Dogs are animals of integrity. We have much to learn from them.
Category: Health
Once more, dear friends, from Unsplash.
This time with a focus on German Shepherd dogs.
Photo by Jana Ohajdova on Unsplash
Photo by Anna Dudkova on Unsplash
Photo by Jayalekshman SJ on Unsplash
Photo by Anish Hassan on Unsplash
Photo by Yuriy Bogdanov on Unsplash
Photo by Sarah ( animal photography ) on Unsplash
Photo by Dustin Bowdige on Unsplash
These are such beautiful photographs, such fabulous pictures. Until next week!
Tuesday was the last day, but still …..
The Westminster Dog Show this year ran from Saturday, 11th May until Tuesday, 14th May.
Many wonderful dogs of all types but this ex-rescue dog, Miles, takes the cake!
But the winner was a miniature poodle called Sage.
Wonderful!
Yet more from Unsplash.
Photo by Harshit Suryawanshi on Unsplash
Photo by Erin Minuskin on Unsplash
Photo by Brooke Winters on Unsplash
Photo by Tamara Bellis on Unsplash
Photo by William Krause on Unsplash
Photo by Liviu Roman on Unsplash
Photo by Taylor Kopel on Unsplash
There you are, another week gone!
A hiker in Arizona saw a dog hiding, and scared!
This is such a lovely tale and one that defies all the odds.
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By Caitlin Jill Anders, Published on May 3, 2024
A Good Samaritan was hiking a narrow, slippery trail on Lookout Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, and was very focused on his hike until something caught his eye. He was about half a mile up the mountain and a little off the beaten path when he caught a glimpse of light reflecting off of something — and was shocked to realize it was a pair of amber eyes.
The eyes belonged to a very scared dog huddled up in a tiny hole in the side of the mountain. She was completely blending in with her surroundings, and if she hadn’t had such piercing eyes, the hiker may not have noticed her. He had no idea how she’d managed to get up there, but it was clear that she’d been stuck for a while and might not be able to last much longer.
The Good Samaritan quickly contacted the Arizona Humane Society (AHS), who sent two emergency animal medical technicians, Tracey Miiller and Ruthie Jesus, out to help while he waited with the pup until they arrived. The dog was definitely scared but seemed open to getting help.
“This Good Samaritan waited probably almost two hours, and then we found this incredible dog, who incidentally is literally the same color as the dirt,” Jesus said in a press release. “She blends in so much, the complainant told us that he wanted to call her Bright Eyes because when he hiked past her, that was literally the only thing he saw was her amber bright eyes staring back at him.”
After a quick and careful assessment on the side of the mountain, the technicians determined that Bright Eyes was dangerously dehydrated with cut-up paws and a wound on her rear end.
“She was really sweet and letting me pet her head, but she absolutely did not want to come out of that den, so I kind of had to just sort of pull her out,” Jesus said.
She was definitely too weak to walk with her rescuers down the mountain, so the technicians took turns carrying her until they reached the ambulance. Bright Eyes was calm the whole time, so grateful to finally be safe.
“She actually really just relaxed and seemed to enjoy being carried down the mountain,” Jesus said. “But it was a very teeny-tiny rocky trail that was pretty slick, and so Tracey and I took turns carrying her down the mountain, and she was just an absolute angel. She knew we were getting her to safety.”
It’s still a mystery as to how or why Bright Eyes ended up on the mountain in the first place, but the important thing is someone found her and now she’s getting the care she needs.
“We were so elated to be able to get her,” Jesus said. “She was just so dehydrated. I think she’d probably been up there several days and that was probably her last day, and this Good Samaritan really just saved her life.”
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Frankly, there’s nothing more to add to this account. For it captured all that so many people do for dogs.
P.S. All the above photographs were supplied by the Arizona Humane Society. Please take a look at their website.
A recent post from The Conversation reveals all!
I have no excuse for not being better at looking after my teeth, for one of my elder sisters, Corinne, was a dental assistant and when I was in my mid-fifties I moved down to South-West England and bought a home just a few miles from Corinne’s home. Thereafter she looked after my teeth at the dental practice in Totnes.
But I was careless in following Corinne’s advice and it wasn’t until in my seventies, and living in Merlin, Oregon, that I saw the light; so to speak!
Read this!
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Samer Zaky, University of Pittsburgh
At an auction in England in 2011, one of John Lennon’s teeth sold for just over US$31,000.
How much are your teeth worth?
