🌕🌑 The Solar Eclipse Will Affect Your Dog

The upcoming solar eclipse might affect your dog!

With a full solar eclipse coming to a large swath of the United States in next week, scientists are gearing up to observe animals at multiple zoos in the path of the totality, in part because they were so surprised at what they discovered in 2017 during the last total solar eclipse in the U.S.

“I thought it was going to be nonsense, I didn’t think animals were going to be affected. at all,” said Adam Hartstone-Rose, a professor of comparative anatomy at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Clouds pass over and they don’t react. It was so ephemeral.”

For the 2024 eclipse, scientists will be watching the birds and beasts – and inviting citizen scientists to offer their observations as well – as the celestial curtain falls.

Pets, too, are being included in the surveys, though veterinarians say overall the biggest effect on their behavior will not be the sudden darkness, but rather the behavior of the humans around them.

"They're going to react more to our reactions, our excitement and our anxiety than anything actually from the actual eclipse," said Dr. Rena Carlson, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

So, what happened in 2017?

To set up the study, Hartstone-Rose and his collaborators set more than 40 people to watch 12 animal exhibits at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. They began a few days before the eclipse so they could gauge how much the animals' behavior changed.

More than two-thirds of the animals exhibited changed behavior.

• Gorillas: “Marched all together to be let in for the evening and were kind of perplexed, like ‘Why aren’t you letting us in?’” Hartstone-Rose said.

• Flamingos: “All of the adults gathered around the perimeter and clumped around the juveniles and the babies,” he said.

• Giraffes: Some of the zoo's herd began running around their enclosure, only calming down when the sun came back.

• Bears: Couldn't care less. “One of them lifted his head during the eclipse, but they basically couldn’t be bothered to react,” he said.

• Galapagos tortoises: The Riverbanks zoo has a group of 35 of the slow-moving giants which can reach 900 pounds and live for more than 150 years. During the peak of the eclipse, they started breeding.

…and how will my dog respond to the eclipse next week?

An eclipse itself isn't dangerous for domestic animals such as dogs and cats, but experts say it's probably best to not bring pets to experience the April 2024 total solar eclipse.

Experts' biggest concern is not what’s happening in the sky but on the ground as crowds of excited and anxious people gather, said Dr. Rena Carlson, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“Rather than the effects of the eclipse, I would be more worried about the excitement and all of the people,” she said.

Dogs especially will take their cues from their owners rather than the celestial event.

Dr. Jerry Klein, chief veterinarian of the American Kennel Club, said dogs that are sensitive, that have anxiety or are strongly affected by storms are likely to pick up on the emotions of people gathering to watch the eclipse

That’s especially true for pet owners who might be traveling a long distance to see the eclipse.

“They're going to react more to our reactions, our excitement and our anxiety than the actual eclipse,” said Carlson.

I want to bring my dog with me to view it. What should I know?

If you’re taking your dog with you to an eclipse viewing event, make sure they are your primary concern.

“Make sure that they’re not stressed and that you give them a time out if they need it,” Klein said.

“If you have any concerns about how your dog might react you should leave them indoors. That’s the easiest solution,” he reiterated.

For those who won’t or can’t leave their dogs at home, he gave this advice:

“Make sure they have plenty of fresh water, that they’re not overly crowded, that they’re kept on a leash and that they have a way to be recognized if they bolt off and get lost,” he said.

Some dogs bark, some don't. Cats don't care.

There's not a great deal of research on how pets respond to eclipses. But what there is seems to indicate they're not strongly affected. The most recent study was released earlier this month and was conducted during a partial eclipse on October 14, 2023. It reported behaviors in more than 200 animals, mostly dogs.

“About half of the people wrote that their dogs started barking or howling during the eclipse but half of the people said their dogs stopped barking and howling,” said Adam Hartstone-Rose, the professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University who conducted the research and who studies animal behavior during eclipses.

The responses could simply be based on a given dog's personality, he said.

