Research confirms what dog lovers know - every pup is truly an individual. Many of the popular stereotypes about the behaviour of golden retrievers, poodles or schnauzers, for example, aren't supported by science, according to a new study.
"There is a huge amount of behavioural variation in every breed and,at the end of the day, every dog really is an individual," said study co-author and University of Massachusetts geneticist Elinor Karlsson.
While physical traits such as a greyhound's long legs or a Dalmatian's spots are clearly inherited, breed is not a strong predictor of any individual dog's personality. The researchers' work, published last week in the journal Science, marshals a massive dataset to reach these conclusions - the most ever compiled, said Adam Boyko, a geneticist at Cornell University, who was not involved in the study.
Dogs became humanity's best friend more than 14,000 years ago but the concept of dog breeds is much more recent. Around 160 years ago, people began to selectively breed dogs to have certain consistent physical traits, like coat texture and colour and ear shape.
Ryan Reynolds unveils a plaque in the loos at Wrexham FC.
You could say he was taking the p***. Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds has honoured his co-owner of Wrexham FC with a commemorative urinal at the club's stadium. Reynolds posted a video on Twitter of him conducting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the urinal which has a plaque featuring Rob McElhenney's face next to it. The pair took full control of the National League football club from the Wrexham Supporters Trust in February 2021, investing £2 million ($3.87m).
A dirty phone call
A woman who accidentally dropped her cellphone into the hole of an outhouse in a national forest and fell in while trying to retrieve it had to be rescued by firefighters in Washington state.
Brinnon Fire Department Chief Tim Manly said the woman, who was at the top of Mount Walker in the Olympic National Forest northwest of Seattle, had been using her phone when it fell into the toilet last month, the Kitsap Sun reported.
Manly said she disassembled the toilet seat and used dog leashes to try and get the phone and eventually used the leashes to tie herself off as she reached for it. That effort failed and she fell into the toilet headfirst.
"They didn't work very well and in she went," Manly said. The woman was alone and tried to get out for 10 to 15 minutes. Reunited with her phone, she called 911, Manly said. Responding firefighters passed her blocks to stand on to reach a harness, which they used to pull her out of the vault. The Brinnon Fire Department said the woman said she was uninjured.
