Category: Education

When tensions rise.

For both humans and, in consequence, for those dogs close to us.

Effectively, the whole of the New Year has been a tad challenging here in Merlin, OR. For even before the snows arrived early on in January, leading to power outages and frozen pipes, the local weather service was warning of unusually severe storms. Indeed, more than once we have heard locals speaking of this looking like a one-hundred-year-storm.

So it was inevitable that there were some anxious periods. Plus the challenging weather may not be not fully behind us. For this is the current (Sunday 18:00 PST) weather warning:

HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD, OR
134 PM PST SUN JAN 15 2017

…Flood Potential Outlook for main stem river flooding, snow melt flooding, and quick rises on rivers and streams in the following counties…in California…Siskiyou…and in Oregon…Coos… Curry…Douglas…Jackson…Josephine…

A strong atmospheric river event is expected to arrive in Southern Oregon and Northern California by Wednesday. While models have trended towards a faster progression of the front, and therefore lesser rainfall amounts, this event may still produce high snow levels, periods of heavy rain, and significant melting of lower level snow-pack Wednesday and into Thursday. With the extensive snow-pack, saturated soils and high river levels, there is a potential for flooding and rapid rises along main stem rivers and small creeks and streams. Urban areas may also experience high water from blocked culverts and runoff.

Continue to monitor forecasts for any updates as this potentially hazardous situation develops.

Anyone who has a dog (or several) in their lives will know how our anxiety is so quickly picked up by our dogs. Ergo, looking after our dogs, as in keeping them relaxed, is really important.

Now read this article that was published over on the Care2 site. I am republishing here for all you good people.

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Eight Natural Remedies for Dog Anxiety

A Care2 favorite by Becky Striepe About Becky

Follow Becky at @glueandglitter

Does your dog suffer from anxiety? A lot of rescued dogs do, and often we don’t know the exact cause for their nervousness. Abuse, neglect or even a single bad experience before you adopted your dog could cause mild to debilitating anxiety. These natural remedies for dog anxiety have worked wonders for my very anxious dog.

We adopted my dog, Jenna, two years ago. Jenna was three years old when we rescued her, and her story still breaks my heart. Lifeline Animal Project rescued Jenna from an animal hoarder when she was six months old. For those first six months, she lived in a crate 24/7. They didn’t even take her out to pee and poop, they just changed the newspaper or laid new paper down. Jenna lived in Lifeline’s no-kill shelter for two and a half years before she was socialized enough to be adoptable.

Even after those years of care, Jenna was still incredibly fearful when we got her home. For the first 36 hours that we had her, she didn’t pee or poop at all. She basically sat on her bed, shaking. By the end of second day we could get her to eat and use the bathroom, but it took weeks for her to finally trust us.

We’ve had Jenna for two years now, and she is a completely different dog. She is still wary of strangers and has her nervous moments, but she loves to run and play. She’s even warmed up to family and friends who visit us often. Jenna is always going to have a high base level of anxiety, but thanks to the natural remedies I’m going to get into below, she also can relax and behave like a normal dog the vast majority of the time.

Natural Remedies for Dog Anxiety

Every dog’s situation is different, so what worked for Jenna may not work for your dog. If one of these natural remedies isn’t doing it for your nervous dog, try another one! This is a laundry list of everything that’s worked and one thing that didn’t work for us but does for too many other dog owners to leave out of the list. Pick and choose natural remedies as you find out what helps with your dog’s anxiety.

1. Obedience Training

I can’t recommend a good trainer enough. Training gives your anxious dog confidence, and a good trainer can help you with commands that are especially important. I’ve been taking Jenna to training on and off the entire time that we’ve had her, and it has been a miracle for us. It took a few months for us to start seeing results, so don’t expect a quick fix from this. The long-term benefits for you and your dog are well worth it.

2. Exercise

Getting exercise with your dog is a bonding experience, and it also helps her work off some of that nervous energy. Jenna and I run 9-15 miles a week together, when I can swing it, and she loves to run more than anything else. We had to stop running towards the end of my pregnancy, and on that first run back, she had a huge puppy grin on the whole time we were out.

Running is just one way to get your dog exercise. You can go for walks, play catch, or play training games like “touch.” Whatever you choose to do, talk to your vet first. Some breeds of dog are great runners, but others (like pugs) can overheat easily and need lower-key exercise.

3. Essential Oils

One fear that Jenna is definitely not over is thunderstorms. She shuts down during storms, which can be rough during spring and summer when it storms frequently here in Atlanta. Essential oils combined with Rescue Remedy (more on that below) have helped her out a lot. Choose a calming scent like lavender, and just put a couple of drops onto the dog’s collar. Putting it on the collar is key, because then your dog can smell the soothing oil but can’t eat it.

4. Rescue Remedy

Rescue Remedy is a blend of flower extracts, and they make blends for pets and for humans. We use the liquid for pets and feed it to her in a lump of peanut butter. (**** See my Footnote below) It calms her down considerably. Though, to be honest, I do wonder if getting her favorite treat (peanut butter) has something to do with it. You can find Rescue Remedy at natural food stores or online.

5. Focus Toys

Redirecting your dog’s attention when she’s feeling anxious can be a big help. You can try using commands that you learned in training class, or you can give your dog a focus toy. There are all varieties of these. You can go with a rawhide bone or one of those puzzle toys that dispenses treats when the dog gets it right. Jenna’s favorite toy is a Nylabone. She’s a 50 pound lab mix, so she tears through a rawhide in minutes. She’s had the same Nylabone for months, and it’s still pretty much intact.

6. Watching Your Tone

When your dog is scared, how do you react? Do you say, “It’s OK, sweetie!” in a higher-pitched voice than usual? This is a normal reaction, but it’s actually not the best one when your dog is scared. If your dog sees you as the alpha in the pack, she’s going to take her cues from you, and that kind of attention rewards your dog’s fear, reinforcing it.

Next time your dog is scared, try to react as if everything is normal. You can put a hand on her back, so she knows that you’re there, but try not to make a big deal out of the situation. Don’t say “It’s OK.” Instead, show her that everything is OK with your body language.

7. Crate Training

We were lucky that Jenna was crate trained when we adopted her. For an anxious dog, the crate can be a “safe place” they can retreat to. When there’s a thunderstorm or our neighbors decide to shoot off fireworks, Jenna often curls up in her crate. Dogs like a small, cozy space. If you’re not into crate training, I’d suggest setting up a dog bed in a quiet corner or even under an end table, so your dog has a cozy place that’s hers where she can go when she is scared.

8. The Thunder Shirt

This is the one natural remedy on this list that has not worked for us at all. Jenna is more afraid of the Thunder Shirt than she is of thunder! We are definitely outliers here, though. Every dog owner I know that has an anxious dog recommends the Thunder Shirt to me when I mention Jenna’s fear of storms. This is a great example of how different natural remedies work for some dogs and not others. The Thunder Shirt is definitely worth a shot! If it doesn’t work for you, you can pass it on to a fellow dog owner or donate it to your local shelter.

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Footnote!

Regarding feeding dogs peanut butter, do not, repeat not, do this until you are sure that the brand of peanut butter you are considering is free of the ingredient xylitol.

