I just got word about a great event that’s worth barking about. If you live in, or near, the Bay Area (CA) you won’t want to miss out.

Scurrying around the Bay Area looking for fun this weekend? Then why not stop by the 3rd Annual Bay Area Pet Fair and Adoptathon in San Rafael! Held at the Marin Center on September 6th and 7th, the fair is the largest dog-friendly event of its kind in Northern California.

This year, Dogster is not only a proud supporter of the event, but is a sponsor of The Other Dog Show, a fun, cutting edge, spectacular event that’s dog years ahead of its time. Come hang out with us and watch cool adoptable and adopted canines compete for titles such as Most MuttaliciousBest Lap Dog and Best Non-Dog! The Other Dog Show takes place at 1:00 p.m. on both days of the fair.

You’ll also enjoy-

A variety of pet-oriented products and services, both in the Exhibit Building and on the Fairgrounds

Multiple venues offering demonstrations, performances and expert presentations, including The Muttley Crew canine athletes; animal nutrition, massage and whole energy wellness; police K-9 demos; small animal care; and many others

A Kids Pavilion with opportunities for youngsters to learn from humane educators, interact with animals and get their faces painted by Popo the Clown

Interactive opportunities for your dog, including bobbing for hot dogs, recall through distractions, tricks and an agility course

The largest multi-agency adoption event in California, with approximately 40 regional agencies bringing adoptable dogs, cats, rabbit, birds, guinea pigs and more!

Super furriendly humans from Dogster HQ in San Francisco will be present on both days, so if you’re in the area, by all means come by and give us a woof! For more information about the fair, head on over to their website! See you there!

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We all know that when you’re in a room and one person yawns it will set off a series of yawns.  Now, according to a scientific team from Birkbeck College at the University of London, dogs can also “catch” a yawn.

The copying activity suggests that canines are capable of empathizing with people, say the researchers who recorded dogs’ behaviour in lab tests. Until now, only humans and their close primate relatives were thought to find yawning contagious.

Dr Senju and his team were questioning whether dogs could read the human yawn signal, which could support a finding that dogs have the ability to empathize. The team set up a study using 29 canines.

The team found that 21 out of 29 dogs yawned when the stranger in front of them yawned – on average, dogs yawned 1.9 times. By contrast, no dogs yawned during the non-yawning condition.

The researchers believe that these results are the first evidence that dogs have the capacity to empathise with humans; although the team could not rule out stress-induced yawning – they hope to in future studies.

That is good news.  Lisa and I figured  Bo, Copper, and Logan were yawning because they thought we were boring.  Perhaps, that isn’t so.

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