The recent news of finding a dog graveyard that is 2,000 years old.
Before going on to today’s post, can I just remind you kind folks that as of today, and for the rest of this week, we have family guests staying with us here in Oregon.
Grandson Morten responding to his mother, Maija, taking a picture of him and Marius, as they wait to board the aircraft for San Francisco yesterday morning.
Thus from tomorrow until the end of the coming weekend my posts will be a preponderance of republications of previous posts. Plus my attention to you dear readers will be less than you are accustomed to.
Now on to today’s post that was kindly sent to me by Chris Gomez. Thanks Chris.
ooOOoo
2,000-Year-Old Dog Graveyard Discovered in Siberia
By Tom Metcalfe, Live Science Contributor | July 15, 2016
Archaeologists have discovered a prehistoric dog graveyard at a 2,000-year-old village near the Arctic Circle in Russia’s Siberia. Credit: University of Alberta/Robert Losey
The carefully buried remains of five dogs were recently found in a 2,000-year-old doggy graveyard near the Arctic Circle in Siberia, according to archaeologists.
This discovery at the Ust-Polui archaeological site, in Salekhard, Russia, reveals close relationships between the region’s people and their animal “best friends” two millennia B.C. The dogs likely served as pets, workers and sources of food — and possibly as sacrificial offerings in religious ceremonies, the researchers said.
“The role of dogs at Ust-Polui is really complex and variable,” Robert Losey, an archaeologist at the University of Alberta in Canada, wrote in an email to Live Science from Salekhard, where he is carrying out fieldwork at Ust-Polui. [See photos of the prehistoric dog graveyard in Siberia]
“The most striking thing is that the dog remains are really abundant compared to all other sites in the Arctic — there are over 115 dogs represented at the site,” Losey said. “Typically, sites have only a few dog remains — 10 at most.”
Working dogs
The dogs were likely involved in various tasks in the ancient Arctic village, including pulling sleds, he said. The remains of two sleds, as well as a carved bone knife handle thought to depict a sled dog in a harness, have been found at the site.
“Some [dogs] were probably also used in hunting, for reindeer and birds, the remains of which were both abundant at the site,” Losey said.
Parts of a reindeer harness had also been found at Ust-Polui, he added, and dogs may have been used to herd reindeer, as is still done today by some communities in the region.
But despite evidence that the dogs worked with people and other animals, it was also clear that many of the dogs at Ust-Polui had been butchered and probably eaten, Losey said. Many of the dog bones had cut marks on them, and were found scattered around the site in the same way as the bones of other food animals, such as deer and birds, he said.
Some of the dog consumption may have been related to sacrifices or rituals, or even feasting, Losey noted. In fact, “at one place in the site, the heads of 15 dogs were piled together, all with their brain cases broken open in the same manner,” he said.
He added that the sacrificing of dogs was well documented among indigenous people in this region of Siberia, “and is done to appease spirits, or to ensure community health, and so on.”
Prehistoric pets
But though it might have been a dog’s life for most of the canine population of Ust-Polui, a few top dogs seem to have enjoyed special treatment, the archaeologists said. [10 Things You Didn’t Know About Dogs]
Of the more than 115 dogs that archaeologists identified among the animal bones at Ust-Polui, the remains of just five dogs were found carefully buried in a group near one edge of the site, Losey said.
This separation likely indicates close bonds between some people and some dogs in the ancient village, he said.
Each of the prehistoric doggy graves contained the entire dog skeleton, laid on its side in a shallow pit, similar to three human burials at the site, and they showed no signs of butchery or of being intentionally killed, the researchers found.
“The only thing that distinguishes them from the human burials is their location. No other animals at Ust-Polui were treated like this,” Losey said.
Ancient friendship
Losey started working with the dog remains from Ust-Polui three years ago, as part of his work studying the ancient relationships between people and dogs in the world’s northern regions.
In 2013 in the journal PLOS ONE, Losey published the results of his research into dog burials, dated to around 8,000 years ago, from archaeological sites in the Lake Baikal region of Siberia.
Some of the dogs from Lake Baikal were buried with decorated collars and what appeared to be grave goods, such as pottery jars and wooden spoons.
