胡楊

We were having a picnic in the park the other day when we overheard an interesting conversation between two dogs：

日前我們在公園野餐，無意中聽到兩只狗之間有趣的對話：

Dog 1： Hey Charlie！What have you got there？ Is that a t-bone？

狗1：嘿，查理！你到那里去了？這是丁字牛排嗎？

Dog 2： Whats up， George？ Yeah， its a t-bone. You want to chew on it？

狗2：怎么了，喬治？是的，是丁字牛排。你想吃嗎？

Dog 1： No， thanks！ Did you already eat the steak？

狗1：不，謝謝！你已經(jīng)吃了那塊牛排了嗎？

Dog 2： Unluckily， no！Its so frustrating. They said I was a good boy and they had a treat. I could see the steak right there on the plate. Next thing you know， the meat is on the grill1 and they throw this bone at me.

狗2：不幸的是，沒吃！這太令人沮喪了。他們說我是個好孩子，然后自己享用了美食。我可以看到盤子里的牛排。接下來，你知道，肉在烤架上，他們把這塊骨頭扔給了我。

Dog 1： Wow， thats just rude. Did you wag your tail and give them the sad eyes？

狗1：哇，那太粗魯了。你有沒有搖尾巴，并用悲傷的眼神望著他們呢？

Dog 2： Of course， I did！Its like they dont know me at all！It was a huge missed steak！

狗2：當然了！可是他們就好像根本不認識我一樣！這是一塊巨大的、錯過的牛排！

Their conversation gave us pause. Weve made the same mistake for many times in the past of giving a dog a bone without really considering whether theyd rather have a nice， juicy steak.

它們的談話使我們停下來思考。在過去，我們曾多次犯過這樣的錯誤：給狗狗一塊骨頭，卻沒有考慮過它們是否寧愿吃一塊美味多汁的牛排。

Even if they miss the steak， make no mistake： Dogs love bones. Recently， scientists have made some progress in figuring out why it is that dogs love bones.

即使他們錯過了牛排，也別搞錯了：狗喜歡骨頭。最近，科學家們在找出狗為什么喜歡骨頭的問題上取得了一些進展。

Research has found out that modern dogs descended2 from wolves that， in turn， descended from ancient canines3.

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，現(xiàn)代的狗是由狼進化而來的，而狼則是古代犬科動物的后代。

Over time， these animals developed strong teeth that allowed them eat larger prey4. Those strong teeth and bones have been passed on to modern dogs. Since they can eat any part of their prey， including the bones， they did so and continue to do so today.

隨著時間的推移，這些動物進化長出了堅固的牙齒，使它們能夠捕食更大的獵物。那些堅固的牙齒和強壯的骨骼已經(jīng)遺傳給了現(xiàn)代的狗。由于它們可以吃掉獵物的任何部分，包括骨頭，所以它們?nèi)缃窭^續(xù)這樣做。

There are many good reasons for dogs to love bones. First of all， they can be tasty and nutritious5. Bone marrow6 is rich in fat and the bone hiding the marrow is high in calcium7. Meat left on the bone contains a lot of protein8.

狗喜歡骨頭有很多很好的理由。首先，它們既味道鮮美，又營養(yǎng)豐富。骨髓含有豐富的脂肪，骨髓中隱含大量的鈣。骨頭上剩下的肉里含有大量蛋白質(zhì)。

Chewing bones is also enjoyable for dogs. It reduces boredom and meets their innate9 urge to chew. Chewing can also stimulate the release of endorphins10， which makes them happy.

咀嚼骨頭也能讓狗感到愉快，緩解了無聊，滿足了它們天生的咀嚼欲望。咀嚼還能刺激內(nèi)啡肽的釋放，讓它們感到快樂。

Chewing bones is good for dogs teeth. As bones scrape11 their teeth， plaque12 gets removed， helping to reduce tartar13 build-up.

咀嚼骨頭對狗狗的牙齒很有好處。咀嚼的時候骨頭會刮狗狗牙齒的表面，這樣牙菌斑會被去除，有助于減少牙垢的形成。

Bones arent without risk， though. Veterinarians14 will tell you that some dogs simply dont have the teeth and jaw bones to chew bones. Other possible dangers include broken teeth， stomach problems， and infections15 resulting from bones poking holes in the stomach and intestines16.

然而，狗狗吃骨頭也不是沒有風險的。獸醫(yī)會告訴你，有些狗根本就沒有牙齒和頜骨來啃骨頭。其他潛在的危險包括牙齒破裂、胃病和由骨頭碎片在胃和腸之中戳洞引起的感染。

To avoid dangers， dogs should always be watched when theyre chewing bones. Owners should also be careful about what types of bones they give their dogs. For example， experts warn that owners should never give dogs cooked bones， since cooking makes them brittle17 and more likely to splinter18 when chewed.

為了避免危險，狗在啃骨頭的時候應該隨時處于監(jiān)督之下。主人也應該注意他們給狗吃的骨頭類型。例如，專家警告說，主人決不能給狗狗煮熟的骨頭，因為烹飪過程讓它們變得易碎，咀嚼時更容易出現(xiàn)碎片。

Raw marrow bones are best for dogs. Just make sure that the bone cant be swallowed whole. If you dont want to take any risks with raw bones， there are a variety of artificial bones specially made for dogs to chew.

對狗來說，生骨頭最好。要確保骨頭不能被狗完全吞下。如果你不想用生骨頭，怕狗狗吃生骨頭有危險的話，市場上也有專門做出來給狗咀嚼的人造骨頭。

1. grill [ ] n. 烤架，鐵格子 2. descend [ ] vi. 遺傳

3. canine [ ] n. 犬；[解剖] 犬齒 4. prey [ ] n. 捕食；被捕食的動物

5. nutritious [ ] adj. 有營養(yǎng)的，滋養(yǎng)的

6. marrow [ ] n. 髓，骨髓 7. calcium [ ] n. [化學] 鈣

8. protein [ n. 蛋白質(zhì)

9. innate [ ] adj. 先天的；固有的；與生俱來的

10. endorphin [ ] n. 腦內(nèi)啡；內(nèi)啡肽11. scrape [ ] vt. 刮；擦傷；挖成

12. plaque [ ] n. 血小板；牙斑 13. tartar [ ] n. 牙垢

14. veterinarian [ ] n. [獸醫(yī)] 獸醫(yī)

15. infection [ ] n. 感染；傳染 16. intestine [ ] n. 腸

17. brittle [ ] adj. 易碎的，脆弱的 18. splinter [ ] n. 碎片；微小的東西