I wrote of the dangers of xylitol in a post last December 8th. It is being republished in an hour’s time just to make sure the widest number of readers of this place are aware of the danger.

Anyway, this seemed like a very useful article. Plus there’s another benefit of having one’s loved dogs in a relaxed state. It helps the people around those dogs remain relaxed as well!

p1160543 — Brandy and Jean enjoying mutual relaxation!

Chill out everyone! Both the two-legged and the four-legged ones!

The rights and wrongs of hunting!

The philosophy of hunting in terms of it being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

Anyone who comes here for more than a couple of visits will know that both Jean and I are opposed to hunting completely. Period!

That’s not surprising as there have been a number of posts over the years describing how we feed the wild deer. Here’s three more photographs that haven’t previously been shared with you.

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But, of course, the opinions of Jean and me are not, and should not be, the rule for the wider population of this part of Oregon.

All I would ask is that there is a proper, mature discussion as to the pros and cons of hunting wild animals in this, the twenty-first century.

All of which leads me to a recent essay posted on The Conversation site and republished here within the terms of that site.

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Is hunting moral? A philosopher unpacks the question

January 4, 2017 8.37pm EST

by Joshua Duclos Ph.D. Candidate, Boston University

Three generations of a Wisconsin family with a nine-point buck. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources/Flickr, CC BY-ND

Every year as daylight dwindles and trees go bare, debates arise over the morality of hunting. Hunters see the act of stalking and killing deer, ducks, moose and other quarry as humane, necessary and natural, and thus as ethical. Critics respond that hunting is a cruel and useless act that one should be ashamed to carry out.

As a nonhunter, I cannot say anything about what it feels like to shoot or trap an animal. But as a student of philosophy and ethics, I think philosophy can help us clarify, systematize and evaluate the arguments on both sides. And a better sense of the arguments can help us talk to people with whom we disagree.

Three rationales for hunting

One central question is why people choose to hunt. Environmental philosopher Gary Varner identifies three types of hunting: therapeutic, subsistence and sport. Each type is distinguished by the purpose it is meant to serve.

Therapeutic hunting involves intentionally killing wild animals in order to conserve another species or an entire ecosystem. In one example, Project Isabella, conservation groups hired marksmen to eradicate thousands of feral goats from several Galapagos islands between 1997 and 2006. The goats were overgrazing the islands, threatening the survival of endangered Galapagos tortoises and other species.

Subsistence hunting is intentionally killing wild animals to supply nourishment and material resources for humans. Agreements that allow Native American tribes to hunt whales are justified, in part, by the subsistence value the animals have for the people who hunt them.

Crawford Patkotak, center, leads a prayer after his crew landed a bowhead whale near Barrow, Alaska. Both revered and hunted by the Inupiat, the bowhead whale serves a symbol of tradition, as well as a staple of food. AP Photo/Gregory Bull

In contrast, sport hunting refers to intentionally killing wild animals for enjoyment or fulfillment. Hunters who go after deer because they find the experience exhilarating, or because they want antlers to mount on the wall, are sport hunters.

These categories are not mutually exclusive. A hunter who stalks deer because he or she enjoys the experience and wants decorative antlers may also intend to consume the meat, make pants from the hide and help control local deer populations. The distinctions matter because objections to hunting can change depending on the type of hunting.

What bothers people about hunting: Harm, necessity and character

Critics often argue that hunting is immoral because it requires intentionally inflicting harm on innocent creatures. Even people who are not comfortable extending legal rights to beasts should acknowledge that many animals are sentient – that is, they have the capacity to suffer. If it is wrong to inflict unwanted pain and death on a sentient being, then it is wrong to hunt. I call this position “the objection from harm.”

If sound, the objection from harm would require advocates to oppose all three types of hunting, unless it can be shown that greater harm will befall the animal in question if it is not hunted – for example, if it will be doomed to slow winter starvation. Whether a hunter’s goal is a healthy ecosystem, a nutritious dinner or a personally fulfilling experience, the hunted animal experiences the same harm.

But if inflicting unwanted harm is necessarily wrong, then the source of the harm is irrelevant. Logically, anyone who commits to this position should also oppose predation among animals. When a lion kills a gazelle, it causes as much unwanted harm to the gazelle as any hunter would – far more, in fact.

Lions attack a water buffalo in Tanzania. Oliver Dodd/Wikipedia, CC BY

Few people are willing to go this far. Instead, many critics propose what I call the “objection from unnecessary harm”: it is bad when a hunter shoots a lion, but not when a lion mauls a gazelle, because the lion needs to kill to survive.

Today it is hard to argue that human hunting is strictly necessary in the same way that hunting is necessary for animals. The objection from necessary harm holds that hunting is morally permissible only if it is necessary for the hunter’s survival. “Necessary” could refer to nutritional or ecological need, which would provide moral cover for subsistence and therapeutic hunting. But sport hunting, almost by definition, cannot be defended this way.

Sport hunting also is vulnerable to another critique that I call “the objection from character.” This argument holds that an act is contemptible not only because of the harm it produces, but because of what it reveals about the actor. Many observers find the derivation of pleasure from hunting to be morally repugnant.

In 2015, American dentist Walter Palmer found this out after his African trophy hunt resulted in the death of Cecil the lion. Killing Cecil did no significant ecological damage, and even without human intervention, only one in eight male lions survives to adulthood. It would seem that disgust with Palmer was at least as much a reaction to the person he was perceived to be – someone who pays money to kill majestic creatures – as to the harm he had done.

The hunters I know don’t put much stock in “the objection from character.” First, they point out that one can kill without having hunted and hunt without having killed. Indeed, some unlucky hunters go season after season without taking an animal. Second, they tell me that when a kill does occur, they feel a somber union with and respect for the natural world, not pleasure. Nonetheless, on some level the sport hunter enjoys the experience, and this is the heart of the objection.

Is hunting natural?

In discussions about the morality of hunting, someone inevitably asserts that hunting is a natural activity since all preindustrial human societies engage in it to some degree, and therefore hunting can’t be immoral. But the concept of naturalness is unhelpful and ultimately irrelevant.

A very old moral idea, dating back to the Stoics of ancient Greece, urges us to strive to live in accordance with nature and do that which is natural. Belief in a connection between goodness and naturalness persists today in our use of the word “natural” to market products and lifestyles – often in highly misleading ways. Things that are natural are supposed to be good for us, but also morally good.

Setting aside the challenge of defining “nature” and “natural,” it is dangerous to assume that a thing is virtuous or morally permissible just because it is natural. HIV, earthquakes, Alzheimer’s disease and post-partum depression are all natural. And as The Onion has satirically noted, behaviors including rape, infanticide and the policy of might-makes-right are all present in the natural world.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Alberta, Canada, commemorates a place where indigenous peoples of the North American Plains killed buffalo for more than 6,000 years by driving them over a cliff.

Hard conversations

There are many other moral questions associated with hunting. Does it matter whether hunters use bullets, arrows or snares? Is preserving a cultural tradition enough to justify hunting? And is it possible to oppose hunting while still eating farm-raised meat?

As a starting point, though, if you find yourself having one of these debates, first identify what kind of hunting you’re discussing. If your interlocutor objects to hunting, try to discover the basis for their objection. And I believe you should keep nature out of it.

