More beautiful photographs.
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I’m hoping I can find some more for a week’s time. Because they are so lovely!
Author: Paul Handover
Yoga time!
A Chihuahua follows his owner perfectly!
This is a dear YouTube that is just over a minute and a half long. It was sent to me by Bob.
It shows a chihuahua copying a human perfectly. I don’t think the video is a fake.
It reminds me of our Oliver who is the best of our six dogs when it comes to observing us and copying certain actions. Mind you, Oliver is not the only one of our six dogs to copy us but he is the best.
As the person who posted the video wrote: “Here is the dog doing yoga with his owner Nic. Such a special connection that he’s able to perfectly repeat his moves.” That’s Nic Bello.
Enjoy!
Earth Day!
I simply forgot it was Earth Day yesterday!
I wanted to let the post on Tuesday run for a couple of days because it really made the point about dogs, in particular, being animals who love to love!
But I then forgot, until I woke up on the 22nd, that yesterday was Earth Day.
So what to publish?
Yesterday in Merlin was a damp day with a steady rain coming down in the morning. About 10am I volunteered the idea that we should drive the shortish distance to Galice; just 10 miles from where we live. Galice is a very small settlement on the Western bank of the Rogue River. Then we drove on for a few more miles. It was incredible scenery. The misty, damp forest and the river running below in the gorge.
I had my camera with me and the following are some of the photographs that were taken.
Just for a change! All within 15 miles of home!
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For those interested in learning more, I am publishing the WikiPedia account of the Rogue River.
The Rogue River (Tolowa: yan-shuu-chit’ taa-ghii~-li~’,[7] Takelma: tak-elam[8]) in southwestern Oregon in the United States flows about 215 miles (346 km) in a generally westward direction from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean. Known for its salmon runs, whitewater rafting, and rugged scenery, it was one of the original eight rivers named in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Beginning near Crater Lake, which occupies the caldera left by the explosive volcanic eruption of Mount Mazama, the river flows through the geologically young High Cascades and the older Western Cascades, another volcanic province. Further west, the river passes through multiple exotic terranes of the more ancient Klamath Mountains. In the Kalmiopsis Wilderness section of the Rogue basin are some of the world’s best examples of rocks that form the Earth’s mantle. Near the mouth of the river, the only dinosaur fragments ever discovered in Oregon were found in the Otter Point Formation, along the coast of Curry County.
People have lived along the Rogue River and its tributaries for at least 8,500 years. European explorers made first contact with Native Americans (Indians) toward the end of the 18th century and began beaver trapping and other activities in the region. Clashes, sometimes deadly, occurred between the natives and the trappers and later between the natives and European-American miners and settlers. These struggles culminated with the Rogue River Wars of 1855–56 and removal of most of the natives to reservations outside the basin. After the war, settlers expanded into remote areas of the watershed and established small farms along the river between Grave Creek and the mouth of the Illinois River. They were relatively isolated from the outside world until 1895, when the Post Office Department added mail-boat service along the lower Rogue. As of 2010, the Rogue has one of the two remaining rural mail-boat routes in the United States.
Dam building and removal along the Rogue has generated controversy for more than a century; an early fish-blocking dam (Ament) was dynamited by vigilantes, mostly disgruntled salmon fishermen. By 2009, all but one of the main-stem dams downstream of a huge flood-control structure 157 miles (253 km) from the river mouth had been removed. Aside from dams, threats to salmon include high water temperatures. Although sometimes too warm for salmonids, the main stem Rogue is relatively clean, ranking between 85 and 97 (on a scale of 0 to 100) on the Oregon Water Quality Index (OWQI).
Although the Rogue Valley near Medford is partly urban, the average population density of the Rogue watershed is only about 32 people per square mile (12 per km2). Several historic bridges cross the river near the more populated areas. Many public parks, hiking trails, and campgrounds are near the river, which flows largely through forests, including national forests. Biodiversity in many parts of the basin is high; the Klamath-Siskiyou temperate coniferous forests, which extend into the southwestern Rogue basin, are among the four most diverse of this kind in the world.
Just to reflect on the fact that people have lived along the Rogue River and its tributaries for 8,500 years!
Is it any wonder we love dogs!
