Podcasts

Singing mice? What could be cooler than that?! You can read the Smithsonian Magazine article that precipitated this podcast here. Also, for those who asked, this is what the new door looks like: It still needs to be primed and painted as does the frame and adjacent house, but I  haven’t decided on the color yet. Luckily a lot of rain and other activities are giving me time to think about it. But I’m determined to get it done before the end of the summer.

How others perceive reality, regardless of species, has always been a subject that fascinates me.  Equally fascinating, if frustrating, is the negative effect our society’s aversion to all but a relatively small collection of natural scents has on our relationship with animals. While most of us are willing to admit that certain flowers or their seeds (in the form of spices) possess scents that we enjoy, few if any animal scents fall into that category. When we speak of scents related to hormones or pheromones, those more often than not rate an even more negative response… …which is too

For the gazillioneth time, permit me to note that I’ve been blessed with some of the most amazing clients and patients anyone in my line of work could hope for. Because of this, I feel it keenly when owner and animal alike succumb to the negative effects of questionable beliefs, often those imposed on them by someone else. This in turn puts a negative self-fulfilling prophecy into motion that undermines the dog’s behavior and relationship with the owner. For me, that’s especially sad because it’s so avoidable. And worth meandering about…

I recorded this at the the end of April, but didn’t have time to edit it until the Friday, May 13th. Apparently my computers are superstitious because I encountered more than the usual cyber-crises doing this. If you wonder why the cat came in twice during this podcast but you never heard him go out, it’s because his second exit was deleted along with all the racket he and the dogs were making that caused me to evict him for a while. I didn’t want you to think that there are holes in this house that are big enough

Surely everyone who shares a home with an animal can recall  a situation where the animal makes it easier for us to do what we want to do. For example, when it’s time to feed my dogs, they stay out of the way because they know I’ll get the food in the bowls and the bowls down on the floor faster if they do. I haven’t taught them to do that any more than I taught the cat to wait patiently for me to fill his bowl, either. They somehow figured out on their own that cooperation pays. Those

In this podcast I attempt to articulate–read “meander about”—the approach-avoidance conflict I have with studies of animal cognition. Sometimes I feel like the little boy in The Emperor’s New Clothes because my take on what these studies reveal about animal cognition is so different from that of many around me. I don’t question that the studies reveal that animals possess cognitive ability. But what they also reveal to me is that animals possess far more cognitive skill than the conclusions of these studies grant them.

This past winter I discovered that recording podcasts is the perfect activity for during power outages. My voice recorder is battery-powered, the woodstove kept me warm, and recording doesn’t require any light. But one unintended consequence of this winter’s multiple storms was that I wound up with a back-log of podcasts that I didn’t get a chance to edit. No sooner did the storm end than I’d be cleaning up the snow and doing the work I couldn’t do when the power was out. Now that the weather has calmed down a bit, I’m playing catch-up. But what better

Another phenomenon that goes along with the shift to a game view of reality is that it posses the potential to convert once comfortable human-animal relationships into adversarial ones when problems rise. The well-behaved pet is viewed as a team-player who follows the rules of the game. By extension,the animal who develops problems isn’t. That the animal’s behavior might be a legitimate, albeit unacceptable, response for this animal in this particular physical and mental environment gets lost is the shuffle.

Is there any place where spring begins the day the calendar says it does? It used to in my area, but now it arrives here earlier, about 2 weeks so. When I was editing this podcast, I realized that climate change has revealed yet another of those paradoxes in human behavior. It would seem that those the most remote from nature would be the least bothered by some of the extremes in weather that this has caused, and those most attuned to nature would be the most upset. But my experience has been the opposite: those who are most

I’ve meandered about the ways dogs make up games and also the playfulness of cats before. But this past winter Bamboo, aka Bam, raised this to an art form in his attempts to avoid succumbing to cabin fever during a very long winter in a very small house. Here are two pictures of Bam sitting in my office window two days apart. The first day it was sunny and balmy and he basked in the warmth. Forty-eight hours later, he watched large globs of snow create almost white-out conditions following a day of rain.

Permit me to add that the childhood lesson I learned regarding the cost of winning the prize was further reinforced by the auditorium being a huge, icy cold barn of a place with seats that felt like they were carved out of stone. It didn’t take long before my siblings—who had been dragged along to share in my triumph—start looking daggers at me. While my parents bore up admirably, when the ordeal finally ended they made no attempt to slow us kids down in our race to freedom.

If you’re one of those people who tend to think more linearly than I do, you’re probably wondering what the link between ice, mice, and bacteria is. If I added my granddaughter and parasites to the line-up, you might feel even more confused. But there is a certain method behind this madness because, in the natural world, everything’s related one way or another. You can find a BBC article on, as well as a link to, the original study described in the podcast here.

