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Dog mom shares adorable video of the 'chores' her pitbull pup thinks she’s doing

No one can call her a freeloader.

via Stiv XTZ/Pexels

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.

Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

The mom says Rhubarb has chores because “we didn’t raise a freeloader.”

Here are 5 “chores” that Rhubarb has mastered.

@rhubarbthedoggo

No freeloaders on my watch 🙅🏻‍♀️ #pittiesoftiktok #dogtiktokers #dogsoftiktok #pitbulllove #pibblelove #pibbles #pibblemixesoftiktok #pitbullmix #dogfluencers #doggotiktoker #dogmomsoftiktok #dogmomlife #dogmoms #dogtiktokviral #dogmomma #prettypitty #prettypittie #prettypitties #dogrelatable #relatabledogmom #relatabledog


1. Makes sure the laundry doesn't get cold

Translation: Sits on top of the clean laundry, ready to be folded.

2. Unlicensed therapist

Translation: Gives us kisses when we're tired or feeling down.

3. Supervise repairs

Translation: She gets in the way when you're in a compromised, uncomfortable position with a wrench in your hand.

4. Alerts us when there's an intruder

Translation: Stands at the window and barks furiously at the mailman.

5. Keeps mum's spot warm

Translation: Lays in her spot on her favorite chair in the living room.

The video inspired some funny responses in the comments.

“He’s carrying that household on his back. Give him a raise."

“Obviously the most valuable member of the household."

"Rhubarb needs a little vacation from working so flipping hard!"

"Hardest worker there ever was."

"He's carrying that household on his back."

Here's to Rhubarb, for earning his keep, and being adorable while doing it. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

This article originally appeared last year.

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8th grader's award-winning experiment finally reveals if dog's mouths are cleaner than ours

We've heard the myth. Now read the science.

Photo credit: Canva
Should you let a dog lick your face?

They don't call them Man's Best Friend for nothing. With nearly half of the households in American having at least one dog, there's a lot people need to know about them. Our furry friends come in wide variety of breeds, each with their own unique traits and needs. "Man's best friend" can be a guardian, a helpful worker, a loyal friend, and a snuggly companion, but there's one thing almost all dogs have in common: Licking.

Some dogs lick way more than others, but it's rare to find a dog who never licks anyone or anything. Many dogs communicate and show affection by licking, which is sweet—if a little gross—depending on how slobbery they are. There's a common saying that dogs' mouths are cleaner than humans', which is a bit hard to believe when you see what some dogs put in their mouths, but it is true?

What does science say about dog tongues and saliva? Is a dog licking our face something we should worry about?

dogs, dog mouths clean, dog tongues, dog licking, should you let a dog lick your face We've all heard the myths about dog mouths. Are they true? Photo by James Barker on Unsplash

It turns out, the answer to whether a dog's mouth is cleaner than ours isn't super straightforward.

An 8th grader named Abby tackled this question in a science experiment that won her a Young Naturalists Award from the American Museum of Natural History in 2011. Her family had gotten a dog and her mom kept telling her not to let the dog lick her face because dog mouths are full of bacteria. Instead of arguing, Abby decided to find out herself if this was true.

"I hypothesized that human tongues would be cleaner than dog tongues," she wrote. "I thought this because humans brush their teeth at least once a day. I hypothesized that dogs' tongues would be dirty because they were always licking dirty things like garbage."

After diving into the research about bacteria that live in and on humans and dogs, Abby decided she had a testable hypothesis. But this wasn't any old middle school science experiment. She applied for and got a grant to the State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa, where she was assigned a mentor to work with her.

You can read the nitty gritty details of her experiment here, but it involved a lab, swabs, agar plates, and more. Here was the conclusion:

dogs, dog mouths clean, dog tongues, dog licking, should you let a dog lick your face "Will I continue to let my dog lick me? Yes!" Photo by Ashley Levinson on Unsplash

"I concluded that dog and human mouth flora are very different. (Flora means the bacteria found in a mouth or anywhere else.) The bacteria found in human mouths are more similar to another human's oral bacteria than the bacteria found in a dog's mouth.

"I also concluded that dogs' mouths are cleaner than humans' in some ways, and dirtier in other ways. Humans have more bacteria in their mouths than dogs do, based on the total number of bacteria. Most of the humans had a 'moderate' number of bacteria, and most of the dogs had 'few' bacteria. A possible explanation of this might be that dogs pant a lot, and maybe while panting, bacteria falls off their tongues along with their saliva. But dogs had more types of bacteria. The average number of different bacterial colonies in a dog's mouth was about 5.7. The average number of different bacterial colonies in a human's mouth was about 4.1. I think this is so because dogs sniff and lick a variety of things, like carpets, floors, chairs, grass, etc., so they pick up bacteria from many places."