Finally, try to argue with someone who takes a fundamentally different view. Confirmation bias – the unintentional act of confirming the beliefs we already have – is hard to overcome. The only antidote I know of is rational discourse with people whose confirmation bias runs contrary to my own.

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This is a very important essay from Joshua. Well done, that man!

I will just leave you all with this further image.

Two young stags keeping it together. (Taken here at home in July, 2016.)

Best wishes to each of you; irrespective of your view on hunting!

Resolutions

In twenty-four hours time it will be January 1st, 2017.

I saw the following recently on the Care2 website and thought that at many levels it would make a wonderful closing post for 2016.

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Seven New Year’s Resolutions to Protect Animals in 2017

By: s.e. smith December 29, 2016

About s.e.

We’re about to turn over a new leaf on a new year — something I think we’re all pretty excited about — and it’s a good time to sit back, take stock, and think about what we want to do for ourselves, and the world, in 2017.

New year’s resolutions don’t have to be big and fancy, and sometimes they work best when they’re small and manageable, so I rounded up seven totally free ways you can help animals next year, from something you can do weekly (like writing letters) to bigger projects (like fostering animals).

1) Keep an eagle eye on upcoming animal-related legislation.

9768698735_f002511a4e_k — Photo credit: Anthony

Chances are that there’s some animal-related regulation coming your way in 2017 on the local, state and even federal level. This includes laws and ordinances as well as rules, regulations and executive orders. You can make a big difference by weighing in on these issues — sometimes, surprisingly few members of the public comment!

You can take advantage of resources for animal welfare groups and sites like Care2 to keep track of big upcoming government actions. You may want to call or write to support legislation, to ask that it be more robust, or to oppose it, depending on the contents. For legislation, you need to contact your elected official to explain how you feel and provide a concrete action to take, like “Please cosponsor this bill” or “please vote against this bill.” Rules and regulations are opened to public comment by the agencies making them, allowing you to speak at public meetings or submit written comments.

The Federal Register is a great place to search for upcoming regulations — it’s a little bit intimidating at first, but don’t let that put you off!

2) Don’t be sheepish — speak up about nonlethal solutions to predators and pests.

No matter where you live, there’s probably a battle brewing over feral cats, mountain lions, raccoons, coyotes, skunks, alligators, or someone else from the non-human world who’s getting squeezed by human incursion into its habitat. Historically, many areas have favored a lethal response to animals deemed “pests.” You can change that — and you already are, across the country. When you see animals on the agenda, speak up to request investigation into a nonlethal solution to a problem.

For example, maybe a feral cat colony is causing controversy in the community. You can talk about how responsible colony management should control numbers and limit annoying smells. You could also discuss how research shows that TNR can be more effective at long-term colony management than just trapping and removing cats — in Florida, they found that doing this just allowed other predators to move in, creating an even bigger headache!

Come backed with research and evidence, rather than emotion. You can look to advocacy groups for their data, but also explore scientific papers, and see how other municipalities are dealing with the same problem, because they may have tips to share.

3) Lend a paw at a local animal welfare organizations.

7623633684_328b5ab21e_z — Photo credit: Chris Perriman

Animal welfare groups can always use volunteer help. At the shelter, they don’t just need a hand with cuddling cats, walking dogs, and handling other species. They need all kinds of help, from more boring stuff like cleaning and filing to web design, social media management, legal counseling, accounting, event planning, and much more. Even something as simple as taking your camera (or your photography class) to the shelter once a week to photograph everyone who’s looking for a home can make a huge difference. It turns out that great shelter photos save lives!

Advocacy groups that don’t run shelters or don’t have one in your area also need help. Lots of mundane office stuff is time consuming, and volunteers can make it go more smoothly, whether you’re stuffing envelopes or answering phones. If you have special training or skills, offer those too, especially if you’re willing to get into a long-term relationship with the group. Pro-bono legal services, for example, are incredibly valuable. Your graphic design skills could help them relaunch an impressive, gorgeous website. You get the idea!

4) Don’t duck the issues — teach youth about animal welfare issues.

Many kids love animals, and the best time to hit people with humane messages is when they’re young. Some organizations actually offer humane educator training to help people learn about how to communicate with children about animal welfare issues. Humane educators can lead classes and mentor kids in the community, whether they’re taking people on bird walks and teaching them about ecology or working with kids who are learning to ride horses to teach them how to handle their mounts respectfully and kindly.

If you already are an educator, consider working humane topics into your curriculum. If you’re not, look into what might be required to teach classes at a community center, mentor students in programs like 4-H and FFA, lead educational sessions at a local museum (another great volunteer opportunity!), or come into classrooms with presentations. You may need some training and a background check to work with youth, but once you’re squared away, you can establish lasting relationships with teachers and schools to introduce humane coursework to the classroom and beyond.

5) You’ve goat mail — or at least, someone will after you write a letter on behalf of animals!

Once a week — or every two weeks, or once a month — resolve to sit down and write a letter. It doesn’t have to be an epic, and you can establish a template, but pick a specific person to target, and go to town. Maybe you want to write a letter-to-the-editor once a month about an animal issue in your community that you’re concerned about. Perhaps you want to write a letter to a corporation to ask them to stop, or start, a practice related to animals — like dropping animal testing, or introducing tougher humane standards to the supply chain.

Keep your letter concise, polite and actionable. Explain why you’re writing, the basis for your concern, the solution you’re recommending and why. You can appeal to issues like cost efficiency, making your town more attractive for visitors, compassion for animals (that’s why we’re here, after all!), falling in line with industry-wide practices, setting an example for others, or any number of other things. Present a clear case for what you’re arguing so that the person reading your letter is moved to act, and has something to bring to other people while trying to convince them to get involved.

6) Be a mother hen — foster somebody in need.

If you can’t adopt more animals or don’t have room for a full-time friend in your life, consider fostering. Fostering saves lives, getting animals who can’t handle shelter stress or who need a little extra care to a safe place where they can unwind and grow into themselves. Some shelters have foster programs, and many animal welfare groups do — some run almost entirely on fosters, in fact!

Generally, participants in a foster program are provided with food, medication and veterinary expenses to keep things low-key for you. If you have a spare room, fostering can be a great fit for your life, although watch out for foster fail! (When that kitten you swore you were just fostering is still lying on the living room rug ten years later, you are definitely a victim of foster fail.)

When fostering, be honest about what you can and cannot take on: For example, if you have a barn, you might be able to handle horses and sheep, but not notoriously mischievous and curious goats. You might not be able to take a kitten who needs constant feeding, or a dog that has aggression issues.

That said, if you can stretch your comfort zone, do. Some animals need a little extra care because they’ve had a hard life. That makes them vulnerable to euthanasia, and a foster can make all the difference. Things like giving animals fluids or medications, managing diapers, or handling other vet stuff might sound scary, but it’s pretty easy to get the hang of it.

7) Don’t have a cow — on your plate or anywhere else.

We saved the easiest for last, because chances are that you’re already well on your way with this one. When it comes to what you eat, consider cutting animal products — or at least meat — out of your life. You’ll save a ton of suffering, and also, a ton of money, if you’re trying to cut back in 2017.

