SitSpot Canine Center

10/23/2026

I know, it only specifies dogs and cats, it does not include primates, rats, goats, pigs or anyone else, but it is a start. I also do not see how often inspections will take place.

Governor Josh Shapiro has officially signed the bill into law on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

The new law (Act 92 of 2026) heavily restricts how testing is funded, bans specific types of tests, and creates strict welfare and adoption requirements for research facilities.
Here is exactly what the law does:

Where it Bans and Restricts Testing

Bans cosmetic testing: It completely prohibits testing cosmetics (like makeup or skincare) on dogs and cats, and bans the sale of any cosmetics that were tested on animals.

Cuts off state funding for painful research: It bans the use of Pennsylvania taxpayer money or state grants for any animal testing that causes pain or distress to a dog or cat.

Bans public funds for devocalization: It prohibits using state funds for surgical devocalization (bark-softening or debarking procedures) on research animals.

Protection and Adoption Mandates

Mandatory adoption opportunity: Research facilities are now legally required to offer dogs and cats for adoption through animal shelters or rescues once their time in the lab is over, rather than automatically euthanizing them.

Federal compliance requirement: Facilities cannot receive state funding unless they are fully compliant with federal Animal Welfare Act oversight.

Transparency and Enforcement

Public search links: Any facility performing research on dogs or cats must put a direct link on their website to the USDA Animal Care public search tool, allowing the public to see their inspection reports.

Attorney General enforcement: The law gives the Pennsylvania Attorney General the power to sue and penalize facilities that violate these rules.

If you want to help end animal testing even further, please contact your representative to be become co-sponsor- of three new bills:

PAAWS, PUPPS, COMPACT Act

The fight against animal testing continues!

10/23/2026

🍵🐶 GREEN TEA EXTRACT CUTS DOG CANCER CELL GROWTH BY 50% IN LAB TESTS! 🤯

Green tea contains powerful plant antioxidants called polyphenols, including EGCG. And canine research is uncovering some fascinating findings!

🔬 1. GREEN TEA & CANCER
A peer-reviewed Cornell University study published in BMC Veterinary Research found green tea extract inhibited cancer cell growth by 50% at specific lab concentrations across THREE canine cancer cell lines:

🐾 Mast cell cancer
🐾 Bone cancer (osteosarcoma)
🐾 Mammary cancer

🔥 2. LESS LIVER INFLAMMATION
In a 12-week canine study, green tea polyphenols reduced three major inflammatory signals: TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Researchers also observed less liver fat buildup and tissue damage!

🦠 3. BETTER GUT HEALTH
Another canine study found green tea polyphenols improved markers of intestinal inflammation and influenced gut bacteria.

🦷 4. ORAL HEALTH
Green tea catechins have been investigated for fresher dog breath. A multi-ingredient formula containing matcha also reduced dental plaque!

🍵 WANT TO TRY OUR DECAF GREEN TEA FOOD TOPPER?
From our bestselling book The Forever Dog LIFE, we’re sharing our organic decaf green tea recipe, including how to prepare it, how much to add to your pet’s meals and our simple ice cube hack!

💚 WANT THE RECIPE, SERVING GUIDE & MORE OF THE SCIENCE?

🐾 CHECK THE COMMENTS FOR THE LINK TO OUR FREE GREEN TEA GUIDE!

10/23/2026

Anyone interested in Border Collies????? Carol Price is truly an expert. This is a great article. Even if you don’t have BCs.

Today our breed expert, Carol Price, asks WHEN IS A BORDER COLLIE…NOT A BORDER COLLIE?

We frequently have followers sending us pictures of their dogs, asking us if we can tell them whether they are ‘pure’ Border collies, or collie crosses. As chances are that others will have already have told them they are one thing or the other, so they are still not sure. And that includes Becky Nokes, from north Wales, when it comes to her rescue dog, Casper – they are both pictured here.

“The rescue we got him from said he was a collie cross,” she says. “But I have also had a collie trainer says to me that he believes he is a ‘full’ collie. He definitely has a lot of the collie traits and is very clever. Though has no interest in sheep!”

WHAT IS A ‘PURE’ BORDER COLLIE?
So just to make the point, first, that many Border collies will show no interest in sheep whatsoever. So it is no clearer sign that your dog is not a ‘true’ Border collie. If you know your dog had parents who were a Border collie and another breed, then they are definitely a collie cross.

The only way to know for SURE if your dog is a pure Border collie is if they have official pedigree papers proving it. I.e. they are registered, as such, with an appropriate Kennel Club and/or working dog organisation in your country. Like the Royal Kennel Club and International Sheep Dog Association in the UK.

Other than that, the rest is purely up to more personal opinion - or conjecture! And the reason for this is quite simple. Border collies were only officially recognised as a distinct pedigree ‘breed’ by the (Royal) Kennel Club in the UK in 1976. This in turn led to a ‘breed standard’ being developed – purely for pedigree showing purposes - of what a Border collie should ideally look like, or be. So that dogs could then be more fairly judged, like with like.

What this also led to, over time, was the evolution of the prettier, fluffier BC ‘showdog’ which people then came to believe was the only ‘true’ Border collie, when it isn’t. It is a dog that simply became more genetically refined, over time, to have a more standard and aesthetically pleasing look, but still originated, some way back, from a wider gene base of working dogs.

BREEDS AND ‘TYPES’
Away from the show ring, and long, long before they became the more recognised ‘breed’ we view Border collies as today, they were just a TYPE of working/herding/droving dog. Who came in all sizes, shapes, colours and builds, depending on what function they were required for. Sometimes you needed bigger and more powerful sheepdogs to manage livestock, and sometimes you needed much smaller and more agile ones to work between the stock, or get into smaller spaces.

Either way, they were genetically selected less for what they looked like, and more for what they could DO. So it is what a breeder, farmer or shepherd needed a dog to DO that shaped the look of the dog and nothing else.

So basically people keep getting a Border collie ‘type’ of dog – which still exists everywhere today - mixed up with some version which they imagine has a ‘purer’ breed heritage. When the only dogs who have that appear on pedigree databases. If your dog has two parents registered on a working or KC database as Border collies, they are pure Border collies. Everything else can be down to speculation, and everyone may have a different idea of what a ‘true’ Border collie should look like, or be.

I am also not sure how DNA ‘profiling’, of a kind that is available today, can define what ‘true’ Border collie genes even look like, given how many other breeds have gone into evolution of these working dogs over time. Personally there can be some features suggesting to me that a dog is not even a Border collie type; once they get above a certain size, for example, or have noticeably less agile builds, and far wider or broader skulls. But it remains such a fascinating subject that it would be interesting to hear what others think. And also whether or not they think Casper really is a Border collie – type!

All text © Carol Price 2026

10/23/2026

10/18/2026

One of the many Recaller games from Susan Garrett. I teach my Total Recall classes this and more. This game teaches the dog self control and focus. She broke the sit a couple of times at the start and I just put her back. No scolding. She just needed a reminder to listen to the verbals. We had not played this game in a while.