Teeth are amazing little miracles. They light up our smiles, we use them to speak and we chew with them more than 600 times at every meal.
Yet, in a society where 1 out of 5 Americans ages 75 and up live without their teeth, many people may not realize that teeth are designed to stay with us for a lifetime.
I’m a dentist and an assistant professor spanning clinical dentistry and craniofacial regeneration research. Researchers like me are still deepening our understanding of tooth development, with the ultimate goal of serving patients with on-demand regrown ones.
In the process, I have developed reverence for natural teeth and for the complex beauty of these biological and mechanical masterpieces.
The secret of teeth longevity lies in their durability as well as in how they are anchored to the jaw – picture a hammer and its hand grip. For each tooth, durability and anchorage are functions of the complex interface between six different tissues; each alone is a biological marvel.
For anchorage, the cementum, ligament and bone grip the tooth at its root portion that is buried under the gum. The ligament, a soft tissue that is about 0.2 millimeters wide (about the diameter of four hairs), attaches the cementum of the root on one end to the bone of the jaw on the other end. It serves to anchor the tooth as well as to cushion its movement during chewing.
For durability, however, the secret lies in the enamel, dentin and pulp – our focus in this discussion.
The enamel is the protective shell that covers the visible part of the tooth above the gum. Thanks to its high mineral content, enamel is the hardest tissue in the body. It needs to be, since it acts as a shield against the constant impact of chewing.
Enamel does not contain cells, blood vessels or nerves, so it is nonliving and nonsensitive. Enamel is also non-regenerating. Once destroyed by decay or broken by misuse such as ice chewing, nail biting or bottle opening – or touched by the dental drill – that part of our priceless enamel is gone for good.
Because it interfaces with a germ-laden world, the enamel is also where decay starts. When acid-generating bacteria accumulate on unbrushed or poorly brushed teeth, they readily dissolve the minerals in the enamel.
How bacteria invade the teeth and cause cavities.
Like hair or fingernails, the non-innervated enamel is not sensitive. The decay advances through the 2.5-millimeter thick (tenth of an inch) layer of enamel painlessly. When caught at that phase during a dental checkup visit, the dentist can treat the decay with a relatively conservative filling that hardly compromises the tooth’s structural integrity.
Because of its high mineral content, enamel is stiff. Its lifelong support is provided by the more resilient infrastructure – the dentin.
With less mineral content than enamel, dentin is the resilient body of the tooth. It is a living tissue formed of parallel tiny tubes housing fluid and cellular extensions. Both originate from the pulp.
The pulp is the tooth’s soft tissue core. Vastly rich in cells, blood vessels and nerves, it is the life source of the tooth – its heart – and the key to its longevity.
Like smoke detectors communicating with a remote fire station, the cellular extensions within the dentin sense decay as soon as it breaks through the nonsensitive layer of enamel into dentin. Once the extensions communicate the danger signal to the pulp, our tooth sensitivity alarm goes off: The tooth heart is in flames.
The inflamed pulp initiates two protective actions. The first is to secrete an additional layer of dentin to delay the approaching attack. The second is toothache, a call to visit the dentist.
The earlier the visit, the less the drilling and the smaller the filling. If caught in time, most of the tooth’s natural tissues will be preserved and the pulp will likely regain its healthy state. If caught too late, the pulp slowly dies out.
Without its heart, a nonliving tooth has no defense against further decay invasion. Without a hydration source, a dried-out dentin will sooner or later break under the forces of constant chewing. Besides, a tooth that has already lost a significant portion of its natural structure to decay, cavity preparation or root canal instrumentation becomes weak, with limited longevity.
In other words, the tooth is never the same without its heart. Pulpless, the tooth loses its womb-to-tomb endurance and mother nature’s lifelong warranty.
More complex – and more precious – than a pearl within an oyster, the formation of a tooth within our jawbone involves layered mineral deposition. As tooth development progresses in a process of ultimate cellular engineering, the cells of the six aforementioned tissues – enamel, dentin, pulp, cementum, ligament and bone – multiply, specialize and mineralize synchronously with each other to form uniquely interlocking interfaces: enamel to dentin, dentin to pulp, cementum to dentin and cementum to ligament to bone.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xrebAYBnKw0?wmode=transparent&start=0 Tooth development – the ultimate process of cellular engineering.
In a progress akin to 3D printing, the tooth crown grows vertically to full formation. Simultaneously, the root continues its elongation to eventually launch off the crown from within the bone across the gum to appear in the mouth – the event known as teething. It is about that time, around 12 years of age, that our set of adult teeth is complete. These pearls are set to endure a lifetime and are undoubtedly worth preserving.
