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Dogs’ personalities can change to reflect similar changes in their owners. Which means your midlife crisis could have life-changing consequences for your dog. “When humans go through big changes in life, their personality traits can change," said William Chopik, PhD, MS, an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University. "We found that this also happens with dogs—and to a surprisingly large degree.”

Aggression, disobedience, repeatedly running away, and too much barking can doom dogs to an early death, according to a new study by researchers in the UKat the University of London Royal Veterinary College’s (RVC) VetCompass program. Per the report, one-third of dogs in the UK who die before the age of three die because of “undesirable behaviors” (UBs)—many by euthanasia.

Dogs can be kid magnets. So bringing therapy dogs in to a hospital to cheer up sick kids seems like a great idea. But sick kids with weakened immune systems can be superbug magnets. And bringing an outwardly healthy therapy dog who might be carrying antibiotic-resistant bacteria into a children’s cancer ward can suddenly seem like a really bad idea.

The answer isn’t colored contacts. It’s chromosomes. Technically, a duplicated stretch of DNA on a single chromosome: Canine chromosome 18. That’s the conclusion drawn in a new study led by Adam Boyko, PhD, Aaron Sams, PhD. How did they get their data? They crowd-sourced it through direct-to-consumer DNA testing.

Parking in the shade on a sunny day won’t necessarily save a pet left in the car from heatstroke, or worse. A new study of temperatures inside parked cars shows that a car parked in the sun would reach lethal temperatures faster than one parked in the shade, but even in a shaded car, heat buildup could prove deadly.

If you think they’re cute now, just wait ‘til they’re weaned. A new study published this month in the journal Anthrozoos aimed to determine the peak of puppy cuteness. It found that puppies are most appealing to humans at around six to eight weeks of age. That’s around the same time puppies are weaned from their mothers, and the researchers think that’s no accident.

Well, the easy answer is, because it’s poop. And for years, people have explained it away with the same possible causes: diet, digestive disorders, or the presence of parasites. But what about those times when the smell is really bad? Japanese researchers discovered the answer.

According to a survey by the American Pet Products Association, nearly half of all dogs sleep on their owners’ beds. And according to a recent study at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, people who sleep with their dog on the bed sacrifice sleep. But maybe not enough to matter.

What do dogs and babies have in common? We tend to talk to both in silly voices. Turns out, there are good reasons for that.

“How do you communicate with a species that doesn’t share your communication system, that doesn’t share your kind of mind?” You can do it by modifying your communication system in ways that make it accessible to the species with which you are communicating and by breeding individuals within that species who show the ability to understand the modified system. This is a key component for many dogs bred to be working dogs, be they working sled dogs, herding dogs, or retrievers.