Dog

It's important to keep a healthy work-life balance, and if you can't take a walk in the park, you should take a page from Yale Law School and spend some time with a four-legged friend. The school is testing out the idea of therapy dogs, and will have a dog named Monty that can be rented out to stressed students for 30-minute intervals starting Monday, reports the New York Times.

The dog will be placed in a private area of the library, but students might have to rush to sign up for slots as the trial will only last for three days. “It is well documented that visits from therapy dogs have resulted in increased happiness, calmness and overall emotional well-being,” librarian Blair Kauffman said in an email.

This type of arrangement might not be good for Monty's mental health, but I think the idea of having animals to relieve stress is definitely a good one. Instead of "renting" out animals, offer to pet sit for your friend or neighbor and you can also choose to volunteer at a local pet shelter.

Uh, oh. tsharp25 shared these before and after pics in the Spotted! group:

Axle was so clean and shiny moments before his mud facial. To see the "after" photo, read more

Check out this adorable picture shared by member enginerdette in our Pet of the Day group in the Pet Community!

Yorkie Musubi attempts to melt your heart with her eyes . . . and succeeds!

Have any cute pet pics of your own to share? Post them to the Pet of the Day group in the PetSugar Community and they might even be featured on PetSugar!

Seven-year-old Chaser, a Border Collie in North Carolina, knows how to sit, stay, and fetch. Big deal, right? Until you hear this: she can also recognize and respond to over 1,000 other words.

Chaser's owner, John Pilley, is a college professor — with a ton of patience. After hearing of another pup who'd been taught over 200 words by his master, Pilley decided he could do better, so he set to work training Chaser when she was still a puppy. After years of learning one or two new words a day, Chaser can now recognize hundreds of toys by name (that pooch must have some toy box!). She can also correctly follow commands like "Fetch a ball" and "Fetch a Frisbee."

Next up, Pilley's going to attempt to teach Chaser basic grammar. Does this inspire you to expand your pet's vocab?

When you're drowning in debt, you can lose your home, your car, and more. But as long as you're not in Russia, your puppies will be safe.

A woman in Kamchatka, Russia had three of her precious Shar Pei puppies taken away from her because she did not pay up the $11,330 she owed to someone in her hometown, reports Reuters. The collectors stated on their website that if the debtor "does not fulfill her obligations (to pay back the debt) within 10 days, the puppies will be sold by the Federal Agency for State Property Management."

Do you think this is a low blow or did the woman deserve it?

This adorable photo comes from community member Happsmjc in the PetSugar's Dress Up and Play Extravaganza! group.

Happy Easter

Love,

Patterson (& Emmy too!)

PS: I can't believe he puts up with me!!

If I haven't taken my pooch out for her daily romp, she'll let me know, either by dumping over the garbage can in the kitchen or by giving me that hopeful look. I can't not take her out for a daily walk or run because I feel like I'm letting her down. That's part of the reason new research from the University of Missouri shows that when it comes to exercise buddies, canines are better than humans.

In the 12-week study, 35 people were assigned a walking program for five days a week, while 19 served as the control group. Of the walkers, 23 selected a friend or spouse to exercise with, and 12 walked dogs at a local animal shelter. Those walking dogs were more consistent about keeping up with a regular routine, while those walking with other humans often skipped workouts. Researchers would hear one person say to her human walking companion, "It's hot today. I don't want to walk, do you?" On the other hand, those walking with dogs were eager to get to the animal shelter to walk their pooch because they knew the dog would always be excited to see them and go for a walk. The dog walkers also walked 28 percent faster than they did alone, while those walking with humans only had a 4 percent speed increase.

Pretty interesting, huh? I'm curious to know, what type of exercise buddy do you work out with more, a furry or human one? Tell me when you visit RunningSugar.

Source: Jupiter Images