QUIRKY MONDAY NEWS PICKS

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Advert that could drive your dog barking mad: Commercial that ‘talks’ to your pet to go on air tomorrow

• Advert contains high frequency noises which can only be heard by man’s best friend
• Whistling, barking and bell ringing in one minute clip also attracts canines

With so many brands of dog food on the supermarket shelves it can often be difficult to know which one to buy for your beloved pet.

But the difficult choice may not rest solely on the shoulders of dog owners anymore.

That’s because one dog food company is bidding to attract man’s best friend to its product and not man, with the UK’s first ever advert made especially for dogs.

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The barking-mad one-minute clip hopes to get the tails wagging, when it airs for the first time tomorrow, with high frequency noises above 17,000 Hertz – which can only be heard by dogs.

Although the sound is likely to go completely unnoticed by humans, it’s already proved a hit with canines.

The creators, Bakers, tested their ad by playing it to 12 dogs that were distracted with a toy.

If the clip made the animals’ stop playing and react in some way, it was deemed a success.

The advert, a canine take on iconic film The Italian Job, is also cleverly interwoven with sounds – including whistling, barking, and a bell ringing.

Previous research has suggested response to these noises depends on whether the dog has experienced it before.

Those who have heard whistling before, for example, may have the strongest reaction.

The advert is due to be screened on television for the first time tomorrow night on ITV1 at 7.15pm.

Mark Zaki, brand manager for Bakers, added: ‘We are always looking for new ways to deliver an engaging experience for our consumers.

‘With these special sounds we hope this delivers enjoyment for both dogs and their owners.’ / dailymail.co.uk

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Forget the muscles: It’s a man with ‘golden’ healthy skin that attracts women

Men with a healthier skin colour are more attractive to women than those with a masculine face, according to new research.

The study used photographs of 34 Caucasian and 41 black African men’s faces in controlled conditions to measure the skin colour of their faces.

It revealed that women found men more attractive if they had a more ‘golden’ colour skin.

Dr Ian Stephen, who led the research, used a new computer technique to measure mathematically how masculine faces are.

Each face was then given a score.

Dr Stephen said: ‘The attractive colour in our face is affected by our health – especially by the amount of colourful antioxidant carotenoid pigments we get from fruit and vegetables in our diet.

‘They are thought to be good for our immune and reproductive systems, making us healthy and increasing fertility.

‘The masculinity of the face had no effect on the attractiveness of the face.’

According to Dr Stephen, when humans find a member of the opposite sex attractive their brains are telling them they are an appropriate mate.

In evolutionary terms, people who are recognised as healthy fertile mates will be more successful at having offspring.

Dr Stephen also believes eating your five a day will make you look better  than a tan would.

He said: ‘Most people think the best way to improve skin colour is to get a suntan, but our research shows that eating lots of fruit and vegetables is actually more effective.

He added: ‘Our study shows that being healthy may be the best way for men to look attractive.

‘We know that you can achieve a more healthy looking skin colour by eating more fruit and vegetables, so that would be a good start.’

The research was carried out by the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus where Dr Stephen is based. / dailymail.co.uk

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His mother wants him to be normal. I want him to be exceptional: ‘Eagle Dad’ of boy pictured running nearly naked through New York gives extraordinary interview

It showed a crying three-year-old Chinese boy forced to exercise in the snow in just his underpants. Posted on the internet by his father, the video of little He Tide shivering in -13C (9F) conditions while pleading for a hug has  now been seen by millions and  has sparked a worldwide debate about parenting.

For most, it amounted to child abuse. But some, muttering about how today’s children are mollycoddled, even thought there was some merit to this extreme form of tough love.

Now The Mail on Sunday has traced the boy’s father, businessman He Liesheng, who yesterday declared himself unmoved by the firestorm. He explained that the snow ordeal – which he filmed during a holiday in New York – was simply a small part of his extraordinary child-rearing regime for the son he has nicknamed Duo Duo – or ‘more more’. If all goes to plan, it will get him into a top university by the age of ten.