If you can’t cut animal products out entirely, consider moderating: Meatless Mondays are popular, for example! Something else that really works for me is a soup exchange — a group of us make huge batches of vegan soup and share them out once a month, so there’s always a go-to vegan meal hanging out in my fridge or freezer when I need it!

While you’re at it, think about what you wear and use, too. Leather is an obvious source of animal suffering, but some people also like to avoid fibers like wool and cashmere (cashmere also comes with a big environmental price tag). You’d also be surprised by where animal products sneak in, from bodycare products to that goop you waterproof your shoes with. (No really. Go look.)

And, of course, cutting animal testing out of your life is valuable too. Growing numbers of cosmetics are produced without the use of animal testing, though it’s always a good idea to independently verify to see if a company is skirting labeling conventions. For example, some companies say “made without animal testing” because they don’t test ingredients on animals, but third party contractors do. Ugh!

If you take medication, you’re caught in the animal testing trap — but it’s worth writing the manufacturer, as well as the FDA, which governs drug testing, to push for alternatives to animal testing so that you have cruelty free options for your health care needs.

You can also make your preference for cruelty free medical supplies clear to your health care providers as well, as they may be able to recommend alternatives if they’re aware that this is a concern for you. (For example, some sutures are made from animal products, which is weird and creepy, and pig valves are used in some valve replacement surgeries. Gross, right?)

Photo credit: Tracy

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All that is required from me is to hope that every one of you has a peaceful and healthy New Year.

Two sides of the pilot’s life!

The life of the commercial pilot; that is.

I have a good understanding of the commercial pilot’s world, both inside and outside of my family. For many years as an active private pilot I held a British Instrument Rating (IR) that allowed me to fly in the commercial airways. Studying for the IR required a good appreciation of the safety culture that was at the root of commercial flying especially surrounding one’s departure and arrival airports.

So when I read a recent item from the Smithsonian Magazine proposing that airline pilots were more depressed than the average American my first reaction was one of disbelief. I forwarded the link to Bob D., an experienced British airline Captain and a good friend for years. Here is that article:

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Think Your Job Is Depressing? Try Being an Airline Pilot

New study suggests pilots are more depressed than the average American

By Erin Blakemore
smithsonian.com December 16, 2016

Being a pilot for a commercial airline has its perks—travel to exotic places, a cool uniform and those breathtaking views of the sky. But that job can come with a side of something much more sobering: depression. As Melissa Healy reports for The Los Angeles Times, the mental health of airline pilots is coming into sharp focus with the revelation that nearly 13 percent of them could be depressed.

A new study of the mental health of commercial airline pilots, recently published in the Journal of Environmental Health, suggests that depression is a major problem for pilots. The first to document mental health for this particular field, the study relied on a 2015 web survey of international pilots that contained a range of questions about their condition over the prior two weeks. Questions included whether they felt like failures, had trouble falling or staying asleep, or felt they were better off dead. (Those questions are part of a depression screening tool called the PHQ-9.) Other questions involved pilots’ flight habits, their use of sleep aids and alcohol, and whether they have been sexually or verbally harassed on the job.

Of the 1,848 pilots who responded to the depression screening portions of the questionnaire, 12.6 percent met the threshold for depression. In addition, 4.1 percent of those respondents reported having suicidal thoughts at some point during the two weeks before taking the survey. The researchers found that pilots who were depressed were also more likely to take sleep aids and report verbal or sexual harassment.

Airline pilot organizations and occupational safety experts assure Healy that airline travel is still safe. But the study continues a conversation about pilot psychology that has been in full swing since a German pilot committed suicide by crashing his plane in 2015—an incident that inspired the current study.

Since then, calls for better statistics on pilot suicide have grown louder. As Carl Bialik notes for FiveThirtyEight, those statistics do exist—and do suggest that the number of actual suicides among pilots are very small. However, limitations in data, the possibility of underreporting, and infrequent data collection all challenge a complete understanding of that facet of pilots’ mental health.

This latest mental health study has its own limitations, including the fact that it relies on self-reporting and a relatively small sample size compared to total pilot numbers worldwide (in the U.S. alone, there are over 70,000 commercial airline pilots). The cause of the reported depression also remains unclear.

But if the depression rate for commercial airline pilots really is nearly 13 percent, it’s almost double the national rate of about seven percent. Though future work is necessary to confirm these results, this study provides an initial glimpse into the health of the people who make the nation’s airlines tick and emphasizes the importance of figuring out ways to improve their mental health and quality of life.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/airline-pilots-are-really-depressed-180961475/#QojUDlEzhHEsxww4.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

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As the article points out the study contains a number of flaws that really reduce it from an erudite analysis to an eye-catching news item. (Better than reading about politics; that’s for sure!)

I know these are busy times for Captain Bob even without it being Christmas. But if Bob finds time to comment on this study then I will publish it later on.

However, Bob did find a moment to forward me copies of some of the many placards that are a necessary part of the flight deck.

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Fly safely all you good pilots out there!

It seems like the blink of an eye.

How the years speed past us!

I have lost count of the times in the last year that I have said the following:

Thank goodness that when we were younger we really didn’t understand what it was to be old!

Now being old is to a great extent as much as a thing of the mind as it is of the body. As the saying goes: “One is only as old as you feel!” (Or as many men know it: One is only as old as the woman you feel.)

Moving swiftly on!

Dogs offer us many lessons including what it is to become old, then old and infirm, and then pass away. Which is why so many owners of their beloved dogs spend as much time and care on keeping their elderly dogs as fit as possible as they do on themselves; probably in many cases spending more care and attention on their dogs than on themselves.

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10 Simple Tips for Keeping Your Old Dog Young

By: Lisa Spector December 10, 2016

About Lisa

Those of us who love and have dogs know that senior years always approach too fast. Sanchez, my 13 1/2 year old yellow Lab, has had his health challenges this year, but now that he’s gained back his strength and has recovered from E. coli, he’s acting younger than he has in years. I’ve noticed this not only in his energy level, but also in his cognitive abilities and in his engagement with dogs and people around him. I cherish his golden years and am always looking for ways to keep his mind active and alert, and keep him connected with life.

1. Adopt a second, younger dog.

Admittedly, I’ve been a single dog person my entire life… up until five years ago. When it felt like I was agonizing on the decision to expand my canine household, my vet said to me, “Bringing a younger dog into your household will help keep Sanchez younger as he ages.” Sanchez was only seven at the time, and that perspective had never occurred to me. It’s shown itself to be true.

2. Give daily spoonfuls of coconut oil.

I’ve written about the benefits of coconut oil for pets, everything from fur conditioner to paw protection. But, I hadn’t realized that coconut oil helps with canine cognition until I read this Cambridge study. I’ve been giving both Sanchez and Gina a tablespoon of coconut oil nightly for a couple of months. Not only do they love the taste, but I have definitely noticed an improvement in Sanchez’s cognitive abilities.

3. Train him often.

An old dog not only can learn new tricks, but also loves the attention and benefits from the mental stimulation as much as any age dog. Dogs love to learn, no matter their age. I still spend time training every night with Sanchez. As you can see in the video above, I’ve come up with ways to make his training less physical. But, he still gets rewarded for being involved and staying still. If it gets late, he starts whining and begging for his training time with me. The bonding time is precious and it stimulates him to keep learning and being challenged. He has no complaints about his yummy rewards either.