A brilliant yet very touching post to be shared.
This story came out on Mother Nature Network quite recently.
I really cannot add any words at the present time. The article says it all!
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Removed because of an alleged copyright infringement.
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This is a very ’rounded’ story about Tricycle, one that shows that love in the dog community is never very far away. Actually, I would go on to say that we adults who also love our dogs, probably putting them above our own needs, offer something very special.
More of Molly
Further emails between Jane and me resulted in the following.
After I published the post about Molly last Thursday, there were further emails between Jane and me.
When I went to bed after I sent you Molly’s story I thought of some other points.
Separation anxiety: presumably the result of, over a period of time, seeing her friends disappear and the family leave her owner. He would feed her, let her out for a run round the garden put her away again. And then leave till some unspecified time.
If – rarely- I’m out for more than a few hours she doesn’t want to know Alan. She waits on the chair by the door looking bereft. Then I come home and …. whoo hoo it’s like the 4th July and she suddenly comes to life; runs and jumps around like a wind-up toy. The obvious joy and relief at seeing me is humbling.
Or if I go out of the room she might follow.
But even letting her out in the garden has been a trauma for her. She rushes out but if I don’t immediately follow she comes back to check where I am – but if she sees me putting my garden shoes on – hey Mum’s coming! and off she scoots. She does go out and stay on her own but likes to know we’re there. That fear of being left is obviously too entrenched to ever leave her.
BUT the most amazing thing is that when my friend boarded her she said she doesn’t bark – they thought they might have heard her bark once. And when we went to look at her, the owner told me ‘she doesn’t bark’.
But she barks now! I talk to her so she talks back! She is a brilliant guard dog. If there’s anyone at the front door she barks and can’t wait to get there. As people often don’t see our bell we wouldn’t have known they were there. And if the phone rings (think the ringtone must hurt her ears) she barks till I answer it.And despite her traumas she is the nicest little girl I’ve ever known. Not a nasty bone in her body.
Jane x
Jane also sent a further photograph.
Then in a further email that came through shorty afterwords in reply to mine:
That’s wonderful. I may publish an addendum, so to speak, sometime next week and incorporate some of your remarks. (Paul)
Jane asked:
That would be terrific and perhaps I could add the question: Do others have experience of dogs sucking their blanket?
I assume this an anxiety or comfort habit but then again – is it to do with indigestion – considering what she scavenges? It happens when she’s had a feed and is almost like a child sucking their blanket but also reminds me of horses wind-sucking and/or crib-biting.
Obviously she couldn’t do this in her kennel ( she slept on newspaper covered board) but seems to derive comfort from it but does have a penchant for eating paper (my requisition for a chest X-ray to name but one!) and hence the photo of her with toilet roll! Also she had puppies but we don’t know old she was.
Actually the sucking reminds me of cats sucking and kneading.
She will be 11 next month so unlikely to stop now. We got her on 31 December 2016.Best Christmas present ever.
Can someone answer Jane’s question about dogs sucking their blankets?
Time; beyond imagination!
I don’t know what is was that engaged me; to the point that I have written this blog post.
We rise around 4:30 am, thanks to the dogs, and after they have been out we retire to the bedroom and lay on the top of the bed and have a couple of cups of tea. Come 5am, week days, we listen to BBC Radio 4 and the World at One. Then immediately after the World at One, at the moment, is a fascinating series on A History Of The World in 100 objects.
A few days ago, after the end of the programme, I drifted off into some form of introspective gaze about the past. I mean the past big time!
The Universe
When and how did it all start? That seems to be the Big Bang. The Big Bang was an incredibly long time ago, some 14 billion years ago (rounding it up!).
Here’s an extract from Wikipedia:
The current measurement of the age of the universe is around 13.8 billion years (as of 2015[1]) – 13.799±0.021 billion years within the Lambda-CDM concordance model.[2] The uncertainty has been narrowed down to 20 million years, based on a number of studies which all gave extremely similar figures for the age.
That’s 13.8 times 10 to the power of 9!
Our solar system
Again, pretty old by human standards; 4.6 billions years ago.
