Sorry, folks, the headline was half-designed to set you off down the wrong road. Because the television series Antiques Roadshow is well known both sides of the Atlantic.
No, today’s post is a lovely silly story sent to me by dear friend Richard Maugham back in England. Prompted by the guest post on Tuesday about the risks to dogs of throwing sticks for them.
This is what he sent me:
Antique Road Show.
Paddy took two stuffed dogs to the Antiques Roadshow.
”Ooh”, said the presenter. “This is a very rare set produced by the celebrated Johns Brothers taxidermists who operated in London at the turn of the last century.
Do you have any idea what they would fetch if they were in good condition?”
Yesterday, the guest post published by Suzan from Romania touched many of you. In that guest post there was mention of the dog Joe.
Take Joe. Joe had been sold on Facebook and bought by dog-baiters, bitten so severely vets thought he would die. You’d think that’s turned him off to humans? But no! He was a beautiful 6yr-old Collie. He was awesome. He obeyed, loved and cherished us, giving cuddles, playing gently … I’ve never had such a beauty under my roof.
I also wrote that I would publish more today. Taken directly from Mrs Skeats’ blog.
ooOOoo
Joe died but his death is still carrying a message.
It’s 19th June 2014. Joe died 6 months ago on 23rd December 2013.
Joe was a 6 year old beautiful boy taken from us after only 10 months by a cruel twist .. an accident due to a lack of information .. so I started a mini campaign. And I’ve just read about another poor soul, a friend of a friend, having to wait to see if his dog will survive a stick injury. Heartbreaking.
Ok so writing about it channelled my grief but the whole thing goes beyond that.
What was to be thought a rare, freak accident turned out to be all too familiar to vets and families worldwide. What was thought to be a personal kick in the nuts turns out to be a case of ignorance that is most definitely not bliss.
I received hundreds of comments on my first post after Joe died. I received hundreds of facebook and twitter comments too. The current ‘WordPress’ views are at over 139,000 which is great, and yet not enough. Dogs are still being treated for nasty stick injuries, vets see a few each month. I can’t preach and say stop it, but I can let anyone and everyone who cares know what a potential danger stick throwing is: better than being totally ignorant of the risks.
What happened to Joe, and happens to dogs all over the world at a frighteningly too-often rate, was borne of ignorance, stupidity, even years of “that’s what we do with dogs”. We simply never thought about the consequences it could bring.
Historically, when man decided to have dogs as pets and not merely working companions (not all that long ago in the UK) chasing a stick was a favourite game. We’ve all seen the old adverts in faded yellows and reds with a boy, stick in hand and his faithful dog panting happily as he waits for the ‘toy’ to be thrown. Why should we think it’s dangerous? We see things like celebs on the One Show with their dog, happily throwing it a stick, or in videos…. Dogs and stick throwing seems synonomous.
These are but a few stories of reasons why we should try and change this ……………..
Please think twice before you throw a stick for your dog to chase.
In memory of a beautiful dog, whose life will not ever have been in vain, but will mean so much more if we save others from pain.
ooOOoo
Please follow those links that Suzan included and read the articles. The message is clear. If you are the owner of a dog or play with dogs, don’t ever throw them a stick to catch.
As with yesterday’s post, please share this as widely as you can.
Jean would be the first to tell you that I’m always remarking to her how this funny old world of blogging creates links and friendships right across the world. Many of the kind people who follow Learning from Dogs are themselves the authors of blogs and in the vast majority of cases when I read their posts I sense a kindred spirit.
T.O.R.A Rescue shelter to close – Dogs need homes Foster or Adopt
TORA will close. This is indeed sad news for me but devastating for the dogs still left at the rescue shelter. My beautiful Annie came from there. Rescued off the street as a frightened puppy: Just look at her now.
Beautiful Annie.
TORA, like many other rescue shelters in Romania have been fighting against all odds to get dogs off the streets, and now out of the public shelters since the killing law has been passed. Dogs are in public shelters for only a short time before they are put to sleep. There are horrific stories and pictures around. Some may see it as practical, culling the population. That’s a valid opinion but not one I and thousands upon thousands of dog/animal lovers can share.
