Happy New Year! Over the next few days, we’ll be seeing lots of best-of lists for 2021. Of course, no annual recap would be complete without Man’s Best Friend! A vet lists some top doggy highlights of 2021 below.

The Name Game

This year’s analysis of popular pet names found Covid-related dog names, as Fauci, Pfizer, and Zoom becoming quite popular. High-tech names, such as Siri and Google, are also on the rise.

Stress

Hate background noise? So does your dog! Researchers at the University of California found that common household noises, such as microwaves beeping, can be a source of stress for Fido. High frequency sounds, like smoke alarms, were the most upsetting. (We’re with you on that one, buddy.)

Fido Got A Stick Library

There are definitely a lot of wagging tails in New Zealand this year. After noticing a dire lack of sticks, Aaman named Andrew Taylor chopped some branches off his own trees to make a stick library for the local pups.

If The Slipper Fits

A Yorkie named Digger is a perfect example of how cute senior dogs are. After the pup’s owner passed away, he was brought to a shelter … along with an old slipper he simply refused to give up. The pooch and the slipper were adopted together.

Fido Lost Whamageddon … On Purpose

Researchers in Britain did a very serious survey of 1000 pups. The goal? Identifying Fido’s favorite holiday tune. The winner turned out to be Wham’s love-it-or-hate-it hit Last Christmas. In second and third place were Jingle Bells and Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, respectively.

A Very Good Boy

Every year, we hear some remarkable stories about dogs that have gone above and beyond to help their humans, sometimes saving their lives. That’s certainly the case with Henry, an 8-year- old Boston Terrier from Connecticut. This very good boy alerted his owners to the fact that their infant daughter was having trouble breathing. He’s credited with saving the baby’s life.

Mystery Solved

One interesting discovery this year shed some light on dogs’ coat pattern genetics. A gene responsible for very pale coats was discovered to be more than two million years old. It was traced back to one of Fido’s now -extinct ancestors, a relative of the modern wolf. We hope you have a wonderful new year. Please contact us anytime!