Again, an extract from Wikipedia:
The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud. The vast majority of the system’s mass is in the Sun, with the majority of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are terrestrial planets, being primarily composed of rock and metal. The four outer planets are giant planets, being substantially more massive than the terrestrials. The two largest, Jupiter and Saturn, are gas giants, being composed mainly of hydrogen and helium; the two outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune, are ice giants, being composed mostly of substances with relatively high melting points compared with hydrogen and helium, called volatiles, such as water, ammonia and methane. All eight planets have almost circular orbits that lie within a nearly flat disc called the ecliptic.
So our solar system came along 9 billion years after the formation of the Universe.
Planet Earth
Our planet formed not long after our solar system. That’s pretty obvious if you ask me.
Thus Planet Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago. Again, thanks to Wikipedia.
Life on Planet Earth
Southampton University have published an extremely interesting chart of the timeline of the human condition. In it is revealed that the earliest atmospheric oxygen was 3.5 billion years ago, a necessary prerequisite to air-breathing life. But it took an extremely long time before monkeys appeared; some 36 million years ago. That’s 36 times 10 to the power of 6, or 383 times shorter than the start of the universe.
The earliest hominins (Australopithecus spp) among the hominids in Africa, bipedal, larger brain came along some 4.2 million years ago.
Among them were humans using stone tools, some 2.5 million years ago. Then 2 million years ago came the earliest direct ancestor of modern humans, Homo erectus (South Africa), co-habiting with Australopithecus and Paranthropus.
Then 40,000 years ago Neanderthals make flutes from bone, then 14,000 years ago the domestication of dogs in China, 7,000 years ago the world population passed 5 million souls, and 3,500 years ago the earliest alphabet (North Semitic, Palestine and Syria).
3,000 years ago the world population passed 50 million.
Come forward to just 195 years ago and the first public railway for steam locomotives (George Stephenson, UK, 1825) came into existence. In 1945, Alan Turing created the world’s first programmable calculator which lead directly to the first computer.
Then just 34 years ago the total population passed 5 billion souls (1986).
This and much more in the timeline which really is a fascinating read. Put together by C. Patrick Doncaster, 7 April 2020, one of the then 7,641,557,720 (rising by 148 per minute, 77 million per year).
But …
The discovery of quarks in 1968 caused us humans to think again about matter.
Wikipedia:
A quark (/kwɔːrk, kwɑːrk/) is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei.[1] Due to a phenomenon known as color confinement, quarks are never directly observed or found in isolation; they can be found only within hadrons, which include baryons (such as protons and neutrons) and mesons.[2][3] For this reason, much of what is known about quarks has been drawn from observations of hadrons.
Then there’s antimatter, now that’s really weird.
Again, an extract from Wikipedia:
There is strong evidence that the observable universe is composed almost entirely of ordinary matter, as opposed to an equal mixture of matter and antimatter.[4] This asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the great unsolved problems in physics.[5] The process by which this inequality between matter and antimatter particles developed is called baryogenesis.
So, to put it in layman’s terms, the fact that I am sitting here at a computer trying to make sense of it all and failing is just down to luck. The observable universe and my perception of it comes down to matter as opposed to antimatter!
I’ve got a headache!
N.B. It’s a little after 12:30 am (PDT) on the Saturday and I am going to leave this post up as the latest for tomorrow as well. There have been so many wonderful comments.
A blast from the past!
A friend from long ago writes of his dog!
Too many years ago, indeed when I had my own company back in the late 70s, I came in contact with Keith Edmunds. He was a Linux expert; still is! He runs a company in the U.K., Tiger Computing, based in Monmouthshire.
The other day Keith posted a story about his dog and I asked for permission to republish. Keith very quickly said “Yes”. He added: “With a link to https://www.tiger-computing.co.uk/not-clever/, yes.”
Here it is:
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My wife is deaf. She caught meningitis when she was four years old, and one of the side effects can be deafness.
But this isn’t a sob story. It’s a joyful story of a chocolate brown Labrador called Rhys. My wife’s hearing dog.
People often ask what he can do. Well, he alerts Cecilia to the doorbell ringing, the kitchen timer going off, voice commands to “fetch mum” and the smoke alarm.
Some people ask whether he responds to the phone. But the answer is no. Cecilia can’t use the phone (she’s deaf); Rhys can’t use the phone (he’s a dog – he can’t speak). Between them you’d think they’d be able to come up with some kind of plan…but nothing so far.