Shortly before I edited this podcast, I read a short story entitled “Silent Night” by Baynard Kendrick, a once-famous mystery writer whose work has since faded into more or less obscurity. The main character in “Silent Night’ is a blind private investigator who has developed his other senses to compensate for his loss of sight. He solves a nefarious holiday kidnapping by identifying the source of a unique sound on a recorded ransom note that was so familiar to the kidnappers that they overlooked it. The event described in this podcast also points out how easy it is to

I don’t know why impatience is particularly on my mind lately. Maybe it’s because I sometimes so wish I had a magic wand that I could use to give it to my clients. And yet even as I write that I can’t help laughing. Instantly conferring patience on someone: isn’t that some kind of oxymoron? Fortunately, I don’t have to provide this service because nature has provided us with all kinds of good teachers. It’s just a question of knowing where to look.

When you think of the best diet for a cat or a dog, what comes to mind? This podcast was the result of a report of a publicity stunt that reminded me that “best” is a relative term at best.

In addition to the feline-canine frolicking that triggered the phenomenon described in this podcast, Bamboo has added yet another game to his repertoire. I call this the Cleopatra Game because he grabs the edge of a rug with his claws, rolls himself up it it, and waits for the dogs to check it out. When they do, he growls and makes them jump. If they move closer, his paw snakes out and clobbers them. When I come along and unroll him  in an attempt to reclaim the rug, occasionally he looks miffed. But more often he ignores me and

The relativity of normal seems to be a recurrent theme of mine as I gain more knowledge about and experience with animals displaying different behaviors. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve become more aware of the shrinking definition of normal because the aforementioned knowledge and experience has caused me to expand my own definition of it during that same period. It seems like that should mean something. But I’m not sure what that is.

Shoveling the ice-covered snow that led to the canine behavior described in this podcast was also an interesting experience. That the compressed snow was heavy goes without saying. More interesting was that I could read the history of the storm in the layers of compressed snow and ice. I couldn’t help but think about how geologists and paleontologists use a similar technique to determine what happened thousands of years ago. Had I wanted to and had the strength to, I could have broken huge slabs of ice off the surface and sent them skidding across the lawn to get

First, a link to Storypeople, the source of the gift that precipitated this podcast. And a not-very-good-but-you-get-the-idea picture of the gift itself: I don’t know whether it’s a function of age and experience or dementia, but lately it seems to me that in the realm of quality human-animal interactions, a lot of what’s going on reminds me of the old saying, “The hurrider I go, the behinder I get.”  Sometimes we ‘re in such a hurry to make changes in our animals as fast as possible, we don’t realize the result actually puts us farther behind. When this is

This was a tough podcast to edit because there’s a place in it where I speak in a loud voice to illustrate my point. When that part of the recording occurred, I had the same problem I had when I recorded the audio books. My animals are so used to me speaking softly that the volume and tone of my voice caused them to orient toward me immediately with, unfortunately, apprehensive expressions on their furry little faces. How do you communicate to animals that you’re not yelling when they hear you yelling? Or hear what certainly sounds like your

Naturally as soon as I wanted a picture of Bam doing something devilish to go with this podcast, the camera affected him like a sedative. After taking more pictures of a sleeping or dopey-looking cat than I’d ever have any use for, I tried baiting him. This worked in that it did produce some devilish behavior. Unfortunately, that consisted of him lunging at the camera, the result of which was a series of pictures of a blurry cat. All I can offer is this picture from his kittenhood with the comment that he hasn’t changed much. But frustrating though

Perhaps because our society has become increasingly obsessed with reducing everything to single concepts or problems that exist is some sort of vacuum, I now pay a lot more attention to the way things are related. At least that’s the explanation I’m offering for how thoughts of rural railroad tracks meandered into those about medical and behavioral health and with whom the responsibility for it lies. 🙂

My general rule of thumb is that I can’t ask someone to do something I’m not willing to do myself.  In keeping with that, here’s my attempt at a haiku about my cat, Bamboo: On my desk corner Bamboo curls Purring into dream worlds Beyond me.

It seems like only yesterday we were entering a new century yet here we are past the decade mark in it. The older I get the more interested I become in those basic elements that make life special. What’s interesting is that what makes these special is that they’re so common and accessible that we tend to ignore them. The seed for this podcast was planted by something the Dali Lama said in response to comments regarding what a wretched state the world is in. He replied that this was only the case if one mistakenly views the news

First to get you in the mood for the season:   And a  disclaimer: No animals were harmed during this photo session even though you would think from the expressions on Ollie (left) and Frica (right) that they were suffering and had suffered for a long period of time. These are pictures I took last year—I didn’t have time this year—the ordeal lasted less than 5 minutes per dog, and we celebrated with low-fat vanilla yogurt when we finished. I can’t actually swear to that because it’s been a while, but that seems like the most likely human-canine celebratory

