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Better Pork Featured Articles

Better Pork magazine is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Pig pheromones: for a better-behaved dog

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

There's a new use for androstenone, the pheromone found in boar saliva that induces sows to mate. Animal behaviour scientist Dr. John McGlone of Texas Tech University has discovered it also has a calming effect on agitated dogs.

He told New Scientist that he made the "serendipitous finding" when he sprayed his own barking dog with the stuff. The dog was immediately silenced, and McGlone saw potential.

He then set up an experiment where dogs were sprayed with androstenone while simultaneously being subjected to a loud sound that would normally excite them. The spray was 100 per cent effective in calming the dogs. McGlone's study was published in Vol. 30 of The Professional Animal Scientist in February.

McGlone teamed with pet care company Sergeant's to market the spray. Vetscription PetSTOP!, available at Walmart stores across the United States, is said to be effective on both cats and dogs.

PetSTOP! will presumably be sold alongside existing pheromone therapy products that use Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) to calm stressed and anxious dogs. DAP products contain a synthetic hormone that mimics the pheromones given off by female dogs just after their puppies are born. BP

Current Issue

October 2025

Better Pork Magazine

Farms.com Swine News

Experiencing ag and culture in Portugal and Spain

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Canadians can experience agriculture and local culture in Europe next year. The Western Stock Growers’ Association (WSGA) has partnered with Leader Tours for an ag and sightseeing tour from Jan. 24 to Feb. 6, 2026. “We’re heading to Spain first,” Lindsye Murfin, executive director of... Read this article online

New Holland IntelliSense Tech Elevates Crop Efficiency

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

The IntelliSense system features a forward-looking sensor mounted at the cab’s center line, allowing the sprayer to assess crop quality up to 50 feet ahead. It operates in two main modes: variable rate application and spot spraying. In variable rate mode, the system uses sunlight... Read this article online

Ag in the House: Sept. 29 – Oct. 3

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

MPs demanded answers about the carbon tax and Russian fertilizer during question periods last week. On Oct. 1, John Barlow, the Alberta Conservative MP for Foothills and the party’s agriculture critic, wanted to know why the government continues to apply carbon taxes to farmers. Prime... Read this article online

New mandate letter for Alberta’s ag minister

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Alberta’s minister of agriculture and irrigation has new directions from Premier Danielle Smith. Minister RJ Sigurdson received a new mandate letter on Oct. 2 laying out multiple items the premier wants him to focus on going forward. “This mandate is about building opportunity and... Read this article online

Electrifying weeds in P.E.I.

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

An electric shock is defined as a sudden discharge of electricity through a part of the body. Now imagine you’re a weed standing in a field, minding your yield-robbing business when suddenly – zap! That’s what’s going on at AAFC’s Harrington Research Farm in P.E.I. as researchers are... Read this article online

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