Perhaps "Super Normal Sign Stimuli" is not a phrase that you often use? Ah, but it should be! It summarizes a common behavior that is relevant in both human and canine behavior. SNSS refers, first, to stimuli that elicit an inherent response in individuals of a species. Red flowers, for example, attract hummingbirds, no matter what the bird's experience. Hummers are naturally and inherently attracted to the color red, as Orioles are attracted to the color orange. The other part of SNSS, "super normal" refers to the size or intensity of a stimulus. A good example of this is from the ethologist Tinbergen, who learned that nesting female sandpipers will sit and try to incubate anything that is egg-shaped with the appropriate size and spotted patterns that look like real eggs (even if they are Read More
Archives for 2011
Help! Willie Bored, Me Brain Dead.
Here's the challenge: Besides 3 sessions a day of physical therapy, Willie is now supposed to walk for 10 minutes three times a day. On the flat, on leash. No trotting, no spinning, just slow, controlled walking. Sounds simple, but then, life being what it is, it isn't. There's very little flat on my little hilly farm in southern Wisconsin. We basically have 2 paths to take, about 60 strides each. Otherwise, all the rest of my 13 acres is off limits. I could take the heavy ramp he uses to get into the house (to avoid the 3 stairs) and load him into the car and take him into town where it's flatter, but it's a big hassle to get the heavy ramp set up to get him in, put the ramp back in the car, take it out to load him back up, etc. It'll be worth it when he can walk for longer periods, but Read More
Take a Dog to Work? Maybe, Maybe Not.
Friday June 24th has been designated "Take Your Dog to Work Day" by Pet Sitters International. Begun in 1999 with a goal of encouraging adoptions, Pet Sitters Int'l suggests that we all take our dogs to work to emphasize the human/animal bond, and indirectly encourage people to adopt homeless dogs. This could be a great thing to do; many of us take our dogs to work regularly. If you work in the dog world, it's almost a gimmee, and one of the perks that I love about my job is that I can take Willie to work whenever I want (except, of course, when he is recovering from surgery). However, there's nothing like being an Applied Animal Behaviorist to stimulate the waving of red flags when we read about something that, in some cases, could also be described as "take your dog into a completely Read More
Love Has No Age Limit is Here!
If you've written a book, you know what it's like to hold the final version in your hand for the first time. Love Has No Age Limit, the book I co-authored with Karen London about adopting an adolescent or adult dog, was delivered yesterday morning at 8 AM. I pulled up just after Denise had spent heaven knows how long carrying boxes from the truck into the office. (The delivery man's comment, while first refusing to unload the boxes, was "Do you know how many books there are in that truck?!" That's a line that will live forever in our office as "comments never to forget." As will Denise's answer: "Yes, I do. I ordered them.") But thanks to Denise's herculean efforts, there are now thousands of copies of our new book sitting in our office. (But a lot less than yesterday, we've sold Read More
Can Animals “Blame” Others?
As many of you know, when I went to pick up Willie after his surgery, he walked past me, greeted 4 other people, and would not make eye contact with me. This continued for 2 days after his surgery. It did not appear to be a consequence of the anesthetic or pain, in that although he was clearly a bit dopey, he enthusiastically greeted everyone else. The morning after surgery, as I sat beside him on the living room floor, he refused to lie down next to me, turned his tail to my face and lay looking longingly up the stairs toward my friend Meg. This continued, full throttle, for two days. Gradually he warmed up to me, and I'd say we are now back into the relationship we used to have. He loves me, I love him, and he loves everyone else just about as much. I say this because he greets me Read More
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