Posted on 11/03/2010 9:43:21 AM PDT by OneVike
All warm blooded animals were created by God to have five basic senses. However, when we lose our sight, or are born blind, we find it difficult to deal with a world made for those who see. Blind people cope in a world built for eyes by using trained guide dogs. It has been a partnership that both man and dog have learned to appreciate and love. Well, what I have for you today is a video of a German Spitz dog named Rowan, who was born with no eyes. Except for his owner who takes care of him, he has no seeing-eye human. I guess you can say he is blessed in that he still has the senses that all dogs use to communicate with each other. He also doesn't feel less of a dog because he cannot see. After all, as far as he is concerned, eyes don't exist for anyone. So how does he get around and learn his surroundings if he cannot see? Well, it seems that God is truly good because he gave the dog the understanding that he could bark, and then listen for the sound to bounce off an object. It is what scientists call "echolocation," but you may understand it to be like sonar.
Using a series of regular barks along with his keen ears, Rowan behaves like a bat in that his movements are not as smooth as most dogs as he runs about enjoying the world around him. Rowan's owner, dog trainer Sam Orchard, was first shocked to discover the dog was born eyeless. However, as the the months went by, he realized that Rowan was using echolocation to get around in a black shapeless world. When people first meet Rowan, they don't know that he's blind, so they usually ask, "Why does he keep his eyes closed?" When asked about Rowan's condition, Sam's wife will tell you,
"When he was born five days early I kept waiting for him to open his eyes, and when he didn't, I took him to the vet. It was a real surprise when he told me that not only would they not be opening, they didn't exist because he was born without eyes. I was shocked, but I decided that I would just do the best I could for him, and now he is just like the others, only a bit more special. He would go out, and to find his direction, he would use his bark. When he's running around in the open, it's just as if he were the same as the rest of my dogs. When he first started going out, there were no leaves on the trees, but when the leaves grew, there was the rustling, and we noticed the change in his behavior. It really does seem to be a form of echolocation."
For those of you who are clueless as to what Echolocation is: Echolocation is ability that odontocetes (and some other marine mammals and most bats) possess that enables them to see with their ears by listening for echoes. With bats, the sounds are made by their noses, and when the sound is reflected off an object the bats picks it up with their sensitive ears. The odontocetes generate sound in the form of clicks, within their nasal sacs, situated behind the melon in their forehead. The frequency of this click is higher than that of the sounds used for communication and differs between species. The melon acts as a lens which focuses the sound into a narrow beam that is projected in front of the animal. The sound is then reflected back to the dolphin in sound waves that received in the panbone which is located in the dolphin or killer whales lower jaw. The sensation is then transferred by the fatty tissue behind it to the middle ear and then to the brain.
Both the odontocetes and bats must continuously resend the sounds, so they can analyze the time lapsed between signals sent and sound waves received back. This is what allows the creatures to distinguish sizes, shapes, and distances for the purpose of homing in on an object for the express purpose of distinguishing between food and other objects. This is why you see bats flying in such erratic patterns. Bats will literally make a 90 degree turn in mid-flight if they sense food near by. This highly specialized ability enables dolphins to explore their environment and search out their prey in a watery world where sight is often of little use. In the water, the sound travels four and a half times faster than in air. This advanced system is echolocation, and God has blessed Rowan, the eyeless dog, with it.
Follow link below to see the video of
Eyeless Dog That See's Like Bats & Dolphins
Check out this video of a German Spitz dog named Rowan who was born with no eyes, yet he does not know he is blind, and he uses echolocation to see. Echolocation is like sonar. It will leave you with a real good feeling I promise.....
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When people first meet Rowan, they don't know that he's blind, so they usually ask, "Why does he keep his eyes closed?" When asked about Rowan's condition, Sam's wife will tell you,"When he was born five days early I kept waiting for him to open his eyes, and when he didn't, I took him to the vet..."
America took the Democrats to the vet last night.
Thanks for the ping!
Excellent. Thanks.
Yea, problem is, I don’t think the Democrats realize they are blind either. In California the voters are blind and they thinks it’s great, but they ain’t cute like Rowan.
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I was reminded of the old joke where the liberal couple are visiting and a kid is bragging about his new puppies taht were just born. The libs ask him if they are Democrat or Republican puppies. He thinks about it and says proudly, “Democrats!”
Later in the week, the liberals have a friend with them and they ask the kid to show their friend the Democrat puppies. The kid corrects them, and says “They are Republicans now... they’ve opened their eyes.”
Good story on Rowan.
No wait ... Hmmmmm ...
Hello? Isn't this a forum for half-way literate readers????? The words "See's" CAN ONLY APPLY to something owned by an entity named "See." I learned this is FIRST GRADE.
I like the joke, good one.
Thanks for the compliment.
Thank you for the wonderful break from politics.....
Amazing! What a wonderful story.
Nice story...now stay away from the cops, they might not understand the barking! Good dog.
It's a sweet story, but the writer????
*sigh*......
Interesting. I know I messed the title up by using an apostrophe, the the story was proof read by a very someone who is very knowledgeable in grammar before I posted it.
And it still lacks?
Wow, your tough.
It’s not you and grammatically there’s not much wrong with the story, although I wasn’t looking for that.
It’s the writer presuming to know what the dog thinks.
Like this.....
“He also doesn’t feel less of a dog because he cannot see. “
Home viewing Bookmark.
As far as he is concerned, the whole world is eyeless and things are set up for all of us the way it is for him.
Ever watch the guy called the dog whisperer?
Caesar, say’s that humans make a mistake by projecting human emotions, nature, and feelings onto dogs as you suggested the writer did. However in this case I disagree with you, because how can the dog have any other emotional thought over something he does not have any reason to know exists?
Rowan, thinks he is normal. Why do you believe he would possibly think otherwise? Which is what you suggest by saying the writer is presuming to know what the dog thinks.
I don’t think that dogs have the self-awareness to know what is normal and what is not and that they are any different.
Their behavior indicates the kind of lack of self-awareness that leads to self-esteem issues.
That’s just me.
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