Well, I keep putting off writing about the emotion of disgust (and soon jealousy and guilt), but it's Thanksgiving tomorrow and it just didn't feel right to be writing about such a negative emotion. Emotions are catching; maybe writing about disgust disgusts me enough to put me off? Sounds amusingly logical, but I think it's more that I'd rather take this time to reflect and savor some gratitude. Disgust sounds like a good topic after I eat too much this weekend. Gratitude is a good topic for today, yes? (Question: Is it an emotion?) Gratitude is good for us, and often what is good for us is good for our dogs and other companion animals. I don't say that in a vague, gosh-gee-whiz kind of way. There is some good research showing that taking time to be grateful, whether it's writing a Read More
Archives for 2011
See you in Orlando!
Eeeps, where'd the day go? I was going to write about the emotion of disgust, but it'll have to wait til tomorrow. But before the day is over I wanted to remind you that the Early Registration for the Jan 7-8 seminar I'm doing with Kathy Sdao is over tonight at midnight. I'm doing a new day-long seminar on Canine Communication: communication of all kinds between dogs, from dogs to people, and from people to dogs. Lots of it is interactive: you'll be working like a dog searching for scents (sort of!), interpreting visual signals, and translating dog vocalizations. I'll be adding in all the new research that relates to communication, so if you want to up your understanding of all things dog, you definitely want to come. It's in Orlando, Florida too... not a bad place to be in January, and Read More
Results: Survey on Emotions in Animals
THANKS to you all for contributing to the survey! I'll give you the results of the blog survey first and then compare them on the right with a survey done at the Madison Seminar (thanks!) and with research done by Morris et. al. in 2008 (Cognition & Emotion 22(1), 3-20). First, emotions and dogs (of course!) CAN DOGS EXPERIENCE THE FOLLOWING EMOTIONS? EMOTION BLOG YES SEMINAR YES MORRIS 2008 YES FEAR 100% 100% 93% JOY 100% 99.5% 99% ANGER 85.7% 95.1% 65% DISGUST Read More
What Emotions Do You Share with Your Dog?
Surely you'd agree that both you and your dog can be frightened, but what about feeling jealous? Guilty? Ashamed? Ah, now it gets trickier, doesn't it? Emotions like jealousy and guilt are called "secondary" emotions, and many biologists, psychologists and philosophers believe that non-human animals can't experience them. The argument is that they can't be experienced without a relatively high level of cognition, particularly the ability to be self aware and knowledgeable about the mental state of others. I'll talk in the next post about research related to whether dogs feel guilt or jealousy, but for now, I'd like to replicate another piece of research that asked people what emotions they think animals experience. [If you came to the Madison Seminar, no fair answering after you saw the Read More
TOOT TOOT TOOTSIE, HELLO!
Here's TOOTSIE! Also known as: Little Bit, Mini Me and my favorite, Mop of the Woods. There's a new kid on the block, or at the farm I should say. Meet Tootsie, a 7 year old King Charles Cavalier who was rescued by Lucky Star Cavalier Rescue from an Amish Puppy Mill, after the owners had used her up. Her mouth and ears were horribly infected; she had twenty teeth extracted. She also was fat as a tick, so you couldn't say she was starving. She weighed 22 lbs (now she weighs 15 and is still a bit overweight). And what, you might ask, is a Cavalier doing at Redstart Farm? Doesn't every farm need a Cavalier? (What, you think we farmers don't have laps?) Seriously, there is logic to all this. Here's a brief version of the back story: If you have been following the blog for Read More
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