In one of my favorite essays written by physician-researcher Lewis Thomas, he describes sitting in his corner office with a pad of paper and a sharp pencil (remember those?) trying to mentally put his thoughts into words. This took a while and as it is wont to do, the sun moved during this time. Because he’d subconsciously held the pencil with its point in the center of the pad, its shadow moved around the point when this happened. When Thomas noticed this it dawned on him that, were he inclined to do so, he could believe that he and

As those familiar with my commentaries and podcasts know, I have this thing about the inconsistent interpretation of human and animal behaviors. I don’t care a parrot’s patootie if we attribute a particular display to cognition, mindless conditioning or even dumb luck. But I get seriously annoyed when a behavior that’s attributed to some higher thought process in humans is dismissed as the result of a simple reflex or conditioning when displayed by an animal. As you might imagine, there are some who don’t agree with me. 🙂 These same folks understandably have a cow when others even hint

Much as I enjoy a day that unfolds as planned as much as anyone else, there’s also something to be said for events that put everything up for grabs, too. At least for a while. A visit from the She-Devils falls into that category. Their addition to our household for 5 days provided the dogs, the cat, and me with some food for thought, and inspired me to record this podcast.

From the time I was a little kid, I remember people asking me what my favorite holiday was. Back then if someone had told me a time would come when “Thanksgiving” would be the answer, I would have hooted, “You’re kidding! It’s the most boring holiday of them all!” Thanksgiving used to be my least favorite because, aside from some token giving thanks, it also meant helping my mom prepare and clean up after a big meal in a hot kitchen with the rest of the females while the males watched football on television or lazed around. And for

Over the years I’ve discovered that those who have the greatest insight into their particular area of expertise are those who take a two-pronged approach. First, they master their material as presented within its discipline. This imbues them with the critical thinking skills and patience for the second step, which is to consider how those same concepts play out in other areas and alter their views based on what they discover. Not only does this approach result in a more comprehensive view, it also leads to respect for those in other disciplines. As a biologist and veterinary ethologist, I

Shortly after I recorded his, I heard a review of an exhibit celebrating native sons of the Czech Republic who were very famous, but mainly outside of the country. These include Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud, and Oskar Schindler of “Schindler’s List” fame. Of the many speculations about why this might be so, a journalist  interviewed for the segment pointed out that part of the problem was that the Czech language has no word for “bohemian.” Or rather, it has a definition but it may not be one many of us usually think about. Say “bohemian” and I immediately think

Here’s a picture of Frica’s response to my mentioning how easy it would be to perceive any problem she has or may have as the result of her traumatic beginning: Obviously as she sleeps on her pouffy pillow in her antique drawer surrounded by her toys, she’s unimpressed by my comments. But the fact remains that, alas, I’m only human. If I wanted to give such perceptions of what she experienced (or even just imagined she experienced) prior to my getting her a negative spin, I could have done that. And had I chosen to do that, those flaming

I’ve often said that I have the world’s best clients and patients. In addition to the study mentioned, this podcast was also precipitated by an email from a former client. She wrote to inform me that, even though she’d originally gotten her dog so she could compete in various dog sports, she realized that he didn’t enjoy this. Although she was disappointed at first, she’s come to realize what a great companion he is. I know how difficult making a decision that only she could make must have been for her, difficult enough that some people can’t make it.

What do my house, Frica’s birthing suite, and a den in the base of a tree stump have in common? Tune in to another thrilling and informative podcast to find out!

When I record these podcasts, sometimes I learn about things in my house that I never knew before. For example, I never would have guessed in a thousand years that a four-cup coffee maker could sound like a small cement mixer churning in the background when you use a voice recorder 10’ away from it. But so it is. Fortunately, it took longer to record this than it does to make four cups of coffee, so I hope it’s not too distracting.

I can’t listen to much news (or what now passes for news) and especially during election years without being reminded of the 2-minute hates. These were a form of public manipulation George Orwell described in his novel, 1984. If anything, these are more relevant now than in Orwell’s fictional world because much of our “news” is now presented to us in segments lasting 2 minutes or less. This raises another one of those chicken-egg questions: are we offered these snippets because our attention spans are so short and our critical thinking skills so limited that’s all we can handle?

