CANINE GENETICS

The internet's first information on canine phenotype, genotype, DNA, and the importance of dietary and environmental influences when performing health tests and genetic screenings.

ANIMAL IMMUNITIES AND INSTINCT

by Barbara Andrews, TheDogPlace.org Publisher and SAAB member

Bears and dogs are the same genesis, a suborder known as “caniformia” and you know bears love honey but did you know...

…a Tibetan Mastiff can smell meat a mile away, almost as well as his cousin the bear but more interesting, most carnivores, including your dog, like sweets, especially honey.

That isn’t news but it's summer, the pandemic is behind us and we are finally OUTSIDE. So is the bear and he's not only good at finding beehives (and has a thick coat that protects against bee stings), but he has “venom resistance” as is found in several snake species.

Wolves and dogs do not have that gene. Do you know why? The answer is actually a dose of logic. Snakes “fight” each other so it seems natural that they would have a venom-protective gene. Bears and badgers raid beehives so it makes sense that they can also ignore bee stings. As an interesting aside, PIGS have a similar anti-venom gene. Pigs can raid any food source!

You know that pigs have a voracious appetite. That makes them fierce foragers that will eat just about anything, including snakes, even venomous snakes! So…pigs have a genetic mutation that prevents binding of the neurotoxin in snake venom.

The mongoose, famous as “the snake killer” also has specialized acetylcholine receptors that make it immune to venom.

Dogs and wolves are of the same caniformia sub-order that includes bears, badgers and foxes but they are not so intrigued with honey and it is a good thing because they have no immunity to bee stings. Dogs lack that anti-venom gene even though they are widely believed to have diverged from bears over 20,000 years ago.

Your dog will wisely avoid snakes but he doesn’t seem to know that even a few bee stings can be as venomous as a snake bite. Unlike pigs, bears, and honey badgers which are genetically resistant to bee stings, dogs are very vulnerable. And as you know, puppies are particularly curious. Don’t let them learn the hard way. If you are out walking or hiking in the woods, keep your canine buddy in sight…

As an aside, it isn’t just the sweet taste that attracts animals and people to honey. Both species may subconsciously know that honey has multiple health benefits which work both internally and externally. HONEY HEALS so early humans, a long time before there were refrigerators learned to use honey to preserve meat by drawing out moisture. www.TheDogPlace.org has covered the incredible healing power of honey (especially for burns, see "Bee Pollen, Honey & Vinegar" display below) but did you know locally harvested, minimally filtered honey diminishes pollen allergies by exposing you and your dog to very low pollen particles?

There’s soooo much we don’t understand but we accept that animals just know stuff or they learn from their mother.  Think about this, instinct or learned? Who told buffalos to migrate to the hot springs? With their dense wooly coat, they sure don’t go there to get warm. They and other animals just know it as a “health spa" and interestingly, archeological evidence shows that the healing steam and water was known to the native Americans for at least 11,000 years.

TheDogPlace.org EST 1998 © Jul 2023 https://www.thedogplace.org/Genetics/Animal-immunities-and-instinct-b23A071.asp

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