But what about the licking of our faces? That's a bit of a subjective call, but Abby's results gave her some peace of mind:

"In conclusion, will I let my dog continue to lick me? The answer to the question is yes!" she wrote. "I will feel guiltless about letting my dog lick me because I found out that human and dog oral bacteria are different, so my dog's oral bacteria present no harm to me."

dogs, dog mouths clean, dog tongues, dog licking, should you let a dog lick your face Kisses approved by science. Giphy

What do the experts say?

According to Colin Harvey, professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine and executive secretary at the American Veterinary Dental College, comparing dogs' mouths to humans' mouth is "like comparing apples to oranges." As Abby found, the microbes in a dog's mouth are very different than those in a human's.

The American Kennel Club elaborates:

"Most of the bacteria in your dog’s mouth aren’t zoonotic, which means you probably won’t get a disease from a big old doggy kiss. There are exceptions to this. Dogs that eat a raw diet are at an increased risk of contracting salmonella, which can be spread to humans. You also probably shouldn’t share kisses with a dog that regularly raids the litter box.

In other words, kissing your dog is less risky than kissing another human, but that doesn’t mean that your dog’s mouth is necessarily cleaner than a human’s—they just have a mostly incompatible set of germs."

dogs, dog mouths clean, dog tongues, dog licking, should you let a dog lick your face Not necessarily cleaner, but different. Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash

Keeping your dog's mouth healthy through regular teeth cleaning and dental check-ups can also help prevent issues that could potentially come from dog licks.

So there you have it. If your dog doesn't eat a raw diet and doesn't go snacking in the cat box (or some other equally fecal-bacteria-ridden place), their kisses are probably not going to hurt you. Guilt-free pooch smooches for the win!

This article originally appeared in April. It has been updated.

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Mom accidentally sets timer instead of alarm and has whole family ready for school at 2 a.m.

"That momma is tired. She needs a special day for herself."

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Alarm clock snafu cause mom to accidentally wake the whole family up at 2 a.m. for school.

No one prepares you for how your life will change when you become a parent of school-aged children. I was shocked to suddenly find myself waking up at 6 a.m. for breakfast and getting ready when my oldest started elementary school. At 6 a.m., it's generally still dark outside and for all intents and purposes, it feels like the dead of night.

So it's no wonder one mom had a little snafu with her alarm clock and didn't even notice.

A mom who goes by Tanis on social media reports in a recent video that instead of setting an alarm for 5:50 a.m., she accidentally set a timer for 5 hours and 50 minutes. It's a relatively easy mistake to make if you're using your iPhone for everything, as most of us are.

When the alarm went off, mom rushed into action, waking the kids, rousing her husband, throwing breakfast together, and getting everyone dressed. Parents know that the morning routine often runs on auto-pilot. Your brain is barely on, but your body knows what needs to be done.

It wasn't until the whole family was standing in the kitchen, all ready for the day, that Tanis realized it was 2:30 in the morning.

She and her husband had a good laugh, while the kids look less than thrilled. In the end, she tells them to just go back to bed and "sleep in your clothes."

@tanis___

everyone went back to sleep in their clothes… we woke back up at 6:30 & my kids had trust issues getting to school saying there was still stars in the sky and to make sure it was time 🤣 mom fail. #funny #momfail #schoolthings

The video went massively viral, racking up 20 million views on TikTok. Parents everywhere could relate.

Many saw the hilarious incident as a clear sign that Tanis needs a day off, which checks out. Parenting burnout is running high and moms and dads are juggling way more responsibilities than they can handle. Sometimes, that contributes to little mental errors like this one.

Here are some of the responses to the video:

"Its honestly a big sign she needs a break"

"That woman needs a spa day"

"That momma is tired. She needs a special day for herself"

But the overwhelming sentiment from most viewers was respect and admiration, not only for Tanis' leadership in the household, but the family dynamic as a whole:

@tanis___

Replying to @🌄 top funniest comment. I had to respond, now please let me know which cruise line I should save up for bc I’m definitely gonna continue saving for that. I need recommendations 🫶🏻 thank you everyone! #funnycomments #viralvideo #funny #cruise

"That’s not a fail, that’s elite-level leadership.Your army follows orders without question even at 2:30am."