Most people have heard the old sayings, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” and “Out of sight, out of mind.” Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy to ignore what’s happening to our oceans and those who live in them. After all, they make up the bulk of the planet; whatever changes occur, surely they’ll be able to handle it. But increasingly the rate and nature of the oceanic changes occurring and the effect these will have on those of us living on that comparably small land mass is becoming more difficult to ignore…

About the same time as I was thinking about the politics of bull-fighting that precipitated this podcast, I heard an interview with a drone pilot who bombs targets in Afghanistan from a command a command post somewhere in the western US. He seemed like a nice enough guy and I’m sure his work requires a tremendous amount of skill. But I had trouble buying into the notion that what he did was as difficult as actually being there. As with the historical evolution of bull-fighting, this change in warfare struck me as another instance of leadership by remote instead

This podcast was fueled by a mass media article that I discovered somewhat misrepresented the findings in the original study after I’d finished the recording. When I looked up the original study, it turned out that there wasn’t enough data to conclude whether the benefits for cat-owners held for dog-owners. But even after rethinking this, it  still wouldn’t surprise me if cat-owners had the edge for the reasons I mentioned. And I’ll add one more. An MD friend is a fan of the exercise-and-cardiovascular-health-as-a-function-of-sweat school of thought; if you’re sweating, chances are you’re exercising your heart muscle which is

I can’t decide whether my delight in play and playfulness is what keeps me (relatively speaking) young, or if it’s evidence that I’m becoming more immature as I get older. Whatever the reason, I prefer it to the alternative. To learn more about the gorilla research and see a video of the tag-playing gorillas, click here. And here are two pictures of Ollie and Bee engaged in their raucous version of canine tag, the watching of which could strike terror in the heart of anyone  unfamiliar with normal dog behavior.

I’ve traded in the mountains of Colorado for my valley in New Hampshire where the flowers managed to survive in my absence. This podcast marks my first attempt using the laptop and results were mixed. The quality isn’t as good and some technical difficulties ultimately drove me back to the desktop to finish editing it. The idea that we use words such as “healthy,” “normal,” to say nothing of “aggression,” “dominance” and that whole Pandora’s Box of behavioral terminology as if some universally accepted definition of these exists continues to fascinate me. It’s another one of those areas where

One of the most awkward situations for me is to find myself among a particular group of  dog- or cat-lovers  who assume I’m a kindred spirit. The distinguishing feature of these folks isn’t just that they’re head over heels in love with dogs or cats—a lot of people are, including me. What makes them stand out and, to me, sometimes painfully so, is that these dog-lovers are as rabidly dismissive of cats as the cat-lovers are of dogs. I find this troubling because I owe a great deal of what I know about canine behavior to my knowledge of

Every once in a while I get distracted by a phone call or something else while I’m proof-reading a blog. If I’m almost near the end of it, my distracted little brain may decide I’ve finished it. Said distracted little brain then deletes “proof-read podcast blog” from the mental do-list and replaces it with “upload blog”. That’s no problem if the last sentence has no errors. But sometimes it does.. Which is what happened this week. I’ve already corrected it on-line, but sometimes and maybe all the time—how such forwarding programs work is all a big mystery to me—these

Once years ago I was complaining to friend about how difficult it was to find clothes that fit me. What can I say? I’m not a matched set. Either some other female got my boobs or I got her butt.  As so often happens in such conversations, the idea of buying clothes of the one-size-fits-all ilk came up. As most women faced with anatomical inequities well know, the response to this concept depends on where one is in one’s monthly cycle. If in a kindly mood, the idea that such clothing is possible is amusing to rolling-on-the-floor hilarious. On

Any couple who has expected a child knows how much busier life can become during the pregnancy. So many baby-related things to do! And if there’s a dog in household, chances are some of the items on that seemingly endless do-list are about baby-dog issues. In this podcast, I ponder how the same well-intentioned, but limited problem-oriented approach that can pave a hellish road when applied to other human-animal relationship concerns can come back to bite us when we apply it to those related to dogs and babies.

One of the things that happens when I record a podcast is that, as with my writing, it sometimes doesn’t go where I plan it should go when I start. This happens even when I have a list of points I want to cover. Usually I manage to get the first few points recorded, but then something happens and I meander off in some other direction. Perhaps aliens take over my mind. Or maybe that’s another perk of age: there are more mental trails that my notes open for my exploration. If I recall one I think is more

Ideas for my podcasts often come from strange places. The seed for this one was planted by several reports I read or heard about the ingenious way the Youth Safety Council of Vermont came up with to convince kids that driving while texting really isn’t a good idea.  (Click here for a video of teens taking the texting-while-driving test, and here for more about the campaign.) This got me thinking about how much better some animals, and especially dogs, grasp what happens to human minds when we’re talking on the phone. And sometimes we can use our distracted mental

Here’s the second vignette to test your powers of analysis. Also, think about how your responses to this story mesh (or not) with those to the first one.

For the next two podcasts and maybe longer depending on the response to it, I’m going to try something different. But first some background. Over the years I’ve spent a fair amount of time pondering how to best help people make the kinds of changes necessary to improve their animals’ behavior and health. One of the things I’ve noticed is that, when we make up our minds very quickly regarding what’s going on, it’s more difficult to consider alternatives. Not only that, we’re more likely to take any suggestion that requires change very personally. When that’s the case, we

After my lackluster success with growing vegetables the past few years, this year I decided to focus on flowers, the sight and scent of which I consider food for the soul. Below is a picture of my first soul-food harvest that brightened my spirits in spite of the troubling event described in this podcast that also occurred in the garden that day.

