A meeting on Vlieland island beach.
Some dogs don’t know their own size. This one didn’t. He had a real big attitude for such a small dog.
Many dogs don’t feel small or big, even when they are a tiny Jack R. or a big Dane.
Size don’t seem to matter to them, they won’t let it bother them.

Recent canine research by Elaine Ostrander of the ‘National Human Genome Research Institute’ proved
that dogs have the largest variation in body size of any land animal group on earth.
It’s a genetic thing. Elaine found that it all has to with ‘dog chromosome 15’ and a gene named ‘IGF1’:
“in small dog it breeds a mutation in the sequence next to this gene that keeps the dogs from growing larger”.

Elaine and other humans believe this is an important discovery.
It can improve the understanding of cancer and other diseases.
Dogs and humans are very much alike, they share 85 percent of their genetic makeup.
Interesting stuff, huh?

Have a fine Easter!
-Anna