All TORA asks now though is for people to view the site on Facebook or contact them [Ed. via that Facebook link] and foster or adopt one of the remaining dogs. If there are dogs left in October when they must close, then they will be returned to the public shelter to receive their fate.
EVEN IF YOU CANNOT HAVE A DOG YOURSELF, please share, someone somewhere will, and for each one that does, another beautiful dog is safe. They didn’t ask to be thrown on the streets. They didn’t ask to be cast out like vermin. All they want is a chance to have a human family and a life of kindness.
ABOUT ASOCIATIA
T.O.R.A. is a small non-profit dog rescue organization that is based in Bistrita, North of Romania (Transylvania). TORA is dedicated to the rescue and placement of stray dogs.
We are an animal charity of 2-4 volunteers, with funds available only from public support, with a shelter of 20 spacious kennels, 11 indoor & outdoor and 9 only outdoors ones. We have a vet attending the dogs daily and a caretaker.
All of our dogs get neutered, (with the exception of puppies under the age of 6 months old and very old dogs), vaccinated, microchipped , defleed and dewormed prior to adoption.
T.O.R.A. shelter cares for the rescued dogs entirely from donations received from private people, that’s why there is a constant need of support whether its financial, material (food or medicine donations, beds, dog clothes, etc) or by sharing and promoting the dogs to find good homes so that space becomes available to help others .
T.O.R.A. helps an average of 40-60 animals at any given time.
Many who follow my scribblings know that of the nine dogs we have here at home, seven are rescues. When I first met Jean down in Mexico she was rescuing feral dogs off the streets and finding homes for them. Over the many years, Jean estimates that well over two-hundred stray dogs had been found loving homes. Indeed, when Jean and I moved from Mexico to Payson, AZ., we came with fourteen dogs of which thirteen were ex-rescues! Pharaoh being the notable exception!
Anyway, back to Mrs Skeats.
I was so moved by what I read on her blogsite that I implored her to write a guest post for you, dear reader. Suzan was gracious enough to agree and here is her post.
ooOOoo
Rescued dogs are life-savers.
by Suzan.
Paul asked if I would post as a “guest” after reading my post(s) about dogs that have been or need to be rescued from some quite awful conditions. “OH here we go again” some of you will say. Well, then it is your choice to read on or close the page.
I hope you read on as this is not about begging for funds or equipment or even a home for these lovely creatures. It’s about what THEY can offer you.
I love animals – not just dogs. I’ve cared for many in my time, but dogs have to be top of my list. Dogs love to love. They don’t know how to be any other way until they are mistreated in some way.
Dog’s are like having a permanent 3 years old around you, with the exception they don’t answer back (often) and are usually not quite so stubborn. I’ve had 7 children under my roof in the years (hence the menagerie at times) – I know.
Dogs look to their human companion as leader, feeder, soul mate, room mate, walker, talker, and all they want to do is to please …. literally their life is lived for you. But rescued dogs do this to a deeper level than dogs raised from a pup. Not just me but thousands of others find this.
Raised dogs are no less loyal, please don’t think I say different. There’s just something about a dog that has had a bad start, lonely, captured, mistreated … whatever. These dogs reach deeper into your heart and aim to please as if they are desperate to say thank you. Perhaps they have a fear that the person who has been so lovely will leave if they misbehave. I can’t say, I’m not a dog.
I do know as I have had both kinds; from a pup and rescued from kennels. My last ‘pup raised’ dog, Dizzi, was with me 18 years and a star in her own right, but my rescues … it’s hard to say, but they love me in a different way, unique to rescues.
Take Joe. Joe had been sold on Facebook and bought by dog-baiters, bitten so severely vets thought he would die. You’d think that’s turned him off to humans? But no! He was a beautiful 6yr-old Collie. He was awesome. He obeyed, loved and cherished us, giving cuddles, playing gently … I’ve never had such a beauty under my roof. [Ed: Joe’s early and tragic death will be the subject of tomorrow’s post.]