"Shows you how the whole family relies on mom. You deserve credit mom"

"Hair curled... kids up... husband up... breakfast made... you ARE A ROCKSTARRRR "

"The fact that you guys were laughing and not fighting shows that you are a great family. No crying from the kids, no anger from your husband, honestly I’m jealous"

It's true what they say about families: the best stories and memories usually come from disasters like this one.

Gil Greengross writes for Psychology Today that painful, even tragic moments, often become funny to us over time. One reason is that being able to laugh at a difficult moment helps us cope with the difficult emotions of it. Parenting, in particular, can be extremely difficult on a day-to-day basis so having a strong sense of humor is immensely helpful.

It's also true that the days that go as planned, where the morning routine goes off without a hitch, run together and go by in a blur. When disaster strikes, it becomes something unique and memorable that the whole family can bond over—even if you don't find it funny at the time.

Still, it's awesome that Tanis and her family were such good sports about their rude awakening. Let's hope they all get a much deserved chance to sleep in one day real soon.

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Why you might try peeling your bananas the way monkeys do

Our primate friends are onto something here.

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Monkeys and humans peel their bananas very differently.

Modern humans really like to argue about how to do simple things around the house. Families have fractured over how to load the dishwasher, or whether to hang the toilet paper roll over or under. We have strong opinions, get set in our ways, and refuse to change even in the face of compelling evidence.

There's a new debate raging and, believe it or not, it's all over the humble banana. For example, a recent Reddit thread with over 10,000 comments featured a wife and husband fiercely arguing over how, specifically, a banana should be peeled.

If you're like me, you didn't even know there were multiple ways to peel a banana. I've always grabbed the stem, angled it downward until the peel cracked open, and then peeled. Admittedly, it's not a perfect method. Sometimes the banana, if not perfectly ripe, with get smushed in the process. Or the stem may bend without splitting the peel open, leaving you wiggling back and forth until you give up and go get a knife.

Apparently, there is a better way. And all we have to do is watch how the monkeys do it.

YouTuber Anthony Crain of Cooking For One explains: "They ought to know. They know bananas." Instead of cracking the peel at the stem, primates squeeze the bottom end together (sometimes playfully referred to as the butthole of the banana) and the peel pops open, as if by magic.

"If you go from [the bottom end], it always works, no matter how ripe or unripe the banana is."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Though the bottom-first method of banana peeling works great—and some even swear you get less stringy things (called "phloem bundles") this way—not everyone is convinced.

Though no official statistics exist as to what percentage of people peel their bananas from the stem, almost everyone I've ever met does it. And many of them are not looking to change their minds or methods any time soon.

"Monkeys also fling [poop]. Just cause monkeys do it doesn't automatically make it correct," one Redditor wrote.

"I am not a monkey; I will open it how I like," said another.

Others swore that once they tried the monkey technique, they never went back:

"When I heard you could do it by using the B side I tried it and it's super easy. Works every time and doesn't damage the inside. I've been using B ever since."

"This post ... is going to start a civil war," one user joked.

"Honestly this is one of the most interesting comment sections I’ve seen. I would never guess it was this divided," another added.

Top or bottom aren't the only banana-opening options available. Some people break bananas in half in the middle and peel from there. Others snap it open like a matador cracking a whip.


@yunggecko_

Magic banana? 🪄🍌 #fyp #foryoupage #magic

For as many different varieties of edible fruit that exist in the world, there seem to be just as many fascinating ways to access them.

Have you ever seen the pomegranate whacking method of removing those pesky seeds?

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Or how about the no-knife method of popping out avocado pits with just one hand?


@bearenger

#stitch with @_mynameischo OMG WHAT 🥑 #healthyrecipes #plantbased IB @tracesoats

As an apple connoisseur, I'm always interested in cool ways of slicing or coring an apple. I recently learned you can scoop the core out with a tablespoon or melon baller in about five seconds!


@jessicaygavin

2 Easy Ways to Core an Apple! #core #applestothecore #fruit #apples #easytips #cheflife

Truthfully, there's no wrong way to enjoy your fruit. You can peel your bananas like a monkey, or buy that little pointless doohickey from Amazon that slices it for you like knives don't exist.

Fruits of all kinds are delicious and contain tons of amazing nutrients for your body. What keeps it fun is always exploring new fruits, and yes, even new ways of peeling, coring, and eating them.

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