About them we say that they are the best friend we can have. Loyal, helpful, empathetic, affectionate, they occupy a very special place in the history of humanity and are the most common pet in our homes. And yet, we still don't know since when, where, or how dogs stopped being wolves to become inseparable companions. Now two new studies published in Nature get a little closer to solving this mystery.

Trini Porta, a 52-year-old resident of Montoliu de Segarra, lives alone with a dog and two cats. Last January, she suddenly lost Cupi, a powerful dog she adopted from the Cervera pound ten years ago. An irreversible liver disease forced her to have him euthanized to prevent further suffering. The void he left is still raw. She doesn't hesitate to compare this loss to the loss of a person. "I've lost a member of my family, and many people don't understand that," Porta admits.

Natali takes her dog for a walk every morning through the streets of Camp de l'Arpa in the Clot neighborhood of Barcelona. Among the items she carries for her morning stroll, it's customary to find her dog's leash and bags for picking up its waste, as well as a small bottle of water to clean up any urine on the street. She always keeps it in her pocket. She explains that it's a habit she adopted when she got her dog a year ago. "I already had friends who did it. And I'd heard complaints in the neighborhood about those who didn't," the resident admits.

Most people have heard of therapy dog programs that provide companionship to people in hospitals, nursing homes, or special education schools. The dogs' company makes difficult situations less burdensome and has shown benefits for the mental and physical health of the participants. What may be less well known is that these dogs can also help children learn to read.

The big star of this year's Sitges Festival is Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who, unfortunately, didn't make it to the festival. "He stayed at my parents' house and is very happy playing with their dog," explains Ben Leonberg, the director of Good boy. Indy, of course, is his dog, who appears in almost every scene of a film that subverts the conventions of horror cinema by adopting the point of view of the typical quisso who, in these films, smells from an hour away that there is something evil in the basement or a spirit running around the attic. In Good boyIndy senses a supernatural presence that threatens his master and is consuming his health, but he has no way of telling him. Through his worried gaze, his alert expression, or his perked ears, we read all the emotions of an animal: loyalty, helplessness, anguish, and, above all, the fear of losing what you love most.

The long-standing and most reliable journalist David Cantero said this phrase on the radio program he has presented and directed since September, RNE afternoons: "If dogs ruled the Earth, our planet would be an infinitely better place." And since I'm an animal lover, and I keep them close and take care of them because they make me laugh every day, I'm on board with the new world order he proposes. Let the dogs rule, with their way of seeing the world.

It is estimated that there are approximately one million households in Catalonia with dogs, the country's most popular pets. It is no surprise, then, that programs featuring them tend to have good ratings. This is the recent case of Dog house, on RTVE, which has been one of the surprises of the summer for the public, with audiences that have consistently exceeded 10% of the screen share and have given it the leadership in prime time, despite being a low-budget format. We review this and other programs that feature dogs as protagonists (and even as recipients).

Wow, what a shock Netflix's 2025 animation crop makes. After excellent feature films like the new one from Wallace & Gromit or the phenomenon The K-pop warriors and such successful series as Devil May Cry and Asterix and Obelix: The Boss Fight, they only needed to finish paying it with a clumsiness like DisarrayThis animated comedy for adults, and very much for adults, also comes with an author's signature: that of the great Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of, among others,Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack and director of The Powerpuff Girls, Star Wars: Clone Wars and Hotel Transylvania. Aristocracy of the cartoon.

Jaume Fatjó, director of the Foundation chair Affinity Animals and Health, a clinical veterinarian from Vet Partners, gives us some useful tips for traveling with a dog or cat. When traveling by car with a dog, they must first get used to the vehicle. It's not advisable to take a long trip if the animal is unfamiliar with the car or van. This requires learning: starting with short trips with a pleasant experience (using toys or treats, for example). These can be gradually lengthened. However, the response will vary greatly depending on each dog's personality. If there is an initial negative reaction, Fatjó recommends contacting the veterinarian, who can provide medication to prevent motion sickness or dietary supplements to help them cope better with stressful situations.

After spending at least three days tied up and locked in an abandoned car on Tor Mountain, in Pallars Sobirà, four dogs were freed and taken to a private facility in the municipality, awaiting transfer to an animal shelter. According to sources from the Rural Agents corps, the operation to free the animals was launched this Tuesday after a resident of the municipality called 112 that the animals had been locked inside the vehicle for several days.

As every year, road trips increase in number, coinciding with the arrival of summer and the long-awaited holidays. It is estimated that there are more than 11 million pets in Spain, 85% of which are dogs and cats, and a significant proportion travel with their owners or families during leisure and recreational trips during the summer months.

