pictures of babies and dogs

For example:

via facebook

and a video

Toothless Rooster Cogburn

This heartwarming story about a dog named Toothless shows that it is never too late to help save a life.

via Petflow
apparently originally from imgur

human kindness

to animals.

[via Donna via Donda]

[It's easier to be kind to animals than to fellow human beings because the animals don't know any better.  But sometimes human beings don't know any better either.]

5 Natural Dog Laws

Cesar's 5 Natural Dog Laws

1. Dogs are instinctual. Humans are intellectual, emotional and spiritual.
2. Energy is everything in a dog's world.
3. Dogs are first animals, then species, then breed, and then name.
4. A dog's senses - primarily smell - form his reality.
5. Dogs are pack animals with a leader and followers.

leave the words behind

Less is always more, and when you find that place of calm energy, you will also find a place of silence. Dogs do not communicate in words. They communicate with energy through body language. One of the only times that dogs naturally get loud is when they bark to communicate with the entire pack over a distance because there is danger lurking.

And yet I see humans get this backwards all the time. Their dog barks at another dog or pulls on the walk, and their immediate response is to get loud. “No, no, NO!” Now this can work in human situations because we communicate with words, and the person who shouts the loudest can often win out over everyone else.

It doesn’t work with dogs, or with animals in general. Why? Because loudness represents unbalanced energy, and dogs will not follow unbalanced energy. What they will do is become more excited the louder the humans around them get.

To a dog, a human shouting in a loud deep voice is just a bark, and barking is meant to alert the pack to danger. Well, if the pack is in danger, it’s every dog’s job to spread the word and take action to protect the pack, meaning that yelling at a dog will just elevate their energy and their anxiety.

I’ve spent a lot of time around dogs, and I can tell you exactly how one dog dominates another: in silence. The dominant dog will place themselves above the other dog, claiming the space and whatever objects are in it. They don’t growl and they don’t bark, because they don’t have to. Their energy and body language send the message: “This is mine. Go away.”

It’s only when the other dog resists that dominance may escalate to other signs, like a low growl, physical contact, or baring of teeth. And, beyond that, it only turns into a fight if the other dog will not defer to the dominant dog.

It doesn’t get loud until it’s a fight.

So if you’re yelling at your dog to calm it down, you will never have a calm dog. You have to see it from your dog’s point of view, and you have to be the Pack Leader. If you want your dog to be calm, then you have to think like a dog and leave the words behind.

-- Cesar Millan

videos via petflow (via facebook)

7/18/14 - dinner time
7/18/14 - Lilica the junkyard mutt

Cesar Millan and Jackson Galaxy

[via facebook]

together (sort of)...

Cats and dogs are cute, loyal, and charming—but what’s really going on inside those furry little heads? There are two men who do know and they’re going to take your biggest pet questions LIVE during a Google Hangout on Air on Friday, July 25th at 1:30 pm ET.

Cesar Millan, renowned dog behaviorist and the star of Nat Geo WILD’s Cesar Millan: Love My Pitbull and Cesar 911, and Jackson Galaxy, the expert behind Animal Planet’s My Cat from Hell, will tell you what your furry friends are thinking. Find out why dogs eat poop, why cats always knock things over, and any other behavior you’ve always been curious about.

[I guess I missed it]

But here's the event.  I see the questions, but no answers.

Oh wait, it's NEXT Friday.

***

Here's the live youtube link.  Yep they're both on (with a moderator from Parade magazine in between who doesn't know how to pronounce Cesar's name)

I wonder what Animal Planet thinks of this?  (Or does mean Jackson is moving to NatGeoWild?)

Norman, the blind rescue dog

When Annette and Steve McDonald rescued Norman, an adorable yellow Labrador Retriever, from an Oregon animal shelter they knew by his sweet demeanor that they had found someone special! However, it wasn’t until a fateful trip to the beach that they would learn just how amazing he was!

Shortly after bringing home Norman, the couple found out that he was suffering from a genetic disease in his eyes which left him blind. Although nothing could be done surgically to restore his eyesight, the family said that Norman was adapting fine to his diagnosis and was still able to run and play just like any other pup his age!

One day Annette took Norman to one of his favorite places: the Necanicum River to go swimming. But during that trip, Annette saw a 14-year-old girl starting to drown in the water! Without even thinking, Norman plunged into the waters and made a beeline for her screams for help! By following her voice Norman was able to rescue the girl and bring her to safely to shore unharmed!

-- via facebook (PetFlow)

Live Like Your Dog

Studies show that owning a dog can improve your health, but did you know that it can also provide valuable lessons on how to live a happy life? If you take the time to notice, your dog gives you pointers on how to live life to the fullest each and every day. Here, we've broken down these pointers into six simple steps.

1. Be Loyal: Dogs are faithful, reliable, loyal, and they love unconditionally.

2. See the People in Your Life with New Eyes: After a long day at the office, who or what are you excited to see? Is it your dog's cute mug and wagging tail? There's no better feeling than a warm doggie-greeting. Every time your dog sees you, it’s like they’re seeing you for the first time in years. Try greeting the people in your life with the same enthusiasm, warmth and excitement.