Losey said the differences between the two sites showed how people’s relationships with dogs varied among cultures over the estimated 15,000 years since dogs evolved from wolves.
“At Baikal, we have no evidence of dog consumption or sacrifice at all, and many of the dogs there are from carefully made burials,” Losey said.
Although tests on the dog remains at both sites suggested they would have been similar to Siberian huskies, the dogs at Ust-Polui were much smaller, with most weighing less than 50 lbs. (22 kilograms) and standing only 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) tall at the shoulder, Losey said.
What a long and intensely beautiful relationship. I’m bound to reinforce how that relationship is so powerful all these thousands of years later by republishing one of the photographs from yesterday’s picture parade:
Winner of the Man’s Best Friend category (Photo: Fiona Sami/Dog Photographer of the Year Competition)
There will be few who can’t have heard of the enormous changes going on in my old country, with Teresa May now Britain’s second female Prime Minister. Talk about out with the old and in with the new!
In the weeks since British citizens voted to leave the European Union in a national referendum, the government of the United Kingdom has seen its share of political turmoil. Following the results of the vote, then-Prime Minister and “Remain” supporter David Cameron announced that he would be stepping down, and has now been replaced by his successor, Theresa May. But while Cameron has officially left the Prime Minister’s residence and offices at 10 Downing Street in London, at least one of his appointees will remain in May’s service: a brown and white tabby cat named Larry.
“It’s a civil servant’s cat and does not belong to the Camerons—he will be staying,” a government official tells the BBC.
Larry first came to 10 Downing Street in 2011, when Cameron adopted him from a rescue home in hopes that the feline would help handle a mouse infestation plaguing the Prime Minister’s residence. As the first cat to hold the title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, Larry has become a familiar face in and around the building over the years.
“Larry spends his days greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defenses and testing antique furniture for napping quality,” an official government website detailing the history of 10 Downing Street writes. “His day-to-day responsibilities also include contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house. Larry says this is still ‘in tactical planning stage.’”
However, despite being touted as a “good ratter” with “a high chase-drive and hunting instinct,” some reports suggest that Larry is not as good at his job as official statements might lead one to believe. Indeed, Larry has faced harsh scrutiny for slacking on the job, as his love of long naps often gets in the way of his hunting duties, Jack Goodman reports for Atlas Obscura. In one incident, Cameron reportedly was forced to throw a silver fork at a mouse to shoo it away during a meeting with other government officials, even after Larry was brought on board to handle the problem. However, despite his lack of progress on the mouse problem, Larry has managed to continue to retain his position.
While Larry may be the first cat to hold this particular title, he isn’t the first cat to make his home at 10 Downing Street. During the 1920s, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald brought along his cat, Rufus of England, and, in the 1930s and ’40s, the so-called “Munich Mouser” ran rampant throughout the residence, the BBC reports. In the 1970s, a cat named Wilberforce took up guard. Upon retirement, he was replaced by a stray who wandered into the offices during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership (he was called Humphrey). The last cat before Larry to hold court at 10 Downing Street was Sybil, who belonged to former Chancellor Alastair Darling. However, she reportedly did not care for city life, and later retired with Darling to his home in the Scottish countryside.
Whatever other effects the decision to leave the European Union will have on the United Kingdom’s government in the coming weeks, Larry’s position as “top cat,” at least, remains assured.
Many people have shared this traditional Native American legend filled with wisdom:
There was once a native Elder who came to realize that he had two wolves fighting inside of him. The dark wolf was mean spirited, angry, fearful and selfish. The light wolf was noble, honest, loving and kind. A boy once asked of him “Which wolf usually wins?” He replied, “It depends on which one I feed.”
I shared this story the other day and asked the question “What can we do to stop feeding the dark wolf and nourish the white wolf?”
What came up was surprising. I had always thought of our inner emotions being the key to which wolf we are feeding. When we are angry, jealous or resentful, we feed the dark. When we are loving and grateful, we feed the light.
But it’s not as simple as this.
Like life, its more than black or white.
