Label: Dogs

July 5, 2011

Are you a Seymour Simon Facebook fan? Seymour just posted a new poll on a topic that is near and dear to the hearts of our readers:

Who do you like to talk to the most, your cat or your dog?

If you're 13 years old or more, head to Seymour's Facebook Author Page to register your vote!

Photo: From the Seymour Simon eBook WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT?

June 6, 2011

One of the most popular posts on the Seymour Science blog this past year was called: DOGS vs CATS: An Experiment. We reported on a study that showed that unlike dogs, who slurp their water and make a mess when they drink, cats drink daintily, using their curled tongue to pull liquid into their mouths in a neat stream.

Two scientists at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology decided to study dog drinking habits and see if this is actually true. They found that the way dogs get liquids into their mouths is very similar to what a cat does. And they have an x-ray to prove it!

Click here to see an x-ray of a dog drinking.

So dogs and cats are very much alike, at least when it comes to drinking! 

To read more about puppies and why they do what they do, download my new eBook, WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT? You can buy an iPad version in the iTunes store, and it is now also available for the Nook Color. Happy reading!

June 2, 2011

Seymour Simon’s new eBook, WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT?, is now available as an app for the iPad.

This "read to me" book is full of fascinating, real information about puppies, and you will also see some of the cutest puppy photographs we could find!

It is on sale for $3.99 for this first week in the iTunes app store (through Saturday, June 4). Try it and let us know what you think!

May 25, 2011

It was amazing to watch people emerging, unhurt, from their storm cellars as we were watching television news last night of the latest powerful Oklahoma tornadoes.

That got me thinking. What happens to all the animals when a tornado strikes?

Dogs also go to work alongside the rescuers when disaster strikes. In this photo, a live-find dog named ChicoDog searches for survivors in the wreckage of a public housing complex in Joplin, Missouri. His partner is Kathleen Kelsey, a canine rescue specialist with the Missouri Task Force One search-and-rescue team.

Kittens Photo: Dave Martin  /  AP

ChicoDog Photo: Mark Schiefelbein / AP

March 21, 2011

A reader named Sam uploaded this picture over the weekend, and asked some good questions about dogs. Here is what Sam wrote:

Hi, Mr. Simon, 

I found this and I thought IT was the cutest thing ever!  It reminds me of your book DOGS.  My favorite book of yours is DOGS.  How many types of dogs are there?  What is the most dog bought?  If you can answer these, you’ll be my life’s (favorite) answerer!   Hope you like it!      - Sam T.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) lists 185 official dog breeds. This does not account for the many mixed breeds (some people call them "mutts") that exist, and many of those are beloved companions and great pets.

As to which dog is the most popular, the AKC rankings of most popular dogs (determined by which breed is registered most often) has had the same number one for the past twenty years - Labrador Retrievers.

This puppy appears to be a toy breed - perhaps a Maltese, or a Shih Tzu. Anyone out there able to identify it?

February 27, 2011

What a great time I had at Churchville Elementary School last week! The flurry of reading, writing and sharing by the students - which happened before, during and after my visit - was just wonderful!

Look at this great bulletin board done by sixth graders. They read my GLOBAL WARMING book, used a Carbon Footprint Calculator to determine their own impact on Earth’s atmosphere, and then wrote EARTH PLEDGES about their promises to change their own behavior to be better environmental citizens. Wonderful!

A student named Taylor F. wrote today to tell me that she has read almost all of my books that are in her library - FIFTY-SEVEN (57) books. Wow! Taylor!! You must be one of my biggest fans!

The comments and photographs are still coming in, including this one from a teacher and her son (a third-grader in the school).

Hi Mr. Simon!

Thank you so much for visiting Churchville! I am one of the third grade teachers there, and my son is a third grade student at Churchville as well!  When we got home, we were so excited to talk about your visit!  We love your books and enjoy reading them!  

On a side note, yesterday was our dog’s 10th birthday!  Ethan wanted to share this picture of our dog, Maveric, with you! 

Thank you again,

Tara and Ethan

Maveric is a beautiful dog, isn’t he?

Dear Seymour,

Your engaging website has been a rich resource for our students to learn about science. They have been reading your blog posts at school and at home and many have made personal connections to what they read. As a result of those connections, they were inspired to write comments of their own, send you photos, ask you questions and enter your contests. They did research and conducted a survey. They were excited to see their work published so quickly on your website and shared with a wide audience of readers across the country. This experience has been invaluable for our students as readers, writers and learners. We look forward to continuing to use your website to enrich our exploration and understanding of the fascinating world of science.

