Oh no, I just erased (as spam) two lovely comments…. SO sorry! If your comment isn’t here, please send again. Running off to dinner with IFAAB group, will report on day’s talks soon…
Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, has made a lifelong commitment to improving the relationship between people and animals.
ABandMM says
March 2, 2009 at 2:42 pmTrisha,
I am reading Temple Grandin’s “Animals in Translation” and am finding it thoroughly fascinating. On a somewhat related note, I thought you and others who are interesting in brain function and how humans make decisions might be interested in today’s edition of Fresh Air on NPR.
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101334645
Jonah Lehrer: Passions Of The Brain
According to new neuroscience studies, emotion has a strong influence on how the human brain makes decisions. Jonah Lehrer, the author of How We Decide, joins Fresh Air to discuss the latest research.
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I only heard the first 20 minutes, but plan on listening to the rest of it once the audio becomes available later today. I could relate to the author and his difficulty in making decisions about stuff that is rather “unimportant” in grand scheme of life (i.e. what brand of cheerios to buy… though in my case it is oatmeal) and how our emotional brains help us make those decisions and how our analytical brain tries to keep us in the cereal aisle for hours.
I think this Fresh Air topic will complement the information in Dr. Grandin’s book very well.
I hope you enjoyed your margaritas and the conference in Tucson.
Patricia Anderson says
March 2, 2009 at 4:22 pmI just finished reading The Other End of the Leash. I found it to be a real eye opener. I often wondered why my Golden Retriever always comes to me when I say his name, then clap 3 times and give a short 5-note whistle. (I never taught him to do this). I’ll do this in the evening when it’s dark and he’s outside under the fir trees or on cat patrol. This book has shown me what I’ve been doing right and what I’ve been doing very wrong. It made me laugh, cry, and say “wow!” and has increased my understanding immeasurably of the relationship between humans and dogs. A fellow Golden Retriever rescuer (Golden Bond Rescue of Oregon) recommended this book. I’ll recommend it to others. KUDOS.
Patricia Anderson
Roseburg, Oregon
Judy Norton says
March 4, 2009 at 10:26 pmYou asked before for suggestions for blog topics. I’m not sure this is where you wanted them sent, but I couldn’t find anyplace else to post it. I was hoping you’d discuss raising singleton pups. I know I read something in one of your books, but now, when I need it, I can’t find it! I’m fostering a dog from a shelter that only has one surviving pup and I don’t want her to grow up with frustration issues.
Thanks!
Nancy Ciapalo says
March 5, 2009 at 11:03 amPlease fconsider writing a blog about non-traditional therapies and how to find practitioners. I live in Dubuque, IA and am looking for someone who can help my 13 yr old Lab. The information on the Internet is so confusing and many of the lsitings are out of date. HELP!
Mihaela says
March 6, 2009 at 5:20 pmRegarding the urine marking habits, here is a little bit about our little “pack”. We have three dogs: Chloe (4 years old Aussie, 38 lbs), Olive (2 year old GreatPyr/Aussie mix, 80 lbs), and Monty (4 year old Great Pyr/Anatolian mix, 120 lbs). They are all neutered/spayed (since very young ages – <4 months of age). The pecking order is very fluid in this group. Monty is “The Dude” when it comes to food, couch time and petting. Chloe obsessively controls all the doorways (not sure if it’s dominance or just… control issues anyway, but the other two, much larger, dogs always submit to her intense stare…). Chloe is also obssesive about watching where Olive pees from the back porch, then running and peeing right on top (after some careful sniffing). She never pees on top of Monty’s puddles. Monty rarely pees on top of the girls’ pee, and always on top of scent marks left by strange dogs passing through. Olive doesn’t seem to have any pee issues whatsoever! I should add that Chloe is also quite passionate about sniffing strange dogs’ pee marks (at least I assume that’s what they are…) when we go to the park and again, squirting right on top (that park is visited by so many dogs, that I always wonder what kind of magical kidneys she must have to keep doing that until we go home).
I guess when it comes to Biology, you can do the most carefully controlled studies ever, and the exceptions will always pop up as soon as you’ve published your results!
Mihaela
Memphis, TN
Trisha says
March 8, 2009 at 12:19 pmI love getting ideas for blogs, and will definitely take you up on your suggestions, they are good ones. And thanks to for the referral to Fresh Air and How We Decide. The author’s comment compliment everything I’ve read on the issue, especially from neurobiologist Antonio Damassio (In Search of Spinoza is one title). Damassio talks about a man whose cognitive centers were cut off from his emotions who was unable to decide the simplest of things, like where to file a piece of paper! I find it heartening that emotions are finally getting some respect!