Clients often tell me that their rescue dog must have been "beaten by a man" when the dog was younger, because the dog is afraid of men and not woman. However, people in the training and behavior field know that almost all shy dogs are more afraid of men than women, even if men have been nothing but kind to them their entire lives. We've always speculated that it had something to do with the way men walked (more assertively?) or their bigger chests, larger jaws, and/or deeper voices. But we've never really known for sure what it was--perhaps it is related to scent: obviously men smell different than woman, and it could be that just 'maleness' is more intimidating. A recent study reported in Scientific American Mind might have shed some light on this topic. (Actually, I read it and jumped Read More
Secondary Emotions in Animals
I'm working on an article for The APDT Chronicle on what are called "secondary emotions" in non-human animals. I have an article in the latest issue (May/June 2009) about "primary emotions" like fear and anger, and am following up with a smaller one about emotions like jealousy, guilt and empathy. I guess it's obvious from my last big book, For the Love of a Dog, that I'm fascinated by the topic of emotions in other animals, and equally fascinated by our perception of them. Almost by definition, primary emotions are accepted as occurring in a wide variety of species; and yet, I've had numerous people disagree with the concept that animals can experience some of them, with the most concern about attributing anger to non-humans. (As I've written earlier, anger is an extremely primitive, Read More
Learning from a Dog’s Perspective; Winter Wildlife
Whoops... thought I had posted this last week. eeeps. Willie had smoke coming out of his ears last Thursday night; I felt so sorry for him. I was giving a book talk at the west side Madison Border's and brought Willie along to illustrate some of the tricks that Karen and I write about in Play Together, Stay Together. He had little trouble with the ones he knows well, but got hung up on transferring a cue from one hand to the other. I have been teaching him to do a 'high five' when I hold my hand up vertically, finger tips pointing upward, and to touch his nose to my hand when it is held horizontally, fingers pointing sideways. That's not a trivial distinction to get, it took him a few days to get it when presented the cue with my right hand. The day before the talk I had asked him to Read More
Comparative and Canine Cognition; Don’t Sleep, There are Snakes
I just finished Everett's book Don't Sleep, There are Snakes, and a more thought-provoking book I can't imagine. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, the author spent much of his life over the last 30 years with a hunter-gatherer tribe, the Piraha, in the Amazon basin. Everett began his work as a missionary and a linguist; his work with the Piraha changed his faith, but not his dedication to studying language. What makes the book so interesting is his discussion about what the Piraha culture has to say about the derivation of human language. Everett is very clear: he argues persuasively that both Chomsky and Skinner got it wrong (in relation to language). In brief, Chomsky argued that language is innate in humans, and that there are universal 'laws' of grammar that are passed down Read More
Fairness in Dogs? Lassie’s Birthday Party
First things first! Lassie's party was a joy. Many of her friends came to talk, eat and belly rub, and Lassie proclaimed it good. Very good indeed. Lassie reveled in the attention, Willie got tons of petting too and we all ate ourselves silly. Only downside is that I forgot to take photos (camera out and at the ready on the counter...) of Lassie and all her friends. Big disappointment, I have a photo of my first Border collie Drift, at his 15th birthday party, and it means a lot to me to have it. He died 2 months later and I think that's part of what motivated me to have this one, and I'm so glad I did. However, I fully intend and expect to have a rip roaring 16th birthday party for Lassie next year, so I'll just get a photo next year. Here's a picture after the party of Lassie delving Read More