Posted on 03/19/2013 4:05:39 PM PDT by Sir Napsalot
Mal, In Various States of Concern
People can reliably read a dog’s facial expressions, suggesting humans are finely tuned to detect emotions even in other creatures. Behavioral scientists have long known that people can accurately read other humans’ emotions, but this study suggests our empathy extends to other members of the animal kingdom.
While a Ph.D student at Walden University in Florida, Tina Bloom worked with Harris Friedman and a dog named Mal at the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Mal, a 5-year-old Belgian shepherd and trained police dog, was subjected to a variety of stimuli, and the researchers took pictures of his reactions.
For instance, in one experiment the researchers praised him, trying to elicit a happy reaction; Mal looked at the camera with his ears erect and tongue lolling. Then they reprimanded him, and Mal’s ears flattened, he looked down and his eyes became mournful. They used a jack-in-the-box to surprise him; foul-tasting medicine to disgust him; nail trimmers to strike fear into his heart; and so on. One of the researchers even pretended to be a criminal, and Mal got angry. Then the team showed 50 volunteers photographs of these reactions, and asked them to categorize his emotions.....
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
I hope you’re right, I need new boots for gardening but I can’t wait to start.
I'm supposed to get flurries tomorrow. The North East is scheduled for a bit of snow for the next 48 hours, particularly around the Great Lakes, with upstate New York having a prediction of 4-6"
Happy first day of spring!
Hey Geronimo— I was teasing a bit, because today is the first Day of Spring... So no more snow this winter... But likely we’ll see more of that 4-letter word between now and May. (We’ve even had some into May, though it pretty much melts off by the next day...).
When you get your gardening boots, you’ll want to put them up really, really HIGH, or that IW of yours is going to think they’re specialty kongs... ;-)
I suggested regular Tabasco sauce to my wife a few months ago when he took apart her slippers and two pair of flip-flops but she nixed the idea because, “We don’t want to hurt him, he’s just a baby and will grow out of it.”
She also lost a twenty year old pair of winter boots about three weeks ago, haha!..
I keep a “quote” database, and now seems as good a time as any to dig out a quote/post I had saved that I originally saw a few years back on FR:
I found this discussion of C. S. Lewis in a theological article by Sean Connolly:
And so, in Lewis’ vision of heaven, the pets I had as a child - and indeed those I have now or may come to have later - may well be caught up in my experience of the heavenly realm when I die. The best expression of this idea is found in Lewis’ theological fantasy, The Great Divorce. Here he describes a woman in heaven surrounded by a train of young children, angels, and - significantly - birds and beasts. The following dialogue makes explanation:
‘What are all these animals? A cat - two cats - dozens of cats. And all those dogs ... why, I can’t count them. And the birds. And the horses.’
‘They are her beasts.’
‘Did she keep a sort of zoo? I mean, this is a bit too much.’
‘Every beast and bird that came near her had its place in her love. In her they became themselves. And now the abundance of life she has in Christ from the Father flows over into them.’
Speaking as a dog owner who learned the hard way: no he won't.
Behaviors which are not corrected in puppy-hood will be set in stone once the dog is adult.
My Zoe probably would have liked tabasco and capsaicin. I know a few things the vet suggested as deterrents, she loved. One time she had suggested lemon juice. Before I put it on, I said to my sister, “Let’s just test this first.” So I put some in my hand, held it out, and “lap, lap, lap” accompanied by sad eyes when the lemon juice was gone.
Back when we had Katie, one of our Dobes, we were having some lemon meringue pie once and she was sitting patiently next to me, willing any one of us to give her some of that delicious looking food. I wish I would have had a video camera to capture the expression on her face when she first tasted that pie. I’ve never seen a dog open their mouth, turn their head, and pucker at the same time. Totally opposite reaction to that of Zoe’s... :-)
Zoe also ate wild black raspberries right off the brambles (as did Max, another of our Dobes from decades gone by), and loved cranberry relish almost as much as turkey and pumpkin. Tucker preferred “gifts” from the ‘food window.’ Both easily recognized the golden arches— and we knew they knew because they’d sit up a little straighter and behave like little angels when in their vicinity... Drive throughs were magical to them.
I will definitely use something to protect my next pair of boots, trust me. I can’t afford it for one thing and agree he needs some correction.
All my dogs have loved HOT Mexican and Chinese food.
All have loved sour lemon and lime.
I don’t think any of them could taste Bitter Apple.
I put the slippers and boots and gloves up high. It is now 2nd nature.
I saw the photos of Zoe & Tucker on your home page, what beautiful dogs they were. We lost our dearly beloved Corgi/beagle mix Panni about three months before the new adoption of the IW/lab mix. Panni lived to be 17 years and 4 months old! There’s nothing to describe the sorrow of losing your dog after so many years. The new puppy is a challenge some days with his chewing but we both desperately missed that soul warming comfort of having a sweet dog in our home and lives.
On an entirely seperate matter, just North of Boston is scheduled for three inches of snow tomorrow! Take care...
Oh yeah, bitter apple, forgot about _that_ stuff! Might as well have been spraying water...
And on the topic of boots (this one for Geronimo, too) — ages ago when our Dobe, Max, was a puppy, he would always try to “help” Dad out. If Dad had his overshoes on the platform between the barn and milkhouse, he’d bring them to the house. If they were on the porch at the house, he’d take them to the milkhouse. Didn’t matter where Dad actually wanted them, Max just figured he’d help... I don’t recall if he managed to carry both overshoes at once, or if he made two trips. At least he never harmed or ate the overshoes... Dad learned to put them up high, too...
:-)
Thanks for the kind words about Zoe and Tucker.
My sympathies on your loss of Panni. 17 yrs 4 mos is a good run, but no amount of time is ever long enough for those who remain here...
“To everyone who’s lost someone they love,
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye”
— Third Day
I’m partial to Irish Wolfhounds. They are big and solid and have a bit of clown in them, too. Some thought Zoe might be part Wolfhound. We’re pretty sure she was a Catahoula (based on the Humane Society, the vet, the characteristics of the breed, etc.), though because of her large size, she likely had some Dane in her, also.
I know firsthand what you mean about missing the soul warming comfort that can only come from a pet, and some day I hope we can have one (or more) again. Right now there are too many extenuating circumstances in our lives to be fair to an animal. Again, some day...
Your new puppy will keep you busy and bring you wonderful new memories— which brings to mind another quote:
“It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are.”
—Unknown
Death Row’ Dogs Get Second Chance at Life in Los Angeles Jail
5:37AM Wednesday
April 3, 2013
http://www.wlsam.com/common/more.php?m=58&article=CE0EFE8B9C5211E286DEFEFDADE6840A&mode=2
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