more on cat trends ... USA and Aussie land

Australia's long term search trend for cats and dogs was almost inverted.  For cats the low search points are the start and end of the year with a peak plateau between May and September. For dogs searches, the start and end of the year had the most interest with the May to October period being about eight percent down on the average search volume.

By comparison, America's cats and dogs search trends over the last five years were quite similar. Both terms started off slowly with a mild peak mid year. This was followed by a slump in searches in October of about five percent for cats and about 7% for dogs before increasing near or above zero growth by the conclusion of the season.

Everyone loves buying cats and dogs for Christmas. Just make sure you look after them for life!

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Cats long term trends, What Americans Like

The American long term search trend for cats was quite different to Australia’s Google statistics. While America also showed a peak in the middle of the year (summer) there was also an surge in interest at the start and the end of the year. While three of the specific years tracked very similar search trends, 2007 and 2010 were the most unlike the other years.

On average the peak was only about 2% above the rest of the year however the trough or lowest cat search months of September and October was on average about negative five percent.

Like Australia, America finished the average of five years data about three percent up from the start of the year, as as compared to the whole google search market trends.

Next week (next post) I will finish this summary of cat trends and be back onto the dogs!

Other dog info you may like: Dog walking, dog treats, dog blog

Everything you wanted to know about the cat online market (a dogs long term passion)

To understand how people in different countries view cats, it is worthwhile to take a long term view of the subject via Google data. Understanding why strong season trends occurs is much harder.

Google data that provides trend data for the last five years of the main cat search term is used for comparison. The only thing to remember is that this long term data shows the popularity of the cats term as compared to all google search popularly.

The data from 2006 to 2010  was compared and averaged. It shows that while there was considerable volatility in the search numbers, which happens with small volume data, that the peak months for cat searches is between May and September. In this span people search about fifteen percent more for cats than they do at the start or end of the year.

By the end of the year the average search numbers over the last five years is about 3% up on the average google search term. While this is not a lot, it should be remembered that cats are a stable commodity, not a flashy trending term that will peak and then subside. So the fact that that it has about parity search numbers for the last five years suggests that cat interest is steady.

However when individual years are viewed it can be seen that the end of the years relative growth varies considerably. In particular both 2006 and 2010 showed about a five percent decrease in cat interest by the end of the year. This could be caused by each year having an extra large search interest at the start of each of those years, or because 2010 was still suffering from the global financial crisis that had people cut back on non essential items.

Other dog info you may like: Dog walking, dog treats, dog blog

How to make your dog very happy - the actual answer ...

So here is the big secret about keeping a dog happy. Take it to places and prepare activities for it that will use the behaviours that it has strengths in.

For instance the hound dog class were bred to chase prey. They are not particularly good at tracking prey scent or stalking prey but they were born with stamina to stay within reach of the prey once they are given the scent and they tenaciously pursue it. They typically do not go in for their kill once they get close to the prey, so the hound breed is seen to practice the middle of the wolf hunt sequence and do poorly at the start and end of it.

All retriever type were created to chase after prey, and grab it, but not dissect it. That is why breeds like the numerous spaniels are happiest when they perform the middle to end sequence of the wolf hunt, that is the chase and grab part.

Herding dogs such as the border collie follow the first four of the seven wolf hunt sequences. They love to initiate at the very start of the hunt, then stalk their prey and chase, but they are predisposed not to physically engage with the animal or grab it.

While general walking with a dog and off lead play will go a long way towards making a dog and owner happy, it will never fully satisfy a dogs innate needs. This is why some specialty dog places actually create programs where a dog can learn to herd animals. Taking a spaniel to a swampy area and retrieving balls launched into the water, and eventually rewarding them a meat treat will make them happy.

And this is why some owners go to the trouble of either researching their dogs breed or getting dna testing to see what breeds their dogs have in them. Even at home, armed with their breed purpose and the knowledge that the behaviours are modifications of the wolf hunt, can massively help you to understand what kind of games will satisfy their natural urges. As the owner should be the pack leader, it is your responsibility to have your dog feel that they have earned their food at the end of the day. Playing appropriate games with them and building trust with your dog is how you can fully satisfy your dog!

Other dog info you may like: Dog walking, dog treats, dog blog

making your dog happy - continued for xmas!

