We wish everyone a very merry Christmas from PetInsuranceIreland.com.

Photo by Randy Robertson.

Halloween is well known for its witches and black cats, but how did black cats get such a bad reputation? When you look back at the history of the cat, they were not just used to kill mice and rats, the Romans highly revered them and the Ancient Egyptians even worshiped them. Cats were thought so highly of by the Egyptians, it is said that to kill a cat intentionally or by accident, was punishable by death.

It wasn’t until the 17th century that cats began to be persecuted. This was due to their association with witchcraft and Satan. The image of the black cat sat on a witch’s broomstick still stays with us today, and is a popular image/costume on Halloween.

Thankfully we know there is no such thing as a witch, and cats in general are now adored and loved by many, but why then are black cats still the least popular? Unfortunately many people are still superstitious of black cats, be it bad luck if you have a black cat turn its back on you, or meeting a black cat early in the morning. If you were to believe superstitions then you would think people would also believe the good luck that black cats bring, be it good luck to own a black cat, have a black cat enter your house or to touch a black cat, but unfortunately being superstitions, they are not logical reactions to black cats in the first place.

Superstitions aside and on a more serious note, if a cat happens to be born with a black coat, animal rescue centres are finding them a lot harder to home. These beautiful animals are for some reason not as popular or as fashionable, and many people who come to look at the cats at re homing centres are dazzled by the beauty of the tabby cat, or ginger and the many other striking cats waiting to be re homed. The poor black cat is often totally ignored.

It is sad to see any cat waiting for a home at an animal sanctuary, but to be over looked just because you have black fur is heart breaking.

Article by PetInsuranceIreland.com. Find the best deals on cat insurance in Ireland.

An adult female bottlenose dolphin with her young

As many as a hundred bottlenose dolphins have decided to take up their home in the seas of County Donegal.

Donegal Bay

The pod of dolphins have been spotted in Donegal Bay between Rossnowlagh Beach and Doorhin Head.

The dolphins delighting boaters, tourists and animal lovers.

Doolin

This week PetInsuranceIreland.com paid a visit to Doolin, County Clare.

In the local harbour we were delighted to spot a dolphin entertaining the local tourists.

Every time it glided to the surface it was greeted with “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd.

There are some great pictures of the dolphin on this page.

You can visit the Doolin tourist information website here.

Irish Dolphins

We thought we would put together a list of dolphin websites in Ireland if you want to find out more.

• IrishDolphins.com
• DoplhinWatch

If you have a website about dolphins in Ireland please get in touch.

Compare and review pet insurance in Ireland on PetInsuranceIreland.com.

Training a dog can be very difficult, especially if you have never done it before. Unfortunately, a lot of people will give up after they fall at the first hurdle. If you are going to train a dog then you need to be prepared to have a lot of patience. This is one of the most important things to remember. Without patience you are going to get nowhere with your dog. The worrying thing these days is that there are a lot of people who use different things to train their dogs that are completely unethical. This is why we at PetInsuranceIreland.com have written this quick guide to ethical methods of training your pet dog.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is so important when training a dog. If you are trying to teach your dog to do something and you sigh or frown when they have done it wrong then they will pick up on the fact that you are not happy with what they have done. This will not encourage them in any way, it will leave them feeling dejected and like they have failed to please you. The best thing is to encourage your dog and praise them all of the time when you are training them. Try not to show them that they have done it wrong, but rather encourage them to keep trying.

Treats are a great way of training your dog. However, it is not good to give your dog too many treats. Instead of using dog treats or bits of meat, why not use their favourite toy? Nearly all dogs love to play fetch with their favourite toys. Every time they correctly follow the command that you have given them, you can throw their toy for them. This will keep them happy and teach them that learning new things can be fun. You should always try and turn it into a game, as this will make them eager to learn more.

Clicker Training

Something else that you could look into is clicker training. A lot of professional dog trainers actually use this method. It doesn’t harm the dog in anyway at all. Basically, a dog clicker is a little box. When you press it, it makes a loud clicking noise. If you are teaching your dog something then you need to press the clicker every time they follow your command and then give them a treat. After a while, your dog will associate the sound of the clicker with a treat. This is a great method as there is no negativity when they are trying to learn new tricks.

The most important thing that you can remember is that negativity is not going to help your dog learn anything. Most dogs are incredibly loyal to their owners, and all they want to do is please you. However, you have to remember that dogs are not going to instantly understand what you are asking of them. Being angry or upset because they will not do what they are told is not going to help them in anyway, it will put them off. Being happy and smiley will help them. Before you know it you will have an extremely happy and obedient dog.

Article by PetInsuranceIreland.com. Compare and review pet insurance deals in Ireland.

Polar Bear photo by Tambako the Jaguar

All living polar bears can trace back their lineage to one single female brown bear who lived in Ireland.

She is estimated to have lived between 20,000 to 50,000 years ago.

Scientists were able to trace back the lineage using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

The matrilineal “MRCA” or “most recent common ancestor” can be traced back using MtDNA, which passed down via the mothers DNA.

This means that all living polar bears descended from this one single brown bear from Ireland.

The team from University College London found in total 242 different brown bear and polar bear mitochondrial lineages over the last 120,000 years. They discovered that the fixation of the mitochondrial genome seemed to occur during or before the peak of the last ice age, and in the region of modern day Ireland.

In humans we call the equivalent our “Mitochondrial Eve” – the woman from whom we are all related on our mothers side.

You can read more about the Mitochondrial Eve here.

Article by PetInsuranceIreland.com – pet insurance in Ireland.

Source: WiredUK – Mark Brown.

Photo by Tambako the Jaguar.