I believe that the biggest feeder of the dark wolf comes from the environment we live in nowadays. It feeds the dark insecurity within us. It ignites fear and anger. It triggers old wounds and deep insecurities. It fans the waves of violence and retribution. Whether we are surrounded by negative angry people, or are listening to negative politicians, or are watching live footage of violence … this is the food that feeds our dark wolf.
It is mostly unconscious, and perhaps habit … but I’m sure you know it is so.
So now, you can choose.
What can you stop doing that is feeding the dark wolf? For me it was to turn off the t.v. and make a conscious decision about what I listen to and who I choose to be around. I have become aware of which wolf I am feeding, and my life has changed for the better.
Namaste
ooOOoo
I’m going to conclude today’s post by adding a comment that was left by Karen Lanser in response to Val’s post.
Years ago I came across the most lovely little meditation called “Egg of Light Exercise”. I was reminded of it with your question … here it is! I hope it helps! Karen
Egg of Light Exercise
Excerpted from The Power of the Mind to Heal (pp.50-52)
(Joan Borysenko, Ph.D and Miroslav Borysenko, Ph.D)
Begin by taking a good stretch, and then allow your eyes to close … Focus lightly on your breathing, noticing the way that your body rises slightly as you breathe in and relaxes down as you breathe out …
As you settle gently into observing the tide of your incoming and outgoing breath, your concentration can become more and more focused …
Now, in the space about you and slightly in front of you, imagine a great star of loving light …
Allow the light to cascade over you like a waterfall and to run through you …
Imagine the light entering the top of your head and running down through and between every cell, the way that a river washes through the sand on its bottom …
Allow the river of light to carry away any fatigue, illness, or negativity and wash it out through the bottoms of your feet into the earth for transformation …
As the river of light washes through you, imagine that it is scrubbing away any darkness around your heart, allowing the light within you to shine more and more brightly … joining with the river of light … filling you and extending around you for two or three feet in every direction like an enormous, luminous egg …
Make a firm mental declaration that any thoughts of love and encouragement will penetrate the egg and reach your heart, while any negative thoughts will bounce off the egg and return to the sender with a blessing. Declare also that your own loving thoughts will penetrate the egg and reach their destination, while your negative thoughts will bounce off the interior of the egg and return to you with the awareness of loving kindness and encouragement.
*****
Anytime during the day that you feel anxious, assaulted by someone’s energy, or fatigues, try the egg-of-light exercise. After you are used to doing it, you can place yourself in the egg almost instantaneously.
P.S. LOVED your post Val!!
The wisdom, beauty and encouragement that exists in the hearts of so many people (and dogs).
Blogging for many years goes so well with poor recall!
When I was browsing through posts over the last seven years, looking for articles about cats in support of yesterday’s post, I was amazed at reading so many items that had completely slipped my mind! One in particular, going back to October, 2010, was so wonderful that it just had to be shared with you again. It was sent to me by long-term friend Chris Snuggs. It will put a smile on your face!
ooOOoo
Cats and Dogs!
As a follow-up to Paul’s post on cats, I found this on the internet, but there was no reference to the author. Whoever it was does, however, deserve the credit rather than me, who am merely a transferer on to a wider public of such gems as I stumble across during my surfing.
If anyone knows who wrote this I would be more than delighted to acknowledge his or her genius.
Peek into a dog’s diary …
8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm- Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Milkbones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!
Peek into a cat’s diary …
Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. All though I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am. Bastards.
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow — but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released – and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe, for now……….
Just chilling out …
Cats in Physics
1 – Law of Cat Inertia: A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force – such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse.
2 – Law of Cat Motion: A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction.
3 – Law of Cat Magnetism: All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct proportion to the darkness of the fabric.
4 – Law of Cat Thermodynamics: Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat, in which case all heat flows to the cat.
5 – Law of Cat Stretching: A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap just taken.
6 – Law of Cat Sleeping: All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved as is possible for the cat.
7 – Law of Cat Elongation: A cat can make her body long enough to reach just about any counter top that has anything remotely interesting on it.
8 – Law of Cat Acceleration: A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until he gets good and ready to stop.