To satisfy a dog fully, you need to consider both what function it was created to perform, or what the underlying traits of the dog are. And yes, those underlying traits are based on the needs of its direct for runner the wolf.

In fact understanding a dogs primary function is easier than it may seem. This is because it was found that wolves always use the same seven steps from the moment they become interested in hunting prey until the final kill and dismemberment. What people have done in breeding dogs for specific functions is either increase or decrease each of these steps in the dogs behaviour. You do not need to bring your dog on a hunt to observe this behaviour, all you need do is to go to a dog park and let your dog to engage in play with other dogs. This is because dogs like young wolves have found that it is fun and great practice for prey hunts by going through these steps when playing with other dogs.

You may observe the fullest nature of the seven steps in any of the ancient dog breeds such as husky, however it is also very obvious in many working dog breeds, particularly those that herd animals for a living. These dogs love to crouch down, stalk, chase and often nip other animals.

In recent times domestic dogs are fed their meals by their owners, or many them now prefer scavenging rather than hunting their own prey. The modern dog breeds are far removed from look and behaviour of the wolf, but there remains strong remnants in all dogs behaviours. You will naturally not want to reinforce the killing nature of dogs, but there are many other games you can play to satisfy what your breed was specifically designed to accomplish.

Other dog info you may like: Dog walking, dog treats, dog blog

How to make your dog very happy

Making your dog happy involves understanding what it evolved from and what its basic instincts rule it.

Did you know that your dog evolved from the wolf. This only occurred as recently as 20,000 years ago so regardless of your breeds shape, its primary needs are still based on what the wolf would need to do.
Primarily the wolf is a meat eater and a tracker. When it is not playing with the pack and testing its position in that pack, the wolf is usually on the hunt for prey.

So the happiest wolf is one that knows its position in the pack, an has security in its function. It is also very happy when it is coordinating with its pack as they run to find out how to trap their prey and effect a kill. It is as happy as it can be when it is fulfilling its purpose and it is about to eat or be able to bring food back for the young pups.

Now when people buy dogs for pets, they usually buy them based on such things as breed look and temperament. Some people will buy dogs because they are active or quiet.

While this is good for humans, it does nothing to fulfil the needs of the dog. And owners will soon find that an unhappy dog makes for an unhappy family and neighbourhood. It is true that ninety percent of dog problems can be resolved by large amounts of on-lead and free roaming exercise and a healthy diet. But these are merely the starting points of satisfying a dog.

Watch for the next blog where satisfying a dogs deep needs is revealed.

Other dog info you may like: Dog walking, dog treats, dog blog

How could this dog gensis occur from the wolf?

It turns out that Chinese rice farmers decided that it was better to befriend the more tame of the wild wolves and keep them as semi domesticated pets rather than try to kill them. The more timid wolf offspring then bred with more tame wolves until visual and behavioral changes became common in the new animals.

Over time these changes became so great that other visitors chose to keep these companions and train them for diverse work activities. As people migrated to different countries with these new dogs, they created breeding programs so that dogs would do even more specific tasks such as pulling or guard duties. This human intervention into natural mate selection caused massive changes in behaviour and aesthetics.

While this evolution may seem remarkable in its speed and the diversity of dogs we have today, this is mainly caused by the variation that was originally possible in the wolves genes. It should also be remembered that the Dog and the Grey Wolf are a relatively new creation. On the evolution tree these were created at about the same time as the Coyote. This means that both of these have a common ancestor of the Ethiopian Wolf - which all lead back to the African Wild dog.

While the grey wolf has been around for about one million years, well before all of this evolution their common ancient ancestor is believed to be the miacid. This animal was a carnivore that was created about 52M years ago.

From the evolution tree you will also see some interesting facts. Like the domestic dog being much closer genetically to the grey wolf, then the grey wolf is to the maned wolf. You will also find that this tree has abundant numbers of different versions of foxes that in general evolved well before the wolf or the coyote.

Maybe the point of this article is that without proper genetic sampling of DNA, people can only guess at where the domestic dog came from. Only now is science advanced enough for us to know quite accurately that the domestic dog was born in China, and that its high rate of evolution into the many varieties of dog that we see today is one of the main things that has ensured its survival, coexisting with man for thousands of years.

Other dog sites of interest: Healthy Dog Treats, Dog Walking Melbourne, A top dog blog