3. Forgive and Forget: Have you ever accidentally stepped on your pup’s tail and heard their awful yelp? Take notice that only a minute later they’re right back to playing and loving you. Dogs don’t hold grudges because they live in the moment. So, take a cue from your dog and choose to forgive, forget, and move on.

4. Live Life to the Fullest: Watch as your dog goes through his daily routine. Every scent is new, every person is special, and every bit of food is appreciated. Take joy in the small things, don't sweat the small stuff, and relish the moment.

5. Take a Hike: What dog doesn’t love being outside? They love going for walks and hikes, and generally being active. We should too, as exercise is good for our mind, body, and soul. Cesar always says that the foundation of your relationship with your dog begins with the walk. It's a great bonding exercise with a multitude of other benefits.

6. Take a Nap: Have you ever noticed how dogs can sleep anywhere? When they need a nap, they aren't ashamed to take a break and recharge. Colleges and workplaces are beginning to open up designated "nap stations" and "nap rooms" to enhance productivity and improve the overall health of their students and employees. Studies show that taking a 15-30 minute nap reenergizes us, and makes us feel more creative and alert. So if you can, try and set aside 15 minutes a day to curl up with your pup and catch a few zzz’s.

walking Izzy (for the first time)

Duane, Jason, Dude, Coco are walking
take Kimo out
Phil lets Kaya out to play with Dude

notice Izzy is outside the gate
Duane takes Kimo and I go to put Izzy back, she kind of runs away from me
so I go in the gate and eventually she comes in
wth, I go take out Tuffy

have him on long rope that I took from Fifi's basket
Duane notice he's skinny and feeds him, also notice he's limping a bit
take home Kimo

Duane brings Tuffy
I take home Tuffy, see somebody's home, tell Jake that Izzy was loose
but now I worry about Izzy reacting to Tuffy (since Kristen said if I took out Brownie by herself and bring her back, Izzy might go after her)
so I take out Izzy for the first time

see Ann leaving
Izzy pulls but not uncontrollable, walks on loose leash some of the time

take Izzy to Charlie at the fence, but then Izzy starts barking at him and Charlie barks back

have them sit at Duane's for treats

then take them a little away from Charlie and have them sit for treats as Charlie barks at them

ok take them home
first have them sit outside and try to get Brownie to calm down for treats
then take them inside and do the same thing.  Izzy sits consistently, Brownie sits once in a while after a while, Tuffy jumps up on wall to get out of the way

Kristen scolding Izzy, she didn't know I was there, then I go talk to her for a little while

[7/12/14, posted 8/11/14]

tears of joy

An elephant who'd been shackled with spiked chains for his entire 50-year life cried tears of joy when he was finally freed from his horrific captivity.

Raju had water streaming down his face as a daring team of rescuers swooped in on Wednesday night to release him from his confinement in India.

Vets and wildlife experts from the British-based Wildlife SOS-UK were joined by 20 Forestry Commission officers and two cops in the dangerous nighttime operation.

The squad raided the farm in India's Uttar Pradesh region, where Raju — who'd been regularly beaten and abused by his owners, who used him to beg for money — was being kept.

And they claim that, as they liberated him from his manacles, he openly wept because he realized that his half-century ordeal was coming to an end.

"Raju was in chains 24 hours a day, an act of intolerable cruelty. The team were astounded to see tears roll down his face during the rescue," Wildlife SOS-UK's Pooja Binepal said.

"It was incredibly emotional. We knew in our hearts he realized he was being freed," Binepal added.

wolves vs. dogs

Has the domestication of dogs also changed their ability to learn from each other? A recent study performed by the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria, seems to indicate that this is the case.

In a simple experiment, the researchers determined that wolves have the ability to learn by observing a dog carrying out an action, while most dogs in the study did not. In the set-up, both wolves and dogs observed a trained dog using a lever to open a box and receive a treat.

Throughout the trials, all of the wolves succeeded on their first try at copying the actions of the trained dog to open the box. Only four of the dogs were able to do so and, out of these, only two of the dogs succeeded multiple times. The wolves and dogs had all been raised together since they were pups, and had been given equal socialization among other wolves, dogs, and humans.

The initial studies took place when the wolves and dogs were six months old. However, to rule out the idea that the results were due to the wolves’ earlier cognitive development, the study was repeated nine months later, when all of the animals were adults, with the same results.

The study concluded that wolves are capable of imitation, and so “are likely to pay closer attention to the actions of social partners and thus may have a higher tendency to socially learn from or even imitate each other’s actions.”

In the context of a wolf pack, this behavior makes sense. But domestic dogs are descended from wolves, so why the difference? Researchers still aren’t sure, but they propose that “dog-human cooperation has likely originated from wolf-wolf cooperation, potentially by (dogs) becoming able to easily accept humans as social partners and thus, extending their relevant social skills to interactions with them.”

***

Interesting.  It sounds like (most) dogs have lost the ability to learn from other dogs, replaced by dogs learning from humans.