9 – Law of Dinner Table Attendance: Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.
10 – Law of Rug Configuration: No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long.
11 – Law of Obedience Resistance: A cat’s resistance varies in proportion to a human’s desire for her to do something.
12 – First Law of Energy Conservation: Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.
13 – Second Law of Energy Conservation: Cats also know that energy can only be stored by a lot of napping.
14 – Law of Refrigerator Observation: If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along and take out something good to eat.
15 – Law of Electric Blanket Attraction: Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed of light.
16 – Law of Random Comfort Seeking: A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable spot in any given room.
17 – Law of Bag / Box Occupancy: All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest possible nanosecond.
18 – Law of Cat Embarrassment: A cat’s irritation rises in direct proportion to her embarrassment times the amount of human laughter.
19 – Law of Milk Consumption: A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you he can.
20 – Law of Furniture Replacement: A cat’s desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.
21 – Law of Cat Landing: A cat will always land in the softest place possible.
22 – Law of Fluid Displacement: A cat immersed in milk will displace her own volume, minus the amount of milk consumed.
23 – Law of Cat Disinterest: A cat’s interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of effort a human expends in trying to interest him.
24 – Law of Pill Rejection: Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape velocity.
25 – Law of Cat Composition: A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn’t Matter.
26 – Law of cat reading: Cats pretend to be really short sighted and evince the need to read a newspaper by lying on it while you are attempting to read it.
27 – Law of cat antipathy: Any cat will immediately sense a person who doesn’t like cats and go and sit on their lap.
28 – Law of cat confinement: A cat will always have its kittens in the warmest possible place, usually in your bed while you are sleeping.
29 – Law of Sleeping: A cat sleeps every day for 24 hours minus the time it takes to wheedle food out of you and eat it ..
In yesterday’s post I mentioned that the first time I used a post title Affairs of the Heart was back in 2012. In fact it was January 20th, 2012. Many of you dear readers will, undoubtedly, not have read it then so here it is again. Both Hazel and Dhalia are now dead.
ooOOoo
Affairs of the Heart
That is, a la dog!
Hazel
This is Hazel. She is one of three dogs that ‘belong’ to Pharaoh.
Last Tuesday, we took Pharaoh and his mini-pack of 3 dogs out for our usual afternoon walk at the very end of Granite Dells Rd, out where the forest road ends and soon becomes the relative wilderness of the Tonto National Forest.
Pharaoh, and Hazel, Dhalia and little Sweeny.
However, on this occasion Hazel decided to leave us and link up with a stranger who was hiking the forest. That was the last we saw of Hazel for many hours. Miracle of miracles, the stranger, Joanie, was a dog-lover so when Hazel had followed Joanie and her dog all the way to Joanie’s car, the next stop for her, Hazel that is, was our local Payson Humane Center. Hazel’s tag very quickly linked her to Jean (a great reminder of the importance of tagging your dogs!) who is well-known as a volunteer assistant at the Humane Society Thrift store and the scare was over.
But during the hours of tramping those miles along challenging forest tracks, calling out Hazel’s name, both Jeannie and I had plenty of time to hurt. Here’s a small insight, that millions of pet owners will resonate with, that demonstrates the way that dogs offer us so much love which, in turn, opens our human hearts to the purity of unconditional love. (And I know it’s not just dogs but many animals in our lives that offer us such love!)
Pharaoh and his ‘team’ sleep in our bedroom. During the Winter months Hazel will often lay stretched out on the bed-cover alongside the back of my legs. If I need a trip to the bathroom during the night, not unknown at my age, I can almost guarantee that Hazel will shift her cuddly body up to the warm sheets just below my pillow.
Thus it was this last Tuesday morning when I returned from my bathroom run about 3am; Hazel asleep with her head on my pillow! I didn’t have the heart to push her off the bed, so just slipped in beside her and moments later back asleep, my head nestled against Hazel’s warm head. Sleeping so close to a dog is more than just nice, it seems to stir very ancient memories deep in the subconscious, perhaps back all those thousands of years to when domesticated dogs were an integral part of early man’s security.