The father himself revels in the name Eagle Dad. He said: ‘Like an eagle, I push my child to the limit so he can learn how to fly.’

However, He Liesheng concedes that his techniques have strained his marriage, saying: ‘His mother just wants him to be a normal boy but I want him to be exceptional.’

The Mail on Sunday tracked down the self-styled ‘Eagle Dad’ to Nanjing in eastern China for his first interview with foreign media. In a striking example of the pressure exerted on children in modern China by the country’s strict one-child policy and its ‘get rich’ mentality, Mr He, 44, said that he believed his approach should help his son win an early place in a leading university – possibly, he hoped, China’s top-flight Tsinghua University.

Duo Duo – who turned four yesterday and, according to his father, is already showing signs of being a genius – has started classes in an elite private primary school where the youngest pupil is meant to be six.

His hours after school and at weekends, meanwhile, are filled with an exhaustive timetable of hill climbing, swimming, skiing, skating, chess and martial arts classes aimed at making him clever, strong and fearless.

His father obsessively micro-manages his life with meticulously detailed weekly schedules that cover every minute of his day, from the moment he wakes at 6am to bedtime at 8.30pm.

The schedule includes motivation sessions during which his parents deliver a series of special phrases – written by Mr He – to Duo Duo on a daily basis to encourage him to improve himself.

The approach has caused a rift between Mr He and his wife, He Longhui, 34 – but he denies that their marriage is in jeopardy,

Drawing a bizarre parallel with the US troops sent to kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan last year, Mr He said: ‘Those troops were specially trained – they were the elite. In the same way, I believe the way I am raising my son will make him special and better than everyone else.’

Duo Duo’s plight emerged after the family spent a winter break in New York, where the boy went to kindergarten for three months as part of his tailor-made education. On the morning of January 22 – Chinese New Year’s Eve – he was sent outdoors to run in the snow.

Speaking at his ornately decorated European-style apartment – which has a picture of Mr He meeting Chinese president Hu Jintao on one wall and a gilt-edged print of Napoleon Bonaparte on horseback on another – the wealthy businessman said: ‘I did it for three reasons.

‘First, I wanted to do something to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Second, I did it because China is developing very fast and I wanted to show that if a child can accept this kind of extreme education when they are young, they can overcome any difficulties the future might hold. And third, I did it because I want Duo Duo to be strong.’

The global backlash to his actions came as a surprise, he admitted.

He added: ‘I didn’t realise people would react in the way that they did. In China, about 60 per cent of people disapprove of what I did, 20 per cent approve and 20 per cent of people don’t know what to think. But I don’t regret what I did and I would do it again – or maybe another similar kind of exercise to make him stronger.’

Mr He got his son to do some warm-up exercises for 30 minutes in clothes before he stripped off, to prevent him from freezing.

He said: ‘We had my son’s agreement before we did this. We negotiated with him and we got his permission. This is my way to raise my child and I think it is a good way to raise a successful child. I don’t care about the negative reaction.’

On the contrary, Mr He appears to revel in his notoriety. His dining table and coffee table are covered in laminated Chinese newspaper cuttings of the story and he has hosted a stream of local TV crews since the controversy erupted.

He now plans to publish a book in his ‘Eagle Dad’ persona to promote his approach to parenting – and has even produced postcard-size prints of Duo Duo running in the snow in New York to hand out to visitors.

Explaining his philosophy, Mr He – who runs a company dealing in electrical appliances for export – said: ‘My approach to educating my son is aimed at making him successful in life.

‘I call myself the “Eagle Dad”. When the baby eagle is large enough, the mother takes it to the edge of a cliff and pushes it off.

‘When the young eagle falls into the valley, it learns how to fly. Some may die but most young eagles learn how to fly. It is an extreme form  of education.’

Mr He – who admits that he did not seek any expert guidance in preparing his child-rearing philosophy – decided on his approach after his son was  born two months premature, weighing just 4lb.

He said: ‘The doctors told me that  he might have suffered some brain damage and might have developmental difficulties. They told that me he would be a bit backward and not like other children.’