Annie is a Romanian street dog, rescued age 9 months from under a pile of pallets in the cold Romanian winter, never having had a home. Now two, and she too has a special love for us. I swear if we’re annoyed with her she cries (not the doggy whine – I mean from the heart) and she’ll do ANYTHING to get a hug from us. Not once has she ever messed in the house from day 1, she goes to bed when told, sits politely for treats or her lead and wags herself to death when we come in the front door. Very rarely has she “got it wrong” and is so sorrowful if she does, her worst misdemeanour being chewing her bedding when she was about 14 months old, and obviously bored.
I could go on, I’ve had 5 rescues and two from pups…..
All I’ll now say is if you’re looking for a dog to share your life with – consider very carefully as they love you warts and all for a long time – then get a rescued dog. Once you look into those soulful eyes, and hold that paw, you’ll connect and feel the love and be very humbled ……. but you won’t regret it.
ooOOoo
Please share the message as much as possible! These dogs need to find loving homes. Thank you.
Jealous wags: Dogs show envy is ‘primordial’ emotion
By Matt McGrath – Environment correspondent, BBC News
These border collies inspired the study on jealousy in dogs.
Jealousy is not just a human condition according to researchers, as it appears to be hard wired into the brains of dogs as well.
Scientists in California found that canines succumbed to the green eyed monster when their owners showed affection to a stuffed dog in tests.
Some experts have argued that jealousy requires complex cognition and is unique to people.
But the authors say their work shows it may also come in a more basic form.
These findings probably won’t be a major surprise to anyone who’s ever owned a dog, but the team say this is the first experimental test of jealous behaviours in man’s best friend.
Human jealousy is a complicated emotion, requiring a “social triangle” and usually arising when an interloper threatens an important relationship.
It is said to be the third leading cause of non-accidental homicide across cultures.
Building on research that shows that six month old infants display jealousy, the scientists studied 36 dogs in their homes and video recorded their actions when their owners displayed affection to a realistic-looking stuffed canine.
Faux fido
Over three quarters of the dogs were likely to push or touch the owner when they interacted with the decoy.
The envious mutts were more than three times as likely to do this for interactions with the stuffed dog compared to when their owners gave their attention to other objects including a book.
Around a third tried to get between the owner and the faux fido, while a quarter of the put-upon pooches snapped at the dummy dog.
“Our study suggests not only that dogs do engage in what appear to be jealous behaviours but also that they were seeking to break up the connection between the owner and a seeming rival,” said Prof Christine Harris from University of California in San Diego.
“We can’t really speak to the dogs’ subjective experiences, of course, but it looks as though they were motivated to protect an important social relationship.”
The researchers believe that the dogs understood that the stuffed dog was real. The authors cite the fact that 86% of the dogs sniffed the toy’s rear end, during and after the experiment.
Jealousy, according to the authors, may have evolved in species that have multiple dependent young that concurrently compete for food and affection.
The argue that jealousy might give an advantage to a young animal that is not only alert to the interactions between its siblings and its parents but is motivated to intervene.
“Many people have assumed that jealousy is a social construction of human beings – or that it’s an emotion specifically tied to sexual and romantic relationships,” said Prof Harris.
“Our results challenge these ideas, showing that animals besides ourselves display strong distress whenever a rival usurps a loved one’s affection.”
As I have been intimating previously, today is the start of my mother from London visiting us here in Oregon. Thus, as one would expect, time for blogging is going to be restricted. Then in a week’s time, we are also joined by my sister, Elizabeth, who lives in Tokyo. So, dear reader, you will understand if there is a deficit of creative writing, assuming you find some of it creative, why that is.
Thus today, I’m leaning heavily on a recent item I read on the EarthSky blogsite. It’s all about pronking! Yes, I hadn’t come across the word before.
ooOOoo
Does your dog pronk?
Among wild animals, pronking may be a way of avoiding predators. But when you see an animal pronk, you can’t but think it’s leaping for joy.
Alpacas, gazelles, some deer and baby lambs are all known to pronk. That is, they leap into the air as if leaping for joy, lifting all four feet off the ground at once. The fact that – in some species like sheep – young animals do it more than older ones does suggest playfulness. But, among wild animals, pronking may be a way of avoiding predators. It means something like, “Hey, I’m very fit so don’t bother chasing me.”