So you can imagine the anguish that, in our own separate minds, Jeannie and I were experiencing. I just couldn’t go to the place where never again would I feel the warmth of Hazel’s body against mine. Jean was desperately hoping this wasn’t a tragic repeat of losing Poppy. Thus when I went round to the Humane Center just as they were closing up and Hazel came out to me, I dissolved in sobs of relief.
That’s the heart-felt closeness of dogs and humans.
The purity of a dog’s heart!
ooOOoo
All of you, including your loving animals, have a wonderful weekend.
This is the second time I have used Affairs of the Heart as a title to a post. The previous time was January 20th, 2012 (and I’m republishing that post tomorrow). How time flies!
Indeed, in a little over two week’s time, on July 15th, all you dear, dear readers and I will be celebrating me writing this blog for seven years! Indeed, how time flies!
Yesterday, John Zande from down in Brazil, another great friend of this place, posted a comment that included a most powerful video. His comment was, “Not sure if this link will work, but this is a lovely story of an adoption that saved a life.”
John that was one amazing video, still wiping away tears.. Thank you.. Through our choices we CAN make Changes in our lives..
I then followed Sue with this comment, written at 05:45 local time (PDT) yesterday:
John, Jean awoke just a few moments ago and I have just played your video in front of us both. It is so beautiful and important that I want some time to fully compose my response. Plus Jean and I need some time to stop weeping!
Just had this idea to feature your video and my reply as tomorrow’s post.
Thank you, John, for sharing this. Thank you so much.
Even if you watched this video yesterday do watch it again before continuing. Same applies to those that haven’t yet watched it. Do that now! 🙂
So now we head for my emotional response to that video.
Change is inevitable. Another word for change would be time. Time is the most fundamental principle of the Universe. Call it the Arrow of Time. It flows only in one direction. From order to disorder.
Or to put it in the words of physics (my emboldening in 2.2):
en·tro·py
ˈentrəpē/
noun
noun: entropy; plural noun: entropies; symbol: S
1.
Physics
a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system’s thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.
2.
lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.
It has to be that way. For evolution is a product of the decline of one variant of life (plant, animal, insect, higher order ‘animals’, etc. ) and a new aspect of that life emerging (or not). That’s how it has to be for the beauty of life, the beauty of life in all its forms (even including politicians! 😉 ). Life is a function of a “gradual decline into disorder“.
I’m not a religious person, nor is Jean, and do not believe in any form of afterlife. When I die that’s it.
I was born in 1944. I am ageing. I have suffered some brain atrophy that means that my recall is terrible. I know that the ageing process is going to continue. It scares me. At least it motivates me to keep as physically and mentally fit as I can.
I have tried hard most of my life to stay fit, physically and mentally. I’m only now aware of the reward of such an attitude.
But I haven’t been emotionally fit. In the sense of not truly knowing who I am and what my values are. That darkness was illuminated for me in the Summer of 2007, thanks to Jon.
That very moving video of Eric and Peety speaks of Eric being saved by Peety. I so deeply understand Eric.
For in December, 2007, just a few months after Jon (as in being the best we can be) made me fully aware of my distorted view of myself I travelled out to Mexico and met Jean and all her dogs.
Jean has saved me. Directly from the love, companionship and intimate friendship that she offers me. But Jean has also saved me indirectly. By that I mean from me living my daily life these last nearly ten years surrounded by the most beautiful dogs that one could imagine. Those dogs, each one of them in their own special way, also offering me love, companionship and intimate friendship.
Prior to December, 2007 I didn’t know how to feel my true emotions and, in consequence, didn’t know how to express them. Jean and the dogs have enabled me to feel my true emotions, and to express them. Dozens of things pain me and it’s rare day when I don’t have the odd weep or two. However, dozens of things please me each day and now bring out a laugh, or a giggle. Even better, dozens of times each day I am loved by our dogs and the gift that goes with that love is me feeling so beautifully accepted; accepted in an utterly unconditional manner.
The love given to me from our dogs and the love from my beautiful Jean make it so easy for me to be good to myself. That love, from Jeannie and the dogs, has been a gift to me beyond my imagination.