Apparently determined to prove them wrong, Mr He began to devise weekly rosters covering every moment of Duo Duo’s day.

The rosters include two motivational sessions at which his parents focus on perceived areas of weakness. On one, drawn up when he was aged two years and nine months, the sessions aim to stop him crying.

Mr He said proudly: ‘Soon after he would wake up, we would say to him, “Duo Duo, you mustn’t cry. You have to be strong.” After we did this, he improved and he stopped crying.’

The rosters also include 20-minute sessions set aside for praising and showing love to Duo Duo and a separate printed list of compliments for the boy’s mother to give him.

In one week the list of compliments – to be spoken directly into Duo Duo’s right ear, according to Mr He’s instructions – contained expressions including: ‘Duo Duo, you are the best. You are beautiful. You will grow up healthy. You are confident. You love physical activities. You will enjoy your life and your family.’

Mr He, who travels on business and has visited Britain and toured Cambridge University as a possible future destination for his son, said: ‘I am responsible for preparing the schedule. Duo Duo’s mother is responsible for carrying it out.

‘She doesn’t agree with the way I am raising him. Sometimes we quarrel about it. But she has seen how he has improved and so she agrees to carry out my instructions.’

Oddly, there are plenty of pictures of Mr He and Duo Duo on shelves and cabinets throughout their home but no pictures of Mr He’s wife. When I asked to see pictures of the three of them together, he produced one from a drawer.

She has stayed on in New York since Duo Duo returned at the beginning of February for what Mr He described vaguely as ‘personal business’ but he insisted that they spoke every day by video link and said she would return home within two months.

He added: ‘Of course, she has seen all the reports in New York and she is very worried about them.

‘I don’t know if she is angry or not – but it is true to say that she disagrees with my methods.’

Mr He said that he pressed ahead with his methods despite her objections because he was convinced that they were correct and worried that his son would not recover fully from his difficult birth if he softened his approach.

The result, Mr He claimed, is that his son had an impossibly high IQ score of 218 when he was tested at the age of 36 months. He cited other unlikely evidence for his genius – such as being able to hold chopsticks at the age of ten months and fly a kite alone at the age of three.

Mr He said: ‘I have five life goals for my son.

‘First, I want him to be healthy. Second, I want him to have a peaceful heart. Third, I want him to have harmonious relationships with everyone around him. Fourth, I want him to be rich. And fifth, I want him to have a mission in life.’

Rattled by claims that he might have damaged his son’s health by making him go out in the snow, Mr He brought along to our interview his family doctor, Wei Guo.

Dr Wei said: ‘He is perfectly healthy and normal. It did him no harm and he was in no danger because his father made him do warm-up exercises before he went out in the snow in his underpants.This wouldn’t be suitable for every child. Every child is different.’

Mr He said that he had been contacted by other parents keen to find out more about his methods.

Yesterday morning, as he spent his fourth birthday playing in a park followed by a local TV camera crew, Duo Duo himself seemed oblivious to the fuss surrounding him.

A sweet-natured boy whose father clearly dotes on him, he seems sensitive and – crossing a small rope bridge as his father yanked it from side to side to make it more challenging – showed no obvious signs of being a child prodigy.

My Chinese translator asked Duo Duo what he remembered about his run in the snow. ‘I was very cold and I was unhappy,’ he told her shyly, the experience etched indelibly into his memory. ‘Don’t make me do it again.’ /dailymail.co.uk

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Police forces on alert over deadly million-volt ‘Tasers’ disguised as mobile phones

Police forces across Britain have been warned to beware of a flood of high-powered stun guns disguised as mobile phones which are being smuggled into the country.

Operated by pressing a button on the side of the device, the weapons can disable victims with a million-volt charge – many times more powerful than a police Taser.

Authorities fear that the stun guns – marketed as personal protection devices – are increasingly becoming the criminals’ weapon of choice, with at least 10,000 estimated to be in circulation on Britain’s streets.