4. Mix it up.

Although dogs love consistency and build confidence through their routines, it’s sometimes good to mix up that routine as well. I recently was staying with friends and their three Golden Retrievers. While there, Sanchez loved the new smells in their backyard, neglected all of his daily naps and really enjoyed their multi-pet household, including the cats. Our routine completely changed as my friends generally rise much earlier than me and their dogs are fed right away. I decided to allow my dogs the same privilege while we were there. Of course, Sanchez just loved it. I was surprised how quickly he reverted back to our normal routine when we got home. While he’s making up for his missed naps now, he really enjoyed the change of scenery, people, pets, and general surroundings.

5. Add variety to diet, and consider nutritional needs.

I also add variety to Sanchez’s dog food. While the base is the same (organic meat), the variety comes in the extras. Sometimes I add in canned sardines, other times it’s salmon oil. I alter between any of the following additions: sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, green beans, spinach, kale, apples, and bananas. He’s a Lab and LOVES his food. Surprising him adds to his olfactory delight as well.

6. Add environmental enrichment.

Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine defines environmental or behavior enrichment as “the process of manipulating an animal’s environment to increase physical activity & normal species typical behavior that satisfies the animal’s physical and psychological needs.” Music created for senior dogs, with their hearing sensitivities in mind, is a great way to provide auditory stimulation that engages their senses.

7. Incorporate nose work.

Dogs often lose hearing and sight in their senior years. But, as long as they can still smell, they can still find their way around. I’ve honestly met blind and deaf dogs that were still retrieving balls, and I barely noticed any impairment to their sight or hearing. Engage a dog’s nose, and you’ll keep him stimulated.

K9 Nose Work defines this sport as “the fun search and scenting activity for virtually all dogs and people. This easy to learn activity and sport builds confidence and focus in many dogs, and provides a safe way to keep dogs fit and healthy through mental and physical exercise.” I enrolled Sanchez in classes a couple of years ago, and now we play “find” games at home. I hide pieces of liver in boxes spread throughout the living room. He searches for the piece of liver and is rewarded with more liver in the box when he finds it. He LOVES this search game.

8. Play often.

No matter the age, dogs enjoy and benefit from playtime. Even if they don’t have the same physical abilities as their younger canine friends, they can still engage in play. Try a game of hide and seek. Actually, all training and nose-work games should also feel like play to them. Pretend you’re a kid again, and they’ll pick up on your energy and thank you for it.

9. Walk them in new areas.

Again, engaging their nose helps keep them stimulated and interested in their surroundings. Bringing them to a new area for a walk is another way to do that. Sanchez is still often with me in the car. So, once a week, I try and stop in a new area for him to explore.

10. Take time to smell the roses.

Walks may no longer be about physical activity. Move at his pace. Allow him to use his nose as much as he chooses. I’ve learned that it’s not only good for Sanchez, but it’s good for me. He’s teaching me the importance of taking time to slow down and enjoy nature. Honestly, does it ever get any better?

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Our wonderful Pharaoh is getting pretty old now; he was 13 1/2 years-old on December 3rd which is a grand age for a German Shepherd. When he was a young puppy I was advised to get a younger playmate for him when his years were building up. For two reasons. The first being that the younger dog keeps the elderly dog playing and interested in the world. The second reason being that the elder dog will teach the younger dog all the owner’s commands.

Pharaoh demonstrating his benevolent status with puppy Cleo. April 2012.

Cleo has proved both points. Pharaoh in living with so many dogs around him is most definitely kept engaged and despite his rear hips being so very fragile and weak he still doesn’t miss a turn in going out with the other dogs.

Just to underline how fantastic Pharaoh is doing, his age at the conversion ratio of 1 dog year to 8 human years makes him 108! Or 36 years my senior!

Possibly more harmful things!

Four household products that could be making you sick.

In yesterday’s post I republished an email sent by fellow author Judi Holdeman warning about some brands of peanut butter in terms of potential harm to our gorgeous dogs. Or to be more precise about the dangers of xylitol that is an ingredient in those named brands.

Today, I am delighted to publish a guest post from Charlotte Meier. Charlotte explained to me that she “Operates Home Safety Hub, a site which provides resources on preventing injury and property loss. Her mission is the same as Home Safety Hub’s, which is to help people keep their homes safe. ” Yes, keeping our homes safe includes keeping our dogs safe.

Here is that guest post.

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Four household products that could be making you sick.

We tend to believe that household products such as cleaners or kitchen utensils are good for us. Keeping your house bacteria-free surely can’t have a negative effect on your well-being, right? Unfortunately, as the world becomes more eco-friendly, studies are now showing that your favorite household products could be damaging both you and the planet.

It is critical that you do the research necessary to identify healthy and eco-friendly products. However, that may be easier said than done. Here are a few common household products that could be harmful to your health or the environment.

Nonstick Cookware

Nonstick cookware (such as pots, pans, and baking dishes) was initially celebrated and sought-after, seeming to make cooking simpler and cleanup easy. However, we now know that the nonstick surface is created using Teflon which releases toxic gasses. When you use this cookware at a high temperature, you are essentially poisoning yourself and placing yourself at risk for organ failure, cancer, and other health concerns.

A few healthy alternatives are cast iron, stainless steel, and ceramic coated cookware. Just be certain you do your research on the proper way to care for each type of cookware. For example, cast iron cannot be washed with soap and should be dried immediately after rinsing to avoid rust.

Air Fresheners

Keeping your home smelling fresh with wall plug-ins or sprays is very common. However, many of these products can have a detrimental impact on your health. Furthermore, aerosols are very bad for the environment.

If you want your home to smell wonderful, there are a number of ways you can do so in an eco-friendly and beneficial way. Scented soy candles can be highly effective as can boiling aromatic spices. Recipes for seasonal home scent blends can be found for essential oil diffusers as well.

Garden Insecticides

If you are using insecticides in your garden or on your landscaping, lawn, or potted plants, you are endangering your health and the well-being of the planet. Insecticides are extraordinarily harmful, affecting the nervous system and respiratory system in humans while carrying toxins to water supplies and culling bee populations.

If you have a pest problem, you need to either seek out a home remedy such as vinegar or purchase a genuinely eco-friendly insect control.

Anti-Bacterial Cleaners

Exposure to bacteria is how our immune systems learn and grow. In order do that, you must embrace bacteria in your home. Anti-bacterial products keep your home sterile, leaving your immune system to drop its guard and increase the likelihood of getting sick. When you clean your home, you certainly want to keep it clean, but you do not want it entirely sterile. Anti-bacterial products may do more harm than good.

If you want an eco-friendly cleaner, try utilizing the app ThinkDirty, which rates the safety of household products in terms of their impact on people and the planet. Seventh Generation is one of the best lines of household goods for those seeking eco-friendly options.

Knowing how to best keep yourself and the planet well can be very difficult. False or misleading advertising can trick you into using unhealthy products and knowing what is truthful is no easy feat. However, with a little time, effort, and research, you can make the right decisions with your household products.

Image via Pixabay by Taken

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There you are good people; another Friday come and gone.
But I do hope that you found value in what Charlotte wrote about. Indeed, I have no doubt that many of you did.
Let me close by sharing the email that Charlotte sent me a couple of weeks ago.