But how about dogs? I didn’t find much online discussion about true dog-pronking, although many of us, at one time or another, may have seen our dog leaping for joy. I recall my own dog Snoop (rest his soul) released from the car in a South Dakota meadow, leaping and running like crazy through the long grass for maybe 20 minutes, until we called him back. It was one of the most joyful things I’ve ever seen, and definitely one of my best memories of Snoop.
So enjoy the videos below. And, by the way, although it is a survival strategy for some, the very word pronk comes from an Afrikaans verb pronk-, which means show off or strut. It has the same linguistic derivation as our English verb prance.
“Pronking” seems to occur when an animal gets excited and jumps around his field, leaving the ground with all four feet simultaneousl, almost as though he had springs attached to his feet..Often these jumps can be high in the air.No-one really knows why llamas pronk. Certainly it is the response to some sort of excitement or disturbance. It is often infectious; sometimes my entire herd will take off. I am told that it isn’t only llamas but sheep and goats. Those of you old enough to remember BBC’s Magic Roundabout may well recall that Zebedee was a “pronker”. We never had a telly as kids, but I believe Zebedee was a dog (??).
Okay, well, maybe some sheep and wild animals like this young springbok – in Etosha National Park, Namibia – are the only true pronkers. Maybe true pronking has to have the downward-pointing head and stiff-leggedness. But if you ever see your dog do what the dogs in these videos do … you’ll feel happy. Image via Wikipedia.
Bottom line: Among wild animals, pronking seems to be a way of avoiding predators. But when you see an animal pronk, you can’t but think it’s leaping for joy.
ooOOoo
So there you go. Don’t say that Learning from Dogs doesn’t teach you some new words from time to time!
Just last Tuesday, I posted the news that we had welcomed young puppy Ollie. (It was later that day that we decided on the renaming from ‘Smokey’ to ‘Ollie’.)
Anyway, at the end of that post I said that Sunday’s picture parade would be devoted to some further pictures of the young man. So here they are!
First, a further couple of pictures from that same day that Ollie arrived; the 16th.
As may be seen, Pharaoh (RHS) and Cleo accepted this young puppy in moments. A real delight to see how smoothly it went.
A Shepherd Sandwich!
Then during the afternoon of the 16th, I grabbed this lovely study of Ollie looking out over new pastures; so to speak!
Just a gorgeous picture of the young lad!
Ollie was due a couple of injections so on the 19th he was taken to our local veterinarian establishment.
Mummy, I feel a bit uncertain of all this!
(Aren’t those eyes of his just beautiful!)
Before Ollie could say ‘bone’ it was all done and time to go home!
The good Doctor Goodbrod!
But not before Ollie was given his puppy kit by Jasmine! (Who is a bit of an animal person as well!)
Jasmine and NutNut.
The day after the visit to the Vet’s office, I chose the following shot from number of photographs taken on the 20th. It just seemed to convey the friendship and trust that had so quickly developed between Ollie and Cleo.
Ollie and Cleo!
The final photograph for today was taken early in the morning on Mid-Summer’s Day.
A contemplative moment!
Make no mistake, Ollie is full of all the wonderful ‘charms’ of a young puppy dog but he is a very smart, sensitive individual and a wonderful addition to our home. Very difficult to believe that today, this Sunday, we haven’t even had him for one week.
Our new young puppy is consuming a great deal of attention and time!
As regular readers will know (and your readership is so much appreciated) last Tuesday I published the news that we had taken on a new puppy. He is settling in incredibly well but consuming heaps of attention; as well he should.
So rather than struggle to be creative with today’s post, I’m cheating by going back to the last time I wrote about a new arrival to our flock; namely puppy Cleo. If you will forgive me, I’m going to republish the post I wrote for puppy Cleo back on April 8th, 2012.
But before so doing, let me explain that our latest arrival has gone through a name change. The previous owners had named the young pup Smokey but we were not comfortable with that name; Jean especially so. So Smokey is now Ollie!
ooOOoo
The arrival of Cleo brings us back to eleven dogs.