Tooth decay, the most prevalent disease in humans, is both predictable and preventable. The earlier it is caught, the more the tooth integrity can be preserved. Since the process starts painlessly, it is imperative to visit the dentist regularly to keep those insidious germs in check.
During your checkup visit, the dental professional will clean your teeth and check for early decay. If you are diligent with your daily preventive measures, the good news for you will be no news – enough to make anyone smile.
Samer Zaky, Research Assistant Professor in Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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There’s that saying: “No news is good news.”
Again, back to Unsplash.
Photo by Henos Solomon on Unsplash
Photo by Dineshkumar M on Unsplash
Not the usual friendly face but still a terrific photograph.
Photo by Jelena Kostic on Unsplash
Photo by Nam-Huong Nguyen on Unsplash
Photo by Photographer Frederik Trovatten on Unsplash
Photo by Erin Minuskin on Unsplash
That is all for this Sunday. You all have a good week ahead (that’s an order 😉 )
Another compelling story.
Yet another fantastic story of a dog being transformed, courtesy of The Dodo.
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Dog Is Completely Transformed After Groomers Give Her An Emergency Makeover
By Stephen Messenger, Published on April 5, 2024
Recently, staff at the Wyandotte Animal Shelter in Michigan took in a dog whose condition was described as among the worst they’d ever seen. Pixie, as the dog is named, had fur so overgrown and matted that she could hardly move.
Gazing upon Pixie, one might never guess that an adorable dog existed beneath it.
According to staff at the shelter, Pixie was surrendered by her owner, who, regrettably, had neglected to give her the care and attention she needed — leading to her severely unkempt condition. Ultimately, though, his decision to surrender her is what Pixie needed most.
“He had a hard time letting her go but surrendered her to us so we could ensure she would go to someone who could give her the life she deserved,” the shelter wrote.
With that, Pixie’s world was about to change forever — and it would have to start with a much-needed haircut.
Staff at the shelter reached out to The Downriver Grooming Co. for what would be an emergency grooming session to help Pixie escape from her matted prison.
“[They got] her in within minutes of our call, and for [three] hours they spent freeing her from that matted fur,” the shelter wrote.
After all was said and done, the real Pixie had emerged.
She was totally unrecognizable from her former self.
“This little girl was only 5.5 pounds, but she seemed twice her size due to the matted fur,” the shelter wrote, adding that she was in remarkably good health, despite her ordeal beneath that overgrown coat.
Pixie’s world had changed for the better — but it wouldn’t be long until it improved even more.
Within days of Pixie’s transformation, thanks to the kindness of those who’d helped her, the little dog got the second chance she so desperately needed.
“Pixie was adopted,” a spokesperson for the Wyandotte Animal Shelter told The Dodo. “Her new family reports that she is doing very well in her new home.”
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We all need second chances from time to time, humans and dogs.
It is about Whale songs and is just a fabulous sound!
Last Friday there was an item on the BBC about whale song. It appears I can publish the article for you all. It is my choice over my regular Sunday Picture Parade. I hope you agree! Update: The track just 26 seconds long cannot be reproduced in this post.
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Whale song mystery solved by scientists
21 February 2024, By Helen Briggs and Victoria Gill,Science correspondents, BBC News
Humpback whale song (For whatever reason the track cannot be listened to on this blog. That is a great shame as the song is magnificent. So please go to the BBC website for this; the link is https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68358414 )
Baleen whales are a group of 14 species, including the blue, humpback, right, minke and gray whale. Instead of teeth, the animals have plates of what is called baleen, through which they sieve huge mouthfuls of tiny creatures from the water.
Exactly how they produce complex, often haunting songs has been a mystery until now. Prof Elemans said it was “super-exciting” to have figured it out.
He and his colleagues carried out experiments using larynxes, or “voice boxes”, that had been carefully removed from three carcasses of stranded whales – a minke, a humpback and a sei whale. They then blew air through the massive structures to produce the sound.
In humans, our voices come from vibrations when air passes over structures called vocal folds in our throat. Baleen whales, instead, have a large U-shaped structure with a cushion of fat at the top of the larynx.
This vocal anatomy allows the animals to sing by recycling air, and it prevents water from being inhaled.
The researchers produced computer models of the sounds and showed that baleen whale song is restricted to a narrow frequency which overlaps with noise produced by shipping vessels.
