Motion capture technology has revolutionized the animation industry in the past few years, which allowed video-game animators to rapidly create realistic motions for people and animals. Remedy Entertainment, a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo, is responsible for some of the most popular video games in the past two decades. The company employees a Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Uuno, who helps them do motion capture for dog characters.
Remedy Entertainment’s animators put a motion-capture suit on him, which uses advanced camera technology to translate his movements into an animated 3D model. Uuno helps the team create various animations for their video games, which is a lot easier, simpler, and more realistic than animating a dog by hand. It’s very helpful that the Terrier is a fast learner and can easily do tricks. You can tell that he really enjoys his job and is rewarded very well based on the smile on his face.
This Colombian German Shepherd Helped Get More Than 200 Drug Traffickers Arrested
Dogs have been found to be pivotal players in the war against drugs, as they possess both the sense of smell that allows authorities to detect and track down illegal substances. Colombia is one of the world’s largest producers and traffickers of substances and has a huge problem with menacing drug cartels and their operations. This is where Sombra (which means “Shadow” in Spanish), a six-year-old German Shepherd who works for the Colombian National Police, comes in.
This brave and talented police dog helps authorities find and arrest various illegal drugs in the country’s airports. She has been extremely successful in her duties and managed to help track down and arrest over 200 criminals who tried to send drugs overseas. This work culminated in more than nine tons of illicit narcotics being found, which made her a huge target for these cartels. Sombra has apparently attracted enough attention at this point to get her very own security staff to protect her, and she often gets transferred from airport to airport in order to keep her safe from harm.
Dogs Can Fetch Tennis Balls and Baseball Bats During Official Matches
If you’ve ever watched a tennis match or a baseball game, you know the disappointing and dull moments when the tennis ball gets missed by one of the players, who then has to walk on over to get it, bending slowly with a sad face before returning to the match. The same thing happens in baseball when a bat flies, usually nobody runs there, everyone just strolls over there looking disappointed. This was solved with the simple idea of taking man’s best friend and getting him to do what he loves best — play fetch.
Apparently, various tennis courts and baseball fields began employing dogs to help them fetch the respective ball or bat whenever they fly out of a player’s hand. This is quite amazing, as you can see the dogs running straight at the object with massive enthusiasm and happiness.
Great Dane
Great Danes are German dogs known for being the largest canines in the world. The tallest dog that ever existed was a Great Dane called Zeus, he broke the Guinness record with a standing height of 7 ft 5 in (2.26 meters). Great Danes were bred by the nobility in Europe who tried to create big and royal hunting dogs, and they were originally called "English Dogs", only to have their name changed later. The main defining characteristic of the Great Dane is obviously its size and particularly its height, which gives the dog a length-to-height ratio of a square.
They weigh between 110 to 180 pounds and live a relatively short lifespan of up to 10 years. Despite having an imposing appearance, they are actually very gentle and loving. Great Danes aren't aggressive nor prey seeking, and are even quite polite and sociable. They appear often in films and TV shows, such as Astro from The Jetsons, Fang (Hagrid's pet) from Harry Potter, and more.
This Pitbull Supports His Owner’s Neck During Seizures
The woman in this story has trained various military dogs for most of her professional career. Unfortunately, she had gone through a traumatic head injury that caused her to start experiencing epileptic seizures that include fainting and convulsing uncontrollably. That’s where Colt, the military dog trainer’s Pitbull, comes into the picture.
As you can see from the picture, what Colt does is position himself directly under his owner's neck, effectively acting as a soft surface that will cushion the blow if she ends up smashing her head on him rather than the hard floor. Colt has also been able to predict when his owner is going to have a seizure ahead of time. This ability can’t be explained by science at the moment, but it seems to be fairly well documented by his owner as a real phenomenon.