You may notice that I don’t say anything about the quality of the shelter I provide for Bamboo the cat. This was not because it slipped my mind that he’s part of the household. Unlike as is the case with the dogs, I can’t point to a particular location—highly valued or not—that Bam claims as his own because he claims the whole house. I’m as likely to find him sitting in the sink as on my desk, in the back of my closet, on my bed, in the dog bed, or the back of couch. And while there are

As so often happens when I discuss behaviors in animals and humans, I realize after-the-fact, that I used the  same word to refer to opposite states of mind. Come of think of it, that’s the way behaviors are, too. The same behavior can have two completely opposite meanings depending on the context in which it occurs. In this podcast I used the word “dependence” to describe relationships between animals and their owners that have quite opposite consequences for the animals. Luckily for me, the intelligence of those who listen to these meanderings is so superior, I’m sure you won’t

How much of what does your pet have to do to prove to you that he or she loves you? And how much of what must you do to prove the same to  your pet?  Even though most of us may not consciously think about the answers to these two questions, most of us have some idea about what these are or should be. Not only that, wondering whether we or our animals measure may take up a fair amount of our time. But is all this soul-searching necessary?  I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Normally when I think of guilty pleasures, I think of something like chocolate or reading when I should be mowing or weeding. But this podcast explores another kind of guilty pleasure: the ability to sometimes interact in a less-than-perfect way with our animals without succumbing to guilt. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t all strive for perfection. But there’s something to be said for not getting so involved in such a quest that we lose sight of what’s really important. Here’s Ollie preparing to protect me form the invasion of the Demon Cat, as if said Demon Cat

If this podcast doesn’t convince you to lighten up, here’s another good reason. According to researchers at Loma Linda University (CA), repeated bouts of laughter offer some of the same benefits as moderate exercise, among them lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Laughter also affects levels of ghrelin and leptin, two hormones that help regulate appetite and are also affected by exercise. So not only does enjoying life make it easier for us and our animals to relax and learn, we can exercise at the same time. (To read more about the study, click here.) Hmmmm. I wonder if

An additional story related to ducks and alarm calls:  Several years ago, I previewed one of Ken Goddard’s wonderful animal forensics adventure/thrillers. In this he used the code word “merganser”, the name applied to fish-eating ducks who belong to the genus Mergus as an alarm call. When one of the members of his undercover team used the word, this would set into motion a complex human response. Unfortunately when I reach the part of the story where the “Merganser!” call was given, my immediate response was, “Duck!” Alas, that completely inappropriate response under those particular circumstances would have guaranteed

Speaking of hammers, you may notice what sounds like mice or some other small creatures armed with small tools periodically doing some construction work during this podcast. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what that was. Frica was on the rocker next to the woodstove; Ollie was hiding his ball under the pillow on the dog couch then flipping the pillow up to discover the ball again; Bam was outside watching the sunrise. As I recall, I was doing my usual wandering around the main downstairs room as I recorded, which wasn’t anything different either. ‘Tis

What do one of English literature’s most beloved detectives and companion animal behavioral problems have in common? As it turns out, a lot more than I thought. I just didn’t realize this until I reread The Secret of Father Brown to which I, in a recording stupor, alas referred to in this podcast as The Scandal of Father Brown which is a different collection altogether. To atone for this grievous sin on my part, a click here will take you to Project Gutenberg where you can read and/or download the book that triggered this podcast. If you enjoy Father

This podcast was precipitated by an email with this link which those of you with high-speed connections will hopefully be able to open.  Here in the dead zone, I could not, but the person who sent it to me included a verbal description of the depicted canine subject’s spinning behavior. Although this particular animal’s behavior was considered newsworthy by the media,  spinning or circling is fairly common. And like so many other behaviors, that same behavior can reflect mental states at opposite ends of the stability spectrum.

After years of either completely ignoring stress or reviling it as some sort of diagnostic dumping ground, science is finally acknowledging the role stress plays in health and behavior. As a result, the amount of stress-related information almost seems to double every day. Unfortunately in my effort to reduce some of this to podcastable chunks, one of my listeners rightfully pointed out a crucial point about stress I ignored. This podcast will, I hope, correct that.

There are a lot times when we interact with animals that it makes sense to keep quiet, but this podcast isn’t about any of those. This podcast is about keeping quiet when we’re just itching to offer advice to owners whose animals are experiencing serious and even what we may consider life-threatening problems.  Aside from the fact that our motives might not be as pure as we would like to think, such advice may do more harm than good.

I’ve long maintained that at least some of us use our relationships with animals to dry-run human-human interactions. And certainly there’s no shortage of data that indicates that many people relate to their pets as members of the family. For most that means they relate to the animal as one of their kids or, if they don’t have children, the way they think a young child should be treated. What we think about less often is where those ideas of child-rearing that we then project on our companion animals come from: are they passed down from generation to generation?