“He’s very clever!,” people say. But really he’s not. I have, in moments of disrespect, mentioned that if he had an IQ one point higher he’d be a tomato.
You see we mustn’t confuse “highly trained” with “clever”.
Yes, Rhys has learnt how to respond to certain triggers. “If this happens, then do that” – It’s very basic.
If the smoke alarm sounds, then find Cecilia, nudge her, lie down and get a treat.
He doesn’t do it because he’s smart enough to know that the smoke alarm means danger. No. That would be clever.
He does it simply because he’ll get a treat for doing this task. He is a Labrador after all…
Clever is the ability to devise or select an appropriate solution to a problem. Clever – at least in adults – is a combination of intelligence, knowledge and experience.
If we apply this to business, then clever might be knowledge and experience in your domain. Right now, a lot of clever people are investigating a little virus called SARS-CoV-2 (the cause of COVID-19).
But clever can also mean knowing when to pull in the experts.
I’m no expert on immunology or virology so I’m leaving the SARS-CoV-2 problem to the talented (and knowledgeable, experienced and intelligent) bio-scientists.
Rhys is leaving the intellectual challenge of pretty much everything to others.
But I am quite clever when it comes to Linux, so if you need a little help with that then be sure to let me know…
Keith
P.S. If you’ve got a question about how to best use Linux in your business, book a free, 30 minute, no obligation Linux Strategy Call and let’s talk about it.
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Rhys is a lovely looking Labrador! Highly trained, of course. But some, including me, would also say clever!
What a beautiful dog!
Molly!
A tale from a friend of Jean.
Many years ago, when Jean was still in England, she and Jane became good friends. They still stay in touch today thanks to the modern world.
Recently, Jane sent an email that contained a lovely story of her dog, Molly. Or rather I should say Molly, that belongs to her and her husband, Al.
Here is Jane’s story.
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Our beloved Molly. Re-homed, not badly treated but was a working dog. Molly’s owner had a bad accident and his life fell apart.
Got rid of his other dogs and eventually, when boarding her with my friend, asked if she knew a good home for her. We’d just lost our dog and though he’ll never be replaced it’s not a home without a dog. So a friend and I went to see her – fat, scruffy, lived in an outdoor kennel. So, she came home with us.
She’d never set foot in a house so not house trained but SO clever. She quickly learned to toilet outside and now ASKS to go out. Nudges my elbow and if I stand up but don’t act immediately she paws my leg. How clever is that. Quickly learned how to negotiate stairs and not catch birds.
She knows exactly what she’s due – treats, dinner – and you can set your watch by her.
She is the most loving little girl and loves being cuddled. The thought of her being alone in the kennel, no company, frightened in storms, cold, not knowing when she’d see anyone breaks my heart.
The only problem, probably because of erratic feeding, or maybe survival instinct and not leaving scents for predators, is she eats her own poo and out walking I keep constant check or she’ll eat others too.
She had to be spayed and they found cancer last year and that meant a further operation.
She is a scavenger and I watch her constantly to see what she’s got in her mouth – in return for giving it up she expects a reward, she quickly caught on how to get treats!
Well enough, you know all about dogs and their ways – each one unique.
Keep well xxx
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Dogs are so precious.
Thanks Jane!
Just the moon
The beautiful moon!
I went out to photograph the full moon, the so-called super moon, on the 7th April, just a few days ago, but it was such a bright image that as a photograph it didn’t really work.
See what I mean!
So I present a crescent moon taken on the 19th March this year.
Apart from a little bit of cropping no other changes have been made to the photograph.
The making of a scent dog.
A repeat of the guest post from Bryony Ravate.
Once again, I am having a struggle to come up with something original. Once again it is at these times of life that I am very grateful for the offer of a guest post. Take Bryony for example. This is not the first time that I have presented her work but I am grateful to her.
This is her article on scent dogs.
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The making of a scent dog.
By Bryony Ravate, January 2nd, 2020
If you’ve been lucky enough to be around dogs, you will have probably noticed how their noses are always moving. By possessing a nose up to 15x times more sensitive than our own, with 600,00 neurones, they can sniff out different components in every room. When you’re cooking a meal, you will be able to recognise the smell of a dish. But when your dog smells the meal, he can smell each individual spice and seasoning, the oils, the crockery and even any water.