The program called Beastly date which now broadcasts on TV3 every Wednesday explains more than just the need for abandoned dogs to be adopted by people who want one. Visitors to the corresponding establishments do a great favor to the animals themselves and, in the process, to the animal shelters. The program goes beyond what, years ago, Pol Izquierdo had directed, which was called Beasts, which showcased the care that dog lovers have for these animals—surely the most perfect creation of all those featured in Genesis, even though it doesn't expressly speak to them.

On Wednesday night, A beastly date moved from the digital platform to television as a preview of the summer programming. The program, hosted by Candela Figueras, promotes dog adoption. It was the thirteenth most-watched program in Catalonia that day, with an audience of 179,000 viewers and a 10.7% share. It's nothing to write home about, but it's a much more worthy and effective result than formats that have cost the network much more money.

People walk by and take notice. It's a small but striking yellow shop. We're standing in front of Voilà Concept Store (Plaza Narcís Oller, 1), the first dog bakery in Barcelona. Its owner is Milly Yang, who has been living in Barcelona for a few months. She was born in China and went to study in Toulouse at the age of 20. There she heard about Catalonia and Catalan, and it was also during this time that she visited Barcelona for the first time. After finishing her studies, she moved to Paris, where she worked for ten years for luxury clothing brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior. "For a while, I changed jobs a lot because when I was young, I believed that getting promoted was what gave meaning to life," says Milly Yang. "After a good while, I realized I wasn't happy." Seven months ago, she arrived in Barcelona on vacation and didn't want to return to Paris. "Paris is a beautiful city, despite the Parisians. People here are much nicer. Everyone there is much more stressed," she explains, and then her boyfriend, Boris Meyer, a photographer and Parisian, arrives and confirms it.

What would you do if you could extend the life of your pet? start-up American company Loyal wants to launch a pill to make this possible before the end of this year, according to the company itself. In fact, last week it took a step closer to achieving this: the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certified the efficacy of one of its drugs, the LOY-002 pill. It is a daily treatment intended to prolong the healthy life of dogs over 10 years old. However, it would not be suitable for everyone: it would only be viable for those weighing less than 6.35 kg.

The number of people in Barcelona who live with dogs has not stopped growing in recent years, to the point that, according to the City Council, there are already over 180,000 dogs living in the city (174,316 of them identified with a chip, according to data from the College of Veterinarians), which is considerably more than, for example, the 171,863 children under 12 years of age who are registered on the census. But, despite the growth, the city has not yet resolved an important aspect for the coexistence with pets in squares and streets: defining where they can and cannot be let off the leash. This issue has been dragging on since 2014, when the Council modified the ordinance for the protection and keeping of animals to allow police to fine dog-owners whose pets were off the lead. At that time it was already agreed that the measure, which was to involve fines of at least €100, could not be enforced immediately because the city at that time was not ready: it was necessary to ensure that there were sufficient spaces for the recreation of dogs before prohibiting them to go off the lead.

Lima, a three year old cross between a warren hound and a pinscher, sits on the sand looking at the sea in Castelló d'Empúries. What must she think this brief moment when she stops playing and running? Her owner, Nicky, comes closer and caresses her. The two often come here because, living in Roses, it is close by. These 400 metres of Rubina are, in fact, one of the few places on the Catalan coast where dogs are allowed to swim. Moreover, they are allowed all year round and without restrictions, which does not happen in the rest of the beaches that accept dogs. Each one is governed by its own regulations according to municipal regulations.

The announcement comes from 2014: Barcelona will fine dog owners who walk their dogs off the leash outside the designated areas. The problem was, then, that these spaces were scarce, small and poorly adapted to the needs of animals. Therefore, the amendment of the ordinance for the protection and possession of animals that included these new penalties came into force linked to a moratorium: until there were enough spaces enabled there would be no fines for carrying pets off leash. Now the city already has 113 recreational areas for dogs, 41 of them over 400 square meters, but has not yet deployed the so-called shared-use areas (ZUC), which are those spaces where, in certain time slots, dogs can walk off leash and without the limitation of any fence, whether parks, streets or squares. It has to define one in each neighbourhood -a total of 73-, but the subject is dragging from the last term, when there were tensions between the municipal government and the entities representing dog owners due to some of the proposals, which animal rights advocates considered insufficient. Now the political guardianship of the project has changed hands and has corresponded to the socialist Laia Bonet, who inherited the list and today has explained in committee that some of these proposed spaces, which have not been made public, are now occupied by extraordinary school uses due to the new needs of the pandemic.