Archive for August, 2009

Semantic Contagion Semantic contagion: should we be worried about it or not?  I’ll let you be the judge of that. Even though a discussion about pit bull-related issues trigger this podcast, I could have just as easily put ticks at the head of the list. As ticks have moved northward, people have become more paranoid [...]

Knowing Not The article that precipitated this podcast was “Self-Reported Comprehension Ratings of Dog Behavior by Puppy Owners” by Keven J. Kerswell, Pauleen Bennett, Kym L. Butler and Paul H. Hemsworth. It was published in Anthrozoos, Volume 22, Issue 2, June, 2009, pages 183-193. At the time I recorded this, Bamboo was 3 1/2 months [...]

Play and Survival First, a link to Stewart Brown’s interview that you can listen to here. Second, I am NOT advocating people idly standing by while dogs or other animals destroy each other, either physically or mentally. What I’m advocating is the usual: a knowledge- rather than emotion-based approach to domestic animal play. That means [...]

This is an electronic but nonetheless heartfelt thanks to everyone who sent support and sympathy in many different forms following BeeBee’s death. During that difficult time, I had two advantages that sustained me. One was the rock-solid belief that I made the right decision, and the other was having such wonderful and caring friends.

When Emotions and Crunchies Collide First a couple pictures of the subject of this week’s podcast, Ollie, responding to the question, “Do you want to go on a diet?” Notice the extreme reluctance to establish eye contact and answer. Were I able to read his thoughts, perhaps they would be something like, “Fat? I am [...]

Animal Health and Behavior and the Vista Effect Several months ago I brought a new computer that came with a Vista operating system. Since then I have discovered that Vista’s development apparently is the result of linear more-is-better thinking. What that means is that, if the program didn’t address a particular user need to start [...]

I didn’t manage the tear-control I’d hoped for when I participated in BeeBee’s euthanasia yesterday, but I survived. It was pouring rain and the drive to the clinic was miserable with traffic slowed to a crawl where portions of the road were covered with water. Bee didn’t like rain under the best of circumstances and [...]