Green Group discussion

Dogs learn by watching people, even how to use a doorbell.

Dog rings doorbell to tell family she is back home after being lost for over a week.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/missi...

Another dog uses the doorbell to get back into the house after going for a walk by himself, without permission.

https://people.com/dog-surprises-ring...

Our mongrel pooch, Gideon, is a beloved member of the family. He's a smart, lovable lapdog who knows full well when he's done something naughty and has mastered the "repentant puppy-dog" look to soften the hardest disciplinarian's heart.

Happy Holidays to all of you fellow dog-lovers out there!

Season's greetings to all, especially pet lovers.

I enjoy reading books about highly trained service dogs and working dogs. These could be sheepdogs or search and rescue, or guide dogs. More and more skills are being developed that dogs can do well because of their sharp senses.

This is a book of photography focusing on black dogs.

Black Dogs: Stories of Love and Friendship by Fred Levy

https://phys.org/news/2025-07-sled-do...

"The Greenland sled dog, or Qimmeq (plural Qimmit), is one of the few breeds that can still be found pulling a sled. They have been much more isolated genetically than other traditional sled dogs and are now facing a decline in population, due to reduced Arctic ice, urbanization, competition from snowmobiles and general changes in the lifestyle of Arctic people. Their numbers have been halved since 2002, going from a population of around 25,000 to about 13,000 in 2020.

This dramatic decline, along with the fact that the Qimmit have been working alongside humans for so long, prompted researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes for Health to take a deep dive into their origins and genetic diversity to shed light on their history and the history of the people around them.

The researchers sequenced 92 Qimmeq genomes from the past 800 years and compared them with 1,998 genomes from ancient and modern dogs and wolves. The genomes were separated into three groups from different periods: pre-European contact from when the Inuit arrived in Greenland until the Danish-Norwegian colonization (between 1721 and 1884), post-European contact (from 1885 to 1998) and present-day (after 1998). These separations helped to determine the impact and extent of European contact in Greenland.

The results of the study, recently published in Science, showed two distinct migrations into Greenland. Genetic markers found in the Qimmit place their arrival in Greenland around 1000 years ago—earlier than previously thought. A close relationship between the Qimmit and an Alaskan breed, dating back to around 3,700 years ago, suggests that the Inuit left this region and migrated across the Arctic Circle relatively rapidly."

More information: T. R. Feuerborn et al, Origins and diversity of Greenland's Qimmit revealed with genomes of ancient and modern sled dogs, Science (2025).
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...
Journal information: Science

Dogs are being trained for many purposes in conservation, due to their incredible sense of smell.
Here is just one instance.

https://phys.org/news/2025-07-friend-...

"With a sense of smell that's tens of thousands of times more acute than humans, dogs can be trained to sniff out spotted lanternfly egg masses without disturbing the environment. Previous research has shown that professional conservation detection dogs can do this with high accuracy. But professional dogs are expensive, and there aren't nearly enough of them to cover the growing threat.

So the researchers asked: "What if we tapped into the tens of thousands of dog owners already doing scent detection as a hobby around the country?" Known as recreational scent work, this sport allows dogs to find hidden scents for fun in homes, parks, and training classes.
...
"The results? Dogs correctly identified the egg masses 82% of the time in the controlled tests. In real-world field trials, accuracy dropped to 61%—still better than many human searches. Of the dogs that passed both tests, 92% were successful in finding live egg masses with minimal extra training.

Study participant Bill Wellborn of Roanoke said his 7-year-old Tibetan terrier, Pepe, enjoyed the challenge. Over the course of six months, they trained with devitalized spotted lanternfly egg masses two or three times a week for 15 to 30 minutes.

"Anytime you can stimulate your dog, it's good for them," Wellborn said. "Pepe obviously enjoys it. And it's a way we can take dog skills and training to help our community.""

More information: Evaluating the effectiveness of participatory science dog teams to detect devitalized Spotted Lanterfly (Lycorma delicatula) egg masses., PeerJ (2025).
https://peerj.com/articles/19656/

Edgar O. Aviles-Rosa et al, Dogs can detect powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) in grapevine (Vitis vinifera) leaves, Journal of Veterinary Behavior (2024).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Journal information: PeerJ

Provided by Virginia Tech

This LinkedIn poster, Ioan T., frequently shows the lifestyle of the shepherds in Romania. The shepherd dogs are vital to protect the flocks from wolves and bears.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioan-t-85...

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ioan-t...

"The Rumanian Mioritic Shepherd🐕 Dog with his shaggy & robust body is indeed a native breed versatile & well adapted to the rare harsh winters in our time with deep 🌨️snow, frosty❄️ days & severe winter storms.
He was created & selected for generations by the local shepherds, 🏕️homesteaders & highlanders👣 in the Carpathian Mountains & around to deliver the vital job of a loyal guardian dog of 🐐livestock🐏 or family 🏡homes during the most demanding situations of the farming routine in that specific environment.
He is generally very energetic, playful & friendly but in case of 🐾encountering predators & invaders he is brave & even aggressive and so he wants always to dictate the behavioural terms on his territory."