the eyes.  Patches are rather protective of the owners and can take some time to warm up to strangers. Despite being slightly stand offish, he will never fail to come through for his human when he is needed most

Lucy: Shy and docile, a dog named Lucy will always appreciate you. She won’t display her personality around you unless she feels extremely comfortable but once she does your stomach will ache from laughing so hard at her clumsy demeanor and goofy personality. 

Max: A Max is always confident and prefers to be the alpha male in any group. He needs an owner who will train him with a firm but loving hand. Given enough structure, Max will be a great guard dog but will still have plenty of love left over for you.

Bella: With no real personality of her own, a dog named Bella won’t ever contribute much to the atmosphere other than some piddle on the carpet when she gets over stimulated.

Lady: A dog named Lady will surely live up to her name. Poised and ever charming, Lady will rarely need behavior correction beyond her puppy stage.

Buddy: Buddy may be your buddy but because of his overwhelming amount of energy, you need to make sure that you correct his behavior when needed. While he would never intentionally do something wrong just to prove a point, his enthusiasm for the world around him often gets the better of him and he can’t hold off his instincts to pounce and play.

Lola: When named Lola, your dog will definitely become the show girl of your household. Always vying for you attention, she will be quite a handful but when given the amount of attention she requires, she will make a great family pet and companion.  

Duke: A typical man’s-man dog, all Duke wants to do is lay down on a giant pillow in front of the TV after an early morning of flushing geese. He is a stereotypical gentle giant and will never hesitate to give you a big sloppy doggy kiss across your face. Special care needs to be taken to make sure that Duke gets the amount of exercise that he needs because he is not likely to ask for it himself.

Roxy: Sass and personality rule the personality of the pup. Roxys are stubborn and opinionated, especially when it comes to strangers, but they are ever loyal to their human counterparts. She needs lots of interaction with strangers to keep her comfortable and to avoid her becoming aggressive towards those that she doesn’t know.

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Author Bio:
Ron Rutherford is a writer with a passion for nature and a soft spot for Thai food. He currently freelances for havahartwireless.com, which specializes in progressive and humane wireless dog fences.

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Is Your Dog’s Collar on Securely

By Tamara McRill

Putting on a dog collar should be an easy task, right? Pick one that fits your dog’s unique personality, slip it around his neck (not too tight), fasten, give your woofer an affectionate head rub and you’re good to go. At least that’s what I always thought, but it turns out there’s more that goes into making sure your dog’s collar is on nice and secure.

I found this out the hard and heart-stopping way, with my chocolate Labrador, Wuppy. We were all geared up to take a walk in our new neighborhood, which is super exciting when you’re a dog that loves the adventure of new locations. When Wuppy and I set off, he bounced right out of his collar!

See, Wuppy has a generous waddle – the loose skin around a dog’s neck – which, combined with his bouncy behavior makes keeping him in his dog collar a little tricky. Luckily for me, our older dog, Cody, was also in the yard with Mike. So Wuppy bolted straight to the two objects of his hero worship.

Go By Feel, Not Sight

The first thing I learned when I started researching how to properly make sure my dog’s collar was secure was that I was doing it wrong. No shocker there – he did escape. I was looking at Wuppy’s collar to see if it looked like it was loose enough, when I should have been feeling it.

A good rule of thumb for flat collars, which are the most common, is to make sure you can get two fingers underneath it. You simply slide your fingers in between the collar and your dog’s neck. If there is more space than that, try tightening it up a notch until it is tight enough to comfortably allow your fingers underneath. If you can’t get two fingers under the collar, then loosen it up because you could be accidentally hurting your dog’s throat.

Check the Buckle

This is something we are in the habit of doing with all of our pets, since our dog Cody is older and has some health issues that prevent his collar from being tightened securely. His buckle comes loose a lot, and even at his slower pace the collar could come undone if we don’t make sure the buckle is properly fastened. The most common thing we have to adjust is the prong, which comes up a lot, with his collar being so loose. It’s also what we have to occasionally adjust on our other dogs.

If your dog’s collar has a plastic fastener, such as a side release or breakaway buckle, you’ll want to make sure it comes together like it should, before taking your dog on a walk.

Be Vigilant for Secureness

Of course, ensuring the collar has a great fit isn’t a “one time and you’re done” activity. You have to keep periodically checking that it is on your pet securely, since neither the collar nor your dog will always stay in the same condition as when you first placed it around their furry neck. Besides buckle wear, the collar fabric can also get worn out or stretch just enough for your pooch to slide his head through. Collars can also become fragile over time and get rips.