I have hanging on my office wall a framed print of a poem by Roy Croft. I gave it to Jeannie on the first anniversary of our marriage. I want to share Roy Croft’s words with you. For they so beautifully describe the gift of love I receive from Jean. But in a way that I suspect Mr. Croft didn’t imagine when he first penned his poem, his words also so beautifully describe the gift of love I receive from our dogs.
ooOOoo
“Love” by Roy Croft
I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
oo
I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.
oo
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.
oo
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.
You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.
ooOOoo
If you have read my post through to the end, thank you!
Is it me or is the world becoming crazier each new day!
What with the ‘Remain/Leave’ EU referendum coming up in my old country and Presidential politics in my new country it seems these days as though the need for healing is growing in leaps and bounds. Thank goodness for being able to hug a dog or two (and Jean) to be reminded of what matters most of all.
I was reminded of the incredible healing power of our dogs in a recent article published by author Deborah Taylor-French. That will be republished tomorrow, with Deborah’s kind permission. However, I wanted to make this message last for more than a single post and to achieve that I’m republishing a guest post that appeared in this place towards the end of last year.
But first my introduction to that guest post.
Forget about the big world out there, be loved by our dogs.
Monday’s post about the precariousness of man’s future on this planet if we don’t prevent the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet was a bit gloomy, however true it might be. The gloom continued with yesterday’s post about the VW scandal illustrating the “unethical culture endemic in business”.
So what a nice change to think about the way that our pets keep us bright, cheerful and healthy.
All of which is my way of introducing a guest post from Vee Cecil. Now I am fairly cautious about guest posts from those who want to promote their businesses, for obvious reasons. But Vee’s essay is so lovely that it truly deserves to be shared.
Firstly, here is the email that Vee sent me back in August,
Hi!
In the U.S., 91 percent of pet owners say they consider their pet to be a member of the family. And for good reason! Our pets are constant sources of comfort and companionship.
What many pet owners may not realize is how great their furry family members are for their physical and mental health. For example, studies have shown that pet owners have lower blood pressure than people who don’t have pets and that being around pets also makes us “less anxious and less stressed.” And that’s just the beginning. There are many other wonderful health benefits that result from owning a pet.
May I write an article for learningfromdogs.com on this topic? The article will be approximately 500 words, unique to your site, and complete with resources.
Please let me know – I am always looking to spread the word about how we can be healthier and happier and having a pet is a great way to achieve both!
Best,
Vee
Here then is that article.
ooOOoo
Feeling Under the Weather? Learn More About the Amazing Healing Powers of Pets
Ask any dog owner and you’ll find out just how remarkable a dog can be. They can turn a terrible day into an amazing one with one lick of the face or wag of the tail. But more and more studies are showing that our four-legged friends might be even more awesome than we previously thought.
As TheWashington Post explains, research is showing that being around dogs can help us feel better and less stressed, while also improving our physical health. For example, the article cites studies which found that our pets can lead to “lower blood pressure, lower resting heart rates and less risk of hypertension.”
And that’s not all. Here are four other health issues and how dogs help their human companions:
Cancer. As this CBSNews.com article explains, a recent study at Mount Sinai Beth Israel found that therapy dogs had a very positive impact on patients receiving chemo therapy. The patients showed improvements in “emotional well-being and quality of life.” The director of the program that provided the therapy dogs also noted that patients felt less stressed and anxious. The article notes that this was a ground-breaking study as the impact of therapy dogs on cancer patients hadn’t been examined before.
Alzheimer’s Disease. Therapy dogs are also proving to be extremely helpful for patients with Alzheimer’s. In this article, a man with early on-set Alzheimer’s explains how his therapy dog helps him with daily tasks. Through the help of his therapy dog, the man says his stress and anxiety levels have significantly reduced.
Surgery recovery. Chances are if you were recovering from a painful surgery you wouldn’t turn down a snuggle from a pet. But, as The Telegraph shows, researchers have found that pets can do more than just provide you with a little tender loving care. A study led by a researcher from Loyola University found that pet therapy can reduce the amount of pain patients experience after surgery. In fact, according to the article, the patients in the study, who had had joint replacement surgery, “needed 50 per cent less pain medication if they used pet therapy.”
