Dog Park
I’m pretty sure the dog park has got to be my favorite place to be. I know it most certainly is Beau’s (he’s afraid of the backyard anyway). Tonight was just really nice, there were probably 30 or so dogs there, maybe more, and tons of people just enjoying a nice Texas evening out with their pets. I’ve made quite a few friends there and it’s nice because you can socialize with people and then go home and do your own thing. I’ve met a really nice 4th year student there and she’s given me lots of pointers for vet school!
I think that dog parks are a great invention. It really gives people who own dogs an opportunity to spend time with their dog and yet not isolate themselves from people. I love my dog a lot a lot, he’s practically my child, and the more things I can do where I can include him, the better. It’s why I don’t understand people who get a dog and then leave it alone in the backyard all day or inside penned up. It’s so important for these guys to get lots and lots of socialization with dogs and people, and especially exercise! They don’t understand why they are being penned up and it’s a rather miserable thing.
I mean, Beau is in my room all day long, but not because I keep him there. He’s afraid of the rest of the house and if he really want to go out, I’m sure he’d let me know. But he seems just happy to sleep all day, get up in the mornings and go for a walk and then play at the park for an hour or two every evening. I make sure he has everything he needs and I feel guilty leaving him alone. That’s what responsible dog ownership is about, right? Making sure that this creature that is 100% dependent on me has a fulfilling happy life. I certainly didn’t rescue him from a kenneling situation to be kenneled again.
The only unfortunate thing about the dog park is how far away it is. It’s almost a 20 mile round trip that I make everday. Thank goodness my car get excellent gas mileage, or it certainly would not be possible. Yet, I think I’d rather scrimp on something else so I could still afford the gas to take him there. I agreed to give him the best care possible, no matter the cost (but within reason of course). I really wish they would build a dog park closer to me, but then again the way my neighbors treat my dogs… I don’t think a park here in Bryan would be all that great. It’d probably be filled with a bunch of ill-trained pitbulls (like the ones I see all the time wandering loose) and other dogs with no manners (like the one that lives in my neighbor’s front yard). People would probably bring their dogs to the park in heat, and I doubt many of the males would be neutered. It’s a different climate up here, and while it may and/or may not be a worse climate… Despite my wish for a closer place for Beau to play, I think I’m content with the park we go to now.
Tomorrow is my last day at work for this summer. It’s kind of sad because I really liked working there. I liked the freedom I had and the responsibility to do what I needed to do. However, I’m also pretty happy about it because I’ve got 16 days off to just do nothing (a few family obligations, but that’s mostly just my presence being required) and relax. I’ll probably be bored out of my mind at the end of that time and ready for school to start… Or rather should I say, my next four years of job training?
old stuff | Comment (0)Okay, really.
I was reading something on a message board I frequent about that new Michael Moore film Sicko. Now I won’t say anything about the film itself because 1) I have no intention of seeing it and 2) I don’t think it’s right to talk about a film I haven’t seen - I will comment on people’s comments.
Pretty much the gist of it was that OH MAN this film is REALLY awesome! It’s so TRUE! America’s health system is complete CRAP!
The last post I saw had a listing of all the countries’ health care systems in the world. Everyone was talking about how great Cuba’s system is - only America ranks higher (according to the list, unless I’m reading it wrong?). And even then Canada, the other one everyone was touting, ranks higher in only two categories - overall ranking and amount spent each year. At the very end, there were something like 148 countries on the list and America was close to 30. THIRTY.
All I really wanted to say as my post is (but I didn’t) - shut the hell up. It could be A LOT WORSE. If you’re so worried about it, why don’t you get off your lazy whiny ass and go fix it? Everyone is feeling way too entitled in this country. It’s time for a little personal responsibility.
old stuff | Comments (2)Animal learning
I think animal behavior and how animals learn is just absolutely fascinating. I mean, I understand how I as a human learns and generally why I behave the way I behave - but animals are another story. They are part driven by instinct and part driven by domestication and their own thoughts. And yet a group of similar animals raised in similar ways will behave so differently that it really makes me wonder.
For instance, take Beau and my roommate’s dog, Sabine. Beau and Sabine are fairly similar hound crosses (Beau is Great Dane x Hound and Sabine is Lab x Hound) and they lived together for three years in the same kenneling and research situation. And yet Sabine is happy as a clam and although nervous when she first meets someone, she happily dawdles about the house stealing socks and getting in to trouble and being happy and liking new people. Beau however skulks around my bedroom only and he trusts two people - me and my boyfriend. Is this because he is part Dane and not Lab (which I have never seen a sad Lab in my life)?
But amazingly enough, Beau has suddenly become a very quick learner. When I can catch him at a good time (which is a) when he is hungry enough and b) when there are no scary noises around) he is an astounding student. Within the last few days he has learned the sniper crawl and the beginnings of a high-five. And how did I teach him this, or rather how do you teach a dog anything? I am using operant condition (also known as clicker training / positive reinforcement) which is based on the principle that any ignored behavior will go away and any rewarded behavior can be shaped and maintained.
Beau does this weird thing sometimes that I fondly refer to as his “wormy dog” action. He does it when he’s happy to see me - basically he wags his tail and flails his arms around and then wiggles around on the floor. From there I started clicking his forward crawls toward me until I got a reliable crawl. Soon enough he’ll have it down good enough for me to give it a word. And for the high-five it was the same thing - I shaped a natural swatting behavior to where every time he hits my hand he gets a treat. At first he’d only do it when the hand was on the ground, but now we can go up to two inches off the ground before he gets too confused to continue.
I just love the look on his face while he’s learning. He stares at my hand, then looks away, then looks again - he’s concentrating as hard as his little doggy mind can - “I know just a minute ago I did something and I got the puperoni. But what was it?” It just proves to me more and more than I want to study animal behavior when I get to vet school. Behavior and nutrition - because I’ve also noticed Beau’s increase in learning ability paired with the change in his food and the addition of Missing Link vitamins. I wonder if there is some correlation between the two?
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