Way back in 2003 when I became the proud ‘Dad’ of Pharaoh, my German Shepherd dog that you see on the home page of Learning from Dogs, Sandra Tucker who ran the GSD Breeders Jutone, where Pharaoh was born, gave me some advice. Sandra said that when Pharaoh was getting on in life, then bring in a German Shepherd puppy. Apparently, there were two solid reasons why this made sense. The first was that Pharaoh would teach the new puppy many of the skills and disciplines that Pharaoh had learnt as a young dog and, secondly, the puppy would keep Pharaoh active.
Now we know this to be true because years later when Pharaoh had his own mini pack here in Payson, we introduced a new ‘rescue’ puppy called Sweeny. Pharaoh took an instant like to him and became very tolerant to Sweeny’s ‘games’.
Hi! I’m Pharaoh, going to be my buddy? (February, 2011)
But as adorable as Sweeny is, Jean understood the deep reasons why I always wanted a German Shepherd in our lives. So when a chance encounter in Payson Feed Store between Jean and Brendon S. revealed that Brendon had a litter of German Shepherd puppies for sale, just a couple of miles outside Payson, the temptation was irresistible!
Thus a few days ago, Jean and I went round to Brendon’s home and spent a couple of hours mingling with the puppies and their GSD mother. They all looked excellent dogs and a review of their blood lines showed that their genetic background included German stock not too far back. It was difficult to select any one pup as they were all wonderful animals. But one youngster seemed to catch Jean’s eye.
Little bit of bonding going on!
Then the next test was to introduce Pharaoh to the puppies. That took place last Friday and it was wonderful to see how well he coped with the onslaught of puppies!
More puppies that one could shake a stick at!
In the end, we ran out of reasons not to follow Sandra’s advice from all those years ago and we agreed terms on a young female GSD that, inevitably, was christened Cleopatra (Cleo) by Jean!
Cleo meet your new Mum!
Then yesterday, Saturday, we went back round to collect young Cleo, meeting Brendan’s wife Ebony in the process. The following photographs record some of the key moments.
Homeward bound to a new life!Next step is to meet the gang!Welcome, young lady. I’m the boss around here!It’s my pool but you can use it!Hey Sweeny, fancy having one’s own woods to play in!She’ll do! Nice addition to my family!
So there we are. Back up to eleven dogs, five chickens, six cats, and a fish!
Finally, a big thanks to Sandra of Jutone for her guidance in the last few days.
ooOOoo
Back to the present to leave you with a picture of puppy Ollie happily playing with Cleo and Hazel. More pictures of Ollie on Sunday.
A few weeks ago Jean and I were invited to a social gathering with a couple who live about a mile further along Hugo Road. We couldn’t help admiring their young dog; a delightful puppy by the name of Smokey. Smokey appeared to be about ten weeks old and, despite being very puppy-like was, nevertheless, a sweet, friendly, young male dog. Apparently, a mix of a Labrador and a Bordie Collie.
Anyway, last week there was a call from them to say that they were finding the puppy to be too much of a handful and were looking to find Smokey a new home: Did we want first refusal?
Thus it came about that yesterday morning Jean and I drove the short distance to collect Smokey and introduce him to the dog’s circus that is home for us all!
Naturally, the key question would be how would Pharaoh take to Smokey.
A few pictures to tell the tale.
Hello Smokey, I’m Jean and we are hoping you will come home with us and be part of our family.
Well, you certainly seem like a friendly little chap. Let me carry you across to the car.
That’s Paul, your new Daddy! Hold on tight; it’s only for ten minutes.
And here we are at your new home. Going to pop you into a dog crate so Pharaoh can come out and meet you.
So what do we have here? I’m Pharaoh and despite my age, I’m still the boss around here! M’mm, you seem to pick things up quickly!
Ah, that’s good my little friend. You may be young but you seem like a smart puppy. Welcome to the clan!
Many more pictures of Smokey successfully meeting the rest of Pharaoh’s ‘team’ but I will make those a special ‘Smokey’ set of pictures for this coming Sunday.
Let me close this by saying that as I write this post at 2pm yesterday afternoon, Jean is reading a book and about her, in perfect silence and contentment, are Pharaoh, Hazel, Cleo, Sweeny ….. and Smokey!
Learning from Dogs 