On Tuesday I gave a lecture in my UW class about tool use and the cultural transmission of information in non-human animals. It's one of my favorite lectures; it does my heart good to ponder so many interesting examples of our connections with other animals. The list of discoveries of animals using tools is ever growing; ever since Jane Goodall discovered chimps using modified twigs to catch termites, researchers have observed crows in Australia manufacturing hooked tools to pry insects out of bark, dolphins carefully placing sponges over their rostrums to protect their tissues while foraging, chimpanzees using two tools (hammer and anvil) to crack nuts... the list goes on and on. Here's a truly great video of New Caledonian Crows figuring out how to combine a penchant for nuts and Read More
Willie versus Redford, Round Two; “Power” in Herding Dogs
This morning I tried to get a good photo of Redford confronting Will, but failed miserably. That's great news... I couldn't get the photo because every time Will walked within twenty feet of Redford, the ram turned and walked away. I did take a few photos, but my battery died so I can't upload them for you. I'll send some before the end of the week, of Will and sheep, and hopefully, of Snickers new lambs, if she ever, finally, gives birth. (We are calling her Explodo-Ewe at the moment.) Truffle's little white lamb is filling out like a champ. He's got all the milk to himself and is growing like crazy. He has started what I call "popcorn" play, which is pretty much like it sounds. First there is a lamb standing still, then there's a lamb leaping straight up into the air. Except in Read More
Dog-Dog “Aggression” Seminar in Des Moines
Here's the post I thought I'd lost! (Will my viral-hazed brain ever come back to normal?) Hey, I am back among the living. Not much energy, pretty slow in the head, but actually eating real food again (well, still can't eat chocolate, which along with fresh spinach and warm bread is the only real food there is). Willie is back to dropping toys in my lap (even when I'm lying flat on my back on the couch, so I think it was much more than lack of movement that changed his behavior. I'll write more in the comments under the last blog.) I wanted to say a few words about Des Moines, and the Animal Rescue League of Iowa who sponsored it. First off, Paula Sunday and all her staff were wonderfully accommodating, even changing the plan and letting in over 200 people in by the time 9:00 rolled Read More
Are Males and Females Different to Train Part 2
Well, so far there have been 40 comments on this question, and what interesting ones they have been. I'm going to summarize what folks have said so far (and also am sending this question out to a list of Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists and some professional trainers in different fields. If you are on any lists you think might be appropriate, please send this question out and ask them to comment. . . ) I am SO interested in the comments so far. Of course, you can read the comments for yourself, but here are some trends. (Keep in mind that this question was not sent out as a survey, so not everyone answered the same question.) 11 people explicitly said that other factors like age, personality and training were far more relevant than sex (or simply, "No: one is no easier to train Read More
The Human/Animal Bond, Can Dogs Get Angry?
I'm just back from the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. I was one of several speakers discussing the Human/Animal Bond at NIH's STEP Forum, a monthly meeting for all NIH staff designed to educate staff about issues relating to science in the public health. It was very much worth the travel; the talks given by zoo-anthropologist Dr. James Serpell, Dr. Sandra Barker and Dr. Joan Esnayra were each worth the trip alone. Dr. Serpell discussed historical and cross-cultural aspects of the human-animal bond, and dispelled the myths that "pets" are only luxuries indulged in by industrial societies and that people who love animals do so from some social pathology that prevents them from "normal" relationships with other people. His books In the Company of Animals and The Domestic Read More
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