With big thanks to Trish for sending me these details.
It may seem entirely irrelevant to the wider world to focus on one homeless dog now taken into care and looking for a loving home but if one ‘raises’ the theme to that of which Learning from Dogs is all about, namely Dogs are integrous animals. We have much to learn from them then not so!
I’m not going to waffle around this for much longer except to ask you to go across to Patrice Ayme’s Blog and read his recent essay, Blood: Appetite Comes With Eating. It’s a very erudite, and deeply upsetting, commentary on something I touched on in a recent Post. Patrice writes, “Today we have just one civilization. If it dies, it will have no replacement.” So go and read the full essay.
So when we wonder why there seems such a departure from integrity within the higher echelons of society, it makes my heart leap to be reminded of the innocence and integrity of dogs (and, of course, all of nature’s animals), and the outstanding beauty of all those who love and care for them.
So forget about the big, wide world for a while and read what Trish emailed me,
Tiny Tinker needs a forever home
Tinker
Found fending for himself on the hot streets of South Phoenix, Tinker is six and a half pounds of pure puppy love! This sweet survivor was in very tough shape when he was rescued from the county shelter and brought to the vet. But while he was being examined, Tinker wouldn’t stop trying to kiss everyone around him, and couldn’t stop wagging his tail! Currently recovering in a foster home, this little trooper desperately needs to find a forever home where he’ll be loved for the rest of his life.
Can you help?
Tinker is a spunky sweetheart who loves to snuggle with people. According to the vet, this 12-year-old Chihuahua is the victim of bad genes and neglect. The poor baby was born with only one good eye, permanently dislocated back knees, and terrible teeth. He’ll have dental work done soon, so he can go to his new home with a healthy smile. But first, he needs to recover completely from kennel cough. His ragged ears are most likely the result of flies biting off the edges.
Despite everything, Tinker is one of the happiest little dogs you’ll ever meet. Extremely affectionate and full of energy, blood tests show he’s in overall good health. He’s already neutered, housetrained and up-to-date on his shots. And once he recovers, all he’ll need is medication for his knees to make him more comfortable. Tinker seems to like other dogs, so would welcome canine companions.
Small Chihuahuas can lead very long lives. And if ever a dog deserved to enjoy many years as someone’s cherished pet, it’s Tinker! If you or someone you know can offer him a good home, please contact Jill at (480) 363-8449 or jill@cdsframing.com. She’d be thrilled to hear from you and delighted to introduce you to the terrific Tinker, who is living in Phoenix.
You can also help Tinker find a home by posting his adoption flyer wherever you work, play or shop.
Thank you for anything you can do to help Tinker and for everything you do for the animals. Each act of kindness brings us one step closer to No More Homeless Pets®.
Breed: Mix Chihuahua Location: Phoenix, Arizona Sex: Male Age: Senior Description: Little Tinker found himself abandoned and left to fend for himself on the rough lonely and HOT streets in Phoenix, Arizona. His previous life, he was not well loved or cared for. When I met this little bugger, I fell in immediate love with him and got him fully vetted. He still needs a couple of teeth extractions but he is in excellent health otherwise – all bloodwork came back negative and normal for any possible under-lying medical conditions.
This is one happy boy! GREAT SELF-ESTEEM, his tail never stops wagging and he only weighs 6 1/2 itty bitty little pounds and yes he is around 12 years old. He is now current on all his vaccinations and is neutered. He has a lot of life and spunk about him despite all he has been thru….very lovable, snuggly, and affectionate little pooch. Tinker would love nothing more than to be your sweet little lap boy and car rides – yes, he loves to go in the car with you.
Pleae consider giving him a loving home – he deserves it!!!!
Contact: Jill Lenz Phone: 480-363-8449 Email: jill@cdsframing.com
So if you know someone who could help, then please follow that up. If you don’t, then circulate these details just as far and wide as possible. And if you are a person who might be interested or know someone who might be, and you are in another US State, then email or call Jill Lenz and say you saw the details on Learning from Dogs and somehow we can all work out how to get little Tinker in to your arms.
A stray dog has completed a 1700km journey across China after joining a cycle race from Sichuan province to Tibet.
The dog, nicknamed “Xiaosa”, joined the cyclists after one of them gave him food.
He ran with them for 20 days, covering up to 60km a day, and climbing 12 mountains.
Cyclist Xiao Yong started a blog about Xiaosa’s adventures, which had attracted around 40,000 fans by the end of the race.
Yong now hopes to adopt Xiaosa.
Luckily, someone smart grabbed the BBC footage and uploaded it to YouTube thus allowing me to include that below:
I did several Google searches for Xiao Yong’s blog but failed to come across it – never mind, it doesn’t detract from a delightful story this Memorial Day week-end here in America.
Back on April 2nd this year, I posted a piece called I am your dog! The item was motivated by coming across a personal reflection of the relationship that I had, and still have, with Pharaoh, my German Shepherd dog, back in 2007 when I was still living in England; I met Jean in Mexico Christmas 2007!
Among the many comments was one from Perfect Stranger who writes the fabulous blog Dogs of Doubt. He said in his comment,
Hi Paul, I do believe this comment belongs on this post … two videos, part of a true story about an Aussie dog, a modern day “Dog on the Tucker Box”, a true blue friend to an entire town who eventually ended up building him a statue … yeah, not “it” but “HIM”.
First video shows you how tough Aussies animals are ,, watch the fight, it’s awesome, I laugh every time I watch it. they say it really happened. 🙂
Second video is the trailer for “Red Dog” – The Pilbara Wanderer! , hope you get to see the movie
I promised to make that comment a post all on it’s own right – then promptly forgot! So apologies and here are those two movies.