Remember how when you were a little kid your parent or some other adult would end a discussion with finality by saying, “Because I said so.”? As we get older, it’s not uncommon for some people to evoke religion or science the same way.  Those in the former group seek to terminate discussions in their favor by quoting the Bible, Koran, Torah or  other religious text. Those in the latter quote the findings of a scientific study or studies to achieve this same goal. When we view religion or science as the ultimate authority, it’s only natural that we

There’s an ancient saying, “Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make proud.”  We currently live in an age of media-driven training stars who create the impression that everything we need to know about getting animals of any species to do what we want to them to do is known. Then when a wild animal with countless years of training or a pet dog who ranked first in his obedience class attacks someone, we feel betrayed. Worse, we feel betrayed by the animal. But is it really the animal who betrayed us?  Or someone or something else?

Within the medical community stress is a lot like evolution in theological circles: people either accept it as real or they don’t,  and they often support their orientation with an enthusiasm that borders on religious zeal. My more reserved temperament and upbringing don’t lend themselves to public zealous responses. But if they did, I’d have to say that the failure to acknowledge the role stress plays in physical problems gets me about as close to a zealous response as I’m likely to get. As a veterinarian, I realize how inconvenient acknowledging the role emotions and the bond play in

For those of you who encountered problems with the FaceBook-podcast interface, the problem has been indentified as an FB-unfriendly code. This has been changed for the last 60 podcasts with the remaining ones to follow. If you have bookmarked any podcasts, you may have to remark them. If you have any questions about this, please let me know. I’m clueless, but will forward them to my son who is not. Thanks for your patience and I apologize for any inconvenience this glitch may have caused.

While some people spend a lot of time and energy arguing about whether evolution is real or some demonic myth, others have been observing the behaviors of some of nature’s smallest creatures. Their discoveries add a whole new dimension to the web of life that unites all living being on the planet and makes such arguments seem even more inane. For a nice overview of horizontal evolution, check out Horizontal and Vertical Evolution: The Evolution of evolution by Mark Buchanan in the January 26, 2010 issue of the New Scientist here.

Emily Dickinson is my favorite poet and my favorite poem by her is 1212: A word is dead When it is said, Some say. I say it just Begins to live That day. Even though we humans like to use our written and spoken language as evidence of our superior brain-power, like all animal displays words that have one meaning in one context may have a completely different meaning in another. This podcast considers one word commonly used in behavior whose new meaning may, literally, come back to bite us.

After I did last week’s podcast, I kept thinking about  animals who live between two worlds, either by their own choice or those imposed on them by humans.  When I did that, I came up with other examples and the feeling that there were even more. In fact, by the time I finished recording this, I had to wonder whether this might be becoming the norm instead of the exception in the human-companion animal world. Lest you cat-folks think you’re spared from a lot of temptations that dog-folks must face in this regard, don’t be too sure. The day

Because nature isn’t linear, it’s only natural to expect there to be individuals and species which don’t quite fit into the little boxes we humans create for them. When these animals occur in the wild, their ability to span two worlds is a source of amazement to us. Who can deny what such individuals and species reveal about the fantastic potential inherent in even the lowest of life-forms? And who could can deny their appeal to us novelty-loving humans? When such creatures so evolve to survive in their environments is one thing. But when animals wind up trapped between

One of the many things I enjoy about working with animals is that their behavior is so understandable. This isn’t to say there aren’t any surprises. There are many. But once you understand the basics, there’s a certain logic and elegance that underlies it. Because even we humans who say we don’t feel superior to other animal species inevitably act as if we are, dealing with incomprehensible human behavior serves as a good  reminder where we fit in in the overall scheme of things. Following the episode described in this podcast, I’m sure we’re nowhere as high up in

Something else about the gift magazine that serves as the jumping off point for this podcast: the issue I received was 2 years old!  There was something about getting a brand new copy of a 2-year-old magazine for my waiting room that struck me as incredibly funny. I mean, what better place for an old magazine than in a waiting room? This caused me to imagine a creative publisher (an unusual state in and of itself) pondering what to do with that stack of perfectly good, but old magazines in the corner. He—I’m sure it’s a he because this

This podcast was the result of spending—or wasting as the case may be—weeks trying to select new colors for my website redesign, only to get blindsided by a quirk of computer and human perception. On the other hand, the collapse of my naive belief that, given the same color code, computer systems would display a website of the exact color I wanted later struck me as similar to the way genes and their results are often perceived. People or animals who have Gene A will have or will get Condition B. Would that colors and genes were both so

Remember the childhood rhyme “For Want of a Nail”? For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. Ignoring the fact that this rhyme doesn’t rhyme, the point those who introduced us to this little ditty wanted to make is that ignoring things that superficially appear to be insignificant can have grave consequences down