They are also becoming a threat to prison guards. A Chinese-made Kelon stun gun – identical to a Sony Ericsson K95 mobile phone – was recently found at Low Newton jail, where the mass murderer Rosemary West is an inmate.

Although illegal in Britain, the stun guns can be bought via the internet for as little as £15.

The fake phones feature electrodes at the top which create the shock. The slightest touch against  a target is enough to deliver the charge, either direct on to skin or through clothing. In extreme cases they may cause fatal heart attacks.

UK Border Agency officials have seized the devices at Manchester and Glasgow airports and at a  North London postal sorting office, raising fears that they are being imported in growing numbers.

The warning came in a recent security bulletin from the Ministry of Justice, which revealed that police had made a recent seizure of the stun guns disguised as mobile phones, ‘confirming the presence and likely circulation of the weapon in criminal circles’.

It added: ‘The gun presents as a regular mobile phone and, therefore, has the capacity to deceive, as well as cause injury. The recent  seizure at HMP Low Newton of a K95 stun gun reminds us of the need to remain vigilant to the threat.’

As well as West, inmates at Low Newton women’s prison in Durham include Baby P’s abusive mother Tracey Connelly and Kemi Adeyoola, jailed for stabbing an 84-year-old female neighbour to death.

Jail staff say the guns could be used to temporarily paralyse wardens. A senior prison source said: ‘These stun guns pose a dangerous new threat. There are fears they will be smuggled in to aid escapes and intimidate warders.’

The devices are marketed on websites as ‘non-lethal personal security weapons’ for defence against muggers. Claims of up five million volts are advertised for some models.

Warnings have also been issued about a second stun gun, the Pink Stinger, which is disguised as a  tampon. This version – which has yet to be found inside a jail – delivers 50,000 volts, but is still powerful enough to incapacitate a victim.

Because stun guns have very low amperage, serious or permanent injury is unlikely to result.

A security source said last night: ‘Police forces across the country have confiscated and destroyed an increasing number of these highly dangerous weapons.’

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: ‘This successful seizure demonstrates the vigilance of staff at HMP Low Newton. / dailymail.co.uk

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Student, 20, arrested for ‘frying hamster in a pan for ‘laughs’ at wild house party’

Police have arrested a 20-year-old student who is alleged to have cooked a hamster in a frying pan when a raucous house party got out of control.

Officers were called to the flat in York and were left horrified to discover the pet rodent dead in a frying pan in the kitchen.

They had broken up the wild party after calls from neighbours complaining about the noise and it is thought an investigation will now hinge on whether or not the hamster was already dead before it was fried.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed that a joint investigation has been launched with the RSPCA over the incident.

A spokesman said:  ‘A 20-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

‘He has been released on bail while inquiries continue.’

According to the RSPCA someone in the UK dials their 24 hour cruelty line, on average, every 30 seconds.

Last year they investigated 159,686 cruelty complaints and secured 2,441 convictions by private prosecution to protect animals against those who break the laws.

Last month, Paul Henry was sentenced to six months in jail after he cooked a pet cat to death in a microwave in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.

Lincoln Magistrates Court heard how 45-year-old Henry had cooked his friend’s beloved black and white moggy ‘Suzie’ after he was left home alone at his flat.

The cat’s owner Andrew Parsons, 38, returned from work to find the remains of the 18-month-old cat in the microwave oven and the words ‘Menu fried cat £1.20′ written on the kitchen wall of the flat.

District Judge John Stobart told Henry, that he was passing the maximum sentence the law allowed after describing it as the ‘worse case of animal cruelty’ he could imagine.

He told Henry the cat was killed in ‘the most brutal and sadistic way’ and added, ‘I can’t think of a worse case of animal cruelty.

‘When Andrews Parsons eventually returned home he was to find his TV broken, his light fitting destroyed and the cat dead in the microwave after suffering the most appalling death.

Prosecutions for animal cruelty have been enforced since 2007, when the Animal Welfare Act became law in England.

The Act places a legal obligation on owners and keepers of animals to care for them properly.

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