Dear readers, from time to time I am approached by other authors who have flattered me by asking if I would like to publish their Blog posts from time to time. So I have been doubly flattered by having two authors contact me in the last week.
So to the first. It is with great pleasure that I welcome Jane Brackman, Ph.D., author of the blog Doctor Barkman Speaks who will, from time to time, republish her posts on Learning from Dogs. I have no doubt that you will enjoy her scientific expertise regarding dogs
So today, please enjoy …
oooOOOooo
HOW DOGS THINK – NEW SCIENCE LOOKS INSIDE THEIR MINDS WITH MRI IMAGING
Canine illustrator Robert Dickey assigned thoughts and feeling to his Boston Terrier based on the dogs’s expressions. Here he illustrates contentment, sympathy and misery. (Dogs from Life, Page & Co., 1920)
**
“Are you gonna eat that? Are you gonna eat that? I’ll eat it.”
Is this what dogs think? Or do they experience more complex thoughts? Apparently science is getting pretty close to figuring it out. If not exactly WHAT they’re thinking, then where in the brain the thoughts are coming from. Since brains are pretty much the same across mammal species, if researchers identify which parts of the the brain light up, based on what humans have said, they can guess what the dogs’ thoughts are, too.
A couple of smart guys, Gregory Berns and Andrew Brooks of Emory University, watching a military dog assist Navy Seals as they overran the Osama Bin Laden compound, got a brilliant idea. If you can teach dogs to jump out of helicopters, surely dogs could be trained to enjoy themselves inside an fMRI machine while scientists calculate what the dogs are thinking by scanning their brains.
The researchers, who are dog-lovers, explained, “We want to understand the dog-human relationship, from the dog’s perspective. From the outset, we wanted to ensure the safety and comfort of the dogs. We wanted them to be unrestrained and go into the scanner willingly.”
So they recruited a professional dog trainer, Mark Spivak, and two companion dogs, a Feist Terrier named Callie and a Border Collie named McKenzie. The team said that both dogs were trained over several months to walk into an fMRI scanner and hold completely still while researchers measured their brain activity.
In the photo below Callie wears ear protection as she
prepares to enter the scanner. The research team
includes, from left, Andrew Brooks, Gregory Berns and Mark Spivak.
(Credit: Photo by Bryan Meltz)
This is what the researchers wrote in the journal article that was published in PLOS last week:
Because of dogs’ prolonged evolution with humans, many of the canine cognitive skills are thought to represent a selection of traits that make dogs particularly sensitive to human cues. But how does the dog mind actually work? To develop a methodology to answer this question, we trained two dogs to remain motionless for the duration required to collect quality fMRI images by using positive reinforcement without sedation or physical restraints. The task was designed to determine which brain circuits differentially respond to human hand signals denoting the presence or absence of a food reward.
Eventually they hope to answer the more profound questions we all ask: Do dogs have empathy? Do they know when we are happy or sad? How much language do they really understand?” (And here’s one from me- When they pee on the carpet and we don’t find it until the next day, when we scold them do they know why we are scolding them?)
Well, I don’t know about you but I found this a most fascinating article. All of us who live around dogs, both physically and emotionally, sense the closeness, may I use the word ‘magic’, of the relationships.
Take a look at the photograph below. Until I left the UK in 2008, a few of us owned a lovely old Piper Super Cub. It was a joy to fly. I used frequently to take Pharaoh to the grass airfield, Watchford Farm, up on the Devon moors. One day he showed such interest in the aircraft that I lifted him up to the passenger’s seat, strapped him in and taxied all over the grass airfield. This picture shows something that is difficult to explain otherwise – Pharaoh’s real joy at sharing the adventure. Of course, I didn’t fly with him, that would have been a step too far, but we did taxi almost up to take-off speed. Dr. Barkman, what do you make of that?
Take a couple of minutes off and bury our crazy world with a laugh. With big thanks to Dan Gomez for forwarding on what had been sent to him by Greg H.
Now 19 days since our young German Shepherd puppy joined us.
On the 9th April, I wrote a Post about the arrival of young Cleo who became part of our family on the 8th. Here’s a couple of photographs from that Post.
Little bit of bonding going on!Welcome, young lady. I'm the boss around here!
So here are a couple more taken yesterday afternoon, the 25th. Cleo was weighed last Monday and was 28 lbs, some 6 lbs gain since the 8th.
Two very loving ladies!Pharaoh and Cleo already inseparable.
Must say that Cleo has settled in very well with her other four pack mates. Indeed, Cleo, like Sweeny, mixes easily with all the other dogs, not just Pharaoh’s group.
The first picture comes from Merci O. from here in Payson.
Lost for words!
The next two are from the camera of ‘yours truly’.
Tough work being a puppy!
Cleo has settled in so beautifully and we can’t believe that these two weeks have gone so quickly.
Finally, talking of settling in, our five young chicks have reached the stage where they could be housed outside in their new chicken house, the move taking place just five days ago.
With grateful thanks to Alanna B. for sending me the details of this tragic case!
DOG FOR SALE:
New home needed for this wonderful animal.
A guy is driving around the back streets of Bristol, England.
He sees a sign in front of an unkempt terraced house: ‘Talking Dog For Sale‘, so he rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the garden.
The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.
‘You talk?‘ he asks.
‘Yep,’ the Lab replies.
After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says ‘So, what’s your story?‘
The Lab looks up and says, ‘Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young.. I wanted to help the government, so I told the SAS. [Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army, Ed.]
In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.‘
‘I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running…
But the jetting around really tired me out,and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.’
‘Then I got married, had a load of puppies, and now I’m just retired.‘
The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
‘Ten quid,’ the guy says.
‘Ten quid? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?‘
‘Because he’s a liar. He’s never been out of the garden all his life!’
Learning from Dogs 