Hi!
Our homes are our safe havens. In fact, the term “homesick” refers to a longing for the comfort and love that we associate with home when we’re away from it.
But many Americans, today, are homesick in a different way. They (and often their pets as well) are suffering from respiratory illnesses, skin irritations, allergies, and in some cases, even cancer, due to factors found in their homes.

As part of my research for my new site, HomeSafetyHub.org, I’ve been studying ways our homes make us sick and what we can do about them. I’d love to share what I’ve learned with your readers in the form of a guest article.

The article will offer tips and advice on what factors to test for, suggestions for easy, environmentally-friendly DIY repairs to eliminate problems, what products or building materials to avoid, and more.

If you’re interested in receiving a guest article, please let me know. No payment necessary, of course, I’d just love the opportunity to share my original content on a great site.
Hope to hear from you soon!
All the best,
Charlotte

Keep peanut butter away from your dogs!

Because it could kill your beloved companion.

Fellow author Judi Holdeman sent me an email that contained a warning that had been in a recent health newsletter from Jeff Reagan. Here’s the essence of that warning (and my emphasis in parts):

If your dog is anything like my dog, they probably love a good scoop of peanut butter.

As I’m writing this, my pup Ellie is actually snuggled up next to my leg and going to town on her peanut butter filled Kong. She’s in heaven…

But I want to warn you about a NEW problem with dogs and peanut butter.

There’s been a number of reports lately of dogs who are winding up dead because of their beloved peanut butter.

How is this happening?

It has to do with a new ingredient being used in certain peanut butters.

That ingredient is xylitol.

Xylitol is an artificial sweetener that you’ll recognize from things like gum and candy.

And while it’s generally “safe” for humans to eat, it can be deadly for dogs. Just a small amount of it can cause severe liver damage and can even kill your dog.

From my research, I’ve found 5 brands of peanut butter that have recently added xylitol to their ingredients. I’m listing these brands below…

– Go Nuts Co

– Hank’s Protein Plus Peanut Butter

– Krush Nutrition

– Nuts N More

– P28

Now luckily most of these are NOT the most popular brands.

These brands are usually sold at specialty shops or health food stores.

But I still wanted to alert you to this…

Because if your dog is anything like mine, they probably love peanut butter.

So make sure you’re staying away from the brands I listed above.

And double-check the label on your peanut butter to make sure it doesn’t have xylitol in it.

Feel free to forward this email on to your friends or family that have dogs so they are aware of this…

– Jeff Reagan. Editor, Patriot Health Alliance

Please, good people, do share this as far and wide as possible.

What to say to the kids.

Reflections on what we leave behind.

I included in yesterday’s post the interview with Bill Kotke and his concern that humanity’s greed, and that’s the correct term in my view, focusing on each generation having more, howsoever one defines ‘more’, was utterly at odds with a sustainable future on the only home we have: Planet Earth. A finite planet in a finite solar system.

On Monday I was chatting with Roger D. back in the old country. It was Roger who introduced me to gliding back in the late 70s. Later we were in business together in Colchester, Essex and we still keep in touch.

Anyway, Roger was bemoaning the current state of affairs in the UK regarding Brexit and went on to say that every economic strategy offered by this or that UK Government was about growth. Whether we are talking economic growth, improvement in living standards or population growth why are there no leading figures in any leading government standing up and saying this can’t go on! Because it can’t!

We are presently a global population of 7.5 billion. This year alone, as of today, there have been 56,000,000 deaths. But also, as of today, there have been 133,000,000 births. (I rounded the figures but what difference does it make!) That’s a growth of 77 million persons in this one year. It cannot go on!

Bill Kotke also spoke of soil loss. Just last Sunday there was a Care2 item about soil loss. From which I extract:

Could soil ever actually run out?

Yes. If we continue to harm and degrade topsoil at the current rate, it’s estimated that the world could lose all its topsoil within 60 years.

Topsoil is the uppermost layer of soil on the surface of the earth. It’s the most fertile type of soil that typically contains lots of nutrient-rich organic matter from broken down plants and other organisms. Topsoil is also alive with beneficial microbes, fungi and critters like earth worms, which feed on the organic matter.

The deeper layers of soil beneath the topsoil are not nearly as rich. They are primarily made up of decomposing rock that provides the raw material for future topsoil as well as a substrate for deeply rooted plants to anchor in.

If the delicate ecosystem within topsoil is disrupted, it will essentially die. Plants can’t grow in topsoil that doesn’t have abundant organic matter and thriving populations of microbes.

Yes, there are street protests about this political action or that political action but why aren’t we seeing tens of thousands on the streets protesting about the loss of our topsoil!!

Moving on.

There was a recent essay from Patrice Ayme in which he wrote about the Australian Asthma Thunderstorm. Just read this long extract from that essay:

(November 29th, 2016 Italics are from the story as presented in the New York Times)

Mr. McGann was one of thousands of people in Melbourne having an attack of thunderstorm asthma. About 8,500 people went to hospitals. Eight have died, and one remains in intensive care more than a week after a thunderstorm surged across Melbourne, carrying pollen that strong winds and rain broke into tiny fragments.

Perennial ryegrass seeds were swept up in whorls of wind and carried from four million hectares of pasturelands (about 9.9 million acres) that lie to Melbourne’s north and west. If broken into fragments, they are so fine that they can be inhaled.”

Actually what also lie north and west of Melbourne are giant fields of canola. Consider the following propaganda picture:

Mr. McGann did not end up in the hospital. “Every breath I took made the next breath harder,” he said, adding that he had no family history of asthma. “I just didn’t realize it could have the effect it had.”

Grass pollen is the primary source of allergies in southern Australia, and tracking the data allowed scientists to forecast high levels of grass seeds in the atmosphere on Nov. 21. Still, Ms. Hennessy said, the government was taken by surprise.”

Surprise, indeed, this did not happen before, by two orders of magnitude. How come so much more severity?

My lawyer’s theory is different. It evolved from my own observations and theories of why asthma and allergies, let alone weird cancers, have been augmenting spectacularly. There are around 150,000 artificial, man-made chemical products in use. By medical drug standards, they are untested (in earlier essays, I mentioned 80,000, which is the number brandished in the USA; however, French specialists talk about 150,000 untested chemicals.).

Canola (or rapeseed), Brassica napus, is an oilseed crop which is cultivated for its high quality edible oil used in many foods (eg. margarines and cooking oil) and seed meal (the fibrous material left after the oil pressing process), which has a high protein content. That makes it highly desirable as a stock feed.

In 2010-11, the Australian state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, produced 476 thousand tonnes of canola with a gross value of $293 million.

Control of weeds, particularly weeds from the Brassicaceae family (broadleaf), through herbicide application during the canola-growing season, significantly improves the quantity of the grain produced. Weeds compete for space, nutrients and sunlight. (African countries have dismissed that the quality of GMO seed is higher, in contradistinction with US propaganda; quite the opposite, they say)

Two genetically modified (GM) canola varieties have been developed in Australia, Roundup Ready® (by Monsanto Australia Ltd) and InVigor® (by Bayer CropSciences Pty Ltd). For maximum effect, each GM variety has been developed to be tolerant to and hence used with, a specific herbicide. The result is the mass poisoning of the planet, horizon to horizon.

