Dogs

[Ryan Ruck]

I don't have dogs (or cats, birds, fish, or other critters) any more. I'm done with the "pet" thing for good. I've had probably a dozen dogs and nearly as many cats over the years and I can't even COUNT the tropical fish I've had, birds (parakeets, as well as a parrot - he was a cool bird), a rabbit or three.... and I just can no longer justify the cost, upkeep, MEDICAL CRAP you have to do in some states.

Umm... I'm pretty sure if you're going to be a sailor you have to have a parrot. It's the law.

[American Patriot]

That's PIRATE law... Arrrrrrr!

I once owned a parrot. A yellow-headed Amazon, named Chipper. (He liked potato chips and would crunch them LOUD! My sister named him.)

So, that counts. lol

[American Patriot]

this is what he looked like (pretty close anyway)

[Ryan Ruck]

I've heard they are pretty awesome birds. If I ever had a bird it would be one of those.

[American Patriot]

I'll tell you a story sometime... when he was learning people's names in the house. lol

[Luke]

For what it's worth the former Ms. Luke still gives me the bird whenever she sees me.

[Ryan Ruck]

Lol!

[American Patriot]

Dog walks nearly 20 blocks to see owner in hospital

USA Today Network Jessica Durando, USA TODAY Network 11:28 a.m. EST February 13, 2015

A dog in Cedar Rapids, Iowa escaped from her home, walked nearly 20 blocks and ran into a hospital looking for her owner who is there being treated for cancer. VPC

(Photo: Twitter screenshot)

4328 CONNECT 243 TWEET 10 LINKEDIN 29 COMMENTEMAILMORE

Some dogs sure want to be by their owner's side in sickness and health.
A dog in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, escaped her home and walked nearly 20 blocks to see her owner, who was recovering from cancer surgery, KWWL reports.
Sissy, the miniature schnauzer, walked through Mercy Medical Center's doors and into the hospital lobby, according to the news organization.

Great story! MT @KWWL: This is amazing: A dog tracked owner to hospital & walked right in http://t.co/IywgRefLovpic.twitter.com/EquTyxtGod
— Patrick Armijo (@patrickarmijo) February 12, 2015

"She was on a mission," owner Nancy Franck told KWWL.
Nancy's husband, Dale, was letting Sissy and her brother Barney out to go to the bathroom when Sissy must have escaped, according to KWWL.
Security cameras in the hospital show the 10-year-old dog in the hospital halls.
"I didn't think they could do it," Nancy Frank told the news organization. "I thought dogs could find their way home, but this one found the hospital."
Hospital security allowed Sissy up to Nancy's room for a visit.

[MinutemanCO]

You gotta wonder what makes a dog capable of something like this. Are they actually tracking the scent of their owner in the air?

The following is an excerpt from an article about bloodhounds. However, I think it still applies to other dogs to some extent.

When a bloodhound sniffs a scent article (a piece of clothing or item touched only by the subject), air rushes through its nasal cavity and chemical vapors — or odors — lodge in the mucus and bombard the dog’s scent receptors. Chemical signals are then sent to the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that analyzes smells, and an “odor image” is created. For the dog, this image is far more detailed than a photograph is for a human. Using the odor image as a reference, the bloodhound is able to locate a subject’s trail, which is made up of a chemical cocktail of scents including breath, sweat vapor, and skin rafts. Once the bloodhound identifies the trail, it will not divert its attention despite being assailed by a multitude of other odors. Only when the dog finds the source of the scent or reaches the end of the trail will it relent. So potent is the drive to track, bloodhounds have been known to stick to a trail for more than 130 miles.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/under...-of-smell/350/

[American Patriot]

I know they have dogs who use scent to find cancer now. And I've watched a blood hound track a man before. It's very uncanny and weird to know the dog WILL find who ever is being hunted.

But I suspect dogs (all of them) to some greater or lesser degree all have that ability and it's all part of their genetics.

Also though, for a dog to walk that far to find its owner just to go "see them" is weird beyond comprehension. I KNOW dogs are smart, but they have to have some kind of thinking processes going on in their heads to do such a thing.

[MinutemanCO]

Now the article I just posted may be the "how", but what about the "why"?

The dog probably has never desired to track its owner when she left the home in the past - to the store, or work. At least it didn't act on it, if the desire existed. Why now? I've been a dog owner for decades and have come to realize that canines are very sensitive emotionally. I suppose it was possible for the dog to understand that its owner had health problems (cancer) and developed a desire to be with the owner. I know there are cancer sniffing dogs and dogs that work as epileptic seizure sensing dogs.

They are interesting beasts.

[American Patriot]

I think that likely the dog missed the owner and wanted to see her, so acted upon the need to see her.

Normally an owner comes home after a few hours, the dog is happy to see them and knows from experience the owner will come home again tomorrow. In this case, perhaps the person was gone long enough to worry the dog. I honestly think they "think" things out sometimes. I've watched smart (and dumb) dogs do things over the years and am impressed with their seeming ability to reason through a problem.

[MinutemanCO]

I agree.

My dogs, even as monstrous as they are, are very intelligent for dogs. You can watch them work things out in their minds.

And they crave affection, attention, and emotional bonding with their owners.

[Ryan Ruck]

Damn, stuff like this is why dogs are so cool and better than most people.

[Ryan Ruck]

Dogs Can Use Surprisingly Complex Tricks To Deceive Humans (Especially If It Means They Get An Extra Sausage)

March 10, 2017

Dogs aren't as honest and obedient as they might like to have us think.