I’m writing this at a time that some of you may have never experienced. It’s not in the wee hours of the morning or in some exotic time zone. I’m writing this at approximately 10:40 a.m.  Not exactly 10:38 or 10:41 as your digital clock, watch, computer, or iPhone might tell you. I’m writing this at some time roughly around 10:40, give or take a few minutes. This deliciously uncertain state is courtesy of the analog wall clock in my office. If I looked at the digital clock on my computer or the one in the bedroom, each would

As I was reading various articles about the mirror test for self-awareness that’s supposed to prove human superiority (click here for one such article), I couldn’t help thinking about termites.  Specifically, I was thinking about an African species called the bellicose termite. They build huge mounds that include chambers in which they eliminate their poorly digested waste. There the waste is processed by a species of fungus they cultivate which converts the waste to more food for the termites. Because the fungus gardens produce a lot of heat and because the fungus grows best within the 30-31 degree C

For most of us the beginning for a new year is a time of regrouping. Regular schedules return, sometimes complicated by having to play catch-up on tasks we let go over the holidays. Then there’s atonement for all we ate–Christmas cookies for breakfast even!–and how little we exercised. Unwrapping presents does not count as exercise any more than moving briskly through buffet lines while filling a plate does. But while most of us are aware of post-holiday let-down and its causes in our lives, that our pets might experience something similar doesn’t occur to us.  And because the very

Season’s Greetings from the three furry muses who live in the little house on the hill. May the coming year be filled with the very best for you and your loved ones of all species. FRICA OLLIE BAMBOO THE LITTLE HOUSE ON THE HILL

I drove by the scene of the crime several days after I recorded this. The body is gone, but the sign is still upside down. Hopefully, we’re not dealing with a serial killer.

What I was a kid, I used to long for all the special television shows and movies of the holiday season. Even after I moved here to the dead zone, I’d still think about those holiday media events. Even though I can’t say for sure because the seasonal pull is great, some of this year’s offerings make me happy to read a book while the dogs do their doggy things and the cat masters his many feline talents. This week’s podcast is about two of them.

When I was a little kid, one of the stories I distinctly remember from my  second or third grade reading book was about a little boy who got new copper-toed (if you can imagine such a thing) boots and became so engrossed  looking at them as he walked that he got lost. That was my first of many encounters with the limits of human navigational skills. Now there are scientists who study this phenomenon as it affects our brains and view of reality. And some of them ponder the effect electronic devices that do this kind of thinking for

After I recorded this I realized I hadn’t mentioned what I learned from cockroaches. I’ll save that for another podcast.  🙂

Since I recorded this I’ve been thinking a lot about mood contagion, embodied cognition, and body mapping as these apply to our interactions with companion animals.  Particularly, I’ve been wondering about the effect all-positive training has on an animal’s development of empathy. Does such a view of reality make it difficult for them to understand what it means to do wrong, to hurt someone else? Given the role modeling plays in learning, do they see others suffering and then mimic their mood and the physiological changes that go with it? But if that’s the case, then their lives wouldn’t

I apologize for the variable quality of this recording. Part was switching between computers, part was me. Hopefully, I’ll get it all sorted out. The article mentioned in the podcast, including pictures of the enchanting Caenorhabditis elegans, is “RNA Revolution” by Gary Taubes in the October 2009 edition of Discover Magazine. For those who do not know what a worm hotel looks like, here is a picture of mine. Granted it’s not very elegant, and it’s first floor is leaking (hence the plastic), but I had it for years. I put just about everything but meat and dairy products

If you’d like to read more about some of the latest plant studies I mentioned and their implications, check out this link. And here are a few pictures of some of my favorite non-animal household companions. The first is a philodendron that is notable because it’s more than 20 years old. Admittedly, this isn’t any big deal for that species which seems capable of surviving just about anything. This one is in my office. It’s mother lives in my bedroom.     This ivy plant is also in my office and it’s looking a bit shopworn because Bamboo likes

Could you resist playing with this dog? Bamboo’s post-visit response.

The title of this podcast comes from the caption of a famous cartoon that depicted a cat singing “Love them mousies, mousies that I love to eat.”  The newsletter that inspired this commentary came from BottomLineSecrets.com. The growling in the background came from Ollie and Fric playing on the dog-couch while I was recording, not some dogfight I was too distracted to break up not that I ever would. And, finally, this is what I discovered when I went to see what the cat was up to: As you can see, he’s learning to climb trees. He’s not exactly

About 2 weeks before I recorded this podcast, I experienced another phenomenon associated with perception. I switched the radios in my house and car from an all-talk public radio station to an all-music one. This wasn’t a rash decision on my part and I initially felt guilty about what I perceived—there’s that concept again!—as a potentially detrimental lack of awareness of what was going on in the world. I mean, seriously, the fact that I wouldn’t recognize Ashton, Brittany, or the Jonas Brothers (or is it Boys?) if they were tap-dancing on the roof of my garden shed already

This is a podcast I did just for fun and I’ll admit up-front that I wasn’t at my peak the day I recorded this. Still, it will give you an idea of how various human-canine rituals evolve. If you have dogs, you may want to listen to this when they’re not around or else keep the volume down. Cats? I’m not sure. Could go either way. Bamboo usually sits in the bathroom sink when this ritual occurs, but I imagine some cats would want to put as much distance between themselves and this as they can.