People who were farther away from the main path of the 2023 eclipse, in areas where the effect would have only been a short period of dimness, didn’t see any noticeable changes in their animals.

“The closer you were to full darkness, the greater the reaction,” he said. “But the reactions went in both directions.”

There were no reports of dogs running or scrambling around and cat owners didn't note any responses at all.

“The cats couldn’t be bothered, at least enough to give us data," Hartstone-Rose said. Then he added, "But maybe they were thinking deeply about it."

Do I have to worry about my pet’s eyes during an eclipse?

The short answer: no.

There’s no need to worry about your pets’ eyes during an eclipse, Carlson said.

Dogs typically only look up at an owner or if there's a treat. “They have no instinct to look up at the eclipse," she said.

As excited as you might be about seeing the eclipse, the experts were unanimous – don’t make your dog look at it.

“They have an aversion to bright light. They will tend to not look at it unless we force them to do something that’s not beneficial to them naturally,” said Klein, who practiced as a small animal emergency veterinarian for over 35 years.

There's no need for eclipse glasses because there’s no fear of dogs harming themselves by looking at the blocked sun, he added.

China’s newest police dog is an internet star!

China’s sprawling security apparatus has a far-from-cuddly reputation, but the country’s most popular new police officer is making waves on social media with his stubby legs, wide grin and wagging tail… and this staff of corgi owners couldn’t be happier.

Fuzai the corgi puppy, whose name means “Lucky Boy,” is a reserve police dog in Weifang, a city in the eastern province of Shandong. The uniformed pooch made his debut at an open-day event organized by Weifang police earlier this month, according to state-run media.

He immediately became a social media phenomenon, with one video of Fuzai viewed more than 1.3 million times on the Chinese platform Weibo, where a related hashtag has been viewed nearly 16 million times.

Fuzai began training at two months old and now, at six months, is outperforming many of his peers, according to state media.

Hang on. A corgi? Does this make sense?

We’ll always beat the corgi drum, but here it from police officials firsthand: “His strong environmental adaptability, insensitivity, his desire to possess items and his fondness for food are particularly conducive to our training,” said Wang Yanan, head of the Weifang police dog base, according to state-run newspaper China Daily.

Emphasis on “fondness for food”…

Those short legs can’t help him though… can they?

His short legs give him an advantage over other dogs in searching narrow spaces, the newspaper added, citing police.

Fans on social media joked that Fuzai’s universal appeal made him a “publicity dog” – and asked whether other dogs would bully him for his short legs. One Douyin user wrote: “Corgis can be plainclothes police, they attract less attention than German Shepherds.”

Others expressed envy at Fuzai’s cushy government job – which are in high demand in China due to their stable pay and generous benefits, often dubbed the “iron rice bowl.”

It’s only a matter of time before the same K9 qualifications make it to the United States. The world is safer with corgis on the prowl… 😂

“The Squeeze”: Dog News In 60 Seconds

•  🥬 “Calling all vegetarians!” Dogs can succeed on a plant-based diet? Here’s how to set them up for success…

• ⚗️ STUDY: Dogs can associate words with specific objects…. so, yes… they understand “fetch the ball” and they’re probably being lazy.

• 📱 Thinking about that second dog? Let AI match you up with the right pooch. It’s giving breeder Tinder…

• 🏃 The famed Boston Marathon Dog, Spencer, had his statue unveiled for this year’s race.

• 🐼 Wait a fluffin’ second… the “Pandog” is real? Here are the facts.

• 🇩🇪 Germany is banning the wiener dog?! What did the Dachshund do to you?!?! Wake us up when this nightmare is over.

• 🦸 A dog named Hero became an overnight hero, so we’re left asking what would’ve happened if he was named “failure”?

• 📈 Keep your mouth closed when you’re breathing around your dog… unless you want him to detect your stress levels.

• 🏆 The world’s first silver retriever was just discovered!

Today’s Last Laugh:

Buster’s gonna Buster. 🤷

@marcuscolemancooper

Buster is ready for summer! #dog #yellowlab #lab