The same poisoning trick is used for insecticides. To boot, the poison resistance spreads, demanding even higher doses of poison to be used in the grand outdoors..

In other words, massive quantities of poisons are put in the soil, and from there, are kicked up, in the air.

Exposed to this life destroying poisons, the body reacts by shutting down all pores. Asthma.

It cannot go on!

It is time for you and me and millions of others to be the change we want to see. Whether it’s the little things like recycling, or car sharing, or the bigger things like moving to an eco village we have to make a difference.

We have to learn from those communities that for thousands of years lived harmonious and sustainable lives on the planet. Doing so many thousands of years before farming man came on to the scene

In 1969 I spent a year in the outback of Australia as a correspondent for KotiPosti; a Finnish magazine. While I was out in the wilderness looking for Finns to write about it was impossible not to be drawn into the history of the aboriginal Australian.

ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS ARE descendents of the first people to leave Africa up to 75,000 years ago, a genetic study has found, confirming they may have the oldest continuous culture on the planet.
Professor Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen, who led the study, says Aboriginal Australians were the first modern humans to traverse unknown territory in Asia and Australia. “It was a truly amazing journey that must have demanded exceptional survival skills and bravery,” he says.
A century-old lock of hair, given by a West Australian indigenous man to an anthropologist, has led to the discovery that ancestors of Aboriginal Australians reached Asia at least 24,000 years before another wave of migration that populated Europe and Asia.

It was back then that I truly understood the relationship that those early Australians had with the earth; with their planet. Forget religions and churches, the Aborigines had a spiritual relationship with the planet that sustained them.

I will never forget exploring quietly, just me and my wife of those days, the caves and darker recesses around the base of Ayers Rock, better called Uluru, the most amazing monolith right out there in the middle of the desert. The unmistakable signs of so many of those quiet recesses being spiritual places for those ancient people.
Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid “Red Centre”. The nearest large town is Alice Springs, 450km away. Uluru is sacred to indigenous Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550 million years ago. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which also includes the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (colloquially “The Olgas”) formation.

It is just he same for the North American Indians. They have a spiritual relationship with the land.

Back to Bill Kotke’s talk. He spoke of how when each of us was the product of the fertilisation of the egg by the sperm in utero we grow first as a fish, then as a mammal and, finally, emerge as a human: “We are connected to the earth!”

As you all know I am a secular humanist. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have deep, as in spiritual, feelings for the lands and the oceans and for the wildlife of this planet

So let me close by repeating what I said at that meeting where Bill was presenting. For Bill spoke of being connected, in a heartfelt manner, with the planet. For if one is so connected then it is natural for one to want to love and protect the planet.

This is what I said:

Bill,

In 1991 I departed Gibraltar Harbour solo on my yacht Songbird of Kent heading West out across the Atlantic.

After I had settled in to the routine of being at sea, better described as settling in to being connected to the ocean, I loved watching the dolphins come up to the boat, give it the once over, raise their heads and offer me a brief eye contact and then slip away.

Then I became aware that when I was laying down on my bunk in the cabin I could sense when the dolphins were close to my hull. Each time I had that sense I would come up to the deck, briefly pausing to clip on my safety harness lest I truly joined the dolphins, and one or two of those dolphins were always by my boat.

I called this post What To Say To The Kids. Not just my son and daughter, now both mature adults, but my grandson Morten son to my daughter and her husband.

Because I feel so strongly that waiting for our leaders and politicians to lead humanity in protecting our planet is pointless. They are driven by other values.

It cannot go on!

I want to be measured by my son and my daughter, and by my grandson in due time, as a person who made a difference; even just a small one.

For I truly believe that showing love for our planet will make a difference and that is what I want to say to my kids.

We have to return to community living; a twenty-first century version of such living. Even in the giant populations of big cities we have to reach out and form local communities. Groups of people who are driven by the imperative to curtail population growth, eager to share in as many ways as possible and totally committed to taking no more from the planet than they put in.

Because It cannot go on!

This is what I want to say to my kids.

I remember everything …

except the things I forget!

Taken in the round I don’t think I’m ageing too badly. But there is one aspect of my world that does drive me bonkers from time to time. That is a decline (and that’s putting it politely) in my short-term memory. Everything from forgetting what it was I wanted to say to Jeannie to still being unsure of finding regularly visited places in Grants Pass, our local city. To put that last point into context we moved here to Merlin, some 12 miles from Grants Pass, back in September, 2012.

Turning to the cognitive skills of our wonderful dogs it is clear to me that we can only go so far in understanding how our dogs think and how much of their world is dealing with the present supported by their memories of previous events. (Frankly, in writing the last sentence I realised how even that premise was more of a guess than a known fact.)

A recent study at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest about the memories of dogs has been widely referred to across many news outlets. So when it appeared on the Care2 site it was a natural to republish it for all you good people.

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New Study Finds Dogs Remember a Whole Lot

By: Laura Goldman December 2, 2016

About Laura

My doorbell has been broken for a few years, but every time my 9-year-old dog, Leroy, hears one chiming on a TV show, he looks at the front door.

Many pet owners have similar tales to tell about their dogs being able to remember long-ago experiences and events. And now we have proof that this really is possible. A new study found that dogs may have a more complex form of memory than most other nonhuman animals (sorry, elephants).

“Every move you make, every step you take, I’ll be watching you,” Sting once sang, and these lyrics could apply to our dogs, too. They’re not only watching us, but they’re remembering what they’re observing, no matter how trivial it may seem to us.

In the study at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, published Nov. 23 in Current Biology, 17 dogs were taught a training method called “Do As I Do.” The dogs would watch their owners perform an action. When the dogs were told, “Do it” and imitated their owners’ action, they were rewarded with a treat.

Next, the owners performed various actions but told the dogs to lie down instead of “Do it.” After a while, the dogs began lying down without being told to do so. The study’s authors noted that this showed the dogs had lost the expectation that they would be given the “Do it” command to imitate their owners.

Finally, the owners performed various actions, and when their dogs would lie down, the owners would wait either a minute or an hour and then give them the “Do it” command.

Some of the actions were unfamiliar to the dogs, such as their owners tapping on an open umbrella. The dogs would be led behind a partition, and a minute to an hour later would be led back to the umbrella and given the “Do it” command.

The dogs were able to remember what their owners had done, and tapped the umbrella with their paws.

“We cannot directly investigate what is in the dog’s mind,” psychologist Claudia Fugazza, an author of the study and owner of a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog who participated, told the Washington Post. “So we have to find behavioral evidence of what they expect or not.”

Remembering events in our lives is known as episodic memory. Until recently, only humans were thought to have this ability, but studies have found evidence that rats, monkeys and birds also have it, and so do dogs.

However, the researchers said the dogs don’t have full-fledged episodic memory, which would give them self awareness. Fugazza told NPR she didn’t think there was a method available to test whether dogs are self aware.

Victoria Templer, a behavioral neuroscientist at Providence College who wasn’t involved in the study, told NPR the results could be useful in helping scientists understand how episodic memory developed in humans and how it’s helped us to survive.

One interesting possibility Templer suggested is that “we evolved the ability to relive the past in order to imagine the future.”

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Of course what would be a marvelous aspect of a dog’s memory is being able to take note and remember where his male human companion left items around the house!