We think we're in control but new research shows that dogs can be very deceptive - especially when it involves them getting an extra sausage.

Scientists found that dogs can be sneaky and manipulative in order to get what they want from humans.

Marianne Heberlein, who studies dog cognition at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, got the idea to study doggie deception from watching her own mischievous hounds.

She noticed her dogs tricking each other - for example by getting up and pretending there was something interesting going on in the garden in order to nab the other one's prime sleeping spot.

However, Dr Heberlein wanted to study if dogs were capable of deceiving humans too.

The research showed that dogs can be quite calculated if it means they'll get a sausage as a reward - and are able to recognise who is more likely to give them one.

'They showed an impressive flexibility in behaviour,' Dr Heberlein told New Scientist.

'They're not just sticking to a strict rule, but thinking about what different options they have.'

Researchers paired pups with their owner (who always gave them food) and two unfamiliar humans - one who acted 'cooperatively' and gave them food and the other who was 'competitive' and kept the food for themselves.

The dogs had two snacks to choose from - a juicy sausage, a dry dog biscuit or nothing at all.

'During the test, the dog had the options to lead one of these partners to one of the three potential food locations: one contained a favoured food item, the other a non-preferred food item and the third remained empty', according to the paper, which is published in the journal Animal Cognition.

The dog therefore had the possibility of leading its cooperative owner to one of the food locations. And that's exactly what they did.

'A dog would have a direct benefit from misleading the competitive partner since it would then get another chance to receive the preferred food from the owner', the researchers said.

On the first day the dogs led the cooperative partner (ie the one that did not give them the food) to the preferred food box more often than you would expect by chance.

On the second day, there were even smarter and led the competitive partner even less often to the favoured food box - and sent them to the empty box instead.

'They were really quickly able to differentiate between the two partners. There was no additional learning step needed,' Dr Heberlein said.

Other animals, such as monkeys, often need dozens of repetitions to learn similar lessons, she said.

The study shows that dogs are able to distinguish between competitive and cooperative partners - ie someone who will give them a sausage and someone who won't.

This shows dogs are capable of tactical deception and adjusting their behaviour depending on who they're dealing with.

Pssshhh... I could have told them that. I catch Pearl trying to con me for treats or trips outside all the time. She's used to getting a treat when I get home from work and if I'm outside working on the truck or in the yard for an hour or 2, when I come in she'll try to herd me into the kitchen (where her treats are) and do her treat dance like she thinks she deserves something for me not being there briefly.

[Malsua]

My dog is a master at manipulation. He uses his cuteness to get his way. Terri and I call out where he's at on the 1-10 scale. He's never below a 5, impossible for a Bichon .

"He's sitting at the door, only a 6 so he's just bored"

"Uh oh, he's up to an 8, I guess he needs to go"

When he really, really wants something, he goes full on 10. When you see it, you know it. It's the way he holds his ears, tilts his head a little, softens his look. Think of the cat in Shrek, he nails the look. And it works for him because you give in.

[Ryan Ruck]

[Ryan Ruck]

RIP Pearl.

She was 14 and lived longer than I expected after she got diagnosed with diabetes 4 years ago and then went through not just 1 but 2 eye surgeries, the first to get rid of cataracts from the diabetes and then glaucoma after that. Ended up with just 1 real eye left.

Woke up this morning and found her on the couch not breathing. Had thought she was having a hypoglycemic episode yesterday/last night. Gave her some syrup and figured I'd see how she was doing in the morning. Set her up on the couch with some blankets and that's where I found her. I'm guessing what I thought was hypoglycemia was actually heart failure. Not really much I could do about that I suppose...











A much older pic from when my mom was still alive:



With her buddy Koda, my youngest brother's dog, from when he was still living with me. Koda grew up with Pearl for the first 3 years of his life. He's 5 now.



And with her newer buddy, my newest addition to the house almost a year ago, Freyja. Freyja was pretty high strung when I first got her from my middle brother. Pearl helped calm her down and learn some discipline. Pearl had officially entered grumpy old lady stage when Freyja came around and the two together reminded me of Dennis The Menace and Mr. Wilson.



Two things I wish I had pictures of from her younger days was how she loved to chew up empty 2L pop bottles and how she would sit on the couch like a person and watch TV for the chance to chase birds on screen. For whatever reason, she loved chasing those 2L bottles around as she'd try to bite them. When she did finally get one she'd chew on them until they popped. She got slower in her older age and lost interest in 2Ls and chasing TV birds though, seems like when she became diabetic.

Everyone who was involved in all of her medical stuff always complimented about what a relaxed and easy to work with dog she was. Never gave anyone any problems during all of her testing and procedures.

[Malsua]

I've been out of town for the past week.

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your dog. They are so hard to lose. 14 years is a decent run for a bigger dog and she had a loving pack so she'll be waiting at the bridge for sure.

[Ryan Ruck]

Thanks Mal.

The last 4 years weren't easy with the diabetes but thankfully having that pet insurance made it bearable. I simply would not have been able to afford the insulin she needed yearly otherwise (almost $3k) plus it let me give her her sight back after the diabetic cataracts and glaucoma after.

The loss never gets any easier no matter how many of them we bring into our lives, and yet we do it anyway. Certainly says something about how awesome dogs are, even if some (maybe even ones of the German variety pictured above) eat our sofas.