Diabetes. And perhaps most remarkable of all is what therapy dogs can be trained to do for diabetics. In this case, dogs put their acute sense of smell to good use. As this article explains, dogs exhibiting a better-than-average sense of smell can be trained to help diabetics. Once trained these dogs use their sense of smell to detect signs of hypoglycemia and low blood sugar (based on their human companion’s breath). They’re also trained to get a sugary food for their diabetic, get help if the person goes into diabetic shock, and more.
As more research is conducted to see the benefits of not only service dogs, but pets too, it will be interesting to see how dogs are woven into more medical treatments. They are truly amazing creatures, who can help us mind, body, and soul.
***
Vee Cecil keeps busy by being a wellness coach, personal trainer and bootcamp instructor in Kentucky. She also recently launched a blog where she shares her passion for health by writing about her favorite tips, activities and recipes.
ooOOoo
If proof was needed of the quality of a relationship that can exist between a person and a dog then just look at the following photograph.
It has healing power stamped all over it; for the young boy and the Shepherd Dog!
On Sunday evening Jean and I were invited around to Jim and Janet’s place as their regular summer movie nights swung back into the calendar.
Around 10pm local time the night sky just shone with stars and planets and my old friend The Plough, or Big Dipper (Ursa Major), was up there pointing the way to the North Star.
Then as we all prepared to return to our homes, around 11pm, there was the wonderful, fabulous full Moon.
So it’s a special day today as for the first time in almost fifty years both the full moon and the Summer Solstice fall on the same day. Or better put over on Time and Date:
First June Solstice Full Moon in Decades
In 2016, a full Moon, also commonly known as Strawberry Moon, will coincide with the June Solstice. The 2 events haven’t occurred on the same day since 1967 and will not coincide again until 2062.
Now technically the exact moment of the Solstice was yesterday evening at 22:34 UTC. Or to put it as it was mentioned over on EarthSky:
On June 20, 2016, the moon turns full at 11:02 UTC. The solstice arrives some 11.5 hours later, at 22:34 UTC.
I will close with the gorgeous photograph of that full moon, again courtesy of that EarthSky article.
Rising nearly full moon – near San Francisco, California – on June 19, 2016 via EarthSky Facebook friend Amy Van Artsdalen.
I must admit that there’s a strange feeling inside me knowing that this was the last time that I will see such a coincidence of full moon and summer solstice.
Not exclusively the domain of the male human species!
As most of you know yesterday was Father’s Day. But offering memorial pictures of our recently deceased Hazel was far more important.
Nonetheless, I had seen an item published over on the Care2 site that I wanted to share with you. Namely, that amazing dads are also a feature of the animal kingdom. Granted, not all animals but nevertheless of sufficient importance to attract the attention of The Smithsonian. Or in their words:
Most mammal dads wouldn’t exactly win the “Best Father of the Year” award.
Engaged fathers—those who care for their offspring or bring home the bacon so their female mates can focus on childcare—are present in only about 10 percent of mammal species. But for the rare few who do stick around, the rewards can be myriad: new research finds that parenting efforts pay big dividends for offspring and mates alike. Stay-at-home dads appear to boost reproductive success among their mates by enabling them to breed more frequently and produce larger litters, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.
Editor’s note: This post is a Care2 favorite, back by popular demand. It was originally posted on June 14, 2014. Enjoy!
Not all non-human animal dads are cut out for family life, but there are a number of species who have become known for their role as fathers who deserve a salute, from giant water bugs who carry dozens of eggs on their backs to males who actually get pregnant and dads who operate solo as single parents. This Father’s Day, it’s time to celebrate some of the amazing dads from the animal kingdom who go above and beyond when it comes raising and protecting their young.
Red Fox
Male red foxes aren’t just loving mates, but excited and protective fathers. They take on the task of providing food for their mates every few hours for about a month after she gives birth. Then they take on the role of teacher – but teachers who like to take time out to play. Even when it’s time to get serious and teach their young how to start finding their own food, fox dads help them out and make sure they don’t really go hungry by hiding it near their dens.