Behavioral issues in dogs

The most frequent strange and unwanted behavior in dogs

Delighted to offer all you good people a guest post for today. It came about as a result of an email sent to me by Alex. This is what that email said; in part:

I am writing to you on behalf of Premier Pups, one of the main partners of Doctorpup.com. We have read your materials and we found them very interesting for dog lovers.

We have made a complex and detailed article based on Dr. Gary Rybka’s knowledge and experience (from Doctorpup.com – one of the most reputable veterinarians from Ohio) and we consider that our article will bring new information for your audience. The topic of the article is related to the most frequent strange or undesirable behaviors of dogs and their main causes. In addition, Doctor Rybka offers solutions for a great part of these behaviors.

Alex

Now there’s always a balance in my mind between expert information that should be shared with you good people and any guest article not coming over as a ‘soft sell’. Clearly, Doctorpup.com is a commercial operation but their website does clearly state their Vision:

At doctorpup we welcome your questions. Our articles and videos provide a foundation for your questions and each question gives us the opportunity to provide answers specific to your pet and situation. You can present your questions through the doctorpup Forum Q & A, the live interactive chat or through our personal and emergency phone consultation options. You can upgrade your membership at anytime to allow more opportunity to benefit you and your puppy.

So this was accepted by me because of the useful information it offers but at the same time I must tell you that a) I receive no benefit, financial or otherwise, from the publication of this guest post, and b) I can offer no warranties about the accuracy or validity of the information the guest article contains. Hope that doesn’t come across as too negative; it’s not intended to so do.

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The most frequent strange and unwanted behavior in dogs

Undesirable or strange behaviors exhibited by dogs during puppyhood and adolescence are known as pediatric behavior problems and it is important to address them as early as possible with behavioral modification methods. There are also adult dogs that display strange behavior, but their acceptance depend on the effects.

According to DoctorPup.com, one of the most important cause of behavioral problems is the living in urban areas where the level of exercise and play is limited.

We have made a list of the most frequent behavioral problems of dogs and potential solutions for them:

How to stop destructive chewing?

Dog destructive chewing consisting in chewing and damaging the furniture or household stuff can be caused by a poor nutrition or inadequate food provisions, presence of mice or other small animals in the walls or flooring, spilled food on carpet or furniture or uninteresting toys. It is recommended to give your dog various toys and look for his interests, to hide forbidden objects or to close the doors and interrupt this unwanted behavior with a loud “no”.

Dogs playing or fighting?

Play biting or play fighting can become unpleasant due to your dog’s teeth that are sharp and can cause you injuries. The behavior can be generated by teasing and rough play, long confinement periods or excited greetings. It is recommended to exercise your pup, use appropriate toys to distract him, avoid games that encourage the behavior, socialize it properly and ignore the unwanted behavior such as barking, whining or pawing for attention.

Training dogs not to bite

Biting everything in his way can also become a serious problem. There has to be a consequence to be remembered by your dog, for example, talk loud and say “no” and then pretend your dog doesn’t exist, look at him with a menacing stare and use a few words with the same tone. Your dog has to know you don’t like him anymore. You can also put him in another room or use a leash to restrain him where he can see you but cannot interact with you.

Dog jumping on people

Jumping on people and placing paws on visitors or family members is caused by excitement or by an acute need for attention. It is helpful to teach your pup to sit on command, avoid games and play that encourage it to jump, and use a loud and sharp voice when it jumps.

Why do dogs chase their tails

Dogs that are chasing their tails are likely to have a discomfort in that area. It may seem a funny behavior and it can be caused by an excess of energy. But, if you notice that the behavior is displayed constantly, check the tail to see if you find any crusts, scaly or sensitive areas. The tail contains many nerve endings. If you find any suspicious areas, you should scrub them gently with antibacterial shampoo or soap, dry it and use an antibiotic. Tail chasing and biting can also be caused by flea allergy dermatitis or overfilled anal glands or it can be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Why does my dog lick me?

If you notice your dog licks you, it may be due to his affection or his need to getting your attention. Licking is also a sensory tool for dogs, similar to reaching out and touching something. Another explanation consists in the fact the canine mothers lick their puppies for grooming and social reasons and this behavior continues into adulthood.

How to get a dog stop barking when I leave the room/house

If your dog begins to bark immediately after you leave the room, he may suffer from separation anxiety. It is recommended to tell it to sit and give him praise before leaving the house. If he stays, give him a treat or a favorite toy with praise. Try this method until you can leave the house and your dog remains there without making a sound. It is possible to take a few weeks, but it is worth. Your dog will be better at emotional self-control. It is also possible that your dog become overexcited and pee when he meets or greets you or someone else or to begin barking excessively when you arrive home. This is because he is very happy to see you or the person he greets and it is his way to show his love.

Dogs love to chase their food and roll on

This behavior is caused by the fact that your dog considers the food is a prey and he wants to ensure it is dead before eating. You can give him a command to take his food to his bowl in order to understand you do not tolerate this behavior.

Why do dogs tilt their heads

If your pup tilts his head, it is possible that he wants to make sense of what he hears, to identify the location of a sound or to find if he’ll get something fun or rewarding.

Coprophagy in dogs

An unpleasant habit of some puppies consists in eating poop also called coprophagy and the phenomenon can appear because your dog is hungry, likes the smell and taste, is missing certain nutrients from his diet or simply thinks it is fun.

Why Do Dogs Howl?

Another pups get used to howl as an instinctive or rewarding behavior while others hump on other dogs, on people’ legs in their search for seeking attention or excitement, without sexual reasons.

Why does my dog stare at me?

If you notice that your dog is staring at you he probably expects to receive a treat or to show him praise and affection. Dogs generally consider direct eye contact threatening, so ensure it is not a sign of fear or aggression.

Why do dogs walk in circles before lying down?

There are moments when your dog walks in circles before lying down as an inherited ritual from the wolf-like dogs that used to spot to pat down the leaves or grass to make a nesting spot.

Why do dogs sniff each other’s butts?

Another unusual habit of your pup consists in sniffing other dogs’ butts as a sign to greet them or in trashing his toys that they consider as a killing action due to his primal instincts.

Did you notice that your dog hate other dogs?

It is probably because he wasn’t well socialized in puppyhood or he didn’t have positive experiences with other dogs during this period.

Got an aggressive puppy?

If your pup shows signs of aggression it is possible to notice that the aggression disappear when you take it out of his comfort zone. That’s why, exposing him to a wide range of experiences could help teach him to adapt to the rules you want. It is also important to not tolerate his aggression.

Some behavioral issues are due to inadequate supervision, control, training, exercise and or general environment. Your response has to be immediate, consistent and result in some sacrifice for your puppy if you want to repair his behavior.

Short Bio:

Alex is the Director of Communications for Premier Pups, a purebred & designer dog breeder that offers the best selection in Texas of certified pure bred and mixed breed designer puppies. Alex has a Master degree in Communication from Michigan State University and loves so much his dog he rescued from a shelter a few years ago.

ooOOoo

Hope you found this of interest. As for me, it was just another reminder that we are never too old to learn something new. As in the word “coprophagy” that I hadn’t come across before.

To which I would close by saying that your feedback as to the value of such guest articles would be most welcome.

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