Prayer works! Even for dogs!
One of the better items that wings around the Internet.
By Paul Handover
Amen to this!
Category: Dogs
A “Rogue” Killer Whale?
Animals as Pets? Do we ever really know what they are thinking?
Do we really ever know what is going on in an animal’s mind? Some people believe that they do, but when they are wrong, disastrous consequences can result. Sometimes. Many of these same people would tell you, before the fact, that the risks are worth it.
This subject has come up a number of times recently, both in my life and in the news from across the world. Just recently, a seasoned trainer at Florida’s SeaWorld was killed by a killer whale that she had worked with for years. She was very fond of the whale; there are many photos of her hugging the whale, playing, and working with the whale. She obviously loved her job, and felt strongly about the whale conservation efforts that Seaworld claims to promote. Witnesses to the mauling have said that the whale seemed angry just before the attack, and concluded that the whale was stressed by being kept in a small tank with little to do. Essentially, they theorized that the whale “lost it.” Since then, however, I’ve heard statements made by whale trainers who theorize that the whale was simply playing; that the trainer has been in the water shortly before the incident, playing with the whale. When she got out of the water, the whale might have wanted to continue to play, and grabbed her pony tail and thrashed her about without any understanding that he was causing her death. This same whale has been involved in at least two previous deaths.
So can we tell what an animal is thinking?
Crazy flying
This is not your usual air-show display
Three of the authors on Learning from Dogs are or have been pilots although only one, Bob Derham, is a real pilot! I.e. he does it for a living!
Most pilots and many wannabes love the atmosphere of a good air show but after a few visits they can become rather predictable and that applies as much to the flying displays. After all there is only so much that one can do to an aeroplane.
Not so the good people who comprise the Franklin’s Flying Circus.
Here’s a YouTube video showing Kyle Franklin ‘stealing’ a Piper Cub. As a past owner of a Piper Super Cub, I have to tell you that the skills being used in this display are supremely clever.
Enjoy!
By Paul Handover
Moscow’s dogs
Another example of the very tight bonds between man and dogs.
A couple of weeks ago Learning from Dogs published a series of videos originally broadcast by the BBC Horizon programme called The Secret Life of the Dog. It revealed a hitherto unknown depth of understanding of dogs by man and man by dogs. Part One of those six parts is linked to here.
Now it turns out that Russian Muscovites are fascinated by stray dogs and it is estimated that there are 35,000 stray dogs in the Russian capital city.
Interestingly, because we tend to associate the newspaper with financial matters, the British Financial Times had a fascinating article a couple of weeks ago, from which is quoted:
Where did these animals come from? It’s a question Andrei Poyarkov, 56, a biologist specialising in wolves, has dedicated himself to answering. His research focuses on how different environments affect dogs’ behaviour and social organisation. About 30 years ago, he began studying Moscow’s stray dogs. Poyarkov contends that their appearance and behaviour have changed over the decades as they have continuously adapted to the changing face of Russia’s capital. Virtually all the city’s strays were born that way: dumping a pet dog on the streets of Moscow amounts to a near-certain death sentence. Poyarkov reckons fewer than 3 per cent survive.
Do read the article as it is a revealing piece about our interest in dogs in all corners of the world. Indeed it mentions a web site devoted to stray dogs on Moscow’s Metro railway.
By Paul Handover
Track – the puppy
Yet another lovely dog rescue story
Once again, we are indebted to Naked Capitalism for bringing this lovely story to our attention. It was originally published in the Birmingham (Alabama) News.
One near victim of the cold is now happy and warm and residing in Bessemer.
Last Saturday, Gary McLean, a track inspector for CSX Railroad, found and rescued a tiny shivering puppy who’d become frozen to the train tracks.
It was 7:30 a.m. and the temperature was about 14 degrees. McClean, a resident of the Trussville-Argo area, was riding in a rail mounted truck near Caro lina Avenue looking for any obstacles in advance of a train that would be headed down that track about an hour later. He heard something go bump on the track, stopped and looked back, but saw nothing. He turned forward and, ahead of him, he saw a tiny ball of fur on the tracks.
McLean is accustomed to encountering dead dogs along the tracks, but as he got closer, he saw the little ball of fur moving.”It was big timeshivering,” he said. “I felt so sorry for him.”
Apparently, the 5-inch-tall mutt had gotten wet in a nearby ditch. When he tried to jump the 7-inch-tall rail, he got stuck and his icy fur froze to the track. McLean tried applying warm water and lifting him off. That didn’t work. So he took a knife and carefully cut him off the track.
If the train had come, the dog would never have been able to set himself free, McLean said. McLean took pictures of the puppy and sent them to his wife, Lois.
The McLean’s already have three dogs and couldn’t adopt another. So they turned to the Internet to find the dog a home.She posted the picture on Facebook and the story found its way to the blog of ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann. The e-mails started pouring in.
Sorting through the of fers, the McLeans decided to give the dog to Terry Walls of Bessemer.
“He is doing great,” Walls said as the puppy she’s named Track chewed on her slipper.
“Track had a manly ring to it,” she said.
Walls estimated the puppy is 7 or 8 weeks old. It has a full set of sharp teeth and has German Shepherd and possibly some husky in his ancestry.
By Paul Handover
The secret life of the dog, Concluding Part
Concluding this fascinating insight into the extraordinary relationship between dogs and man.
If this is your first sight of this multi-part article about dogs then you will need to start at the beginning:
Part One is here.
Part Two is here.
Part Three is here.
Part Four is here.
Part Five is here.
By Paul Handover
Lucky sea dog!
Another wonderful story about a dog rescue
Having recently published a couple of posts about Los Angeles firemen rescuing a dog from a swollen river it was wonderful to catch a short story on the BBC about another dog rescue, this time a dog that had floated miles away from land on an ice floe!
Anyway, the BBC have a nice video clip that will put a smile on your face.
By Paul Handover
Learning from Dogs 