Puppies and young dogs can grow out of their collars, sometimes quicker than you think; be sure to frequently check that the collar isn’t too tight. Older dogs also can gain and lose weight, which will affect the fit of their collar.

It’s also good to work on mastering sit and stay commands, as well as keeping CANIDAE dog treats in your pocket when you take your pooch for a walk. Sometimes, even with the most vigilant of checking, dogs still manage to wiggle out of their collars. For your dog’s safety, it’s good to have some backup training and an enticingly tasty bribe if this happens.

What kind of collar does your dog wear? Has it ever slipped off before?

Top photo by jespahjoy
Middle photo by lindyi
Bottom photo by Tony Alter

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New Zealand Farm working Dogs 2 Buying a dog

By Dr Clive Dalton
 

Buying a dog can be a very worrying experience, especially if your current dog has just died or been killed.  You generally want a good dog that will work for you within 24 hours - and be as good if not better than the old friend you are still grieving. 

A pup

You cannot look at a pup and predict with any accuracy what it will turn out to be.  There is a lot of folklore on this such as taking the boldest pup in the litter, the one with black on the roof of its mouth, the bitchs favorite, and so on is not reliable.

Dog handlers often stress that you should take a pup that you like, because you have to build a close bond with it over the 10 years or so youll be together.  Thats got to be very sound advice.

Always go to a reputable breeder, rely on the pedigree if there is one, or ask to see the parents working.  There is no official breed society for working dogs but if dogs win trials, they can if the owner wishes, be entered in the stud book of the NZ Dog Trials Association.  You dont get in there by your looks, you have to give public displays of your work to get there.

Half-broken dog

This is a dog that has started to work - but beware!  It may be one that has stopped again!  Or it may be a dog that has had a relationship bust-up with its boss, and there may be deep scars, that may cause problems for new owners.

There are many dog handlers who do especially well taking (often for free) dogs that other handlers were going to shoot, so its not all bad news.  You many have the skills to form a good relationship with such a dog.  Just realise what is involved, and beware of what you may NOT have been told about the dog.

So just check the reason for selling.  If in doubt consult a member of your nearest branch of the NZ Sheep Dog Trial Association (SDTA).

Fully-trained dog bought privately

This is often the best option for a beginner as a reputable breeder will guarantee the dog.  This means that he/she will replace the dog or offer you the money back.  Check this before you buy.  Theyll show you the dog working on their farm (for as long as you like), but remember the importance of the bond created between owner and dog.  You will not get the same performance from the dog until you build a similar bond.  Thats why the guarantee is important.

Many breeders will give you details of the commands, either with a demo or a tape recording or both.  Itll take time for the dog to learn new sounds, as you will never be able to mimic the old commands to perfection.  The dog doesnt understand English, it only recognises sounds.

A fully-trained dog may appear costly - but just remember how many hours have gone into its training and the costs of feeding and care.  Work out the purchase price over an expected working life of 5-7 years and a top dog is always a bargain.   Again if concerned, get someone from your local SDTA to help you.

Dog bought at a sale

Special dog sales are common and there are sometimes dogs are put up at farm dispersal sales.  The points made above apply.  The only problem with a sale is that you wont have unlimited time to see the dog work.  It may only get a quick run around some friendly sheep and give a couple of barks and a leg cock.  You may not see all its strengths or weaknesses.  It may not have time to grab a sheep by the jugular or hang on a bulls tail.

And you never know what the final price may be if someone else likes it!  If youre forced to buy at a sale, get someone from your local DTA to guide you.

Which sex?

There is a wide range of opinion here.  A male dog is often preferred, as they dont come on heat and get pregnant so need time off work.  The odd bit of wandering they do is not a mortal sin unless they worry a few sheep on the way home.   Getting a bitch pregnant is seen as their good luck rather than the bitchs misfortune.  Youll always get a pick from the resulting litter even if the bitchs owner is not very pleased.

Some people prefer a bitch because they are a softer nature and maybe less headstrong.  These points are debatable and differences in temperament are often strain differences rather than sex.

Bitches these days can be prevented from coming on heat by hormone treatment.  De-sexing of working dogs (by castration) and bitches (by spaying) not needed for breeding is not popular, as many believe it makes them more prone to put on fat and get sluggish.  Current veterinary opinion is that desexing working dogs has no bad effect on their working ability.  They get plenty of exercise so obesity is not a problem.

Which colour?

 
Not an important issue.  Shepherds like a dog that is easy to see at long distances.  You would think that white would be an ideal colour, but shepherds reckon it looks too much like a sheep, and the sheep get confused too!  Red and ginger dogs are hard to see sometimes so the ideal would be a combination of black, tan and some white.

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