Emperor Penguin
After females lay a single precious egg, Emperor penguin dads take over the responsibility of incubating it by balancing it precariously on their feet and keeping it warm under their feathers in the frigid Antarctic weather while mothers go off to feed. Dads can go for about two months without eating until the egg hatches, at which point he will feed it before mother’s return to give them a break from baby-duty.
Emperor Penguin Protecting Offspring from the Cold
Sea Horse
Seahorses, who are also known to mate for life, have reverse roles; the females compete for males, and the males don’t just play a role in pregnancy, but actually get pregnant. Females deposit their eggs in the male’s pouch, where he fertilizes and carries them until tiny baby seahorses emerge fully developed. According to Science Daily, the process of male pregnancy is unique to the fish family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish and sea dragons.
Black seahorse among seaweed
Spotted Sandpiper
It doesn’t happen every time, but sandpipers have been found to reverse roles where female sandpipers establish and defend territory, while taking on multiple male partners. After luring a male to mate with and laying her eggs, she takes off to find another mate. Dad meanwhile stays to incubate the eggs and becomes the primary caregiver for the young for the first few weeks of their lives.
Spotted Sandpiper
Gray Wolf
Despite the myths surrounding wolves that make them out to be villains, alpha male are loving, loyal and protective mates, fathers and leaders. Also known to mate for life, males who breed will guard their partners and pups while they’re in the den and take on the responsibility of finding everyone food. Even as pups grow older, dads will take on the role of teacher, helping them learn their role in the pack and the world.
Mother and son
Great Horned Owl
Great horned owl dads are the stereotypical breadwinners in their families. After finding the perfect home with their mates, male great horned owls take on the role of provider by hunting enough to feed himself and his mate, who is bigger than he is, before taking on the added responsibility of hunting for their young when they hatch.
Grumpy Owl
North American Beaver
Beaver dads are devoted family men, handymen and providers in the animal world. They mate for life and take on a co-parenting role in raising their young until they’re about 2-years-old, while helping care for them and teaching them how to become successful ecosystem engineers before they go off and start families of their own.
In 2012, a beaver in Martinez, Calif., known as “Dad” raised fears about what would happen to his young after his mate died from an infection, but he showed us he could do it all as a single father of three.
Beaver Wearing Leaf
Titi Monkey
Male titi monkeys, who are known for monogamous relationships, are also known for the strong bond they build with their young as primary caregivers. Except for time spent with mom nursing, babies spend the rest of their time being carried around, cared for and protected by their fathers for the first few months of their lives.
Titi Monkey
Rhea
As members of a polygamous species, male rheas have a lot of partners, but when it comes to child-rearing these dads pull their weight and then some. Males can have up to a dozen or so female partners who all lay eggs in a nest he builds before they leave. Males then take on the role of incubating and guarding what can be more than 50 eggs for close to two months before taking on the role of a single parent after they hatch. Males have also been known to adopt orphaned chicks who have been separated from their brood.
Nandu Greater Rhea
Darwin’s Frog
Darwin’s frog dads, who are native to South America, have come up with a neat and bizarre way to protect their offspring from predators. While they breed like other amphibians, where females lay eggs in the water that are fertilized by males, the males of this species take the fertilized eggs into their mouths, store them in their vocal sacs and keep them there until they’re fully developed frogs — at which point he throws them up.
Except that the precise moment of the Summer Solstice is later today or Monday, June 20, 2016 at 3:34 PM PDT to be exact. In universal time (UTC) that is Monday, June 20, 2016 at 22:34 UTC.
However, it is a rather special solstice and all will be explained in tomorrow’s post, albeit a little under nine hours after the event!
Hopefully back to more creative times tomorrow.
Learning from Dogs 
John, Jean awoke just a few moments ago and I have just played your video in front of us both. It is so beautiful and important that I want some time to fully compose my response. Plus Jean and I need some time to stop weeping!
Just had this idea to feature your video and my reply as tomorrow’s post.
Thank you, John, for sharing this. Thank you so much.