Sincerely, Gail Gorgol / Librarian / Churchville Elementary School 

I think that I am the one who should say "thank you" to everyone at Churchville Elementary. You really know how to make an author feel welcome! I loved spending time with you all.

Seymour Simon

February 10, 2011

We’ve had many comments this week on the blog entry where I asked readers to tell me their favorite kind of dog. A lot of you have dogs (or know dogs) and you really love them!

Jackie took it even further, uploading a photograph of herself and her dog with this note:

"Dear Seymour. I wanted to tell you that my favorite dog is a Hungarian Puli, a sheep dog. This is a photo of her and me when I was little. Her name is Choulie! (pron: CHEW-lee) My mom said our dog is a rare breed! I didn’t know that until now!!!!"

Hungarian Pulis were bred to be sheepdogs, and were used for both herding and guarding livestock. As a family dog, they make good security dogs and faithful family guardians. They see their family as their "flock," and do not like strangers until they are sure that person is not a threat to the family. I first learned about Hungarian Pulis because my neighbor had one. I needed to be introduced to their Puli and let him see the family showing me affection before it was safe to walk into their yard!

The Puli’s coat falls in long, tight curls, almost like dreadlocks. With that thick coat a Puli can even fight off a wolf, because it is so hard for the wolf’s teeth to penetrate the curls to bite the skin. Those long locks also make a Puli virtually waterproof, which is probably why many European canal boat owners used Pulis to guard their homes.

These dogs are a lot of fun, because they are highly intelligent and keep a sense of puppy-like playfulness all their lives. However, if you are considering having one as a pet, you should know that Pulis need a lot of exercise. You’ll be happiest if you both enjoy an active, outdoor lifestyle.

Jackie, your Mom is right that you don’t see too many Hungarian Pulis in the U.S. these days. But, did you know this is an ancient breed that has been around for a long time? There is historical evidence of Pulis in Asia at least 2,000 years ago!

Thanks for uploading your photo and telling us about your best friend!

Photo: American Kennel Club

February 8, 2011

Over the summer, I got a call from Barnes and Noble. "Hey Seymour," they said. "We’re making the first color reader for kids. How would you like to write a book for us that we can give away to every single person who either buys a NookColor device, or downloads the NookColor app for their iPad?"

That sounded pretty good to me, so after some discussion, we decided to create a book called FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS. I did a lot of research to come up with unusual and surprising facts about common (and not so common) household pets.

The 11 pets profiled in this book are:

Bunnies, cats, dogs, goldfish, guinea pigs, hamsters, lizards, parakeets, pot-bellied pigs, snakes and Shetland ponies. 

 Do you know why cats go night crazy?

Have you ever heard that pot-bellied pigs are so smart that some can open the refrigerator when they are hungry?! And you’ll discover that dogs’ feet sweat (and why). The book is really a lot of fun, and to top it off, actress Leslie Carrara (Abby Cadabby) does a spirited, funny reading that gives the book a dose of extra pizzazz!

Thanks to all the folks at Barnes and Noble.com for working with us to make this special eBook available free to all my readers. Go to the page for FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS on my website, where you will find links to either download the free book for your NookColor, or a link to download the NookKids app for your iPad.

Happy reading!

February 8, 2011

Can you think of animals with webbed feet that act as paddles in the water? Pond and underwater frogs have them; so do ducks and other waterfowl. How about dogs? Dogs that are bred to work in the water - such as Newfoundland, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Portuguese Water Dog, Field Spaniel, and German Wirehaired Pointer - all have webbed feet.  Little known fact, but absolutely true.

Photo: Senior Airman Julianne Showalter

February 4, 2011

We certainly have a lot of dog lovers at SeymourSimon.com! Last week we had a whole class take a poll and upload the results of their question about "kids’ favorite dogs." Today, Cassidy from Pennsylvania uploaded this photo. She wrote:

"This is a picture of a dog I saw online and want SOO bad! It’s so cute and I thought you would like it too because you write about animals and all KINDS of different interesting stories! Nice job Seymour! Keep it up."

This is a photograph of a Labrador retriever puppy….which interestingly is also the breed that came in number one in the class poll last week.

So what do YOU think? Are Labradors number one? Is there another breed of dog that you think is the absolute best? Click on COMMENTS (below), and let the world know about a dog that you love.

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