This podcast meanders a bit about that old bumper sticker sentiment, “I speak for the animals.” Fortunately, it seems to have disappeared but the thoughts it evoked years ago still remain. And even though the bumper sticker no longer exist, its supporters are live and kicking. And lest you think I’ve taken up exotic dancing in my spare time and walk around with little tinkling bangles as I record, those sounds in the background are Ollie’s and Fric’s tags as they play with the cat. I keep telling myself I need to remove their collars before I start recording,

I believe that it was Mark Twain who noticed what dunderheads his parents were when he was young, and how much wiser they became as he got older. I’ve had that same experience, not only with my parents, but also with a lot of my ideas about animal-related scientific and other conclusions. There were many I thought were absolutely, no-doubt-about-it true when I was younger about which I now think, “Boy, did I get that wrong!”  This has happened so often that I now accept how relative truth actually is. Even what I say in this podcast might or

This podcast is a tongue-in-cheek response to the announcement of this new magazine and website sent to me by a friend: In keeping with the rationale of this and many other publications for those with animals, I’m sure the editorial board of my new venture is well-qualified because they are owned by a human. “NOTHING gets by me” Bamboo will cover late-breaking news, “Wake me when we get there” Frica  will cover leisure and travel, and “Where’s my ball? When’s dinner?” Ollie will share the latest buzz on how people can keep their eyes bright, their hair curly, their

Our bigger brain is usually touted as evidence of the human species superiority, but it turns out that it’s actually the result of our physiological and behavioral immaturity. That is, we owe our bigger brains to the fact that we’re domesticated. Naturally that made me ponder what might be happening to the brains of our domestic animals as they become more domesticated, too. An article in Scientific American on human bigger brain origins by Charles Q. Choi entitled “Being More Infantile May Have Led to Bigger Brains” can be found here.

In addition to the discussion about sound bites you may notice that the sound track accompanying this podcast is different. It’s not that there’s no longer any play going on among the resident quadrupeds. Quite the contrary, there’s more play than ever. But since BeeBee has been gone, the sight of my voice recorder now triggers raucous play primarily between Ollie and Bamboo. However—and this is a theory I’m still working on—I think Bam is part cat, part Lanky Demon, and part stealth bomber. This means that he can sneak up on Ollie, grab him around the neck, throw

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 about them and Lyme Disease. Fortunately for dogs, the semantic contagion strain associated with Lyme disease in humans seems more virulent than that in dogs. Apparently in humans, one needn’t even have a positive test result to be diagnosed with and treated for the disease. All

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 old and had exposed me to six week’s worth of subtle and not-so-subtle feline behaviors that gained their unique spin in our household. During that same interval, BeeBee’s unique lexicon also expanded as she struggled to make her peace with a mind that told her she

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 that those who own and/or work with animals learn what constitutes normal play in their individual animal and others of that species, and about the role of play in normal development. This is quite different from taking a one-size-fits-all or free-for-all approach as occurs in some dogparks,

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 not fat! That’s hair! If you kept me properly trimmed, you’d see how svelte I am!” Sorry Ol, I’m not buying it. One clarification. In the podcast I referred to tossing Ollie’s balls to increase the amount of exercise he gets. This is a reference to his favorite toys—fuzzy

First some informal shots of the main characters in this week’s podcast: BeeBee under my desk wearing her Gentle Leader, Frica resting up following a run-in with Bee, And Bamboo, staying out of BeeBee’s way. I’d like to report that I’ve come up with the perfect way to resolve this issue, but the truth is I haven’t.  Since I recorded this, Bee has nailed Frica again under such unusual circumstances I must assume that Bee has figured out that only a surprise attack will work. Normal intra-canine communication I can accept. I’m not so sure about this kind.

There are two definitions of pedagogy in my old American Heritage Dictionary. The first is the one most people are familiar with, the art or profession of teaching. That certainly would apply to Bamboo the kitten, as he pointed out to me as he perused the dictionary himself. But the second definition, “preparatory training or instruction,” also is an apt description of the valuable service behaviorally stable cats provide when it comes to helping us understand the concept of normal dog behavior. Dog behavior? Is that a mistake? Not at all. Bam continues the same worthy tradition fulfilled by