“They cannot simply choose to, for example, sing higher to avoid the noise we make in the ocean,” explained Prof Elemans.
His study demonstrated how our ocean noise could prevent whales from communicating over long distances. That knowledge could be vital for the conservation of humpbacks, blue whales and other endangered giants of the sea.
It also provides insight into questions that researchers have been asking for decades about these eerie songs, which some sailors used to attribute to ghosts or mythical sea creatures.
Whale communication expert Dr Kate Stafford, from Oregon State University, called the study “groundbreaking”.
“The production and reception of sound is the most important sense for marine mammals, so any studies that elucidate how they make sounds has the potential to move the field forward,” she told BBC News.
The research also paints an evolutionary picture – of how the ancestors of whales returned to the oceans from the land, and the adaptations that made it possible to communicate underwater.
The way so-called toothed whales produce sound is better understood, because the animals are easier to study. These marine mammals, which include dolphins, orcas, sperm whales and porpoises, blow air through a special structure in their nasal passages.
Dr Ellen Garland, from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews, said: “I’ve always wondered exactly how baleen whales – especially humpbacks, which my research is focused on – actually produce the variety of sounds they do.
“Studying large whales is extremely challenging at the best of times, but trying to uncover how they produce sound when you may not even be able to see them underwater while vocalising is an added level of difficulty, so these researchers have been very creative.”
Dr Stafford added that the mammals’ ability to make such complex vocal signals was “remarkable” and highlighted “how special these animals are”.
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There! I do hope you all agree that this was very worthwhile. Plus, you all got to listen to those twenty-six seconds of the very beautiful sound.
No clear reaction comes to mind.
I came across this post yesterday and thought that it would make a good article for today. But the truth is that I, and I expect many other readers, do not understand the article.
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Employees Heartbroken When They See Someone Tied To ‘Do Not Abandon Animals’ Sign
By Caitlin Jill Anders, Published on the 11th April, 2024.
Outside the front door of the Harbor Humane Society sits a sign. “Do not abandon an animal here,” the sign reads. “Wait until business hours. No fee for bringing an animal to HHS. For the sake of the animal, please be humane.” An older, outdated version of the same sign sits at the back of the shelter, too, near some picnic tables where employees can take a break. When they arrived at work one morning recently, there were no animals waiting for them out front.
Sadly, the same could not be said for the sign in the back.
Tied to the base of the “do not abandon animals” sign was a tiny dog who had been abandoned there the night before. Security footage showed the dog, later named Trixie, had been tied to the sign around 9 p.m. and wasn’t found until 7:30 a.m. the next morning, meaning she’d waited there for 11 hours.
“Our team member was just about to unarm the building (had just arrived to start their morning shift) when she noticed the dog tied to the signpost near our intake door located toward the back side of the shelter,” Jen Nuernberg, director of marketing and strategic initiatives at Harbor Humane Society, told The Dodo. “Initially, she was nervous and scared, barking at her. But once she crouched down and gave her some time, she quickly warmed up and crawled right into her lap. She has been very friendly ever since!”
Trixie was terrified out there all alone, wondering why she’d ended up there. As soon as she met her rescuer, though, all was well. She was rushed inside and eventually met the rest of the staff members, who were just as heartbroken by the situation. Thankfully, Trixie seemed to be pretty healthy, just a little confused — as was everyone at the shelter.
“When someone abandons an animal without any information, we are just left to guess,” Jen Self Aulgur, executive director at Harbor Humane Society, told The Dodo. “So we can assume she is about 3 to 4 years old, but we don’t know her story, her name, her likes, her favorite treats or toys. This is all information we try to get on animals when they are surrendered to the shelter.”
The shelter employees are still hoping someone might come forward to give them some information about Trixie before she’s adopted, just to make sure she’s getting the best care possible.
“This pup deserves to have her story and history known,” Self Aulgur said. “We do not want to shame or get you in trouble — we just want to help this poor pup.”
Trixie is safe now and will be available for adoption in about a week or so. Until then, she’s getting as many kisses and cuddles as the staff can give her while she dreams of her loving forever family.
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Let me add my wishes to the Harbor Humane Society in hoping that very soon Trixie will be adopted by that loving family.
Back to Unsplash!
Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
Photo by Shayna Douglas on Unsplash
Photo by sippakorn yamkasikorn on Unsplash
Photo by Kinshuk Bose on Unsplash
Until next week!
Learning from Dogs 