You can use your dogs’ keen sense of smell for play – laying out different scents for them to explore. But their noses can also be used for working environments– such as in airports, with the police and in search and rescue missions. They can track down suitcases hiding illegal substances, follow the suspect of a crime and sniff out the victims of a snowstorm. To become scent dogs, the canines go through vigorous training. However, although all dogs have an exceptional sense of smell, not all dogs make it through training.
It makes sense to analyse what leads to success and failure in scent dog training. So, a keen researcher at University College Cork, Ireland performed a literature review in which factors behind success and failure in scent dog training were analysed. A literature review is the process whereby you search a database full of information (usually research articles published in reputable journals) and you extrapolate the information to create your own source. Here, I’m going to pull together some of the points I found the most interesting, points you may not think would affect the making of a scent dog.
Personality
Dogs with strong motivation to play or search, dogs which were bold rather than shy, and dogs which can adapt and cope with stressful stimuli are more likely to become scent dogs. High motivation to play or search, makes a dog easier to train. Play can be used as a reward, by allowing the dog to pull on a chew toy after being successful in a trial. Finding scents may be perceived as a game to the dog, increasing his motivation to engage. Bold dogs are less unnerved by new surroundings and situations. A nervous dog may be hesitant about pursuing an unknown scent – but a bold dog will take little hesitation. Adaptable dogs may be able to apply their knowledge to different situations and they will be unphased by commotions and will keep working when faced with distractions.
Housing Standards
Dogs that live in enriched environments throughout their training have increased ability in trials. Like children, the more opportunities you offer your dogs to learn, explore and interact with their environment, the more it allows them to develop and grow. Dogs should feel secure in their home environment when not working; keeping them with other dogs and in bright rooms without using loud cleaning equipment (such as hoovers) will make them less anxious, leading to better accuracy in scent trials.
The Human Partner
Dogs emotions are often intertwined with their handlers. When a dog’s owner gets angry, the stress hormones in the dog increase as a result. If a dog handler is happy, the dogs will perform better. The bond between dogs and their handlers can affect the accuracy of scent trials. If the dog lives at the owners’ home when he’s not working, obedience and accuracy are increased. Although the bond between scent dog and handler is important, they must be independent thinkers. When faced with a problem- solving task, they must be able to manipulate the environment themselves to find a solution, rather than looking at their handler for cues about the answer.
These are some factors which can alter the likelihood of a dog being a successful, as reviewed by Camille A Trosi and her team. What we must keep in mind is that all dogs are individuals. We cannot use this information to ensure all dogs in the future will pass scent dog training. However, we can use this knowledge to give potential scent dogs the best possible start to life; providing enrichment, an affectionate bond with their handler, and a suitable home environment. Canine personalities are not always determined by genetics, and a suitable environment can give a dog a metaphorical push in the right direction to ensure he is the best he can be, whether that be as a scent dog, a guide dog or even a lap dog.
Original Source : Troisi, C. A., Mills, D. S., Wilkinson, A. and Zulch, H. E. 2019. Behavioral and Cognitive Factors That Affect the Success of Scent Detection Dogs. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 14, pp. 51-76. doi: 10.3819/ccbr.2019.140007
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Now what I haven’t done before but intend to do straightaway is to reproduce an extract from Bryony’s CV.
I currently hold a Pass with Distinction in MSc Animal Behaviour and Welfare from Queen’s University Belfast. I also have a BSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare from Plymouth University. As well as holding two degrees relevant to the field, I currently have 2+ years of work experience. I possess the core attributes required when pursuing a career in the scientific industry; dedication, independence and initiative. I am highly passionate and believe that with my unique skillset I can have a valuable impact in the field of Science Communication.
Plus Bryony has her own blog, BrynsteinScience, and is also on Instagram, of the same name.
We wish Bryony much success in her work life and in her caring and interest for animals in general and dogs in particular!
There is an extensive article on Wikipedia in the UK on scent dog and the link to that article is here.
Finally to close with this wonderful photograph of a scent dog.
That’s perfect!
Learning from Dogs 