The BBC recently screened one of the most fascinating programmes in ages (OK, subjective comment!). It was about the relationship between dogs and humans. The hour-long programme demonstrated just how important that relationship between dog and man really is.
Indeed, within the first few minutes of the programme, one of the contributors says that without that early domestication of dogs, civilisation of man might not have taken place!
Luckily someone has uploaded this programme onto YouTube. This Post contains the link to the first of 6 parts with the following 5 parts being presented on this Blog each day.
Please, please take time to watch these videos – they will amaze you, and very possibly bring tears to your eyes.
So if you are a dog owner, prepare to see your dog friend in a totally new way.
This Blog came about because of a conversation with fellow Blog founder, Jon Lavin. Jon was talking about integrity and how it applies to us in the sense of Truth and Falsehood: that leading truthful and integrous lives is much more than the rather warm and patronising way that the phrase might come over.
Pharaoh
Indeed, understanding the power that comes from leading truthful lives and how an individual’s power and level of consciousness can be enhanced through greater integrity, understanding, and compassion could be the most remarkable discovery that any one person could make. Dr David Hawkins, who has written extensively on this subject, has said;
A science of consciousness developed which revealed that degrees of truth reflect concordant calibratable levels of consciousness on a scale of 1 to 1,000. When this verifiable test of truth was applied to multiple aspects of society (movies, art, politics, music, sociology, religion, scientific theories, spirituality, philosophy, everyday Americana, and all the countries of the world), the results were startling.
Returning to that conversation with Jon, it was pointed out that dogs have been calibrated as having a level of consciousness of 210. As a score of 200 is the boundary between truth and falsehood, according to Hawkins, this made dogs integrous, hence the inspiration for starting this Blog. My German Shepherd, Pharaoh, sleeping on the floor close to Jon and me, made the point. Despite being a difficult dog at times, he had always demonstrated a consistency of integrity that was impressive.
Anyway, to the point of this Post – a dog called Faith.
Sabi – an Australian Army bomb-sniffing dog makes it back to base.
This is a lovely story that has been doing the news rounds recently, and not without good cause. It’s the sort of ‘cuddly feeling’ story that we all need from time to time. Anyway, first a thanks to Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism, who included a link to the BBC story in her daily summary on November 12th.
In the words typical of many online newspapers:
(AP) SYDNEY — A bomb-sniffing dog that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan between Australian troops and militant fighters has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year.
And Sabi the black Labrador is getting a celebrity welcome home.
Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol ambushed in restive Uruzgan province in September 2008, triggering a gunfight that wounded nine troops and earned one Australian soldier the country’s highest bravery medal.
Sabi, a four-year-old black labrador, was returned to the Australian base at Tarin Kowt after an American soldier found her wandering in a remote area of the southern province of Oruzgan last week.
The US soldier, named only as John, knew that his Australian counterparts had lost their canine companion during a gun battle between Australian, US and Afghan special forces and Taleban insurgents in south east Afghanistan last September. Nine Australian soldiers, including Sabi’s handler, were wounded during the assault and Sabi went missing.
Sabi, who was on her second tour of duty in Afghanistan, was officially declared missing in action. It is not known how she survived the past year, presumably eluding the Taleban, before being discovered by the soldier, who realised that she was not a stray dog because she understood certain commands.
Some of you may have noticed that at the head of the right-hand column on the Blog we have a new image. This arrived the other day and is from the ‘drawing board’ of Neil Kelly who is one of nature’s more creative fellows. Anyway, here’s the image in a slightly larger format. Thanks Neil!
The following is a guest post from Daniela Caride. Daniela is the publisher of The Daily Tail, a Blog about her life with animals. To use her own words, “life with three dogs, three cats, her husband and the countless other animals she meets.”
Daniela & Geppetto
Dogs inhabit my very first memories. I grew up with dogs as part of my family. They, too, got goodnight kisses from Mom.
In my early years I realized dogs had their own traits, just like humans. While our old boxer China quietly roamed around the house looking for love, Colita, our crazy Dachshund, tried to pee on everyone’s legs. If unsuccessful, the green rug under the dining table was an agreeable option. I don’t blame him. It looked just like a big square of grass.
A reminder about how dogs, just like their human masters, love an ordered life.
We live in a rural country village with some 500 people scattered around, and have the New Forest on our door step, so our two dogs, Millie and Summer, get lots of walks. They are nearly six now, and arrived here as puppies.
Like most dog owners, we are known because of the dogs. The dogs sit near the five-bar gate during the day waiting to see if anybody will pass by and talk to them. The normal routine when I am home is to go out shortly after 6am for a morning walk, then they get another walk later during the day.